Psalms · Chapter 81

Verse 1. Sing aloud unto God our strength] There is much meaning here: as God is our strength, let that strength be devoted to his service; therefore, sing aloud! This is principally addressed to the priests and Levites.

Verses 1-3. Sing aloud unto God our strength — Our refuge and defence against all our enemies. Bring hither the timbrel, &c. — All which instruments were then prescribed and used in their solemn meetings. Blow up the trumpet in the new-moon — Which was a sacred and festival time. But this may be understood, either, 1st, Generally of every new-moon; or, rather, 2d, Specially of that new-moon which began the seventh month, the month Tisri, when a solemn feast was kept, which was always proclaimed by the sound of trumpets. Compare this passage with Leviticus 23:24, and Numbers 29:1, where this day is called a day of blowing of trumpets; it being the first day of the Jewish civil year, and the time when the world was supposed to have been created, the fruits being then ripe. “The fixing of the time of the new-moon among the Jews, for want of astronomical tables, was done in this manner. The first persons who observed, or thought they observed, the new-moon, were to repair immediately to the grand council to give notice of it. Inquiry was then made into the credibility of the informers, and whether their information agreed with such computations as they were then able to make. After which the president proclaimed the new-moon, by saying, vdqm, mikdash, it is consecrated, or holy. This word was twice repeated aloud by the people, after which it was ordered to be proclaimed everywhere by the sound of the trumpet.” — Univ. Hist., vol. 3. p. 33.

1. Sing aloud—This call upon the people to join together, to shout aloud joyfully to God, is according to all Old and New Testament ideas of divine worship. “Thou shalt rejoice in thy feast” was a command, (Deuteronomy 16:14;) and therefore Nehemiah disallowed mourning on a day of worship. “This is a holy day unto the Lord your God; mourn not nor weep… for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:9, 10. Mourning was counted by the Hebrews as an unclean act, unfitting the worship of God. It was regarded as the immediate consequence of sin and the death sentence. Hence, the bread eaten by mourners was unclean. (Leviticus 26, 14; Hosea 9:4;) the high priest and Nazarite were prohibited mourning, even for a father or a mother, (Leviticus 21:10, 11; Numbers 6:2, 7, 8;) though the inferior priests might take on mourning for near relatives, Leviticus 21:1-4. The reason assigned for this prohibition of mourning is, that the priest was holy, and “the anointing oil of God was upon him.” Leviticus 21:8, 12.

Verse 2. Take a psalm] hrmz zimrah. I rather think that this was the name of a musical instrument.

Bring hither the timbrel] pt toph; some kind of drum or tom tom. The pleasant harp] rwnk kinnor. Probably a sistrum, or something like it. A STRINGED instrument.

With the psaltery.] lbn nebel, the nabla. The cithara, Septuagint.

Verses 1-3. Sing aloud unto God our strength — Our refuge and defence against all our enemies. Bring hither the timbrel, &c. — All which instruments were then prescribed and used in their solemn meetings. Blow up the trumpet in the new-moon — Which was a sacred and festival time. But this may be understood, either, 1st, Generally of every new-moon; or, rather, 2d, Specially of that new-moon which began the seventh month, the month Tisri, when a solemn feast was kept, which was always proclaimed by the sound of trumpets. Compare this passage with Leviticus 23:24, and Numbers 29:1, where this day is called a day of blowing of trumpets; it being the first day of the Jewish civil year, and the time when the world was supposed to have been created, the fruits being then ripe. “The fixing of the time of the new-moon among the Jews, for want of astronomical tables, was done in this manner. The first persons who observed, or thought they observed, the new-moon, were to repair immediately to the grand council to give notice of it. Inquiry was then made into the credibility of the informers, and whether their information agreed with such computations as they were then able to make. After which the president proclaimed the new-moon, by saying, vdqm, mikdash, it is consecrated, or holy. This word was twice repeated aloud by the people, after which it was ordered to be proclaimed everywhere by the sound of the trumpet.” — Univ. Hist., vol. 3. p. 33.

2. Take a psalm—Bring a song: addressed to the Levites appointed for choristers, as the “shout aloud,” (verse 1,) was to the people. Bring… the timbrel—Hebrew, ãt, (toph,) also translated tabret; a sort of hand drum, as the tambourine. It was much used in public festivities and triumphal processions, as a bass accompaniment, and often played by women. Psalm 68:25; Nahum 2:7. Harp—rwnk, (kinnor,) the favourite national stringed instrument of the Hebrews, here called “the pleasant harp,” used much on occasions of joyfulness and praise, though not unsuited to meditative or solemn strains. See Psalm 92:3. It had ten, sometimes twenty-four, and even forty-seven strings. Its general shape was triangular, like the modern harp, with a rounded or arched rim at its broadest end, from which last circumstance Furst supposes it derived its name, rather than from its stridulous sound, as Gesenius thinks. Psaltery— Another harplike stringed instrument, made to accompany the voice. In Psalm 33:2, (which see,) it is translated, “an instrument of ten strings,” literally, the ten-stringed psaltery.

Verse 3. Blow up the trumpet] rpwv shophar, a species of horn. Certainly a wind instrument, as the two last were stringed instruments. Perhaps some chanted a psalm in recitativo, while all these instruments were used as accompaniments. In a representative system of religion, such as the Jewish, there must have been much outside work, all emblematical of better things: no proof that such things should be continued under the Gospel dispensation, where outsides have disappeared, shadows flown away, and the substance alone is presented to the hearts of mankind. He must be ill off for proofs in favour of instrumental music in the Church of Christ, who has recourse to practices under the Jewish ritual. The feast of the new moon was always proclaimed by sound of trumpet. Of the ceremonies on this occasion I have given a full account in my Discourse on the Eucharist. For want of astronomical knowledge, the poor Jews were put to sad shifts to know the real time of the new moon. They generally sent persons to the top of some hill or mountain about the time which, according to their supputations, the new moon should appear. The first who saw it was to give immediate notice to the Sanhedrin; they closely examined the reporter as to his credibility, and whether his information agreed with their calculations. If all was found satisfactory, the president proclaimed the new moon by shouting out vdqm mikkodesh! “It is consecrated.” This word was repeated twice aloud by the people; and was then proclaimed every where by blowing of horns, or what is called the sound of trumpets. Among the Hindoos some feasts are announced by the sound of the conch or sacred shell.

Verses 1-3. Sing aloud unto God our strength — Our refuge and defence against all our enemies. Bring hither the timbrel, &c. — All which instruments were then prescribed and used in their solemn meetings. Blow up the trumpet in the new-moon — Which was a sacred and festival time. But this may be understood, either, 1st, Generally of every new-moon; or, rather, 2d, Specially of that new-moon which began the seventh month, the month Tisri, when a solemn feast was kept, which was always proclaimed by the sound of trumpets. Compare this passage with Leviticus 23:24, and Numbers 29:1, where this day is called a day of blowing of trumpets; it being the first day of the Jewish civil year, and the time when the world was supposed to have been created, the fruits being then ripe. “The fixing of the time of the new-moon among the Jews, for want of astronomical tables, was done in this manner. The first persons who observed, or thought they observed, the new-moon, were to repair immediately to the grand council to give notice of it. Inquiry was then made into the credibility of the informers, and whether their information agreed with such computations as they were then able to make. After which the president proclaimed the new-moon, by saying, vdqm, mikdash, it is consecrated, or holy. This word was twice repeated aloud by the people, after which it was ordered to be proclaimed everywhere by the sound of the trumpet.” — Univ. Hist., vol. 3. p. 33.

3. Blow up the trumpet—This was an order to the priests, whose business it was to give public notice by sound of “trumpet” of the new year, the beginning of months, the calling of assemblies to the festivals, the jubilee, the sacrifice, etc. The particular instrument here mentioned is the rpwv, (shophar,) or cornet, commonly made of the horn of the ram or chamois. On the silver trumpets see Psalm 98:6. New moon—The Hebrews reckoned time by lunar months, and the sacred calendar rested with the priests, who were to announce every “new moon” by the sound of the trumpets, but especially that of Nisan, answering to the “moon” of our March, which was the beginning of the ecclesiastical year and the month of the passover. Exodus 12:2. Its entrance was saluted with joy, as was the feast of the passover with music and trumpets. 2 Chronicles 30:21.

Verse 4. This was a statute for Israel] See the statute, Numbers 10:10, and Leviticus 23:24.

Verses 4, 5. For this was a statute for Israel — This is no human device, but a divine institution; God hath appointed and commanded this solemn feast to be announced and observed in this manner. This — Namely, the blowing of trumpets; he ordained in Joseph — Among the posterity of Joseph, namely, the people of Israel, as is evident both from the foregoing verse, where they are called Israel, and from the following words of this verse, where they are described by their coming out of Egypt, which was common to all the tribes of Israel, who are sometimes called by the name of Joseph. For a testimony — For a law, often called a testimony; or, rather, for a witness and memorial of the glorious deliverance here referred to. When he — That is, he who ordained, as was now said, namely, God; went out through the land of Egypt — As a captain at the head, or on the behalf of his people, to execute his judgments upon that land; or, against that land, namely, to destroy it. Or, as many ancient and modern interpreters read it, out of the land. And so understood, this text signifies the time when this and the other feasts were instituted, namely, soon after their coming out of Egypt, even at Sinai. Where I heard, &c. — That is, my progenitors heard, for all the successive generations of Israel make one body, and are sometimes spoken of as one person; a language which I understood not — Either the language of God himself, speaking from heaven at Sinai, which was strange and terrible to them; or, rather, the Egyptian language, which at first was both very disagreeable and unknown to the Israelites, Genesis 42:23, and probably continued so for some considerable time, because they were much separated, both in place and conversation, from the Egyptians, through Joseph’s pious and prudent appointment. This exposition of the passage is confirmed by Psalm 114:1, where this very thing is mentioned as an aggravation of their misery; and by other places of Scripture, where it is spoken of as a curse and calamity to be with a people of a strange language. See Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 5:15.

V. 5. Joseph-Among the people of Israel. Testimony-For a witness of that glorious deliverance. He-God. Went-As a captain at the head of his people. Egypt-To execute his judgments upon that land. I-My progenitors, for all the successive generations of Israel make one body, and are sometimes spoken of as one person. A language-The Egyptian language, which at first was unknown to the Israelites, Genesis 42:13, and probably continued so for some considerable time, because they were much separated both in place and conversation from the Egyptians.

Verse 5. I heard a language I understood not.] This passage is difficult. Who heard? And what was heard? All the Versions, except the Chaldee, read the pronoun in the third person, instead of the first. “He heard a language that he understood not.” And to the Versions Kennicott reforms the text, [mcy ידעה al tpc sephath lo yadah yisma; “a language which he did not understand he heard.” But what was that language? Some say the Egyptian; others, who take Joseph to signify the children of Israel in general, say it was the declaration of God by Moses, that Jehovah was the true God, that he would deliver their shoulder from their burdens, and their hands from the pots-the moulds and furnaces in which they formed and baked their brick.

Verses 4, 5. For this was a statute for Israel — This is no human device, but a divine institution; God hath appointed and commanded this solemn feast to be announced and observed in this manner. This — Namely, the blowing of trumpets; he ordained in Joseph — Among the posterity of Joseph, namely, the people of Israel, as is evident both from the foregoing verse, where they are called Israel, and from the following words of this verse, where they are described by their coming out of Egypt, which was common to all the tribes of Israel, who are sometimes called by the name of Joseph. For a testimony — For a law, often called a testimony; or, rather, for a witness and memorial of the glorious deliverance here referred to. When he — That is, he who ordained, as was now said, namely, God; went out through the land of Egypt — As a captain at the head, or on the behalf of his people, to execute his judgments upon that land; or, against that land, namely, to destroy it. Or, as many ancient and modern interpreters read it, out of the land. And so understood, this text signifies the time when this and the other feasts were instituted, namely, soon after their coming out of Egypt, even at Sinai. Where I heard, &c. — That is, my progenitors heard, for all the successive generations of Israel make one body, and are sometimes spoken of as one person; a language which I understood not — Either the language of God himself, speaking from heaven at Sinai, which was strange and terrible to them; or, rather, the Egyptian language, which at first was both very disagreeable and unknown to the Israelites, Genesis 42:23, and probably continued so for some considerable time, because they were much separated, both in place and conversation, from the Egyptians, through Joseph’s pious and prudent appointment. This exposition of the passage is confirmed by Psalm 114:1, where this very thing is mentioned as an aggravation of their misery; and by other places of Scripture, where it is spoken of as a curse and calamity to be with a people of a strange language. See Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 5:15.

Verse 5. A testimony. Joseph is named here as leading the Hebrews into Egypt, where they heard a language which they could not understand, without much difficulty; and on this account divine favours were the more valuable.

5. Testimony—See on Psalm 19:7. The terms translated “statute,” “law,” “testimony,” in verses 4, 5, indicate the solemnity and obligation of the passover institution, and explain why it is ushered in with such joyful demonstrations. He went out through the land of Egypt—Hebrew, In his going forth over the land of Egypt, spoken, not of the exodus, but of God’s going out over “the land of Egypt” for purposes of judgment, especially on the firstborn, as Exodus 11:4, “Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into [or through] the midst of Egypt,” etc. An exactly similar form occurs Genesis 41:45, “And Joseph went forth over [l[] the land of Egypt.” The phraseology exactly suits a reconnoissance of, never a departure from, a place. The exodus proper uniformly takes the particle ˆm, (min,) out of, from, as Exodus 12:41,

42. Language I understood not—A foreign or barbarous dialect. The description indicates, according to the spirit of those earlier ages, not only an entire want of national sympathy, as having no natural bond of “language” or religion, but often a hostile disposition. See Psalm 114:1; Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 5:15. The political jealousy and religious antipathy, therefore, of the Egyptians toward the Hebrews, were the more easily and implacably aroused. Thus, in the survey just mentioned, God found his people in the vilest condition, among an oppressive and hard-hearted nation. See Exodus 3:7, 8.

V. 6. Pots-This word denotes all those vessels wherein they carried water, straw, lime, or bricks.

Verses 6, 7. I removed his shoulder — That is, the shoulder of my people; from the burden — I delivered them from the burdensome slavery of Egypt. His hands were delivered from the pots — Hebrew, hnrb[t dwdm, his hands passed from the pots, or, as Chandler renders it, his hands from the pots, through which they had passed. Thus God reminds Israel of their redemption, by his mercy and power, from the burdens and drudgery imposed on them in Egypt. And from this verse to the end of the Psalm, it is evident God is the speaker. Thou calledst in trouble — At the Red sea, Exodus 14:10-12; and I delivered thee — In an unexpected and extraordinary way, and disappointed the designs of thy enemies. I answered thee in the secret place of thunder — From the dark and cloudy pillar, whence I thundered and fought against the Egyptians: see Exodus 13:21; and 14:19, 24. Some refer this to the thunder at Sinai; but at that time they were not in trouble, but in a safe and glorious condition. Be assured, reader, that God is as ready, at all times, to hear the prayers and relieve the distresses of his people, as he was when the Israelites cried unto him in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and received answers from the cloudy pillar. Believe this, and apply to him in thy troubles.

6. Burden… pots—The latter word also means baskets, as 2 Kings 10:7; Jeremiah 24:2. The allusion is to Exodus 1:11-14, and probably to the burden-basket used by slaves, in which the Israelites carried brick and other portables. Baskets of this kind have been found in the sepulchral vaults of Thebes. In looking at the condition of the people, their heavy burdens and the servile burden-baskets first meet the eye, and release from these is the fit opening of this passover-song, as it was the first item in the promise of deliverance. Exodus 6:6. Besides the making brick for the “treasure-cities,” (granaries, or store cities, as the word denotes,) “Pithom and Raamses,” and their agricultural and other labours, it is not improbable that the Israelites were detailed also for the mining colonies in the peninsula of Mount Sinai, where, anterior to the exodus, the Egyptians carried on extensive mining operations in iron, copper, and turquoise. The ruins of their slag heaps, smelting furnaces, shafts, hieroglyphics, carved tablets, propping of mining caves, etc., are yet to be seen. (See PALMER’S Desert of the Exodus.) Also, Exodus 1:11-14 and 2:23 and 3:7. Slaves, criminals, and captives taken in war were sent to these mines.

V. 7. Calledst-At the Red Sea. Secret place-From the dark and cloudy pillar, whence I thundered against the Egyptians.

Verse 7. Thou calledst in trouble] They had cried by reason of their burdens, and the cruelty of their task-masters; and God heard that cry, and delivered them. See Exodus 3:7, &c.

In the secret place of thunder] On Mount Sinai; where God was heard, but not seen. They heard a voice, but they saw no shape. At the waters of Meribah.] See this transaction, Exodus 17:1, &c.

Verses 6, 7. I removed his shoulder — That is, the shoulder of my people; from the burden — I delivered them from the burdensome slavery of Egypt. His hands were delivered from the pots — Hebrew, hnrb[t dwdm, his hands passed from the pots, or, as Chandler renders it, his hands from the pots, through which they had passed. Thus God reminds Israel of their redemption, by his mercy and power, from the burdens and drudgery imposed on them in Egypt. And from this verse to the end of the Psalm, it is evident God is the speaker. Thou calledst in trouble — At the Red sea, Exodus 14:10-12; and I delivered thee — In an unexpected and extraordinary way, and disappointed the designs of thy enemies. I answered thee in the secret place of thunder — From the dark and cloudy pillar, whence I thundered and fought against the Egyptians: see Exodus 13:21; and 14:19, 24. Some refer this to the thunder at Sinai; but at that time they were not in trouble, but in a safe and glorious condition. Be assured, reader, that God is as ready, at all times, to hear the prayers and relieve the distresses of his people, as he was when the Israelites cried unto him in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and received answers from the cloudy pillar. Believe this, and apply to him in thy troubles.

Ver. 7. The secret place of thunder. rts sotar, to hide, protect, defend. God’s tabernacle was regarded from the beginning as a hidingplace and sanctuary from the terrors of the law, and the evils of life. The power by which a highly-electrified cloud discharges its fire through another cloud is very inscrutable; but the thunder on mount Sinai, here called the place of thunder, was miraculous.

7. Secret place of thunder—That is, the recesses of Sinai, at this time the mysterious seat of divinity. See the fundamental passage, Exodus 19:19. In other theophanies the pavilion of God is located “in darkness,” “dark waters and thick clouds of the sky.” Psalm 18:11; 68:7, 8. The unwonted terror of thunderstorms on Mount Sinai is attested by travellers, but at this time the “thunder” and earthquake were supernatural. God is represented as thus speaking from the clouds and the storm, to teach us that the answer of prayer is not from earth, but from Heaven; from the same great Power that rules the forces of created nature. The physical scenery and awful phenomena of Sinai were adapted to impress the people with the majesty and power of God. Waters of Meribah—Both Meribah-Kadesh (Numbers 20:13) and Rephidim, called “Massah and Meribah, [temptation and strife,] because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?” Exodus 17:7. See on Psalm 78:15, 16. This latter was the scene of the most signal temptation and miracle since the passage of the Red Sea. See on Psalm 78:15,16; 106:32. This last clause forms the link between the joyful retrospections of the previous section of the psalm and the admonitory address of God to his people which follows.

V. 8. Testify-This God did presently after he brought them from Meribah, even at Sinai.

Verse 8. Hear, O my people] These are nearly the same words with those spoken at the giving of the law, Exodus 20:2.

Verses 8-10. Hear, O my people — And who should hear me if my people will not? I have heard and answered thee, now wilt thou hear me? Hear what is said, with the greatest solemnity, and the most unquestionable certainty, for it is what I, the God of truth and love, thy lawgiver and thy judge, declare for thy profit. And I will testify unto thee — Concerning my will and thy duty. I will give thee statutes and judgments, in the execution of which thou mayest live and be happy for ever. This God did presently after he brought them from Meribah, even at Sinai. There shall no strange god be in thee — Thou shalt renounce all false gods, and false ways of worship, and shalt worship me only, and only in the manner which I shall prescribe. Thus, in effect, God addressed himself to Israel at Sinai, and thus he addressed himself to them when this Psalm was written, and thus he addresses his people in every age. He thus put them in remembrance of the first and great command, Thou shalt have no other gods before me; and of his claim to their obedience as their God and Saviour. Open thy mouth wide — That is, 1st, Pray for my mercies; ask freely, and abundantly, and boldly, whatsoever you need, or in reason can desire. 2d, Receive the mercies which I am ready to give you. And I will fill it — I will grant them all upon condition of your obedience. Here then he testifies, that he is both able and willing to satisfy the utmost desires and wishes of such as would apply to him for blessings, especially spiritual blessings and comforts. “Behold then the rebellion, the ingratitude, and the folly of that man, who says to any creature, ‘Thou art my God;’ who bestoweth on the world that fear, love, and adoration, which are due only to its Creator and Redeemer; who wasteth his days in seeking after happiness, where all, by their inquietude, acknowledge that it is not to be found.” — Horne.

8. Testify unto thee—Testify concerning thee. I will witness to things deeply involving thy wellbeing. If thou wilt hearken—The language expresses a doubt whether they would give audience, and implies a wish that they might, but that in any wise the things testified will not fail to have their judicial effect. The address throughout is made to the Israel of the desert, as if God spake to them at Meribah (Rephidim) after the miracle, but the application is here made to the Israel of the returned exiles then living.

Verses 8-10. Hear, O my people — And who should hear me if my people will not? I have heard and answered thee, now wilt thou hear me? Hear what is said, with the greatest solemnity, and the most unquestionable certainty, for it is what I, the God of truth and love, thy lawgiver and thy judge, declare for thy profit. And I will testify unto thee — Concerning my will and thy duty. I will give thee statutes and judgments, in the execution of which thou mayest live and be happy for ever. This God did presently after he brought them from Meribah, even at Sinai. There shall no strange god be in thee — Thou shalt renounce all false gods, and false ways of worship, and shalt worship me only, and only in the manner which I shall prescribe. Thus, in effect, God addressed himself to Israel at Sinai, and thus he addressed himself to them when this Psalm was written, and thus he addresses his people in every age. He thus put them in remembrance of the first and great command, Thou shalt have no other gods before me; and of his claim to their obedience as their God and Saviour. Open thy mouth wide — That is, 1st, Pray for my mercies; ask freely, and abundantly, and boldly, whatsoever you need, or in reason can desire. 2d, Receive the mercies which I am ready to give you. And I will fill it — I will grant them all upon condition of your obedience. Here then he testifies, that he is both able and willing to satisfy the utmost desires and wishes of such as would apply to him for blessings, especially spiritual blessings and comforts. “Behold then the rebellion, the ingratitude, and the folly of that man, who says to any creature, ‘Thou art my God;’ who bestoweth on the world that fear, love, and adoration, which are due only to its Creator and Redeemer; who wasteth his days in seeking after happiness, where all, by their inquietude, acknowledge that it is not to be found.” — Horne.

9. No strange god—Thus the psalmist strikes the fundamental doctrine of their dispensation. It has the Sinaitic ring of Exodus 20:1-7. This had been, before the exile, their point of departure from the religion of Moses. After that date they never fell into formal idolatry; but their after national sin was ritualism and indifference. Worship—The same word as “bow down.” Exodus 20:5.

V. 10. Wide-Either to pray for mercies, or to receive the mercies which I am ready to give you.

Verse 10. Open thy mouth wide] Let thy desires be ever so extensive, I will gratify them if thou wilt be faithful to me. Thou shalt lack no manner of thing that is good.

Verses 8-10. Hear, O my people — And who should hear me if my people will not? I have heard and answered thee, now wilt thou hear me? Hear what is said, with the greatest solemnity, and the most unquestionable certainty, for it is what I, the God of truth and love, thy lawgiver and thy judge, declare for thy profit. And I will testify unto thee — Concerning my will and thy duty. I will give thee statutes and judgments, in the execution of which thou mayest live and be happy for ever. This God did presently after he brought them from Meribah, even at Sinai. There shall no strange god be in thee — Thou shalt renounce all false gods, and false ways of worship, and shalt worship me only, and only in the manner which I shall prescribe. Thus, in effect, God addressed himself to Israel at Sinai, and thus he addressed himself to them when this Psalm was written, and thus he addresses his people in every age. He thus put them in remembrance of the first and great command, Thou shalt have no other gods before me; and of his claim to their obedience as their God and Saviour. Open thy mouth wide — That is, 1st, Pray for my mercies; ask freely, and abundantly, and boldly, whatsoever you need, or in reason can desire. 2d, Receive the mercies which I am ready to give you. And I will fill it — I will grant them all upon condition of your obedience. Here then he testifies, that he is both able and willing to satisfy the utmost desires and wishes of such as would apply to him for blessings, especially spiritual blessings and comforts. “Behold then the rebellion, the ingratitude, and the folly of that man, who says to any creature, ‘Thou art my God;’ who bestoweth on the world that fear, love, and adoration, which are due only to its Creator and Redeemer; who wasteth his days in seeking after happiness, where all, by their inquietude, acknowledge that it is not to be found.” — Horne.

Verse 11. Israel would none of me.] yl hba al lo abah li, They willed me not, they would not have me for their God.

Verse 11. My people would not hearken to my voice — But turned a deaf ear to all I said. “Two things,” says Henry, “the Lord complains of; 1st, Their disobedience to his commands. They did hear his voice, and that in such a manner as no people ever did; but they would not hearken to it; they would not be governed by it, neither by the law, nor by the reason of it, namely, that he was Jehovah their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt. 2d, Their dislike of his covenant-relation to them: They would none of me. They acquiesced not in my word: so the Chaldee. God was willing to be to them a God, but they were not willing to be to him a people. They did not like his terms. I would have gathered them, but they would not. They had none of him; and why had they not? It was not because they might not; they were fairly invited into covenant with God: it was not because they could not; for the word was nigh them, even in their mouth, and in their heart: it was purely because they would not. Note, the reason why people are not religious is because they will not be so.

11. But my people would not hearken—The doubt of verse 8 has become a reality. Would none of me—Were not inclined to me; had not a willing mind toward me. How affecting to trace the earnest workings of the divine Mind in his testimony concerning and against (for the Hebrew word may signify either) Israel. 1. The command, “Hear, O my people.” 2. The doubt, “If thou wilt hearken to me.” 3. The testimony against them, “But my people would not hearken.” 4. The lament, “Oh that my people had hearkened.” The first lays the ground of man’s obligation; the second recognises his free agency; the third testifies to his perverseness; the fourth is a twofold witness of the pitying love of God and the certain loss and suffering incurred by disobedience.

Verse 12. Unto their own hearts’ lust] To the obstinate wickedness of their heart.

In their own counsels.] God withdrew his restraining grace, which they had abused; and then they fulfilled the inventions of their wicked hearts.

Verse 12. So I gave them up, &c. — Upon their obstinate and oft-repeated acts of disobedience, and their rejection of my grace and mercy offered to them, I withdrew all the restraints of my providence, and my Holy Spirit and grace from them, and wholly left them to follow their own vain and foolish imaginations, and wicked lusts. And they walked in their own counsels — The consequence of my thus giving them up to their own depraved inclinations was, that they practised all those things, both in common conversation and in religious worship, which were most agreeable, not to my commands or counsels, but to their own fancies and lusts, as appeared in the affair of the golden calf, and many other things.

12. So I gave them up—The testimony against his people being given by God, the language takes a tone of deeper sorrow as it passes to the consequences. “I gave them up,” is the form of the judicial sentence. He punishes and laments at one breath. His sorrow cannot avert the sentence. He cannot govern them by precept; he will, therefore, do it by penalty. So he gives “them up” to the hardness of their hearts. Their sins become the instruments of their punishment, as in Job 8:4, where read, “And he have delivered them over to the power of their transgression.” Their own hearts’ lust—Literally, to the stubbornness of their heart.

Verse 13. O that my people had hearkened unto me,—Israel had walked in my ways] Nothing can be more plaintive than the original; sense and sound are surprisingly united. I scruple not to say to him who understands the Hebrew, however learned, he has never found in any poet, Greek or Latin, a finer example of deep-seated grief, unable to express itself in appropriate words without frequent interruptions of sighs and sobs, terminated with a mournful cry.

yl [mv ym[ wl

wklhy ykrdb yarvy

Lo ammi shomea li

Yishrael bidrachi yehallechu!

He who can give the proper guttural pronunciation to the letter [ ain; and gives the w vau, and the y yod, their full Asiatic sound, not pinching them to death by a compressed and worthless European enunciation; will at once be convinced of the propriety of this remark.

Verse 13. O that my people had hearkened unto me — In this way does God testify his good-will to, and concern for, the welfare and happiness of these most refractory, disobedient, and obstinate sinners. The expressions are very affecting, and much like those he uttered by Moses concerning them, Deuteronomy 5:29, “O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever.” Or like those which Christ breathed forth over the same people, when, beholding the city, he wept over it, and said, “If thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong to thy peace,” &c. Or those other words of similar import, “O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thy children together,” &c. All these, and such like passages, manifest the tender mercies of God, and show that he is not only careful to provide for mankind the means of salvation, but that he grieves, speaking after the manner of men, and mourns, with paternal affection, over them, when their frowardness and obstinacy disappoint the efforts of his love. They demonstrate two things; 1st, How unwilling he is that any should perish, and how desirous that all should come to repentance; and, 2d, What enemies sinners are to themselves; and what an aggravation it will be of their misery, that they might have been happy on such easy terms, but would not.

13. Oh that—So Christ lamented over Jerusalem. Matthew 23:37. God sees the magnitude of the evils incurred, and the excellence of the blessings lost, and his regrets are commensurate.

Verse 14. I should soon have subdued] If God’s promise appeared to fail in behalf of his people, it was because they rejected his counsel, and walked in their own. While they were faithful, they prospered; and not one jot or tittle of God’s word failed to them.

Verses 14, 15. I would soon have subdued their enemies — Both those remaining Canaanites, whom now, for their unbelief and apostacy, I have left in the land, to be snares and plagues to them, and also all their encroaching and vexatious neighbours, who have so often invaded and laid waste their country. The haters of the Lord — The enemies of God’s people, such as the neighbouring nations were; should have submitted themselves — Should have owned and professed their subjection to them, if not also have become proselytes to the true religion. He terms them haters of the Lord, partly because they hated the Israelites for God’s sake, and on account of the singularity of their worship, as the heathen often declared; and partly to show the close union and solemn league and covenant which were between God and them, by virtue of which God had declared he would account their friends to be his friends, and their enemies to be his enemies. But their time — That is, Israel’s time, meaning, either, 1st, Their happy time, life being often put for a happy life or state; or, rather, 2d, The duration of their commonwealth; should have endured for ever — Should have lasted for a long time; whereas now their latter and doleful end is hastening toward them. It may be proper to observe here the original expression, rendered, should have submitted themselves to him, is, wl wvjky, jecachashu lo, which, as we have more than once had occasion to observe, signifies, should have lied unto him, that is, spoken fair, fawned, and pretended great respect to the Jewish people and their God, though in reality they hated them both. In this sense the words are understood by Bishop Patrick, whose paraphrase upon the verse is well worth transcribing. “All that maligned their prosperity,” (the prosperity of Israel,) “and set themselves against the design of the Lord, to make them victorious over their enemies, should have been so daunted, that they should have dissembled their inward hatred, and been forced, at least, to counterfeit submission; but his people should have seen blessed days, and have enjoyed a substantial and durable happiness without any interruption.”

14. I should soon—In a little time, quickly. So near were they to a happy consummation, had they hearkened to God, and trustingly gone forward. Turned my hand against their adversaries—But disobedience reversed the order, and the judgments which might have held their enemies in awe, or swept them from the earth, were turned against themselves.

V. 15. Him-Unto Israel. Their time-Their happy time.

Verse 15. Their time should have endured for ever.] That is, Their prosperity should have known no end.

Verses 14, 15. I would soon have subdued their enemies — Both those remaining Canaanites, whom now, for their unbelief and apostacy, I have left in the land, to be snares and plagues to them, and also all their encroaching and vexatious neighbours, who have so often invaded and laid waste their country. The haters of the Lord — The enemies of God’s people, such as the neighbouring nations were; should have submitted themselves — Should have owned and professed their subjection to them, if not also have become proselytes to the true religion. He terms them haters of the Lord, partly because they hated the Israelites for God’s sake, and on account of the singularity of their worship, as the heathen often declared; and partly to show the close union and solemn league and covenant which were between God and them, by virtue of which God had declared he would account their friends to be his friends, and their enemies to be his enemies. But their time — That is, Israel’s time, meaning, either, 1st, Their happy time, life being often put for a happy life or state; or, rather, 2d, The duration of their commonwealth; should have endured for ever — Should have lasted for a long time; whereas now their latter and doleful end is hastening toward them. It may be proper to observe here the original expression, rendered, should have submitted themselves to him, is, wl wvjky, jecachashu lo, which, as we have more than once had occasion to observe, signifies, should have lied unto him, that is, spoken fair, fawned, and pretended great respect to the Jewish people and their God, though in reality they hated them both. In this sense the words are understood by Bishop Patrick, whose paraphrase upon the verse is well worth transcribing. “All that maligned their prosperity,” (the prosperity of Israel,) “and set themselves against the design of the Lord, to make them victorious over their enemies, should have been so daunted, that they should have dissembled their inward hatred, and been forced, at least, to counterfeit submission; but his people should have seen blessed days, and have enjoyed a substantial and durable happiness without any interruption.”

Ver. 15. But their time; the time of my people, as in ver. 13. The grammatical construction is faulty here; the haters of the Lord is the antecedent to the pronoun, as the text now stands.

15. The haters… should have submitted… unto him—Not necessarily in the sense of being converted. The word signifies a forced submission, as in Psalm 18:44; 66:3. The majesty of God would have caused his fear and dread to fall upon the nations, and they would have yielded to Israel the homage, at least, of fear. But now they have grown rampant and wanton in oppression toward Israel and blasphemy against God. Their time should have endured for ever— “Time,” here, should be taken in the sense of duration. If the pronoun refers to the “haters of the Lord,” it means that their time of being held in awe and submission to Israel would have been without end; but if it refers to God’s “people,” (verse 13,) the passage declares their endless prosperity: and the next verse seems to require this latter sense.

V. 16. Honey-With all pleasant and precious fruits.

Verse 16. With the finest of the wheat] hcj bljm mecheleb chittah; literally, with the fat of wheat, as in the margin.

Honey out of the rock] And he fed thaim of the grese of whete: And of the hony stane he thaim filled. Old Psalter. Thus paraphrased: “He fed thaim with the body of Criste and gastely understandyng; and of hony that ran of the stane, that is, of the wisedome that is swete to the hert.” Several of the fathers understand this place of Christ.

Verse 16. He should have fed them with the finest wheat — He would have made their country exceedingly fruitful and productive, especially of wheat and other grain, in the highest perfection. And with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee — That is, with all pleasant and precious fruits, and with all delights; as all necessaries may be expressed in the former clause under the name of wheat. Or honey may be here taken literally; for the land of Canaan abounded with excellent honey; and the bees used to be collected in the clefts and holes of the rocks, as in hives, and there made their honey in such plenty that it often flowed down upon the ground in considerable quantities: see Deuteronomy 32:13; 1 Samuel 14:25, 26.

16. He should have fed them—The excellent quality and abundant supply of food here stand generically for all needful things. The expression, honey out of the rock, is not to be taken literally, as in 1 Samuel 14:27, but figuratively, as denoting the richest supplies from the most sterile and unpropitious sources. The fundamental passage is Deuteronomy 32:13, where both “honey” and “oil” are made to flow from the rock, the “oil,” probably referring to the olive tree. See note on Psalm 92:14; 128:3: compare, also, Job 29:6. The stern admonition and the life giving promise go hand in hand. “God assures them, that if Israel of the present would hearken to the Lawgiver of Sinai, then would he renew to it the miraculous gifts of the time of the redemption under Moses.”—Delitzsch.