| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| 1 An instruction. Of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the loving-kindness of Jehovah for ever; with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness from generation to generation. |
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| 2 For I said, Loving-kindness shall be built up for ever; in the very heavens wilt thou establish thy faithfulness. |
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| 3 I have made a covenant with mine elect, I have sworn unto David my servant: |
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| 4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne from generation to generation. Selah. |
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| 5 And the heavens shall celebrate thy wonders, O Jehovah, and thy faithfulness in the congregation of the saints. |
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| 6 For who in the heaven can be compared to Jehovah? who among the sons of the mighty shall be likened to Jehovah? |
The mighty – Hebrew, El, signifying strong or powerful; applicable to any powerful being, especially to the most powerful, the Almighty Jehovah. R296:2
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| 7 *God is greatly to be feared in the council of the saints, and terrible for all that are round about him. |
To be feared – Not treated with irreverent familiarity. R2002:2[R2002:2]
When the people, contrary to the Law, looked into the Ark (symbol of the divine presence), and God punished them. R2002:6[R2002:6]
A feeling of profound respect, often mingled with awe and affection. R2002:3[R2002:3]
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| 8 Jehovah, God of hosts, who is like unto thee, the strong Jah? And thy faithfulness is round about thee. |
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| 9 *Thou* rulest the pride of the sea: when its waves arise, *thou* stillest them. |
Raging of the sea – The restless masses of mankind. A318[A318]
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| 10 Thou hast crushed Rahab as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength. |
With thy strong arm – The power of Jehovah; in the highest sense, Jesus. E47
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| 11 Thine are the heavens, the earth also is thine; the world and its fulness, *thou* hast founded them. |
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| 12 The north and the south, *thou* hast created them: Tabor and Hermon triumph in thy name. |
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| 13 Thine is the arm of might: strong is thy hand, high is thy right hand. |
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| 14 Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne; loving-kindness and truth go before thy face. |
Justice – Jehovah's government is based on justice, not on mercy. R4980:6, R5857:1; OV229:4; SM661:1; R586:5
Justice must also be the foundation principle governing our lives, the foundation of all Christian character. R5431:5, R5857:1
Only after we have rendered justice are we at liberty to practice love towards another. SM354:1
The results of injustice will be more injurious to the doer than to the victim. R4500:6
Represented by the slab of the Mercy Seat, above which the glory of the Lord appeared in the Most Holy. T124
The basic principle of God's character. R2120:5
If God were an unjust God we could never depend on him. R5857:1
All the power, all the justice, all the wisdom of God must be used in accord with his own character, which is love. R5210:6
Its value manifested in the great expense at which God maintained it inviolate--the sacrifice of his only begotten Son. R1275:2*
Judgment – Equity. R769:2
Are the habitation – The foundation. Otherwise his creation would become filled with imperfect beings. E472
The just sentence against Adam would have stood forever had no acceptable substitute been found. E421
While love can guide divine justice, justice must rule. R5159:6
The principle which underlies all God's dealings with his creatures; God's unchanging business principle. R5884:1
Justice is the basis of love. R5266:1
Therefore the satisfaction of justice is the satisfaction of God. Q388:T
Therefore God cannot justly set aside his own laws. HG309:1
Throne – Empire. R5210:6
Mercy and truth – God maintains the even tenor of his rule of righteousness, but makes special provision for the sinner race through Christ Jesus. SM662:1
God's own character (love) and law (justice) are twin bulwarks, each as high and strong as the other. R2328:1
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| 15 Blessed is the people that know the shout of joy: they walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance. |
That know – Can distinguish the joyful sound of the heavenly message. R2569:3
The joyful sound – Turnah, Jubilee (Lev. 25:9), the Gospel. "Good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people." (Luke 2:10) R2569:5, R2568:3
Shout. Jubilee means "time of shouting" or "shout." R2025:3*
The "shout" (of encouragement) (1 Thes 4:16) should be understood to be the people's response to the Jubilee trumpet blown by the priests. R2026:2
The new song of Moses and the Lamb. R2569:6
They – Those whom God has blessed with a knowledge of Present Truth. R2570:1
Shall walk – In the narrow way of self-control and self-sacrifice, even unto death. R2570:4
In the light – Shall be his blessed people. R2570:4
In the path "that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Prov 4:18) R2570:4
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| 16 In thy name are they joyful all the day, and in thy righteousness are they exalted. |
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| 17 For thou art the glory of their strength; and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. |
Our horn – Horns are symbols of power. T42
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| 18 For Jehovah is our shield, and the Holy One of Israel, our king. |
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| 19 Then thou spakest in vision of thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. |
Laid help upon – Because a sinless sacrifice was needed. E96
Accomplishing salvation through the Son--every feature is of the Father and by the Son. R3172:3
One that is mighty – Mighty to deliver from the power of death. SM116:2
Fully qualified. R3172:3
Primarily our Lord Jesus, but subsequently The Christ complete--Head and Body. R1936:2
"Mighty to save" --having both the right and power to call the dead to life, and the ability to instruct, discipline and lead back to the perfect estate. R3951:2, R713:2
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| 20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him: |
David my servant – Christ. The name David means "beloved." R1364:2
David's character was a beautiful type of Christ. R1936:5
Anointed him – In the following verses the "sure mercies" of David (Isa. 55:3) are enumerated. R1936:5, R1364:2
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| 21 With whom my hand shall be established; and mine arm shall strengthen him. |
With whom my hand – Power, dominion, kingdom. R1936:4
Mine arm – Of support and strength. R1936:4
Strengthen him – To perform the great preparatory work of sacrifice. R1936:4
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| 22 No enemy shall exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him; |
Afflict him – "All things shall work together for good to those who love God." (Rom 8:28) R1936:4
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| 23 But I will beat down his adversaries before his face, and will smite them that hate him. |
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| 24 And my faithfulness and my loving-kindness shall be with him, and by my name shall his horn be exalted. |
Shall his horn – Authority and power. R1936:4
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| 25 And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. |
In the sea – His power will in due time control all the restless, ungovernable masses of the world. R1936:4
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| 26 *He* shall call unto me, Thou art my father, my *God, and the rock of my salvation; |
Art my father – Realizing communion and fellowship with God even in the midst of their earthly trials. R1936:5
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| 27 And as to me, I will make him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. |
Him my firstborn – "The firstborn of all creation." (Col. 1:15) E87
Head of the "Church of the firstborn." (Heb. 12:23) R1936:5
The Logos was Jehovah God's first creative act as respects intelligent beings. SM491:2
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| 28 My loving-kindness will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him; |
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| 29 And I will establish his seed for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. |
His seed also – The redeemed and restored race of mankind. R1936:5
By redemption and regeneration. R1364:2
To endure for ever – They shall have everlasting life. R1936:5
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| 30 If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in mine ordinances; |
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| 31 If they profane my statutes, and keep not my commandments: |
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| 32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. |
Then – During the Millennial age. A303
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| 33 Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor belie my faithfulness; |
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| 34 My covenant will I not profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. |
My covenant – The Abrahamic and the New covenants, particularly. R3109:2
Not break, nor alter – "I am the same, I change not." (Mal. 3:6) R3107:3
"That we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." (Heb. 6:18, 19) R3109:3
The Lord would have his people similarly faithful to their covenants. R3109:5
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| 35 Once have I sworn by my holiness; I will not lie unto David: |
Not lie unto David – Unto Christ. R1936:5
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| 36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me; |
His seed – The genealogical records, as given by Matthew and Luke, prove that Jesus was the son of David. R944:1*
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| 37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and the witness in the sky is firm. Selah. |
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| 38 But thou hast rejected and cast off; thou hast been very wroth with thine anointed: |
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| 39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant; thou hast profaned his crown to the ground: |
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| 40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin. |
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| 41 All that pass by the way plunder him; he is become a reproach to his neighbours. |
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| 42 Thou hast exalted the right hand of his oppressors; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice: |
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| 43 Yea, thou hast turned back the edge of his sword, and hast not made him stand in the battle. |
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| 44 Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground; |
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| 45 The days of his youth hast thou shortened; thou hast covered him with shame. Selah. |
Hast thou shortened – Prophetic of the painful circumstances of Jesus' sacrificial death. R1205:2
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| 46 How long, Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy fury burn like fire? |
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| 47 Remember, as regards me, what life is. Wherefore hast thou created all the children of men to be vanity? |
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| 48 What man liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah. |
His soul – Being. R205:4
Hand of the grave – Power of sheol, oblivion, death. E348, E365
It is not the body, but the being, soul, that dies. R205:4, R277:1
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| 49 Where, Lord, are thy former loving-kindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness? |
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| 50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants--that I bear in my bosom that of all the mighty peoples-- |
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| 51 Wherewith thine enemies, O Jehovah, have reproached, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed. |
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| 52 Blessed be Jehovah for evermore! Amen, and Amen. |
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