But his delight is in the law of the LORD; They are generally detested (xxiv. 9), and in the interests of peace must be banished from society (xxii. 10). Divine judgements are in store for them, and their fate is a warning to the simple (iii. 34; xix. 25, 29; xxi. 11). The three clauses of the verse with their threefold parallelism (walk, stand, sit: counsel, way, session: wicked, sinners, scorners) emphasise the godly man's entire avoidance of association with evil and evil-doers in every form and degree. They denote successive steps in a career of evil, and form a climax :-(1) adoption of the principles of the wicked as a rule of life: (2) persistence in the practices of notorious offenders: (3) deliberate association with those who openly mock at religion. With the first clause and for the phrase counsel of the wicked cp. Mic. vi. 16; Jer. vii. 24; Job x. 3; xxi. 16; xxii. 18: for stood &c., cp. Ps. xxxvi. 4. For both clauses cp. the concrete example in 2 Chron. xxii. 3-5. With the third clause cp. Ps. xxvi. 4, 5. 2. The positive principle and source of the righteous man's life. The law of the Lord is his rule of conduct. It is no irksome restriction of his liberty but the object of his love and constant study (Deut. vi. 6-9). True happiness is to be found not in ways of man's own devising, but in the revealed will of God. "The purpose of the Law was to make men happy." Kay. Cp. Deut. xxxiii. 29. his delight] The religion of Israel was not an external formalism, but an obedience of the heart. Cp. xxxvii. 31; xl. 8; cxii. 1; cxix. 35, 97. the law of the LORD] The Hebrew word tôrāh has a much wider range of meaning than law, by which it is always rendered in the A.V. It denotes (1) teaching, instruction, whether human (Prov. i. 8), or divine; (2) a precept or law; (3) a body of laws, and in particular the Mosaic law, and so finally the Pentateuch. The parallel to the second clause of the verse in Josh. i. 8 suggests a particular reference to Deuteronomy; but the meaning here must not be limited to the Pentateuch or any part of it. Rather as in passages where it is parallel to and synonymous with the word of the LORD (Is. i. 10; ii. 3) it should be taken to include all Divine revelation as the guide of life. meditate] The Psalmists meditate on God Himself (lxiii. 6); on His works in nature and in history (lxxvii. 12; cxliii. 5). 3. The consequent prosperity of the godly man is emblematically described. As a tree is nourished by constant supplies of water, without which under the burning Eastern sun it would wither and die, so the life of the godly man is maintained by the supplies of grace drawn from constant communion with God through His revelation. Cp. lii. 8; xcii. 12; cxxviii. 3; Num. xxiv. 6. If a special tree is meant, it is probably not the oleander (Stanley, Sinai and Palestine, p. 146), which bears no fruit; nor the vine (Ezek. xix. 10); nor the pomegranate; but the palm. Its love of water, its stately growth, its evergreen foliage, its valuable fruit, combine to suggest that it is here referred to. Cp. Ecclus. xxiv. 14; and see Thomson's Land and the Book, p. 48 f. 2 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither; And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. + The ungodly are not so: But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. the rivers of water] Better, streams of water: either natural watercourses (Is. xliv. 4): or more probably artificial channels for irrigating the land. Cp. Prov. xxi. 1; Eccl. ii. 5, 6. and whatsoever &c.] Or, as R.V. marg., in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper. The figure of the tree is dropped, and the words refer directly to the godly man. The literal meaning of the word rendered prosper is to carry through to a successful result. Cp. Josh. i. 8; and for illustration, Gen. xxxix. 3, 23. 4-6. The character and destiny of the wicked. 4. In sharp contrast to the firmly-rooted, flourishing, fruitful tree is the chaff on the threshing-floor, worthless in itself, and liable to be swept away by every passing breeze. The scattering of chaff by the wind is a common figure in the O.T. for the sudden destruction of the wicked. Cp. xxxv. 5; Job xxi. 18; Is. xxix. 5; Hos. xiii. 3. Here it describes their character as well as their fate. It would be vividly suggestive to those who were familiar with the sight of the threshing-floors, usually placed on high ground to take advantage of every breeze, on which the corn was threshed out and winnowed by throwing it up against the wind with shovels, the grain falling on the floor to be carefully gathered up, the chaff left to be carried away by the wind and vanish. The P.B.V. following the LXX and Vulg. adds from the face of the earth. Cp. Am. ix. 8; Zeph. i. 2, 3. 5. Therefore] The real character of the wicked will be manifested in the judgement. Since they are thus worthless and unstable, destitute of root and fruit, the wicked will not hold their ground in the judgement, in which Jehovah separates the chaff from the wheat (Matt. iii. 12). stand] So Lat. causa stare, and the opposite causa cadere. Cp. v. 5; cxxx. 3; Nah. i. 6; Mal. iii. 2; Wisd. v. 1. in the judgment] Not, before a human tribunal: nor merely in the last judgement, (as the Targum and many interpreters understand it): but in every act of judgement by which Jehovah separates between the righteous and the wicked, and vindicates His righteous government of the world. Cp. as an illustration Num. xvi. Each such day of the LORD' is a type and pledge of the great day of judgement. Cp. Is. i. 24 ff., ii. 12 ff.; Mal. iii. 5; Eccl. xii. 14. in the congregation of the righteous] The 'congregation of Israel,' which is the 'congregation of Jehovah,' is in its true idea and ultimate For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: destination, the 'congregation of the righteous' (cxi. 1). It is the aim of each successive judgement to purify it, until at last the complete and final separation shall be effected (Matt. xiii. 41-43). 6. The teaching of the Psalm is grounded on the doctrine of divine Providence. Each clause of the verse implies the supplement of its antithesis to the other clause. 'The LORD knows the way of the righteous,' and under His care it is a 'way of life' (xvi. 11; Prov. xii. 28); 'a way of peace' (Is. lix. 8); 'a way eternal' (cxxxix. 24). Equally He knows the way of the wicked, and by the unalterable laws of His government it can lead only to destruction; it is a way of death (Prov. xiv. 12). knoweth] Divine knowledge cannot be abstract or ineffectual. It involves approval, care, guidance; or abandonment, judgement. The righteous man's course of life leads to God Himself; and He takes care that it does not fail of its end (Nah. i. 7; 2 Tim. ii. 19). PSALM II. The circumstances which called forth this Psalm stand out clearly. A king of Israel, recently placed upon the throne, and consecrated by the solemn rite of anointing to be Jehovah's representative in the government of His people, is menaced by a confederacy of subject nations, threatening to revolt and cast off their allegiance. The moment is critical: but his cause is Jehovah's; their endeavour is futile. He asserts his high claims; and the nations are exhorted to yield a willing submission, and avoid the destruction which awaits rebels against the authority of Jehovah. Who then was the king? and what was the occasion referred to? The king's consciousness of his high calling, and the confidence with which he appeals to the divine promise, point to a time when that promise was still recent, and the lofty ideal of the theocratic kingdom had not been blurred and defaced by failure and defeat. For such a time we must go back to the reigns of David and Solomon. (1) The language of Acts iv. 25 does not decide the question, for 'David' in the N.T. may mean no more than 'the Psalter' (Heb. iv. 7) or 'a Psalmist.' The older commentators however attribute the Psalm to David, and suppose the occasion to have been the attack of the Philistines shortly after he was anointed king over all Israel (2 Sam. v. 17 ff.), or of the confederacy of Ammonites and Syrians described in 2 Sam. x. But the Psalm speaks plainly (v. 3) of subject nations, while the Philistines certainly were not David's subjects at the time, and it is doubtful if the Syrians were. See note on 2 Sam. x. (2) On the other hand there is good reason for supposing that Solomon was the king referred to. He was anointed at Gihon, and solemnly enthroned on Zion (1 Kings i. 45). Zion was already 'Jehovah's 'Jehovah's holy mountain' in virtue of the presence of the Ark there. So strongly was the theocratic character of the kingdom then realised that he is said to have sat 'on the throne of Jehovah' (1 Chr. xxix. 23; cp. xxviii. 5). 6 The Psalm is based upon the great promise in 2 Sam. vii. 12 ff., which, although not limited to Solomon, would naturally be claimed by him with special confidence. Solomon succeeded to the great kingdom which his father had built up. But he was young. The succession was disputed. What more likely than that some of the subject nations should threaten to revolt upon his accession? Hadad's request (1 Kings xi. 21) shews that his enemies thought that their opportunity was come. It is true that we have no account of any such revolt in the Historical Books. But their records are incomplete and fragmentary; and the language of the Psalm implies that the revolt was only threatened, and had not as yet broken out into open war. There was still hope that wiser counsels might prevail (vv. 10 ff.); and if they did, we should hardly expect to find any reference in Kings and Chron. to a mere threat of rebellion. Moreover, though Solomon's reign was on the whole peaceful, there are incidental notices which make it plain that it was not uniformly and universally so. He made great military preparations (1 Kings iv. 26; ix. 15 ff.; xi. 27: 2 Chron. viii. 5 ff.), and engaged in wars (2 Chron. viii. 3); and Hadad and Rezon succeeded in 'doing him mischief' (1 Kings xi. 21-25). (3) The conjectures which refer the Psalm to a later occasion have but little probability. The confederacy of Pekah and Rezin against Ahaz (Is. vii.); and the invasion of Judah by the Moabites and their allies (2 Chr. xx.) have been suggested: but neither of these was a revolt of subject nations. The question still remains whether Solomon was himself the writer. The king and the poet appear to be identified in vv. 7 ff.; but in such a highly dramatic Psalm, it is at least possible that the poet might introduce the king as a speaker, as he introduces the nations (v. 3), and Jehovah (v. 6). The particular historical reference is however of relatively small moment compared with the typical application of the Psalm to the Kingdom of Christ. To understand this, it is necessary to realise the peculiar position of the Israelite king. Israel was Jehovah's son, His firstborn (Ex. iv. 22; Deut. xxxii. 6); and Israel's king, as the ruler and representative of the people, was adopted by Jehovah as His son, His firstborn (2 Sam. vii. 13 ff.; Ps. lxxxix. 26, 27). It was a moral relationship, sharply distinguished from the supposed descent of kings and heroes from gods in the heathen world in virtue of which they styled themselves Zeus-born, sons of Zeus, and the like. It involved on the one side fatherly love and protection, on the other filial obedience and devotion. The king moreover was not an absolute monarch in his own right. He was the Anointed of Jehovah, His viceroy and earthly representative. To him therefore was given not only the sovereignty over Israel, but the sovereignty over the nations. Rebellion against him was rebellion against Jehovah. Thus, as the adopted son of Jehovah and His Anointed King, he was the type of the eternal Son of God, the 'Lord's Christ.' Then, as successive kings of David's line failed to realise their high destiny, men were taught to look for the coming of One who should fulfil the Divine words of promise, giving them a meaning and a reality beyond hope and imagination. See Introd. p. lxxvi ff. This Psalm then is typical and prophetic of the rebellion of the kingdoms of the world against the kingdom of Christ, and of the final triumph of the kingdom of Christ. To Him all nations are given for an inheritance; if they will not submit He must judge them. This typical meaning does not however exclude (as some commentators think), but rather requires, a historic foundation for the Psalm. In connexion with this Psalm should be studied 2 Sam. vii.; Ps. Ixxxix; and Pss. xxi, xlv, lxxii and cx. The references to this Psalm in the N.T. should be carefully examined. (1) In Acts iv. 25-28, vv. 1, 2 are applied to the confederate hostility of Jews and Gentiles against Christ. (2) v. 7 was quoted by St Paul at Antioch (Acts xiii. 33) as fulfilled in the Resurrection of Christ (cp. Rom. i. 4): and in the Epistle to the Hebrews the words are cited (the Messianic reference of the Psalm being evidently generally admitted) to describe the superiority of the Son to angels angels (i. 5): and as a declaration of the Divine sonship of Christ, in connexion with the proof of the Divine origin of His highpriesthood (v. 5). 1 (3) It contains the titles 'my Son' (Matt. iii. 17), and 'the Lord's Christ' (Luke ii. 26), which describe the nature and office of the Messiah. Comp. Matt. xvi. 16: John xx. 31. (4) Its language is repeatedly borrowed in the Revelation, the great epic of the conflict and triumph of Christ's kingdom. He 'rules the nations with a rod of iron' (Rev. xii. 5, xix. 15); and delegates the same power to His servants (ii. 26, 27). 'Kings of the earth' occurs no less than nine times in this book (i. 5, &c.). 'He that sitteth in the heavens' is the central figure there (iv. 2 and frequently). These quotations sufficiently explain the choice of the Psalm as one of the Proper Psalms for Easter Day. In a few Heb. MSS. the Second Psalm is reckoned as the First, the First being treated as an independent prologue to the whole book; in a few other MSS. the two are united. Origen says that this was the case in one of two copies he had seen (Op. ii. 537): and there was an ancient Jewish saying, "The first Psalm begins with blessing (i. 1), and ends with blessing" (ii. 12). Some recensions of the LXX appear to have followed this arrangement, though Origen speaks as if all the Greek copies with which he was acquainted divided the two Psalms. Justin Martyr in his Apology (i. 40) cites Pss. i and ii as a continuous prophecy, and in Acts xiii. 33 D and cognate authorities representing the 'Western' text, read, 'in the first Psalm.' But though there are points of contact in phraseology (blessed, i 1, ii. 12; meditate, i. 2, ii. 1; perish connected with way, i. 6; ii. 12); they are clearly distinct in style and character. Ps. i is the calm expression of a general truth; Ps. ii springs out of a special occasion; it is full of movement, and has a correspondingly vigorous 1 In D and cognate authorities the words, "Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee" are substituted for "Thou art my beloved son, in thee I am well pleased," in Luke iii. 22. This was also the reading of the Ebionite Gospel. |