For they intended evil against thee; Which they are not able to perform: Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, When thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them. Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: So will we sing and praise thy power.-Psa. xxi. HISTORY.-This Psalm was evidently composed to celebrate some great anniversary, such as the birthday, the accession of the king, or some signal victory. It seems highly probable that it follows in chronological order the preceding Psalm, and celebrates the triumphant issue of the battle on which the king was about to embark. The preceding Psalm was before the battle, this after. There is a little difference in the tone of each. "There is less devotion in this: it speaks less of God than of the king. It is also more exultant: the one is like a litany, the other a pæan. The one tells the eve of an army's actual departure for the scene of war: it reflects the anxious earnest thoughts of those who feel what they have at stake in the contest; the other breathes the joyous confidence of the nation and their scorn for the threats of the foe. In the peaceful quiet of their homes they can still hope that the terror of their first appearance will drive the foe from the field, and that when they march forth it will be rather as ministers of offended justice than as combatants in a hard fought fight." Hengstenberg, however, thinks that the Psalm is an expression of thanksgiving of the people for the promises given to David in 2 Saml. vii., and their joyful hope in regard to their fulfilment. This is also the view of Alexander. There is, of course, no way of reaching certainty on the point. ANNOTATIONS. -"To the chief musician. A Psalm of David." The structure of the Psalm indicates the correctness of the former inscription, and the accuracy of the latter is rendered obvious by its agreement with the general style and spirit of David's compositions. Ver. 1.-" The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!" Some consider that David is here speaking of himself in the third person. It is more natural, however, to regard it as the language of the people. Ver: 2.-" Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah."—"The arrangement here," says Luther, "is certainly fine, namely, that the prayer of the heart must go before, without which the prayer of the lips is an unprofitable bawling." The prayer referred to according to the judgment of many able critics is that contained in 2 Sam. vii. 18-29. Ver. 3.-" For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness." "For thou wilt come before him with blessings of goodness." The word 66 prevent" is now commonly used amongst us in the sense "stop," "hinder," "obstruct," but this is neither the original meaning of the word nor the sense in which it is used in the Bible. It means to " go before," ‚” “anticipate," "precede." Some render the clause, “thou forestallest him with choicest blessings." "Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head." This does not refer to the time of his coronation, but to the victory which he had just achieved. The victory was as a crown of gold to him. Ver. 4.-" He asked life of thes, and thou gavest it him." The life which he asked was not the longevity of himself, but the longevity of his throne. "Even length of days for ever and ever." The continuation of his race as a regal power in Judea, he prayed for and he had: even beyond his hopes in the person who was of "the seed of David according to the flesh." Mercy transcended his prayers. Ver. 5.-His glory is great in thy salvation. "Great is his power in thy saving help. He has obtained great power through thee. "Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him." A more honoured man than David never existed. As a king he was the representative of Divine authority, as a warrior the executioner of Divine justice, and as father the ancestor of Him whose Kingdom is to spread over the world, and have no end. Ver. 6.-" For thou hast made him most blessed for ever." Margin "set him to be blessings." The idea is that he had been made a blessing, a fountain of good to others. Blessings for the world flowed through him. "Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance." Margin 'gladdened him with joy." He will be gladdened with God's gracious looks and presence. Ver. 7.-" For the king trusted in the Lord; and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved." Because he trusted in Jehovah, he would not only be imperturbed in spirit, but established in authority. His Kingdom would last. The use of the third person," says Alexander, "in this verse, with reference both to God and the king, makes it a kind of connecting link between the direct address to God in the first part of the Psalm, and the direct address to the king in the second." Ver. 8.-" Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee," The people now tell the king what he was to hope for, himself and his posterity, in consequence of the Divine promise. "To find out" means to detect, to reach. Ver. 9.-" Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger; the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them." The ascription of this destroying agency to God shows that the king was regarded merely as the instrument of Jehovah, and that the enemies of the theocracy were the enemies of God himself, and would be punished. Ver. 10.-" Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from the children of men.”—“ Their fruit shalt thou root out of the earth, and their seed from among the children of men." The idea is entire extermination. Ver. 11.-"For they intended evil against thee; they imagined a mischievous device which they are not able to perform." "According to many expositors," says Hengstenberg, "the wickedness of the godless must here be announced as the cause of their destruction. But then it would be unsuitable to say, they are not able for it. We must rather make out the connection thus: for although they threaten destruction to thee, yet they cannot execute their designs; these shall rather turn out to their own destruction, as certainly as God has secured perpetuity to the kingdom of David. Ver. 12.-" Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them." The word "back" is in the margin," shoulder." David is here represented as a warrior with a bow in hand, and arrows upon the string, going forth to confront his enemies. And what is declared in the verse is, that God would make them turn their backs, and utterly confound and banish them. Ver. 13.-"Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power." These words express a strong desire that Jehovah should be exalted over all his foes. "Be exalted, Jehovah, in thy strength: O let us sing and praise thy power." ARGUMENT.-This Psalm contains three parts:-Thanksgiving, expectation, and prayer. 1. Thanksgiving for conquest over some enemies (ver. 1-7); 2. Expectation for conquest over more (ver. 8-12); and 3. Prayer for the conquest of all (ver. 13). Whatever the Creator HOMILETICS.-This Psalm is full of war. There is the war spirit, ruthless and bloody, and the war victims exterminated, confounded, and burning. The material wars that David and his people undertook by the command and under the direction of God, were unquestionably right. wills, is right for the creature to do. God to take away the lives of sinners. life has a right to take it away, whether sinful or not. But in the case of sinners the right becomes an obligation. Justice demands that transgressors of Divine law should be punished even unto death. Secondly: It was right in God to take away the lives of sinners by whatever means He pleased. He might employ famines, pestilences, earthquakes, angels, or men. If He choose to employ Joshua or David, rather than the elements of nature or angelic beings, who could doubt His right to do so? These two facts justify the wars of the Old Testament. The men who were destroyed by the war rightly deserved their punishment, and the men who were employed in the war were men whom heaven employed as officers to execute their doom. No war, how ever, is ever justifiable unless it is ordered and directed by God; and this we believe He has ceased to do ever since Christ came into the world, and became the Divine Legislator for mankind. We shall use the material war in this Psalm as material wars are often used in the Old Testament and in the New too, as emblems of the moral-the war against error, immorality, and ungodliness. The Psalm, looked upon in this light exhibits the feelings of the good in relation to the enemies of truth and God. And in it you have thanksgiving for the conquest of some, expectations for the conquest of more, and desire for the conquest of all. Here you have— 66 I. THANKSGIVING FOR A VICTORY OVER SOME ENEMIES. The first seven verses bear an exultant reference of the people to some great victory that David had won : Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head." He had just come out of a battle as a triumphant conqueror. There are three things in relation to the conquest which he had just won which are ever associated with true moral conquests. First: His conquest was a source of joy. "The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord: and in Thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!" What joy on earth is equal to the joy of that man who feels that he has conquered some wrong that is dishonouring his Maker and cursing his race? How jubilant is the man who feels he has overcome the devil in his own soul, and how exultant he who feels that he has delivered others from the damning despotism of evil! Secondly: His conquest was of Divine mercy. "THOU hast given him his heart's desire." Whatever the prowess of his heart, the skilfulness of his arm, the wisdom of his plans, and his earnestness and ability in carrying them into effect, it was God that gave him the victory. The success was of mercy. (1.) Divine mercy went before him. "Thou preventest him with blessings of goodness." Divine mercy forstalled him: went before him into the field, made his way clear, and guaranteed victory. (2.) Divine mercy transcended his prayers. "He asked life of Thee, Thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever." All this is true of the moral warrior: his vic tories are all of grace-mercy goes before him, mercy transcends his prayers. Thirdly: His conquest exalted him to honour. "His glory is great in Thy salvation: honour and majesty has Thou laid upon him." What is the glory of the physical conqueror compared Iwith that of the moral? Who is the most honourable man? He who destroys the bodies of men or he who destroys the evils that curse body and soul? He who mantles the world with clouds, or he who brightens the firmament with stars of truth and love? The moral hero shall have a crown of glory that fadeth not away. "He that overcometh," &c. mercy of Fourthly: His conquest was connected with his trust in God. "For the King trusteth in the Lord, and through the the most High he shall not be moved." David was a man of great trust in God. We are told that he encouraged himself in the Lord his God; and we hear him exclaim, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer: my God and strength, in whom I will trust." There is no moral victory without deep Trust in him as our "Commander," Here you have— and practical trust in God. our "shield," and "buckler." II. EXPECTATION OF A VICTORY OVER MORE ENEMIES. From the victories that David had won the people predicted greater. "Thine hand shall find out all Thine enemies: Thy right hand shall find out those that hate Thee." The past conquest they looked at as a pledge of future triumphs. There is a sanguinary savageness in the description of the anticipated victories which is most revolting to our natures, and thoroughly antagonistic to the genius of the Gospel dispensation. What terrible language is the following:-" Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of Thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt Thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men." The only point here, therefore, which illustrates the moral warfare of the good is this-past victories a ground for expecting greater. The Psalmist concludes that, because so much had been accomplished, so much more would be yet achieved; and this holds pre-eminently true in moral campaigns. The more victories |