PSALM 105 COMME TARYEDITED BY GLE PEASE

I TRODUCTIO

SPURGEO , "This historical psalm was evidently composed by King David, for the first fifteen verses of it were used as a hymn at the carrying up of the ark from the house of Obededom, and we read in 1 Chronicles 16:7, "Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord, into the hand of Asaph and his brethren." Such a song was suitable for the occasion, for it describes the movements of the Lord's people and his guardian care over them in every place, and all this on account of the covenant of which the ark, then removing, was a symbol. Our last psalm sang the opening chapters of Genesis, and this takes up its closing chapters and conducts us into Exodus and umbers.The first verses are full of joyful praise, and call upon the people to extol Jehovah, Psalms 105:1-7; then the earliest days of the infant nation, are described, Psalms 105:8-15; the going into Egypt, Psalms 105:16-23, the coming forth from it with the Lord's outstretched arm, Psalms 105:24-38, the journeying through the wilderness and the entrance into Canaan.We are now among the long Psalms, as at other times we have been among the short ones. These varying lengths of the sacred poems should teach us not to lay down any law either of brevity or prolixity in either prayer or praise. Short petitions and single verses of hymns are often the best for public occasions, but there are seasons when a whole night of wrestling or an entire day of psalm slinging will be none too long. The Spirit is ever free in his operations, and is not to be confined with, the rules of conventional propriety. The wind bloweth as it listeth, and at one time rushes in short and rapid sweep, while at another it continues to refresh the earth hour after hour with its reviving breath.

ELLICOTT, "The motive of this historical psalm is plainly declared in Psalms 105:44-45, and the scope which the author allowed himself in the survey of the past appears in Psalms 105:11. He wishes this generation to remember that the continued possession of the Promised Land is contingent on obedience to the covenant God. In fact, the psalm is an elaboration of the charge so often repeated in the Book of Deuteronomy: “For the Lord thy God shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day “(Deuteronomy 15:4-5).

The psalm dates from a time prior to the composition of the first Book of Chronicles, for it forms part of the compilation of song in chapter 16; but there is no other indication by which to assign date or authorship. The conjecture is probable

that it was compiled for liturgic use soon after the re-settlement in the country after the Captivity. The parallel structure, which is of the synthetic kind, alone gives it a claim to rank with poetry.

1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.

BAR ES, "O give thanks unto the Lord - The design here is to show that thanks should be given to the Lord in view of his dealings with his people, as stated in the subsequent portions of the psalm.

Call upon his name - More literally, “Call him by his name;” that is, Address him by his proper title; ascribe to him the attributes which properly belong to him; or, address him in a proper manner.

Make known his deeds among the people - What he has done in former times. The allusion is to his acts in behalf of his people in delivering them from Egyptian bondage, and bringing them to the promised land. The word “people” here refers to the Hebrew people; and the exhortation is, that the knowledge of these deeds should be diffused and kept up among them. One of the ways of doing this was that proposed by the psalmist, to wit, by a psalm of praise - by recording and celebrating these acts in their devotions. One of the most effective modes of keeping up the knowledge of what God has done in our world is by songs of praise in worshipping assemblies.

CLARKE, "O give thanks - He had been meditating on God’s gracious dealings with their fathers; and he calls upon himself and all others to magnify God for his mercies.

GILL, "O give thanks unto the Lord,.... These are the words of David, either to the singers, or rather to the whole congregation of Israel, the seed of Abraham, and children of Jacob, Psa_105:6 stirring them up to praise and thankfulness for their mercies, temporal and spiritual; for the Messiah they had hope and expectation of, typified by the ark now brought home; for the word and ordinances, and opportunities of waiting upon

God in them; for heaven and happiness, figured by Canaan's land given them to enjoy. Or, "confess or celebrate the Lord" (x); his greatness and goodness: his being and perfections; his sovereignty over all creatures: confess him as your Creator, Benefactor, covenant God and Father; or, "confess to the Lord" (y) your sins and transgressions committed against him, his great grace and kindness to you, and your unworthiness to receive any favour from him.

Call upon his name; as such may to advantage, who are thankful for what they have received from him; these may and ought to call upon him, or pray to him, in faith and fervency, with frequency and importunity, in the truth and sincerity of their souls; and at all times, especially in times of trouble. Some, as Aben Ezra, interpret it, proclaim his name, make it known to others; call upon them to serve and worship him. This sense is mentioned by Kimchi, and agrees with what follows:

make known his deeds among the people: which are the effects of his counsel, wisdom, power, and goodness; such as the works of creation and providence, and especially of grace, and salvation; and which were to be published among the Heathen, for the glory of his name: and indeed the Gospel, which is ordered to be preached to all nations, is nothing else than a declaration of what Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, have done and do.

HE RY 1-3, "Our devotion is here warmly excited; and we are stirred up, that we may stir up ourselves to praise God. Observe,

I. The duties to which we are here called, and they are many, but the tendency of them all is to give unto God the glory due unto his name. 1. We must give thanks to him, as one who has always been our bountiful benefactor and requires only that we give him thanks for his favours - poor returns for rich receivings. 2. Call upon his name, as one whom you depend upon for further favours. Praying for further mercies is accepted as an acknowledgment of former mercies. Because he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him. 3. Make known his deeds (Psa_105:1), that others may join with you in praising him. Talk of all his wondrous works (Psa_105:2), as we talk of things that we are full of, and much affected with, and desire to fill others with. God's wondrous works ought to be the subject of our familiar discourses with our families and friends, and we should talk of them as we sit in the house and as we go by the way (Deu_6:7), not merely for entertainment, but for the exciting of devotion and the encouraging of our own and others' faith and hope in God. Even sacred things may be the matter of common talk, provided it be with due reverence. 4. Sing psalms to God's honour, as those that rejoice in him, and desire to testify that joy for the encouragement of others and to transmit it to posterity, as memorable things anciently were handed down by songs, when writing was scarce. 5. Glory in his holy name; let those that are disposed to glory not boast of their own accomplishments and achievements, but of their acquaintance with God and their relation to him, Jer_9:23, Jer_9:24. Praise you his holy name, so some; but it comes all to one, for in glorying in him we give glory to him. 6. Seek him; place your happiness in him, and then pursue that happiness in all the ways that he has appointed. Seek the Lord and his strength, that is, the ark of his strength;seek him in the sanctuary, in the way wherein he has appointed us to seek him. Seek his strength, that is, his grace, the strength of his Spirit to work in you that which is good, which we cannot do but by strength derived from him, for which he will be enquired of. Seek the Lord and be strengthened; so divers ancient versions read it. Those that would be strengthened in the inward man must fetch in strength from God by faith and prayer.

Seek his strength, and then seek his face; for by his strength, we hope to prevail with him for his favour, as Jacob did, Hos_12:3. “Seek his face evermore; seek to have his favour to eternity, and therefore continue seeking it to the end of the time of your probation. Seek it while you live in this world, and you shall have it while you live in the other world, and even there shall be for ever seeking it in an infinite progression, and yet be for ever satisfied in it.” 7. Let the hearts of those rejoice that do seek him (Psa_105:3); for they have chosen well, are well fixed, and well employed, and they may be sure that their labour will not be in vain, for he will not only be found, but he will be found the rewarder of those that diligently seek him. If those have reason to rejoice that seek the Lord, much more those that have found him.

JAMISO , "Psa_105:1-45. After an exhortation to praise God, addressed especially to the chosen people, the writer presents the special reason for praise, in a summary of their history from the calling of Abraham to their settlement in Canaan, and reminds them that their obedience was the end of all God’s gracious dealings.

call ... name — (Psa_79:6; Rom_10:13). Call on Him, according to His historically manifested glory. After the example of Abraham, who, as often as God acquired for Himself a name in guiding him, called in solemn worship upon the name of the Lord (Gen_12:8; Gen_13:4).

among the people — or, “peoples” (Psa_18:49).

deeds — or, “wonders” (Psa_103:7).

CALVI , "1Praise ye Jehovah, etc. The object of these opening words simply is, that the offspring of Abraham should place all their blessedness in the free adoption of God. It was indeed a blessing not to be despised that they had been created men, that they had been cherished in the world by God’s fatherly care, and that they had received sustenance at his hand; but it was a far more distinguished privilege to have been chosen to be his peculiar people. While the whole human race are condemned in Adam, the condition of the Israelites was so different from all other nations, as to give them ground to boast, that they were consecrated to God. This is the reason why the prophet heaps together so many words in commendation of this grace. He does not treat of the government of the whole world as he did in the preceding psalm, but he celebrates the fatherly favor which God had manifested towards the children of Israel. He indeed names in general his works, and his wonders, but he limits both to that spiritual covenant by which God made choice of a church, that might lead on earth a heavenly life. He does not intend to include as among these wonders, that the sun, moon, and stars, daily rise to give light to the world, that the earth produces its fruit in its seasons, that every living creature is supplied with abundance of all good things for its food, and that the human family are liberally provided with so many conveniences; but he celebrates the sovereign grace of God, by which he chose for himself from amongst the lost race of Adam a small portion to whom he might show himself to be a father. Accordingly, he enjoins them to rejoice in the name of God, and to call upon him; a privilege by which the Church alone is distinguished. Whence it follows, that this language is addressed to none but true believers, whom God would have to glory in his name, since he has taken them under his special protection.

SPURGEO , "Ver 1. O give thanks unto the Lord. Jehovah is the author of all our benefits, therefore let him have all our gratitude.Call upon his name, or call him by his name; proclaim his titles and fill the world with his renown.Make known his deeds among the people, or among the nations. Let the heathen hear of our God, that they may forsake their idols and learn to worship him. The removal of the ark was a fit occasion for proclaiming aloud the glories of the Great King, and for publishing to all mankind the greatness of his doings, for it had a history in connection with the nations which it was well for them to remember with reverence. The rest of the psalm is a sermon, of which these first verses constitute the text.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Whole Psalm. —This is the first of a series of "Confitemini Domino" Psalms, "O give thanks unto the Lord" (Ps 105:1 106:1 107:1 108:1 136:1) —Christopher Wordsworth.Whole Psalm. —The 105th Psalm is a meditation on the covenant as performed on the part of God, the 106th on the covenant as kept by Israel. They both dwell on the predestinating will of God, electing men to holiness and obedience, and the mode in which human sin opposes itself to that will, and yet cannot make it void. —Plain Commentary.Ver. 1. —The first fifteen verses were written at the bringing up of the Ark, 1 Chronicles 6:1-81. They tell that it is sovereign grace that ruleth over all—it is a sovereign God. Out of a fallen world he takes whom he pleases—individuals, families, nations. He chose Israel long ago, that they might be the objects of grace, and their land the theatre of its display. He will yet again return to Israel, when the days of his Kingdom of Glory draw near; and Israel shall have a full share—the very fullest and richest—in his blessings, temporal and spiritual. —Andrew A. Bonar.Ver. 1. —Call upon his name. The original meaning of this phrase is call (him) by his name, i.e., give him the descriptive title most expressive of his divine perfections; or more specifically, call him by his name Jehovah, i.e., ascribe to him the attributes which it denotes, to wit, eternity and self existence, together with that covenant relation to his people, which though not denoted by the name was constantly associated with it, and therefore necessarily suggested by it. The meaning of the next phrase is obscured, if not entirely concealed in the common version, "among the people." The plural form and sense of the original expression are essential to the writer's purpose, which is to glorify the God of Israel among the nations. —Joseph Addison Alexander.Ver. 1. Make known his deeds among the people. The people of God were not shut up in that narrow corner of the earth for the purpose of confining within their straitened territories the true knowledge and worship of God; but God wished that to be the fixed seat of the church, from which the sound of heavenly doctrine should go forth into all nations. Therefore he chose Canaan, which is interjected among the most powerful nations of the world, that from it as from a fountain might more easily issue the doctrine of God to the rest, of the nations: as Isaiah says, "Out of Zion shall go forth the law." —Mollerus.

WHEDO , "1. Oh give thanks—This verse is the same as Isaiah 12:4. The one is copied from the other. Three particular modes of glorifying God are mentioned. The first is a personal offering to God of praise and thanksgiving; the second, prayer, as Genesis 4:26; Psalms 116:12; Psalms 116:17; the third to declare, teach, cause to be known among the people, (the nations) his deeds, Psalms 107:22

BE SO , "Psalms 105:1-4. Call upon his name — Or, proclaim his name, as קראו kiru bishmo, may be properly rendered: that is, proclaim the fame and glory ,בשמוof his works, as it follows. Make known his deeds, &c. — Let each of you among his people, and even among the heathen, declare God’s mighty acts as he has opportunity; glory ye in his holy name — Glory in the God whom you serve as the only true God, and a Being possessed of infinite power and goodness. For nothing can be so great an honour to you as that you are the servants of such a mighty Lord, who infinitely transcends all other beings. Let them rejoice that seek the Lord —That seek an acquaintance and friendship with him; that seek to know, love, and serve him here, and to enjoy him hereafter above all the things of the world; seek the Lord and his strength — That is, either, 1st, Seek him in his strength, namely, in his sanctuary, as some interpret the expression, or before the ark, which is called God’s strength: or, 2d, Seek his strength, that is, his grace or Spirit, to strengthen you against your enemies, to enable you to do and suffer his will, and to work in you that which is well pleasing in his sight. Many ancient versions read the clause, Seek the Lord, and be strengthened; and, certain it is, they who would be strengthened in the inward man, must derive strength from God by faith and prayer. Seek his face evermore — That is, his favour, or the light of his countenance; seek to enjoy this to eternity, and therefore continue seeking it to the end of the time of your probation. Seek it while you live in this world, and you shall have it while you live in the other world: and even then you shall be for ever seeking it in an infinite progression, and yet be for ever satisfied with it.

COKE, "An exhortation to praise God, and to seek out his works. The history of God's providence over Abraham, over Joseph, over Jacob in Egypt, over Moses delivering the Israelites, over the Israelites brought out of Egypt, fed in the wilderness, and planted in Canaan.

IT appears from 1 Chronicles 16:8 that David was the author of the first part at least of this psalm, after his obtaining several signal victories over the Philistines: and he himself, most probably, enlarged it afterwards with the glorious detail of the mercies of God to the ancestors of the Jews from the days of Abraham. There are some few variations, but of little consequence, in this psalm and that part of it which is found 1 Chronicles 16.; but what follows from thence to the end is different in both. As it is historical, there need but few words to explain it.

COFFMA , "PRAISI G GOD FOR WHAT HE DID FOR ISRAEL

We have been unable to find any authentic information about either the author or occasion of this psalm. After an introduction in the first five verses, the psalm

mentions with thanksgiving and gratitude the covenant with Abraham; Isaac and Jacob (Psalms 105:6-12); God's guidance of Israel into Egypt and out (Psalms 105:13-23); His goodness to them during times of oppression (Psalms 105:24-25); God's deliverance of them from Egypt by Moses and Aaron (Psalms 105:26-38); His mercies in the wilderness (Psalms 105:39-41); and finally His gift of the land of Canaan (Psalms 105:42-45).

The psalm thus becomes a somewhat chronological survey of the history of Israel's progress from the days of the patriarchs to the Promised Land. Surprisingly, there is no mention either of the Red Sea Crossing, or that of the Jordan. Also, there is no hint whatever of the many rebellions of the chosen people in the wilderness.

Here and them, there are bits of information which are supplementary to the account in the Pentateuch. This, it seems, is characteristic of inspired writings.

Another fact regarding this psalm is that the first fifteen verses of it appear almost verbatim in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22. Leupold wrote, "This psalm appears to be the original."[1] This could be true, only if an early date is accepted for the psalm.

"This is the second of the four great songs of Israel's history, the others being Psalms 78; Psalms 106; and Psalms 136."[2]

Psalms 105:1-5

I TRODUCTIO

"O give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name;

Make known among the peoples his doings,

Sing unto him, sing praises unto him;

Talk ye of all his marvelous works.

Glory ye in his holy name:

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah.

Seek ye Jehovah and his strength;

Seek his face evermore.

Remember his marvelous works that he hath done,

His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth."

"Make known among the peoples his doings" (Psalms 105:1). This is a

commandment for the people of Israel to tell among the Gentiles the wonderful deeds of the Lord.

Without any doubt, the most astounding events in human history are those clustered around the choice of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by none less than God Himself. The miracles of the most monumental character attended the development of the Chosen People and God's displacing the nations of Canaan, re-populating it with Israel. Why this heavenly `partiality,' if we may call it that, to the Jews?

In the purpose of God this elevation of Abraham's posterity to a "preferred status" in God's sight was absolutely necessary.

When the entire Adamic race became so corrupt that God destroyed them in the Great Deluge, the human family had another beginning in the family of oah; but when it soon became evident that the race of mankind was again on the road to total departure from God, Abraham and his descendants were selected for the purpose of preserving the knowledge of God on earth until the First Advent of Christ. Thus, Abraham was not chosen merely for his own sake, but for the sake of all mankind. Moreover, it was the particular ability of Abraham to command his children after him that entered into God's choice (Genesis 18:19). The redeemed of all ages, therefore, may thank God for the ability of Abraham. In God's first announcement of the choice of Abraham, he made it clear that "all the families of the earth" were included in God's purpose of salvation (Genesis 12:3).

"Remember his marvelous works, his wonders, and the judgments" (Psalms 105:5). This is the theme of the psalm. It is customary to break a psalm like this up into paragraphs; but as Rawlinson noted, "Such divisions here could be made only arbitrary, because there are no really marked divisions."[3]

CO STABLE, "1. Praise for God"s greatness105:1-6

The unknown psalmist called on Israel ( Psalm 105:6) to give thanks to the Lord in prayer, and to broadcast His deeds publicly. The people should sing His praises and take pride and joy in His character. They should also draw near to Him in prayer, seeking His help constantly. They should remember His works that inspire wonder and marvel in the beholder, and in the wise judgments that He has revealed.

EBC, "IT is a reasonable conjecture that the Hallelujah at the end of Psalms 104:1-35, where it is superfluous, properly belongs to this psalm, which would then be assimilated to Psalms 106:1-48, which is obviously a companion psalm. Both are retrospective and didactic; but Psalms 105:1-45 deals entirely with God’s unfailing faithfulness to Israel, while Psalms 106:1-48 sets forth the sad contrast presented by Israel’s continual faithlessness to God. Each theme is made more impressive by being pursued separately, and then set over against the other. The long series of God’s mercies massed together here confronts the dark uniformity of Israel’s unworthy requital, of them there. Half of the sky is pure blue and radiant sunshine; half is piled with unbroken clouds. othing drives home the consciousness of sin so

surely as contemplation of God’s loving acts. Probably this psalm, like others of similar contents, is of late date. The habit of historical retrospect for religious purposes is likely to belong to times remote from the events recorded. Psalms 105:1-15 are found in 1 Chronicles 16:1-43 as part of the hymn at David’s setting up of the Ark on Zion. But that hymn is unmistakably a compilation from extant psalms, and cannot be taken as decidedly the Davidic authorship of the psalm.

Psalms 105:1-6 are a ringing summons to extol and contemplate God’s great deeds for Israel. They are full of exultation, and, in their reiterated short clauses, are like the joyful cries of a herald bringing good tidings to Zion. There is a beautiful progress of thought in these verses. They begin with the call to thank and praise Jehovah and to proclaim His doings among the people. That recognition of Israel’s office as the world’s evangelist does not require the supposition that the nation was dispersed in captivity, but simply shows that the singer understood the reason for the long series of mercies heaped on it. It is significant that God’s "deeds" are Israel’s message to the world. By such deeds His "name" is spoken. What God has done is the best revelation of what God is. His messengers are not to speak their own thoughts about Him, but to tell the story of His acts and let these speak for Him. Revelation is not a set of propositions, but a history of Divine facts. The foundation of audible praise and proclamation is contemplation. Therefore the exhortation in Psalms 105:2 b follows, which means not merely "speak," but may be translated, as in margin of the Revised Version, "meditate," and is probably best rendered so as to combine both ideas, "musingly speak." Let not the words be mere words, but feel the great deeds which you proclaim. In like manner, Psalms 105:3 calls upon the heralds to "glory" for themselves in the name of Jehovah, and to make efforts to possess Him more fully and to rejoice in finding Him. Aspiration after clearer and closer knowledge and experience of God should ever underlie glad pealing forth of His name. If it does not, eloquent tongues will fall silent, and Israel’s proclamation will be cold and powerless. To seek Jehovah is to find His strength investing our feebleness. To turn our faces towards His in devout desire is to have our faces made bright by reflected light. And one chief way of seeking Jehovah is the remembrance of His merciful wonders of old, "He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered," [Psalms 111:4] and His design in them is that men should have solid basis for their hopes, and be thereby encouraged to seek Him, as well as be taught what He is Thus the psalmist reaches his main theme, which is to build a memorial of these deeds for an everlasting possession. The "wonders" referred to in Psalms 105:5 are chiefly those wrought in Egypt, as the subsequent verses show

K&D 1-6, "Invitation to the praise - praise that resounds far and wide among the peoples - of the God who has become manifest wondrously in the deeds and words

connected with the history of the founding of Israel. הודה�לה, as in Psa_33:2; Psa_75:2, of

a praising and thankful confession offered to God; קרא�בשם�ה, to call with the name of

Jahve, i.e., to call upon it, of an audible, solemn attestation of God in prayer and in

discourse (Symmachus, κηρύσσετε). The joy of heart

(Note: The Mugrash of ישמח with the following Legarme seems here to be of equal

value with Zakeph, 1Ch_16:10.)

that is desired is the condition of a joyous opening of the mouth and Israel's own stedfast turning towards Jahve, the condition of all salutary result; for it is only His “strength”

that breaks through all dangers, and His “face” that lightens up all darkness. יו� as ,מש�טי־Psa_105:7 teaches, are God's judicial utterances, which have been executed without anyhindrance, more particularly in the case of the Egyptians, their Pharaoh, and their gods.

The chronicler has יהו� and זרע�ישראל, which is so far unsuitable as one does not know

whether is to be referred to “Israel” the patriarch, or to the “seed of עבדו Israel,” the

nation; the latter reference would be deutero-Isaianic. In both texts the lxx reads עבדו (ye His servants).

BI, "Make known His deeds among the people.

God in Jewish history, an object of worship

I. Gratitude for His mercy is demanded.

1. The greatness of His favours.

2. The disinterestedness of His motives.

II. The celebration of His works is demanded (verse 2).

1. Publicly.

2. Rapturously.

III. Delight in Him is demanded (verse 3). If a noble son rejoices in his father because of the nobility of his character, the greatness of his influence, the superiority of his attainments, natural and acquired, the greatness of his resources, how much more should a true man delight in the Infinite Father, the Fountain of all goodness.

IV. Pursuit of Him is demanded (verse 4).

1. For this we were made.

2. This alone is our happiness.

V. The remembrance of Him is demanded (verse 5). There are here two subjects for memory.

1. God’s wonderful works for man.

2. God’s wonderful utterances to man.

God has spoken to humanity many things, many times, in many lands—wonderful thought! These words should be remembered by all men. (Homilist.)

2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

BAR ES, "Sing unto him - Sing before him; offer him praise.

Sing psalms unto him - The word here rendered “sing psalms” means properly “to prune,” and then, to” cut off,” as a discourse at regular periods; or, to utter in rhythmical numbers; and then it means to accompany such words with an instrument of music. The idea here is, that he is to be approached, not merely with “singing,” but with sentiments expressed in the form of regular composition - in musical numbers.

Talk ye - The word used here very commonly means to meditate, to muse (compare the notes at Psa_1:2), but would here seem to be employed in the sense of “talking over,” to wit, in singing. That is, In the psalms used let there be a “narrative” of what God has done. Let his works be the subject of the words used in the psalm.

Of all his wondrous works - Of what he has done that is suited to excite wonder and admiration. Compare Psa_77:12.

CLARKE, "Talk ye of all his wondrous works - niphleothaiv, “of his נפלאתיוmiracles.” Who have so many of these to boast of as Christians! Christianity is a tissue of miracles; and every part of the work of grace on the soul is a miracle. Genuine Christian converts may talk of miracles from morning to night; and they should talk of them, and recommend to others their miracle-working God and Savior.

GILL, "Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him,.... Both vocally and instrumentally, with the voice and upon instruments of music, as were used in David's time. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, are to be sung now, even the song of Moses, and of the Lamb. The wondrous things God had done for his people were sufficient matter for a song; and these were to be put into one, to be transmitted to posterity: it was usual in ancient times to hand down the history of memorable events by a song.

Talk ye of all his wondrous works: all the works of the Lord are wonderful; what David elsewhere says of himself may be said of them, that they are wonderfully made, even the least and most inconsiderable of them; and especially his works of grace, when it is observed for whom they are performed, or on whom they are wrought; sinful creatures, enemies to God, and deserving of his wrath. These are to be talked of freely and frequently, in friendly conversation, in order to gain a further knowledge of them, and warm each others hearts with them, and to lead into adoring and admiring views of the love and grace of God in them; and all of them deserve notice, none should be omitted, all are worthy of consideration and contemplation; for so the words may be rendered, "mediate" (z) "on all his wondrous works" Here is a large field for meditation; and when the heart is in a proper frame for it, meditation on the works of God is sweet, pleasant, and profitable.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 2. Sing unto him. Bring your best thoughts and express them in the best language to the sweetest sounds. Take care that your singing is "unto him, "and not merely for the sake of the music or to delight the ears of others. Singing is so delightful an exercise that it is a pity so much or it should be wasted upon trifles or worse than trifles. O ye who can emulate the nightingale, and almost rival the angels, we do most earnestly pray that your hearts may be renewed that so your floods of melody may be poured out at your Maker's and Redeemer's feet.Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Men love to speak of marvels, and others are generally glad to hear of surprising things; surely the believer in the living God has before him the most amazing series of wonders ever heard of or imagined, his themes are inexhaustible and they are such as should hold men spellbound. We ought to have more of this "talk": no one would be blamed as a Mr. Talkative if this were his constant theme. Talk ye, all of you: you all know something by experience of the marvellous loving kindness of the Lord—"talk ye." In this way, by all dwelling on this blessed subject, "all" his wondrous works will be published. One cannot do it, nor ten thousand times ten thousand, but if all speak to the Lord's honour, they will at least come nearer to accomplishing the deed. We ought to have a wide range when conversing upon the Lord's doings, and should not shut our eyes to any part of them. Talk ye of his wondrous works in creation and in grace, in judgment and in mercy, in providential interpositions and in spiritual comforting; leave out none, or it will be to your damage. Obedience to this verse will give every sanctified tongue some work to do: the trained musicians can sing, and the commoner voices can talk, and in both ways the Lord will receive a measure of the thanks due to him, and his deeds will be made known among the people.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 2. —Talk ye of all his wondrous works, yytalpn niphleothaiv, "of his miracles." Who have so many of these to boast of as Christians! Christianity is a tissue of miracles; and every part of the work of grace on the soul is a miracle. Genuine Christian converts may talk of miracles from morning to night; and they should talk of them, and recommend to others their miracle working God and Saviour. —Adam Clarke.Ver. 2. —Sing...talk, etc. Music and conversation are two things by which the mind of man receiveth much good, or a great deal of harm. They who make "Jehovah" and his "wondrous works" the subject of both, enjoy a heaven upon earth. And they who do in reality love the Saviour, will always find themselves inclined to "sing to him, "and to "talk of him." —George Horne.Ver. 2. —Sing psalms. It is not sufficient to offer the empty vessel of our joy unto God, or our singing voice in musical tune only; but also it is required that we fill our joyful voice with holy matter and good purpose, whereby God only may be reasonably praised: "Sing psalms unto him." —David Dickson.Ver. 2. —Sing psalms. Psalmody is the calm of the soul, the repose of the spirit, the arbiter of peace. It silences the wave, and conciliates the whirlwind of our passions, soothing the impetuous, tempering the unchaste. It is an engenderer of friendship, a healer of dissension, a reconciler of enemies. For who can longer count him his enemy, with whom to the throne of God he hath raised the strain? Psalmody repels the demons, and lures the ministry of angels. It is a weapon of defence in nightly

terrors and a respite from daily toil. To the infant it is a presiding genius; to manhood a crown of glory; a balm of comfort to the aged; a congenial ornament to women. —Basil.

3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

BAR ES, "Glory ye in his holy name - The original word rendered “glory” is the same word which is commonly used to denote “praise,” and it has that meaning here. The idea is, In your praises let the main subject be the name of God - that holy name by which he chooses to be known. The Hebrew is, “the name of his holiness.” It implies

(a) that we should rejoice in God - in his very name - in that by which he chooses to make himself known;

(b) that it is a special subject of praise and rejoicing that his name is “holy;” that is, that he is a holy Being.

This can be a subject of real rejoicing only to those who are themselves holy; but properly considered, one of the highest reasons for rejoicing in God is the fact that he is holy; that he cannot look upon sin but with abhorrence. There would be no ground of confidence in God if this were not so.

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord - That desire to know him; that come to praise him. Let their hearts rejoice - or, let them be happy:

(a) because they are “permitted” to seek him;

(b) because they are inclined to seek him;

(c) because they have such a God to come to - One so mighty, so holy, so good, so gracious.

CLARKE, "Glory ye in his holy name - Show the name Jesus: exult in it - praise it. His name was called Jesus; because he came to save his people from their sins.

Let the heart of them rejoice - That is, the heart of those shall rejoice who seek the Lord: therefore it is added: -

GILL, "Glory ye in his holy name,.... In the knowledge of it, as proclaimed in Christ; in being called by his name, and in having the honour to call upon his name; in the

holiness of it; and in Christ being made sanctification as well as righteousness, in whom all the seed of Israel are justified and glory; as they may also of interest in him, and communion with him.

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord; while he may be found, and where he may be found; who seek him in Christ, and under the guidance and direction of his Spirit; who seek him with their whole hearts, diligently and constantly. The Targum is,

"who seek doctrine from the Lord.''

Such may and should rejoice in him, and in him only; and that always, as they have reason to do, even in their hearts, since they that seek him find him; and whether it be at first conversion, or afterwards, or when he has for a time hid his face; it must be matter of joy to them, even to their very hearts, to find him whom they seek.

JAMISO 3-4, "Seeking God’s favor is the only true mode of getting true happiness, and His strength [Psa_105:4] is the only true source of protection (compare Psa_32:11; Psa_40:16).

Glory ... name — boast in His perfections. The world glories in its horses and chariots against the Church of God lying in the dust; but our hope is in the name, that is, the power and love of God to His people, manifested in past deliverances.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 3. Glory ye in his holy name. Make it a matter of joy that you have such a God. His character and attributes are such as will never make you blush to call him your God. Idolaters may well be ashamed of the actions attributed to their fancied deities, their names are foul with lust and red with blood, but Jehovah is wholly glorious; every deed of his will bear the strictest scrutiny; his name is holy, his character is holy, his law is holy, his government is holy, his influence is holy. In all this we may make our boast, nor can any deny our right to do so.Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. If they have not yet found him so fully as they desire, yet even to be allowed and enabled to seek after such a God is cause for gladness, To worship the Lord and seek his kingdom and righteousness is the sure way to happiness, mad indeed there is no other. True seekers throw their hearts into the engagement, hence their hearts receive joy; according to the text they have a permit to rejoice and they have the promise that they shall do so. How happy all these sentences are! Where can men's ears be when they talk of the gloom of psalm singing? What worldly songs are fuller of real mirth? One hears the sound of the timbrel and the harp in every verse. Even seekers find bliss in the name of the Lord Jesus, but as for the finders, we may say with the poet,"And those who find thee find a bliss, or tongue nor pen Call show:The love of Jesus what it is, one but his loved ones know."

K&D, "Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

Christian joy

I. Who are to rejoice? Only those who seek the Lord. When are you to seek? Now. Where are you to seek? In His Word, His promises, His ordinances. Remember, the real seeking of God is when you are drawn by the Holy Ghost.

II. The grounds upon which believers who thus seek, and yet have not altogether found, Christian joy and rest, may undoubtedly rejoice. Not only is there the certainty of success in the event, but that success implies eternal life.

III. Why we are bound to make it a matter of conscience that we should rejoice in the Lord.

1. The honour of God Himself is concerned in it.

2. The extension of the Redeemer’s Kingdom requires it.

3. Your own personal usefulness, strength, and power to resist evil, is concerned (Neh_8:10).

IV. But there are hindrances to this joy.

1. The great hindrance is, unbelief in the real provisions made in the Gospel of Christ. What is the first idea which crosses the mind of the sinner when he is told that he will have perfect joy? The first idea that arises in his heart is, the news is too good to be true. What is that? It leads to nothing more nor less than that there is unbelief in the promises of the Father. Too good to be true! What does St. John think of this? He who believes this makes God a liar! Too good to be true! It was the very news He was sent to proclaim; it was the good tidings of salvation, and nothing short of salvation, Christ published. Beware, then, of unbelief, for it is a hindrance to all joy.

2. Again, you cannot have joy and indulge in your own sins. Joy in the Lord and joy in the devil cannot go on together. If you love your sin, you hate God. (Bp. M. Villiers.)

Psalms 105:3

He brought them forth also with silver and gold.

A stanza of deliverance

Egypt may very fairly represent those states of sorrow and sadness, depression and oppression, into which God’s people come far too frequently. Specially is the house of bondage a true picture of our condition when we are convinced of sin, but are ignorant of the way to escape from its guilt and power. Then sin, which was once our Goshen of pleasure, becomes the iron furnace of fear. Glory be to God, He has now brought us out from that state of slavery, and we can sing of freedom given by His own right hand!

I. Our deliverance is by Divine power. When Israel came out of Egypt, it was Jehovah who brought with her armies. When any man is saved from spiritual bondage, it is the Lord Jesus who looseth the captive. But this does not exclude the use of means, or the action of the will. The Lord brought Israel forth; but they had cried unto the Lord by reason of their sore bondage, and they did not receive the blessing without desiring it, yea, and sighing for it; and when it came, they joyfully accepted it, and willingly trusted

themselves with him whom the Lord had made to be their mediator and leader, even Moses. They did not share the honour of their deliverance with God, but still they gave their hearty assent and consent to His salvation. Willing as they were to move, it was still true, “He brought them forth.” We can never escape from the bondage of sin by our own power. If we are ever set free from sin and Satan, it will be eternally and infinitely true that the Lord brought us forth out of the house of bondage. “Salvation is of the Lord.” There is no true liberty but that wherewith Christ makes you free. “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” Do you know what it is to be brought out of prison by a miracle of grace, by a revelation of the Holy Ghost, by the blood of Jesus shed for many? If so, you will join with all the saints in singing, “As for His people, He brought them forth.”

I. Our deliverance was attended with enrichment: “He brought them forth also with silver and gold.” The natives as good as said, “Take whatever you please of us, for we have all treated you ill. Only leave us alone; for plagues and deaths fall upon us thick and fast so long as Pharaoh detains you here.” However, this is not my point. I am dealing with more spiritual things. When God brings His people out of bondage, they come out enriched in the best and most emphatic sense. Trials and afflictions, which threaten to kill us, are made to sanctify us; and sanctification is the best form of enrichment. How much we owe to sorrow and sickness, crosses and losses! Our bondage ends in our coming forth with much that is better than silver and gold.

1. Thus do we come forth from conviction of sin. “Now tell me,” says one, “what does a man gain by being in a desponding, sorrowful condition, convinced of sin, and full of fears?” By the work of the Holy Spirit he will gain much. He will obtain a clearer knowledge of the evil of sin. An awful sense of guilt, an overwhelming conviction of sin, may be the foundation stone of a gloriously holy character. The tried and tempted man will also see clearly that salvation is all of grace. He can do nothing, and he knows it. When a child of God can spell grace, and can pronounce it clearly, as with the true Jerusalem accent, he has gained a great deal of spiritual silver and gold. Such persons gain by their soul trouble a fund of healthy experience. They have been in the prison, and have had their feet made fast in the stocks. “Well,” says one, “I do not want to feel that sort of treatment.” No, but suppose you had felt it, the next time you met with a brother who, was locked up in the castle of Giant Despair, you would know how to sympathize with him and help him. Where this is the result of severe trial, we may well say that the Lord has brought them forth with silver and gold.

2. Thus do saints come out of persecution. The Church is refined by the fires of martyrdom. Individual piety is also deeper, stronger, nobler in persecuting times than at other seasons.

3. Thus do believers come out of daily afflictions. They become wealthier in grace, and richer in experience. A man of God, whose life has been full of mental exercises and spiritual conflict, as well as outward tribulation, becomes, through Divine grace, a man of large wealth of knowledge, prudence, faith, foresight, and wisdom, and he is to the inexperienced like some great proprietor, by whom multitudes of the poorer class are fed and guided, housed and set to work. Those who have been much tried are in the peerage of the Church.

4. When you and I reach the shores of heaven, thus shall we come into glory. When we come forth out of our graves, it will not be with loss, but with enrichment. We shall leave corruption and the worm behind us, and with them all that earthly grossness which made us groan in these mortal bodies. God will bring us forth also

with silver and gold. What golden songs will we sing! What silver notes of gratitude will we pour forth!

III. Our deliverance is accompanied with health and strength: “There was not one feeble person among their tribes.”

1. This fact is typical of the health and strength of the newly saved. The Lord’s people, at conversion, are as a rule wonderfully strong in their love to Jesus, and their hatred of sin. In most cases our young converts, when they have truly come to Christ, even if they are a little timid, are vigorous, much in prayer, abounding in zeal, and earnest in speaking out the Gospel. Many of them, I believe, would die at the stake readily enough, while they are in their first love. In their earliest days nothing is too hot or too heavy for them, for the sake of Christ.

2. Full often it is so with the persecuted. A man who has fulfilled an apprenticeship to this hard master, is likely to be a man indeed. If he has endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, he will be fit to become an officer in the army, and an instructor of recruits.

3. It would be a glorious day if it were so with all God’s people, that there were none feeble. We should, as a Church, labour to reach this high standard. We would have the weakest to be as David, and David as the angel of the Lord. We would have our babes become young men, and our young men fathers in Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

4 Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

BAR ES, "Seek the Lord and his strength - Seek strength from him; seek that his strength may be imparted to you; seek him as a Being of almighty power; as One by whom you may be strengthened. The Septuagint and Vulgate render this, “Seek the Lord, and ‘be strengthened.’” Strength comes from God, and it is only by his strength that we can be strong; only by our making use of his omnipotence in our own behaIf that we can discharge the duties, and bear the trials of this life. Compare the notes at Isa_40:29-31.

Seek his face evermore - His favor. His smiling upon us, his lifting up the light of his countenance, is synonymous with his favor. See Psa_24:6; Psa_27:8. Compare the notes at Psa_4:6.

CLARKE, "Seek the Lord - Worship the one only Supreme Being, as the only and all-sufficient good for the soul of man.

And his strength - Man is weak; and needs connection with the strong God that he may be enabled to avoid evil and do good.

Seek his face - Reconciliation to him. Live not without a sense of his favor.

Evermore - Let this be thy chief business. In and above all thy seeking, seek this.

GILL, "Seek the Lord and his strength,.... The ark, which is called his strength, and the ark of his strength, Psa_78:61, because he had shown his great strength by it, in dividing the waters at Jordan, throwing down the walls of Jericho, and plaguing the Philistines because of it, when among them. This was a symbol of God's presence, before which he was sought by his people; and was a type of our Lord Jesus, the man of God's right hand, whom he has made strong for himself, and who is called his strength, Psa_80:18. Some render it, and which Aben Ezra makes mention of, though he rejects it, "seek the Lord in his strength"; or "by it": God is to be sought in Christ; he is the way of access to him. Or the meaning is, seek strength from the Lord; spiritual strength; strength to assist in the exercise of grace, and discharge of duty; seek it from him, in whom are both righteousness and strength. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions, render it, "seek the Lord, and be ye strengthened". The way to gain an increase of spiritual strength is to seek the Lord by prayer, or in his ordinances; see Psa_138:3. The Targum is,

"seek the doctrine of the Lord, and his law.''

It follows:

seek his face evermore: his favour and lovingkindness; his smiling countenance, which beholds the upright; his gracious presence, and communion with him; which is always desirable, ever to be sought after, and will be eternally and without interruption enjoyed in another world.

CALVI , "4Seek ye Jehovah, and his strength (204) Although he had in the preceding verse characterized the faithful by the honorable designation, those who seek God, yet he again exhorts them to earnestness in seeking him, which is not an unnecessary exhortation. Seeking God, it is true, is the mark by which all genuine saints are particularly distinguished from the men of the world; but they come far short of seeking him with due ardor; and, accordingly, they have always need of incitements, to urge them on to this exercise, although they run of their own accord. Those whom the prophet here stirs up to seek God are not fickle persons, nor such as are altogether indolent, and who cleave to the impurities of earth, but those who with a prompt and ready mind already aim at doing this; and he thus stimulates them, because he perceives that they are obstructed by many impediments from advancing in their course with sufficient rapidity. However willing then we may be, we have notwithstanding, need of such incitement to correct our slowness. The strength and face of God, doubtless refer to that kind of manifestation by which God, accommodating himself to the rudeness of the times, drew at that time true believers to himself. The ark of the covenant is in many other places called both the strength and the face of God, because by that symbol the people were reminded,

that he was near them, and also really experienced his power. (205) The more familiarly then God showed himself to them, with the more promptitude and alacrity would the prophet have them to apply their hearts in seeking him; and the aid by which God relieves our weakness should prove an additional stimulus to our zeal. Modesty also is recommended to us, that, mindful of our slowness in seeking God, we may keep the way which he has prescribed to us, and may not despise the rudiments through which he by little and little conducts us to himself. It is added continually, that no person may grow weary in this exercise, or, inflated with a foolish opinion of having reached perfection, may neglect the external aids of piety, as is done by many, who, after having advanced a few degrees in the knowledge of God, exempt themselves from the common rank of others, as if they were elevated above the angels. Again, the injunction is given to remember the marvelous works which God had performed, in the deliverance of his people from Egypt, when he displayed his power in new and unusual ways. By the judgments of his mouth, some understand the law. But as I read all the three expressions, his marvelous works, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth, as referring to one series of events, I prefer explaining it rather of the miracles by which God subdued the pride of Pharaoh. Still, however, there is some doubt as to the reason of this manner of speaking. Some are of opinion, that these miracles are called the judgments of God’s mouth, because he had foretold them by Moses, which is highly probable. At the same time, the expression might be taken more simply, as denoting that the power of God was manifested in an extraordinary manner in these miracles; from which it would be easy to gather, that they were performed by him. I do not mean to exclude the ministry of Moses, whom God had raised up to be a prophet to the Egyptians, that in denouncing what was to come to pass, he might show that nothing happened by chance. Yet I think there is an allusion to the manifest character of the miracles, as if it had been said, Although God had not uttered a word, the facts themselves evidently showed, that he was the deliverer of his people.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 4. Seek the Loan and his strength. Put yourselves under his protection. Regard him not as a puny God, but look unto his omnipotence, and seek to know the power of his grace. We all need strength; let us look to the strong One for it. We need infinite power to bear us safely to our eternal resting place, let us look to the Almighty Jehovah for it.Seek his face evermore. Seek, seek, seek, we have the word three times, and though the words differ in the Hebrew, the sense is the same. It must be a blessed thing to seek, or we should not be thus stirred up to do so. To seek his face is to desire his presence, his smile, his favour consciously enjoyed. First we seek him, then his strength and then his face; from the personal reverence, we pass on to the imparted power, and then to the conscious favour. This seeking must never cease—the more we know the more we must seek to know. Finding him, we must "our minds inflame to seek him more and more." He seeks spiritual worshippers, and spiritual worshippers seek him; they are therefore sure to meet face to face ere long.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 4. Seek the Lord, and be strengthened; so divers ancient versions read it. They that would be "strengthened in the inward man, " must fetch in strength from God by faith and prayer. "Seek his strength, "and then seek his face; for by his strength

we hope to prevail with him for his favour, as Jacob did, Hosea 7:3. "Seek his face evermore, "i.e., seek to have his favour to eternity, and therefore continue seeking it to the end of the time of your probation. Seek it while you live in this world, and you shall have it while you live in the other world, and even there shall be for ever seeking it, in an infinite progression, and yet be for ever satisfied in it. —Matthew Henry.Ver. 4. —His strength. In classical language, his aegis, or protection, his ark, the symbol of the divine presence. —John Mason Good.Ver. 4. —Seek his face evermore. It is added "evermore, "lest they should imagine that they had performed their duty, if they assembled twice or three times in the year at the tabernacle, and observed the external rites according to the law. —Mollerus.Ver. 4. —Seek...seek. one do seek the Lord so earnestly, but they have need of stirring up to seek him more earnestly; neither have any attained to such a measure of communion with God, but they have need to seek for a further measure: therefore it is said, "Seek the Lord, seek his strength, seek his face evermore." —David Dickson.

WHEDO , "4. And his strength— “Strength,” here, is sometimes understood figuratively of the sanctuary, as in Psalms 78:61. Thus, to seek God’s “strength” is “to be earnest and constant in attending upon the public worship of Jehovah in the place where his ark, the symbol of his ‘strength,’ is deposited.”—French and Skinner. But it is better to take it as in the English text. The “strength” of God was the refuge and defense of his people. See Psalms 27:1; Psalms 29:11; Psalms 68:34-35. It is parallel to seek his face—that is—his favour, in the next member.

5 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

BAR ES, "Remember his marvelous works ... - The works suited to excite wonder. Call them to remembrance in your psalm; seek the aid of music and song to impress the memory of them deeply on your hearts.

His wonders - His miracles. See Psa_78:43, note; Isa_8:18, note.

And the judgments of his mouth - That is, properly, the judgments which he pronounced on his enemies, and which were followed by their overthrow. The word does not refer here, as it often does, to his statutes or commands.

CLARKE, "Remember his marvellous works - Keep up communion with thy Maker, that thou mayest neither forget him nor his works.

The judgments of his mouth - Whatsoever he has spoken concerning good or evil. His commands, promises, threatenings; and particularly what he has foretold, and what he has done.

GILL, "Remember his marvellous works which he hath done,.... Which Aben Ezra interprets of the works of creation; rather they seem to design the works of Providence in favour of the children of Israel: best of all, works of grace done for his saints, none of which are to be forgotten; especially the great work of redemption and salvation, for the remembrance of which, under the New Testament, an ordinance is particularly appointed.

His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth: the above Jewish writer, by "wonders", understands the miracles in Egypt, the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians;

and by the judgments of his mouth, the laws and statutes given at Sinai: each of which were indeed to be remembered: but "his wonders" may take in all the wonderful things done in Egypt and in the wilderness, and in settling the Israelites in the land of Canaan; and "his judgments" may also intend the judgments which he threatened to bring upon the enemies of Israel, and which he did bring upon them as he said. The wonders of his grace, of his law and Gospel, his judgments and his testimonies, are not to be forgotten.

HE RY 5-7, " Some arguments to quicken us to these duties. 1. “Consider both what he has said and what he has done to engage us for ever to him. You will see yourselves under all possible obligations to give thanks to him, and call upon his name, if you remember the wonders which should make deep and durable impressions upon you, -the wonders of his providence which he has wrought for you and those who are gone before you, the marvellous works that he has done, which will be had in everlasting remembrance with the thoughtful and with the grateful, - the wonders of his law, which he has written to you, and entrusted you with, the judgments of his mouth, as well as the judgments of his hand,” Psa_105:5. 2. “Consider the relation you stand in to him (Psa_105:6): You are the seed of Abraham his servant; you are born in his house, and being thereby entitled to the privilege of his servants, protection and provision, you are also bound to do the duty of servants, to attend your Master, consult his honour, obey his commands, and do what you can to advance his interests. You are the children of Jacob his chosen, and are chosen and beloved for the fathers' sake, and therefore ought to tread in the steps of those whose honours you inherit. You are the children of godly parents; do no degenerate. You are God's church upon earth, and, if you do not praise him, who should?” 3. Consider your interest in him: He is the Lord our God, Psa_105:7. We depend upon him, are devoted to him, and from him our expectation is. Should not a people seek unto their God (Isa_8:19) and praise their God? Dan_5:4. He is Jehovah our God. He that is our God is self-existent and self-sufficient, has an irresistible power and incontestable sovereignty: His judgments are in all the earth; he governs the whole world in wisdom, and gives law to all nations, even to those that know him not. The

earth is full of the proofs of his power.

JAMISO , "judgments ... mouth — His judicial decisions for the good and against the wicked.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 5. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done. Memory is never better employed than upon such topics. Alas, we are far more ready to recollect foolish and evil things than to retain in our minds the glorious deeds of Jehovah. If we would keep these in remembrance our faith would be stronger, our gratitude warmer, our devotion more fervent, and our love more intense. Shame upon us that we should let slip what it would seem impossible to forget. We ought to need no exhortation to remember such wonders, especially as he has wrought them all on the behalf of his people.His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth —these also should be had in memory. The judgments of his mouth are as memorable as the marvels of his band. God had but to speak and the enemies of his people were sorely afflicted; his threats were not mere words, but smote his adversaries terribly. As the Word of God is the salvation of his saints, so is it the destruction of the ungodly: out of his mouth goeth a two edged sword with which he will slay the wicked.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 5. —Remember. How others may be affected I do not ask. For myself, I confess, that there is no care or sorrow, by which I am so severely harassed, as when I feel myself guilty of ingratitude to my most kind Lord. It not seldom appears to be a fault so inexplicable, that I am alarmed when I read these words, inasmuch as I consider them addressed to myself, and others like me. Remember, O ye forgetful, thoughtless, and ungrateful, the works of God, which he hath done to us, with so many signs and proofs of his goodness. What more could he have done, which he hath not done? —Folengius.

BE SO , "Verses 5-7Psalms 105:5-7. Remember the judgments of his mouth — Either, 1st, The laws delivered from his mouth: Or rather, 2d, The plagues, or punishments, which he brought upon Egypt by his mere word or command. O ye seed of Abraham his servant — Born in his house, his church, and being thereby entitled to the privileges of his servants, you are also bound to do the duty of servants, to consult your master’s honour, obey his commands, and do all that is in your power to advance his interest. Ye children of Jacob his chosen — To whom he restrains the former more general expression, because the posterity of Jacob were the only branch of Abraham’s seed included in the covenant, and entitled to the blessings here mentioned. He is the Lord — Hebrew, Jehovah, our God — A Being self-existent and self- sufficient, having an incontestable sovereignty over us, and unquestionable power to protect and save us. We depend upon him; our expectation is from him; and we ought to be devoted to his service. His judgments are in all the earth —Either, 1st, The fame of his judgments upon the Egyptians is spread over the face of

the whole earth: Or, 2d, He executes his judgments upon all nations and people.

6 you his servants, the descendants of Abraham, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

BAR ES, "O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen - All you who are descendants of Abraham and Jacob; the former being particularly mentioned here because he was the great ancestor of the Hebrew people; the latter, because the events referred to were closely connected with the history of Jacob -with his going down into Egypt, and with the division of the tribes named after his sons. The word rendered “his chosen” would seem in our version to refer to Jacob. In the original, however, it is in the plural number, and must agree with the word rendered “children,” “Ye chosen sons of Jacob” (compare Psa_105:43). So it has been translated in 1Ch_16:13, “Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.”

CLARKE, "O ye seed of Abraham - Ye Jews especially, who have been the peculiar objects of the Divine favor.

GILL, "O ye seed of Abraham his servant,.... These are the persons all along before addressed; the Israelites, who descended from Abraham, were his natural seed and offspring, and who had reason to give thanks unto the Lord and praise his name, since so many and such wonderful things had been done for them; though all that were his natural seed were not the children of God; and such who have the same faith he had, and tread in the steps he did, are Christ's, and partakers of his grace; these are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise; and are under the greatest obligations to praise the Lord. Abraham is here called his servant, as also in Psa_105:42, being a true worshipper of God; though sometimes his friend, which is not inconsistent; though this character, according to the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, belongs to his seed, they rendering it in the plural, "his servants". It follows,

ye children of Jacob his chosen; this is added to distinguish the persons intended from the other seed of Abraham in the line of Ishmael; for in Isaac his seed was called, which were the children of the promise, and that in the line of Jacob, and not in the line of Esau; from whom they were called Israel or Israelites, a people whom the Lord chose above all people on the face of the earth; for the word "chosen" may be connected with the children as well as with Jacob. The whole spiritual Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, all such who are Israelites indeed, as they appear to be the chosen of God, so

they are bound to praise his name.

JAMISO , "chosen — rather qualifies “children” than “Jacob,” as a plural.

CALVI , "6Ye seed of Abraham his servant. The Psalmist addresses himself by name to his own countrymen, whom, as has been stated, God had bound to himself by a special adoption. It was a bond of union still more sacred, that by the mere good pleasure of God they were preferred to all other nations. By calling them the seed of Abraham, and the sons of Jacob, he reminds them that they had not attained so great dignity by their own power, but because they were descended from the holy fathers. He, however, affirms at the same time, that the holiness of their fathers flowed exclusively from God’s election, and not from their own nature. He expressly states both these truths, first, that before they were born children of Abraham, they were already heirs of the covenant, because they derived their origin from the holy fathers; and, secondly, that the fathers themselves had not acquired this prerogative by their own merit or worth, but had been freely chosen; for this is the reason why Jacob is called God’s chosen Although Abraham is also here called God’s servant, (Genesis 26:24) because he purely and sincerely worshipped him, yet in the second clause it is testified that the commencement of this distinction was not to be traced to men, but to God alone, who conferred upon the Israelites the honor of choosing them to be his peculiar possession.

From this covenant the Psalmist infers that although the government of God extends through the whole world, and although he executes his judgment in all places, he was nevertheless especially the God of that one people, (verse 7) according to the statement in the song of Moses,

“When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people, according to the number of the children of Israel: For the Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.” Deuteronomy 32:8

The prophet again intended to show that the reason why the children of Israel excelled others was not because they were better than others, but because such was the good pleasure of God. If the divine judgments are extended through all the regions of the globe, the condition of all nations is in this respect equal. Whence it follows that the difference referred to proceeded from the love of God, — that the source of the superiority of the Israelites to other nations was his free favor. Although, then, He is the rightful proprietor of the whole earth, it is declared that he chose one people over whom he might reign. This is a doctrine which applies to us also at the present day. If we duly ponder our calling, we will undoubtedly find that God has not been induced from anything out of himself to prefer us to others, but that he was pleased to do so purely from his own free grace.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen. Should all the world forget, ye are bound to remember. Your father

Abraham saw his wonders and judgments upon Sodom, and upon the kings who came from far, and Jacob also saw the Lord's marvellous works in visiting the nations with famine, yet providing for his chosen a choice inheritance in a goodly land; therefore let the children praise their father's God. The Israelites were the Lord's elect nation, and they were bound to imitate their progenitor, who was the Lord's faithful servant and walked before him in holy faith: the seed of Abraham should not be unbelieving, nor should the children of so true a servant become rebels. As we read this pointed appeal to the chosen seed we should recognise the special claims which the Lord has upon ourselves, since we too have been favoured above all others. Election is not a couch for case, but an argument for sevenfold diligence. If God has set his choice upon us, let us aim to be choice men.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 6. —O ye seed of Abraham his servant. Consider the relation ye stand in to him. Ye are "the seed of Abraham his servant"; you are born in his house, and being thereby entitled to the privilege of his servants, protection and provision, you are also bound to do the duty of servants, to attend your master, consult his honour, obey his commands, and do what you can to advance his interests. —Matthew Henry.

EBC, "Psalms 105:6 contains, in the names given to Israel, the reason for their obeying the preceding summonses. Their hereditary relation to God gives them the material, and imposes on them the obligation and the honour of being "secretaries of God’s praise." In Psalms 105:6 a "His servant" may be intended to designate the nation, as it often does in Isaiah 40:1-31; Isaiah 41:1-29; Isaiah 42:1-25; Isaiah 43:1-28; Isaiah 44:1-28; Isaiah 45:1-25; Isaiah 46:1-13. "His chosen ones" in Psalms 105:6 b would then be an exact parallel; but the recurrence of the expression in Psalms 105:42, with the individual reference, makes that reference more probable here.

The fundamental fact underlying all Israel’s experience of God’s care is His own loving will, which, self-moved, entered into covenant obligations, so that thereafter His mercies are ensured by His veracity, no less than by His kindness. Hence the psalm begins its proper theme by hymning the faithfulness of God to His oath, and painting the insignificance of the beginnings of the nation, as showing that the ground of God’s covenant relation was laid in Himself, not in them. Israel’s consciousness of holding a special relation to God never obscured, in the, minds of psalmists and prophets, the twin truth that all the earth waited on Him, and was the theatre of His manifestations. Baser souls might hug themselves on their prerogative. The nobler spirits ever confessed that it laid on them duties to the world, and that God had not left Himself without witness in any land. These two truths have often been rent asunder, both in Israel and in Christendom, but each needs the other for its full comprehension. "Jehovah is our God" may become the war cry of bitter hostility to them that are without, or of contempt, which is quite as irreligious. "In all the earth are His judgments" may lead to a vague theism, incredulous of special revelation. He who is most truly penetrated with the first will be most joyfully ready to proclaim the second of these sister thoughts, and will neither shut up all God’s mercies within the circle of revelation, nor lose sight of His

clearest utterances while looking on His more diffused and less perfect ones.

The obligations under which God has come to Israel are represented as a covenant, a word and an oath. In all the general idea of explicit declaration of Divine purpose, which henceforth becomes binding on God by reason of His faithfulness, is contained; but the conception of a covenant implies mutual obligation, failure to discharge which on one side relieves the other contracting party from his promise, while that of a word simply includes the notion of articulate utterance, and that of an oath adds the thought of a solemn sanction and a pledge given. God swears by Himself-that is, His own character is the guarantee of His promise. These various designations are thus heaped together, in order to heighten the thought of the firmness of His promise. It stands "forever," "to a thousand generations"; if is an "everlasting covenant." The psalmist triumphs, as it were, in the manifold repetition of it. Each of the fathers of the nation had it confirmed to himself, -Abraham; Isaac when, ready to flee from the land in famine, he had renewed to him [Genesis 26:3] the oath which he had first heard as he stood, trembling but unharmed, by the rude altar where the ram lay in his stead; [Genesis 22:16] Jacob as he lay beneath the stars of Bethel. With Jacob (Israel) the singer passes from the individuals to the nation, as is shown by the alternation of "thee" and "you" in Psalms 105:11. The lowly condition of the recipients of the promise not only exalts the love which chose them, but the power which preserved them and fulfilled it. And if, as may be the case, the psalm is exilic or post-exilic, its picture of ancient days is like a mirror, reflecting present depression and bidding the downcast be of good cheer. He who made a strong nation out of that little horde of wanderers must have been moved by His own heart, not by anything in them; and what He did long ago He can do today. God’s past is the prophecy of God’s future. Literally rendered, Psalms 105:12 a runs "Whilst they were men of number," i.e., easily numbered. [Genesis 34:30, where Jacob uses the same phrase} "Very few" in b is literally "like a little," and may either apply to number or to worth. It is used in the latter sense, in reference to "the heart of the wicked," in Proverbs 10:20, and may have the same meaning here. That little band of wanderers, who went about as sojourners among the kinglets of Canaan and Philistia, with occasional visits to Egypt, seemed very vulnerable; but God was, as He had promised to the first of them at a moment of extreme peril, their "shield," and in their lives there were instances of strange protection afforded them, which curbed kings, as in the case of Abram in Egypt {Genesis 12:1-20] and Gerar, [Genesis 20:1-18] and of Isaac in the latter place. [Genesis 26:1-35] The patriarchs were not, technically speaking, "anointed," but they had that of which anointing was but a symbol. They were Divinely set apart and endowed for their tasks, and, as consecrated to God’s service, their persons were inviolable. In a very profound sense all God’s servants are thus anointed, and are "immortal till their work is done." "Prophets" in the narrower sense of the word the patriarchs were not, but Abraham is called so by God in one of the places already referred to. [Genesis 20:7] Prior to prophetic utterance is prophetic inspiration: and these men received Divine communications, and were, in a special degree, possessed of the counsels of Heaven. The designation is equivalent to Abraham’s name of the "friend of God." Thus both titles, which guaranteed a charmed, invulnerable life to their bearers, go deep into the permanent privileges of God-trusting souls. All such "have an anointing from

the Holy One," and receive whispers from His lips. They are all under the aegis of His protection, and for their sakes kings of many a dynasty and age have been rebuked.

7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

BAR ES, "He is the Lord our God - His name is Yahweh - the true God; and this God is ours. See the notes at Psa_95:7.

His judgments are in all the earth - More properly “in all the land;” that is, in every part of the land he is honored as our God. His institutions are established here; his laws are obeyed here; his worship is celebrated here. No other God is worshipped here; everywhere he is acknowledged as the nation’s God.

CLARKE, "He is the Lord our God - He is Jehovah, the self-existent and eternal God. He is our God, he is our portion; has taken us for his people, and makes us happy in his love.

The following abstract of the history of the Israelites presents but few difficulties. See the notes on Psalm 78 (note).

GILL, "He is the lord our God,.... Here begin the arguments to excite to praise and thankfulness; and the first is taken from what God is, and is to us; he is Jehovah, the Being of beings, a self-existent Being, the author of all beings, but receives his own from none; being undivided, independent, and self-sufficient, invariably and unchangeably the same, which is, and was, and is to come; and who has a sovereign power and authority over all creatures, whose name alone is Jehovah; nor is that name applicable or communicable to any created being; and yet this Jehovah is our God, our God in covenant, our God in Christ; our God that has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ; our God that has regenerated, adopted, and justified us; that supplies all our wants, and will be our God and our portion for ever; and therefore worthy of all praise, honour, and glory.

His judgments are all the earth: not his laws and statutes, his word and ordinances, or the revelation of his mind and will as faith and worship, which are sometimes meant by his judgments; for these were not in all the earth, were only known to the people of

the Jews at this time, Psa_147:19, rather his judgments on the Egyptians, or his plagues upon them for refusing to let Israel go, the fame of which was spread throughout the world: and may take in all the judgments of God in other parts of the world, as on Sodom and Gomorrah, and especially the universal deluge, which destroyed the world of the ungodly; and by such judgments the Lord is known, Psa_9:16 and for these he is to be praised; as they are expressive of his holiness and justice; as he will be for his judgments on antichrist, when they are made manifest, Rev_15:4. This may also respect in general God's government of the world, and his righteous judging in it; who is a God that judgeth in the earth, and governs it by his power and wisdom, and in righteousness; and this righteous Judge is our God.

JAMISO , "Rather, “He, Jehovah, is our God.” His title, “Jehovah,” implies that He, the unchangeable, self-existing Being, makes things to be, that is, fulfils His promises, and therefore will not forsake His people. Though specially of His people, He is God over all.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 7. He is the Lord our God. Blessed be his name. Jehovah condescends to be our God. This sentence contains a greater wealth of meaning than all the eloquence of orators can compass, and there is more joy in it than in all the sonnets of them that make merry.His judgments are in all the earth, or in all the land, for the whole of the country was instructed by his law, ruled by his statutes, and protected by his authority. What a joy it is that our God is never absent from us, he is never nonresident, never an absentee ruler, his judgments are in all the places in which we dwell. If the second clause of this verse refers to the whole world, it is very beautiful to see the speciality of Israel's election united with the universality of Jehovah's reign. ot alone to the one nation did the Lord reveal himself, but his glory flashed around the globe. It is wonderful that the Jewish people should have become so exclusive, and have so utterly lost the missionary spirit, for their sacred literature is full of the broad and generous sympathies which are so consistent with the worship of "the God of the whole earth." or is it less painful to observe that among a certain class of believers in God's election of grace there lingers a hard exclusive spirit, fatal to compassion and zeal. It would be well for these also to remember that their Redeemer is "the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe."

COFFMA , "Verse 7"He is Jehovah our God;

His judgments are in all the earth.

He hath remembered his covenant forever,

The word which he commanded to a thousand generations,

The covenant which he made with Abraham,

And his oath to Isaac,

And confirmed the same unto Jacob as a statute,

To Israel for an everlasting covenant."

These verses begin the list of God's wonderful works on behalf of Israel by citing the blessed covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the patriarchs of the Chosen People. It is not our purpose here to comment upon all the circumstances of the events mentioned in this historical summary. We have written detailed commentaries on the entire Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua; and anyone desiring to explore any of the things here mentioned will find our full comments under the verses cited in connection with each event. Regarding the covenant here mentioned, Genesis (Genesis 15; 21; 27) provides the details.

"The covenant" (Psalms 105:8-9). "God was in covenant with Israel from the time of the forefathers, and that covenant was essentially a promise."[4]

"And confirmed the same as a statute" (Psalms 105:10). "That covenant was not only a promise, but a law."[5]

"To Israel for an everlasting covenant" (Psalms 105:10). There is no limitation upon the duration of God's covenant with Israel. It is still in effect. Although the fleshly, or racial, Israel defected from the covenant, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the ew Israel, the True Vine, the Good Shepherd, now lives forever at the right hand of God; and "in Christ" all of the ancient covenant with Abraham is still valid. "If ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).

CO STABLE, "Verses 7-11God remembered His people ( Psalm 105:7, cf. Psalm 105:42), so His people should remember Him ( Psalm 105:5). God had been faithful to the Abrahamic Covenant ( Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 12:7; Genesis 15:18-21; Genesis 22:15-18; Genesis 28:13-15). He made this covenant with Abraham"s descendants as well as with him personally. A "thousand generations" means innumerable generations (cf. Exodus 20:5-6). ote that the psalmist called this covenant an "everlasting covenant" ( Psalm 105:10). That Isaiah , it would abide in effect as long at the earth abides. Of the three promises in the covenant, the writer mentioned only the land promise here.

K&D 7-11, "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 Psa_105:7 is in apposition

to הוא, 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. Psa_111:5, where we find

instead the future of confident prospect). The chronicler has זכרו 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. צוה has

its radical signification here, to establish, institute, Psa_111:9. לאלף�8ור (in which

expression דור is a specifying accusative) is taken from Deu_7:9. And since 8בר is the

covenant word of promise, it can be continued אשר�:רת; and Hag_2:5 (vid., Köhler

thereon) shows that אשר is not joined to בריתו over Psa_105:8. ושבועתו, however, is a

second object to זכר (since 8בר with what belongs to it as an apposition is out of the

question). It is the oath on Moriah (Gen_22:16) that is meant, which applied to

Abraham and his seed. לישחק (chronicler ליצחק), as in Amo_7:9; Jer_33:26. To זכר is

appended ו>עמרדה�; 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 Psa_105:11.

חבל�נחלתכם is an accusative of the object, and (את chronicler, without the) את־ארץ�:נעןaccusative of the predicate: the land of Canaan as the province of your own hereditary possession measured out with a measuring line (Psa_78:55).

BI 7-15, "He is the Lord our God: His judgments are in all the earth.

God in Jewish history, working for His people

I. His absolute sovereignty (verse 9). The selection of Abraham to distinguished privileges is only an example of what has been going on in the history of men in all times. All men are not alike endowed, nor alike distinguished in privilege. Some have more health, more beauty, more talent, more enjoyments, than others. Shall any find fault with this? “Who art thou that repliest against God?” We should, however, always remember that God’s sovereignty is not arbitrary power, not capricious impulse, but is evermore the free expression of His heart, and that heart is love.

II. His inviolable faithfulness (verse 8). Men fail to fulfil their promises from one of three reasons—either because they were insincere when they made the promise, or because they subsequently changed their minds, or because difficulties occurred which they never anticipated. None of these reasons can be ascribed to God.

III. His territorial proprietorship (verse 11). Let all landowners remember that the acres they call their own are only borrowed property, they are only tenants at will, or rather stewards, responsible for the use they make of every foot of ground.

IV. His compassionate superintendence. He watched over them.

1. When they were few (verse 12). How He watched over Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, only three! We lose individuals in the mass. To Him the individual is the object of interest, the individual is His offspring, representative, fountain of immeasurable influence. “Unto that man will I look.”

2. When they were wandering strangers (verse 13). Though unknown, ignored, it may be despised, the few wandered amongst ten thousand strangers, His eye was upon them, and His sympathies were with them.

3. When they were threatened (verses 14, 15). (Homilist.)

8 He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made, for a thousand generations,

BAR ES, "He hath remembered his covenant forever - That is, God has had it constantly in remembrance, or always. Compare the notes at Luk_1:72. Though the covenant was made long since; though many generations of people have passed by; though great changes have occurred; though many calamities have come upon the nations, yet his ancient covenant and promise have never been forgotten. All his promises have been fulfilled; all ever will be. The “covenant” here referred to is that which was made with Abraham, and through him with the Hebrew people.

The word which he commanded - The thing which he commanded; that is, all which he ordained and appointed.

To a thousand generations - Very many generations; or, any number of generations: that is, always. Compare Exo_20:6. The experience of the people through all the generations of their history has shown that in what he has promised and directed he is unchanging.

GILL, "He hath remembered his covenant for ever,.... Another argument of praise taken from the covenant of grace, in which he is our God, and of which he is ever mindful; he remembers his covenant ones, whom he perfectly knows, and never forgets them; he remembers his covenant promises to them, and allows them to put him in remembrance of them; he has respect unto his covenant, and the blessings of it, and bestows them on his people; gives them the sure mercies of David; and he remembers his love, which is the source and spring of all.

The word which he commanded to a thousand generations; that which is properly a covenant with Christ our head on our account, is a word of promise to us; a promise of grace and glory; a free promise, absolute and unconditional: and this he has "commanded", or ordered, decreed, and determined that it shall stand good, and be punctually performed, "to a thousand generations"; that is, for ever; for all his promises are yea and amen in Christ.

HE RY, "We are here taught, in praising God, to look a great way back, and to give him the glory of what he did for his church in former ages, especially when it was in the founding and forming, which those in its latter ages enjoy the benefit of and therefore should give thanks for. Doubtless we may fetch as proper matter for praise from the histories of the gospels, and the acts of the apostles, which relate the birth of the Christian church, as the psalmist here does from the histories of Genesis and Exodus, which relate the birth of the Jewish church; and our histories greatly outshine theirs. Two things are here made the subject of praise: -

I. God's promise to the patriarchs, that great promise that he would give to their seed the land of Canaan for an inheritance, which was a type of the promise of eternal life made in Christ to all believers. In all the marvellous works which God did for Israel he remembered his covenant (Psa_105:8) and he will remember it for ever; it is the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. See here the power of the promise; it is the word which he commanded and which will take effect. See the perpetuity of the promise; it is commanded to a thousand generations, and the entail of it shall not be cut off. In the parallel place it is expressed as our duty (1Ch_16:15), Be you mindful always of his covenant. God will not forget it and therefore we must not. The promise is here called a covenant, because there was something required on man's part as the condition of the promise. Observe, 1. The persons with whom this covenant was made - with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, grandfather, father, and son, all eminent believers, Heb_11:8, Heb_11:9. 2. The ratifications of the covenant; it was made sure by all that is sacred. Is that sure which is sworn to? It is his oath to Isaac and to Abraham. See to whom God swore by himself,Heb_6:13, Heb_6:14. Is that sure which has passed into a law? He confirmed the same for a law, a law never to be repealed. Is that sure which is reduced to a mutual contract and stipulation? This is confirmed for an everlasting covenant, inviolable.

JAMISO 8-11, "The covenant was often ratified.

word — answering to “covenant” [Psa_105:9] in the parallel clause, namely, the word of promise, which, according to Psa_105:10, He set forth for an inviolable law.

commanded — or, “ordained” (Psa_68:28).

to a thousand generations — perpetually. A verbal allusion to Deu_7:9 (compare Exo_20:6).

CALVI , "8He hath remembered his covenant for ever The Psalmist now celebrates the effect and actual fulfillment of the covenant, and proves from the deliverance wrought for the Israelites what he had stated before, namely, That God, while he reigned alike over all nations, extended his peculiar favor to the offspring of Abraham alone. How comes it to pass that God, in delivering his people, displayed the might of his arm by so many miracles, if it was not that he might faithfully perform the promise which he had made to his servants in time past? It is evident, then, that the ancient covenant was the cause of the deliverance granted to the chosen tribes; for in order that God might faithfully keep his promises, it behooved him first to be merciful. As a long series of years had elapsed between the promise and the performance, the prophet uses the word remember, intimating that the Divine promises do not become obsolete by length of time, but that even when

the world imagines that they are extinguished and wholly forgotten, God retains as distinct a remembrance of them as ever, that he may accomplish them in due season. This is more strongly confirmed in the next clause, where the correspondence between the form or tenor of the covenant and the accomplishment is celebrated. It is not for a day, he would say, or for a few days, that God has made a covenant with Abraham, nor has he limited the continuance of his covenant to the life of man, but he has promised to be the God of his seed even to a thousand generations. Although, therefore, the fulfillment was for a long time suspended, God nevertheless showed by the effect that his promise did not fail by length of time.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 8. He hath remembered his covenant for ever. Here is the basis of all his dealings with his people: he had entered into covenant with them in their father Abraham, and to this covenant he remained faithful. The exhortation to remember (Psalms 105:5) receives great force from the fact that God has remembered. If the Lord has his promise in memory surely we ought not to forget the wonderful manner in which he keeps it. To us it should be matter for deepest joy that never in any instance has the Lord been unmindful of his covenant engagements, nor will he be so world without end. O that we were as mindful of them as he is.The word which he commanded to a thousand generations. This is only an amplification of the former statement, and serves to set before us the immutable fidelity of the Lord during the changing generations of men. His judgments are threatened upon the third and fourth generations of them that hate him, but his love runs on for ever, even to "a thousand generations." His promise is here said to be commanded, or vested with all the authority of a law. It is a proclamation from a sovereign, the firman of an Emperor whose laws shall stand fast in every jot and tittle though heaven and earth shall pass away. Therefore let us give thanks unto the Lord and talk of all his wondrous works, so wonderful for their faithfulness and truth.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 8. —He hath remembered his covenant. As a long series of years had elapsed between the promise and the performance, the prophet uses the word "remember, "intimating that the Divine promise does not become obsolete by length of time, but that even when the world imagines that they are extinguished and wholly forgotten, God retains as distinct a remembrance of them as ever, that he may accomplish them in due season. —John Calvin.Ver. 8. —The word which he commanded. All that God says must of necessity be said with authority, so that even his promises partake of the nature of commands. —Joseph Addison Alexander.

WHEDO , "8. Covenant—See Genesis 17; Genesis 22:16-18; Genesis 26:3-5; and Genesis 28:13-15. This was the foundation of their national, not less than their church, life and character, and of all the promises of God to them as a people. Compare Galatians 3:16-17.

Commanded—Established with authority, as Psalms 111:9. This habit of appealing

to the perpetuity and validity of the ancient covenant, and later of the covenant with David, is a remarkable feature of the faith of the Hebrews. It was their firm anchorage in perils, and their lifeboat in the wreck of the nation during the Babylonian captivity. See Psalms 89:2-4; Psalms 89:18-37; Micah 7:20.

Thousand generations—Same as for ever in the first hemistich and Psalms 105:10.Deuteronomy 7:9. This “covenant” God had faithfully remembered, and the implied admonition to the people to remember it is at once delicate and forcible.

BE SO , "Verses 8-11Psalms 105:8-11. He hath remembered his covenant for ever — Or, will remember it; that is, practically, so as to perform and make it good. The word — The promise; which he commanded — Established, or appointed, to a thousand generations — To all generations; a certain number being put for an uncertain. And his oath unto Isaac — Wherewith he ratified the covenant with him, Genesis 26:3. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law — That it might be as firm and irrevocable as a law; saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan — The patriarchs had no right to it, save by promise, and their seed were to be put in possession of it, not by the common ways of settling nations, but by miracles; God would give it them himself, and, as it were, with his own hand; and so that it should be, as their lot, assigned and measured out to them by God, even the lot of their inheritance — To which they should have a sure title by virtue of their birth: it should come to them by descent, not by purchase; by the favour of God, and not by any merit of their own.

9 the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.

BAR ES, "Which covenant he made with Abraham - Which he “ratified” with Abraham. Literally, “which he cut with Abraham.” Gen_17:2-14. Compare the notes at Psa_50:5.

And his oath unto Isaac - Confirming the promise made to Abraham. See Gen_26:2-5.

GILL, "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, Gen_12:2, compare with this Luk_1:72.

And his oath unto Isaac: he made known to Isaac the oath which he swore to Abraham, and promised to perform it, Gen_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.

JAMISO , "Which covenant — or, “Word” (Psa_105:8).

CALVI , "As Abraham was the first who was called when he was mingled with idolaters, the prophet begins with him. He, however, afterwards declares that the covenant was also confirmed in the hand of his son and his son’s son. God then deposited his covenant with Abraham, and by solemn oath engaged to be the God of his seed. But to give greater assurance of the truth of his promise, he was graciously pleased to renew it to Isaac and Jacob. The effect of such an extension of it is, that his faithfulness takes deeper hold on the hearts of men; and, besides, his grace, when it is thus testified on frequent recurring occasions, becomes better known and more illustrious among men. Accordingly, it is here declared by gradation how steadfast and immovable this covenant is; for what is affirmed concerning each of the patriarchs belongs equally to them all. It is said that God swore to Isaac. But had he not sworn to Abraham before? Undoubtedly he had. It is also said that it was established to Jacob for a law, and for an everlasting covenant Does this mean that the covenant was previously only temporal and transitory, and that then it had changed its nature? Such an idea is altogether at variance with the meaning of the sacred writer. By these different forms of expression he asserts that the covenant was fully and perfectly confirmed, so that, if perhaps the calling was obscure in one man, it might be more evident, by God’s having transmitted the testimony of it to posterity; for by this means the truth of it was the better manifested. Here again we must remember that God with great kindness considers our weakness when, both by his oath, and by frequently repeating his word, he ratifies what he has once promised to us. Our ingratitude then appears the fouler in disbelieving him when he not only speaks but also swears.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 9. Which covenant he made with Abraham. When the victims were divided and the burning lamp passed between the pieces (Genesis 15:1-21.) then the Lord made, or ratified, the covenant with the patriarch. This was a solemn deed, performed not without blood, and the cutting in pieces of the sacrifice; it points us to the greater covenant which in Christ Jesus is signed, sealed, and ratified, that it may stand fast for ever and ever.And his oath unto Isaac. Isaac did not in vision see the solemn making of the covenant, but the Lord renewed unto him his oath (Genesis 26:2-5). This was enough for him, and must have established his faith in the Most High. We have the privilege of seeing in our Lord Jesus both the sacrificial seal, and the eternal oath of God, by which every promise of the covenant is made yea and amen to all the chosen seed.

10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

BAR ES, "And confirmed the same unto Jacob - literally, “caused it to stand;” that is, he made it fast or secure. He renewed it, commanding the same things; making the same promises; and pledging himself for its fulfillment in the same manner. Gen_28:10-15.

For a law - For an established or settled ordinance, for a rule by which future things were to be regulated: that is, they would occur according to that promise, and be conformed to it. It was, as it were, a rule which God prescribed for himself in regard to his own future conduct.

And to Israel ... - Another name for Jacob, Gen_32:28.

GILL, "And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law,.... The son of Isaac, and the grandson of Abraham, to whom it was renewed and confirmed, Gen_28:13. It is true of his posterity that go by his name, and even of all the spiritual Israel of God, to whom this covenant is confirmed and made sure: or "caused to stand" (b), as the word is; by the faithfulness of God by his oath annexed to his word, and by the death of his Son: when this is said to be "for a law", the meaning is, not as if this covenant had the nature of a law, as the covenant of works had; indeed one of the articles of it is, that the law of God should be put into the inward part, and written on the heart; but this refers here not to men, but to God; and the sense is, that this covenant has the force of a law with respect to God, who of his condescending grace and goodness has hereby laid himself under obligation to do such and such things; which is marvellous grace indeed.

And to Israel for an everlasting covenant: for being remembered, commanded, repeated, and confirmed by the Lord, it can never be broken; and being well ordered, remains sure, and is as immovable as rocks and mountains, and more so: as it was made with Christ from everlasting, it will continue to be made good to his people to everlasting; and is a just reason for praise; it being the basis of faith and hope; the ground of joy, peace, and comfort here, and of eternal happiness hereafter.

JAMISO , "Alluding to God’s promise to Jacob (Gen_28:13). Out of the whole storehouse of the promises of God, only one is prominently brought forward, namely, that concerning the possession of Canaan [Psa_105:11]. Everything revolves around this. The wonders and judgments have all for their ultimate design the fulfillment of this promise.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 10. And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law. Jacob in his wondrous dream (Genesis 28:10-15) received a pledge that the Lord's mode of procedure with him would be in accordance with covenant relations: for said Jehovah, "I will not leave thee till I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." Thus, if we may so speak with all reverence, the covenant became a law unto the Lord himself by which he bound himself to act. O matchless condescension, that the most free and sovereign Lord should put himself under covenant bonds to Iris chosen, and make a law for himself, though he is above all law.And to Israel for an everlasting covenant. When he changed Jacob's name he did not change his covenant, but it is written, "he blessed him there" (Genesis 32:29), and it was with the old blessing, according to the unchangeable word of abiding grace.

11 “To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit.”

BAR ES, "Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan - Gen_13:14-15.

The lot of your inheritance - Or, that shall be the lot of your inheritance; or, what

you shall inherit. The margin is, “the cord.” The Hebrew word - chebel חבל - means

properly a cord, a rope; and then, a measuring-line. Hence, it means a portion “measured out” and assigned to anyone as land, Jos_17:14; Jos_19:9. Compare Psa_16:6. The meaning is, that the land of Canaan was given by promise to the patriarchs as their lot or portion of the earth; as that which they and their descendants were to possess as their own.

GILL, "Saying, unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,.... To each of the above persons, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their posterity, the children of Israel. Not that the word "saying", as Gussetius (c) well observes, signifies that the words following it are expressive of the covenant, for that is expressed Psa_105:7, the main article, sum, and substance of it, being this, that the Lord was their God; but it only signifies that this earthly promise was pronounced when that everlasting covenant was given, Gen_17:7. Besides, this must be considered as typical of the heavenly inheritance; as that was a land of promise, so is this; it is the promise, the grand promise, which God has promised; as that was a land prepared and ready furnished with houses, fields, and vineyards, so is heaven a kingdom prepared by God the Father, and by the presence and mediation of his Son; as the Israelites passing through the wilderness met with many

difficulties, and fought many battles, before possessed of it, so the people of God pass through the wilderness of this world, go through many tribulations, and fight the good fight of faith before they lay hold on eternal life; and as not Moses, but Joshua, led the people into the land, so not the law, but Jesus the Saviour, the great Captain of salvation, brings the many sons to glory; and as that was a land of rest after fatiguing travels, is heaven the sabbatism or rest for the people of God, a rest from all their toil and labour; and as the one was the pure gift of God, so is the other:

to thee will I give, &c. And as the land of Canaan is here called "the lot of your inheritance", it being divided and distributed by lot to the children of Israel, who find each their proper share and portion, Jos_14:1 so heaven is an inheritance, not purchased, nor acquired, but bequeathed by the will of God; comes through the death of the testator Christ, belongs only to children, and is, as inheritances are, for ever; this is also by lot, as the word is in Eph_1:11, not that it is a casual thing, for it is appointed by the Lord for his people, and they for that; it is what they are predestinated to, as in the aforementioned text; but it denotes that everyone shall have their part and portion in it.

HE RY, " The covenant itself: Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, Psa_105:11. The patriarchs had a right to it, not by providence, but by promise; and their seed should be put in possession of it, not by the common ways of settling nations, but by miracles; God will give it to them himself, as it were with his own hand; it shall be given to them as their lot which God assigns them and measures out to them, as the lot of their inheritance, a sure title, by virtue of their birth; it shall come to them by descent, not by purchase, by the favour of God, and not any merit of their own. Heaven is the inheritance we have obtained, Eph_1:11. And this is the promise which God has promised us (as Canaan was the promise he promised them), even eternal life, 1Jo_2:25; Tit_1:2.

CALVI , "11.Saying, I will give thee the land of Canaan As this was only a small portion of the blessings offered to the fathers, the prophet seems at first view too much to limit the covenant of God, which extended even to the hope of an eternal inheritance. But he considered it enough to show, by the figure synecdoche, that a part of what God had promised to the fathers had received its complete accomplishment. His drift is to intimate that they did not possess the land of Canaan by any other right than because it was the legitimate inheritance of Abraham according to the covenant which God had made with him. If man exhibit the promised earnest of a contract, he does not violate the contract. When, therefore, the prophet proves by a visible symbol that God did not make a covenant with his servants in vain, and that he did not disappoint their hope, he does not take away or abolish the other blessings included in it. ay, rather, when the Israelites heard that they possessed the land of Canaan by right of inheritance, because they were the chosen people of God, it became them to look beyond this, and to take comprehensive view of all the privileges by which He had vouchsafed to distinguish them. Hence it is to be noted, that when He in part fulfills his promises towards us, we are base and ungrateful if this experience does not conduce to the confirmation of our faith. Whenever he shows himself to be a father towards us, he undoubtedly really seals on our hearts the power and efficacy of his word. But if the land of Canaan ought to have led the children of Israel in their contemplations to heaven,

since they knew that they had been brought into it on account of the covenant which God had made with them, the consideration that He has given to us his Christ, “in whom all the promises are yea and amen,” (2 Corinthians 1:20) ought to have much greater weight with us. When it is said, I will give thee the measuring line of Your inheritance, the change of the number points out that God made a covenant with all the people in general, though he spake the words only to a few individuals; even as we have seen a little before that it was a decree or an everlasting law. The holy patriarchs were the first and principal persons into whose hands the promise was committed; but they did not embrace the grace which was offered to them as what belonged only to themselves, but as what their posterity in common with them were to became sharers of.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 11. Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance. This repetition of the great covenant promise is recorded in Genesis 35:9-12 in connection with the change of Jacob's name, and very soon after that slaughter of the Shechemites, which had put the patriarch into such great alarm and caused him to use language almost identical with that of the next verse.When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, and my house." Thus the fears of the man of God declared themselves, and they were reasonable if we look only at the circumstances in which he was placed, but they are soon seen to be groundless when we remember that the covenant promise, which guaranteed the possession of the land, necessarily implied the preservation of the race to whom the promise was made. We often fear where no fear is.The blessings promised to the seed of Abraham were not dependent upon the number of his descendants, or their position in this world. The covenant was made with one man, and consequently the number could never be less, and that one man was not the owner of a foot of soil in all the land, save only a cave in which to bury his dead, and therefore his seed could not have less inheritance than he. The smallness of a church, and the poverty of its members, are no barriers to the divine blessing, if it be sought earnestly by pleading the promise. Were not the apostles few, and the disciples feeble, when the good work began? either because we are strangers and foreigners here below, as our fathers were, are we in any the more danger: we are like sheep in the midst of wolves, but the wolves cannot hurt us, for our shepherd is near.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 11. —The lot of your inheritance: literally lbh, the cord of your inheritance, an expression taken from the ancient method of measuring land by the cord or line; whence the measuring cord is metonymically put for the part measured, and divided by the cord. Thus, "the lines, Mylbx, the cords, are fallen unto me in pleasant places, "i.e., as the psalmist explains it: "I have a goodly heritage." Psalms 16:6 —Samuel Chandler.Ver. 11. —Your inheritance. The change of the number (from "thee" to "your") points out that God made a covenant with all the people in general, though lie spake

the words only to a few individuals; even as we have seen a little before, that it was a decree or an everlasting law. The holy patriarchs were the first and principal persons into whose hands the promise was committed; but they did not embrace the grace which was offered to them as belonging only to themselves, but as a blessing which their posterity in common with them were to become sharers of. —John Calvin.

COFFMA , "Verse 11"Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,

The lot of your inheritance;

When they were but a few men in number,

Yea, very few, and sojourning in it.

And they went about from nation to nation.

From one kingdom to another people.

He suffered no man to do them wrong;

Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,

Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones,

And do my prophets no harm."

These verses conclude the portion of the psalm which is given in 1Chronicles.

"I will give thee the land of Canaan" (Psalms 105:11). This promise to the patriarchs was indeed a marvel. They were at the time of the promise merely a handful of men; and there were seven mighty nations in Canaan. That God actually made this promise is proved by the fact of the Patriarchs' believing it and purchasing the Cave of Machpelah in Canaan as the family burial place (Genesis 23).

For long generations, this promise was a matter of faith. The patriarchs were landless; they were but a handful of people; they wandered about from nation to nation; "But God was at work protecting and blessing his people, looking to the ultimate fulfilment of the promise."[6]

"From nation to nation" (Psalms 105:13). "Abraham was in Egypt awhile, and Isaac was in Gerar"[7] (Genesis 12; Genesis 20; Genesis 26). Also Jacob was at Manahaim (Genesis 32), Shechem (Genesis 33), Bethel (Genesis 35), Ephraph (Genesis 35:16) and Egypt (Genesis 45-46).

"He reproved kings for their sakes" (Psalms 105:14). Those kings were Pharaoh (Genesis 12:17) and Abimelech (Genesis 10:7).

"Touch not mine anointed ones ... do my prophets no harm" (Psalms 105:15). "These words do not appear in Genesis, but they accurately express the lesson which the events taught."[8]

"Anointed ones" is a reference to the patriarchs as God's special servants, although there is no record of their being anointed. Abraham is called a prophet in Genesis 20:7.

12 When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it,

BAR ES, "When they were but a few men in number - literally, “In their being people of number, very little.” That is, They could then be easily numbered, and they were so few that they could not take possession of it themselves. This is in contrast with the promise then made to them that they should be in number as the stars, and as the sand on the sea shore.

And strangers in it - Foreigners. They were mere sojourners. They did not become incorporated with the people of the land. They did not acquire property there. They were regarded and treated as belonging to a foreign people. See the notes at Heb_11:9.

CLARKE, "But a few men - When all appearances were against them, and nothing but the arm of God could have brought them through their difficulties, and given them a settlement in the promised land.

GILL, "When they were but a few men in number,.... Or "men of number" (d), that might easily be numbered; see Gen_34:30, when this covenant, promise, and oath, were first made to Abraham, he was alone, and had no child; and when his posterity were increased in Jacob's time, and sojourned in Egypt, they were but few, though greatly enlarged when they came out of it: in comparison of other nations, they were the fewest of all people, and therefore had this grant of Canaan, not for their numbers any more than their goodness. And this circumstance is mentioned to show the unmerited goodness of God unto them; see Deu_7:6. And so the Lord's people, to whom he gives the kingdom of heaven, are a little flock; they are only a few that find the way to eternal

life, Luk_12:32.

Yea, very few; or "as a little thing" (e): so were the people of Israel a little contemptible body of men in the eyes of others, and in comparison of them. And such are the saints in this world; "the filth of it", and the "offscouring of all things";

yea, things that are not; that scarce deserve, in the opinion of men, to be reckoned entities or beings. And strangers in it; as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were, Heb_11:9, and so are the people of God, who are the heirs of the heavenly Canaan. These are strangers to the men of the world, who know them not; and the men of the world to them; with whom they have no conversation and fellowship in things sinful and criminal; for which they late despised by the world: yet these are the fellow citizens of heaven, and of the household of God, which shows his discriminating grace.

HE RY 12-15, ". His providences concerning the patriarchs while they were waiting for the accomplishment of this promise, which represent to us the care God takes of his people in this world, while they are yet on this side the heavenly Canaan; for these things happened unto them for examples and encouragements to all the heirs of promise, that life by faith as they did.

1. They were wonderfully protected and sheltered, and (as the Jewish masters express it) gathered under the wings of the divine Majesty. This is accounted for, Psa_105:12-15. Here we may observe,

(1.) How they were exposed to injuries from men. To the three renowned patriarchs, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, God's promises were very rich; again and again he told them he would be their God; but his performances in this world were so little proportionable that, if he had not prepared for them a city in the other world, he would have been ashamed to be called their God (see Heb_11:16), because he was always generous; and yet even in this world he was not wanting to them, but that he might appear, to do uncommon things for them, he exercised them with uncommon trials. [1.] They were few, very few. Abraham was called alone (Isa_51:2); he had but two sons, and one of them he cast out; Isaac had but two, and one of them was forced for many years to flee from his country; Jacob had more, but some of them, instead of being a defence to him, exposed him, when (as he himself pleads, Gen_34:30) he was but few in number, and therefore might easily be destroyed by the natives, he and his house. God's chosen are but a little flock, few, very few, and yet upheld. [2.] They were strangers, and therefore were the most likely to be abused and to meet with strange usage, and the less able to help themselves. Their religion made them to be looked upon as strangers (1Pe_4:4) and to be hooted at as speckled birds, Jer_12:9. Though the whole land was theirs by promise, yet they were so far from producing and pleading their grant that they confessed themselves strangers in it,Heb_11:13. [3.] They were unsettled (Psa_105:13): They went from one nation to another, from one part of that land to another (for it was then in the holding and occupation of divers nations, Gen_12:8; Gen_13:3, Gen_13:18); nay, from one kingdom to another people, from Canaan to Egypt, from Egypt to the land of the Philistines, which could not but weaken and expose them; yet they were forced to it by famine. Note, Though frequent removals are neither desirable nor commendable, yet sometimes there is a just and necessary occasion for them, and they may be the lot of some of the best men.

JAMISO 12-15, "few ... in number — alluding to Jacob’s words (Gen_34:30), “I being few in number.”

yea, very few — literally, “as a few,” that is, like fewness itself (compare Isa_1:9).

strangers — sojourners in the land of their future inheritance, as in a strange country (Heb_11:9).

CALVI , "12.When they were but very few in number The prophet here recounts the benefits which God had conferred upon the holy fathers from the commencement, to manifest that even long before the deliverance from Egypt, the covenant was not ineffectual. The great object aimed at in this recital, is to show that ever since God took Abraham under his protection, he cherished him in a wonderful manner, and also that his fatherly love and care were displayed in maintaining and defending the other two patriarchs. When it is said, that they were but very few in number, the power of God by this circumstance is not only magnified, but the cause why he was so beneficent towards them is also pointed out. We must then, in the first place, attend to this, that the prophet, lest the Jews should arrogate anything to themselves, expressly declares, that their fathers had experienced the divine favor, even when they were feeble and despised, wandering from place to place, in every respect poor and miserable according to the flesh. Thus also Moses reproaches them,

“The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you.” Deuteronomy 7:7,

In short, in the choosing of this people, no regard was had either to number, or to any excellence whatever. There was only the house of Abraham, and yet it was barren. Isaac was compelled to banish to a distance from him one of his two sons, and he saw the other cut off from his family. The house of Jacob was indeed more fruitful, but it was nevertheless of a low condition. Besides, they were not only ignoble and despised when sojourning in a strange land, but famine, and the want of other things also, compelled them frequently to go from one place to another. All these things being taken into view, the consideration of human worth falls to the ground, and it is clearly seen, that all the blessings which God had bestowed upon them flowed from no other fountain than his own free love. And the cause of this love is not to be sought for out of himself. If the Holy Spirit is so careful in magnifying the grace of God in these earthly blessings, how much more must he observe this rule, when the subject of which he speaks is the heavenly inheritance! When it is said, that they walked about from nation to nation, this intimates the more plainly how wonderfully the divine protection was displayed in preserving them. Had they found any quiet nest in which to repose, such comfort would have been a notable sign of the divine goodness; but when they were as exiles in divers countries, and were driven from one place to another with bitter scorn, as chaff is driven about by the wind, the guardianship which God exercised over them shone forth much more conspicuously. Since their life everywhere hung only by a thread, and the changing of their place of sojourn exposed them from time to time to fresh injuries, it is evident that it was the divine power alone which preserved them in safety.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 12. —When they were but a few men in number. bpom ytm. Literally, "homines numeri", men of number; so few as easily to be numbered: in opposition to what their posterity afterwards were, as the sand of the sea, without number. —Samuel Chandler.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 12. —One would think that all the world would have been upon them; but here was the protection, God has a negative voice, "He suffered no man to do them wrong." Many had (as we say) an aching tooth at the people of God, their finger itched to be dealing with them, and the text shows four advantages the world had against them. First, "They were few." Secondly, "very few." Thirdly, "strangers." Fourthly, unsettled. What hindered their enemies? It was the Lord's negative voice. "He reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." We see an instance of this (Genesis 35:5). When Jacob and his family journeyed, "the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob." They had a mind to pursue after them, to revenge the slaughter of the Shechemites; but God said, Pursue not, and then they could not pursue, they must stay at home. And when his people the Jews were safe in Canaan he encourages them to come up freely to worship at Jerusalem, by this assurance, " o man shall desire the land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God, thrice in the year" (Exodus 34:24). God can stop not only hands from spoiling, but hearts from desiring. —Joseph Caryl.

BE SO , "Verses 12-15Psalms 105:12-15. When they were but few in number — Hebrew, מתי מספר, methee mispar, men of number, so few as easily to be numbered, in opposition to what their posterity afterward were, as the sand of the sea without number: yea, very few —The word כמעש, chimgnat, thus rendered, signifies either small as to number, or as to regard and esteem. The meaning probably is, that they were insignificant and inconsiderable as to power, the fewness of their number being mentioned just before. And strangers in it — Such were the patriarchs in the land of Canaan. They went from one nation to another — Both in Canaan, where there were seven nations, and in Egypt. He reproved kings for their sakes — Both verbally, and by his judgments. Saying, Touch not — Hurt not, as the word נגע, nagang, is often used; mine anointed — My prophets, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are called God’s anointed, because they were eminently blessed of God, replenished with the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, in respect of which many persons are said, in the Scriptures, to be anointed, who never had any material oil applied to them; and because they were thus consecrated to be his peculiar people, and to be kings and priests in their families. And they are called prophets, because God familiarly conversed with them, and revealed his will to them, and by them to others.

COKE, "Psalms 105:12. When there were but a few men in number— It is literally men of number; so few as easily to be numbered; in opposition to what their posterity afterwards were, as the sand of the sea without number. See Horace, Ars Poet. ver. 206.

Populus numerabilis, utpote parvus, &c. They might with ease be numbered, being a few, &c.— JO SO .

The word כמעט kimeat, rendered very few, in the next clause, signifies either small as to the number, or as to regard and esteem. Thus Isaiah 16:14. The remainder shall be מעט meat; i.e. contemptible and few. I take this idea to be concluded in the word here, their being insignificant and inconsiderable; as the fewness of their number is mentioned just before. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were all strangers in the land of Canaan, and went about from one nation and kingdom to another, without being injured by those among whom they sojourned. Dr. Chandler,

CO STABLE, "Verses 12-41Psalm 105:12-15 describe God"s care of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (cf. Genesis 12-36). Psalm 105:16-23 summarize God"s preservation of the chosen family through Joseph"s protection ( Genesis 37-50). Psalm 105:24 refers to God"s increase of the Israelites during their Egyptian sojourn ( Exodus 1). Psalm 105:25-36 review how the Lord prepared His people to depart from Egypt with emphasis on the plagues He sent ( Exodus 2-12; cf. Psalm 78:44-51). Psalm 105:37-38 describe the Exodus itself ( Exodus 13). The order of the plagues is somewhat different from the order in Exodus , as is also true in Psalm 78 , another instance of poetic license. Psalm 105:39-41 recount His faithful care of His chosen people in the wilderness ( Exodus 14 - Deuteronomy 34).

"Given the prominent position of the first eleven chapters of Genesis in the Torah and the significant names that occur there, it is rather surprising that only one person from these chapters, Ham, is mentioned by name in the Psalter, and that one only incidentally [ Psalm 105:25; Psalm 105:29]." [ ote: Bullock, p100.]

K&D 12-15, "The poet now celebrates the divine preservation which had sway over the small beginnings of Israel, when it made the patriarchs proof against harm on their wanderings. “Men of number” are such as can be easily counted, vid., the confessions in

Gen_34:30; Deu_26:5; כוAו>תה places the claim upon the hospitality at one time of this

people and at another time of that people in the connection with it of cause and effect.

as a small number, only such a small number, signifies, as being virtually an ,:מעט

adjective: inconsiderable, insignificant, worthless (Pro_10:20). BC refers to Canaan. In

Psa_105:13 the way in which the words ויD and עם alternate is instructive: the former

signifies the nation, bound together by a common origin, language, country, and descent; the latter the people, bound together by unity of government.

(Note: For this reason a king says יEע, not וייD; and ויD only occurs twice with a

suffix, which refers to Jahve (Psa_106:5; Zep_2:9); for this reason ויD, frequently side

by side with עם, is the nobler word, e.g., in Deu_32:21; Jer_2:11; for this reason עם is

frequently added to ויD as a dignitative predicate, Exo_33:13; Deu_4:6; and for this

reason ויםD and עם�ה are used antithetically.)

The apodosis does not begin until Psa_105:14. It is different in connection with היותכםCin the text of the chronicler, and in this passage in the Psalter of the Syriac version, according to which Psa_105:12 ought to be jointed to the preceding group. The variation

(to any one whomsoever) לאיש is of no consequence; but מממלכה instead of ומממלכה

instead of דםF, in connection with הניח, restores the current mode of expression (Ecc_

5:11; 2Sa_16:11; Hos_4:17) instead of one which is without support elsewhere, but which

follows the model of נטש ,נתן, Gen_31:28 (cf. supra p. 171); whilst on the other hand

substitutes an expression that cannot be supported for the ולנביאי instead of ובנביאיcurrent one (Gen_19:9; Rth_1:21). In Psa_105:14 the poet has the three histories of the preservation of the wives of the patriarchs in his mind, viz., of Sarah in Egypt (Gen. 12), and of Sarah and of Rebekah both in Philistia (Psa_20:1-9, Psa_26:1-12, cf. especially Psa_26:11). In the second instance God declares the patriarch to be a “prophet” (Psa_20:7). The one mention has reference to this and the other to Gen. 17, where Abram is set apart to be the father of peoples and kings, and Sarai to be a princess. They are called

,an intensive active form) נביאים as eing God-chosen princes, and (a passive form) משיהים

from נבא, root נב, to divulge), not as being inspired ones (Hupfeld), but as being God's

spokesmen (cf. Exo_7:1. with Exo_4:15.), therefore as being the recipients and mediators of a divine revelation.

13 they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.

BAR ES, "When they went from one nation to another ... - Wandered about, as if they had no home and no fixed habitation. See Gen_12:6, Gen_12:9-10; Gen_13:1; Gen_20:1; Gen_26:1, Gen_26:17, Gen_26:22-23.

CLARKE, "When they went from one nation to another - From several circumstances in the history of the travels of the ancient Hebrews, we find that the wilderness through which they then passed was well peopled.

GILL, "When they went from one nation to another,.... From Chaldea to Mesopotamia; from thence to Canaan, and then into Egypt; and after that to Canaan again: which was the tour that Abraham took; and when in Canaan, and travelling from

place to place there, might be said to go from nation to nation, since there were seven nations in that country.

From one kingdom to another people; from the kingdom of Palestine or Canaan to Egypt, which was a strange people; and of another language, as appears by the use of an interpreter between them, Gen_42:23. So Isaac, Jacob, and his posterity, journeyed from one of these kingdoms to the other. Thus the children of God are pilgrims and strangers in this world; they are unsettled in it; they are travelling through it, and a troublesome journey they have of it; they are bound to another country, to which they belong; and their hearts are there beforehand; and they look upon this world as a strange place, and at best but as an inn; where they tarry but for a time, till they get to their own country, the better and heavenly one.

JAMISO , "from one nation to another — and so from danger to danger; now in Egypt, now in the wilderness, and lastly in Canaan. Though a few strangers, wandering among various nations, God protected them.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 13. When they went from one nation, to another, from one Kingdom to another people. Migrating as the patriarchs did from the region of one tribe to the country of another they were singularly preserved. The little wandering family might have been cut off root and branch had not a special mandate been issued from the throne for their protection. It was not the gentleness of their neighbours which screened them; they were hedged about by the mysterious guardianship of heaven. Whether in Egypt, or in Philistia, or in Canaan, the heirs of the promises, dwelling in their tents, were always secure.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 13. —From one kingdom to another people. Where we might have expected from kingdom to kingdom, the car is somewhat disappointed by the phrase, "from one kingdom to another people, " which may have been intended to distinguish the Egyptian and other monarchies from the more democratical or patriarchal institutions of the Arabians and other nations. —Joseph Addison Alexander.Ver. 13. —Though frequent flitting is neither desirable nor commendable, yet sometimes there is a just and necessary occasion for it, and it may be the lot of some of the best of men. —Matthew Henry.

14 He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings:

BAR ES, "He suffered no man to do them wrong - He protected them as they wandered from place to place, and as they were exposed to dangers. See the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in their wanderings, as it is recorded in the book of Genesis.

Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes - That he might protect them; that he might keep them from danger and from sin. See the case of Pharaoh in the time of Abraham, Gen_12:17-20, and the case of Abimelech, Gen_20:3, Gen_20:6.

GILL, "He suffered no man to do them wrong,.... Though strangers and unsettled, and moving from place to place; and few in number, and weak and defenceless. Thus the herdsmen of Gerar were not suffered to do any harm to Isaac and his herdsmen; but, on the contrary, the king of the place, with some of his chief men, sought an alliance, and entered into one with Isaac. Thus Laban was not suffered to hurt Jacob, nor the Sichemites to hurt him and his sons; the terror of God falling on all the cities round about, Gen_26:20. The people of God are in this world exposed to the injuries of the men of it, being as sheep among wolves; and it is often in the power of their hands to hurt them, as it was in the power of Laban to hurt Jacob; nor do they want an inclination, there being a rooted enmity in the seed of the serpent to the seed of the woman: but God will not suffer them; though they would willingly, like Balaam, curse them, yet they cannot curse whom God has blessed; he will not suffer them to injure them.

Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; as Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Abimelech king of Gerar; whom he reproved, both verbally and really, with words and stripes, Gen_12:17. Kings are to be reproved by men, when they do amiss, as Herod was by John Baptist; and may expect to be reproved by the King of kings, when they do wrong, especially to his people; who are themselves kings and priests unto God, and are esteemed by him above the kings of the earth, and made higher than they.

HE RY 14-15, "How they were guarded by the special providence of God, the wisdom and power of which were the more magnified by their being so many ways exposed, Psa_105:14, Psa_105:15. They were not able to help themselves and yet, [1.] No men were suffered to wrong them, but even those that hated them, and would gladly have done them a mischief, had their hands tied, and could not do what they would. This may refer to Gen_35:5, where we find that the terror of God (an unaccountable restraint) was upon the cities that were round about them, so that, though provoked, they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. [2.] Even crowned heads, that did offer to wrong them, were not only checked and chidden for it, but controlled and baffled: He reproved kings for their sakes in dreams and visions, saying, “Touch not my anointed;it is at your peril if you do, nay, it shall not be in your power to do it; do my prophets no harm.” Pharaoh king of Egypt was plagued (Gen_12:17) and Abimelech king of Gerar was sharply rebuked (Gen_20:6) for doing wrong to Abraham. Note, First, Even kings themselves are liable to God's rebukes if they do wrong. Secondly, God's prophets are his anointed, for they have the unction of the Spirit, that oil of gladness, 1Jo_2:27. Thirdly,Those that offer to touch God's prophets, with design to harm them, may expect to hear of it one way or other. God is jealous for his prophets; whoso touches them touches the apple of his eye. Fourthly, Even those that touch the prophets, nay that kill the prophets(as many did), cannot do them any harm, any real harm. Lastly, God's anointed prophets are dearer to him than anointed kings themselves. Jeroboam's hand was

withered when it was stretched out against a prophet.

JAMISO , "reproved kings — Pharaoh of Egypt and Abimelech of Gerar (Gen_12:17; Gen_20:3).

CALVI , "14.He did not suffer men to hurt them Abraham and his children had not merely two or three enemies: they were harassed by whole nations. As then many rose up one after another in troops against them, the Psalmist says indefinitely, that men were withheld from hurting them; for אדם, adam, is the word here used, which is the one most generally employed to signify man He next amplifies the love of God towards his servants, in setting himself in opposition to kings for their sake. When God did not spare even the kings of Egypt and Gerar, it is evident how precious the welfare of Abraham and his offspring was in his sight. We have said a little before that the holy fathers were of no estimation in the eyes of the world. God therefore displayed his goodness so much the more signally in preferring them to kings. ow we here see, that the Jews were humbled in the person of their fathers, that they might not imagine that they found favor in the sight of God by any merit of their own.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 14. He suffered no man to do them wrong. Men cannot wrong us unless he suffers them to do so; the greatest of them must wait his permission before they can place a finger upon us. The wicked would devour us if they could, but they cannot even cheat us of a farthing without divine sufferance.Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes. Pharaoh and Abimelech must both be made to respect the singular strangers who had come to sojourn in their land; the greatest kings are very second rate persons with God in comparison with his chosen servants.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 14. —He suffered no man to do them, wrong. As many rose up, one after another, in troops against them, the Psalmist says indefinitely, that men were withheld from hurting them; for mda, Adam, is the word here used, which is the one most generally employed to signify man. —John Calvin.Ver. 14. —I resolve the words into these three parts.1. Here is the nearness and the dearness of the saints unto God. They are dearer to him than kings and states, simply considered; that is, otherwise than as they in their persons are also saints; for you see that for their sakes he reproved kings, and so sheweth that he prefers them to kings.2. Here is the great danger to kings and states, to deal with his saints otherwise than well. Which appeareth many ways; for he doth not only in words give a charge not to touch them, but he carries it in a high way (for so God will do when he pleads their cause). Touch them not; as if he had said, Let me see if you dare so much as touch them; and it is with an intimation of the highest threatening if they should; upon your peril if you do so; for that is the scope of such a speech. And accordingly in deeds he made this good; for the text saith he suffered no man to do them wrong; not that he did altogether prevent all wrong and injuries, for they received many as they went through those lands; but at no time did lie let it go unpunished. In that

sense he suffered them not. You know how he plagued Pharaoh, king of Egypt, with great plagues, and all his household, for Abraham's wife's sake, Genesis 7:1-24. And so Abimelech, king of Gerar, the Lord cometh upon him with a greatness, and his first word is in Genesis 2:3, "Behold, thou art but a dead man, "afore he had first told him why or wherefore, though then he adds the reason; he brings him upon his knees, verse 4, bids him look to it, that he give satisfaction to Abraham, and restore his wife to him again, verse 7; and well he escaped so; and tells him also that he must be beholden to Abraham's prayers for his life. "He is a prophet, "saith he, "and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live."3. The third is the care and protection which God had over them, set and amplified, 1, by the number and condition of the persons whom he defended; though "few men in number, "that is, soon reckoned, for their power and strength a few, or very small, eivs mikron, so the Septuagint in the parallel place, 1 Chronicles 16:19; as also, 2, by what he did for them: He suffered no man, how great soever, to do them any wrong, how small soever; not without recompense and satisfaction; not to do it, though they had a mind to it. Though the people had an ill eye at them, Genesis 26:11, God causeth Abimelech to make a law on purpose; Abimelech charged all his people in Isaac's behalf, and spake in the very words of the text, "He that toucheth this man or his wife shall be put to death." —Thomas Goodwin.

MACLARE , "I VIOLABLE MESSIAHS A D PROPHETSPsalms 105:14 - Psalms 105:15.The original reference of these words is to the fathers of the Jewish people-the three wandering shepherds, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Psalmist transfers to them the great titles which properly belong to a later period of Jewish history. one of the three were ever in the literal sense of the word ‘anointed,’ but all the three had what anointing symbolised. one of them were in the literal or narrow sense of the word ‘prophets’-that is to say, predicters of future events-but one of them was called a ‘prophet’ even in his lifetime. And they all possessed that intimacy of communion with God which imparted the power of forth-speaking for Him. Insignificant as they were, they were bigger than the Pharaohs and Abimelechs and the other kinglets that strutted their little day beside them. Astonished as the monarch of Egypt would have been, or the king of the Philistines either, if he had been told that the wandering shepherd was of far more importance for the world than he was, it was true. ‘He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, He reproved kings for their sakes, saying, Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.’

Further, as Judaism, with its anointings and prophecies was a narrower system following upon a wider one, so a wider one has succeeded it; and we step into the position occupied by these patriarchs-on whose heads no anointing oil had been poured, and into whose lips no supernatural gifts of prediction had been infused. It is no arrogance, but the simplest recognition of the essential facts of the case, if we take these words of the Psalmist’s and transfer them bodily to the whole mass of Christian people, and to each individual atom that makes up the mass. All are anointed; all are prophets; of all it is true that God suffers no man nor thing to do them wrong. And kings and dynasties and the politics of the world are all in the hands of One whose supreme purpose is that through men there may be made

known to all mankind the significant tidings of His love. Therefore, His Church is founded upon a rock, and earth is the servant of the servants of God.I. Every Christian is a ‘messiah.’You know that the word ‘anointed’ is a translation of the Hebrew word ‘Messiah,’ or of the Greek word ‘Christ.’ The meaning of the symbolic ‘anointing’ was simply consecration to office by the divine will, and endowment with the capacity for that office by the divine gift. In the ancient system it was mainly employed-though not, perhaps, exclusively-as a means of designating, and when received in humble dependence on God, of fitting, a man for the two great offices of king and priest.Oil was an appropriate symbol. Its gentle flow, its soothing, suppling effect, and in another aspect, its value as a means of invigoration and sustenance, and in yet another, as a source of light, peculiarly adapted it to be an emblem of the bestowment on a patient and trustful and submissive heart that was saying, ‘Lord, take me, and use me as Thou wilt,’ of that divine Spirit by whose silent, sweet, soft-flowing, strong influences men were prepared for God’s service.Jesus was the Christ, the Messias, because that Divine Spirit dwelt in Him without measure. If we are Christians in the real sense of the word, then, however imperfectly, yet really, and by God’s grace increasingly, there is such a union between us and our Saviour as that into us there does flow the anointing of His Spirit. There being a community of life derived from the Source of Life, it is no presumption to say that every Christian man is a Christ.The word has been used of late with unwise significations, but the truth that has been inadequately expressed by such uses is the great truth of Scripture; ‘He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit,’ and there does flow the anointing oil from the head of the High Priest to the skirts of the garments. Every man and woman who has any hold of Jesus Christ at all, in the measure of his or her hold, is drawing from Him this ‘unction of the Holy One.’ So, brethren, rise to the solemnity, the awfulness, the joyfulness of your true position, and understand that you, too, are anointed, though not for the same purposes {and in humbler and derived fashion}, for which the Spirit dwelt without measure upon ‘the First-born among many brethren.’Kings were anointed; and when that divine gift comes into a man’s heart, it, and as I believe, only it, makes him lord of himself, of circumstances, of time, and of the world. ‘All things are yours, and ye are Christ’s.’ There is one real royalty-the royalty of the man who rules because he submits. Every Christian soul may be described as Gideon’s brethren were described, ‘As thou art, so were they: each one resembled the children of a king,’ for if Christ’s Spirit is in the Christian’s spirit, the disciple will grow like his Master, and it will be growingly true of us, that ‘as He is, so are we in this world.’Priests were anointed. And we, if we are Christian people, have the prerogative of direct access to the Divine Presence, and need neither Church nor sacraments to intervene or mediate between us and Him. The true democracy of Christianity lies in that word ‘Mine anointed.’II. Further, every Christian man is a prophet.I have already said that there is no historical warrant for supposing that the gift of prophecy, in its narrower sense, was ever bestowed upon any of these patriarchs. But prediction is only one corner of the prophetic office. The word is connected with a root which means ‘to boil, or bubble like a fountain,’ and it expresses, not so much

the theme of the utterance as its nature. The welling up, from a full heart, of God’s thoughts and God’s truth, that is prophecy. The patriarchs were prophets, not in the sense that they had the gift of beholding and foretelling visions of the future, and all the wonder that should be, but in the higher sense-for it is the higher as well as broader-of being bearers of a divine word, breathed into them by that anointing Spirit, that it might be uttered forth by them. That sort of prophetic inspiration belongs to all Christians. It is the result of the relationship between Christ and Christians of which we have been speaking. Every one who has been anointed will be thus gifted.God’s ‘messiahs’ will be God’s prophets. If we are in touch with God, and have our hearts and whole spiritual natures drawn and kept so near Him as that we are ever receiving from Him of His transcendent and mysterious life, then silence will be impossible. The lips will not be able to contain themselves, but will speak forth that of which the heart is full. And thus every Christian man, in the measure of his true Christianity, will be a prophet of the most High.I do not need to point the lesson. A silent Christian is an anomaly, a contradiction in terms, as much as black light, or dark stars. If Christ is in you He will come out of you. If your hearts are full the crystal treasure will flow over the brim. It is easy to be dumb when you have nothing to say, and that is the condition of hundreds of people who fancy themselves to be, and are called by others, ‘Christians.’ ‘Mine anointed’ cannot help being ‘My prophets.’ If you are not prophets, if there never is any bubbling up of the fountain demanding utterance, ask yourselves whether there is any fountain there at all.III. And so, lastly, every Christian man, in his double capacity of anointed and prophet, is watched over by God.One is tempted to diverge into wider considerations, and speak of the relative importance of things secular and sacred {to adopt a doubtful distinction} in the history of the world, and how the former are for the sake of the latter. But I do not yield to the temptation. Let me rather take the thought here as it applies to our own little lives.Abraham more than once in his lifetime, though sometimes by his own fault, was brought into very perilous places. There are one or two incidents which are familiar to most of us, I dare say, in his life which are evidently referred to in the phrase ‘He reproved kings for their sakes.’ The principle remains in full force to-day, and God says to every thing and person, Death included, ‘Do My prophets no harm.’ They may slay; they cannot harm. If I might use a very homely metaphor, sportsmen train retriever dogs to bring their game without ruffling a feather. God trains evils and sorrows to lay hold of us, and bring us to, and lay us down at, His feet untouched.There is no real harm in so-called evil. That is the interpretation that Christianity gives to such words as this of my text, not because it is forced to weaken them by the obstinate facts of life, but because it has learned to strengthen them by the understanding of what is harm and what is good; what is gain and what is loss. Peter shall be delivered out of prison by the skin of his teeth when they are hammering at the scaffold on the other side of the wall, and the dawn is just beginning to show itself in the sky; whilst James shall have his head cut off. Was that because God loved Peter better than James? Was one harmed and the other

not? Ah! Peter’s turn came all in good time. Peter and his brother Paul had both to bow their necks to the headsman’s sword one day, although one of them said, ‘Who shall harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?’ and the other said, when within sight of his death, ‘He shall deliver me from every evil work.’ Were they disappointed? Let us hear how Paul ends the same verse: ‘and shall save me into His heavenly kingdom.’ Ay! and he was ‘saved into the heavenly kingdom’ when outside the walls of Rome; where a gaudy church stands now, he died for his Master. o harm came to him. God said to Death, ‘Do My prophet no harm!’ and Death docilely did him good, and brought him to his Lord.Only, dear friends! let us remember that the inviolableness of the ambassador depends on his function, and not on his person; and that if we want to be kept from all evil, we must do the work for which we have been sent here. So let us understand the meaning of our difficulties and sorrows. Let us set ourselves to our tasks, live up to the level of the high names which we have a right to claim, and be sure that there is no harm in the harm that befalls us; and that all evil things ‘work together for good to them that love God.

15 “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”

BAR ES, "Saying, Touch not mine anointed - That is, This was the language of his “providence.” It was as though God had said this. It is not meant that this was said in so many words, but this is the “poetic” form of representing the dealings of Providence. Compare Gen_26:11. The word “anointed” here means that God had, as it were, set them apart to his service, or that they were to him as kings, and priests, and prophets, sacred people, belonging to God. The “language” is not found in the Old Testament as applied to the patriarchs, but the “idea” is fairly implied there, that they belonged to God as sacred and holy men.

And do my prophets no harm - As if God had thus spoken to them, and called them prophets. That is, they belonged to God as a sacred order: they were separate from other men, and God regarded them as his own.

CLARKE, "Touch not mine anointed - It is supposed that the patriarchs are here intended; but the whole people of Israel may be meant. They were a kingdom of priests and kings unto God; and prophets, priests, and kings were always anointed.

GILL, "Saying, Touch not mine anointed,.... Or, "mine anointed ones"; my Christs, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were, who, though not anointed with material oil, yet were all that, that such were, who in later times were anointed with it. They were prophets, priests, and kings; and which all met in one person, particularly in Abraham, Gen_20:7, besides, they were anointed with the oil of grace, with an unction from the Holy One, with the Holy Ghost, and his gifts and graces, as all true believers are: they are the Lord's Christs, or his anointed ones; which stand before him, and have the name of Christians from hence. These the Lord will not have touched, so as to be hurt; they are sacred persons: they are near unto God, in union with him;

and he that toucheth him toucheth the apple of his eye; so dear are they to him.

And do my prophets no harm; so Abraham is expressly called a prophet, Gen_20:7, and so were Isaac and Jacob; men to whom the Lord spoke familiarly in dreams and visions, as he used to do with prophets; and who taught and made known the mind and will of God to others, as well as foretold things to come; they being the Lord's servants, his prophets, they were revealed unto them, Num_12:7. These the Lord will have no harm done to them; he guards them by his power; he holds them in his right hand; and covers them under the shadow of his wing.

JAMISO , "Touch not — referring to Gen_26:11, where Abimelech says of Isaac, “He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

mine anointed — as specially consecrated to Me (Psa_2:2). The patriarch was the prophet, priest, and king of his family.

my prophets — in a similar sense, compare Gen_20:7. The “anointed” are those vessels of God, consecrated to His service, “in whom (as Pharaoh said of Joseph, Gen_41:38) the Spirit of God is” [Hengstenberg].

CALVI , "15.Saying, Touch not my anointed ones The Psalmist proceeds farther, affirming, that when God made war against kings for the sake of his servants, they were defended by him, not only as he is accustomed to succor the miserable and the unjustly oppressed, but because he had taken them under his special guardianship. God protects his people, not only upon a general ground, but because he has declared on account of his free adoption, that he will maintain them. This is the reason why these holy patriarchs are here honored with two designations, his prophets and his anointed ones In speaking of other men, God would have said, Touch not these men who have done wrong to nobody, hurt not these poor wretched creatures who have deserved no such treatment at your hands. But in the person of Abraham and his children, he shows that there was another reason for his defending them. He calls them anointed ones, because he had set them apart to be his peculiar people. In the same sense, he designates themprophets, (a title with which Abraham is also honored, Genesis 20:7) not only because God had manifested himself more intimately to them, but also because they faithfully spread around them divine truth, that the memory of it might survive them, and flourish after their death. Anointing, it is true, was not as yet in use, as it was afterwards under the law; but the prophet teaches, that what God at a subsequent period exhibited in the ceremonies of the law was really and in very deed in Abraham, even as God

engraves the mark of sanctification on all his chosen ones. If God’s inward anointing was of such powerful efficacy, even at the time when he had not yet appointed, or delivered the figures of the law, with how much greater care will he defend his servants now, after having exhibited to us the plenitude of anointing in his only begotten Son!

SPURGEO , "Ver. 15. Saying, touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Abraham and his seed were in the midst of the world a generation of priests anointed to present sacrifice unto the most High God; since to them the oracles were committed, they were also the prophets of mankind; and they were kings too—a royal priesthood; hence they had received a threefold anointing. Their holy office surrounded them with a sacredness which rendered it sacrilege to molest them. The Lord was pleased to impress the wild tribes of Canaan with a respectful awe of the pious strangers who had come to abide with them, so that they came not near them to do them ill. The words here mentioned may not have been actually spoken, but the impression of awe which fell upon the nations is thus poetically described. God will not have those touched who have been set apart unto himself He calls them his own, saying, "Mine anointed" he declares that he has "anointed" them to be prophets, priests, and kings unto himself, and yet again he claims them as his prophets—"Do my prophets no harm." All through the many years in which the three great fathers dwelt in Canaan no man was able to injure them; they were not able to defend themselves by force of arms; but the eternal God was their refuge. Even so at this present time the remnant according to the election of grace cannot be destroyed, nay, nor so much as touched, without the divine consent. Against the church of Christ the gates of hell cannot prevail. In all this we see reasons for giving thanks unto the Lord, and proclaiming his name according to the exhortation of the first verse of the Psalm. Here ends the portion which was sung at the moving of the ark: its fitness to be used for such a purpose is very manifest, for the ark was the symbol both of the covenant and of that mystic dwelling of God with Israel which was at once her glory and her defence. one could touch the Lord's peculiar ones, for the Lord was among them, flaming forth in majesty between the cherubims.The presence of God having remained with his chosen ones while they sojourned in Canaan, it did not desert them when they were called to go down into Egypt. They did not go there of their own choice, but under divine direction, and hence the Lord prepared their way and prospered them until he saw fit to conduct them again to the land of promise.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 15. —Mine anointed. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had no external anointing. They were, however, called "anointed, "because they were separated by God from the multitude of wicked men, and endowed with the Spirit and his gifts, of which the oil was an emblem. —Mollerus.Ver. 15. —Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. We see here a vivid description of the people of God. They are "his anointed ones, ""having the residue of his Spirit"; they are his prophets, to whom is intrusted the word of life, that they may be witnesses in the world. To these he gives as it were a safe passport through the world. Though they have ever been but men of number, accounted as a vile thing, they are precious in his sight. They are not distinguished by external

dignity, numbers and power, as Rome sets forth the marks of her communion. They are in the midst of kingdoms, but not of them. They form usually the humblest portions of most communities, and yet they receive honour from God. Despised by the world, but unto God kings and priests, ordained and anointed to reign with Christ for ever. —W. Wilson.Ver. 15. —Prophets. The aybk is the prophet, or forth speaker; the term laying stress on the utterance, and not upon the vision. The Hebrew word comes from a root which means to bubble up and overflow as from a full fountain. But the fulness of the true prophets of Jehovah was not that of their own thoughts and emotions. It was of the Divine Spirit within them. "The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, "2 Peter 1:21. The first application of the word is to Abraham (Genesis 2:7); although, long before Abraham, "Enoch the seventh from Adam, prophesied, "Jude 1:14. —Donald Fraser, in "Synoptical Lectures on the Books of Holy Scripture." 1873.

ELLICOTT, "(15) Anointed.—In the plural, “my anointed ones.” As referring to the patriarchs, the expression is not technical, since they were never, like priests, prophets, and kings in later times, actually anointed. But the terms being sometimes applied to the covenant people as a whole (see Psalms 89:38; Psalms 89:51), its application to the founders of the race, especially those to whom the “promises came,” is very just.

As to the term “prophet,” the poet found it expressly conferred on Abraham in Genesis 20:7.

WHEDO ,"15. Anointed—The “anointed” was the one set apart to a special purpose or office, whether as king, priest, or prophet, by pouring oil upon the head. In the Old Testament this anointing was a standing symbol of what we denominate, in ew Testament times, the grace, gifts, and callings of the Holy Spirit. In the text it applies to the three Hebrew patriarchs.

Prophets—Same as anointed. So called Genesis 20:7. The word here takes its radical sense—one who speaks under a divine influence.

16 He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food;

BAR ES, "Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land - It was not by chance; not by the mere operation of physical laws, but it was because God “ordered” it. The famine here referred to, as the connection shows, was that which occurred in the time of Jacob, and which was the occasion of the migration into Egypt. There was also a famine in the time of Abraham Gen_12:10; but the design of the psalmist here is to refer to that period of the Jewish history which pertained to their residence in Egypt, and to the dealings of God with the nation when there, as furnishing an occasion for gratitude. Gen. 41; 42.

He brake the whole staff of bread - That which supports life, as a staff does a feeble man. See the notes at Isa_3:1.

GILL, "Moreover, he called for a famine upon the land,.... On the land of Egypt; or rather on the land of Canaan, where Jacob and his sons sojourned; and which reached to all lands, Gen_41:56 and calling for it, it came, being a servant at the command of the Lord; see 2Ki_8:1.

He brake the whole staff of bread; so called, because it is the support of man's life, the principal of his sustenance: as a staff is a support to a feeble person, and which, when broke, ceases to be so. The staff of bread is broken, when either the virtue and efficacy of it for nourishment is taken away or denied; or when there is a scarcity of bread corn; which latter seems to be intended here; see Isa_3:1.

HE RY 16-18, "They were wonderfully provided for and supplied. And here also, (1.) They were reduced to great extremity. Even in Canaan, the land of promise, he called for a famine, Psa_105:16. Note, All judgments are at God's call, and no place is exempt from their visitation and jurisdiction when God sends them forth with commission. To try the faith of the patriarchs, God broke the whole staff of bread, even in that good land, that they might plainly see God designed them a better country than that was. (2.) God graciously took care for their relief. It was in obedience to his precept, and in dependence upon his promise, that they were now sojourners in Canaan, and therefore he could not in honour suffer any evil to befal them or any good thing to be wanting to them. As he restrained one Pharaoh from doing them wrong, so he raised up another to do them a kindness, by preferring and entrusting Joseph, of whose story we have here an abstract. He was to be the shepherd and stone of Israel and to save that holy seed alive,Gen_49:24; Gen_50:20. In order to this, [1.] He was humbled, greatly humbled (Psa_105:17, Psa_105:18): God sent a man before them, even Joseph. Many years before the famine began, he was sent before them, to nourish them in the famine; so vast are the foresights and forecasts of Providence, and so long its reaches. But in what character did he go to Egypt who was to provide for the reception of the church there? He went not in quality of an ambassador, no, nor so much as a factor or commissary; but he was soldthither for a servant, a slave for term of life, without any prospect of being ever set at liberty. This was low enough, and, one would think, set him far enough from any probability of being great. And yet he was brought lower; he was made a prisoner (Psa_105:18): His feet they hurt with fetters. Being unjustly charged with a crime no less heinous than a rape upon his mistress, the iron entered into his soul, that is, was very painful to him; and the false accusation which was the cause of his imprisonment did in a special manner grieve him, and went to his heart; yet all this was the way to his

preferment.

JAMISO , "God ordered the famine. God

called for a famine — as if it were a servant, ready to come at God’s bidding. Compare the centurion’s words, as to disease being God’s servant (Mat_8:8, Mat_8:9).

upon the land — namely, Canaan (Gen_41:54).

staff of bread — what supports life (Lev_26:26; Psa_104:15; Isa_3:1).

CALVI , "16.And he called a famine upon the land Here the inspired writer recounts a most illustrious proof of divine providence towards the chosen people, at the time when the covenant might seem to be void and disannulled. The inheritance of the land of Canaan (as has been stated above) was added, as an earnest or pledge for confirmation. The descent of Jacob into Egypt, which deprived his house of the sight of the land, could not make the covenant to perish. In this the constancy of God shone forth the brighter; yea, by this trial he manifested more plainly how provident a father he was in preserving the seed of Abraham. But it is better to consider each particular in the verse. In the first place, it is taught, that the famine which drove Jacob into Egypt did not happen by chance. Although only one particular famine is here treated of, it is to be held as a general principle, that there is no other cause of any scarcity of sustenance except this, that God, in withdrawing his hand, takes away the means of support. The curse of God is expressed more emphatically, when it is said, that the famine was called; as if it were ready at his command, as a minister of his wrath. By this we are instructed, that famine, pestilence, and other scourges of God, do not visit men by chance, but are directed by his hand whither it pleases him, and are obedient to his will. (211) The manner in which the famine was called is next stated, namely, when he brake the staff of bread The metaphor of staff is very appropriate; for God has put into bread the power and property of strengthening man, by a secret virtue which fits it to sustain us. So long as it pleases him to nourish us by such means, a staff as it were lies hidden within it. This staff is broken in two ways; either, first, when he takes away the supply of grain necessary for our nourishment, the sense in which it seems to be used in Ezekiel

“Moreover, he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment;” Ezekiel 4:16

or, secondly, when he breathes in anger upon the bread itself, so that those who would satisfy themselves by devouring it, instead of having their hunger thereby removed, remain famished still. And certainly to the barrenness of the earth this second is commonly added, namely, that he takes away the sustaining power which is in bread; for, as it is declared in Deuteronomy 8:3, bread does not give life of itself, but borrows its secret virtue from the mouth of God.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 16. Moreover he called for a famine upon the land. He had only

to call for it as a man calls for his servant, and it came at once. How grateful ought we to be that he does not often call in that terrible servant of his, so meagre and gaunt, and grim, so pitiless to the women and the children, so bitter to the strong men, who utterly fail before it.He brake the whole staff of bread. Man's feeble life cannot stand without its staff—if bread fail him he fails. As a cripple with a broken staff falls to the ground, so does man when broad no longer sustains him. To God it is as easy to make a famine as to break a stall He could make that famine universal, too, so that all countries should be in like case: then would the race of man fall indeed, and its staff would be broken for ever. There is this sweet comfort in the matter, that the Lord has wise ends to serve even by famine: he meant his people to go down into Egypt, and the scarcity of food was his method of leading them there, for "they heard that there was corn in Egypt."EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 16. —He called for a famine. As a master calls for a servant ready to do his bidding. On the contrary, God says (Ezekiel 36:29), "I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you." Compare the centurion's words as to sickness being Christ's servant, ready to come or go at his call, Matthew 8:8-9. —A.R. Fausset.

BE SO , "Verses 16-18Psalms 105:16-18. He called for a famine — That is, he brought a famine upon the land. He brake the whole staff of bread — Bread, which is the staff or support of men’s lives. He sent a man before them — Who was to nourish them in the famine: sent him, by the direction of his secret providence, many years before the famine began. Such are the foresight and timely care of Divine Providence. Whose feet they hurt with fetters — Being unjustly charged with a most heinous crime. He was laid in iron — Hebrew, נפשו ברזל באה, the iron entered his soul, which seems to be added emphatically, to aggravate the misery of his imprisonment, and to show how grievous it was to his very soul. Undoubtedly the false accusation, which was the cause of his imprisonment, the injury which was done him, and the foul and public scandal which lay upon him, must have pained him extremely.

COFFMA , "Verse 16"And he called for a famine upon the land;

He brake the whole staff of bread.

He sent a man before them;

Joseph was sold for a servant:

His feet they hurt with fetters:

He was laid in chains of iron,

Until the time his word came to pass,

The word of Jehovah tried him."

"He called for a famine" (Psalms 105:16). God's plan was to send all of Israel into Egyptian slavery, as he had prophesied through Abraham (Genesis 15); and the famine fitted into that purpose.

"He sent a man before them" (Psalms 105:17). The sale of Joseph by his brothers, somewhat earlier than the famine, was also part of God's plan, another instance of, "the wrath of man praising God."

"Feet hurt with fetters" (Psalms 105:18). This is a detail not found in Genesis; but the truth of it cannot be doubted.

"He was laid in chains of iron" (Psalms 105:18). An alternative reading is, "The iron entered into his soul." The RSV renders this, "His neck was put in a collar of iron."

"The word of Jehovah tried him" (Psalms 105:19). Dean Johnson believed that the implied promise to Joseph of preeminence above his brothers in those dreams which led to their hatred of him (Genesis 37) seemed utterly impossible of fulfilment during Joseph's imprisonment; and that, "This bitter contrast with what Joseph had expected is what tried or tested Joseph."[9] The opinion of this writer is that it was the temptation from the wife of Potiphar which was at least one of the ways in which the word of Jehovah tried him. It might have been both and also have included other tests.

EBC, "In Psalms 105:16-22 the history of Joseph is poetically and summarily treated, as a link in the chain of providences which brought about the fulfilment of the Covenant. Possibly the singer is thinking about a captive Israel in the present, while speaking about a captive Joseph in the past. In God’s dealings humiliation and affliction are often, he thinks, the precursors of glory and triumph. Calamities prepare the way for prosperity. So it was in that old time; and so it is still. In this resume of the history of Joseph, the points signalised are God’s direct agency in the whole-the errand on which Joseph was sent ("before them") as a forerunner to "prepare a place for them," the severity of his sufferings, the trial of his faith by the contrast which his condition presented to what God had promised, and his final exaltation. The description of Joseph’s imprisonment adds some dark touches to the account in Genesis, whether these are due to poetic idealising or to tradition. In Psalms 105:18 b some would translate "Iron came over his soul." So Delitzsch, following the Vulgate ("Ferrum pertransiit animam ejus"), and the picturesque Prayer Book Version, "The iron entered into his soul." But the original is against this, as the word for iron is masculine and the verb is feminine, agreeing with the feminine noun soul. The clause is simply a parallel to the preceding. "His soul" is best taken as mere periphrasis for he, though it may be used emphatically to suggest that "his soul entered, whole and entire, in its resolve to obey God, into the cruel torture" (Kay). The meaning is conveyed by the free rendering above.

K&D 16-24, "“To call up a famine” is also a prose expression in 2Ki_8:1. To break the staff of bread (i.e., the staff which bread is to man) is a very old metaphor, Lev_26:26. That the selling of Joseph was, providentially regarded, a “sending before,” he himself

says in Gen_45:5. Psa_102:24 throws light upon the meaning of ה�ב�Gע. The Kerî רגלו is

just as much without any occasion to justify it as עינו in Ecc_4:8 (for עיניו). The statement

that iron came upon his soul is intended to say that he had to endure in iron fetters

sufferings that threatened his life. Most expositors take רזלC as equivalent to CC, butרזל

Hitzig rightly takes נפשו as an object, following the Targum; for ברזל as a name of an iron

fetter

(Note: Also in ancient Arabic firzil (after the Aramaic פרזלא) directly signifies an iron fetter (and the large smith's shears for cutting the iron), whence the verb.

denom. Arab. farzala, c. acc. pers., to put any one into iron chains. Iron is called רזלC

from רזC, to pierce, like the Arabic LdıOd, as being the material of which pointed tools

are made.)

can change its gender, as do, e.g., צפון as a name of the north wind, and as a name of כבוד

the soul. The imprisonment (so harsh at the commencement) lasted over ten years, until at last Joseph's word cam to pass, viz., the word concerning this exaltation which had

been revealed to him in dreams (Gen_42:9). According to Psa_107:20, דברו appears to be the word of Jahve, but then one would expect from Psa_105:19 a more parallel turn of expression. What is meant is Joseph's open-hearted word concerning his visions, and

is the revelation of God conveying His promises, which came to אמרת�ה him in the same

form, which had to try, to prove, and to purify him ,(as in Psa_17:3, and frequently צרף)

inasmuch as he was not to be raised to honour without having in a state of deep abasement proved a faithfulness that wavered not, and a confidence that knew no despair. The divine “word” is conceived of as a living effectual power, as in Psa_119:50.

The representation of the exaltation begins, according to Gen_41:14, with שלח־מלך�

(Note: Here שלח is united by Makkeph with the following word, to which it hurries

on, whereas in Psa_105:28 it has its own accent, a circumstance to which the Masora

has directed attention in the apophthegm: שלוחי�דמלכא�זריזין�שלוחי�דחשוכא�מתינין (the emissaries of the king are in haste, those of darkness are tardy); vid., Baer, Thorath Emeth, p. 22.)

and follows Gen_41:39-41, Gen_41:44, very closely as to the rest, according to which

:Cרצונו in the sense of (.with an orthophonic Dag) לאQר C is a collateral definition toנפשוby his soul, i.e., by virtue of his will (vid., Psychology, S. 202; tr. p. 239). In consequence of this exaltation of Joseph, Jacob-Israel came then into Egypt, and sojourned there as

in a protecting house of shelter (concerning ורD, vid., supra, p. 414). Egypt is called (Psa_

105:23, Psa_105:27) the land of Chaam, as in Psa_78:51; according to Plutarch, in the vernacular the black land, from the dark ashy grey colouring which the deposited mud of the Nile gives to the ground. There Israel became a powerful, numerous people (Exo_1:7; Deu_26:5), greater than their oppressors.

17 and he sent a man before them— Joseph, sold as a slave.

BAR ES, "He sent a man before them - That is, He so ordered it by his providence that a man - Joseph - was sent before the family of Jacob into Egypt, that he might make arrangements for their reception and preservation. The whole matter was as God had sent him, or had commanded him to go. And yet it was brought about as the result of a series of acts of the most wicked character; by the envy and the hatred of his brethren; by their guilt and hardness of heart in proposing at first to put him to death, and then in their arrangements for selling him to hopeless slavery; by their plan so to dispose of him that their father might never hear of him again, and that they might be troubled with him no more. God did not cause these acts. He did not command them; he did not approve of them. And yet, since they did occur, and since Joseph’s brethren were so wicked, God made use of these things to accomplish his own benevolent purposes, and to carry out his great designs. So he makes use of the passions of wicked people at all times to execute his plans (compare the notes at Isa_10:5-7; see also Psa_76:10; and Gen_50:20); and so he will do to the end of time. People are free in their wickedness; but God is equally free in frustrating their schemes, and overruling their designs for the accomplishment of his own purposes.

Who was sold for a servant - For a slave; Gen_37:28, Gen_37:36; Gen_39:1.

GILL, "He sent a man before them, even Joseph,.... Who, though but a lad of seventeen years of age when he was sold into Egypt, yet was a grown man when he stood before Pharaoh, and interpreted his dreams of plenty and famine to come; and advised him to lay up store in the years of plenty, against the years of famine; by which he appeared to be a wise man, as the Targum here calls him; see Gen_37:3. Him God sent before into Egypt; before Jacob and his sons went down thither, to make provision for them, to support them in the time of famine, and preserve their lives. God is said to send him, though his brethren sold him out of envy; there being such a plain hand of Providence in this matter; and which is observed by Joseph himself over and over again, Gen_45:5, in which he was a type of Christ, in whom all provisions are made, and by whom they are communicated unto his people; who all receive out of his fulness, and grace for grace.

Who was sold for a servant: either "to a servant": as to Potiphar, as Aben Ezra, who

was a servant of Pharaoh's; or rather to be a servant, as Joseph was in his house: he was sold for twenty pieces of silver, as Christ, his antitype, for thirty; the price of a servant, Gen_37:28, and who not only appeared in the form of a servant, but did the work of one: and a faithful and righteous servant he was to his Father, and on the behalf of his people.

JAMISO , "Joseph was sent of God (Gen_45:5).

SBC, "I. Israel went down into Egypt to buy food, and found one of themselves at the head of the government; and from that Divine provision flowed in natural order the whole after-Bible story. A local famine ministered to the scheme of the world’s salvation; out of partial evil came universal good. The Gospel feast was remotely spread through the jealousy of Jacob’s sons, and in the pressure of the great dearth. The presence of evil in God’s world must ever remain an unfathomable mystery. The book of Genesis shows us, indeed, the beginning of evil upon the earth; but it represents evil as already existent, and as being brought into this world by a tempter not of this world. There is thus a chapter before the first chapter of Genesis, which remains unwritten. A lesser mystery than the creation of evil is the sufferance of evil. God, who created it not, permits it, uses it for His own purposes. The darkness which hangs about even the sufferance of evil, both moral and’ physical, is in a measure lightened by the remembrance that He who permits evil sees at the selfsame moment, not as a future, but as a present, thing, the good which comes out of it. It was so with the history of Joseph. It was so with the scheme of man’s redemption through Christ. And so with the discipline of our daily life. To us the multitude of events which mark the lapse of the years, even in the most uniform lives, appear to come tumbling upon one another, like the waves of the sea. He in whose hand is the soul of every living thing has laid long before the whole train of circumstances by which we are to be tried. The ministering angel was commissioned ere the messenger of Satan was permitted to buffet. Nay more, the increased hope and strength, all those high spiritual graces which are formed in saintly souls by endurance, were present things to the eternal eye, not visions of the future, when He arranged the trial.

II. From this doctrine flow several principles of faith and practice. (1) In the light of these truths, how strongly comes out to view the supernatural character of the commonest events in which we play our part! (2) A keen recognition of these "previsions of God" leads to spiritual repose in the midst of worldly disquiet. God employs evil for His purposes of good. Man may not do evil that good may come. Three great attributes of God account for the difference: (a) His infinite knowledge; (b) His certain control; (c) His perfect holiness.

Bishop Woodford, Sermons on Subjects from the Old Testament, p. 143.

CALVI , "17.He sent a man before them This whole passage graphically teaches us, that whatever befell that people was by the hand and counsel of God. The simple recital would have been to say, that the famine came upon the land, after Joseph had been sold by his brethren, and carried into Egypt. But the prophet speaks emphatically, declaring that Joseph by the divine counsel had been sent before into Egypt, to support his father’s house, that afterwards the famine was called, and that then, by God’s providence, a remedy was presented beyond all hope. This, indeed, is generally true in human affairs; but there is here commemorated a special care

which God took in governing and nourishing his Church. Moreover, the prophet mentions that as second in place which was first in the order of time. Accordingly, in regard to the word send, the pluperfect tense would better express the sense, he had sent; implying that before God afflicted the land of Canaan with famine, he had prepared a remedy for his servant Jacob, and for his household, in having sent Joseph before as a steward to provide them with food. Here two contraries as it were are stated, to render the divine superintendence in the whole the more conspicuous. How was Joseph sent of God? It was in this way:- When he was doomed to death, it happened that his brethren preferred selling him to leaving him in his grave. This selling, if considered merely by itself, like a cloud interposed, obscured and concealed the divine providence. When counsel was taken to put Joseph to death, who would have expected that he was to be the sustainer of his father’s house? Afterwards a kind of death was devised for him less cruel; but then he was cast into a well or pit, and in that situation how could he succor others? The last hope was, that at length being sold, he came forth from the pit. But again, he was well nigh rotting all his life long in prison.

Who could think that processes so intricate and circuitous were controlled by divine providence? The prophet therefore meets this difficulty by saying, that in respect of men, he was indeed sold; but that he had nevertheless been previously sent by the divine purpose. The passage is worthy of notice, admirably vindicating, as it does, the providence of God against the perverse stupidity of our corrupt nature. Resting on the second causes which meet the eye, or ascribing to the direction of man whatever is done in this world, or thinking that all things happen by chance, very few trace them to the appointment of God. And yet the selling of Joseph is not here interposed as a veil to hide divine providence; but is rather set forth as a signal instance of it to teach us that whatever men may undertake, the issues are in the hand of God; or rather, that by a secret influence, he bends the hearts of men in whatever direction he pleases, that by their instrumentality, whether they will or no, he may bring to pass what he has determined should be done. Agreeably to this Joseph said to his brethren, “ ow, therefore, be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to preserve life,” (Genesis 45:5) Farther, God so governs human affairs by his secret controlling influence, and overrules men’s wicked devices to a right end, as that his judgments are notwithstanding uncontaminated by the depravity of men. The brethren of Joseph wickedly conspire his death; they also wrongfully sell him: the fault is in themselves. Contemplate now how God directs and controls all. By the hand of these brethren he provides for the good both of themselves and of their father Jacob, yea for that of the whole Church. This holy purpose contracts no defilement or spot from the malice of those who aimed at an entirely opposite end; even as Joseph testified afterwards,

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive,” (Genesis 1:20)

SPURGEO , "Ver. 17. He sent a man before them, even Joseph. He was the advance guard and pioneer for the whole clan. His brethren sold him, but God sent

him. Where the hand of the wicked is visible God's hand may be invisibly at work, overruling their malice. o one was more of a man, or more fit to lead the van than Joseph: an interpreter of dreams was wanted, and his brethren had said of him, "Behold, this dreamer cometh."Who was sold for a servant, or rather for a slave. Joseph's journey into Egypt was not so costly as Jonah's voyage when he paid his own fare: his free passage was provided by the Midianites, who also secured his introduction to a great officer of state by handing him over as a Slave. His way to a position in which he could feed his family lay through the pit, the slaver's caravan, the slave market and the prison, and who shall deny but what it was the right way, the surest way, the wisest way, and perhaps the shortest way. Yet assuredly it seemed not so. Were we to send a man on such an errand we should furnish him with money—Joseph goes as a pauper; we should clothe him with authority—Joseph goes as a slave; we should leave him at full liberty—Joseph is a bondman: yet money would have been of little use when corn was so dear, authority would have been irritating rather than influential with Pharaoh, and freedom might not have thrown Joseph into connection with Pharaoh's captain and his other servants, and so the knowledge of his skill in interpretation might not have reached the monarch's ear. God way is the way. Our Lord's path to his mediatorial throne ran by the cross of Calvary; our road to glory runs by the rivers of grief.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 17. —Joseph may be a fit type to us of our spiritual deliverance. Consider him sold into Egypt, not without the determinate counsel of God, who preordained this to good; "God did send me before you to preserve life, "Genesis 45:5. Here is the difference, the brethren sold Joseph, we sold ourselves. Consider us thus sold unto sin and death; God had a purpose to redeem us; there is election. Joseph was delivered out of prison, and we ransomed out of the house of bondage; there was redemption. Joseph's cause was made known, and himself acquitted; we could not be found innocent ourselves, but were acquitted in Christ; wherein consists our justification. Lastly, Joseph was clothed in glorious apparel, and adorned with golden chains, and made to ride in the second chariot of Egypt: so our last step is to be advanced to high honour, even the glory of the celestial court; "This honour have all the saints, " Psalms 149:9. —Thomas Adams.Ver. 17. —In many circumstances concerning Joseph—in his being beloved of his father—in his being hated of his brethren—in his sufferings and deep abasement—in his being brought out of prison—in his advancement and exaltation—in his wisdom and prudence—in his providing for his father's family—in his free forgiveness of the injuries he had sustained from his brethren—it maybe truly said, we have Christ delineated therein, and set forth thereby, in type, figure, and representatively. But I have nothing to do with this here; I only give this hint to the reader. —Samuel Eyles Pierce, 1817.

ISBET, "GOD’S PREVISIO S‘But He had sent a man before them.’Psalms 105:17. (Prayer Book Version).I. Israel went down into Egypt to buy food, and found one of themselves at the head of the government; and from that Divine provision flowed in natural order the

whole after-Bible story.—A local famine ministered to the scheme of the world’s salvation; out of partial evil came universal good. The Gospel feast was remotely spread through the jealousy of Jacob’s sons, and in the pressure of the great dearth. The presence of evil in God’s world must ever remain an unfathomable mystery. The book of Genesis shows us, indeed, the beginning of evil upon the earth; but it represents evil as already existent, and as being brought into this world by a tempter not of this world. There is thus a chapter before the first chapter of Genesis, which remains unwritten. A lesser mystery than the creation of evil is the sufferance of evil. God, who created it not, permits it, uses it for His own purposes. The darkness which hangs about even the sufferance of evil, both moral and physical, is in a measure lightened by the remembrance that He who permits evil sees at the selfsame moment, not as a future, but as a present, thing, the good which comes out of it. It was so with the history of Joseph. It was so with the scheme of man’s redemption through Christ. And so with the discipline of our daily life. To us the multitude of events which mark the lapse of the years, even in the most uniform lives, appear to come tumbling upon one another, like the waves of the sea. He in whose hand is the soul of every living thing has laid long before the whole train of circumstances by which we are to be tried. The ministering angel was commissioned ere the messenger of Satan was permitted to buffet. ay more, the increased hope and strength, all those high spiritual graces which are formed in saintly souls by endurance, were present things to the eternal eye, not visions of the future, when He arranged the trial.

II. From this doctrine flow several principles of faith and practice.—(1) In the light of these truths, how strongly comes out to view the supernatural character of the commonest events in which we play our part! (2) A keen recognition of these ‘previsions of God’ leads to spiritual repose in the midst of worldly disquiet. God employs evil for His purposes of good. Man may not do evil that good may come. Three great attributes of God account for the difference: (a) His infinite knowledge; (b) His certain control; (c) His perfect holiness.

—Bishop Woodford.

18 They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons,

BAR ES, "Whose feet they hurt with fetters - In Gen_40:3; it is said of Joseph that he was “bound” in prison. It is not improbable that his “feet” were bound, as this is

the usual way of confining prisoners.

He was laid in iron - In the prison. The margin is, “his soul came into iron.” The version in the Prayer-Book of the Episcopal Church is, the iron entered into his soul. This is a more striking and beautiful rendering, though it may be doubted whether the Hebrew will permit it. DeWette renders it, “In iron lay his body.”

GILL, "Whose feet they hurt with fetters,.... For it seems Joseph was not only cast into prison, upon the calumny of his mistress; but had fetters put upon him, and his feet were made fast with them; and these were so close and heavy, as to pinch and gall and hurt him; which, though not mentioned in his history, was undoubtedly true; see Gen_39:20.

He was laid in iron: or "the iron" (or, as the Targum, "the iron chain") "went into his Soul" (f); his body; it ate into him, and gave him great pain: or rather, as it is in the king's Bible, "his soul went into the iron chain"; there being, as Aben Ezra observes, an

ellipsis of the particle ב, and which is supplied by Symmachus, and so in the Targum;

that is, his body was enclosed in iron bands, so Buxtorf (g). In all this he was a type of Christ, whose soul was made exceeding sorrowful unto death: he was seized by the Jews, led bound to the high priest, fastened to the cursed tree, pierced with nails, and more so with the sins of his people he bore; and was laid in the prison of the grave; from whence and from judgment he was brought, Isa_53:8.

JAMISO , "hurt with fetters — (Gen_40:3).

was laid in iron — literally, “his soul” (see on Psa_16:10), or, “he came into iron,” or, he was bound to his grief (compare Psa_3:2; Psa_11:1). The “soul” is put for the whole person, because the soul of the captive suffers still more than the body. Joseph is referred to as being an appropriate type of those “bound in affliction and iron” (Psa_107:10).

CALVI , "18They afflicted his feet in the fetters It is not without cause that the Psalmist prosecutes the winding course of Jacob’s early history, which might so confuse the minds of men as to prevent them from directing their attention to the counsel of God. What seemed less likely than to believe that God, by so directly opposite and circuitous a path, meant to accomplish what he had purposed? But his providence, by surmounting so many obstacles, is brought out more conspicuously, than if he had despatched the whole matter by a short and easy road. Had Joseph, as soon as he arrived in Egypt, been presented to the king, and made its governor, the way to what followed would have been easy. But when he was carried away to prison, and lay there separated from the society of men, living as one half-dead; and when his becoming known to the king was a long time subsequent to this, and beyond all expectation, such a sudden change renders the miracle much more evident. This circuitous course then, which the prophet recounts, serves not a little to illustrate the subject in hand. Joseph was many times dead before he was sold. Hence it follows, that God as often showed his care of his Church by delivering him who might be termed her father. When after, having been brought into Egypt,

Joseph was conveyed from hand to hand till he descended into another grave, is it not the more clearly manifest from this that God, while he seems to be asleep in heaven, is all the while keeping the strictest watch over his servants, and that he is carrying forward his purpose more effectually by these various windings, than if he had gone straight forward, yea, than if he had run with rapid pace? For this reason the prophet affirms that his feet were afflicted in the fetters; a fact which, although not stated in the narrative of Moses, he speaks of as well known. And no doubt, many things were delivered by tradition to the Jews of which no mention is made in the Scriptures. (212) It is also probable enough, that, instead of being put at first under mild restraint, as was afterwards the case, he was rigorously confined. Whether we read, his soul entered into the iron, or the iron entered into his soul, (213) the meaning, which, in either case, is exactly the same, amounts to this, that the holy man was so galled with fetters, that it seemed as if his life had been given over to the sword. Whence it follows, that the safety of his life was as hopeless as the restoration of life to a dead

SPURGEO , "Ver. 18. Whose feet they hurt with fetters. From this we learn a little more of Joseph's sufferings than we find in the book of Genesis: inspiration had not ceased, and David was as accurate an historian as Moses, for the same Spirit guided his pen.He was laid in iron, or "into iron came his soul." The prayer book version, "the iron entered into his soul, "is ungrammatical, but probably expresses much the same truth. His fetters hurt his mind as well as his body, and well did Jacob say, "The archers shot at him, and sorely grieved him." Under the cruelly false accusation, which he could not disprove, his mind was, as it were, belted and bolted around with iron, and had not the Lord been with him he might have sunk under his sufferings. In all this, and a thousand things besides, he was an admirable type of him who in the highest sense is "the Shepherd, the stone of Israel." The iron fetters were preparing him to wear chains of gold, and making his feet ready to stand on high places. It is even so with all the Lord's afflicted ones, they too shall one day step from their prisons to their thrones.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 18. —His soul came into iron (margin). The whole person is denoted by the soul, because the soul of the captive suffers still more than the body. Imprisonment is one of the most severe trials to the soul. Even to spiritual heroes, such as a Savonarola and St. Cyran, the waters often go over the soul. —E.W. Hengstenberg.Ver. 18. —His soul came into iron. Till we have felt it, we cannot conceive that sickness of heart, which at times will steal upon the patient sufferer; that sense of loneliness, that faintness of soul, which comes from hopes deferred and wishes unshared, from the selfishness of brethren and the heartlessness of the world. We ask ourselves, If the Lord were with me, should I suffer thus, not only the scorn of the learned and the contempt of the great, but even the indifference and neglect of those whom I have served, who yet forget me? So Joseph might have asked; and so till now may the elect ask, as they stand alone without man's encouragement or sympathy, not turned aside by falsehood or scorn, with their face set as a flint, yet deeply feeling what it costs them. —Andrew dukes, in" The Types of Genesis, "1858.

ELLICOTT, "(18) He was laid in iron.—The Prayer Book Version, “the iron entered into his soul,” has established itself so firmly among expressive proverbial sayings, that the mind almost resents the Authorised Version. The grammar of the clause does not decide its sense with certainty; for its syntax is rather in favour of the Prayer Book Version, though the feminine form of the verb makes in favour of the marginal rendering. Symmachus has, “his soul came into iron;” the LXX., “his soul passed through iron.” The Vulg., however, has the other Version, “the iron passed through his soul”—first found in the Targum. The parallelism is in favour of the Authorised Version.

WHEDO , "18. Hurt with fetters—The Egyptian laws were very severe against the crime of which Joseph was wickedly charged. “An attempt at adultery was to be punished with one thousand blows.”—Delitzsch. Joseph’s punishment was much lighter. Potiphar probably doubted the story of his wife. Still, Joseph was put with the “king’s prisoners” in a “dungeon,” or pit, “bound,” as guilty of a state crime, (Genesis 39:20,) until he obtained favour of the “keeper of the prison,” and his condition was alleviated.

He was laid in iron—Hebrew, his soul came into iron.

19 till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.

BAR ES, "Until the time that his word came - The word, or the communication from God.

The word of the Lord tried him - That is, tested his skill in interpreting dreams, and his power to disclose the future. Gen. 41. This furnished a “trial” of his ability, and showed that he was truly the favorite of God, and was endowed with wisdom from on high. The word rendered “tried” is that which is commonly applied to metals in testing their genuineness and purity. Compare the notes at Psa_12:6.

CLARKE, "Until the time that his word came - This appears to refer to the completion of Joseph’s interpretation of the dreams of the chief butler and baker.

The Word of the Lord tried him - This seems to refer to the interpretation of

Pharaoh’s dreams, called אמרת�יהוה imrath�Yehovah, “the oracle of the Lord,” because sent

by him to Pharaoh. See Gen_41:26, and Kennicott in loco.

GILL, "Until the time that his word came,.... Either the word of Joseph, interpreting the dreams of the butler and baker, till that came to be fulfilled; so the Syriac version, "till his word was proved by the event": or rather till the fame and report of that came to Pharaoh's ears, Gen_41:13, or else the word of the Lord, concerning his advancement and exaltation, signified in dreams to him, Gen_37:7, as it follows:

the word of the Lord tried him: it tried his faith and patience before it was accomplished; and when it was, it purged him and purified him, as silver in a furnace, and cleared him of the imputation and calumny of his mistress; for, even in the view of Pharaoh, he appeared to be a man in whom the Spirit of God was, Gen_41:38. Some think that Christ, the essential Word, is intended, who came and visited him, tried and cleare

HE RY 19-23, "He was exalted, highly exalted. He continued a prisoner, neither tried nor bailed, until the time appointed of God for his release (Psa_105:19), when his word came, that is, his interpretations of the dreams came to pass, and the report thereof came to Pharaoh's ears by the chief butler. And then the word of the Lord cleared him;that is, the power God gave him to foretel things to come rolled away the reproach his mistress had loaded him with; for it could not be thought that God would give such a power to so bad a man as he was represented to be. God's word tried him, tried his faith and patience, and then it came in power to give command for his release. There is a time set when God's word will come for the comfort of all that trust in it, Hab_2:3. At the end it shall speak, and not lie. God gave the word, and then the king sent and loosed him; for the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. Pharaoh, finding him to be a favourite of Heaven, First, Discharged him from his imprisonment (Psa_105:20): He let him go free.God has often, by wonderful turns of providence, pleaded the cause of oppressed innocency. Secondly, He advanced him to the highest posts of honour, Psa_105:21, Psa_105:22. He made him lord high chamberlain of his household (he made him lord of his house); nay, he put him into the office of lord-treasurer, the ruler of all his substance.He made him prime-minister of state, lord-president of his council, to command his princes at his pleasure and teach them wisdom, and general of his forces. According to thy word shall all my people be ruled, Gen_41:40, Gen_41:43, Gen_41:44. He made him lord chief justice, to judge even his senators and punish those that were disobedient. In all this Joseph was designed to be, 1. A father to the church that then was, to save the house of Israel from perishing by the famine. He was made great, that he might do good, especially in the household of faith. 2. A figure of Christ that was to come, who, because he humbled himself and took upon him the form of a servant, was highly exalted, and has all judgment committed to him. Joseph being thus sent before, and put into a capacity of maintaining all his father's house, Israel also came into Egypt (Psa_105:23), where he and all his were very honourably and comfortably provided for many years. Thus the New Testament church has a place provided for her even in the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time, Rev_12:14. Verily she shall be fed.

JAMISO , "his word came — His prophecy (Gen_41:11-20) to the officers came to pass, or was fulfilled (Jdg_13:12, Jdg_13:17; 1Sa_9:6, explain the form of speech).

the word of the Lord — or, “saying,” or “decree of the Lord.”

tried him — or, “proved him,” by the afflictions it appointed him to endure before his elevation (compare Gen_41:40-43).

CALVI , "19.Until the time that his word came Here the prophet teaches, that although, according to the judgment of the flesh, God seems to be too tardy in his steps, yet he holds supreme rule over all things, that he may at length accomplish in due time what he has determined. As to the term word, it is here doubtless to be taken, not for doctrine or instruction, but for a heavenly decree. The relative his admits of being understood as well of God himself as of Joseph; but its application to the latter appears to me to be preferable, implying that Joseph remained in prison until the issue of his affliction was manifested, which was hidden in the divine purpose. It is always to be kept in mind, that the prophet calls back the minds of men from that impious imagination, which would represent fortune as exercising a blind and capricious control over human affairs. Since nothing could be more involved in uncertainty than the welfare of the Church, whilst Joseph was accounted as a condemned person, the prophet here elevates our minds, and bids us look at the hidden word, that is, the decree, the proper opportunity and time for the manifestation of which had not yet arrived. After the same manner I explain what follows, the word of God tried him To expound it of Joseph’s prophesying, (214) as many do, seems too refined. Until the happy issue appeared, which God kept long hidden and in suspense, Joseph’s patience was severely tried. What worldly men, who acknowledge not God to be the Governor of human affairs, call fate, the prophet distinguishes by a more appropriate name, terming it word, and the word of each man. or do I see any impropriety in using the French word destinée. When the Stoics dispute, or rather babble, about destiny, they not only involve themselves and the thing also of which they treat in intricate mazes, but, at the same time, involve in perplexity an indubitable truth; for in imagining a concatenation of causes, they divest God of the government of the world. It is an impious invention so to link together causes, interwoven with each other, as that God himself should be tied to them. Our faith then ought to mount up to his secret counsel, by which, uncontrolled, he directs all things to their end. This passage also teaches us that God will continue the afflictions of the godly only until they are thereby thoroughly proved.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 19. Until the time that his word came. God has his times, and his children must wait till his "until" is fulfilled. Joseph was tried as in a furnace, until the Lord's assaying work was fully accomplished. The word of the chief butler was nothing, he had to wait until God's word came, and meanwhilethe word of the Lord tried him. He believed the promise, but his faith was sorely exercised. A delayed blessing tests men, and proves their metal, whether their faith is of that precious kind which can endure the fire. Of many a choice promise we may say with Daniel "the thing was true, but the time appointed was long." If the vision tarry it is good to wait for it with patience. There is a trying word and a

delivering word, and we must bear the one till the other comes to us. How meekly Joseph endured his afflictions, and with what fortitude he looked forward to the clearing of his slandered character we may readily imagine: it will be better still if under similar trials we are able to imitate him, and come forth from the furnace as thoroughly purified as he was, and as well prepared to bear the yet harder ordeal of honour and power.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 19. —Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him. This verse forms the key to the whole meaning of Joseph's mysterious trial, and at the same time illustrates a deep mystery in the spiritual life of man. By "the word of the Lord" that "tried him, "the psalmist evidently refers to the dreams of his future destiny which were sent to Joseph from God; and in saying that they tried him "until his word came, "he evidently means that his faith in those promises was tested by his long imprisonment, until the day of his deliverance dawned. Consider for a moment his position, and you will see the purpose of that trial. A youth educated amidst all the quiet simplicity of the early patriarchal life, he was haunted by dream visions of a mighty destiny. Those visions were mysteriously foretelling his government in Egypt, and the blessings which his wise and just rule would confer on the land; but while unable to comprehend them, he yet believed that they were voices of the future, and promises of God. But the quietude of that shepherd life was not the preparation for the fulfilment of his promised destiny. The education that would form the man who could withstand, firmly, the temptations of Egyptian life with its cities and civilization; the education that would form the ruler whose clear eye should judge between the good and the evil, and discern the course of safety in the hour of a nation's peril—all this was not to be gained under the shadow of his father's tent; it must come through trial, and through trial arising from the very promise of God in which he believed. Hence, a great and startling change crossed his life, that seemed to forbid the fulfilment of that dream promise, and tempted him to doubt its truth. Sold into Egypt as a slave, cast into prison through his fidelity to God, the word of the Lord most powerfully tried his soul. In the gloom of that imprisonment it was most hard to believe in God's faithfulness, when his affliction had risen from his obedience; and most hard to keep the promise clearly before him, when his mighty trouble would perpetually tempt him to regard it as an idle dream. But through the temptation, he gained the strong trust which the pomp and glory of the Egyptian court would have no power to destroy; and when the word of deliverance came, the man came forth, strong through trial, to fulfil his glorious destiny of ruling Egypt in the name of God, and securing for it the blessings of heaven. Thus his trial by the word of the Lord—his temptation to doubt its truth—was a divine discipline preparing him for the fulfilment of the promise.And looking at it in this aspect, this verse presents to us a deep spiritual truth: The promises of God try man, that through the trial he may be prepared for their fulfilment. Our subject then is this: The trial of man by the promises of God. This verse suggests three great facts which exhibit the three aspects of that trial.1. God's promises must try man. Every promise of the Lord is of necessity a trial. ow, this necessity arises from two sources; from man's secret unbelief, and from God's purposes of discipline.(a) God's word must try man by revealing his secret unbelief. We never know our

want of faith till some glorious promise rouses the soul into the attitude of belief; then the coldness and unfaithfulness of the heart are lighted up by that flash of belief, and the promise is a trial. Thus Paul with his profound insight into the facts of spiritual experience, says, "The word of the Lord is sharper than a two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." In illustration of this we may observe that many promises of the Lord come to us, as they came to Joseph, like dream visions of the future. Visions come to the Christian soul, as grand and wonderful as those which came to the Hebrew youth of old; and they, too, are prophecies of what we are destined to be. There comes a time when the voice of God is more clearly heard, and the great inheritance revealed. o dream of the night—no spirit of the dead—has visited us; but like a spirit some truth of God has entered the soul's presence chamber and summoned it to noble aspiration and Christ like endeavour. Then the earnest of the future gleams on life's horizon. The Sabbath of eternity, with all its balm and music, seems near, and rapt with its glory, we are roused to all surrendering zeal. But I appeal to your experience whether it is not true that such revelations of the promise rapidly become limes of trial. Then the mocking voice of unbelief tells us that aspiration is vain. The cold cross currents of indifference chill the fiery impulses of the heart. We are in prison like Joseph, by no material bars indeed, but by the invisible bonds of unbelief; and we find it most hard to keep the promise clear and bright, while tempted to believe that our aspirations were merely idle dreams. And there is that arousing, by the promise, of the soul's hidden unbelief, which makes every promise an inevitable trial.(b) Again: God causes his promises to try nature that he may accomplish his own purposes of discipline. It is a law of our nature that no belief in any unseen thing can ever pass into the active form of strong endeavour to attain it, until we are tempted to disbelieve it. Thus the great idea of an undiscovered land across the wastes of the Atlantic smote the soul of Columbus; but it remained a dreamy faith until by opposition and ridicule he was tempted to regard it as a dream, and then it became heroic endeavour, and the land was found. Thus with all men of genius. They stand in the front of their age, with thoughts which the world cannot understand; but those thoughts are dreams until suffering and scorn try the men, and then they are awakened into effort to realise them. Hence God leads us into circumstances in which we are tempted to doubt his promises, that by temptation he may discipline faith into power. There is a wilderness of temptation in every life, and like Christ, we are often led into it, from the solemn hour when we heard the voice, "Thou art my son; " but like Christ, we come forth strong, through the long, silent wrestling with temptation, to do our Father's will.2. God sends the Hour of Deliverance: "until the time that his word came." When the discipline was perfected, Joseph came forth ready for his mission. But our deliverance does not always come in this way. Take from the Bible histories the four great methods by which God sends deliverance. Sometimes by death. Thus with Elijah Weariness, loneliness, failure, had wrung from by death the strong man the cry, "Take away my life for I and not better than my fathers." The temptation was becoming too strong, and God sent deliverance in the chariot of fire. Sometimes by transforming the height of trial into the height of blessing. The three youths in Babylon had clenched their nerves for the climax of agony, when the fire became a

Paradise. So, now, God makes the climax of trial the herald of spiritual blessedness. By suffering we are loosened from the bonds of time and sense; there is one near to us like the Son of God; and deliverance has come. Sometimes by the glance of love on the falling soul. Thus with Peter. The temptation was mastering him; one glance of that eye, and he went out weeping and delivered. Sometimes by continuing the trial, but increasing the power to endure it. Thus with Paul. After the vision of the third heaven came "the thorn in the flesh, "The temptation made him cry thrice to, God; the trial remained, but here was the deliverance" my grace is sufficient for thee." The suffering lost none of its pressure, but he learned to glory in infirmity; and then came his delivering hour.3. God makes the Trial by Promise fulfil the Promise itself. In Joseph the temptation to doubt the word of God silently meetened him for its fulfilment. So with us all. We hope not for an Egyptian kingdom, our dream vision is of a heavenly inheritance, and the palace of a heavenly King. But every temptation resisted, every mocking voice of doubt overcome, is an aid upwards and onwards. Trials, sufferings, struggles, are angels arraying the souls in the white robes of the heavenly world, and crowning it with the crown that fadeth not away. And when the end comes, then it will be seen that the long dreary endeavour to hold fast the dream promise—the firm resolute "no" to the temptation to disbelieve, are all more than recompensed with "the exceeding and eternal weight of glory." —Edward Zuscombe, in "Sermons preached at Kings Lynn." 1867.Ver. 19. —The word of the Lord tried him. As we try God's word, so God's word tries us; and happy if, when we are tried, we come forth as gold; and the trial of our faith proves more precious than that of gold which perisheth, though it be tried with fire. —William Jay.Ver. 19. —Tried him. I doubt not that Joseph's brethren were humbled, yet Joseph may be more, he must be cast into the ditch, and into the prison, and the iron must enter not only into his legs, but into his soul. He must be more affected in spirit, because he was to do greater work for God, and was to be raised up higher than the rest, and therefore did need the more ballast. —Thomas Shepard, in "The Sound Believer, "1649.Ver. 19. —Tried. Kdu, "assayed; "Ps 7:6 17:3 18:30. He came out of the ordeal, as gold from the fining pot, more pure and lustrous. —William Kay.Ver. 19. —Tried him. "Made him lord of his house." Joseph's feet were hurt in irons, to fit him to tread more delicately in the King's Palace at Zoan; and when the Lord's time was come, by the same stairs which winded him into the dungeon he climbs up into the next chariot to Pharaoh's. Few can bear great and sudden mercies without pride and wantonness, till they are hampered and humbled to carry it moderately. —Samuel Lee, in "The Triumph of Mercy in the Chariot of Praise, " 1677.

ELLICOTT, "(19) Until the time that his word came—i.e., until his (Joseph’s) interpretation of the dreams was fulfilled (Genesis 41:12). (For the expression “his word came,” equal to “came to pass,” comp. Judges 13:12.)

Word of the Lord.—As a different Hebrew word from that in the previous clause is used, better render, saying (or, oracle) of Jehovah.

Tried him.—Better, purified him, i.e., proved him innocent of the charge for which he was imprisoned. (For this sense of the verb, see Psalms 17:3; Psalms 18:30; Proverbs 30:5, margin.) The psalmist means that by enabling him to foretell the dreams of Pharaoh’s servants, God brought about the proof of his innocence.

WHEDO "19. Until the time—The trial of grace must come before the honour of reward.

His word came—That is, His word came to pass, as 1 Samuel 9:6.

The word of the Lord—The word which God revealed to him in prison and before Pharaoh. Genesis 40:12; Genesis 41:25.

Tried him—The meaning is, that the interpretation which Joseph gave of dreams, while in prison, must come to pass, as a test of his supernatural knowledge, before he could gain the confidence of the king and rise above his reproach and suffering.

BE SO , "Verses 19-22Psalms 105:19-22. Until the time that his word came — Dr. Waterland renders the verse, Until the time that his saying came to pass, the word of the Lord purged him: and Green translates it, Until the time that his prediction had come to pass, and the word of the Lord cleared him. The meaning seems evidently to be, that notwithstanding his eminent prudence, innocence, and piety, he was detained in prison until the time that his word, or cause, came before the king, and was known; (so it is in our old translation;) or, until his word, or prediction, concerning the chief butler’s promotion, came to pass; for this was the means of Joseph’s enlargement and justification; since a person, guilty of the crime with which he stood charged, would not have been inspired to foretel future events. Can we find, said Pharaoh, such a man as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? Genesis 41:38. The word of the Lord tried him — Either, 1st, Discovered him unto Pharaoh and his courtiers, and showed how innocent, holy, and wise a person he was, and thereby cleared him from those calumnies which had been cast upon him, and so prepared the way for his release, as it follows Psalms 105:20. Or, 2d, Tried his sincerity and constancy, (the word of the Lord being put for his commandment or decree,) tried him in the furnace of affliction, there refining and preparing him for his approaching exaltation to glory and honour. He made him ruler of all his substance — Hebrew, — of all his possession; that is, of his whole kingdom. To bind his princes ,בכל קנינוBy his commands; and, if they were refractory, to punish them. And teach his senators wisdom — His wisest counsellors, whom he commanded to receive instruction from Joseph on all occasions.

EXPOSITOR'S DICTIO ARY, "The Trial of Joseph

Psalm 105:19

The career of Joseph is of the kind to which we give the name of romance. That word is a vague one, and it would cost us some pains to define; but we all think we know a romance when we hear it, and the tale of Joseph is one. A boy of genius, hated by his brothers because he was a genius and knew it, led through startling vicissitudes of fortune, from a father"s partial love to the estate of slave, from the black arch of a dungeon to the splendour round a throne; then the marshal of a drama of poetic justice, apt almost beyond the devices of fiction; last in a scene of rarely equalled pathos binding up again the ruptured bond of home, and crowning the boy"s dream of dominion over his father"s house by a fulfilment as sweet as it was wonderful. What have we here but the very authentic stuff of romance, even as you would find it in an Odyssey of Greeks, or a tale of Arabians, or a chivalrous fiction of our orth.

I. Joseph"s tale is our tale. I called it a romance; and I call the moral life of a man or woman a romance. There is a region of your life to which the marvellous cleaves and cannot be separated. The moment we have to think not of the trader or labourer or citizen, but of the spiritual being that wears the name which is ours, that moment our life is touched with mystery. I see not why one should be more thrilled by the romance which Joseph lived between home and prison and palace, than by the romance we live ourselves between cradle and life-work and the grave.

II. Is Joseph"s prison also ours? That, too. And in it are spent the more part of our days. A prison not of brick or stone; a prison with walls of glass, and you can see through them; of air, and you cannot touch them; but the walls hold you caged as if they were iron or granite. The name of that prison is Life in the Flesh.

III. "The promise of Jehovah tried him." How blessed is it when this, the most universal trial of the religious life—the contradiction between our faith and the things which do appear—is felt by us, to remember that it is trial, that the promise is only trying us. How supportable is this world of appearances when once we have seen that these daunting and humiliating appearances are there only that we may have our chance of resisting them, of refusing to be brow-beaten, of asserting against them the Divine assurance in our hearts that we are not what we seem, and this mortal encompassment is not the fact.

References.—CV:19.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii. o1277. CV:24.—G. S. Barrett, Old Testament Outlines, p140. CV:41.—J. Davies, Penny Pulpit, o1513 , p241. CV.—International Critical Commentary, vol. ii. p339.

EBC, "Psalms 105:19 is also ambiguous, from the uncertainty as to whose word is intended in a. It may be either God’s or Joseph’s. The latter is the more probable, as there appears to be an intentional contrast between "His word," in a, -and "the promise of Jehovah" in b. If this explanation is adopted, a choice is still possible between Joseph’s interpretation of his fellow prisoners’ dreams, the fulfilment of which led to his liberation, and his earlier word recounting his own dreams, which led to his being sold by his brethren. In any case, the thought of the verse is a great and ever true one, that God’s promise, while it remains unfulfilled, and seems

contradicted by present facts, serves as a test of the genuineness and firmness of a man’s reliance on Him and it. That promise is by the psalmist almost personified, as putting Joseph to the test. Such testing is the deepest meaning of all afflictions. Fire will burn off a thin plating of silver from a copper coin and reveal the base metal beneath, but it will only brighten into a glow the one which is all silver.

MACLARE , "GOD’S PROMISES TESTSPsalms 105:19.I do not think I shall be mistaken if I affirm that these words do not convey any very clear idea to most readers. They were spoken with reference to Joseph, during the period of his imprisonment. For the understanding of them I think we must observe that there is a contrast drawn between two ‘words,’ ‘his’ {i.e. Joseph’s} and God’s. If we lay firm hold of that clue, I think it will lead us into clear daylight, and it will be obvious that Joseph’s word, which delayed its coming, or fulfilment, was either his boyish narrative of the dreams that foreshadowed his exaltation, or less probably, his words to his fellow-prisoners in the interpretation of their dreams. In either case, the terminus ad quem, the point to which our attention is directed, is the period when that word came to be fulfilled, and what my text says is that during that long season of unfulfilled hope, the ‘word of God,’ which was revealed in Joseph’s dream, and was the ground on which his own ‘word’ rested-did what? Encouraged, heartened, strengthened him? o, that unfulfilled promise might encourage or discourage him; but the Psalmist fixes our thoughts on another effect which, whether it encouraged or discouraged, it certainly had, namely, that it tested him, and found out what stuff he was made of, and whether there was staying power enough in him to hold on, in unconquerable faith, to a promise made long since, communicated by no more reliable method than a dream, and of the fulfilment of which not the faintest sign had, for all these weary years, appeared. His circumstances, judged by appearances, shattered his early visions, and bade him believe them to be no more than the boyish aspirations which grown men dismiss or find melt away of themselves when life’s realities wake the dreamer. We might either say that the non-fulfilment of the promise tested Joseph, or that the promise, by its non-fulfilment, tested him. The Psalmist chooses the latter more forcible and half paradoxical mode of speech. It proved the depth and vitality of his faith, and his ability to see things that are not as though they were. Will this man be able continually through years of poverty and imprisonment to keep his eye on the light beyond, to see his star through clouds? Will he despise the ‘light affliction,’ in the potent and immovable belief that it is ‘but for a moment?’ Thus, for all these years the great blessed word, or the hope that was built upon it, tested Joseph in the very depths of his soul. And is not that just what our anticipations, built upon God’s assurances, whether they are in regard to earthly matters that seem long in coming, or whether they, as they ought to do, travel beyond the bounds of the material, to grasp the hope which is the promise, ‘the hope of eternal life,’ ought to do for us, test us and find out what sort of people we are? And they do!

Let us go back to the man in our text. According to some commentators, he was imprisoned for something like ten years. We do not know how long his Egyptian bondage had lasted, nor how long before that his endurance of the active ill-will of

his surly brothers had gone on. But at all events his chrysalis stage was very long, and one would not have wondered if he had said to himself, down in that desert pit or in that Egyptian dungeon, ‘Ah, yes! they were dreams, and only dreams,’ or if he had, as so many of us do, turned his back on his youthful visions, and gained the sad power of being able to smile at his old hopes and ambitions. Brethren! especially you young men and women, cherish your youthful dreams. They are often the prophecies of capacities and possibilities, signs of what God means you to make yourselves. But that is apart from my subject. Suppose we had clear before us, with unwavering confidence in its reality, the great promise which God has given us, do you not think that its presence would purify our souls, and give power and dignity to our lives?The promise was a test, says my text. The word which it employs to designate the manner of testing or trying, is one drawn from the smelting operations of the goldsmith, by which, heat being applied, the mass is made fluid and the dross is run off, and as the result of the trial, there flows out gold refined by fire.‘Having these promises, dearly beloved! let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.’ ‘Every man who hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.’ The result of the great promise of eternal life and of the hope that it kindles is meant to be that it shall purge our spirits from meanness, from sense, from undue dependence upon the miserable trivialities of to-day, that it shall emancipate us from slavery to the moment, and lead us into the liberty of the eternities, ‘while we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen.’ Oh! if we would only see clearly and habitually before us-for we could if we would-what God’s heart inclines Him to do for us, and what He certainly will do for us, in the far-off future, if we will only let Him, do you not think that these trifles that put us off our equanimity this morning would have been borne with a little more composure? Do you not think that the things that looked so huge when we were down abreast of them would, by the laws of perspective, diminish in their proportions as we rose steadily above them, until all the hubbub in the valley was unheard on the mountain peak, and the great trees that waved their giant branches below and shut out the sky from our eyes while we were among them would dwindle to a green smear on the plain, and all the foes ‘show scarce so gross as beetles,’ from the height from which we look down upon them? Get up beside God’s promise, if you would take the true dimensions of cares and tasks, and burdens and sorrows. Then, brother! you will learn the truth of the paradox, ‘light . . . but for a moment’; though often they all but crush the burden-bearing shoulder and seem to last through slow years.‘The word of the Lord tried him,’ and because it tried him, it purified him. If we give credence, as we ought to, to that word, it will purify us, and it will test of what contexture our faith is. The further away the object of any hope is, the more noble the cherishing of it makes a life. The trivial, short-lived anticipations which do not look beyond the end of next week are far less operative in making strong and noble characters than are those, of whatever kind they may be otherwise, which look far ahead and need years for their realisation. It is a blessing to have the mark far, far away, because that means that the arm that pulls the bow must draw more strongly, and the eye that sees the goal must gaze more intently. Be thankful for the promise that cannot be fulfilled in this world because it lifts us above the low levels, and

already makes us feel as if we were endowed with immortality.The word will test our patience, and it will test our willingness, though we be heirs of the kingdom, to do humble tasks. Christian men in this world are sons of a King, and look forward to a royal inheritance, but in the meantime they have, as it were, to keep a little huckster’s shop in a back alley. But if we adequately realised the promise of our inheritance, the meanness of our surroundings and the triviality of our occupations would not make us mean or trivial, but our souls would be ‘like stars’ and ‘dwell apart’ while we travelled ‘on life’s common way in cheerful godliness,’ and did small duties in such a manner as to make them great.Because Joseph was sure that God’s long-lingering word would be fulfilled, he did not mind though he had to be the lackey of his brothers, the Midianites’ chattel, Potiphar’s slave, Pharaoh’s prisoner, and a servant of servants in his dungeon. So with us, the measure of our willing acceptance of our present tasks, burdens, humiliations, and limitations is the measure of our firm faith in the promise that tarries.‘If we hope for what we see not, then do we with patience wait for it,’ says the Apostle, though most of us would have said exactly the opposite. We generally suppose that the more ardent the hope, the more is it impatient of delay. Paul had learned better. The more certain the assurance, the better we can tolerate the procrastination of its fulfilment.So, brethren! God’s greatest gift to us, like all His other gifts, has in it the quality of testing us; and we can come to a pretty fair approximation to an estimate of what sort of Christian people we are, by observing how we deal with God’s promises of help according to our need here and of heaven hereafter. How do we deal with them? Why, a sadly large number of us never think about them at all; and a large proportion of the others would a great deal rather stay working in the huckster’s shop in the back alley, than go home to the King. I am quite sure that if the inmost sentiments of the bulk of professing Christians about a future life were dragged into light, these would be a revelation of a faith all honeycombed with insincerity. God tests us, and it is a sharp test if we submit ourselves to it; He tests us by His promises. ‘Child, wilt thou believe?’ is the first testing question put to us by these. ‘Wilt thou keep them hid in thy heart?’ is the next. ‘Wilt thou go out towards them in desire?’ is the next. ‘Wilt thou live worthy of them?’ is the last. ‘The word of the Lord tried him.’So let us be thankful for the delays of love, for the wide gap between promise and realisation. It was for Joseph’s sake that the slow years were multiplied between the first gleam of his future and the full sunshine of his exaltation. And it is for our sakes that God in like manner protracts the period of anticipation and non-fulfilment. ‘If the vision tarry, wait for it.’ ‘Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus their brother’ very dearly. ‘When He heard, therefore, that he was sick, He abode still two days’-to give time for Lazarus to die-’in the same place where He was.’ Ay, and when each sister came to Him with her most natural and yet most faithless ‘Lord! if Thou hadst been here my brother had not died,’ He only said, ‘If thou wouldst believe thou shouldst see the glory of God.’ Was not Lazarus dearer, restored from the grave, than he would have been, raised from his sickbed? Is not the delaying of the blessing a means of increase of the blessing? And shall not we be sure that however long ‘He that shall come’ may seem to tarry ere He comes, when

He has come they who have waited for His coming more than they that watch for the morning and have sometimes been ready to cry out: ‘Hath the Lord forgotten? Doth His promise fail for ever more?’ will be ashamed of their impatient moments and will humbly and thankfully exclaim: ‘He came at the very right time and did not tarry.’ ‘Until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him,’ and the coming of that word was all the more blessed for every heavy-laden hour of hope deferred, which, by God’s grace, did not make the heart sick, but prepared it for fuller possession of the blessings enhanced by the delays of love.

20 The king sent and released him, the ruler of peoples set him free.

BAR ES, "The king sent and loosed him - Released him from prison. Gen_41:14. The object was that he might interpret the dreams of Pharaoh.

The ruler of the people, and let him go free - Hebrew, “peoples,” in the plural -referring either to the fact that there were “many” people in the land, or that Pharaoh ruled over tributary nations as well as over the Egyptians.

GILL, "The king sent and loosed him,.... That is, Pharaoh king of Egypt sent messengers to the prison, and ordered Joseph to be loosed, as soon as ever he heard the account which the chief butler gave of him, and of his skill in interpreting dreams.

Even the ruler of the people; or "peoples": the subjects of Pharaoh's kingdom being very numerous.

And let him go free, ordered his fetters to be taken off, and him to be set at liberty, to go where he pleased; or, however, that he might come to court, whither he was brought, and which was the end of his releasement; see Gen_41:14, in this he was a type of Christ in his resurrection from the dead; who for a while was under the dominion of death, was held with the pains and cords of it, and was under the power and in the prison of the grave; but it was not possible, considering the dignity of his person, and the performance of his work as a surety, that he should be held here. Wherefore the cords and pains of death were loosed, and he was brought out of prison; God his Father, the King of kings, sent an angel from heaven, to roll away the stone of the sepulchre, and let the prisoner free; so that he was legally and judicially discharged and acquitted; as it was proper he should, having satisfied both law and justice; he was justified in the Spirit when he rose

from the dead, and all his people were justified in him, for he rose again for their justification.

CALVI , "20.The king sent and loosed him The Psalmist celebrates in high terms the deliverance of Joseph; for God’s singular power was conspicuously displayed in a matter so incredible. What is of more rare occurrence than for a most powerful monarch to bring a stranger out of prison to constitute him ruler over his whole kingdom, and to raise him to a rank of honor, second only to himself? The phrase in verse 22, to bind his princes, is commonly explained as implying that Joseph was invested with the chief sovereignty in the administration of the government, so that he could cast into prison, at his pleasure, even the nobles of the realm. Others, conceiving this interpretation to be somewhat harsh, derive the verb לאסור, lesor, which Moses employs, not from אסר, asar, which signifies to bind, but from יסר, yasar, which signifies to instruct, by changing the letter י, yod, into א, aleph. (218) But I am surprised that neither of them have perceived the metaphor contained in this word, which is, that Joseph held the lords of Egypt bound to him at his pleasure, or subject to his power. What is here spoken of is not fetters, but the bond or obligation of obedience, both the princes and all others being dependent on his will. The expression, which is added a little after, to teach his elders wisdom, evinces that Joseph did not bear sway like a tyrant, difficult and rare a thing as it is for men, when invested with sovereign power, not to give loose reins to their own humor: but that he was a rule and a pattern, even to the chief of them, in the high degree of discretion which he exemplified in the administering the affairs of state.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 20. The king sent and loosed him. He was thrust into the roundhouse by an officer, but he was released by the monarch himself.Even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. The tide had turned, so that Egypt's haughty potentate gave him a call from the prison to the palace. He had interpreted the dreams of captives, himself a captive; he must now interpret for a ruler and become a ruler himself. When God means to enlarge his prisoners, kings become his turnkeys.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 20. —The king sent and loosed him. And that by his own master, Potiphar, who had clapt him up there by his wanton wife's wicked instigation. He had been bound ignominiously, but now comes he to be loosed honourably. —Christopher ess.

COFFMA , "Verse 20"The king sent and loosed him;

Even the ruler of peoples,

And let him go free.

He made him lord of his house,

And ruler of his substance;

To bind his princes at his pleasure,

And teach his elders wisdom."

These verses report the elevation of Joseph to a position of authority in Egypt second only to that of Pharaoh himself. Genesis 41 has the Genesis account of this.

"To bind his princes at his pleasure" (Psalms 105:22). This is not mentioned in Genesis; but given Joseph's great authority in Egypt, the truth of it cannot be questioned.

21 He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed,

BAR ES, "He made him lord of his house - Gen_41:40. This implied that the administration of the affairs of the nation was virtually committed to him.

And ruler of all his substance - Margin, as in Hebrew, “possession.” Of all he had. He placed all at his disposal in the affairs of his kingdom.

GILL, "He made him lord of his house,.... That is, Pharaoh made Joseph lord chamberlain of his household; after he had him to court, and he had interpreted his dreams to him to his great satisfaction, and had given him such prudent advice to provide against the years of famine; see Gen_41:33. So Christ, after his resurrection, was received up into heaven, and was made and declared Lord and Christ, Lord of all, having all power in heaven and earth given to him; particularly had the care of the church committed to him, which is the house of God, of his building, and where he dwells; where his children are born, brought up, and provided for. Here Christ is as a Son over his own house, as the owner and proprietor of it; here he is King, Priest, and Prophet; and is the provider for all in it, both of food and clothing:

of him the whole family in heaven and in earth is named, Eph_3:15, though he makes use of under stewards, to give to everyone their portion of meat in due season.

And ruler of all his substance, or "possession" (h); lord treasurer of all his revenue, Gen_41:40. Herein also he was a type of Christ, who, as God, is possessor of heaven and earth, being the Creator of them; but, as Mediator, he has all things delivered into his hands; all are at his dispose, to subserve the ends of his mediatorial office; he has all

temporal things, gold and silver, riches and honour, to bestow upon men at pleasure; more especially all spiritual things are with him; the gifts of the Spirit, which he has without measure; and the fulness of all grace, which it has pleased the Father should dwell in him; the blessings of the everlasting covenant, and the promises of it; all the riches of grace, pardoning, justifying, and adopting grace, and all the riches of glory.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 21. He made him lord of his house. Reserving no power, but saying "only in the throne will I be greater than thou." The servitor of slaves becomes lord over nobles. How soon the Lord lifteth his chosen from the dunghill to set them among princes.And ruler of all his substance. He empowered him to manage the storing of the seven plenteous harvests, and to dispense the provisions in the coming days of scarcity. All the treasures of Egypt were under his lock and key, yea, the granaries of the world were sealed or opened at his bidding. Thus was he in the best conceivable position for preserving alive the house of Israel with whom the covenant was made. As our Lord was himself secured in Egypt from Herod's enmity, so, ages before, the redeemed race found an equally available shelter, in the hour of need. God has always a refuge for his saints, and if the whole earth could not afford them sanctuary, the Lord himself would be their dwelling place, and take them up to lie in his own bosom. We are always sure to be fed if all the world should starve. It is delightful to think of our greater Joseph ruling the nations for the good of his own household, and it becomes us to abide in quiet confidence in every political disaster, since Jesus is on the throne of providence, King of kings and Lord of lords, and will be so till this dispensation ends.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 21. —Ruler of all his substance, or "possession." Herein also he was a type of Jesus Christ, who, as God, is possessor of heaven and earth, being the creator of them. —John Gill.Ver. 21 —He was received into the Royal Society of the right honourable the king's privy councillors, and was constituted as Chairman of the council table, which, though Moses doth not express, yet David intimates in Psalms 105:21-22. All the privy councillors, as well as the private people were bound (possibly by oath) to obey him in all things, and, as out of the chair, he magisterially taught these senators wisdom. Thus the Hebrew reading runs: He bound the princes to his soul (or according to his will) and made wise his elders; teaching them not only civil and moral, but also divine wisdom, for which cause God sent Joseph (saith he) into Egypt, that some sound of the redemption of fallen mankind might be heard in that kingdom, at that time the most flourishing in the world: neither is Moses altogether silent herein, for he calls him a master of wisdom, or father to Pharaoh (Genesis 45:8). Much more to his councillors, and he says that no hand or foot shall move (to wit, in affairs of state, at home, or, in foreign embassies, abroad) without Joseph's order; he was the king's plenipotentiary, Genesis 41:44. —Christopher ess.

22 to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elders wisdom.

BAR ES, "To bind his princes at pleasure - Giving him absolute power. The power here referred to was that which was always claimed in despotic governments, and was, and is still, actually practiced in Oriental nations. Literally, “to bind his princes ‘by his soul;’” that is, at his will; or, as he chose.

And teach his senators wisdom - This is now an unhappy translation. The word “senator” in fact originally had reference to “age” (see Webster’s Dictionary), but it is now commonly applied to a body of men entrusted with a share in the administration of government - usually a higher body in a government - as the Senate of the United States. As these were usually “aged men,” the word has acquired its present meaning, and is now ordinarily used without reference to age. But there was no such constituted body in the government of Egypt - for despotism does not admit of such an arrangement. The Hebrew word here means “aged men,” and is employed with reference to those who were connected with the administration, or whom the monarch would consult - his counselors. The meaning of the phrase “to teach them wisdom” is, that he would instruct them “what to do;” literally, he would “make them wise,” that is, in reference to the administration. He had the right of commanding them, and directing them in the administration. At the same time, it is doubtless true that Joseph was endowed with practical wisdom in the affairs of government far beyond them, and that in instructing them what to do, he actually imparted “wisdom” to them.

GILL, "To bind his princes at his pleasure,.... Not to lay them in prison, and bind them with fetters, as he had been bound; but to give laws unto them as he pleased, and bind and oblige them to observe them: for, according to his word, all the people of Egypt, high and low, rich and poor, were to be ruled; and, without his leave, no man was to lift up his hand or foot in all the land, Gen_41:40. All Christ's people are princes, to whom he gives laws at his pleasure, as one having authority, though they are not grievous; and these he binds, obliges, and constrains his people by love to observe, and which they do. Jarchi's note is,

"this is an expression of love like that; and the soul of Jonathan was bound unto the soul of David: when he (Joseph) interpreted the dream, they all loved him.''

The Targum is,

"to bind his nobles as to his soul.''

And teach his senators wisdom; his elders, his privy counsellors: he made him president of his council; where he was a curb upon them, and restrained them from

taking wrong or bad measures; so Schultens (i), from the use of the word in the Arabic language, renders it, "to bridle", or restrain his senators; which conveys an idea agreeable to the preceding clause. Nor were these the only persons he taught; he not only instructed the nobles and courtiers in politics, but the priests and men of learning in the arts and sciences; and all, no doubt, in the mysteries of the true religion, as he had an opportunity. And this is the source of the wisdom of the Egyptians, which Moses was afterwards brought up in; and for which that people were so famous, that many of the ancient philosophers, as Pythagoras, Plato, and others, travelled thither to acquire it. This they had from Joseph, and his people that dwelt in their land. Christ's senators are his apostles and ministers, the elders that rule well, and labour in the word and doctrine: these are taught wisdom by him; the knowledge of divine and spiritual things; the words and doctrines of the wise are all from him, that one Shepherd; that they, as undershepherds and pastors, may feed others with knowledge and understanding.

JAMISO , "To bind — Not literally bind; but exercise over them absolute control,as the parallel in the second clause shows; also Gen_41:40, Gen_41:44, in which not literal fettering, but commanding obedience, is spoken of. It refers to Psa_105:18. The soul that was once bound itself now binds others, even princes. The same moral bindingis assigned to the saints (Psa_149:8).

teach ... senators wisdom — the ground of his exaltation by Pharaoh was his wisdom (Gen_41:39); namely, in state policy, and ordering well a kingdom.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 22. To bind his princes at his pleasure. He who was bound obtains authority to bind. He is no longer kept in prison, but keeps all the prisons, and casts into them the greatest nobles when justice demands it.And teach his senators wisdom. The heads of the various peoples, the elders of the nations, learned from him the science of government, the art of providing for the people. Joseph was a great instructor in political economy, and we doubt not that he mingled with it the purest morals, the most upright jurisprudence, and something of that divine wisdom without which the most able senators remain in darkness. The king's authority made him absolute both in the executive and in the legislative courts, and the Lord instructed him to use his power with discretion. What responsibilities and honours loaded the man who had been rejected by his brothers, and sold for twenty pieces of silver! What glories crown the head of that greater one who was "separated from his brethren."EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 22. —To bind his Princes. The meaning of wydv doal signifies to exercise control over the greatest men in the kingdom, which power was conferred on Joseph by Pharaoh: see Genesis 41:40; Genesis 41:43-44. The capability of binding is to be regarded as an evidence of authority; a power of compelling obedience; or, in default thereof, of inflicting punishment. —George Phillips. 1846.Ver. 22. —At his pleasure. Literally, with his soul which some explain as a bold metaphor, describing Joseph's mind or soul as the cord or chain with which he bound the Egyptians, i.e., forced them to perform his will. But see Ps 17:9 27:12 41:2. —Joseph Addison Alexander.Ver. 22. —And teach his senators wisdom. That in that wisdom wherein he had been instructed of God he might also instruct the princes, and teach prudence to

those who were much his seniors. Herein some sparks of divine wisdom shine, that he should order even the princes and old men to learn wisdom from one who was a slave and a foreigner, although the Egyptians are always want to boast that Egypt is the native place of wisdom. —Yansenius.

23 Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.

BAR ES, "Israel also came into Egypt - Another name for Jacob; see Psa_105:10.

And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham - Not as a permanent abode, but as a temporary arrangement, until the time should come for the people to be removed to the land of promise. See Gen_46:6. The more literal rendering would be, “Jacob was a stranger - a foreigner - in the land of Ham.” On the meaning of the word “Ham,” see the notes at Psa_78:51.

GILL, "Israel also came into Egypt,.... That is, Jacob, as afterwards expressed, who had the name of Israel, from his wrestling with God and prevailing. He came into Egypt, being invited by Pharaoh, and having heard of his son Joseph being alive, and of his exaltation.

And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham: the same with Egypt; Mizraim, from whence Egypt has its name, being the son of Ham, Gen_10:6. Hence Egypt is called by Plutarch (k) Chemia; and Diodorus Siculus (l) speaks of a city in Thebais, or Upper Egypt, which was called by the inhabitants Chemmis, interpreted by them the city of Pan; and Plutarch (m) mentions a place called Chennis, inhabited by Pans and Satyrs. The same is mentioned by Herodotus (n), which he calls a large city of the Thebaic nome; a city of the same name is observed by Heliodorus (o); and both Herodotus (p)and Mela (q) speak of an island called Chemmis, which the Egyptians represent as floating. In all which there are plain traces of the name of Ham, the same with Jupiter Ammon; or Amun, as Plutarch; worshipped in Egypt; and from whom all Africa was sometimes called Ammonia (r), the country of Ammon or Ham. And Herodotus (s)speaks of a people called Ammonii, about ten days' journey from Thebes in Upper Egypt; who, according to him (t), had their name from Jupiter Ammon, or Ham. And Pliny (u)makes mention of the oracle of Hammon, as twelve days' journey from Memphis, and of the Hammoniac nome; and the Egyptian priests are called Ammmonean (w). Here Jacob was a sojourner, as all the Lord's people are in this world; they are sojourners, as all their fathers were; and their time here is a time of sojourning, 1Ch_29:15. They are not

natives of the place where they are; they are indeed so by their first birth, but not by their new birth; being born from above, they belong to another place, are citizens of another city; their house, estate, and inheritance, are in heaven: neither their settlement nor satisfaction are here; they do not reckon themselves at home while they are in this world; they are indeed in an enemy's country, in a cursed land; or that is nigh unto cursing, and its end to be burned. Such the land of Ham was, where Jacob sojourned.

JAMISO , "Israel ... and Jacob — that is, Jacob himself is meant, as Psa_105:24speaks of “his people.” Still, he came with his whole house (Gen_46:6, Gen_46:7).

sojourned — (Gen_47:4).

land of Ham — or, Egypt (Psa_78:51).

CALVI , "23.And Israel came into Egypt The prophet does not rehearse the whole history, nor was this necessary. He only presents to our view how divine providence was concerned in it, which very few consider in reading the narrative of Moses. He accordingly declares, that after Joseph had been sent before into Egypt, to be the means of supporting his father and the whole family, Jacob then came into Egypt, that is, he did so when all things were admirably arranged, that he might find abundance of bread among a people, the proudest of the whole world, (219) when all others were perishing for want of food. From this it appears, that what is accounted to be slowness in God, tends to no other end than to accomplish his work on the best possible occasion.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 23. Israel also came into Egypt. The aged patriarch came, and with him that increasing company which bore his name. He was hard to bring there. Perhaps nothing short of the hope of seeing Joseph could have drawn him to take so long a journey from the tombs of his forefathers; but the divine will was accomplished and the church of God was removed into an enemy's country, where for a while it was nourished.And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. Shem the blessed came to lodge awhile with Ham the accursed: the dove was in the vulture's nest. God so willed it for a time, and therefore it was safe and right: still it was only a sojourn, not a settlement. The fairest Goshen in Egypt was not the covenant blessing, neither did the Lord mean his people to think it so; even so to us "earth is our lodge" but only our lodge, for heaven is our home. When we are best housed we ought still to remember that here we have no continuing city. It were ill news for us if we were doomed to reside in Egypt for ever, for all its riches are not worthy to be compared with the reproach of Christ.Thus the song rehearsed the removals of the Lord's people, and was a most fit accompaniment to the bearing up of the ark, as the priest carried it into the city of David, where the Lord had appointed it a resting place.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 23. —Egypt...the land of Ham. The Egyptians were a branch of the race of Ham. They came from Asia through the desert of Syria to settle in the valley of the ile. This is a fact clearly established by science, and entirely confirms the statements of the book of Genesis. —F. Lenormant and E. Chevalier, in "A

Manual of Ancient History, "1869.

BE SO , "Verse 23-24Psalms 105:23-24. Israel also — Jacob in person, with his children; came into Egypt — Where he and all his were very comfortably and honourably provided for many years. Thus the ew Testament church has a place provided for her, even in the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time, Revelation 12:14. Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham — Ham was the father of Mizraim, or the Egyptians, Genesis 10:6. And he, God, increased the people greatly — According to the promise made to Abraham, that his seed should be as the sand of the sea for multitude; and made them stronger than their enemies — More and mightier, according to Pharaoh’s confession, Exodus 1:9, than the Egyptians, who, of friends, were now become their enemies.

COFFMA , "Verse 23"Israel also came into Egypt;

And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

And he increased his people greatly,

And made them stronger than their adversaries.

He turned their heart to hate his people,

To deal subtly with his servants."

This is a thumb-nail history of four hundred years! God had told Abraham on that dreadful night of the covenant when the smoking lamp went between the carcasses what would happen to his posterity.

"Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, and they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. That nation whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance (Genesis 15:13.14)."Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham" (Psalms 105:23). "Egypt is here called the land of Ham, because in the table of nations (Genesis 10) Egypt is listed as one of the sons of Ham."[10]

"God made them stronger than their adversaries" (Psalms 105:24). It is surprising to us that a scholar such as Leupold would question the truth of this. He wrote, "This can scarcely be intended to be understood in the most literal sense."[11] Indeed! And why not? "The king over Egypt said ... Behold the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come let us deal wisely with them, etc." (Exodus 1:7).

"God turned their heart to hate his people" (Psalms 105:25). "Through his great

blessings upon the Israelites, God caused the Egyptians to hate them."[12] This came about through their envy, jealousy and fear of the astounding growth of Israel.

EBC, "There is a ring of triumph in the singer’s voice as he tells of the honour and power heaped on the captive, and of how the king and many nations "sent," as the mightier King in heaven had done (Psalms 105:20 and Psalms 105:17), and not only liberated but exalted him, giving him, whose soul had been bound in fetters, power to "bind princes according to his soul," and to instruct and command the elders of Egypt. Psalms 105:23-27 carry on the story to the next step in the evolution of God’s purposes. The long years of the sojourn in Egypt are summarily dealt with, as they are in the narrative in Genesis and Exodus, and the salient points of its close alone are touched-the numerical growth of the people, the consequent hostility of the Egyptians, and the mission of Moses and Aaron. The direct ascription to God of all the incidents mentioned is to be noted. The psalmist sees only one hand moving, and has no hesitation in tracing to God the turning of the Egyptians’ hearts to hatred. Many commentators, both old and new, try to weaken the expression, by the explanation that the hatred was "indirectly the work of God, inasmuch as He lent increasing might to the people" (Delitzsch). But the psalmist means much more than this, just as Exodus does in attributing the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart to God. Psalms 105:27, according to the existing text, breaks the series of verses beginning with a singular verb of which God is the subject, which stretch with only one other interruption from Psalms 105:24 to Psalms 105:37. It seems most probable, therefore, that the LXX is right in reading He instead of They. The change is but the omission of one letter, and the error supposed is a frequent one. The word literally means set or planted, and did is an explanation rather than a rendering. The whole expression is remarkable. Literally, we should translate "He" (or "They") "set among them words" (or "matters") "of His signs"; but this would be unintelligible, and we must have recourse to reproduction of the meaning rather than of the words.

If "words of His signs" is not merely pleonastic, it may be rendered as by Kay, "His long record of signs," or as by Cheyne, "His varied signs." But it is better to take the expression as suggesting that the miracles were indeed words, as being declarations of God’s will and commands to let His people go. The phrase in Psalms 105:5, "the judgments of His mouth," would then be roughly parallel. God’s deeds are words. His signs have tongues. "He speaks and it is done"; but also, "He does and it is spoken." The expression, however, may be like Psalms 65:4, where the same form of phrase is applied to sins, and where it seems to mean "deeds of iniquity." It would then mean here "His works which were signs." The following enumeration of the "signs" does not follow the order in Exodus, but begins with the ninth plague, perhaps because of its severity, and then in the main adheres to the original sequence, though it inverts the order of the third and fourth plagues (flies and gnats or mosquitoes, not "lice") and omits the fifth and sixth. The reason for this divergence is far from clear, but it may be noted that the first two in the psalmist’s order attack the elements; the next three. (frogs, flies, gnats) have to do with animal life; and the next two (hail and locusts), which embrace both these categories, are considered chiefly as affecting vegetable products. The emphasis is

laid in all on God’s direct act. He sends darkness, He turns the waters into blood, and so on. The only other point needing notice in these verses is the statement in Psalms 105:28 b. "They rebelled not against His word," which obviously is true only in reference to Moses and Aaron, who shrank not from their perilous embassage.

The tenth plague is briefly told for the psalm is hurrying on to the triumphant climax of the Exodus, when, enriched with silver and gold, the tribes went forth, strong for their desert march, and Egypt rejoiced to see the last of them, "for they said, We be all dead men". [Exodus 12:33] There may be a veiled hope in this exultant picture of the Exodus, that present oppression will end in like manner. The wilderness sojourn is so treated in Psalms 105:39 sqq. as to bring into sight only the leading instances, sung in many psalms, of God’s protection, without one disturbing reference to the sins and failures which darkened the forty years. These are spread out at length, without flattery or minimising, in the next psalm; but here the theme is God’s wonders. Therefore, the pillar of cloud which guided, covered, and illumined the camp, the miracles which provided food and water, are touched on in Psalms 105:39-41, and then the psalmist gathers up the lessons which he would teach in three great thoughts. The reason for God’s merciful dealings with His people is His remembrance of His covenant, and of, His servant Abraham, whose faith made a claim on God, for the fulfilment which would vindicate it. That covenant: has been amply fulfilled, for Israel came forth with ringing songs, and took possession of lands which they had not tilled, and houses which they had not built. The purpose of covenant and fulfilment is that the nation, thus admitted into special relations with God, should by His mercies be drawn to keep His commandments, and in obedience find rest and closer fellowship with its God. The psalmist had learned that God gives before He demands or commands, and that "Love," springing from grateful reception of His benefits, "is the fulfilling of the Law." He anticipates the full Christian exhortation, "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice."

24 The Lord made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes,

BAR ES, "And he increased his people greatly ... - God caused them to multiply. Exo_1:7, Exo_1:9.

GILL, "And he increased his people greatly,.... God increased the people of Israel greatly in the land of Egypt; they went down few, and became a populous nation; only sixty six persons, besides Jacob's sons' wives; and when they came out from thence were six hundred thousand footmen; yea, they increased the more they were afflicted, Exo_1:12. So the people of God in this world sometimes increase in number, and that even amidst the persecutions of their enemies; as the Christians did in the first times of the Gospel under the Roman emperors; and they increase in grace, in every grace, and oftentimes the more they are tried and exercised by afflictions.

And made them stronger than their enemies; in their bodies, being more healthy, strong, and robust; and which was seen, observed, and owned by their enemies, Exo_1:9. So saints, being strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, are a match for their enemies; are stronger than they, and are even more than conquerors through Christ, that has loved them.

HE RY, " They were wonderfully multiplied, according to the promise made to Abraham that his seed should be as the sand of the sea for multitude, Psa_105:24. In Egypt he increased his people greatly; they multiplied like fishes, so that in a little time they became stronger than their enemies and formidable to them. Pharaoh took notice of it. Exo_1:9, The children of Israel are more and mightier than we. When God pleases a little one shall become a thousand; and God's promises, though they work slowly, work surely.

JAMISO , "Israel ... and Jacob — that is, Jacob himself is meant, as Psa_105:24speaks of “his people.” Still, he came with his whole house (Gen_46:6, Gen_46:7).

sojourned — (Gen_47:4).

land of Ham — or, Egypt (Psa_78:51).

CALVI , "24.And he greatly increased his people The singular favor of God towards his Church is now commended by the additional circumstance, that within a short space of time, the chosen people increased beyond the common proportion. In this matter the wonderful blessing of God was strikingly displayed. So much the more offensive then is the barking of some dogs, who insolently scoff at the account given by Moses of the multiplying of the people, because it goes far beyond what takes place in the ordinary course of things. Had the people increased only at the common rate, these persons would have immediately objected, that therein no work of God was to be seen. Thus the object which they pursue by their cavillings is nothing else than to make it to be believed, that the blessing of God had no connection with the case. But we, who are persuaded that it is unwarrantable for us to measure God’s power according to our own understandings, or according to what happens by the common law of nature, reverently admire this extraordinary work of his hand. The subsequent clause is a little obscure, especially if we read, The people were strengthened; (220) for the prophet does not seem to refer to that period when the Israelites lived at ease and in prosperity, but to the time when they were contemptuously and barbarously dealt with as slaves. We may, however,

understand the language as spoken by anticipation, — as pointing to what was to happen. In the following verse, it is affirmed, that the Egyptians having changed their mind, began to treat the people with cruelty. Although then the Egyptians did not as yet openly exercise their cruelty against the people, when they were increasing both in number and strength, yet the prophet calls them persecutors. It is certain, that the Israelites, even when they were oppressed as slaves, were a terror to their enemies; and Moses plainly affirms, (Exodus 1:12) that when they were under tyranny and wrongful oppression, it was still abundantly manifest, that the blessing of God rested upon them.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 24. And he increased his people greatly. In Goshen they seem to have increased rapidly from the first, and this excited the fears of the Egypt, inns, so that they tried to retard their increase by oppression, but the Lord continued to bless them,And made them stronger than their enemies. Both in physical strength and in numbers they threatened to become the more powerful race. or was this growth of the nation impeded by tyrannical measures, but the very reverse took place, thus giving an early instance of what has since become a proverb in the church—"the more they oppressed them the more they multiplied." It is idle to contend either with God or his people.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 24. —He increased his people greatly. Behold here the concealed blessing in the secret of the cross. Under it the people of God are in the most fruitful state. —Berleb. Bible.Ver. 24. —Church prosperity desirable. Increase of numbers, increase of rigour. Attainable under great persecution and opposition. Divine in its origin, —"he increased." Satisfactory as a text it is only true of "his people."

WHEDO , "24. Made them stronger than their enemies—See Exodus 1:7-9, where they are said to be “more and mightier” than the Egyptians; that is, than native born Egyptians; probably, not more than the total population under the government. The defense of the nation rested with the native citizens. ot their numbers only, but the superior strength, of the Hebrews alarmed the Egyptians. At the time of the exodus the Hebrews are commonly computed to have numbered about two and a half millions, and up to the date of Exodus 1:8, they had political power. from this to Psalms 105:38 the events leading to the exodus are rehearsed.

25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants.

BAR ES, "He turned their heart to hate his people - God turned their heart. That is, He so ordered things that they became the enemies of his people, and made it necessary that they should be removed into another land. It is not said that God did this by his direct “power;” or that he “compelled” them to hate his people; or that he in any way interfered with their “will;” or that he regarded this “as a good” in itself; or that he “approved” of it: but this is said in accordance with the usual representations in the Bible, where God is spoken of as having all things under his control, and where it is constantly affirmed that nothing takes place without his own proper agency and government in the matter. Nothing - not even the human will - free as it is - is independent of God; and not even the worst passions of men are “outside of his plan,” or independent in such a sense that he does not afford the opportunity for their development and display. Compare the notes at Isa_6:10; Isa_10:5-7, Isa_10:15.

To deal subtilly - In a fraudulent, or deceitful manner. See Exo_1:10.

CLARKE, "He turned their heart - “Their heart was turned.” So the Syriac and Arabic. After befriending the Hebrews on Joseph’s account, to whom they were so deeply indebted, finding them to multiply greatly in the land, and at last to become more powerful than the Egyptians themselves, they turned their attention to the adoption of measures, in order to prevent the Hebrews from possessing themselves of the government of the whole land; they curtailed them of their privileges, and endeavored to depress them by all possible means, and by a variety of legal enactments. This appears to be the sole meaning of the phrase, “He turned their heart;” or, “their heart was turned.”

GILL, "He turned their heart to hate his people,.... Whom before they loved and esteemed: when Pharaoh and his servants heard of Joseph's father and brethren, they were greatly pleased, and invited them into Egypt; and, when come, placed them in the land of Goshen; but when a new king arose, and a new generation, which knew not Joseph, the hearts of these were turned to hate them. This is said to be of the Lord: not that he put any hatred into them, there was no need of that; there is enough of that naturally in every man's heart against good men, and all that is good: but he did not restrain that hatred, as he could have done, but suffered them to let it have vent; and moreover, he did those things which were an occasion of it, and which served to stir up their hatred; as increasing their numbers, and making them stronger and mightier than they, Exo_1:9.

To deal subtilly with his servants; by putting them to hard labour, and using them with great rigour, in order to weaken their strength; by commanding the midwives to kill every son that was born; and by publishing an edict, to cast every male child into the river and drown it, and so hinder the increase of them. Thus the people of God have their enemies that hate them; that are subtle and cunning, wise to do evil, full of all subtilty

and wicked craft; Satan, at the head of them, has his artful methods, wiles, stratagems, and devices: but the Lord is wiser than all, and knows how to deliver his people out of the hands of all their enemies, as he did the children of Israel; of which there is an account in the following verses.

HE RY, "After the history of the patriarchs follows here the history of the people of Israel, when they grew into a nation.

I. Their affliction in Egypt (Psa_105:25): He turned the heart of the Egyptians, who had protected them, to hate them and deal subtilely with them. God's goodness to his people exasperated the Egyptians against them; and, though their old antipathy to the Hebrews (which we read of Gen_43:32; Gen_46:34) was laid asleep for a while, yet now it revived with more violence than ever: formerly they hated them because they despised them, now because they feared them. They dealt subtilely with them, set all their politics on work to find out ways and means to weaken them, and waste them, and prevent their growth; they made their burdens heavy and their lives bitter, and slew their male children as soon as they were born. Malice is crafty to destroy: Satan has the serpent's subtlety, with his venom. It was God that turned the hearts of the Egyptians against them; for every creature is that to us that he makes it to be, a friend or an enemy. Though God is not the author of the sins of men, yet he serves his own purposes by them.

JAMISO , "turned their heart — God controls men’s free acts (compare 1Sa_10:9). “When Saul had turned his back to go from (God’s prophet) Samuel, God turned(Margin) him another heart” (see Exo_1:8, etc.). Whatever evil the wicked man plots against God’s people, God holds bound even his heart, so as not to lay a single plan except what God permits. Thus Isaiah (Isa_43:17) says it was God who brought forth the army of Pharaoh to pursue Israel to their own destruction (Exo_4:21; Exo_7:3).

CALVI , "25.He turned their heart, so that they hated his people The Egyptians, though at first kind and courteous hosts to the Israelites, became afterwards cruel enemies; and this also the prophet ascribes to the counsel of God. They were undoubtedly driven to this by a perverse and malignant spirit, by pride and covetousness; but still such a thing did not happen without the providence of God, who in an incomprehensible manner so accomplishes his work in the reprobate, as that he brings forth light even out of darkness. The form of expression seems to some a little too harsh, and therefore they translate the verb passively, their (i.e., the Egyptians’) hearts were turned. But this is poor, and does not suit the context; for we see that it is the express object of the inspired writer to put the whole government of the Church under God, so that nothing may happen but according to his will. If the delicate ears of some are offended at such doctrine, let it be observed, that the Holy Spirit unequivocally affirms in other places as well as here, that the minds of men are driven hither and thither by a secret impulse, (Proverbs 21:1) so that they can neither will nor do any thing except as God pleases. What madness is it to embrace nothing but what commends itself to human reason? What authority will God’s word have, if it is not admitted any farther than we are inclined to receive it? Those then who reject this doctrine, because it is not very grateful to the human understanding, are inflated with a perverse arrogance. Others malignantly

misrepresent it, not through ignorance or by mistake, but only that they may excite commotion in the Church, or to bring us into odium among the ignorant. Some over-timid persons could wish, for the sake of peace, that this doctrine were buried. They are surely ill qualified for composing differences. This was the very cause why in former times the doctors of the Church, in their writings, swerved from the pure and genuine truths of the gospel, and turned aside to a heathen philosophy. Whence originated the doctrine of free-will, whence that of the righteousness of works, but because these good fathers were afraid of giving occasion to evil-tongued or malignant men if they freely professed what is contained in the sacred Scriptures? And had not God, as it were by a strong hand, prevented Augustine, he would, in this respect, have been exactly like the rest. But God, so to speak, polishing him with a hammer, corrected that foolish wisdom, which rears its crest against the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, we see, affirms that the Egyptians were so wicked, that God turned their hearts to hate his people. The middle-scheme men seek to evade and qualify this statement, by saying, that his turning their hearts, denotes his permitting this; (221) or, that when the Egyptians set their hearts upon hating the Israelites, he made use of their malice, as what, so to speak, came accidentally in his way; as if the Holy Spirit, from being defective in the power of language, spoke one thing, when he meant another. If the doctrine of this text, at first sight, seem strange to us, let us remember that God’s judgments, in other places, are justly called “unsearchable,” (Romans 11:33) and “a great deep,” (Psalms 36:6) Did not our capacity fail in reaching the height of them, they would not have that intricacy and mystery by which they are characterized. It is, however, to be observed, that the root of the malice was in the Egyptians themselves, so that the fault cannot be transferred to God. I say, they were spontaneously and innately wicked, and not forced by the instigation of another. In regard to God, it ought to suffice us to know, that such was his will, although the reason may be unknown to us. But the reason is also apparent, which vindicates his righteousness from every objection. If we learn and keep in mind only this small word of advice, That the revealed will of God ought to be reverently acquiesced in, we will receive, without disputation, those mysteries which offend either the proud, or such as would be over-careful to remove the difficulties, in which, according to their view, such mysteries seem to be involved. (222) The prophet next expresses the manner in which the Egyptians wrought mischief against the people of God: they did not assault them openly, that they might put them to death, but they endeavored, in the way of craft and policy, to oppress them by little and little. His expression is borrowed from Moses himself. And it is purposely used, that we may not think that the hearts of the ungodly are permitted without restraint to work our destruction. It is a consideration which ought surely to satisfy our minds, that whatever the devil and wicked men may plot against us, God nevertheless represses their attempts. But it is a double confirmation of our faith, when we hear that not only their hands are bound, but also their hearts and thoughts, so that they can purpose nothing except what God pleases.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 25. He turned their hearts to hate his people. It was his goodness to Israel which called forth the ill will of the Egyptian court, and so far the

Lord caused it, and moreover he made use of this feeling to lead on to the discomfort of his people, and so to their readiness to leave the land to which they had evidently become greatly attached. Thus far but no further did the Lord turn the hearts of the Egyptians. God cannot in any sense be the author of sin so far as to be morally responsible for its existence, but it often happens through the evil which is inherent in human nature that the acts of the Lord arouse the ill feelings of ungodly men. Is the sun to be blamed because while it softens wax it hardens clay? Is the orb of day to be accused of creating the foul exhalations which are drawn by its warmth from the pestilential marsh? The sun causes the reek of the dunghill only in a certain sense had it been a bed of flowers his beams would have called forth fragrance. The evil is in men, and the honour of turning it to good and useful purposes is with the Lord. Hatred is often allied with cunning, and so in the case of the Egyptians, they beganto deal subtilly with his servants. They treated them in a fraudulent manner, they reduced them to bondage by their exactions, they secretly concerted the destruction of their male children, and at length openly ordained that cruel measure, and all with the view of checking their increase, lest in time of war they should side with invaders in order to obtain their liberty. Surely the depths of Satanic policy were here reached, but vain was the cunning of man against the chosen seed.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 25. —He turned their heart to hate his people. ot by putting this wicked hatred into them, which is not consistent either with the holiness of God's nature, or with the truth of his word, and which was altogether unnecessary, because they had that and all other wickedness in them by nature; but partly by withdrawing the common gifts and operations of his Spirit, and all the restraints and hindrances to it, and wholly leaving them to their own mistakes, and passions, and corrupt affections, which of their own accord were ready to take that course; and partly, by directing and governing that hatred, which was wholly in and from themselves, so as it should fall upon the Israelites rather than upon other people. —Matthew Pool.Ver. 25. —When by the malice of enemies God's people are brought to greatest straits there is deliverance near to be sent from God unto them. "They dealt subtilly with, his servants. He sent Moses his servant." —David Dickson.

WHEDO , "25. He turned their heart—God turned the heart of the Egyptians against Israel, not by a direct agency, but by being the occasion. The great increase of the Hebrews, which was of God, excited their jealousy, and brought on the oppression and persecutions which prepared Israel to leave Egypt without regret. Exodus 1:10, seq. Thus God often drops bitterness into our cup when we could not otherwise be weaned from it.

BE SO , "Psalms 105:25. He turned their heart to hate his people — ot by putting hatred to his people into their hearts, which would not have been consistent, either with the holiness of his nature, or with the truth of his word; and which was altogether unnecessary, because they, like the rest of mankind, were corrupt by nature, and had the seeds of that, and all other evils, in their hearts; but by withdrawing the influences of that Holy Spirit, which they had long grieved, and done despite unto, and leaving them to their own mistakes, passions, and corrupt

inclinations, which, of their own accord, were to take that course. Through this their innate depravity and wickedness it was, that God’s goodness to his people, in increasing their numbers and prospering their affairs, exasperated the Egyptians more and more against them; and though their old antipathy to the Hebrews (of which we read Genesis 43:32; Genesis 46:34) had been laid asleep for a while, yet now it revived and broke out with more violence than ever. Formerly, they hated them because they despised them, now, because they feared them. They dealt subtly with them — Used crafty counsels, and set their wits to work to find out ways and means to weaken and waste them, and prevent their increase. They made their burdens heavy, and their lives bitter; and slew their male children as soon as they were born, and took every method they could think of entirely to destroy them.

K&D 25-38, "Narration of the exodus out of Egypt after the plagues that went forthover that land. Psa_105:25 tells how the Egyptians became their “oppressors.” It was indirectly God's work, inasmuch as He gave increasing might to His people, which excited their jealousy. The craft reached its highest pitch in the weakening of the

Israelites that was aimed at by killing all the male children that were born. 8ברי signifies facts, instances, as in Psa_65:4; Psa_145:5. Here, too, as in Ps 78, the miraculous judgments of the ten plagues to not stand in exactly historical order. The poet begins with the ninth, which was the most distinct self-representation of divine wrath, viz., the

darkness (Exo_10:21-29): shā'lach chō'shech. The former word has an orthophonic (שלח)Gaja by the final syllable, which warns the reader audibly to utter the guttural of the

toneless final syllable, which might here be easily slurred over. The Hiph. החשיך� has its causative signification here, as also in Jer_13:16; the contracted mode of writing with i

instead of ıO may be occasioned by the Waw convers. Psa_105:28 cannot be referred to

the Egyptians; for the expression would be a mistaken one for the final compliance, which was wrung from them, and the interrogative way of taking it: nonne rebellarunt,

is forced: the cancelling of the לא, however (lxx and Syriac), makes the thought halting.

Hitzig proposes ולא�שמרו: they observed not His words; but this, too, sounds flat and

awkward when said of the Egyptians. The subject will therefore be the same as the

subject of שמו; and of Moses and Aaron, in contrast to the behaviour at Mê-MerıObah(Num_20:24; Num_27:14; cf. 1Ki_13:21, 1Ki_13:26), it is said that this time they rebelled not against the words (Kerî, without any ground: the word) of God, but executed the terrible commands accurately and willingly. From the ninth plague the poet in Psa_105:29 passes over to the first (Exo_7:14-25), viz., the red blood is appended to the black darkness. The second plague follows, viz., the frogs (Exo_8:1-15); Psa_105:20

looks as though it were stunted, but neither has the lxx read any (ויעלו) ויבאו, Ex. 7:28. In

Psa_105:31 he next briefly touches upon the fourth plague, viz., the gad-fly, ערב, lxx

κυνόµυια (Exo_8:20-32, vid., on Psa_78:45), and the third (Exo_8:16-19), viz., the

gnats, which are passed over in Ps 78. From the third plague the poet in Psa_105:32, Psa_105:33 takes a leap over to the seventh, viz., the hail (Ex 9:13-35). In Psa_105:32 he has Exo_9:24 before his mind, according to which masses of fire descended with the hail; and in Psa_105:33 (as in Psa_78:47) he fills in the details of Exo_9:25. The seventh plague is followed by the eighth in Psa_105:34, Psa_105:35, viz., the locust (Ex 10:1-20),

to which ילק (the grasshopper) is the parallel word here, just as חסיל (the cricket) is in Psa_78:46. The expression of innumerableness is the same as in Psa_104:25. The fifth

plague, viz., the pestilence, murrain (Exo_9:1-7), and the sixth, viz., שחין, boils (Exo_9:8-

12), are left unmentioned; and the tenth plague closes, viz., the smiting of the first-born (Exo_11:1.), which Psa_105:36 expresses in the Asaphic language of Psa_78:51. Without any mention of the institution of the Passover, the tenth plague is followed by the departure with the vessels of silver and gold asked for from the Egyptians (Exo_12:35; Exo_11:2; Exo_3:22). The Egyptians were glad to get rid of the people whose detention threatened them with total destruction (Exo_12:33). The poet here draws from Isa_

5:27; Isa_14:31; Isa_63:13, and Exo_15:16. The suffix of שבטיו refers to the chief subject of the assertion, viz., to God, according to Psa_122:4, although manifestly enough the reference to Israel is also possible (Num_24:2).

26 He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

BAR ES, "He sent Moses his servant - He sent Moses to be his servant in delivering his people; that is, to accomplish the work which he had designed should be done.

And Aaron whom he had chosen - whom he had selected to perform an important work in delivering his people from bondage.

GILL, "He sent Moses his servant,.... Into Egypt, to deliver his people Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians; in which, as in other things, he approved himself to be a faithful servant to the Lord; of this mission of his, see Exo_3:10. In this he was a type of Christ, who appeared in the form of a servant, and really was one; God's righteous servant as Mediator, though his Son as a divine Person; sent by him to redeem his people out of worse than Egyptian bondage, from sin, Satan, the law, its curse and condemnation.

And Aaron whom he had chosen; to go along with Moses, to be a mouth for him, and a prophet to him, Exo_4:16, who also was a type of Christ, being a priest and good spokesman, chosen and called of God, a holy and an anointed one. The Targum is,

"in whom he was well pleased.''

HE RY, "Their deliverance out of Egypt, that work of wonder, which, that it might never be forgotten, is put into the preface to the ten commandments. Observe,

1. The instruments employed in that deliverance (Psa_105:26): He sent Moses his servant on this errand and joined Aaron in commission with him. Moses was designed to be their lawgiver and chief magistrate, Aaron to be their chief priest; and therefore, that they might respect them the more and submit to them the more cheerfully, God made use of them as their deliverers.

JAMISO , "Moses ... chosen — both what they were by divine choice (Psa_78:70).

CALVI , "26He sent Moses his servant Here the prophet briefly adverts to such things regarding the deliverance of the people as were worthy of particular notice. Had the Egyptians of their own accord suffered the people to depart, neither the service of Moses nor miracles would have been required. God then appointed that their deliverance should take place in such a way, as would render the denial of his being its author impossible. Moses is called the servant of the Lord, to teach us that he was not self-elected to his office, and that he attempted nothing by his own authority, but, being the minister of God, executed the office with which he had been intrusted. The same thing is expressed still more plainly with respect to Aaron, when he is said to have been chosen What is attributed to each of these eminent men in particular, applies equally to both, and therefore the sentence ought to be explained thus: God sent Moses and Aaron, his servants, not because of their own intrinsic fitness, or because they spontaneously offered to him their service, but because he chose them. This passage teaches us, that those who are engaged in active and useful service for the Church, are not prepared exclusively by their own exertions, or framed to it by their own talents, but are stirred up thereto by God. Moses was a man of heroic virtue: but, considered merely in himself, he was nothing. Accordingly, the prophet would have all that is accounted worthy of remembrance in Moses, as well as in Aaron, to be ascribed to God alone. Thus it appears that whatever men do for the welfare of the Church, they owe the power of doing it to God, who, of his free goodness, has been pleased thus to honor them.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 26. He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. When the oppression was at the worst, Moses came. For the second time we have here the expression, "he sent"; he who sent Joseph sent also Moses and his eloquent brother. The Lord had the men in readiness and all he had to do was to commission them and thrust them forward. They were two, for mutual comfort and strength, even as the apostles and the seventy in our Lord's day were sent forth two and two. The men differed, and so the one became the supplement of the other, and together they were able to accomplish far more than if they had been exactly alike: the main point was that they were both sent, and hence both clothed with divine might.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 26. —Moses and Aaron. God usually sendeth his servants by two and two for mutual helps and comfort. —John Trapp.

BE SO , "Verse 26-27Psalms 105:26-27. He sent Moses, &c. — “When the tyranny and oppression of Pharaoh were at the highest, and Israel cried unto Jehovah because of the bondage, he remembered his promise to Abraham, and sent Moses, with Aaron, to effect that

mighty deliverance, which was to be the grand pledge and figure of our redemption by Jesus Christ.” They showed his signs among them — Hebrew, דברי אתותיו, dibree othothaiv, the words of his signs; an emphatical expression. First they boldly declared the word and will of God concerning the several plagues, and then they actually inflicted them.

COFFMA , "Verse 26ISRAEL DELIVERED FROM EGYPT

"He sent Moses his servant,

And Aaron whom he had chosen.

They set among them his signs,

And wonders in the land of Ham.

He sent darkness and made it dark;

And they rebelled not against his words.

He turned their waters into blood,

And slew their fish.

Their land swarmed with frogs

In the chambers of their kings.

He spake, and there came swarms of flies,

And lice in all their borders.

He gave them hail for rain,

And flaming fire in their land.

He smote their vines also, and their fig-trees,

And brake the trees of their borders.

He spake, and the locust came,

And the grasshopper, and that without number,

And did eat up every herb in the land,

And did eat up the fruit of the ground.

He smote also all the first-born in their land,

The chief of all their strength."

First there is mentioned here the commission of Moses and Aaron for the purposes of the Exodus (Exodus 2-7).

ext, we find the account of the plagues which God visited upon Egypt as the time drew near for His deliverance of Israel from bondage. There were ten of these visitations, but only eight are mentioned in this psalm. "The sequence followed in the psalm Isaiah 9,1, 2,4, 3, -, -, 7,8, and 10."[13] ote that 9 (the darkness) is mentioned first, 5,6 are omitted; and 4,3 change places.

The Genesis sequence is as follows:

Changing water into blood (Exodus 7:20)

The plague of frogs (Exodus 8:6)

The plague of lice (Exodus 8:17)

The plague of flies (Exodus 8:24)

The murrain of cattle (Exodus 9:6)

Plague of boils and blains (Exodus 9:10)

The plague of hail (Exodus 9:22)

The plague of locusts ((Exodus 10:13)

The plague of darkness (Exodus 10:22)

The death of the first-born (Exodus 12:29

"And they rebelled not against his words" (Psalms 105:28). This is a very difficult verse. Certainly it cannot apply to the Egyptians; and the application of it to Moses and Aaron seems contraindicated; so what do we make of it? Frankly, we do not know. "If the `not' in this passage is to stand, it must apply to Moses and Aaron; Professor Cheyne, however, following the Septuagint (LXX) boldly cancels the `not'."[14]

"He smote their vines and their fig-trees" (Psalms 105:33). "The skeptical objection that there were no vines in Egypt has long ago been given up."[15]

27 They performed his signs among them, his wonders in the land of Ham.

BAR ES, "They shewed his signs among them - literally, “They placed among them the words of his signs.” So the margin. The reference is to the miracles performed in Egypt in bringing calamities upon the Egyptians to induce them to permit the children of Israel to go out from their bondage. They were the agents in setting these wonders before the Egyptians. The term words is employed here - “the words of his signs” - to keep up the idea that it was by the command of God that this was done, or by his word. It was by no power of their own, but only by the authority of God.

And wonders in the land of Ham - Miracles. Things suited to produce astonishment. See Psa_105:5.

CLARKE, "They showed his signs - Here is a reference to the plagues with which God afflicted the Egyptians. See Exodus 7-12 (note), Psa_78:43 (note), and the notes on them.

GILL, "They showed his signs among them,.... The Egyptians to whom they were sent; that is, Moses and Aaron did. In the original it is, "the words of his signs" (x). They declared the words of God to them, that he would do such signs and wonders among them; or inflict such plagues upon them, in case they did not let Israel go: or they performed them according to the word of the Lord, as he commanded them, as well as taught the doctrines and instructions to be learned from them. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it in the singular number, though contrary to the Hebrew text, and understand it of God, "he put the words of his signs in them"; in Moses and Aaron; or gave them orders and power to perform them: he put them "in both", as the Arabic version has it; or, "he did his signs by them", as the Syriac version.

And wonders in the land of Ham; or Egypt, as in Psa_105:23, meaning the miracles of the plagues, which are next particularly mentioned, though not all of them: the plagues of the murrain, and of the boils and blains, are omitted; the reason of which, according to Aben Ezra, is, because Pharaoh did not seek to Moses to remove them; and the other eight that are mentioned are not placed in the order in which they were done, the last but one being observed first.

HE RY, " The means of accomplishing that deliverance; these were the plagues of Egypt. Moses and Aaron observed their orders, in summoning them just as God appointed them, and they rebelled not against his word (Psa_105:28) as Jonah did, who, when he was sent to denounce God's judgments against Nineveh, went to Tarshish. Moses and Aaron were not moved, either with a foolish fear of Pharaoh's wrath or a foolish pity of Egypt's misery, to relax or retard any of the plagues which God ordered them to inflict on the Egyptians, but stretched forth their hand to inflict them as God appointed. Those that are instructed to execute judgment will find their remissness construed as a rebellion against God's word. The plagues of Egypt are here called God's signs, and his wonders (Psa_105:27); they were not only proofs of his power, but tokens of his wrath, and to be looked upon with admiration and holy awe. They showed the words of his signs (so it is in the original), for every plague had an exposition going along with it; they were not, as the common works of creation and providence, silent signs, but speaking ones, and they spoke aloud. They are all or most of them here specified, though not in the order in which they were inflicted.

JAMISO , "signs — literally, “words of signs,” or rather, as “words” in Hebrewmeans “things,” “things of His signs,” that is, His marvelous tokens of power (Psa_145:5, Margin). Compare the same Hebraism (Psa_65:3, Margin).

CALVI , "27.They set among them the words of his signs (223) The prophet, in the first place, briefly glances at those things which Moses has detailed at greater length. or does he follow the order of the events observed in the history; for he contents himself with showing, that the deliverance of the chosen people was the work of God. He again distinguishes between the power of God, and the ministry of Moses and Aaron. He indeed asserts that these men performed miracles, but these miracles proceeded from God, so that celestial power was not obscurely displayed by their instrumentality.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 27. They showed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. The miracles which were wrought by Moses were the Lord's, not his own: signs, as being the marks of Jehovah's presence hence they are here called "his" and power. The plagues were "words of his signs" (see margin), that is to say, they were speaking marvels, which testified more plainly than words to the omnipotence of Jehovah, to his determination to be obeyed, to his anger at the obstinacy of Pharaoh. ever were discourses more plain, pointed, personal, or powerful, and yet it took ten of them to accomplish the end designed. In the preaching of the gospel there are words, and signs, and wonders and these leave men without excuse for their impenitence; to have the kingdom of God come nigh unto them, and yet to remain rebellious is the unhappy sin of obstinate spirits. Those are wonders of sin who see wonders of grace, and yet are unaffected by them: bad as he was, Pharaoh had not this guilt, for the prodigies which lie beheld were marvels of judgment and not of mercy.

28 He sent darkness and made the land dark— for had they not rebelled against his words?

BAR ES, "He sent darkness, and made it dark - Exo_10:21-23.

And they rebelled not against his word - More literally, “his words.” The reference is to Moses and Aaron; and the idea, as expressed here, is that they were obedient to the command of God; that they went and did what he ordered them; that, although he required them to go before a mighty and proud monarch, to denounce against him the vengeance of heaven, and to be the instruments of bringing upon the land unspeakably severe judgments, yet they did not shrink from what God commanded them to do. They were true to his appointment, and showed themselves to be faithful messengers of God. Others, however, suppose that this refers to the Egyptians, and that it is to be taken as a question: “And did they not rebel against his word?” The language might bear this, and the translators of the Septuagint seem to have so understood it, for they render it, “And they rebelled against his words.” But the most natural construction is that in our common version, and the design is evidently to commend the boldness and the fidelity of Moses and Aaron.

CLARKE, "They rebelled not against his word - Instead of ולא�מרו velo�maru,

“they rebelled,” some think that a ש shin has been lost from before the word, and that it

should be read ולא�שמרו velo�shamru, “they did not observe or keep his word.” Or the

words may be spoken of Moses and Aaron; they received the commandment of God, and they did not rebel against it. They believed what he had spoken, and acted according to his orders. It could not be spoken of the Egyptians; for they rebelled against his words through the whole course of the transactions.

GILL, "He sent darkness, and made it dark,.... The land of Egypt; either he, God, or it, darkness, made it dark, or it was made dark; the Targum is,

"made them dark;''

that is, the Egyptians; darkness was a messenger of the Lord's, who forms the light and creates darkness; it came at his word and covered all the land, excepting the dwellings of Israel; even a thick darkness that might be felt, so that the Egyptians could not see one another, nor rise from their place for three days together; such as sometimes rises at sea, and is said to be so dark, that for five days together day and night are the same; this was

the ninth of the ten plagues, Exo_10:21 and was an emblem of the darkness which is on the minds of men in an unregenerate state; who are covered with gross darkness, and are even darkness itself; which is universal as to persons, and the powers and faculties of their souls concerning divine things: and it also bears some resemblance to the darkness which will be in the kingdom of the beast upon the pouring out of the fifth vial, or plague, on spiritual Egypt, Rev_16:10.

And they rebelled not against his word: the plague of darkness, and the rest of the plagues which God commanded; these, as they were his servants, were not disobedient to him, they came at his word; see Psa_105:31, so Jarchi interprets it; or else Moses and Aaron, who were sent of God to inflict those plagues, did not refuse to obey the divine orders; though Pharaoh threatened them hard, yet they feared not the wrath and menaces of the king, but did as the Lord commanded them. Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, mention both these senses, but the latter seems most agreeable. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, leave out the word "not"; and so some copies of the Vulgate Latin version, and Apollinarius in his metaphrase, "and they rebelled against his word"; that is, the Egyptians did not hearken to the word of the Lord, nor to the signs and wonders he wrought, but their hearts were hardened, and they would not let Israel go. But this is contrary to the original text; though Arama interprets it of them, that they did not rebel, but confessed this miracle, which being the greatest of all, as he observes, is first mentioned. Dr. Lightfoot (y) thinks it is to be understood of Israel, and of some special part of obedience performed by them; which he takes to be circumcision, which they had omitted in Egypt, at least many of them, and was necessary to their eating of the passover, which was to be done in a few days, Exo_12:48 and it was a fit time to perform this service while darkness for three days was upon the Egyptians; in which they were shut up by the Lord, that they might not take the opportunity against his people, now sore through circumcision.

HE RY, "The plague of darkness, Psa_105:28. This was one of the last, though here mentioned first. God sent darkness, and, coming with commission, it came with efficacy; his command made it dark. And then they (that is, the people of Israel) rebelled not against God's word, namely, a command which some think was given them to circumcise all among them that had not been circumcised, in doing which the three days' darkness would be a protection to them. The old translation follows the Septuagint, and reads it, They were not obedient to his word, which may be applied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who, notwithstanding the terror of this plague, would not let the people go;but there is no ground for it in the Hebrew.

JAMISO 28-36, "The ninth plague is made prominent as peculiarly wonderful.

they rebelled not — Moses and Aaron promptly obeyed God (Heb_11:27); (compare Exodus 7:1-11:10 and Psa_78:44-51, with which this summary substantially agrees). Or, rather, the “darkness” here is figurative (Jer_13:16), the literal plague of darkness (Exo_10:22, Exo_10:23) being only alluded to as the symbol of God’s wrath which overhung Egypt as a dark cloud during all the plagues. Hence, it is placed first, out of the historical order. Thus, “They rebelled not (that is, no longer) against His word,” refers to the Egyptians. Whenever God sent a plague on them, they were ready to let Israel go,though refusing when the plague ceased.

his word — His command to let Israel go [Hengstenberg]. Of the ten plagues, only eight are mentioned, the fifth, the murrain of beasts, and the sixth, the boils, being

omitted.

CALVI , "In the 28thverse he specifics one of these miracles, which yet was not the first in order, but from which it is easy to gather that God was the author of the deliverance of Israel, and in which the course of nature was entirely changed; for nothing is more astonishing than to see the light turned into darkness. In the second clause, he commends the faithfulness of Moses and Aaron, in courageously executing whatever God had commanded them: And they were not rebellious against his words (224) There was, as if it had been said, the most perfect harmony between the command of God and the obedience of both his servants.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 28. He sent darkness, and made it dark. It was no natural or common darkness to be accounted for by the blinding dust of the simoon, it was beyond all precedent and out of the range of ordinary events. It was a horrible palpable obscurity which men felt clinging about them as though it were a robe of death. It was a thick darkness, a total darkness, a darkness which lasted three days, a darkness in which no one dared to stir. What a condition to be in! This plague is first mentioned, thought it is not first in order, because it fitly describes all the period of the plagues: the land was in the darkness of sorrow, and in the darkness of sin all the time. If we shudder as we think of that long and terrible gloom, let us reflect upon the gross darkness which still covers heathen lands as the result of sin, for it is one of the chief plagues which iniquity creates for itself. May the day soon come when the people which sit in darkness shall see a great light.And they rebelled not against his word. Moses and Aaron did as they were bidden, and during the darkness the Egyptians were so cowed that even when it cleared away they were anxious for Israel to be gone, and had it not been for the pride of Pharaoh they would have rejoiced to speed them on their journey there and then. God can force men to obey, and even make the stoutest hearts eager to pay respect to his will, for fear his plagues should be multiplied. Possibly, however, the sentence before us neither refers to Moses nor the Egyptians, but to the plagues which came at the Lord's bidding. The darkness, the hail, the frogs, the murrain, were all so many obedient servants of the great Lord of all.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 28. —He sent darkness. The darkness here stands at the beginning, (not in the historical order that the particular plague of darkness stood), to mark how God's wrath hung over Egypt as a dark cloud during all the plagues. —A.R. Fausset.Ver. 28. —Darkness. There is an awful significance in this plague of darkness. The sun was a leading object of devotion among the Egyptians under the name of Osiris. The very name Pharaoh means not only the king but also the sun, and characterises the king himself as the representative of the sun and entitled in some sort to divine honours. But now the very light of the sun has disappeared and primeval chaos seems to have returned. Thus all the forms of Egyptian will worship were covered with shame and confusion by the plagues. —James G. Murphy, in "A Commentary on Exodus", 1866.Ver. 28. —Made it dark. God is often described as manifesting his displeasure in a

cloud. Joel speaks of the day of God's vengeance as "a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness" (Joel 2:2); and Zephaniah employs nearly the same language (Ps 1:15). The pillar that went before the Israelites, and gave them light, was to the Egyptians "a cloud and darkness" (Exodus 14:20). The darkness which was upon the face of the earth "in the beginning, "is described by Jehovah in the book of Job as a cloud: "When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it" (Job 38:9). So now the land of Egypt may have been wrapped about by a thick palpable cloud, cold, damp, impenetrable: the people would feel it upon their limbs, as swaddling bands; the sun would be blotted out by it, and all things reduced almost to a state of death—of which this ninth plague was in a certain sense the shadow cast before. Such a cloud would be even more terrible in Egypt, sunny Egypt, than in other countries; for there the sky is almost always clear, and heavy rains unknown. But in any place, and under any conditions, it must have been full of horror and misery. othing could represent this more forcibly than the short sentence, " either rose any from his place for three days." It was an horror of great darkness; it rested on them like a pall; they knew not what dangers might be around them, what judgment was next to happen: they had not been forewarned of this plague, and they could not tell but it might be only a prelude to some more awful visitation: their soul melted in them, for fear of those things that might come upon them: they dared not move from chamber to chamber, nor even from seat to seat: wherever they chanced to be at the moment when the darkness fell upon them, there they must remain. Pharaoh might call in vain for his guards; they could not come to him. Moses and Aaron were no longer within reach, for none could go to seek them. Masters could not command their slaves, nor slaves hasten to obey their master's call; the wife could not flee to her husband nor the child cling to its parents: the same fear was upon all, both high and low; the same paralysing terror and dismay possessed them every one. As says the patriarch Job, they "laid hold on horror" (Job 18:20). And this continued for three days and nights: they had no lamps nor torches; either they could not kindle them, or they dared not move to procure them: they were silent in darkness, like men already dead. Hope and expectation of returning light might at first support them; but hope delayed through seventy-two weary hours would presently die out, and leave them to despair. The darkness would become more oppressive and intolerable the longer it continued; "felt" upon their bodies as a physical infliction, and "felt" even more in their souls in agonies of fear and apprehension; such a darkness as that which, in the book of Revelation, the fifth angel pours out upon the seat of the beast— "Whose kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds" (Revelation 16:10-11). If there be any truth in the traditions of the Jews on this subject, there were yet greater alarms under this canopy of darkness, this palpable obscurity, than any which would arise out of the physical infliction. Darkness is a type of Satan's kingdom; and Satan had some liberty in Egypt to walk up and down upon the land, and to go to and fro in it. The Jewish Rabbis tell us that the devil and his angels were let loose during these three dreadful days; that they had a wider range and greater liberty than usual for working mischief. They describe these evil spirits going among the wretched people, glued to their scats as they were, with

terror; frightening them with fearful apparitions; piercing their ears with hideous shrieks and groans; driving them almost to madness with the intensity of their fears; making their flesh creep, and the hair of their head to stand on end. Such a climax seems to be referred to by the Psalmist, "He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them" (Psalms 78:40). —Thomas S. Millington, in "Signs and Wonders in the Land of Ham",1873.Ver. 28. —And they rebelled not against his word. The plague of darkness and the rest of the plagues which God commanded; these as they were his servants, were not disobedient to him, they came at his word. Psalms 105:31; Psalms 105:34. —John Gill.Ver. 28. —They rebelled not against his word; as Jonah did, who, when he was sent to denounce God's judgments against ineveh, went to Tarshish. Moses and Aaron were not moved, either with a foolish fear of Pharaoh's wrath, or a foolish pity of Egypt's misery, to relax or retard any of the plagues which God ordered them to inflict on the Egyptians; but stretched forth their hand to inflict them as God appointed. They that are instructed to execute judgment, will find their remissness construed a rebellion against God's word. —Matthew Henry.

ELLICOTT, "(28) Darkness.—The enumeration of the plagues omits the fifth and sixth, and begins with the ninth, and appends a clause which, from the first, has troubled translators. Of whom is it said, “They rebelled not against his words”? Of the Egyptians it is not true; and to refer the words to Moses and Aaron, in contrast with their resistance to the Divine command at Massah and Meribah, is feeble. The LXX. and the Syriac solved the difficulty by rejecting the negative. (Comp. the Prayer Book Version.)

The simplest explanation is to take the verb as imperfect subjunctive: “He sent darkness, and made it dark, that they might not rebel against his word.”

But this fails to supply a reason for the position in the list of the ninth plague, and the suggested emendation of Mr. Burgess is so satisfactory in this respect, that it almost by itself carries conviction with it. By a very slight change, he obtains: “He sent darkness, and darkened them, that they might not discern his tokens;” taking deber in the same sense that it bears in Psalms 105:27.

Thus the plague of darkness is, by a slight device of the poet, made to symbolise the moral blindness displayed by the Egyptians throughout.

WHEDO , "28. Darkness—This was the ninth plague. Exodus 10:21-23. The poet does not follow the historic order of the miracles. The causative form of the verb indicates a direct act of God. in producing this phenomenon, as distinct from ordinary natural darkness, fit emblem of the ignorance of the people and the wrath of God.

They rebelled not—That is, Moses and Aaron, who are here to be considered the

subject of the verb. Though reluctant to begin, (Exodus 3, 4,) they had stood firm to the word of God through all this terrible scene.

BE SO , "Verses 28-31Psalms 105:28-31. He sent darkness, &c. — This was one of the last plagues, though here mentioned first: God sent darkness, and, coming with commission from him, it came with efficacy; his command made it dark. And they rebelled not against his word — That is, the people of Israel were not disobedient to God’s commands by Moses and Aaron, respecting killing the passover, and making preparation, in other respects, to leave Egypt. The old translation follows the LXX., and reads, They were not obedient to his word; which may be applied to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who, notwithstanding the terror of this plague, would not let the people go; but there is no ground for this interpretation in the Hebrew, the reading of which, however, לא Houbigant translates, His words were not changed, that is, “What God ,מרו את דברווhad commanded to be done was done.” Their land brought forth frogs — That is, their country brought them forth; for they were produced by their rivers, Exodus 8:3 . In the chambers of their kings — Which entered into the chambers of Pharaoh, and his sons, and his chief nobles, and governors of provinces under him; such persons being often called kings in Scripture. And lice in all their coasts — Or borders, that is, in all their land, even to the remotest parts or borders of it. For a further elucidation of the particulars contained in these and the following verses, to Psalms 105:37, see notes on Psalms 78:43-51.

COKE, "Psalms 105:28. And they rebelled not against his word— Yet they were not obedient to his word. So the LXX and Syriac read; and thus it is rendered in the Liturgy of the Church of England. But Houbigant, thinking the present reading genuine, renders it, and his words were not changed; i.e. "what he had commanded to be done, was done." Mudge too is for the present reading. "The LXX (says he) read the passage without the negative, understanding it of the Egyptians." As it now stands, it must be understood of those things of nature to which the divine word was addressed; that they did not disobey it, though the Egyptians had: they readily executed it: and this is made probable by the clause before: He sent darkness, and it darkened; to express the quickness of the execution. He no sooner sent darkness, but it was in fact dark.

29 He turned their waters into blood, causing their fish to die.

BAR ES 29-36, "See an account of these plagues in Exo. 6–11. Compare Psa_78:43-51. This is mostly a mere enumeration of the plagues in the order in which they occurred, but without, of course, the details of the circumstances attending them. There are no circumstances mentioned here which require particular explanation.

GILL, "He turned their waters into blood,.... With which Egypt abounded; their streams, rivers, ponds, and pools, so that they had no water to drink; a just judgment upon them for shedding the innocent blood of infants, by drowning them in their rivers; this was the first of the ten plagues, Exo_7:19, with this compare the second and third vials poured out on spiritual Egypt, whereby blood will be given to antichrist, and to the antichristian states, for they are worthy, having shed so much of the blood of the saints, Rev_16:3.

And slew their fish; which showed that the miracle was real, that the waters were really turned into blood, since the fish could not live in them, as they might if it had been only in appearance; the rivers of Egypt abounded with fish, this was a principal part of their food, and therefore must greatly distress them; see Num_11:5.

HE RY, "The turning of the river Nilus (which they idolized) into blood, and all their other waters, which slew their fish (Psa_105:29), and so they were deprived, not only of their drink, but of the daintiest of their meat, Num_11:5. (3.) The frogs, shoals of which their land brought forth, which poured in upon them, not only in such numbers, but with such fury, that they could not keep them out of the chambers of their kings and great men, whose hearts had been full of vermin, more nauseous and more noxious-contempt of, and enmity to, both God and his Israel.

JAMISO 29-31, "He deprived them of their favorite “fish,” and gave them instead, [Psa_105:30] out of the water, loathsome “frogs,” and (Psa_105:31) upon their land tormenting “flies” (the dog-fly, according to Maurer) and “lice” (gnats, according to Hengstenberg).

CALVI , "29.He turned their waters into blood How grievous this plague was to the Egyptians may be conjectured from the consideration, that the element of water is one of the two great means of supporting life. And the power of God shines forth the brighter, from the fact, that although the land of Egypt is well irrigated, yet the Egyptians were parched with drought amidst abundance of water. It is afterwards said, that frogs were brought forth, (225) and entered even into the chambers of the kings; by which God manifestly evinced that he was the author of the miracle; for although all Egypt swarmed with frogs, the courts of the kings ought to have been exempt from this nuisance. By the term kings, is denoted either the nobles of the realm, or the king’s sons, who were brought up in the expectation of the royal power; for at that time, as is well known, one king alone reigned over all Egypt. From this we learn how easily, and as it were by a kind of mockery, God humbles those who pride themselves in the flesh. He did not gather together an army to fight against the Egyptians, nor did he forthwith arm his angels, or thunder out of

heaven, but brought forth frogs, which contemptuously trampled upon the pride of that haughty nation, who held in contempt the whole world beside. It would have been no disgrace for them to have been conquered by powerful enemies; but how dishonorable was it to be vanquished by frogs? God thus intended to show that he has no need of powerful hosts to destroy the wicked; for he can do this, as it were in sport, whenever he pleases.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 29. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. So that the plague was not a mere colouring of the water with red earth, as some suppose, but the river was offensive and fatal to the fish. The beloved ile and other streams were all equally tainted and ensanguined. Their commonest mercy became their greatest curse. Water is one of the greatest blessings, and the more plentiful it is the better, but blood is a hideous sight to look upon, and to see rivers and pools of it is frightful indeed. Fish in Egypt furnished a large part of the food supply, and it was no small affliction to see them floating dead and white upon a stream of crimson. The hand of the Lord thus smote them where all classes of the people would become aware of it and suffer from it.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 29. —He turned their waters into blood, etc. The ile begins to rise about the end of June, and attains its highest point at the end of September. About the commencement of the rise it assumes a greenish hue, is disagreeable to the taste, unwholesome, and often totally unfit for drinking. It soon, however, becomes red and turbid, and continues in this state for three or more weeks. In this condition it is again healthy and fit for use. The miracle now performed was totally different from this annual change. For, 1. It occurred after the winter, not the summer, solstice; 2. The water was turned into blood, and not merely reddened by an admixture of red clay or animalcule; 3. The fish died, a result which did not follow from the periodical change of colour; 4. The river stank, and became offensive, which it ceased to be when the ordinary redness made its appearance;5. The stroke was arrested at the end of seven days, whereas the natural redness continued for at least three weeks; and 6. The change was brought on instantly at the word of command before the eyes of Pharaoh. The calamity was appalling. The sweet waters of the ile were the common beverage of Egypt. It abounded in all kinds of fish, which formed a principal article of diet for the inhabitants. It was revered as a god by Egypt. But now it was a putrid flood, from which they turned away with loathing. —James G. Murphy.Ver. 29. —He turned their waters into blood. By the miraculous change of the waters into blood, a practical rebuke was given to their superstitious. This sacred and beautiful river, the benefactor and preserver of the country, this birthplace of their chief gods, this abode of their lesser deities, this source of all their prosperity, this centre of all their devotion, is turned to blood: the waters stink; the canals and pools, the vessels of wood and vessels of stone, which were replenished from the river, all are alike polluted. The ile, according to Pliny, was the "only source from whence the Egyptians obtained water for drinking" (Hist. at. 76, c. 33). This water was considered particularly sweet and refreshing; so much so that the people were in the habit of provoking thirst in order that they might partake more freely of its soft and pleasant draughts. ow it was become abominable to them, and they

loathed to drink of it. —Thomas S. Millington.Ver. 29. —And slew their fish. Besides the fish cured, or sent to market for the table, a very great quantity was set apart expressly for feeding the sacred animals and birds, —as the cats, crocodiles, ibises, and others; and some of the large reservoirs, attached to the temples, were used as well for keeping fish as for the necessary ablutions of the devout and for various purposes connected with religion. The quantity of fish in Egypt was a very great boon to the poor classes, and when the ile overflowed the country inhabitants of the inland villages benefited by this annual gift of the river, as the land did by the fertilizing mud deposited upon it. The canals, ponds, and pools, on the low lands, continued to abound in fish, even after the inundation had ceased; and it was then that their return to the ile was intercepted by closing the mouths of the canals. —Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, in "A Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians, "1854.

30 Their land teemed with frogs, which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.

GILL, "Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,.... The land of Egypt, the moist, marshy, and watery places of it, the banks of the river Nile, out of the slime and mud of which these sprung; or, as Kimchi observes, wherever there were waters in the land there were frogs, for these came out of the streams, rivers, and ponds; this is the second plague, Exo_8:3.

In the chambers of their kings; that is, they came into the chambers of their kings; not that they were produced there; they entered not only into the kneadingtroughs, and ovens, and bedchambers of the common people, but into the chambers of the king, and his sons, and his nobles, and princes of the land, who may be called in the plural number kings; see Isa_10:8, with these compare the three unclean spirits, like frogs, under the pouring out of the sixth vial, that will go forth to the kings of the earth, and gather them to the battle of the Lord God Almighty; by whom are meant the emissaries of Rome, priests and Jesuits; so called for their impurity and impudence, for their noise and loquaciousness, and for he ways and means they use to get into the cabinet councils of princes, and prevail upon them to do things which will issue in their ruin; see Rev_16:13.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 30. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance. If fish could not live frogs might, yea, they multiplied both on land and in the water till they

swarmed beyond all count.In the chambers of their kings. They penetrated the choicest rooms of the palace, and were found upon the couches of state. The Lord called for them and they marched forth. Obnoxious and even loathsome their multitudes became, but there was no resisting them; they seemed to spring out of the ground, the very land brought them forth. Their universal presence must have inspired horror and disgust which would cause sickness and make life a burden; their swarming even in the king's own chambers was a rebuke to his face, which his pride must have felt. Kings are no more than other men with God, nay less than others when they are first in rebellion; if the frogs had abounded elsewhere, but had been kept out of his select apartments, the monarch would have cared little, for he was a heartless being, but God took care that there should be a special horde of the invaders for the palace; they were more than ordinarily abundant in the chambers of their kings.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 30. —Their land brought forth frogs in abundance. This is the natural appearance next in the order of occurrence to the Red ile, and of it also the God of nature availed himself to vindicate his power before Pharaoh, and before Egypt. The ile, its branches, and the great canals of irrigation are all bank full, and the exuberant moisture has aroused from their summer torpor, into life and activity, the frogs of the ile, in numbers inconceivable to those who have not been in hot countries. Even in ordinary years the annoyance of these loathsome creatures night and day, gives some idea of what this plague must have been, and renders abundantly reasonable the creation of a goddess, Ranipula, {1} at the very commencement of the mythology of ancient Egypt. In the whole of this fearful succession of judgments there is not one more personally revolting than the plague of frogs. —William Osborne.{1} "Driver away of frogs." Her name was Heki; Birch ap. Bunsen. She was the Buto of the Greek authors.Ver. 30. —Their land brought forth frogs in abundance. It is not difficult for an Englishman, in an Eastern wet monsoon, to form a tolerable idea of that plague of Egypt, in which the frogs were in the "houses, bed chambers, beds and kneading troughs, "of the Egyptians. In the rainy season, myriads of them send forth their constant croak in every direction; and a man not possessed of over much patience, becomes as petulant as was the licentious god, and is ready to exclaim,"Croak, croak! Indeed I shall choke,If you pester and bore my ears any moreWith your croak, croak, croak!"A newcomer, on seeing them leap about the rooms, becomes disgusted, and forthwith begins an attack upon them; but the next evening will bring a return of his active visitors. It may appear almost incredible, but in one evening we killed upwards of forty of these guests in the Jaffna Mission house. They had principally concealed themselves m a small tunnel connected with the bathing room, where their noise had become almost insupportable. —Joseph Roberts, in "Oriental Illustrations", 1844.Ver. 30. —Chambers of their Icings. God plagued Pharaoh in his bedchamber: it may be because he would show that his judgments can penetrate the greatest privacy; for the field, and the hall, and the bed chamber, and the closet are all one to

God.It is like enough that it would not move Pharaoh much that his borders were filled with frogs; but they must come into his house, and into his bed chamber. My observation is—the greatest princes in the world if they offend God are not exempted from judgments. Princes and great persons, are usually exempted from the reproof of men. As for the laws, ofttimes they are as cob webs, the great flies break through them. Who dare say to a prince, "Thou art wicked?" ay, one saith concerning the Pope, it is not lawful to say, "What doth he so?" ow when they are not within the compass of human reproof, God strikes them. —Josias Shute, in "Judgment and Mercy: or, the Plague of Frogs, "1645.

31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country.

GILL, "Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,.... The land of Egypt, the moist, marshy, and watery places of it, the banks of the river Nile, out of the slime and mud of which these sprung; or, as Kimchi observes, wherever there were waters in the land there were frogs, for these came out of the streams, rivers, and ponds; this is the second plague, Exo_8:3.

In the chambers of their kings; that is, they came into the chambers of their kings; not that they were produced there; they entered not only into the kneadingtroughs, and ovens, and bedchambers of the common people, but into the chambers of the king, and his sons, and his nobles, and princes of the land, who may be called in the plural number kings; see Isa_10:8, with these compare the three unclean spirits, like frogs, under the pouring out of the sixth vial, that will go forth to the kings of the earth, and gather them to the battle of the Lord God Almighty; by whom are meant the emissaries of Rome, priests and Jesuits; so called for their impurity and impudence, for their noise and loquaciousness, and for he ways and means they use to get into the cabinet councils of princes, and prevail upon them to do things which will issue in their ruin; see Rev_16:13.

HE RY, " Flies of divers sorts swarmed in their air, and lice in their clothes, Psa_105:31; Exo_8:17, Exo_8:24. Note, God can make use of the meanest, and weakest, and most despicable animals, for the punishing and humbling of proud oppressors, to whom the impotency of the instrument cannot but be a great mortification, as well as an undeniable conviction of the divine omnipotence.

CALVI , "31.He spake, and there came a swarm of flies By the word spake the

Psalmist intimates that the flies and lice came not forth by chance. The command, we know, was uttered by the mouth of Moses; for although God could have given the command himself, he interposed Moses as his herald. God, however, gave no less efficacy to his word, when he commanded it to be uttered by a man, than if he himself had thundered from heaven. When the minister executes his commission faithfully, by speaking only what God puts into his mouth, the inward power of the Holy Spirit is joined with his outward voice. Here again it is to be observed, that the Egyptians were afflicted with the plague of the flies and lice, that God, with the greater ignominy, might subdue their rebellion and obstinacy. When it is said, that he gave them hail for rain, it denotes a hail of such appalling violence, that it could not be attributed to natural causes. It is probable that Egypt is not so subject to this annoyance as other countries, and it is very seldom visited even with rain, being watered with the ile. This made it appear to the Egyptians the more wonderful that their country was stricken with hail. To render this calamity the more dreadful, God also mingled with it fire. The hail, then, was accompanied with a tempestuous whirlwind, that the Egyptians who had hardened themselves against the other miracles, inspired with terror, might know that they had to deal with God.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 31. He spake. See the power of the divine word. He had only to say it and it was done:and there came divers sorts of flies. Insects of various annoying kinds came up in infinite hordes, a mixture of biting, stinging, buzzing gnats, mosquitos, files, beetles, and other vermin such as make men's flesh their prey, the place of deposit for their eggs, and the seat of peculiar torments.And lice in all their coasts. These unutterably loathsome forms of life were as the dust of the ground, and covered their persons, their garments, and all they ate. othing is too small to master man when God commands it to assail him. The sons of Ham had despised the Israelites and now they were made to loathe themselves. The meanest beggars were more approachable than the proud Egyptians; they were reduced to the meanest condition of filthiness, and the most painful state of irritation. What armies the Lord can send forth when once his right arm is bared for war! And what scorn he pours on proud nations when he fights them, not with angels, but with lice! Pharaoh had little left to be proud of when his own person was invaded by filthy parasites. It was a slap in the face which ought to have humbled his heart, but, alas, man, when he is altogether polluted, still maintains his self conceit, and when he is the most disgusting object in the universe he still vaunts himself. Surely pride is moral madness.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 31. —Flies. This term serves to denote a kind of insect that alights on the skin or leaves of plants, by its bite inflicting pain in t}fe one case, and causing destruction in the other. The swarms of flies in Egypt are usually numerous, and excessively annoying. They alight on the moist part of the eyelids and nostrils, and inflict wounds that produce great pain, swelling and inflammation. They are also ruinous to the plants in which they lay their eggs. Philo (vit. Mos. 2 pg 110) describes the dog fly or gad fly as a grievous pest of Egypt. Gnats and mosquitoes are also abundant and virulent. A plague of such creatures would cause immense suffering and

desolation. —James G. Murphy.Ver. 31. —As an illustration of the power of flies we give an extract from Charles Marshall's "Canadian Dominion." "I have been told by men of unquestioned veracity, that at midday the clouds of mosquitoes on the plains would sometimes hide the leaders in a team of four horses from the sight of the driver. Cattle could only be recognised by their shape; all alike becoming black with an impenetrable crust of mosquitoes. The line of the route over the Red River plains would be marked by the carcases of oxen stung to death by this insignificant foe."Ver. 31. —Lice in all their coasts. The priests, being polluted by this horrible infection, could not stand to minister before their deities. The people could not, in their uncleanness, be admitted within the precincts of their temples. If they would offer sacrifice, there were no victims fit for the purpose. Even the gods, the oxen, and goats, and cats, were defiled with the vermin. The Egyptians not only writhed under the loathsome scourge, but felt themselves humbled and disgraced by it. Josephus notices this: —"Pharaoh, "he says, "was so confounded at this new plague, that, what with the danger, the scandal, and the nastiness of it, he was half sorry for what he had done" (b. it. c. 14). The plague assumed the form of a disease, being "in the people." Exodus 8:17. As Josephus says again, "The bodies of the people bred them, and they were all covered over with them, gnawing and tearing intolerably, and no remedy, for baths and ointments did no good." But, however distressing to their bodies, the foul and disgraceful character of the plague, and the offence brought upon their religion by the defilement of their deities and the interruption of all their religious ceremonies, was its most offensive feature. —Thomas S. Millington.Ver. 31. —Lice. Vermin of the kind is one of the common annoyances of Egypt. Herodotus tells us (Ps 2:37) that the priests shave their whole body every other day, that no lice or other impure thing may adhere to them when they are engaged in the service of the gods. It is manifest that this species of vermin was particularly disgusting to the Egyptians. —James G. Murphy.Psalms 105:32*

32 He turned their rain into hail, with lightning throughout their land;

GILL, "He gave them hail for rain,.... Egypt, at least part of it, was not used to rain, but was watered by the overflowings of the Nile; but now it had hail for rain, and a grievous hail storm it was, such as was never seen in the land of Egypt before; hail being

rare, if ever there, and so frost and snow (a); this was the seventh plague, Exo_9:18, compare with this the terrible storm of hail which will fall on men at the pouring out of the seventh vial on spiritual Egypt, Rev_16:21.

And flaming fire in their land; for a storm of thunder and lightning went along with the hail; fire was mingled with it, and ran upon the ground, Exo_9:23.

HE RY, "Hail-stones shattered their trees, even the strongest timber-trees in their coasts, and killed their vines, and their other fruit-trees, Psa_105:32, Psa_105:33. Instead of rain to cherish their trees, he gave them hail to crush them, and with it thunder and lightning, to such a degree that the fire ran along upon the ground, as if it had been a stream of kindled brimstone, Exo_9:23.

JAMISO , "gave them — referring to Lev_26:4, “I give you rain in due season.” His “gift” to Israel’s foes is one of a very different kind from that bestowed on His people.

hail for rain — instead of fertilizing showers, hail destructive to trees. This forms the transition to the vegetable kingdom. The locusts in Psa_105:34 similarly are destructive to plants.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 32. He gave them hail for rain. They seldom had rain, but now the showers assumed the form of heavy, destructive hail storms, and being accompanied with a hurricane and thunderstorm, they were overwhelming, terrible, and destructive.And flaming fire in their land. The lightning was peculiarly vivid, and seemed to run along upon the ground, or fall in fiery flakes. Thus all the fruit of the trees and the harvests of the fields were either broken to pieces or burned on the spot, and universal fear bowed the hearts of men to the dust. o phenomena are more appalling to the most of mankind than those which attend a thunderstorm; even the most audacious blasphemers quail when the dread artillery of heaven opens fire upon the earth.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 32. —He gave them hail for rain. I had ridden out to the excavations at Gizeh, when seeing a large black cloud approaching, I sent a servant to the tents to take care of them, but as it began to rain slightly I soon rode after him myself. Shortly after my arrival a storm of wind began; I therefore ordered the cords of the tents to be secured, but soon a violent shower of rain came in addition, which alarmed all our Arabs, and drove them into the rock tomb, in which is our kitchen... Suddenly the storm became a regular hurricane, such as, I had never witnessed in Europe, and a hailstorm came down on us, which almost turned the day into night... It was not long before first our common tent fell down, and when I had hastened from that into my own, in order to hold it from the inside, this also broke down above me. —Carl Richard Lepsius, in "Letters from Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Peninsula of Sinai". 1853.Ver. 32. —Hail. Extraordinary reports of the magnitude of hailstones, which have fallen during storms so memorable as to find a place in general history, have come

down from periods of antiquity more or less remote. According to the "Chronicles, "a hailstorm occurred in the reign of Charlemagne, in which hailstones fell which measured fifteen feet in length by six feet in breadth, and eleven feet in thickness; and under the reign of Tippoo Saib, hailstones equal in magnitude to elephants are said to have fallen. Setting aside these and like recitals as partaking rather of the character of fable than of history, we shall find sufficient to create astonishment in well authenticated observations on this subject.In a hailstorm which took place in Flintshire on the 9th of April, 1672, Halley saw hailstones which weighed five ounces.On the 4th of May, 1697, Robert Taylor saw fall hailstones measuring fourteen inches in circumference.In the storm which ravaged Como on 20th August, 1787, Volta saw hailstones which weighed nine ounces.On 22nd May, 1822, Dr. oggerath saw fall at Bonn hailstones which weighed from twelve to thirteen ounces.It appears, therefore, certain that in different countries hailstorms have occurred in which stones weighing from half to three quarters of a pound have fallen. —Dionysius Lardner, in "The Museum of Science and Art, "1854.

33 he struck down their vines and fig trees and shattered the trees of their country.

CLARKE, "He smote their vines also, and their fig trees - This is not mentioned in Exodus; but we have had it before, Psa_78:47.

GILL, "He smote their vines also, and their fig trees,.... So that they died; for in Psa_78:47, it is said, he "killed" them; and it is not only used in common speech with us, but with classical writers (b) to speak of killing inanimate things, as trees, herbs, &c. That is, the hail smote them, or God by the hail; these are particularly mentioned because most useful, producing grapes and figs.

And brake the trees of their coasts: all the trees within the borders of their land, Exo_9:25.

JAMISO , "their coasts — all their land (Psa_78:54).

SPURGEO , "Ver. 33. He smote their vines also and their fig trees. So that all hope of gathering their best fruits was gone, and the trees were injured for future bearing. All the crops were destroyed, and these are mentioned as being the more prominent forms of their produce, used by them both at festivals and in common meals.And brake the trees of their coasts. From end to end of Egypt the trees were battered and broken by the terrible hailstorm. God is in earnest when he deals with proud spirits, he will either end them or mend them.

34 He spoke, and the locusts came, grasshoppers without number;

GILL, "He spake, and the locusts came,.... A great army of them, and covered the land, that it was even darkened by them; and were such as had never been seen before, or ever were since; this is the eighth plague, Exo_10:12, with these compare the locusts in Rev_9:3.

And caterpillars, and that without number; of these no mention is made in Exodus; they seem to be one of the kinds of locusts, or a different word is here used for the same, and so Kimchi interprets it; some render it the white locust; it has its name from licking up the herbs and grass of the field; as the other name for the locust seems to be taken from its great abundance and increase.

HE RY, "Locusts and caterpillars destroyed all the herbs which were made for the service of man and ate the bread out of their mouths, Psa_105:34, Psa_105:35. See what variety of judgments God has, wherewith to plague proud oppressors, that will not let his people go. God did not bring the same plague twice, but, when there was occasion for another, it was still a new one; for he has many arrows in his quiver. Locusts and caterpillars are God's armies; and, how weak soever they are singly, he can raise such numbers of them as to make them formidable, Joe_1:4, Joe_1:6

JAMISO , "caterpillars — literally, “the lickers up,” devouring insects; probably the hairy-winged locust.

CALVI , "34.He spake, and the grasshopper came This calamity, which was brought upon the fields, could not be attributed to Fortune; for the grasshoppers made their appearance suddenly and in countless multitudes, so that they covered

all the land of Egypt. The miracle was very evident from the word spoken, by which it was introduced. Its being announced as to happen, removed all doubt of its being the work of the Most High. Accordingly, it is expressly said, that grasshoppers and caterpillars rushed in at the commandment of God, as if soldiers should run to battle at the sound of the trumpet. Whenever these insects molest us and destroy the fruits of the earth, they are assuredly the scourges of God, but it is here intended to point out an extraordinary work of his hand. In fine, the prophet recites the last miracle, which was wrought by the angel on the night previous to the departure of the people, when he slew all the first-born throughout Egypt. I only take a hasty and passing glance at this history, as I have, in like manner, done of the other facts preceding, because they have been more copiously treated elsewhere, and at this time it is sufficient for us to know the design of the sacred writer. He, however, amplifies this display of the Divine power by a repetition, declaring that the first-born and the flower of their strength were destroyed Some translate, but unhappily, The beginning of their sorrow. As man’s strength shows itself in generation, the Hebrews term the first-begotten the beginning of strength, as we have explained on Genesis 49:3, —

“Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might,and the beginning of my strength.”

SPURGEO , "Ver. 34 He spoke, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number. One word from the Captain and the armies leap forward. The expression is very striking, and sets forth the immediate result of the divine word. The caterpillar is called the licker, because it seems to lick up every green thing as in a moment. Perhaps the caterpillar here meant is still the locust in another form. That locusts swarm in countless armies is a fact of ordinary observation, and the case would be worse on this occasion. We have ourselves ridden for miles through armies of locusts, and we have seen with our own eyes how completely they devour every green thing. The description is not strained when we read, "And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground." othing escapes these ravenous creatures, they even climb the trees to reach any remnant of foliage which may survive. Commissioned as these were by God, we may be sure they would do their work thoroughly, and leave behind them nothing but a desolate wilderness.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 34. —Locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number. In this country, and in all the dominions of Prete Janni, is a very great and horrible plague, which is an innumerable company of locusts, which eat and consume all the corn and trees; and the number of them is so great, as it is incredible; and with their multitude they cover the earth and fill the air in such wise, that it is a hard matter to be able to see the sun...We travelled five days journey through places wholly waste and destroyed, wherein millet had been sown, which had stalks as great as those we set in our vineyards, and we saw them all broken and beaten down as if a tempest had been there; and this the locusts did. The trees were without leaves, and the bark of them was all devoured; and no grass was there to be seen, for they had eaten up all things; and if we had not been warned and advised to carry victual with us, we

and our cattle had perished. This country was all covered with locusts without wings; and they told us these were the seed of them which had eaten up all, and that as soon as their wings were grown they would seek after the old ones. The number of them was so great, that I shall not speak of it, because I shall not be believed: but this! will say, that I saw men, women, and children sit as forlorn and dead among the locusts. —Samuel Purchas, 1577-1628.Ver. 34. —Locusts and caterpillars. God did not bring the same plague twice; but when there was occasion for another, it was still a new one; for he has many arrows in his quiver. —Matthew Henry.Ver. 34. —Without number. A swarm of locusts, which was observed in India in 1825, occupied a space of forty English square miles, contained at least forty millions of locusts in one line, and cast a long shadow on the earth. And Major Moore thus describes an immense army of these animals which ravaged the Mahratta country: "The column they composed extended five hundred miles; and so compact was it when on the wing, that like an eclipse, it completely hid the sun, so that no shadow was cast by any object." Brown, in his travels in Africa, states that an area of nearly two thousand square miles was literally covered by them; and Kirby and Spence mention that a column of them was so immense, that they took four hours to fly over the spot where the observer stood. —M. Kalisch.Ver. 34. —Came...and that without number.Onward they came, a dark continuous cloudOf congregated myriads number less;The rushing of whose wings was as the soundOf some broad river, headlong in its course,Plunged from a mountain summit; or the roarOf a wild ocean in the autumnal storm,Shattering its billows on a shore of rocks,Onward they came, the winds impelled them on. Robert Southey, 1774-1843.

WHEDO , "34. Locusts… caterpillars—These words must signify either different species of the locust family, or different stages of their propagation. The former seems quite probable, for the larva, or unwinged locust, does not fly, and could not be brought in by a “wind.” In Exodus 10, only the ארבה, (arbeh, the common name for locust,) is mentioned, while in the text the arbeh and ילק, yelek, and in the parallel place, (Psalms 78:46,) the arbah and חסיל, hhaseel, are named. But neither yelek nor hhaseel is ever translated “locust” in our English Version, but the former always “caterpillar,” and the latter either canker-worm or caterpillar. The distinction is seen Joel 1:4 : “That which the ‘locust’ (arbeh) hath left hath the canker-worm (yelek) eaten, and that which the yelek hath left hath the ‘caterpillar’ (hhaseel) eaten.” These words may be used, in the text and Psalms 78:46, interchangeably for greater variety of diction, but it would rather seem, upon a comparison of all the places where they occur, that they denote different species of “locust,” which have not yet been clearly identified. This idea greatly aggravates the features of the judgment upon Pharaoh, as leaving the land absolutely waste and barren in their track.

35 they ate up every green thing in their land, ate up the produce of their soil.

GILL, "And did eat up all the herbs in their land,.... As these creatures usually do, unless restrained, Exo_10:5. And devoured the fruit of their ground; which the hail left, Exo_10:15.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 35. —Did eat up all the herbs. The locusts had devoured every green herb and every blade of grass; and had it not been for the reeds, on which our cattle entirely subsisted while we skirted the banks of the river, the journey must have been discontinued, at least in the line that had been proposed. The larvae, as generally is the case in this class of nature, are much more voracious than the perfect insect; nothing that is green seems to come amiss to them. The traces of their route over the country are very obvious for many weeks after they have passed it, the surface appearing as if swept by a broom, or as if a harrow had been drawn over it. —John Barrow, 1764-1849.

36 Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their manhood.

GILL, "He smote also all the firstborn in their land,.... Both of men and beasts; the firstborn of the king on the throne, and of the maidservant behind the mill, and of the captive in the dungeon; this was the last plague, and which prevailed upon the Egyptians to let Israel go, Exo_11:5.

The chief of all their strength; or the first of their strength; the same in different

words as before, their firstborn; see Gen_49:3.

HE RY, " Having mentioned all the plagues but those of the murrain and boils, he concludes with that which gave the conquering stroke, and that was the death of the first-born, Psa_105:36. In the dead of the night the joys and hopes of their families, the chief of their strength and flower of their land, were all struck dead by the destroying angel. They would not release God's first-born, and therefore God seized theirs by way of reprisal, and thereby forced them to dismiss his too, when it was too late to retrieve their own; for when God judges he will overcome, and those will certainly sit down losers at last that contend with him.

JAMISO , "the chief — literally, “the firstlings.” The ascending climax passes from the food of man to man himself. The language here is quoted from Psa_78:51.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 36. Are smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. ow came the master blow. The Lord spoke before, but now he smites; before he only smote vines, but now he strikes men themselves. The glory of the household dies in a single night, the prime and pick of the nation are cut off, the flower of the troops, the heirs of the rich, and the hopes of the poor all die at midnight. ow the target was struck in the centre, there was no confronting this plague. Pharaoh feels it as much as the woman slave at the mill: he had smitten Israel, the Lord's firstborn, and the Lord repaid him to his face. What a cry went up throughout the land of Egypt when every house wailed its firstborn at the dead of night! O Jehovah, thou didst triumph in that hour, and with an outstretched arm didst thou deliver thy people.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 36. —He smote also all the firstborn. Did you hear that cry? It is the moment of midnight, and some tragedy is enacted in that Egyptian dwelling, for such an unearthly shriek! and it is repeated and reechoed, as doors burst open and frantic women rush into the street, and, as the houses of priests and physicians are beset, they only shake their heads in speechless agony, and point to the death sealed features of their own firstborn. Lights are flashing at the palace gates, and flitting through the royal chambers; and as king's messengers hasten through the town enquiring where the two venerable Hebrew brothers dwell, the whisper flies, "The royal prince is dead!" Be off, ye sons of Jacob! speed from your house of bondage, ye oppressed and injured Israelites! And in their eagerness to "thrust forth" the terrible because Heaven protected race, they press upon them gold and jewels, and bribe them to be gone. —James Hamilton.

37 He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,

and from among their tribes no one faltered.

BAR ES, "He brought them forth also with silver and gold - Which they had begged of the Egyptians. In Exo_12:35, it is said, in our translation, that they had “borrowed” this gold and silver, together with raiment, of the Egyptians. This is an unhappy translation, as our word “borrow” means to ask anything of another for the purpose of using it for a time, with an implied understanding that it shall be returned, if an article to be used - or that as much money shall be repaid, if it is money that is borrowed - and according to this there would have been dishonesty and fraud on the part of the Israelites in “borrowing” these things of the Egyptians, when not intending (as they evidently did not) to return them. The Hebrew word, however, in Exo_12:35 -

shâ'al שאל - means merely to ask, “to demand, to require, to request, to perition, to beg.”

The idea of an obligation to “return” the things, as in our word “borrow,” is not attached to the Hebrew word.

And there was not one feeble person ... - literally, Not one who was lame; or, who halted, or staggered. This, of course, is not necessarily to be understood literally. It is a general description of the capability of the people for traveling, or for war.

GILL, "He brought them forth also with silver and gold,.... That is, God brought forth the Israelites out of Egypt by means of the above plagues, laden with great riches, with jewels of gold and of silver, which they borrowed of the Egyptians at the command of the Lord; and so to be justified in what they did; and besides it was but just and equitable that they should be paid for their service and hard labour in Egypt for a long course of time; and this was the method in Providence they were directed to take to do themselves justice; and hereby was accomplished an ancient prophecy concerning them, that they should come out with much substance, Gen_15:14, Besides, in the passages quoted, the words should be rendered of the Israelites that they "asked", and of the Egyptians that they "gave"; the Jews, some of them, say (c) that these were given not with the will of the Egyptians, and others say not with the will of the Israelites, but neither of them true. And so in like manner will the people of God, when rescued from the tyranny of the antichristian states, enjoy great riches and honour; see Rev_17:16.

And there was not one feeble person among their tribes; though there were six hundred thousand footmen, Num_11:21, and though they had been used to hard and rigorous service in order to weaken their strength; and though they came from among a people plagued with diseases and deaths. This confronts a lying story told by some Heathen writers (d), that the Israelites were driven out of Egypt because they had the itch, leprosy, and other diseases upon them. Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it, there was not a poor or necessitous man among them, for they abounded with gold and silver; compare with this the case of God's people in the latter day, Zec_12:8.

HE RY, " The mercies that accompanied this deliverance. In their bondage, (1.) They had been impoverished, and yet they came out rich and wealthy. God not only brought

them forth, but he brought them forth with silver and gold, Psa_105:37. God empowered them to ask and collect the contributions of their neighbours (which were indeed but part of payment for the service they had done them) and inclined the Egyptians to furnish them with what they asked. Their wealth was his, and therefore he might, their hearts were in his hand, and therefore he could, give it to the Israelites. (2.) Their lives had been made bitter to them, and their bodies and spirits broken by their bondage; and yet, when God brought them forth, there was not one feeble person, none sick, none so much as sickly, among their tribes. They went out that very night that the plague swept away all the first-born of Egypt, and yet they went out all in good health, and brought not with them any of the diseases of Egypt. Surely never was the like, that among so many thousands there was not one sick! So false was the representation which the enemies of the Jews, in after-ages, gave of this matter, that they were all sick of a leprosy, or some loathsome disease, and that therefore the Egyptians thrust them out of their land.

JAMISO , "with silver and gold — presented them by the Egyptians, as an acknowledgment due for their labors in their bondage (compare Exo_12:35).

one feeble person — or, “stumbler,” unfit for the line of march. Compare “harnessed,” that is, accoutred and marshalled as an army on march (Exo_13:18; Isa_5:27).

CALVI , "37.And he brought them forth with silver and gold (230) The prophet, on the other hand, celebrates the grace of God which preserved the chosen people untouched and safe from all these plagues. If both parties had been indiscriminately afflicted with them, the hand of God would not have been so signally manifest. But now when the Israelites, amidst so many calamities, experienced an entire exemption from harm, this difference exhibits to us, as in a picture, God’s fatherly care about his own people. For this reason, it is stated, or was there a feeble person, or one who stumbled; (231) for the verb כשל , kashal, has both these meanings. But I prefer taking it simply in this sense, That whilst Egypt was hastening to destruction, the people of God were vigorous, and free from every malady. When it is said, He brought them forth, and when it is afterwards added, in his tribes, there is a change of the number, which is quite common in the Hebrew language. Some refer the word his to God; but this I am afraid is too forced.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 37. He brought them forth also with silver and gold. This they asked of the Egyptians, perhaps even demanded, and well they might, for they had been robbed and spoiled for many a day, and it was not meet that they should go forth empty handed. Glad were the Egyptians to hand over their jewels to propitiate a people who had such a terrible friend above; they needed no undue pressure, they feared them too much to deny them their requests. The Israelites were compelled to leave their houses and lands behind them, and it was but justice that they should be able to turn these into portable property.And there was not one feeble person among their tribes —a great marvel indeed. The number of their army was very great and yet there was not one in hospital, not one carried in an ambulance, or limping in the rear. Poverty and oppression had not enfeebled them. JEHOVAH ROPHI had healed them; they carried none of the

diseases of Egypt with them, and felt none of the exhaustion which sore bondage produces. When God calls his people to a long journey he fits them for it; in the pilgrimage of life our strength shall be equal to our day. See the contrast between Egypt and Israel—in Egypt one dead in every house, and among the Israelites not one so much as limping.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 37. —There was not one feeble person among their tribes, when Israel came out of Egypt; there was while dwelling there: so there shall be no feeble saint go to heaven, but they shall be perfect when carried hence by the angels of God, though they complain of feebleness here. "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; "Isaiah 65:20. As there is in all dying or departed persons a great shooting in their stature observed; so is there in the soul much more. The least infant shoots in the instant of dissolution to such a perfect knowledge of God, and such a measure of grace is not attainable here, that he is "as David; "and the tallest Christian comes to such a height, that he is "as an angel of God, "Zechariah 7:8. —John Sheffield, in "The Rising Sun, "1654.Ver. 37. —There was not one feeble person among their tribes. They came out all in good health, and brought not with them any of the diseases of Egypt. Surely never was the like; that among so many thousands there was not one sick! so false was the representation which the Jews' enemies in after ages gave of the matter, that they were all sick of a leprosy, or some loathsome disease, and therefore the Egyptians thrust them out of their land. —Matthew Henry.Ver. 37. —Feeble person. A totterer or stumbler. The word denotes a person unfit for military service. —Joseph Addison Alexander.

BE SO , "Verses 37-39Psalms 105:37-39. He brought them forth also with silver and gold — Laden with the spoils of their enemies, which God, who is the absolute lord of all property, empowered them to ask and receive of them, and thereby, as a righteous judge, awarded them “the wages due to their great labours, the Egyptians being now willing and ready to furnish them with any thing required in order to dismiss them,” Exodus 12:33. There was not one feeble person among them — Diseased or unable for his journey, although it was to be performed on foot; which, in so vast a body, and in a time of such mortality as it had been in Egypt, and among a people which had been so long and so dreadfully oppressed as the Israelites had been, was wonderful. Egypt was glad when they departed — For God had so wonderfully owned them, and pleaded their cause, that the fear of Israel fell upon them, and they owned themselves baffled and overcome. He spread a cloud for a covering — To protect them from the heat of the sun, which, in that hot and open country, would otherwise have been intolerable to them, especially in so long a journey: see on Psalms 88:14.

COFFMA , "Verse 37ISRAEL LEAVES EGYPT; EGYPT GLAD OF IT

"And he brought them forth with silver and gold;

And there was not one feeble person among his tribes.

Egypt was glad when they departed;

For the fear of them had fallen upon them."

"He brought them forth with silver and gold" (Psalms 105:37). See Exodus 12:35 for the Pentateuchal record of this. Also see Genesis 15:14 for God's promise of that very thing.

38 Egypt was glad when they left, because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

BAR ES, "Egypt was glad when they departed - They had suffered so many plagues; the land was so utterly desolate, there was so much sorrow in their dwellings, from the calamities which had come upon them for refusing to let the Israelites go, that at last they were glad to have them depart, and they were willing to aid them that they might get rid of them. This will, in part, account for the fact that they were willing to give them what they asked - even silver and gold - if they might thus facilitate their departure.

For the fear of them fell upon them - The fear of them, as being under the protection of God; and the fear of the judgments, which must follow if they continued to oppress them.

GILL, "Egypt was glad when they departed,.... The Egyptians, as the Targum; they were glad when the Israelites were gone, for whose sake they had been so much and so long plagued. So wicked men are glad to be rid of the company of good men, which is very disagreeable to them; so the Gergesenes were glad when Christ departed out of their coasts, which they requested he would. So the inhabitants of the earth will rejoice, be merry, and send gifts one to another, when the witnesses are slain, the two prophets that tormented them with their doctrines and religious lives.

For the fear of them fell upon them; their firstborn being slain, they looked upon themselves as dead men; and feared that, if the Israelites stayed, their lives must go next; and therefore being seized with a panic they were urgent upon them to depart; not out of any good will to them, but through fear of them, Exo_12:33.

HE RY, " They had been trampled upon and insulted over; and yet they were brought out with honour (Psa_105:38): Egypt was glad when they departed; for God had so wonderfully owned them, and pleaded their cause, that the fear of Israel fell upon them,and they owned themselves baffled and overcome. God can and will make his church a burdensome stone to all that heave at it and seek to displace it, so that those shall think themselves happy that get out of its way, Zec_12:3. When God judges, he will overcome.(4.) They had spent their days in sorrow and in sighing, by reason of their bondage; but now he brought them forth with joy and gladness, Psa_105:43. When Egypt's cry for grief was loud, their first-born being all slain, Israel's shouts for joy were as loud, both when they looked back upon the land of slavery out of which they were rescued and when they looked forward to the pleasant land to which they were hastening. God now put a new song into their mouth.

JAMISO , "(Compare Exo_12:33; Deu_11:25).

CALVI , "38.Egypt rejoiced at their departure The Psalmist sets forth the power of God from the additional circumstance, that the Egyptians willingly allowed the chosen people to depart, when yet nothing was farther from their intention. Although they wished them destroyed a hundred times, yet they thought that they had the wolf by the ears, as we say; (232) and thus the fear of revenge made them more determined to blot out the memory of that people. Whence it follows, that when they all at once laid aside their former purpose, it was a secret work of divine providence. (233) To the same effect is the statement in the preceding verse, that they were brought forth with gold and silver The Egyptians could never have had the heart voluntarily to strip themselves, to enrich those whom they would have willingly deprived of life. This was then the bounty of God, in whose hand, and at whose disposal, are all the riches of the world. He might have taken by force from the Egyptians what he had given them; but he bowed their hearts, so that of their own accord they denuded themselves. The expression, for their terror had fallen upon them, is to be understood passively; for the Israelites were not afraid of the Egyptians, but, on the contrary, were terrible to them. or does the prophet speak of an ordinary fear. A little before fear had stirred them up to cruelty and tyranny; but as even to that day, they had endeavored, with indomitable audacity, to shake off all fear, God suddenly laid them prostrate by the extraordinary terror which fell upon them. It is, therefore, here justly reckoned among the displays of the wonderful power of God, that he subdued the impetuous fury with which the Egyptians boiled before, that they might allow those to depart free, whom they had determined to handle rudely, and to waste in servile employments; which was like rendering sheep terrible to wolves.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 38. Egypt was glad when they departed, which would not have been the case had the gold and silver been borrowed by the Israelites, for men do not carry their goods into a far country. The awe of God like to see borrowers lad to nay them to be was on Egypt, and they feared his people and were glad to pay them to be gone. What a change from the time when the sons of Jacob were the drudges of the land, the offscouring of all things, the brick makers whose toil was only requited

by the lash or the stick. ow they were reverenced as prophets and priests;for the fear of them fell upon them, the people proceeded even to a superstitious terror them. Thus with cheers and good wishes their former taskmasters sent them on their way: Pharaoh was foiled and the chosen people were once more on the move, journeying to the place which the Lord had given to them by a covenant of salt. "O give thanks unto Jehovah; call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people."

WHEDO , "38. Egypt was glad—God had prepared Israel, by their bitter bondage, to leave Egypt without regret; and by his judgments on Egypt had made the Egyptians willing, even glad, that they should depart. Exodus 12:31-33. The Egyptian account of the affair was, according to Josephus, (Con. App. 1:26, 32,) that the Egyptians expelled them by force of arms on account of their leprosy, their hatred of the Egyptian gods, and their military invasion of the kingdom, and pursued them into Syria. Compare with this, for absurdity, the Pharisees’ story of the resurrection of Jesus, Matthew 28:11-15. But, contrariwise, the masses of the people took sympathy with the Israelites. Exodus 11:2-3; Exodus 12:36. See note on Psalms 105:37

39 He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night.

BAR ES, "He spread a cloud for a covering - See the notes at Psa_78:14. In Num_10:34; it is said that “the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day,” and from this seems to have been derived the idea of its “covering” them, as if it were a protection from the heat in the desert.

GILL, "He spread a cloud for a covering,.... That is, the Lord spread one over their heads as an "umbrella", to protect them from the heat of the sun; this refers to the pillar of cloud, Exo_13:20, though that seems to have been in an erect posture, and to go before the children of Israel to direct them in their journey, and not a covering to them. Kimchi says it was a covering to them when they rested, but not when they journeyed: but when they rested it only covered the tabernacle, not the people, for anything we read of it, Num_9:21, it looks as if there were more clouds than one, and indeed the Jews speak of many, and particularly make mention (e) of one that was over the heads of the Israelites, that the heat of the sun, and the hail and rain, might not have power over

them; and of such use this cloud was, at least at certain times, if not always; a type of Christ, who is the covering and shelter of his people from the heat of the fiery law, of the flaming sword of justice, of the wrath of God, of the fiery darts of Satan, and of the fury of wicked men.

And fire, to give light in the night: this respects the pillar of fire which gave them light by night; an emblem of Christ, who is the light of his people, when it is a night season with them, as it sometimes is; a night of affliction and distress, of darkness and desertion, of temptation, of carnal security and sleepiness; when Christ arises as a light in darkness, and enlightens by his presence, by his Spirit, and by his word; as well as is as fire to warm, refresh, quicken, and comfort them when chill and cold, in such seasons.

HE RY, "The special care God took of them in the wilderness. (1.) For their shelter. Besides the canopy of heaven, he provided them another heavenly canopy: He spread a cloud for a covering (Psa_105:39), which was to them not only a screen and umbrella, but a cloth of state. A cloud was often God's pavilion (Psa_18:11) and now it was Israel's; for they also were his hidden ones. (2.) For their guidance and refreshment in the dark. He appointed a pillar of fire to give light in the night, that they might never be at a loss. Note, God graciously provides against all the grievances of his people, and furnishes them with convenient succours for every condition, for day and night, till they come to heaven, where it will be all day to eternity.

JAMISO , "covering — in sense of protection (compare Exo_13:21; Num_10:34). In the burning sands of the desert the cloud protected the congregation from the heat of the sun; an emblem of God’s protecting favor of His people, as interpreted by Isaiah (Isa_4:5, Isa_4:6; compare Num_9:16).

CALVI , "39.He spread out a cloud for a covering The Psalmist enumerates certain miracles by which God continued his grace towards his people in the wilderness. This order is worthy of notice; for it was no small confirmation which was added to that incomparable work of redemption, when God ceased not to show himself the guide of their journey. Accordingly, after they had passed through the Red Sea, he spread a cloud over them by day to protect them from the heat of the sun; and during the night, he gave them light by a pillar of fire, that even in the midst of the darkness they might have a bright token of his presence. This continued display of his goodness was surely an unquestionable proof of his perpetual love, an open demonstration that he had adopted the children of Abraham, to foster them under his protection even to the end. What follows concerning quails, is introduced for a different purpose than that for which reference is made to the same fact in Psalms 78:26. In that passage, God’s bringing in an abundance of quails is ascribed rather to his wrath than to his beneficence, that the people might satiate the flesh; and we have seen in the exposition of that place, that this is mentioned as a matter of reproach to them. But in the text before us, passing over their ingratitude, the prophet celebrates the unremitting exercise of the divine loving-kindness towards them. Some, however, may be rather inclined to take the word ask in a bad sense, because the people besought not God with humility, (235) but through their impatience proceeded at once to murmuring, or rather arrogantly spake against

him. Thus taken, the passage, by way of amplification, would mean that God, departing from his own right, humoured even their unhallowed lust. As, however, their fault is not here mentioned, let us rest in that meaning which is the most simple, namely, that the blessings by which God ratified the redemption which he had wrought are here clustered together. It next follows, that they were filled with the bread of heaven This appellation, as we have seen elsewhere, is given to the manna by way of eminence. The natural way in which the food which we eat is obtained is from the ground; but God then opened his hand more widely to the Jews, and fed them even from heaven. As it was not enough for them to be refreshed with food when they were hungry, unless they were also supplied with drink, it is added, that the rock was opened, and that the waters flowed from it through the dry places, or the desert.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 39. He spread a cloud for a covering. ever people were so favoured. What would not travellers in the desert now give for such a canopy? The sun could not scorch them with its burning ray; their whole camp was screened like a king in his pavilion. othing seemed to be too good for God to give his chosen nation, their comfort was studied in every way.And fire to give light in the night. While cities were swathed in darkness, their town of tents enjoyed a light which modern art with all its appliances cannot equal. God himself was their sun and shield, their glory and their defence. Could they be unbelieving while so graciously shaded, or rebellious while they walked at midnight in such a light? Alas, the tale of their sin is as extraordinary as this story of His love; but this Psalm selects the happier theme and dwells only upon covenant love and faithfulness. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good. We, too, have found the Lord all this to us, for he has been our sun and shield, and has preserved us alike from the perils of joys and the evils of grief;"He hath been my joy in woe,Cheered my heart when it was low;And with warnings softly sadCalmed my heart when it was glad."So has the promise been fulfilled to us, "the sun shall not hurt thee by day, nor the moon by night."EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 39. —In the army of Alexander the Great, the march was begun by a great beacon being set upon a pole as a signal from head quarters, so that "the fire was seen at night, the smoke in the daytime; "and the plan is still found in use amongst the caravans of Arabia. It is probable enough, in that unchanging land, that such may have been the custom at the time of the Exodus, and that God taught the people by parable in this wise, as well as by fact, that he was their true leader, and heaven the general pavilion, whence the order of march was enjoined. — eale and Littledale.Ver. 39. —When Israel, of the Lord beloved,Out of the land of bondage came,Her father's God before her moved,An awful guide in smoke and flame.

By day, along the astonished lands,The cloudy pillar glided slow;By night, Arabia's crimson sandsReturned the fiery column's glow.There rose the choral hymn of praise,And trump and timbrel answered keen,And Zion's daughters poured their lays,With priest's and warrior's voice between.But present still, though now unseen,When brightly shines the prosperous day,Be thoughts of Thee a cloudy screen,To temper the deceitful ray!And oh, when stoops on Judah's path,In shade and storm, the frequent night,Be Thou—long suffering, slow to wrath—A burning and a shining light. —Sir Walter Scott, 1771-1832.

WHEDO , "39. He spread a cloud for a covering—The “cloud” was for a screen from the sun’s heat by day, and for a light by night, and to indicate the times and directions of their marches. It was the standing symbol of God’s presence and protection. See note on Psalms 78:14, and compare Exodus 13:21-22; ehemiah 9:12. Having reviewed the history of the exodus, the psalmist opens, in Psalms 105:39-41, a rapid survey of the wilderness life, which he sums up in the three miraculous wonders—the cloud, food, and the supply of water.

COFFMA , "Verse 39THREE WO DERS I THE WILDER ESS

"He spread a cloud for a covering,

And fire to give light in the night.

They asked, and he brought quails,

And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

He opened the rock, and waters gushed out;

They ran in the dry places like a river."

There were many wonders during the wilderness period, but only these are cited here: (1) The pillar of cloud and of fire by day and by night is recorded in Exodus 13:21-22. (2) The miraculous food of quails and the manna are featured in Exodus 16. (3) The water from the rock appears in Exodus 17.

K&D 39-45, "Now follows the miraculous guidance through the desert to the taking

possession of Canaan. The fact that the cloud (ענן, root ען, to meet, to present itself to

view, whence the Arabic ‛ănăn, the visible outward side of the vault of heaven) by day,

and becoming like fire by night, was their guide (Exo_13:21), is left out of consideration

in Psa_105:39. With למסך� we are not to associate the idea of a covering against foes,

Exo_14:19., but of a covering from the smiting sun, for רש� (Exo_40:19), as in Isa_4:5.,

points to the idea of a canopy. In connection with the sending of the quails the tempting character of the desire is only momentarily dwelt upon, the greater emphasis is laid on

the omnipotence of the divine goodness which responded to it. שאלו is to be read instead

of לeש, the w before w having been overlooked; and the Kerî writes and points שליו (like

,סתיו in order to secure the correct pronunciation, after the (עניו analogy of the plural

termination יו-. The bread of heaven (Psa_78:24.) is the manna. In Psa_105:41 the

giving of water out of the rock at Rephidim and at Kadesh are brought together; the

expression corresponds better to the former instance (Exo_17:6, cf. Num_20:11). הלכו

refers to the waters, and נהר for G:, Psa_78:16, is, as in Psa_22:14, an equationהרות

instead of a comparison. In this miraculous escort the patriarchal promise moves ontowards its fulfilment; the holy word of promise, and the stedfast, proved faith of

Abraham - these were the two motives. The second את is, like the first, a sign of the

object, not a preposition (lxx, Targum), in connection with which Psa_105:42 would be a continuation of Psa_105:42, dragging on without any parallelism. Joy and exulting are mentioned as the mood of the redeemed ones with reference to the festive joy displayed at the Red Sea and at Sinai. By Psa_105:43 one is reminded of the same descriptions of the antitype in Isaiah, Isa_35:10; Isa_51:11; Isa_55:12, just as Psa_105:41 recalls Isa_

48:21. “The lands of the heathen” are the territories of the tribes of Canaan. עמל is

equivalent to יגיע� in Isa_45:14 : the cultivated ground, the habitable cities, and the

accumulated treasures. Israel entered upon the inheritance of these peoples in every direction. As an independent people upon ground that is theirs by inheritance, keeping the revealed law of their God, was Israel to exhibit the pattern of a holy nation moulded after the divine will; and, as the beginning of the Psalm shows, to unite the peoples to themselves and their God, the God of redemption, by the proclamation of the redemption which has fallen to their own lot.

40 They asked, and he brought them quail; he fed them well with the bread of heaven.

BAR ES, "The people asked, and he brought quails - See the notes at Psa_78:26-29.

And satisfied them with the bread of heaven - manna, sent down, as it were, from heaven. In Psa_78:25, it is called “angels’ food.” See the notes at that verse.

GILL, "The people asked, and he brought quails,.... The Targum is,

"they asked flesh, and he brought quails,''

or pheasants; some render it partridges, others locusts: that is, the people of Israel asked flesh of the Lord, and he gave them quails; which he did twice, first at the same time the manna was first given, Exo_16:13, and some years after that a second time, when the wrath of God came upon them and slew them while their meat was in their mouths, Num_11:31, it is the first time that is here referred to, since it is mentioned among the benefits and blessings bestowed upon them; this was typical of the spiritual meat believers eat of, even the flesh of Christ, whose flesh is meat indeed. The quail was a fat and fleshy bird, delicious food, sent from heaven in the evening; so Christ came from heaven in the evening of the world, and gave his flesh for the life of his people, and on which they live by faith.

And satisfied them with the bread of heaven: the manna, called the corn of heaven; a type of Christ the hidden manna, who is soul satisfying food to believers; See Gill on Psa_78:24; see Gill on Psa_78:25.

HE RY 40-41, "He fed them both with necessaries and dainties. Sometimes he furnished their tables with wild fowl (Psa_105:40): The people asked, and he brought quails; and, when they were not thus feasted, yet they were abundantly satisfied with the bread of heaven. Those are curious and covetous indeed who will not be so satisfied. Man did eat angels' food, and that constantly and on free-cost. And, as every bit they ate had miracle in it, so had every drop they drank: He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out, Psa_105:41. Common providence fetches waters from heaven, and bread out of the earth; but for Israel the divine power brings bread from the clouds and water from the rocks: so far is the God of nature from being tied to the laws and courses of nature. The water did not only gush out once, but it ran like a river, plentifully and constantly, and attended their camp in all their removes; hence they are said to have the rock follow them (1Co_10:4), and, which increased the miracle, this river of God (so it might be truly called) ran in dry places, and yet was not drunk in and lost, as one would have expected it to be, by the sands of the desert of Arabia. To this that promise alludes, I will give rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen, Isa_43:19, Isa_43:20.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 40. The people asked. But how badly, how wickedly! And yet his grace forgave the sin of their murmuring and heard its meaning: or perhaps we may consider that while the multitude murmured there were a few, who were really gracious people, who prayed, and therefore the blessing came.He brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He gave them what

they asked amiss as well as what was good for them, mingling judgment with goodness, for their discipline. The quails were more a curse than a blessing in the end, because of their greed and lust, but in themselves they were a peculiar indulgence, and favour: it was their own fault, that the dainty meat brought death with it. As for the manna it was unmingled good to them, and really satisfied them, which the quails never did. It was bread from heaven, and the bread of heaven, sent by heaven; it was a pity that they were not led to look up to heaven whence it came, and fear and love the God who out of heaven rained it upon them. Thus they were housed beneath the Lord's canopy and fed with food from his own table; never people were so lodged and boarded. O house of Israel, praise ye the Lord.EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS.Ver. 40. —Quails. The quail is met with abundantly in Syria and Judaea, and there seems to be little doubt of its identity with the quails so frequently mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. "We have, "says Tristram, "a clear proof of the identity of the common quail with the Hebrew selac, in its Arabic name, salwa, from a root signifying `to be fat' —very descriptive of the round, plump form and fat flesh of the quail... It migrates in vast flocks, and regularly crosses the Arabian desert, flying for the most part at night, and when the birds settle they are so utterly exhausted that they may be captured in any numbers by the hand. otwithstanding their migratory habits, they instinctively select the shortest sea passages, and avail themselves of any island as a halting place. Thus in Spring and Autumn they are slaughtered in numbers on Malta and many of the Greek islands, very few being seen till the period of migration comes round. They also fly with the wind, never facing it like many other birds." "The Israelites `spread them out' when they had taken them before they were sufficiently refreshed to escape; exactly as Herodotus tells us that the Egyptians were in the habit of doing with quails—drying them in the sun." Brehm mentions having been a witness to the arrival of a huge flock of quails upon the coast of orth Africa, and tells us that the weary birds fell at once to the ground completely exhausted by their toilsome journey, and remained therefore some minutes as though stupefied. —Cassell's "Book of Birds."Ver. 40. —Brought from his store, at sute of Israel,Quails, in whole beavies each remove pursue;Himself from skies their hunger to repelCandies the grass with sweet congealed dew.He wounds the rock, the rock doth wounded, swell;Swelling affords new streams to channels new,All for God's mindful will can not be dryven,From sacred word once to his Abraham given. —Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586.

BE SO , "Verse 40-41Psalms 105:40-41. The people asked, and he brought quails — He speaks of the first instance of his giving quails, mentioned Exodus 16:13, which God sent them as a refreshment, graciously pardoning their sin in desiring them; and not of that second instance, recorded umbers 11:31, when God gave them quails in judgment, which would not have been mentioned here among God’s favours vouchsafed to them. And satisfied them with the bread of heaven — With manna, which came down from the

air, commonly called heaven: see on Psalms 78:24-29. He opened the rock — God, in his common providence, fetches water from heaven, and bread out of the earth; but for Israel, the divine power brought bread from the clouds and water from the rocks: so far is the God of nature from being tied to the laws and course of nature! And the waters gushed out — And that not only once, but ran like a river, plentifully and constantly; and, it is thought by many, attended their camp in all their removes, as seems to be implied 1 Corinthians 10:4, where they are said to have drunk of the rock that followed them. Hence they complained no more of want of water till they came to Kadesh, umbers 20:2, &c. To this instance of the divine goodness that promise alludes, I will give rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen, Isaiah 43:19-20 : see on Psalms 78:15.

41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.

BAR ES, "He opened the rock ... - See the notes at Psa_78:15. “They ran in the dry places like a river.” Or, “a river.” They flowed along in the desert - a river of waters. See the notes at 1Co_10:4.

CLARKE, "He opened the rock, and the waters rushed out - See the note on Exo_17:6, to which I can now add, that a piece of this rock, broken off by the hand of my nephew, E. S. A. Clarke, in the course of the present year [1822,] now lies before me. It is fine granite; and so well distinguished as a granite, that the feldt-spar, the mica, and the quartz, of which granite is composed, appear very distinctly. It is worthy of remark, that, as granite is supposed, in the most accredited systems of geology, to be the very basis of the earth, the original rock, and all other substances to be superimpositions upon it, and as the decompositions of the feldt-spar produce pure vegetable earth, this rock should be used for this purpose, and should be an emblem of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer of the human race; and that it should signify him who is the basis of all things; who upholds all by the word of his power; without whom nothing is stable, nothing fruitful; from whom alone the water of life proceeds; and in whose name only is salvation. And that rock (in the wilderness) was Christ! and it is the only remaining emblem of him in creation.

GILL, "He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out,.... That is, God opened the rock, who before is said to spread the cloud, and bring the quails, for it was a miraculous affair; or Moses, by divine orders, which was done by smiting it, when waters

flowed out in great abundance, sufficient to give drink to men and beasts, and which continued, Exo_17:6. This was typical of Christ the Rock, 1Co_10:4, and of the opening of his side, from whence flowed blood and water, Joh_19:34 and of his being smitten with the rod of justice, and by the law of Moses, from whom flow abundance of grace, and the blessings of it, freely to all his people; See Gill on Psa_78:15. See Gill on Psa_78:16.

They ran in the dry places like a river; and did not sink and soak into them, but continued their flow, and followed the Israelites, wherever they went; see 1Co_10:4.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 41. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out. With Moses' rod and his own word he cleft the rock in the desert, and forth leaped abundant floods for their drinking where they had feared to die of thirst. From most unlikely sources the all sufficient God can supply his people's needs; hard rocks become springing fountains at the Lord's command.They ran in the dry places like a river: so that those at a distance from the rock could stoop down and refresh themselves, and the stream flowed on, so that in future journeyings they were supplied. The desert sand would naturally swallow up the streams, and yet it did not so, the refreshing river ran "in the dry places." We know that the rock set forth our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom there flows a fountain of living waters which shall never be exhausted till the last pilgrim has crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan.

42 For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.

BAR ES, "For he remembered ... - He was faithful to his promise made to Abraham, and did not forget his descendants in the hour of need. This is the statement made in Psa_105:8-9; and to illustrate and confirm the faithfulness of God, this reference is made to the history of the Hebrew people. See the notes at those verses.

GILL, "For he remembered his holy promise,.... It was not owing to the goodness of this people, to their obedience to the divine will, to any worthiness or merit of theirs, that such signs and wonders were wrought for them in Egypt; and that they were brought out from thence in such a manner as they were; and were protected and so plentifully provided for in the wilderness; but it was owing to the grace and goodness of God, to his covenant and promise, which he sacredly and inviolably observed; the grace and covenant of God are the source and spring of all blessings of goodness; he is ever

mindful of his covenant, and therefore sends meat to them that fear him, as he did to the Israelites, Psa_111:5.

And Abraham his servant; or the promise he made to Abraham his servant; so the Targum,

"which "was" with Abraham his servant;''

that is, which holy word or promise was with Abraham, was spoken to him; and was with him, that he would give him and his seed the land of Canaan; and that though they should be afflicted long in Egypt, yet should come out from thence with great substance, Gen_15:13, this he remembered, as he never forgets any promise of his, nor ever suffers his faithfulness to fail, nor his covenant to be broken. Hence it follows,

HE RY, " The reasons why God did all this for them. (1.) Because he would himself perform the promises of the word, Psa_105:42. They were unworthy and unthankful, yet he did those great things in their favour because he remembered the word of his holiness(that is, his covenant) with Abraham his servant, and he would not suffer one iota or tittle of that to fall to the ground. See Deu_7:8. (2.) Because he would have them to perform the precepts of the word, to bind them to which was the greatest kindness he could put upon them. He put them in possession of Canaan, not that they might live in plenty and pleasure, in ease and honour, and might make a figure among the nations, but that they might observe his statutes and keep his laws, - that, being formed into a people, they might be under God's immediate government, and revealed religion might be the basis of their national constitution, - that, having a good land given them, they might out of the profits of it bring sacrifices to God's altar, - and that, God having thus done them good, they might the more cheerfully receive his law, concluding that also designed for their good, and might be sensible of their obligations in gratitude to live in obedience to him. We are therefore made, maintained, and redeemed, that we may live in obedience to the will of God; and the hallelujah with which the psalm concludes may be taken both as a thankful acknowledgment of God's favours and as a cheerful concurrence with this great intention of them. Has God done so much for us, and yet does he expect so little from us? Praise you the Lord.

JAMISO 42-45, "The reasons for these dealings: (1) God’s faithfulness to His covenant, “His holy promise” of Canaan, is the fountain whence flowed so many acts of marvelous kindness to His people (compare Psa_105:8, Psa_105:11). Exo_2:24 is the fundamental passage [Hengstenberg]. (2) That they might be obedient. The observance of God’s commands by Abraham was the object of the covenant with him (Gen_18:19), as it was also the object of the covenant with Israel, that they might observe God’s statutes.

remembered ... and Abraham — or, “remembered His holy word (that is, covenant confirmed) with Abraham.”

CALVI , "42.For he remembered his holy promise The Psalmist again mentions the cause why God dealt so graciously with that people, and sustained them so tenderly, namely, that he might fulfill his promise; for he had entered into a covenant with Abraham, engaging to be the God of his seed. or did the prophets without cause teach so carefully as we find them doing, that the free covenant is the fountain

whence the deliverance, and the continual welfare of the people flowed. Thereby the grace of God became better known, since what took place, so far from happening upon the sudden, and without anticipation, was only the fulfillment of what he had promised four hundred years before. God then, for ages previous to this, gave the light of his word of promise, that his grace and truth might be brought the more distinctly into view. For this reason the prophet again repeats, that God was not led from some new cause to deliver his people, but that his design in doing so was to prove the faithfulness of his covenant, and to give it effect; just as if a man should dig up from the ground a treasure which he had buried in it. or is it to be doubted, that the prophet aimed at leading the faith of his countrymen still farther, — that his object was that their posterity might be persuaded beyond all doubt, that as God had then proved, in the experience of that generation, the sure and substantial truth of his promise delivered many hundred years before, so he would not be to them otherwise than their fathers had found him to be in times past. Accordingly, he signalises this promise by the epithet, holy, intimating, that after the death of Abraham it retained its virtue and efficacy unimpaired. God had spoken it to Abraham; but the force of the covenant died not with him. God continued to show himself faithful towards the posterity of the patriarch.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 42. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. Here is the secret reason for all this grace. The covenant and he for whose sake it was made are ever on the heart of the Most High. He remembered his people because he remembered his covenant. He could not violate that gracious compact for it was sacred to him, — "his holy promise." A holy God must keep his promise holy. In our case the Lord's eye is upon his beloved Son, and his engagements with him. On our behalf, and this is the source and well ahead of those innumerable favours which enrich us in all our wanderings through this life's wilderness.HI TS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER.Ver. 42 —1. The grand source—the rock opened.2. The liberal stream—"gushed out".3. The continued law—"in dry places".

BE SO , "Verses 42-45Psalms 105:42-45. For he remembered his holy promise — They were unworthy and unthankful, yet he did these great things in their favour because he remembered his covenant, Psalms 105:8, and his holy promise, and would not suffer one iota or tittle of it to fall to the ground. Therefore he brought forth his people with joy —Rejoicing greatly that God had so wonderfully appeared for them, and delivered them from that state of cruel and intolerable bondage, under which they had so long groaned; and his chosen with gladness — Hebrew, ברנה, berinnah, with shouting, or singing, to see the difference he made between them and the Egyptians; who were drowned in the Red sea, while they were conducted safe through it on dry land. And he gave them the lands of the heathen — Put them in possession of the country which he had promised them, many centuries before they existed, casting out seven nations to make room for them in that land. And they inherited the labour of the

people — The fruits of their labour; the towns and cities which they had builded, and the vineyards and oliveyards which they had planted. That they might observe his statutes, &c. — He put them in possession of Canaan, not that they might live in luxury and pleasure, in ease and honour, and be conspicuous and glorious among the nations; not that they should regard Canaan as their paradise, and look no further; but that, being rescued from their enemies, formed into a people, placed under God’s immediate government and protection, and settled in peace and plenty, they might improve the opportunity thus afforded them of serving the Lord their God, in a due attendance upon all his ordinances, and a diligent keeping of all his commandments; and of securing to themselves, through the obedience of faith, an inheritance in an other country, that is to say, a heavenly. “And let all the children of the faithful Abraham,” says Dr. Horne, “whose lot hath fallen in a land flowing with milk and honey upon earth, reflect that God hath given them riches, and the leisure which riches procure, not for the purpose of indulging and corrupting themselves and others, but that they may glorify him, benefit their neighbours, and save their own souls; that they may observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Israel was delivered by Moses, and the church redeemed by Christ, that God might purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, Titus 2:14 .”

COKE, "Psalms 105:42. His holy promise, and Abraham— The word of his holiness with Abraham. See Psalms 105:8-9.

REFLECTIO S.—1st, Before the Psalmist enters on his subject, he prefaces his discourse with an exhortation to all around him,

1. To exalt and magnify the great and glorious God, and this in a variety of ways. Give him thanks for all his mercies past and present, and all his promises so rich and gracious. Call upon his name in humble faith, assured of being heard and answered: make known his deeds, what great things he has done for your souls and bodies, to encourage the hope, and excite the praises of all the righteous: talk ye of all his wondrous works, let them be the delightful daily subject of your conversation. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, in tongue as well as heart rejoice, ye that seek the Lord, as the grand object of your desires, and the rock of your hopes. Yea, glory in his holy name, renouncing all glorying in yourselves, to make mention only of his inestimably precious righteousness and grace. Seek the Lord and his strength, who alone can enable you to stand against your spiritual foes, and overcome them: seek his face evermore, in ceaseless prayer in this world, that you may behold the light of his countenance for ever in a better.

2. Abundant reason there is why we should thus do, if we consider, (1.) His past mercies, works of providence and grace, wonderful and great, such as Israel experienced in Egypt and the desart, and as the people of God daily find in their journey through this world's wilderness; and the judgments of his mouth, his revealed word, according to which we must finally be judged, and which will bring upon us the heaviest condemnation, if we forget or neglect the great salvation therein contained. (2.) Our interest in him, as the Lord our God, our Jehovah, all-

sufficient to supply every want of his people, worthy their most enlarged praise; and to engage them thereunto, offering himself to be their portion and exceeding great reward. (3.) His universal government, his judgments are in all the earth; and as the God of all the earth, he is most worthy to be obeyed and adored by all, and for ever: or it may refer to the judgments of his vengeance on the wicked, in the flood, in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or in the plagues of Egypt; the fame of which were spread abroad, and God's justice and holiness therein manifested; for which praise should be ascribed to him.

2nd, The grand subject of the Psalmist's thanksgiving is, the covenant established in Christ Jesus.

1. God revealed it to Abraham; and, as the type of the eternal inheritance designed for his faithful spiritual children, assured him of the possession of the land of Canaan as the inheritance of his natural posterity.

2. He fulfilled the promise in opposition to all human appearances, notwithstanding the difficulties which seemed insurmountable. They were few, very few; strangers, not possessed of a foot of land; driven from place to place, sojourning sometimes in Egypt, sometimes in Philistia, on account of the famine; but, in all their wanderings, still they experienced the divine protection; restrained by divine power, none dared to lift their hand to hurt them; and even kings are reproved, and warned how dangerous it would be to touch God's anointed ones, or harm his prophets. ote; (1.) The faithful people of God are indeed strangers and pilgrims upon earth, but God hath prepared for them a city: when their wanderings here below are ended, there remaineth for them an eternal rest. (2.) God's prophets are his peculiar care; he who toucheth them toucheth the apple of his eye, so jealous is he to vindicate their wrongs.

3. In the extraordinary case of Joseph, God, in a most astonishing providential manner, opened a way for the accomplishment of his designs of mercy towards them. He sent a famine on the land of Canaan, and brake the whole staff of bread, so that instant death and utter destruction seemed to threaten them; but he had made provision for their sustenance by means of Joseph, whom, though his envious brethren had wickedly sold for a slave, God had designed to send as their deliverer, after having experienced the deepest distresses, under the most cruel and unjust accusations of an enraged mistress; doomed to the lowest dungeon, bound in fetters of iron, and loaded with the most ignominious reproaches; but all wrought together for his good: when his faith and patience had been tried, God's word came unto him; and, divinely taught to interpret the dreams of his fellow-prisoners, the fame of it reached the court of Pharaoh, who sought the inspired prisoner. Convinced, by his interpretation of his dreams, that God's Spirit dwelt within him, the king loosed his bands, and vindicated his injured innocence from the accusations laid against him; advanced him to the highest post in his kingdom; delegated to him the exercise of his royal power to enact laws which all, even the greatest, must obey; and, wiser than the aged senators, appointed him their teacher, whence probably flowed the superior wisdom of the Egyptians. By him, his aged father and all his family were

brought to Egypt, and in the land of Goshen richly provided for during the days of famine; where they increased exceedingly, and God's promises began to take effect. ote; (1.) Mysterious are the ways of Providence. When all things seem most against us, they are often really working for our good. (2.) Joseph, in his humiliation and exaltation is the type of Jesus, whose sufferings far exceeded, and whose glory infinitely excelleth. (3.) In every advancement we must remember whose hand hath raised us, and that we only then adorn our station, when we seek to make it subservient to the advancement of his kingdom and glory. (4.) Whatever calumnies and sufferings the saints of God endure, when their faith is tried, they shall be discharged with honour. (5.) God's church will never want a friend; he can raise them protectors where they least expect to find favour. (6.) We are sojourners on earth, as Jacob in that strange land: this is not our home nor our rest; nay, though never so much increased in worldly goods, we would not fit here below, but look for our promised Canaan, and long for our heavenly inheritance.

CO STABLE, "Verses 42-453. Praise for God"s faithfulness105:42-45

Again the psalmist reminded the reader of God remembering His unique promise to Abraham (cf. Psalm 105:8). The Lord brought Abraham"s descendants into the Promised Land and dispossessed the Canaanite tribes. He even gave them food that the Canaanites had planted and cultivated. He did all this so the Israelites would obey His will for them and experience all the good things He had in store for them. The psalm closes with a final call to praise the Lord ("hallelujah").

A key word in this psalm is "remember" ( Psalm 105:5; Psalm 105:8; Psalm 105:42). By remembering how faithful God had been in remembering His promise to their patriarch, the Israelites would remember to praise Him. God"s people benefit from reviewing history because it reminds them of God"s faithfulness. This reminder encourages us who are ew Testament believers to trust in His promises given to us. We, too, can see that He has been consistently faithful to His word throughout history.

43 He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

BAR ES, "And he brought forth his people with joy - With joy at their

deliverance from bondage, and for his merciful interposition.

And his chosen with gladness - Margin, as in Hebrew, “singing.” See Exo. 15.

GILL, "And he brought forth his people with joy,.... Or "therefore" (f), in consequence of his promise, and the remembrance of it, he brought Israel out of Egypt with great joy to them, they coming out with so much health and wealth; having their liberty, and in hope of shortly being settled in a land flowing with milk and honey. And

his chosen with gladness: or "singing" (g); especially when they had got through the Red sea, their enemies drowned, and they quite clear of them, Exo_15:1. And when they are called "his chosen", this opens another source of those blessings to them, not only the promise and covenant of God, but their election of God, which was free and sovereign, to choose them above all people; not because they were better or more than others, but because he loved them; and hence he did all the above things for them. In like manner when God's elect are in the effectual calling, brought out of bondage to liberty, out of darkness to light, out of an horrible pit, and have their feet set on a rock; are brought to Christ and into his church, and have a place and a name there; it is with exceeding great joy and gladness to them; and to the church above shall they at last be brought with everlasting joy on their heads, Isa_35:10.

CALVI , "43.And he brought forth his people with joy The prophet makes mention of joy and gladness, the more highly to magnify the greatness of God’s grace. It was no small matter, that at the very time when the Egyptians were afflicted by a severe and dreadful plague, — when the whole kingdom was full of weeping and howling, — and when in almost every house there was a dead body, — the people who a little before were groaning in great distress, or rather lay almost dead, went forth with joyful hearts. By the appellation the chosen of God, they are reminded, that his favor was not thus exercised towards them on account of their own merits, or on account of the worth of their race, but because he had adopted them, that men having nothing left them in which to vaunt themselves might learn to glory in God alone.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 43. And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness. Up from the wilderness he led them, rejoicing over them himself and making them rejoice too. They were his people, his chosen, and hence in them he rejoiced, and upon them he showered his favours, that they might rejoice in him as their God, and their portion.

WHEDO , "43. Brought forth his people with joy—A fitting type of the deliverances and triumphant joy of the spiritual Church. See Isaiah 35:10. And this joy should have remained with them through all their desert life. A joyful deliverance from sin, followed by rebellious, unbelief, murmurings, and discontent, can never recommend the religion of God and of Christ to a wicked world.

44 he gave them the lands of the nations, and they fell heir to what others had toiled for—

BAR ES, "And gave them the lands of the heathen - Of the “nations” of the land of Palestine, according to his promise. See the notes at Psa_78:55.

And they inherited the labor of the people - The fruit of their labors. See Deu_6:10-11; Jos_13:7.

GILL, "And gave them the lands of the Heathen,.... The countries of the seven nations that dwelt in Canaan; the Lord did it, who had a right to do it, being the possessor of heaven and earth; and who was provoked unto it by the sins of these Heathens, as well as promised it to his people the Israelites.

And they inherited the labour of the people; dwelled in the houses they had built, which they found full of all good things; enjoyed the vineyards and olive trees they had planted, and possessed the wells which they had dug, Deu_6:10. In like manner the heavenly Canaan is enjoyed by the saints without any labour of theirs; this inheritance is not of the law, nor of the works of it, it is the gift of God, Rom_4:14.

HE RY, " Their entrance, at length, into Canaan (Psa_105:44): He gave them the lands of the heathen, put them in possession of that which they had long been put in hopes of; and what the Canaanites had taken pains for God's Israel had the enjoyment of: They inherited the labour of the people; and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. The Egyptians had long inherited their labours, and now they inherited the labours of the Canaanites. Thus sometimes one enemy of the church is made to pay another's scores.

JAMISO , "inherited the labour — that is, the fruits of their labor; their corn and vineyards (Jos_21:43-45).

CALVI , "44And he gave them the countries of the nations The Psalmist sets forth the final cause why God in so many ways displayed his wonderful power in redeeming the people, why he did not cease to cherish and defend them in the deserts — why he gave them the possession of the land as he had promised; and this was, that they might dedicate and devote themselves wholly to his service. And, in fact, the end which God proposed in our election was, that he might have on the

earth a people by whom he should be called upon and served. The more effectually to stir up the Jews to gratitude, the prophet magnifies the greatness of the divine goodness, by declaring, that they occupied far and wide the countries of the nations, and that all the property which many states had acquired with great labor, they now possessed as it were by right of inheritance. The plural number, both as to the word countries and nations, serves to exhibit in a still more striking light the divine goodness in this matter. The psalm concludes with briefly defining the manner of glorifying God, That they might keep his law It would not be enough to celebrate his grace only with the tongue. To this there must be added practical and experimental piety. And as God rejects all religious services of men’s invention, the only way of rightly serving him which remains, consists in keeping his commandments.

SPURGEO , "Ver. 44. And gave them the lands of the heathen. He drove out the Canaanites and allotted the lands to the tribes. They were called on to fight, but the Lord wrought so wonderfully that the conquest was not effected by their bow or spear—the Lord gave them the land.And they inherited the labour of the people, they dwelt in houses which they had not built, and gathered fruit front vines and olives which they had not planted. They were not settled in a desert which needed to be reclaimed, but in a land fertile to a proverb, and cultivated carefully by its inhabitants. Like Adam, they were placed in a garden. This entrance into the goodly land was fitly celebrated when the ark was being moved to Zion.

45 that they might keep his precepts and observe his laws.Praise the Lord.[a]

BAR ES, "That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws - The end - the design - of all this was that they might be an obedient people. This was the purpose of all his interventions in their behalf; and their obligation to obedience was enforced and measured by what he had done. The same is true in regard to his people now.

Praise ye the Lord - Hebrew, Hallelu-jah. See Psa_104:35.

CLARKE, "That they might observe his statutes - That they might be properly instructed, and properly disciplined. This is the end proposed by Divine revelation: men are to be made wise unto salvation, and then to be brought under the yoke of obedience.

He who is not conformed to God’s word shall not enter into Christ’s kingdom.

GILL, "That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws,.... All this the Lord did for them, to engage them by his goodness to them to observe the statutes he appointed them, and the laws he gave them; the contrary to which the Canaanites had done, which caused him to cast them out of the land; but on these his people he heaped benefits, thereby to influence them to a cheerful obedience to his will; and this was all he required of them, and the least that they could do, being so highly favoured by him. And this is the end of our spiritual and eternal redemption by Christ, and of our effectual calling by his grace and Spirit, that we be zealous of good works; live unto righteousness, live to him that died for us; glorify him with our bodies and spirits, which are his; and be holy in all manner of conversation.

Praise ye the Lord, all the Israelites ought to have done so, upon the remembrance of the manifold instances of the divine goodness to them, recorded in this psalm; and so the spiritual Israel of God ought to praise him for their redemption by Christ, out of a worse than Egyptian bondage, the bondage of sin, Satan, and the law; and for their calling into liberty, and to marvellous light; for their meetness for heaven, and right unto it; they should praise him now with joyful lips, as they will in the other world to all eternity.

JAMISO , "

SPURGEO , "Ver. 45. That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. This was the practical design of it all. The chosen nation was to be the conservator of truth, the exemplar of morality, the pattern of devotion: everything was so ordered as to place them in advantageous circumstances for fulfilling this trust. Theirs was a high calling and a glorious election. It involved great responsibilities, but it was in itself a distinguished blessing, and one for which the nation was bound to give thanks. Most justly then did the music close with the jubilant but solemn shout of HALLELUJAH.Praise ye the Lord. If this history did trot make Israel praise God, what would?

WHEDON, "45. That they might observe his statutes—This is the ultimate end of all the wonderful dispensations of God in calling and planting his Church; and in view of so glorious a result of the divine dispensation, and the admirable methods for securing it, we join the psalmist in his closing “hallelujah.”