| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. |
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| 1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. |
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| 2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. |
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| 3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, |
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| 4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah. |
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| 5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. |
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| 6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? |
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 assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are 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 O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? |
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| 9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. |
Raging of the sea – The restless masses of mankind. A318[A318]
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| 10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm. |
With thy strong arm – The power of Jehovah; in the highest sense, Jesus. E47
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| 11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. |
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| 12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name. |
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| 13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. |
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| 14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall 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 joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, 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 shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be 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 the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king. |
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| 19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; 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: mine arm also 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 The enemy shall not 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 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
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| 24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. |
Shall his horn – Authority and power. R1936:4
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| 25 I will set his hand also 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 cry 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 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than 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 mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. |
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| 29 His seed also will I make to endure 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 children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; |
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| 31 If they break 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 lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. |
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| 34 My covenant will I not break, 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 that 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 as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. |
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| 38 But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed. |
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| 39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. |
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| 40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin. |
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| 41 All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours. |
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| 42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice. |
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| 43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle. |
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| 44 Thou hast made his glory 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, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire? |
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| 47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? |
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| 48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand 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 Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth? |
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| 50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people; |
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| 51 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed. |
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| 52 Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen. |
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