| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| 1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people. |
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| 2 Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works. |
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| 3 Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. |
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| 4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore. |
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| 5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; |
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| 6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. |
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| 7 He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth. |
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| 8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. |
Covenant for ever – Both the Abrahamic covenant (spoken of here) and the New covenant are scripturally styled "The Everlasting covenant, " in contrast with the Law covenant, which passed away. R4321:2
The one covenant is perpetual in the other, even as the spiritual seed shall rule and bless through the earthly. R4321:2
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| 9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; |
Which covenant – The promise of the land was the covenant. HG44:1
His oath – Confirmation of the participation of Isaac and Jacob in the great promise that God made to Abraham. OV73:2
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| 10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: |
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| 11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: |
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| 12 When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. |
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| 13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people; |
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| 14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; |
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| 15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. |
Touch not mine anointed – An assault on one of these would be an attack on the Almighty's arrangements. R5673:2
Though King Saul was the Lord's anointed, we are not to think of the kings of today as the Lord's anointed. They are their own anointed. Their kingdoms are kingdoms of this world. R5673:2
We shall not be injured as New Creatures, no matter what the Lord may permit to come against us according to the flesh. R4219:2
My prophets – Ministers. R4219:2
No harm – Injure your real, highest, interests. R4219:2
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| 16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread. |
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| 17 He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: |
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| 18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: |
Hurt with fetters – With a clear conscience, and a sense of the divine approval, Joseph determined to make the best of that situation also. R1640:2
For very shame's sake, we should strive at least to come up to the standard of Joseph. R3973:4
Egyptian prisons were terrible places, with the prisoners horribly mistreated. R2886:2, R3973:3
He – Nephesh, soul, sentient being. E334
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| 19 Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. |
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| 20 The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. |
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| 21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: |
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| 22 To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom. |
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| 23 Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. |
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| 24 And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies. |
Increased his people – Israel's increase was a miracle. HG362:3
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| 25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtly with his servants. |
Turned their heart – Injustice inequity iniquity got such a hold upon them. R5271:2
To deal subtilly – The practice of injustice injures both parties the afflicter as seriously as the afflicted. R5271:1
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| 26 He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. |
Moses his servant – Who stood in the position of a father to the whole nation. R1725:3
Who acted representatively in bringing the Jews under the Law covenant, as Christ acted representatively in removing it. R1725:4
Thus, as God's representative on the one hand, and Israel's on the other, Moses could be the Mediator of the Law covenant between God and that nation. R5046:6
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| 27 They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. |
Shewed his signs – The plagues were doubtless a full compensation of justice upon them, equivalent to the injuries which they had practiced. R5271:3
And wonders – The Egyptian plagues were miraculous from one viewpoint; not so from another. R5271:3
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| 28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. |
He sent darkness – Perhaps produced by the dust in the air. R5272:5
Pharaoh considered the sun god of the Egyptians as the powerful one. R5271:5
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| 29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. |
Waters into blood – Possibly produced by some micro-organisms in the water, the miracle being the ability of Moses and Aaron to effect the change at their command, and to abate it. R5271:6
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| 30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. |
Brought forth frogs – Which Pharaoh's magicians were unable to remove. R5272:1
Psalms 105:31 Divers sorts of flies – Gnats, mosquitoes, house flies and cattle flies. R5272:2
And lice – Dust ticks, probably breeding on the decaying heaps of frogs. R5272:2
In all their coasts – The miracle consisting in producing these ticks in unusual numbers--not merely in the desert wilds, but throughout Egypt. R5272:2
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| 31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. |
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| 32 He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. |
Hail for rain – A cyclone. R5272:4
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| 33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. |
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| 34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number, |
Without number – Immense swarms of locusts that have come upon Egypt from Nubia have covered the ground for miles--sometimes to a depth of 15 inches. R5272:5
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| 35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. |
Eat up all the herbs – Locusts are apt to eat everything that is green before they fly away. R5272:5
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| 36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. |
Smote also – The penalty was not so much in the death as in the suddenness of it. R5272:6
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| 37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. |
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| 38 Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them. |
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| 39 He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. |
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| 40 The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. |
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| 41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. |
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| 42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. |
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| 43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: |
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| 44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people; |
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| 45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD. |
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