Psalms 108:6-12
EXPOSITION Verse 6. That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me. Let my prayer avail for all the beloved ones. Sometimes a nation seems to hang upon the petitions of one man. With what ardour should such an one pour out his soul! David does so here. It is easy praying for the Lord's beloved, for we feel sure of a favourable answer, since the Lord's heart is already set upon doing them good: yet it is solemn work to plead when we feel that the condition of a whole beloved nation depends upon what the Lord means to do with us whom he has placed in a representative position. "Answer me, that thy many beloved ones may be delivered": it is an urgent prayer. David felt that the case demanded the right hand of God, -- his wisest, speediest, and most efficient interposition, and he feels sure of obtaining it for himself, since his cause involved the safety of the chosen people. Will the Lord fail to use his right hand of power on behalf of those whom he has set at his right hand of favour? Shall not the beloved be delivered by him who loves them? When our suit is not a selfish one, but is bound up with the cause of God, we may be very bold about it. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 6. That thy beloved may be delivered, etc. The church is the Lord's "beloved", or the incorporation, more loved than anything else in the world, therefore here called, "Thy beloved." Because the church is God's beloved, the care of it should be most in our mind, and the love of the preservation of it should draw forth our prayer most in favour of it. "That thy beloved may be delivered: save." -- David Dickson. Verse 6. God being thus exalted according to the majesty of his truth, the special plea of the Spirit of Jesus, founded on the mercy which has throned itself above the heavens, is next urged (Psalms 108:6) on behalf of the nation of his ancient love. That thy beloved (ones) may be delivered, save with thy right hand and answer me. It is the Spirit of Immanuel that thus makes intercession for his well remembered people according to God. His land should be rid in due time of those who had burdened it with wickedness. For God had spoken in his holiness concerning the portion of his anointed. --Arthur Pridham. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 6. The prayer of a representative man. There are times when to answer me is to deliver the church -- at such times I have a powerful plea. EXPOSITION Verse 7. God hath spoken in his holiness. Aforetime the Lord had made large promises to David, and these his holiness had guaranteed. The divine attributes were pledged to give the son of Jesse great blessings; there was no fear that the covenant God would run back from his plighted word. I will rejoice. If God has spoken we may well be glad: the very fact of a divine revelation is a joy. If the Lord had meant to destroy us he would not have spoken to us as he has done. But what God has spoken is a still further reason for gladness, for he has declared "the sure mercies of David", and promised to establish his seed upon his throne, and to subdue all his enemies. David greatly rejoiced after the Lord had spoken to him by the mouth of Nathan. He sat before the Lord in a wonder of joy. See 1 Chronicles 17:1-27, and note that in the next chapter David began to act vigorously against his enemies, even as in this Psalm he vows to do. I will divide Shechem. Home conquests come first. Foes must be dislodged from Israel's territory, and lands properly settled and managed. And mete out the valley of Succoth. On the other side Jordan as well as on this the land must be put in order, and secured against all wandering marauders. Some rejoicing leads to inaction, but not that which is grounded upon a lively faith in the promise of God. See how David prays, as if he had the blessing already, and could share it among his men: this comes of having sung so heartily unto the Lord his helper. See how he resolves on action, like a man whose prayers are only a part of his life, and vital portions of his action. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 7. God hath spoken the word of assurance. This refers to all the words in which the land of their inheritance was defined, especially Genesis 15:18 Exodus 23:31 Deuteronomy 11:24, and that remarkable prediction concerning the perpetuity of David's line, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, which must have made a deep impression on his mind. From these passages it is evident that Aram as well as Edom was included in the full compass of the territory designed for Israel, and that David felt himself to be in the path of destiny when he was endeavouring to extend his sway from the river of Egypt to the great river, even the Euphrates. In his holiness, in the immutable integrity of his heart, which was an infallible guarantee for the fulfilment of his promise. I will exult. This is the exclamation of the representative head of the people, when he ponders upon the divine utterance. --James G. Murphy. Verse 7. Faith closing with a promise, will furnish joy to the believer before he enjoys the performance of it: God hath spoken, saith he, I will rejoice. --David Dickson. Verse 7. He, the second David, had accomplished his warfare, and had crowned himself with victory. Henceforth he would apportion the kingdoms of the world and subdue them unto himself at his own holy will. Ephraim and Judah, Moab and Philistia, the Jew first and then the Gentile, were to be brought to confess him as their Lord. --Plain Commentary. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 7. God's voice the cause of joy, the reason for action, the guarantee of success. EXPOSITION Verse 8. Gilead is mine. Thankful hearts dwell upon the gifts which the Lord has given them, and think it no task to mention them one by one. Manasseh is mine. I have it already, and it is to me the token and assurance that the rest of the promised heritage will also come into my possession in due time. If we gratefully acknowledge what we have we shall be in better heart for obtaining that which as yet we have not received. He who gives us Gilead and Manasseh will not fail to put the rest of the promised territory into our hands. Ephraim also is the strength of mine head. This tribe furnished David with more than twenty thousand "mighty men of valour, famous throughout the house of their fathers": the faithful loyalty of this band was, no doubt, a proof that the rest of the tribe were with him, and so he regarded them as the helmet of the state, the guard of his royal crown. Judah is my lawgiver. There had he seated the government and chief courts of justice. No other tribe could lawfully govern but Judah: till Shiloh came the divine decree fixed the legal power in that state. To us also there is no lawgiver but our Lord who sprang out of Judah; and whenever Rome, or Canterbury, or any other power shall attempt to set up laws and ordinances for the church, we have but one reply -- "Judah is my lawgiver." Thus the royal psalmist rejoiced because his own land had been cleansed of intruders, and a regular government had been set up, and guarded by an ample force, and in all this he found encouragement to plead for victory over his foreign foes. Even thus do we plead with the Lord that as in one land and another Christ's holy gospel has been set up and maintained, so also in other lands the power of his sceptre of grace may be owned till the whole earth shall bow before him, and the Edom of Antichrist shall be crushed beneath his feet. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 8. Ephraim also is the strength of mine head. As Ephraim was the most populous of all the tribes, he appropriately terms it the strength of his head, that is, of his dominions. --John Calvin. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 8. Judah is my lawgiver. Jesus the sole and only lawmaker in the church. EXPOSITION Verse 9. Moab is my washpot. This nation had shown no friendly spirit to the Israelites, but had continually viewed them as a detested rival, therefore they were to be subdued and made subject to David's throne. He claims by faith the victory, and regards his powerful enemy with contempt. Nor was he disappointed, for "the Moabites became David's servants and brought him gifts" (2 Samuel 8:2). As men wash their feet after a long journey, and so are revived, so vanquished difficulties serve to refresh us: we use Moab for a washpot. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe. It shall be as the floor upon which the bather throws his sandals, it shall lie beneath his foot, subject to his will and altogether his own. Edom was proud, but David throws his slipper at it; its capital was high, but he casts his sandal over it; it was strong, but he hurls his shoe at it as the gage of battle. He had not entered yet into its rock built fortresses, but since the Lord was with him he felt sure that he would do so. Under the leadership of the Almighty, he felt so secure of conquering even fierce Edom itself that he looks upon it as a mere slave, over which he could exult with impunity. We ought never to fear those who are defending the wrong side, for since God is not with them their wisdom is folly, their strength is weakness, and their glory is their shame. We think too much of God's foes and talk of them with too much respect. Who is this hope of Rome? His Holiness? Call him not so, but call him His Blasphemy! His Profanity! His Impudence! What are he and his cardinals, and his legates, but the image and incarnation of Antichrist, to be in due time cast with the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire? Over Philistia will I triumph. David had done so in his youth, and he is all the more sure of doing it again. We read that "David smote the Philistines and subdued them" (2 Samuel 8:1), even as he hath smitten Edom and filled it with his garrisons. The enemies with whom we battled in our youth are yet alive, and we shall have more brushes with them before we die, but, blessed be God, we are by no means dismayed at the prospect, for we expect to triumph over them even more easily than aforetime. Thy right hand shall thy people aid; Thy faithful promise makes us strong; We will Philistia's land invade. And over Edom chant the song. Through thee we shall most valiant prove, And tread the foe beneath our feet; Through thee our faith shall hills remove, And small as chaff the mountains beat. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 9. Moab, who had enticed Israel to impurity, is made a vessel for its purifying. Edom, descendant of him who despised his birthright, is deprived of his independence; -- for "flinging a shoe" was a sign of the transference of a prior claim on land. Ruth 4:7. --William Kay. Verse 9. Moab is my washpot. The office of washing the feet was in the East commonly performed by slaves, and the meanest of the family, as appears from what Abigail said to David when he took her to wife, "Behold, let thine handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord", 1 Samuel 25:41; and from the fact of our Saviour washing his disciples' feet, to give them an example of humility, John 8:5. The word nipthr, used in this last passage, signifies in general a washing pot, and is put for the word podoniptron, the term which the Greeks, in strict propriety of speech, applied to a vessel for washing the feet. As this office was servile, so the vessels employed for this purpose were a mean part of household stuff. Gataker and Le Clerc illustrate this text from an anecdote related by Herodotus, concerning Amasis, king of Egypt, who expressed the meanness of his own origin by comparing himself to a pot for washing the feet in, (Herod. Lib. 2. c. 172). When, therefore, it is said, "Moab is my washing pot", the complete and servile subjection of Moab to David is strongly marked. This is expressed, not by comparing Moab to a slave who performs the lowest offices, as presenting to his master the basin for washing his feet, but by comparing him to the mean utensil itself. See 2 Samuel 8:2 1 Chronicles 18:1-2, 12-13. --James Anderson's Note to Calvin on Isaiah 60:1-12. Verse 9. Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast my shoe. This somewhat difficult expression may be thus explained. Moab and Edom were to be reduced to a state of lowest vassalage to the people of God. The one was to be like a pot or tub fit only for washing the feet in, while the other was to be like the domestic slave standing by to receive the sandals thrown to him by the person about to perform his ablutions, that he might first put them by in a safe place, and then come and wash his master's feet. -- "Rays from the East." Verse 9. Over Edom will I cast my shoe. David overthrew their army in the "Valley of Salt", and his general, Joab, following up the victory, destroyed nearly the whole male population (1 Kings 11:15-16), and placed Jewish garrisons in all the strongholds of Edom (2 Samuel 8:13-14). In honour of that victory the Psalmist warrior may have penned the words in Psalms 60:8, "Over Edom will I cast my shoe." - -J.L. Porter in, "Smith's Dictionary of the Bible." EXPOSITION Verse 10. Faith leads on to strong desire for the realization of the promise, and hence the practical question, Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? The difficulty is plainly perceived. Petra is strong and hard to enter: the Psalmist warrior knows that he cannot enter the city by his own power, and he therefore asks who is to help him. He asks of the right person, even of his Lord, who has all men at his beck, and can say to this man, "show my servant the road", and he will show it, or to this band, "cut your way into the rock city", and they will assuredly do it. Of Edom it is written by Obadiah", The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord." David looked for his conquest to Jehovah's infinite power and he looked not in vain. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 10. The strong city built on the rock, even man's hardened heart, stronger and more stony than the tomb, he had conquered and overcome; and in him and his might are his people to carry on his warfare, and to cast down all the strongholds of human pride, and human stubbornness, and human unrepentance. --Plain Commentary. Verse 10-11. It is not conclusive evidence that we are not called to undertake a given work or perform a certain duty, because it is very difficult, or even impossible for us to succeed without special help from God. If God calls David to take Petra, he shall take Petra. -- William S. Plumer. EXPOSITION Verse 11. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? This is grand faith which can trust the Lord even when he seems to have cast us off. Some can barely trust him when he pampers them, and yet David relied upon him when Israel seemed under a cloud and the Lord had hidden his face. O for more of this real and living faith. The casting off will not last long when faith so gloriously keeps her hold. None but the elect of God who have obtained "like precious faith" can sing -- "Now thou arrayest thine awful face In angry frowns, without a smile; We, through the cloud, believe thy grace, Secure of thy compassion still." And wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts? Canst thou for ever forsake thine own and leave thy people to be overthrown by thine enemies? The sweet singer is sure that Edom shall be captured, because he cannot and will not believe that God will refrain from going forth with the armies of his chosen people. When we ask ourselves, "Who will be the means of our obtaining a promised blessing?" we need not be discouraged if we perceive no secondary agent, for we may then fall back upon the great Promiser himself, and believe that he himself will perform his word unto us. If no one else will lead us into Edom, the Lord himself will do it, if he has promised it. Or if there must be visible instruments he will use our hosts, feeble as they are. We need not that any new agency should be created, God can strengthen our present hosts and enable them to do all that is needed; all that is wanted even for the conquest of a world is that the Lord go forth with such forces as we already have. He can bring us into the strong city even by such weak weapons as we wield today. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 11. Wilt not thou, O God? His hand shall lead him even to Petra, which seems unapproachable by human strength. That marvellous rock city of the Edomites is surrounded by rocks some of which are three hundred feet high, and a single path twelve in width leads to it. The city itself is partly hewn out of the cloven rocks, and its ruins, which however belong to a later period, fill travellers with amazement. -- Augustus F. Tholuck. Verse 11. He who came victorious from Edom, and with garments dyed in the blood of his passion from Bozrah, will henceforth now go forth with the armies of the true Israel, -- for what are hosts without the Lord of hosts? -- to subdue their enemy. --Plain Commentary. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 11. (first clause). -- Confidence in a frowning God. Verse 11. (second clause). Whether God will go forth with our hosts depends upon -- Who they are? What is their object? What is their motive and spirit? What weapons do they use? etc. EXPOSITION Verse 12. Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. This prayer has often fallen from the lips of men who have been bitterly disappointed by their fellows, and it has also been poured out unto the Lord in the presence of some gigantic labour in which mortal power is evidently of no avail. Edom cannot be entered by any human power, yet from its fastnesses the robber bands come rushing down; therefore, O Lord, do thou interpose and give thy people deliverance. Help divine is expected because help human is of no avail. We ought to pray with all the more confidence in God when our confidence in man is altogether gone. When the help of man is vain, we shall not find it vain to seek the help of God. EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Verse 12. Give us help from trouble, etc. He who would have God's help in any business, must quit confidence in man's help; and the seeing of the vanity of man's help must make the believer to trust the more unto, and expect the more confidently God's help, as here is done. "Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man." --David Dickson. HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS Verse 12. The failure of human help is often
Copyright information for
TDavid