Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, the beauties of holiness in 3 used of Solomon in 1 Kings iv. 24; cp. also Num. xxiv. 19; Ps. lxxii. 8 (A.V. have dominion). 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power] Rather, Thy people offer themselves willingly (lit. are freewill offerings) in the day of thy muster (lit. army). The promised victory is not to be won without human agency, and Jehovah inspires the king's subjects with a spirit of loyal self-devotion. Theirs is no forced unwilling service. Their alacrity recalls the days of Deborah, when the people and the governors of Israel "offered themselves willingly" to fight the battles of Jehovah (Judg. v. 2, 9). The connexion of the clauses in the remainder of the verse is somewhat uncertain. It is possible, with R. V. marg., to join in the beauties of holiness, or, as it should rather be rendered, in holy adornments, with the preceding clause, and from the womb of the morning with the following clause. In this case from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth might describe the constantly renewed youthful vigour of the king. But it is preferable, with R. V. text, to adhere to the Massoretic accentuation, and join both clauses with what follows, In holy adornments, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth. These words will then be a further description of the army mustering to march forth to battle for the king. Thy youth denotes the youthful warriors who flock with eagerness to his standard. They are clad in holy adornments, as it were an army of priests following their priestly leader. They are compared to dew; the mysterious birth of the morning, so abundant and so precious in hot Eastern countries. The comparison, however, need not be limited to a single point. It may further suggest their sudden appearance in obedience to the Divine command, their freshness, their inspiriting effect upon the king, their numbers, the glittering of their armour in the sunshine. Cp. Hos. xiv. 5; Is. xxvi. 19; 2 Sam. xvii. 12; Mic. v. 7, for various emblematical uses of dew. Cp. also Milton, Par. Lost, V. 744, "An host Innumerable as the stars of night Or stars of morning, dewdrops, which the sun The in the beauties of holiness] Rather, in holy adornments. similar phrase in xxix. 2; xcvi. 9 (=1 Chron. xvi. 29); 2 Chron. xxii. 21; denotes the "holy garments for glory and for beauty" in which the priests were arrayed (Ex. xxviii. 2). Israel was "a kingdom of priests"; these warriors had in an especial manner offered themselves to fight the battles of Jehovah, and their armour was the symbol of their consecration. Those who follow the priest-king are at once priests and warriors. The reading however is uncertain. (הדרי) The plural HADRE 4 From the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek. 'adornments' does not occur elsewhere, and a trifling change in a single letter gives the reading HARRE (77); on the holy mountains (lxxxvii. 1), i.e. the mountains of Zion, where the army musters. This reading is supported by Symmachus and Jerome (in montibus sanctis), and agrees well with the figure of the dew. Cp. cxxxiii. 3. from the womb of the morning] The morning is the mother of the dew. For the personification, cp. Job iii. 9; xxxviii. 12, 13. The rendering of this verse in the LXX deserves notice on account of the doctrinal importance attached to it by many of the Fathers who were dependent on that Version or on the Vulgate. Reading some of the words with different vowels, the LXX rendered it, "With thee is the beginning in the day of thy power, in the splendours of thy saints; from the womb before the daystar I begat thee." The last clause was interpreted of the eternal generation of Christ, or of His birth in the early morning. 4. The priesthood of the king. Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent] The king is also priest by an immutable Divine decree. The immutability of this decree is affirmed in the most solemn manner possible. The 'oath' of Him who cannot lie is no stronger than His word; He who knows all things from the beginning cannot repent or change His purpose (Num. xxiii. 19; 1 Sam. xv. 29), though man's failure or change may necessitate a temporary interruption of His purpose which appears to finite man in the light of a 'repentance.' But He who is absolutely true and unchanging condescends for man's sake to confirm His word by an oath. Cp. Am. vi. 8; Ps. cxxxii. II. Thou art a priest for ever after the order (or, manner) of Melchizedek] Melchizedek, king of Salem, and priest of God Most High (El Elyōn), appears in Gen. xiv. 18 ff. as the representative of a true faith in the primitive world. He was a type of that union of civil and religious life, which must be the ideal of the perfect state. The thought here affirmed is that the new king of Jerusalem must hold a position in no way inferior to that of the ancient king of Salem. As the representative of "a kingdom of priests and an holy nation" (Ex. xix. 6) he had a priestly character. As the representative of God to the people and of the people to God he had a mediatorial office. David, when he brought up the Ark into the city of David, laid aside his royal robes and wore the dress of a priest (2 Sam. vi. 14): both he and Solomon exercised priestly functions in offering sacrifice, or at least in directing the sacrifices, if they did not actually offer them (2 Sam. vi. 17, 18; 1 Kings viii. 62 ff.), and in blessing the people (2 Sam. vi. 18; 1 Kings viii. 14, 55); Solomon deposed and appointed a high-priest (1 Kings ii. 27, 35). David's sons, in whatever sense the term may have been used, The Lord at thy right hand Shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. 5 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places 6 with the dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries. were styled priests (2 Sam. viii. 18). But the priesthood of the king is here implicitly distinguished from the hereditary priesthood of the family of Aaron, as a priesthood after the manner of Melchizedek.' For ever, as applied to an individual, may be a relative term, as in 1 Macc. xiv. 41, quoted above, p. 663. Cp. 1 Sam. i. 22. But the promise of an eternal priesthood corresponds rather to the promise of eternal dominion in 2 Sam. vii. 13, 16, 25, 29. Made to an individual, it is realised in his descendants. Jeremiah speaks of the priestly right of access to God which is to be conferred upon the Messianic prince (xxx. 21); and the union of civil and religious life was symbolised under the altered circumstances of the return from Babylon by the coronation of Joshua (Zech. vi. 12, 13). The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews dwells upon this verse in his exposition of the typical significance of the priesthood of Melchizedek, quoting it to illustrate the divine appointment of Christ to his highpriestly office, and the eternal duration and unique character of that office (Heb. v. 6; vi. 20; vii. 17, 21). 5-7. The scene changes to the battle-field. The king goes forth to war against his enemies. But he does not go in his own strength. Jehovah is at his right hand to fight his battles. In hot pursuit of his flying foes he halts but for a moment to refresh himself, and then presses on to his final triumph. 5. The Lord] Adonai, i.e. Jehovah. The king is still addressed. Jehovah stands at his right hand as his champion in the battle. Cp. xvi. 8; cxxi. 5; cix. 31. shall shatter kings] The verb is in the perfect tense, but the tenses in vv. 6, 7 shew that it is to be regarded, according to a common Hebrew idiom, as a 'prophetic' perfect. The victory is still future, but the Psalmist regards it as already won. in the day of his wrath] The day of judgement upon the surrounding heathen nations, which is further described in v. 6. Cp. ii. 5, 12; xxi. 9; Job xx. 28; Is. xiii. 9, 13; Zeph. ii. 3. 6. He shall judge among the nations] The subject of the sentence must be Jehovah. Cp. vii. 8; ix. 8; lxxvi. 9. The nations are the enemies of v. 2. On them He will execute judgement, vindicating the cause of His king and people. he shall fill (the battle-field) with corpses] best rendering of an obscurely brief phrase. a prophetic perfect. This is on the whole the he shall shatter the heads over many countries] i.e. their rulers. But the usage of the phrase in lxviii. 21, Hab. iii. 13, points rather to the rendering, he shall shatter the head (of his enemies) over (all) the , He shall drink of the brook in the way: Therefore shall he lift up the head. wide earth. The earth is the battle-field whereon He deals deadly blows upon all His enemies. Delitzsch and others think that the last words may also be rendered the land of Rabbah, and may contain at least an allusive reference to David's conquest of the Ammonite capital (2 Sam. xii. 26 ff.). 7. The subject of this verse is not Jehovah, though the O.T. does not shrink from the boldest anthropomorphisms (e.g. lxxviii. 65; Is. lxiii. 1 ff.), but the king. The transition is abrupt, but as in the prophets we pass insensibly from the words of Jehovah to the words of the prophet, so here we pass from the action of Jehovah to the action of the king, who is His representative. The poet presents him to our imagination in hot pursuit of the enemy. Though wearied with the toil of battle, he does not desist. He halts but for a moment to drink from the mountain torrent which he crosses. Refreshed and invigorated, he presses forward to complete his victory, till he is exalted in triumph over every foe. lift high the head] i.e. be triumphantly victorious. Cp. iii. 3; xxvii. 6. The martial language of the Psalm receives a natural explanation if its primary reference was to David, at a time when the nation of Israel had to fight for its existence against enemies on every side, rather than to the Messiah whom he expected. That such language should be imitated in the Psalms of Solomon (xvii. 23 ff.), in an age which looked for a conquering king as its Messianic ideal, is not to be wondered at. The passage is worth quoting for the sake of its contrast as well as its resemblance to this Psalm and Psalm ii. “Behold, O Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David, in the time which thou knowest, O God, That he may reign over Israel thy servant; And gird him with strength to break in pieces unrighteous rulers; To cleanse Jerusalem from the heathen that trample it down and destroy it, In wisdom and in righteousness; To thrust out sinners from the inheritance, To break in pieces the arrogance of the sinners, To shatter all their substance as a potter's vessels with a rod of iron. To destroy the lawless nations with the word of his mouth, That the nations may flee from him at his rebuke, And to punish sinners in the imagination of their heart." A translation of the Targum is subjoined. It will be noted that the Psalm is treated as referring to David. Jehovah said by His word that He would make me lord of all Israel. But He said to me again, Wait for Saul who is of the tribe of Benjamin, until he die, for one kingdom approacheth not another [i.e. there cannot be two kings together], and afterwards I will make thine enemies thy footstool. [Another Targum. Jehovah said by His word, that He would give me dominion, because I devoted myself to learn the law of His (v. 1. my) right hand. Wait until I make thine enemy thy footstool.] The rod of thy strength shall Jehovah send forth from Zion, and thou shalt rule in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people of the house of Israel who devote themselves willingly to the study of the law, in the day of battle shalt thou be holpen with them: in splendours of holiness shall the mercies of God hasten unto thee like the descent of the dew: thy generations shall dwell securely. Jehovah hath sworn and will not repent, that thou shalt be appointed prince of the world to come for merit, because thou hast been an innocent king. The Shechinah of Jehovah at thy right hand hath stricken through kings in the day of His wrath. He is appointed judge over the peoples: he hath filled the earth with the bodies of the wicked who have been slain: he hath stricken through the heads of exceeding many kings over the earth. From the mouth of the prophet in the way shall he receive doctrine; therefore shall he exalt the head. PSALM CXI. Psalms cxi and cxii are closely connected in structure, contents, and language. Each consists of twenty-two lines, which begin with the letters of the alphabet in regular order, and are arranged in eight distichs and two tristichs. Ps. cxi celebrates the power, goodness, and righteousness of Jehovah; Ps. cxii describes the prosperity, beneficence, and righteousness of those who fear Him. Words and phrases applied to God in Ps. cxi are transferred in Ps. cxii with some modification of meaning, and sometimes with startling boldness, to the godly man, describing his character as the reflection of the character of Jehovah. Thus cxii. I a takes up the thought of cxi. 10 a: with cxii. 1b (delighteth) cp. cxi. 2: cxii. 3b, 9 b=cxi. 3b: cxii. 46=cxi. 4b: with cxii. 6b cp. cxi. 4 a. The trustfulness of the godly man in cxii. 7, 8 answers to the trustworthiness of Jehovah in cxi. 7, 8. Other correspondences of thought and language may be noticed by the student. Both Psalms draw largely from older Psalms and from Proverbs, and doubtless belong to the period after the exile, but to what part of it there is nothing to shew. Several MSS of the LXX, and the Vulgate, prefix to Ps. cxii the title, For the Return of Haggai and Zechariah (rîs ἐπιστροφῆς ̔Αγγαίου καὶ Ζαχαρίου): and the same title seems originally to have been prefixed to Ps. cxi in the LXX, though it is now found in the Syro-hexaplar version only. Praise ye the LORD. (N) I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, () In the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation. 1. Praise ye the LORD] Heb. Hallelujah. This liturgical call to praise forms no part of the structure of the Psalm. See note on civ. 35. I will give thanks unto Jehovah with a whole heart, In the council of the upright and in the congregation. 111 |