41 Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, And increases their families like a flock.
Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal clothing of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor. In every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. Many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen on them.
It happened in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon, in the [first] year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison; and he spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. [Jehoiachin] ate bread before him continually all the days of his life: and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
The children of your bereavement shall yet say in your ears, The place is too small for me; give place to me that I may dwell. Then shall you say in your heart, Who has conceived these for me, seeing I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? and who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where were they? Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and set up my ensign to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
The children of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, "Hear us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. In the choice of our tombs bury your dead. None of us will withhold from you his tomb, but that you may bury your dead." Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
He raises up the poor out of the dust. Lifts up the needy from the ash heap; That he may set him with princes, Even with the princes of his people. He settles the barren woman in her home, As a joyful mother of children. Praise Yah!
Yahweh turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came there to him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that Yahweh had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money,{Literally, kesitah, a unit of money, probably silver} and everyone a ring of gold. So Yahweh blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.
Surely then shall you lift up your face without spot; Yes, you shall be steadfast, and shall not fear: For you shall forget your misery; You shall remember it as waters that are passed away, Life shall be clearer than the noonday; Though there is darkness, it shall be as the morning. You shall be secure, because there is hope; Yes, you shall search, and shall take your rest in safety. Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid; Yes, many shall court your favor.
The women said to Naomi, Blessed be Yahweh, who has not left you this day without a near kinsman; and let his name be famous in Israel. He shall be to you a restorer of life, and sustain you in your old age, for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him. Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse to it. The women her neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they named him Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 107
Commentary on Psalms 107 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 107
Ps 107:1-43. Although the general theme of this Psalm may have been suggested by God's special favor to the Israelites in their restoration from captivity, it must be regarded as an instructive celebration of God's praise for His merciful providence to all men in their various emergencies. Of these several are given—captivity and bondage, wanderings by land and sea, and famine; some as evidences of God's displeasure, and all the deliverances as evidence of His goodness and mercy to them who humbly seek Him.
1, 2. This call for thankful praise is the burden or chorus (compare Ps 107:8, 15, &c.).
2. redeemed of the Lord—(compare Isa 35:9, 10).
say—that is, that His mercy, &c.
hand of—or, "power of enemy."
3. gathered—alluding to the dispersion of captives throughout the Babylonian empire.
from the south—literally, "the sea," or, Red Sea (Ps 114:3), which was on the south.
4-7. A graphic picture is given of the sufferings of those who from distant lands returned to Jerusalem; or,
city of habitation—may mean the land of Palestine.
5. fainted—was overwhelmed (Ps 61:3; 77:3).
8, 9. To the chorus is added, as a reason for praise, an example of the extreme distress from which they had been delivered—extreme hunger, the severest privation of a journey in the desert.
10-16. Their sufferings were for their rebellion against (Ps 105:28) the words, or purposes, or promises, of God for their benefit. When humbled they cry to God, who delivers them from bondage, described as a dark dungeon with doors and bars of metal, in which they are bound in iron—that is, chains and fetters.
shadow of death—darkness with danger (Ps 23:4).
16. broken—literally, "shivered" (Isa 45:2).
17-22. Whether the same or not, this exigency illustrates that dispensation of God according to which sin brings its own punishment.
are afflicted—literally, "afflict themselves," that is, bring on disease, denoted by loathing of food, and drawing
18. near unto—literally, "even to"
gates—or, "domains" (Ps 9:13).
20. sent his word—that is, put forth His power.
their destructions—that is, that which threatened them. To the chorus is added the mode of giving thanks, by a sacrifice and joyful singing (Ps 50:14).
23-32. Here are set forth the perils of seafaring, futility of man's, and efficiency of God's, help.
go … sea—alluding to the elevation of the land at the coast.
24. These see … deep—illustrated both by the storm He raises and the calm He makes with a word (Ps 33:9).
25. waves thereof—literally, "His waves" (God's, Ps 42:7).
27. are … end—literally, "all their wisdom swallows up itself," destroys itself by vain and contradictory devices, such as despair induces.
29-32. He maketh … calm—or, "to stand to stillness," or "in quiet." Instead of acts of temple-worship, those of the synagogue are here described, where the people with the
assembly—or session of elders, convened for reading, singing, prayer, and teaching.
33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.—God's providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth's productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. By a permitted misrule and tyranny, this scene of prosperity is changed to one of adversity. He rules rulers, setting up one and putting down another.
40. wander … wilderness—reduced to misery (Job 12:24).
42, 43. In this providential government, good men will rejoice, and the cavils of the wicked will be stopped (Job 5:16; Isa 52:15), and all who take right views will appreciate God's unfailing mercy and unbounded love.