Psalms 105:9

; and thy saints shall bless thee. 11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; 12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. 13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. 14 The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. 15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. 16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. 18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. 19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. 20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. 21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. The greatness and goodness of him who is optimus et maximus--the best and greatest of beings, were celebrated in the former part of the psalm; here, in these verses, we are taught to give him the glory of his kingdom, in the administration of which his greatness and goodness shine so clearly, so very brightly. Observe, as before, I. From whom the tribute of praise is expected (v. 10): All God's works shall praise him.

105:8-23 Let us remember the Redeemer's marvellous works, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. Though true Christians are few number, strangers and pilgrims upon earth, yet a far better inheritance than Canaan is made sure to them by the covenant of God; and if we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, none can do us any harm. Afflictions are among our mercies. They prove our faith and love, they humble our pride, they wean us from the world, and quicken our prayers. Bread is the staff which supports life; when that staff is broken, the body fails and sinks to the earth. The word of God is the staff of spiritual life, the food and support of the soul: the sorest judgment is a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. Such a famine was sore in all lands when Christ appeared in the flesh; whose coming, and the blessed effect of it, are shadowed forth in the history of Joseph. At the appointed time Christ was exalted as Mediator; all the treasures of grace and salvation are at his disposal, perishing sinners come to him, and are relieved by him.

Which covenant he made with Abraham,.... Or made it known unto him, and showed him his particular interest in it; promised that he would be his God, that he would bless him; and that in his seed, the Messiah, that should spring from him, all nations of the earth should be blessed, Genesis 12:2 , compare with this Luke 1:72 . And his oath unto Isaac: he made known to Isaac the oath which he swore to Abraham, and promised to perform it, Genesis 26:3, or concerning Isaac (a); in whom his seed was to be called, and in whose line from him the Messiah was to come, the grand article of this covenant. (a) de Isahac, Vatablus.

Verse 9. - Which covenant he made with Abraham (see Genesis 15:18 ). A promise was given even earlier ( Genesis 12:14, 15 ); but it is not spoken of as a "covenant." And his oath unto Isaac . The "oath" was originally sworn to Abraham ( Genesis 22:16 ); but a further promise to "perform the oath" was given to Isaac ( Genesis 26:3 ). Psalm 105:9

9, 10 . For the covenant with Abraham see Genesis 17:2 ff; Genesis 15:18 ; and cp. the promises, Genesis 12:7 ; Genesis 13:14 ff. The oath sworn to Abraham ( Genesis 22:16 ) was confirmed to Isaac ( Genesis 26:3 ), and to Jacob at Bethel when he was on his way to Paddan-aram ( Genesis 28:13 ff.), and again in the same place on his return, after his name had been changed to Israel ( Psalm 35:9 ff.). The promise made to Abraham was renewed to Isaac and Jacob, because in their persons it was limited to a particular branch of Abraham’s descendants. for a law ] For a statute, or, decree, as in Psalm 2:7 .

The poet now begins himself to do that to which he encourages Israel. Jahve is Israel's God: His righteous rule extends over the whole earth, whilst His people experience His inviolable faithfulness to His covenant. יהוה in Psalm 105:7 is in apposition to הוּא, for the God who bears this name is as a matter of course the object of the song of praise. זכר is the perfect of practically pledges certainty (cf. Psalm 111:5 , where we find instead the future of confident prospect). The chronicler has זכרוּ instead (lxx again something different: μνημονεύωμεν); but the object is not the demanding but the promissory side of the covenant, so that consequently it is not Israel's remembering but God's that is spoken of. He remembers His covenant in all time to come, so that exile and want of independence as a state are only temporary, exceptional conditions. צוּה has its radical signification here, to establish, institute, Psalm 111:9 . לאלף דּור (in which expression דור is a specifying accusative) is taken from Deuteronomy 7:9 . And since דּבר is the covenant word of promise, it can be continued אשׁר כּרת; and Haggai 2:5 (vid., Khler thereon) shows that אשׁר is not joined to בריתו over Psalm 105:8 . וּשׁבוּעתו, however, is a second object to זכר (since דּבר with what belongs to it as an apposition is out of the question). It is the oath on Moriah ( Genesis 22:16 ) that is meant, which applied to Abraham and his seed. לישׂחק (chronicler ליצחק), as in Amos 7:9 ; Jeremiah 33:26 .

To זכר is appended ויּעמרדה; the suffix, intended as neuter, points to what follows, viz., this, that Canaan shall be Israel's hereditary land. From Abraham and Isaac we come to Jacob-Israel, who as being the father of the twelve is the twelve-tribe nation itself that is coming into existence; hence the plural can alternate with the singular in Psalm 105:11 . את־ארץ כּנען (chronicler, without the את) is an accusative of the object, and חבל נחלתכם accusative of the predicate: the land of Canaan as the province of your own hereditary possession measured out with a measuring line ( Psalm 78:55 ).