| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| 1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. |
Not unto us – An exhortation to humility. R5901:1 Psalms 115:6
But they smell not – Ruach, exert invisible power--sense of smell. E174
|
| 2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? |
|
| 3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. |
|
| 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. |
|
| 5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: |
|
| 6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: |
|
| 7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. |
|
| 8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. |
|
| 9 O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. |
|
| 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. |
|
| 11 Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. |
|
| 12 The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. |
|
| 13 He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great. |
|
| 14 The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children. |
|
| 15 Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. |
|
| 16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men. |
The children of men – As represented by father Adam, and conditioned upon obedience and loyalty. R5335:5
God's guidance in the affairs of earth was originally intended. R5304:3
The race as a whole will have possession of the earth. R5183:1, R5112:1
God would have the prosperous concentrate their mental powers not upon the personal aggregation of wealth, but upon generous schemes for the uplifting of the entire race. R5112:5
|
| 17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. |
The dead praise not – But the resurrection of the dead will bring all to a full knowledge of the truth. R890:1
Down into silence – "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave" (Eccl. 9:10); not a place where shrieks and groans are heard. R2599:2, R2604:4
Death is a place of darkness (Job 10:21); of no remembrance (Psa. 6:5); a land of forgetfulness (Psa. 88:11) where there is neither work, nor device, nor wisdom, nor knowledge (Eccl. 9:5,10; Job 14:21). CR209:2*; HG194:5; HG216:2
|
| 18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD. |
|