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It is vain for you to rise up early - There seems to be here an allusion to the daily and nightly watches which Nehemiah instituted. The people are worn out with constant labor and watching; he therefore divided them in such a manner, that they who had worked in the day should rest by night, and that they who worked by night should rest in the day; and thus his beloved, a title of the Jews, the beloved of God, got sleep, due refreshment, and rest. As for Nehemiah and his servants, they never put off their clothes day or night but for washing.
Those shalt eat the labor of thine hands - Thou shalt not be exempted from labor. Thou shalt work: But God will bless and prosper that work, and thou and thy family shall eat of it. Ye shall all live on the produce of your own labor, and the hand of violence shall not be permitted to deprive you of it. Thus,
Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee - Thou shalt have prosperity.
Yet they have not prevailed - They endeavored to annihilate us as a people; but God still preserves us as his own nation.
Lord, hear my voice - They could have no helper but God, and to him they earnestly seek for relief.
I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child - On the contrary, I have been under the rod of others, and when chastised have not complained; and my silence under my affliction was the fullest proof that I neither murmured nor repined, but received all as coming from the hands of a just God.
My soul is even as a weaned child - I felt I must forego many conveniences and comforts which I once enjoyed; and these I gave up without repining or demurring.
How he sware unto the Lord - It is only in this place that we are informed of David's vow to the Lord, relative to the building of the temple; but we find he had fully purposed the thing.
Like the precious ointment - The composition of this holy anointing oil may be seen, Exodus 30:23; sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, cassia lignea, and olive oil. The odour of this must have been very agreeable, and serves here as a metaphor to point out the exquisite excellence of brotherly love.
Ran down upon the beard - The oil was poured upon the head of Aaron so profusely as to run down upon his garments. It is customary in the east to pour out the oil on the head so profusely as to reach every limb.
Lift up your hands in the sanctuary - קדש kodesh, "in holiness:" or, as the Syriac, lekoudishe, "to holiness;" in sancta, Vulgate; and εις τα ἁγια, Septuagint; "in holy things; or, as the Aethiopic, in the house of the sanctuary." The expression seems very similar to that of St. Paul, 1 Timothy 2:8; : "Lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting."
Bless the Lord - That is, speak good of his name: tell the wonders he has wrought, and show that his name is exalted.