1.
The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
1. thy strength . . . thy
salvation—as supplied by Thee.
2.
Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.
2. The sentiment affirmed in the
first clause is reaffirmed by the negation of its opposite in the
second.
3.
For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.
3. preventest—literally, "to
meet here in good sense," or "friendship" (; compare opposite, ).
blessings of goodness—which
confer happiness.
crown of pure gold—a
figure for the highest royal prosperity.
4.
He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.
4-6. (Compare ). The glory and blessedness of the king as head of his
line, including Christ, as well as in being God's specially selected
servant, exceeded that of all others.
5.
His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.
6.
For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
6. made him most blessed—or
set him "to be blessings," as Abraham ().
with thy countenance—by
sight of thee (Psalms 16:11), or
by Thy favor expressed by the light of Thy countenance (Psalms 16:11), or both.
7.
For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
7. The mediate cause is the
king's faith, the efficient, God's mercy.
8.
Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
8. The address is now made to
the king.
hand—denotes power, and
right hand—a more
active and efficient degree of its exercise.
find out—reach, lay
hold of, indicating success in pursuit of his enemies.
9.
Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.
9. The king is only God's agent.
anger—literally,
"face," as appearing against them.
as a fiery oven—as in
it.
10.
Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
10. fruit—children (Psalms 37:25;
Hosea 9:16).
11.
For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
11. This terrible overthrow,
reaching to posterity, is due to their crimes (Exodus 20:5;
Exodus 20:6).
12.
Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.
12. turn their back—literally,
"place them [as to the] shoulder."
against the face of them—The
shooting against their faces would cause them to turn their backs in
flight.
13.
Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.
13. The glory of all is
ascribable to God alone.