Loading...
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them - This is generally supposed to mean his house full of children, as his quiver if full of arrows; but I submit whether it be not more congenial to the metaphors in the text to consider it as applying to the wife: "Happy is the man who has a breeding or fruitful wife;" this is the gravida sagittis pharetra "the quiver pregnant with arrows." But it may be thought the metaphor is not natural. I think otherwise: and I know it to be in the Jewish style, and the style of the times of the captivity, when this Psalm was written, and we find the pudendum muliebre, or human matrix, thus denominated, Ecclus. 26:12: Κατεναντι παντος πασσαλου καθησεται, και εναντι βελους ανοιξει φαρετραν . The reader may consult the place in the Apocrypha, where he will find the verse well enough translated.
With the enemies in the gate - "When he shall contend with his adversaries in the gate of the house of judgment." - Targum. The reference is either to courts of justice, which were held at the gates of cities, or to robbers who endeavor to force their way into a house to spoil the inhabitants of their goods. In the first case a man falsely accused, who has a numerous family, has as many witnesses in his behalf as he has children. And in the second case he is not afraid of marauders, because his house is well defended by his active and vigorous sons. It is, I believe, to this last that the psalmist refers.
This Psalm may be entitled, "The Soliloquy of the happy Householder: - The poor man with a large loving family, and in annual expectation of an increase, because his wife, under the Divine blessing, is fruitful." All are blessed of the Lord, and his hand is invariably upon them for good.
The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion - In all thy approaches to him in his house by prayer, by sacrifice, and by offering, thou shalt have his especial blessing. Thou shalt thrive every where, and in all things.
And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem - Thou shalt see the cause of God flourish in thy lifetime, and his Church in great prosperity.
Let them all be confounded - They shall be confounded. They who hate Zion, the Church of God, hate God himself; and all such must be dealt with as enemies, and be utterly confounded.
I wait for the Lord - The word קוה kavah, which we translate to wait, properly signifies the extension of a cord from one point to another. This is a fine metaphor: God is one point, the human heart is the other; and the extended cord between both is the earnest believing desire of the soul. This desire, strongly extended from the heart to God, in every mean of grace, and when there is none, is the active, energetic waiting which God requires, and which will be successful.
The mighty God of Jacob - יעקב עביר abir yaacob, the Mighty One of Jacob. We have this epithet of God for the first time, Genesis 49:24. Hence, perhaps, the abirim of the heathen, the stout ones, the strong beings.
The Lord is great - Unlimited in his power: another reason.
Is above all gods - Every class of being, whether idolized or not; because he is the Fountain of existence. This is a fifth reason.
By wisdom made the heavens - In the contrivance of the celestial bodies, in their relations, connexions, influences on each other, revolutions, etc., the wisdom of God particularly appears.
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem - Such conduct would be, in effect, a renunciation of our land a tacit acknowledgment that we were reconciled to our bondage; a concession that we were pleased with our captivity, and could profane holy ordinances by using them as means of sport or pastime to the heathen. No: Jerusalem! we remember thee and thy Divine ordinances: and especially thy King and our God, whose indignation we must bear, because we have sinned against him.
Let my right hand forget - Let me forget the use of my right hand. Let me forget that which is dearest and most profitable to me; and let me lose my skill in the management of my harp, if I ever prostitute it to please the ungodly multitude or the enemies of my Creator!