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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 [[A Prayer for the Humbled One when he is about to faint, and, before Yahweh, poureth out his grief.]] O Yahweh, hear thou my prayer, and let, my cry for help, unto thee, enter in. |
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| 2 Do not hide thy face from me, In the day when I am in distress,–Bend down unto me thine ear, In the day when I call, speedily answer me. |
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| 3 For, consumed in smoke, are my days, And, my bones, like a burning mass, are scorched through; |
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| 4 Smitten like herbage, so is my heart dried up, For I have forgotten to eat my food. |
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| 5 At the noise of my groaning, my bone, hath cleaved, to my flesh: |
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| 6 I am like the pelican of the desert, I have become as an owl among ruins. |
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| 7 I have watched and am become, Like a bird sitting alone upon a housetop. |
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| 8 All the day, have mine enemies, reproached me, And, they who are mad against me, by me, have sworn. |
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| 9 For, ashes–like bread, have I eaten, And, my drink–with my tears, have I mingled; |
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| 10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath, For thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. |
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| 11 My days, are like a shadow extended, And, I, as green herbage, do wither. |
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| 12 But, thou, O Yahweh, age-abidingly wilt remain, And the memorial of thee, to generation after generation. |
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| 13 Thou, wilt arise, wilt have compassion upon Zion, Surely it is time to favour her, Surely the time appointed, hath come; |
Time to favour – A large proportion of the promised coming blessings belong to natural Israel; all should not be spiritualized. OV108:2
Set time – Fixed and unalterable. SM479:2
At the end of the Gentile lease of power, God's provision for Israel to represent his kingdom in the world returns. SM477:1
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| 14 Seeing that thy servants, take pleasure, in her stones, And, her dust, they favour: |
For thy servants – "For thy servants hold dear her stones, and her very dust they cherish." (Leeser) CRI35:5
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| 15 That the nations may revere thy Name, O Yahweh, And all the kings of the earth, thy glory. |
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| 16 When Yahweh, hath built up, Zion, Hath appeared in his glory; |
Shall build up Zion – Restore the natural city of Jerusalem and complete the construction of the New Jerusalem, the Church. R56:2*
Implying a process, including the restoration in all its parts; true both of earthly Jerusalem and the Gospel Church. R56:6*, R58:3*
Appear in his glory – "When Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we also appear with him in glory." (Col 3:4) R56:2*
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| 17 Hath turned towards the prayer of the destitute, And not despised their prayer, |
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| 18 This, shall be written, for a later generation, And, a people to be created, will give praise unto Yah:– |
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| 19 That he looked down, out of his holy height, Yahweh, from the heavens unto the earth, directed his gaze;– |
Behold the earth – In his sympathy, God beheld our sorrow. R4963:5
If God so loved these, if Christ died for them as well as us, why should we not be very sympathetic with them? R3933:4
After the saints have all gone to be with the Lord. R60:5*
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| 20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To set free, them who were appointed to death. |
Hear – Figuratively. R4963:5
Describing, not an impersonal Creator, but a personal one-- one who feels, thinks and exercises his power. SM623:1
Groaning – The suffering of humanity under the death penalty and the incidental aches and pains of our fallen condition. R5032:1, R4963:5; SM610:2
The prisoner – Prisoners of sin; captives in the prison house of death. Q159:T, A112; R4963:5
To loose those – He did more than look and pity. His right arm of divine power in due time began to bring deliverance to the captives of sin and death. R5032:1
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| 21 To the end the Name of Yahweh, might be celebrated in Zion, And his praise in Jerusalem: |
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| 22 When the peoples, gather themselves together, And the kingdoms, to serve Yahweh. |
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| 23 He hath prostrated, in the way, my strength,–He hath shortened my days. |
Weakened my strength – Christ's strength. R449:1
Here the speaker changes from Jehovah to Jesus, speaking at the time of his crucifixion. R449:1
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| 24 I said, O my GOD, do not remove me in the midst of my days, Throughout the generation of generations, are thy years; |
Midst of my days – Prophetic of the painful circumstances of Jesus' death. R1205:2
Thy years – Jehovah's answer to Jesus prayer. R449:4
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| 25 Of old–the earth, thou didst found, And, the work of thy hands, are the heavens; |
Of old – In the creation of our first parents. R1814:1
Of the earth – The present social order. R1814:1, R3154:6
Originally, Adam was king, with dominion over the beasts, fowls and fish. R4222:6
The physical earth--referring to changes taking place as to earthly conditions; also used as the basis for a symbol, indicating the transformation of the present social order into one more acceptable to God. R3154:6
And the heavens – Powers of spiritual control. R3154:6
Originally, the spiritual heavens recognized the supremacy of the Almighty and that his will must be law for mankind. R4222:6
The spiritual or superior rule of the angels, which was connected with the epoch that preceded the flood. R4222:3
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| 26 They, shall perish, But, thou, wilt abide; And, they all, like a garment, shall fall in pieces, As a vesture, wilt thou change them and they shall vanish; |
Be changed – Rearranged, made over, made new. R3154:6
One such change took place at the flood. We anticipate another in the near future, making the earth more fit than at present for the Millennium. R3154:6
Already changed twice, until today we have what is known as "This Present Evil World." (Gal. 1:4) R4222:6
They need changing, not because of any imperfection of the divine arrangement, but because it was departed from through sin, disobedience and death. R4222:6
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| 27 But, thou, art, the same,–And, thy years, shall have no end: |
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| 28 The children of thy servants, shall continue,–And, their seed, before thee, be established. |
Children of thy servants – The best provision which parents can make for their children is to give them, by precept and example, instruction in righteousness. R1963:5
Shall continue – "Seek meekness, seek righteousness. It may be that ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zeph. 2:3) R1963:6
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