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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And David spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul. |
David spake – The entire chapter is one of David's songs of praise and gratitude to God for his loving providence. R2031:1[R2031:4]
A type of the Church in her deliverance. R153:6, R264:6, R265:1, R287:6
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| 2 And he said, Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; |
The LORD is my rock – Upon which I safely build my hopes. R2032:4[R2032:2]
And my fortress – In which I may safely hide. R2032:4[R2032:2]
And my deliverer – In every time of trouble. R2032:4[R2032:2]
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| 3 God is my rock, in him will I trust--My shield, and the horn of my salvation, My high tower, and my refuge, My saviour: thou wilt save me from violence. |
And the horn – Horns are symbols of power. T42[T41:3]
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| 4 I will call upon Jehovah, who is to be praised; So shall I be saved from mine enemies. |
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| 5 For the waves of death encompassed me, Torrents of Belial made me afraid. |
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| 6 The bands of Sheol surrounded me; The cords of death encountered me; |
Sorrows of hell – Sheol, oblivion, the state of death. E358[E358:1]
In the Revised Version, anglicized as "sheol," as in all poetic passages. R828:5
A figure in which trouble is represented as hastening one to the tomb. R2599:3
Compassed me – Literally David; prophetically The Christ. E358[E358:2]
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| 7 In my distress I called upon Jehovah, And I cried to my God; And he heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came into his ears. |
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| 8 Then the earth shook, and quaked; The foundations of the heavens trembled And shook because he was wroth. |
Then – The deliverance of the Body of Christ will be just before a great time of trouble and manifestation of divine power and indignation against wickedness. E358[E358:2]
Shook – A great time of trouble. E358[E358:2]
Of heaven – The powers of spiritual control. A318[A318:1]
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| 9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals burned forth from it. |
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| 10 And he bowed the heavens, and came down; And darkness was under his feet. |
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| 11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; And he was seen upon the wings of the wind. |
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| 12 And he made darkness round about him a tent, Gatherings of waters, thick clouds of the skies. |
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| 13 From the brightness before him Burned forth coals of fire. |
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| 14 Jehovah thundered from the heavens, And the Most High uttered his voice. |
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| 15 And he sent arrows, and scattered mine enemies; Lightning, and discomfited them. |
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| 16 And the beds of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At the rebuke of Jehovah, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils. |
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| 17 He reached forth from above, he took me, He drew me out of great waters; |
He took me – See comment on 2 Sam. 22:8 from E358.
Delivering his Bride from her fleshly nature into the perfection of our new nature. R153:6, R265:1
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| 18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From them that hated me; For they were mightier than I. |
My strong enemy – Death. R153:6, R265:1
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| 19 They encountered me in the day of my calamity; But Jehovah was my stay. |
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| 20 And he brought me forth into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me. |
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| 21 Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. |
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| 22 For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not wickedly departed from my God. |
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| 23 For all his ordinances were before me, And his statutes, I did not depart from them, |
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| 24 And I was upright before him, And kept myself from mine iniquity. |
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| 25 And Jehovah hath recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his sight. |
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| 26 With the gracious thou dost shew thyself gracious; With the upright man thou dost shew thyself upright; |
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| 27 With the pure thou dost shew thyself pure; And with the perverse thou dost shew thyself contrary. |
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| 28 And the afflicted people thou dost save; And thine eyes are upon the haughty, whom thou bringest down. |
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| 29 For thou art my lamp, Jehovah; And Jehovah enlighteneth my darkness. |
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| 30 For by thee I have run through a troop; By my God have I leaped over a wall. |
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| 31 As for *God, his way is perfect; The word of Jehovah is tried: He is a shield to all that trust in him. |
His way is perfect – He could not be holy in all his works if he were the author of sin and crime. R1351:4, R849:1
Therefore we cannot conclude that God made us sinners. HG650:2[HG650:4]
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| 32 For who is *God, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, save our God? |
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| 33 *God is my strong fortress, And he maketh my way perfectly smooth. |
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| 34 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, And setteth me upon my high places. |
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| 35 He teacheth my hands to war, And mine arms bend a bow of brass. |
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| 36 And thou didst give me the shield of thy salvation, And thy condescending gentleness hath made me great. |
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| 37 Thou enlargedst my steps under me; And mine ankles did not slip. |
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| 38 I pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them, And I turned not again till they were consumed. |
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| 39 And I have consumed them and have crushed them, and they rose not again; Yea, they fell under my feet. |
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| 40 And thou girdedst me with strength to battle: Thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me. |
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| 41 And mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, And those that hated me I destroyed. |
The necks of mine enemies – Enemies of the Lord which David was commissioned to conquer--prophetic of Christ's victories over the enemies of truth and righteousness. R2032:1[R2032:1]
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| 42 They looked, and there was none to save--Unto Jehovah, and he answered them not. |
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| 43 And I did beat them small as the dust of the earth, I trod them as the mire of the streets; I stamped upon them. |
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| 44 And thou hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, Thou hast kept me to be head of the nations: A people I knew not doth serve me: |
Head of the heathen – Verses 44 to 46 are fully applicable only to the wider dominion of Christ as earth's future king. R2032:4[R2032:1]
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| 45 Strangers come cringing unto me: At the hearing of the ear, they obey me. |
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| 46 Strangers have faded away, And they come trembling forth from their close places. |
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| 47 Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God, the rock of my salvation, |
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| 48 The *God who hath avenged me, And hath brought the peoples under me. |
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| 49 He brought me forth from mine enemies: Yea, thou hast lifted me up above them that rose up against me; From the man of violence hast thou delivered me. |
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| 50 Therefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations, And will sing psalms to thy name. |
Therefore I will give thanks – "We love him because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19) R2031:5[R2031:7]
No one can be a true Christian and be unthankful. R2460:2
This principal of gratitude and praise is that which makes human fellowship possible. R2031:6[R2031:10]
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| 51 It is he who giveth great deliverances to his king, And sheweth loving-kindness to his anointed, To David, and to his seed for evermore. |
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