Psalm 91

 ¹He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

²I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

³Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

⁴He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

⁵You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

⁶Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

⁷A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

⁸Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

⁹Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

¹⁰No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

¹¹For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

¹²In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

¹³You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

¹⁴“Because he has set his love upon Me,

therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

¹⁵He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

 

Preamble: Psalm ninety-one is a Messianic Psalm; that is a Psalm about the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan knew that when he cited verses 11-12 to Him during His wilderness temptation. That said, there are promises within this psalm that can be applied to anyone of us as His people.

Commentary

Vs. 1 “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

Only the Lord Jesus Christ can be said to dwell in the secret place of the Most High and dwell under the shadow of the Almighty.

Vs. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

The declaration here then must first be said of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then all of us who believe in Him.

Vs. 3 “Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.”

 

God’s Promise to keep you from the snare of the fowler, i.e., the hunter of our souls, and thus all the schemes and traps of Satan is not only for the Lord Jesus Christ but can also be applied to us as we believe and obey Him (John 17:15; 2 Thess. 3:3 etc.). Perilous pestilence means fatal disease, now this is completely true of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it cannot be said to be universally true of all of us who believe in Him, since we Christians are subject to diseases just like everyone else.

Vs. 4 “He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

God’s loving care then for His Son also comes to us His born-again children. Same with His Word being His Sons shield and buckler, so it is for us. (Consider the phrase "Your Word" as it appears throughout Psalm 119in the NKJ see vs.14 and of course Eph. 6:17).

Vs. 5-6 “You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

⁶Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.”

Through God's Word four promises of protection are now given in these verses. First is God’s promise to keep fear from Him, i.e., “terror by night” which Jesus clearly exemplified on the night of His betrayal by Judas Iscariot when He should no fear (see John 18:1-12). Next is the arrow that flies by day, unlike the terror by night, which implies a secret assault, this is a direct daylight attack on one’s person. And once again Jesus fearlessly withstood those who wanted to harm Him time and again, and this He did without violence (consider Luke 4:16-30, vs. 28-20; John 8:54-59; 10:22-39; John 11:8-11 etc.). The third protection promised for the Son of Man Jesus Christ is against being harmed by the disease that walks in darkness. I like how the believers Bible Commentary reads this as being either literal diseases that breed in the darkness, or moral evil that likewise does the same. Now destruction that lays waste at the noonday can encompass a lot of things and so we will not try to be specific about this. All and all then read these verses as God’s far-reaching protection of the Son of Man from all things, except His Cross which Jesus willfully endured for us all. 

 Vs. 7-8 ⁷A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

⁸Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

God’s Promises of protection of His Son continue. Even during a slaughter, the Lord shall not be touched. Indeed, though a thousand fall at His side and ten thousand at His right hand, yet it shall not come near Him. Our Lord and Savior then shall never know defeat! “Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked,” God will bring the Lord Jesus Christ Justice, which can also be said for all the children of God (consider Psalm 37:34; Rev. 19:1-21, vs. 14). For when the Lord judges the wicked, the slain of the Lord shall be many (consider Isaiah 66:16; Jeremiah 25:33; Rev. 14:19-20 etc.).

Vs. 9-10 ⁹Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

¹⁰No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

Again, because the Lord Jesus Christ made the Most High His dwelling place; trusting Him completely to save and deliver Him; God now assures Him that no evil shall befall Him, nor any plague come near His dwelling. God Himself then secured Him safe for Himself. Think about it, Satan and all His forces could not touch the Lord Jesus Christ while He was here on earth in the flesh, and think of how Satan attacked and afflicted poor Job! For not until the Lord Jesus Christ in full submission to the Father’s Will would He die on the Cross. For only when Christ's time came did God allow Satan’s people to seize Him and Crucify Him to Fulfill His Word. And even having born our sins on the Cross this did not keep Him from His Father, for on the third day He rose again from the dead and then later He ascended back to our Father in heaven to be seated at His right hand waiting until God makes all of His enemies His footstool!

Vs. 11-12 ¹¹For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

¹²In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

God’s Assurances to our Lord and Savior of safety are now backed by angelic hosts, whom He has given charge over Him, to keep Him in all His ways and in their hands they bore Him up lest He dash His foot against a stone. This is most clearly seen as the Lord Jesus Christ from His infancy on was sought out by Herod and all his forces who wanted to kill Him from the very beginning. And yet for all their power and might (all of Satan’s forces power and might) the Lord was never touched by any of them. Even throughout His life growing up in Nazareth He lived completely guarded and protected from harm, that is until His time had come to suffer and die on the Cross for us all. Now these are some of the verses that Satan cited to our Lord Jesus in trying to lure Him into disobeying God and displaying His own privileged position to him while He was alone and vulnerable in the wilderness (Luke 4:10-11).

Vs. 13 “You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.”

God now Promises our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that He will be the One who will destroy Satan. This is known for certain since Satan in the Scripture is described as a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). And in the beginning Satan first manifested himself to Eve as a cunning serpent, who not only deceived her, but now he also deceives the whole world (see Gen. 3; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9; 20:1-3 etc. also 2 Tim. 2:24-26 etc.). Therefore because Satan through His cunning separated mankind from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be the One who destroys him! 

Vs. 14 -16 ¹⁴“Because he has set his love upon Me,

therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

¹⁵He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

The Lord Jesus from the outset always set His love upon the Father, of living in perfect obedience to His Will, (which can be said of no one else). Therefore God the Father now assures Him of several things. First stated is deliverance, having done and accomplished all the Will of the Father Jesus will never know defeat, He will never be second to anyone or anything. Second is that God the Father will be the One who sets Him on High, who gives Him the Highest Place of Honor, because He has known His Name (vs. 14). Third is that Jesus will call upon God, and God Himself will answer Him. The Lord Jesus Christ knew this even during His earthily time with us, though He did not employ it as the Father did not want Him too (see Matt 26:52-54). Forth is that God will be with Him in trouble and He will deliver Him and honor Him. Again, Jesus knew this even when He was facing the Cross (John 8:29; 16:32 etc.). Fifth is God’s guarantee of long life is now seen in the Living Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ who also is our own guarantee of our own everlasting life. Sixth is that God will show Him His salvation, which He did when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him on High with Himself. The Lord Jesus Christ then has the Name above every name that is named. Amen. 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

Psalm 90 A Prayer Of Moses the Man of God.

 ¹Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

²Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

³You turn man to destruction,

And say, “Return, O children of men.”

⁴For a thousand years in Your sight

Are like yesterday when it is past,

And like a watch in the night.

⁵You carry them away like a flood;

They are like a sleep.

In the morning they are like grass which grows up:

⁶In the morning it flourishes and grows up;

In the evening it is cut down and withers.

⁷For we have been consumed by Your anger,

And by Your wrath we are terrified.

⁸You have set our iniquities before You,

Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

⁹For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;

We finish our years like a sigh.

¹⁰The days of our lives are seventy years;

And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,

Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;

For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

¹¹Who knows the power of Your anger?

For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.

¹²So teach us to number our days,

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

¹³Return, O Lord! How long?

And have compassion on Your servants.

¹⁴Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!

¹⁵Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,

The years in which we have seen evil.

¹⁶Let Your work appear to Your servants,

And Your glory to their children.

¹⁷And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,

And establish the work of our hands for us;

Yes, establish the work of our hands.

 

Preamble: Psalm 90 is the only Psalm that was written by Moses. It is humble, it is contemplative, it reveals to us the man of God Moses’ own heart.

Vs. 1-2 ¹Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

²Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Moses begins his Psalm by placing the Lord as the One to whom we His people have always belonged, from generation to generation, long before we knew the Lord, He knew us. Before He brought forth the mountains, or even had formed the earth and the world, the Lord God has been from everlasting to everlasting. This then is Moses’ declaration of the Eternal and Unchanging Lord God.

Vs. 3-4 ³You turn man to destruction,

And say, “Return, O children of men.”

⁴For a thousand years in Your sight

Are like yesterday when it is past,

And like a watch in the night.

In contrast to God’s Sovereign Everlasting Person is the frailty of man. For as soon as God deems it so, men whom He brought forth from dust return to the same (vs. 3). For though men were to live a thousand years (as in the days of Genesis) yet their lives before God are like yesterday when it is past, like a watch in the night, and then they end. Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes spent much time contemplating this and found it all vanity, merely grasping for the wind, in all that mankind seeks to do in this life that is only rooted in his own passions, dreams, and desires. 

Vs. 5-6 ⁵You carry them away like a flood;

They are like a sleep.

In the morning they are like grass which grows up:

⁶In the morning it flourishes and grows up;

In the evening it is cut down and withers.

Moses’ continues his despondent reflection, likely reflecting upon the deaths of the many people who were taken in Israel’s wilderness wanderings. For God by His Sovereign hand carry’s them away like a flood. Indeed, our lives are like a sleep, just a moment before we awaken to our eternities. For we all are like grass in the morning which grows up; and so for a time we bear the strength and beauty of our youths; however the evening soon comes and the grass is cut down and what is left withers away. This is the call on every generation of humanity.

Vs. 7-10 ⁷For we have been consumed by Your anger,

And by Your wrath we are terrified.

⁸You have set our iniquities before You,

Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

⁹For all our days have passed away in Your wrath;

We finish our years like a sigh.

¹⁰The days of our lives are seventy years;

And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,

Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;

For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Moses as the leader of the congregation in seeing the judgment of God on those who would not enter the Promised Land at His command (see Nu, 13-14; Deut. 1:19-46) cannot but say that we are consumed by God’s anger and by His wrath we are terrified (vs. 7). For Israel were given a great privilege to bear witness to the mighty and awesome works of the Lord in Egypt and at the Red Sea, also at Mount Sinai and with cloud and fire by day and by night. And yet for all of that they would not believe Him, nor obey Him, all throughout their wilderness wanderings they would only continue to disbelieve, complain, and rebel against Him. Thus, what Moses is writing about here must be seen in the light of that context, (also see Neh. 9:6-38 for a more complete recalling), for in their wilderness wanderings Moses had seen many lives lost because of their sins. For God set their iniquities before Him, He brought out their secret sins in the light of His countenance (vs. 8). For the Lord made a covenant with them, and they only went on to make a golden calf! Verse nine then reveals the deep despondency of Moses of having born witness to these things, of seeing many people pass away in God’s wrath. Indeed, Moses now sees our lives ending only like a sigh. 

“The days of our lives are seventy years;

And if by reason of strength they are eighty years,

Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;

For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” ^{Vs. 10}

There is no boasting, nor proud taking, nor pounding the chest, as if all begins and ends with us when our time comes. For Moses saw this time and again, he saw that a life lived apart from obeying the will of God is a life full of labor and sorrow. And if by chance we succeed to seventy or eighty years of life our lives are soon cut off, and we fly away to our eternities, never to be heard in the land of the living again. Life lived apart from the salvation of God then has no good end! Now because we will all pass away the time to prepare for that day is not then, but now! Therefore, now is the time to be reconciled to God, now is the time to believe in Him through His Son the Lord Jesus Christ Crucified and Risen from the dead. For whoever believes in Jesus Christ and confesses Him as Lord will have remission of all their sins and everlasting life (see Rom. 10:9-10, 13). This is God's Promise and command to one and to all to be reconciled to God now! For God made Jesus Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:17 paraphrased NKJ).

Vs. 11-12 ¹¹Who knows the power of Your anger?

For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.

¹²So teach us to number our days,

That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

In a humbled awe of God, Moses now shows us a real reverence for God, a real fear of His wrath, when he says, “Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath.” God’s anger then is not something to take lightly, nor is it something anyone should dare arouse against themselves. For Moses bore witnesses to it time and again and he feared Him, as all mankind should. Therefore, Moses asks Him to teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. For only then will we learn to live humble and fruitful lives with Him, lives of lasting peace and prosperity with Him.

Vs. 13 “Return, O Lord! How long?

And have compassion on Your servants.

Moses longs for the Lord’s favor to return to His people, for His compassion, His mercies, His grace to once again be upon His servants. Now if you follow Israel’s wanderings in the wilderness you will see that as the rebellious generation passes away and their children rise in their places, i.e., the people God said would enter the Promised Land in place of their unbelieving parents (Num. 14:26-35), that this will increasingly become Israel’s position once again with God. Unfortunately, Moses did not get to see this in fulness in his own life, for he too had to die in the wilderness with them (see Deut. 32:48-51). Nonetheless Moses now sees God’s favor on His redeemed people in the Kingdom of heaven with Christ. For it is because of the Lord Jesus Christ that God can now have compassion on us all! 

Vs. 14 “Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy,

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!

Moses thus longs for God’s mercy to come to the people, for Him to satisfy us early with His mercy that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. And now it is so true for us for In Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior we now have God’s mercies new every morning, we now have an everlasting relationship with God our Father in heaven by which He may smile upon us. Therefore we do not need to bear the guilt and shame of sin anymore! For we now have what Moses so longed for then! 

Vs. 15 “Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us,

The years in which we have seen evil.”

Moses now asks that the Lord make His people glad according to all the days in which He afflicted them, the years in which we have seen evil. For ultimately God’s grace far and away exceeds His judgments, for everyone who asks for it shall receive His grace through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Vs. 16-17 ¹⁶Let Your work appear to Your servants,

And Your glory to their children.

¹⁷And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,

And establish the work of our hands for us;

Yes, establish the work of our hands.

In closing Moses asks that the Lord once again show His work to His servants and His glory to our children, he asks that the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; which it is by His Holy Spirit dwelling in us all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that He establish the work of our hands (2x), as Jesus has now promised and done for us so that we now bear fruit that does indeed remain (John 15:16).

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

Psalm 89 A Contemplation of Ethan the Ezrahite.

 ¹I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;

With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

²For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;

Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

³“I have made a covenant with My chosen,

I have sworn to My servant David:

⁴‘Your seed I will establish forever,

And build up your throne to all generations.’ ” Selah

⁵And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;

Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.

⁶For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?

Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?

⁷God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,

And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.

⁸O Lord God of hosts,

Who is mighty like You, O Lord?

Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

⁹You rule the raging of the sea;

When its waves rise,

You still them.

¹⁰You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain;

You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

¹¹The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;

The world and all its fullness,

You have founded them.

¹²The north and the south,

You have created them;

Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.

¹³You have a mighty arm;

Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.

¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;

Mercy and truth go before Your face.

¹⁵Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!

They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.

¹⁶In Your name they rejoice all day long,

And in Your righteousness they are exalted.

¹⁷For You are the glory of their strength,

And in Your favor our horn is exalted.

¹⁸For our shield belongs to the Lord,

And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one,

And said: “I have given help to one who is mighty;

I have exalted one chosen from the people.

²⁰I have found My servant David;

With My holy oil I have anointed him,

²¹With whom My hand shall be established;

Also My arm shall strengthen him.

²²The enemy shall not outwit him,

Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

²³I will beat down his foes before his face,

And plague those who hate him.

²⁴“But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him,

And in My name his horn shall be exalted.

²⁵Also I will set his hand over the sea,

And his right hand over the rivers.

²⁶He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,

My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

²⁷Also I will make him My firstborn,

The highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁸My mercy I will keep for him forever,

And My covenant shall stand firm with him.

²⁹His seed also I will make to endure forever,

And his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰“If his sons forsake My law

And do not walk in My judgments,

³¹If they break My statutes

And do not keep My commandments,

³²Then I will punish their transgression with the rod,

And their iniquity with stripes.

³³Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him,

Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.

³⁴My covenant I will not break,

Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

³⁵Once I have sworn by My holiness;

I will not lie to David:

³⁶His seed shall endure forever,

And his throne as the sun before Me;

³⁷It shall be established forever like the moon,

Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

³⁸But You have cast off and abhorred,

You have been furious with Your anointed.

³⁹You have renounced the covenant of Your servant;

You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

⁴⁰You have broken down all his hedges;

You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

⁴¹All who pass by the way plunder him;

He is a reproach to his neighbors.

⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;

You have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³You have also turned back the edge of his sword,

And have not sustained him in the battle.

⁴⁴You have made his glory cease,

And cast his throne down to the ground.

⁴⁵The days of his youth You have shortened;

You have covered him with shame. Selah

⁴⁶How long, Lord?

Will You hide Yourself forever?

Will Your wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how short my time is;

For what futility have You created all the children of men?

⁴⁸What man can live and not see death?

Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? Selah

⁴⁹Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses,

Which You swore to David in Your truth?

⁵⁰Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants

How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,

⁵¹With which Your enemies have reproached, O Lord,

With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

⁵²Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen.

Preamble: “Ethan the Ezrahite, (his name means permanence), is the man whom God choose to bring forth His Word for us in this Psalm. He was from the tribe of Judah, and he was a wise counselor, singer/musician and possibly a prophet in David’s court. Of note of him is that Solomon is compared to him in terms of exceeding even him in wisdom (1 Kings 4:31).

 Commentary

“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;

With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.”

Ethan opens this Psalm by declaring his desire to sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; to make known the Lord’s faithfulness to all generations. Ethan than was a worshipper of the Lord. His words reflect not only his own hearts desire but the hearts of us all who believe in the Lord.

Vs. 2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;

Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

Knowing the Lord in truth gives Ethan and us all full confidence that His, “Mercy shall be built up forever.” For this is God’s ultimate desire, that while doing justice He can show mercy to us all who believe in Him. For this is what the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished for us all who believe in Him, God’s everlasting mercies being freely extended to us all who repent and believe. His faithfulness than He has established in the very heavens, where there is no end!

s. 3-4 ³“I have made a covenant with My chosen,

I have sworn to My servant David:

⁴‘Your seed I will establish forever,

And build up your throne to all generations.’ ” Selah

Ethan now recalls God's Word to His servant David. His promise to preserve his seed and his throne forever. For the Lord has chosen David and He swore to him to establish his seed (i.e., offspring) forever. Which must be first seen as the Lord Jesus Christ who as the Son of Man was descended through David's lineage. Therefore God's Promise to establish David’s throne forever was done for the Lord Jesus Christ to Reign from forever. What an honor than for Davis to have been chosen to be the man from which God would establish His Son’s very Throne. 

Vs. 5 “And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;

Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.”

Ethan now marvels at the Lord’s wonderous works, saying, “the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.” For the Lord does many wonderous things in the sight of men, here by preparing His own Sons Throne through mortal man, but more to the point He redeems sinful men and women through Christ Jesus as the Son of Man! sinners like you, like me, like David. Therefore, the very heavens themselves will declare the Lord’s faithfulness in the assembly of His saints.

Vs. 6 For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?

Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?

The Lord has no equal, no one in the heavens can be compared to Him. He is the I AM. For there was nothing before Him and there can be nothing without Him. He is above all gods, all spirits, all religions, all theologies, all philosophies, all cultures, all sciences, everything. And as for the mighty on earth, they are all mere mortals whose lives He sustains or takes away according to His own Will. None then can be likened to Him. 

Vs. 7 “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,

And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.”

Therefore, “God is to be greatly feared in the assembly of saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.” (Consider Lev. 10:3). It is then incumbent upon us as His redeemed people to do this. To make our places of worship and prayer, places where He is greatly feared and highly esteemed. Where reverence of His person is first and foremost, especially in our Sunday services. Now this begins by having Him in highest regard in our hearts. 

 Vs. 8-10 ⁸O Lord God of hosts,

Who is mighty like You, O Lord?

Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

⁹You rule the raging of the sea;

When its waves rise,

You still them.

¹⁰You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain;

You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

 The Lord God of hosts (i.e. the heavens) alone is the Mighty One, the Only One we are to fear. For His faithfulness surrounds Him, and we as His creation in heaven and on earth are the recipients of it! For He alone rules the raging seas whose power we observe, He alone stills them. And as for Rahab, the mighty Egyptian empire which at its peak was thought unbreakable, He broke and cast it down like one who is slain, for when He did it has never regained its strength and it never will, for He commanded that it should never rise again to rule the nations (Ezekiel 29:13-16; 30:15-19; 32:15-21 etc.). And as with Egypt, the Lord our God scattered all His enemies with His mighty arm, all nations are nothing before Him, none can be compared to Him, or withstand Him! (consider Isaiah 34:1-4; 40:17-18). 

Vs. 11-12 ¹¹The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;

The world and all its fullness,

You have founded them.

¹²The north and the south,

You have created them;

Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.

The Lord having created everything then owns everything, all things are His, the heavens and the earth, the world and all its fulness. For He founded them, the north, and the south He created them. Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon (two infamous mountains in Israel) then rejoice in His Name, for He raised them up and gave them their glory. Therefore, He is exalted in them!

Vs. 13 “You have a mighty arm;

Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.”

Mighty then is the arm of the Lord, and strong is His hand, and high is His right hand, all which speaks to His Sovereign Awesome Power! The Lord neither bows nor cowers before anybody or anything!

Vs. 14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;

Mercy and truth go before Your face.”

And as for His Works, Righteousness and Justice are the foundations of His throne. Mercy and Truth go before His face. No one in heaven and earth is like Him. Perfectly Just in all His judgments and decisions. For He is not swayed or moved to compromise His Words perfect principals (while maintaining mercy and truth) like mortal men, rulers, kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers are.

Vs. 15-17 “Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!

They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance.

¹⁶In Your name they rejoice all day long,

And in Your righteousness they are exalted.

¹⁷For You are the glory of their strength,

And in Your favor our horn is exalted.”

¹⁸For our shield belongs to the Lord,

And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Blessed are we who know the joyful sound of His praise yes, but more to the point His voice in His Word (consider John 10:1-5). Therefore, we walk O Lord, in the light of Your countenance, for it is You who guides us. And in Your Name, the Lord Jesus Christ’s Name, which is the Name above every name (Eph. 1:15-21), we rejoice all day long! For by Your Name we are saved, brought into the New Covenant with Yourself, and in Your Righteousness we are exalted, lifted on high, into Your very Presence! For it is the Lord who is the glory of our strength, who in His favor now towards us strengthens us (vs. 15-17). “For our shield belongs to the Lord, And our king to the Holy One of Israel.” Now in verse eighteen Ethan recalls that Lord is the defender of Israel the nation, and that Israel's king belongs to the Holy One. Strong statements then for God's intercession on their behalf. 

Vs. 19 “Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one,

And said: “I have given help to one who is mighty;

I have exalted one chosen from the people.”

Now in recalling God’s speaking to His holy one, is Nathan recalling how God spoke to Samuel to anoint David king; however, as the verse goes on to say, “I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.” Cannot be referring to David, and must be referring to the Lord Jesus, because David was a mere youth, a shepherd boy when chosen by God, and though God did exalt David from amongst the people, his being raised up was for His own Son’s very Person and Throne.

Vs. 20-24 ²⁰I have found My servant David;

With My holy oil I have anointed him,

²¹With whom My hand shall be established;

Also My arm shall strengthen him.

²²The enemy shall not outwit him,

Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

²³I will beat down his foes before his face,

And plague those who hate him.

²⁴“But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him,

And in My name his horn shall be exalted.

The psalm now returns to God’s raising up David after God’s rejection of Saul. For Saul was the king the people wanted, whom God then gave them, but Saul proved himself unfaithful to God, and so David was the man God chose and raised up for them. Therefore the Lord God sent His servant Samuel the prophet to anoint David, the youngest of Jessies sons, to be Israel’s king. These verses then reveal an astounding amount of faithfulness that God has shown to His chosen servant David. Notice it was God who promised to establish David by His hand, that it was His arm that strengthened him, that it was He who made sure that the enemy could not outwit him, and that the sons of wickedness would not afflict him. For it was God who beat down his foes before his face, and it was God who plagued those who hated him. David’s then being established as king and subduing the nations around Israel was not by his own doing, but God’s (vs. 20-23). Therefore, these things were done for David according to God’s Promises spoken to him (see 2 Samuel 7:1-17), Indeed God's faithfulness and His mercy as He promised him was with him, and in the Lord's Name, David's horn ( a metaphor for strength or longevity) was exalted. 

Vs. 25-27 ²⁵Also I will set his hand over the sea,

And his right hand over the rivers.

²⁶He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,

My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

²⁷Also I will make him My firstborn,

The highest of the kings of the earth.

Once again the Psalm moves into the realm of God's Son. For in all these verses there is a clear indication of the Lord Jesus Christ through David The setting of his hand over the sea and his right hand over rivers speaks to one’s kingdom’s sovereign domain (vs. 25), and in this God’s Promise to Christ is now known (Luke 1:33). God declaring that he would cry to Him, “You are my Father My God…,” is seen in both of their lives (vs. 26). That God would make him His firstborn is God saying that He would treat him as a first-born son with all of the rights and privileges of being so. And we know that this applies to Christ in the most profound ways (Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 1:5). Again, that God would make him the highest of the kings of the earth clearly moves beyond David, to Christ (Phil. 2:9-11; Rev. 19:16 etc.).

Vs. 28-29 “My mercy I will keep for him forever,

And My covenant shall stand firm with him.

²⁹His seed also I will make to endure forever,

And his throne as the days of heaven.”

And so God’s promises of mercy to David and of His Covenant standing firm with him (2 Samuel 7:15-16) must be seen reaching well beyond him to Christ. For David’s seed is fulfilled in Christ and His Kingdom and Throne will have no end (Luke 1:33).

Vs. 30-32 ³⁰“If his sons forsake My law

And do not walk in My judgments,

³¹If they break My statutes

And do not keep My commandments,

³²Then I will punish their transgression with the rod,

And their iniquity with stripes.

The Psalm now moves back to David and his house with a warning, that God would punish their unfaithfulness. For His covenant with David did not mean that his descendants could ride on his coattails with immunity. No, they themselves had a responsibility to God, just as David had. Thus, if they do not walk in God’s judgments and they break His statutes, and do not keep His commandments, then God Promised that He would punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes. All which is seen in the legacy and lives many of Judah's kings who came after David, kings who God rejected (Ezekiel 43:9).

Vs. 33-37 ³³Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him,

Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.

³⁴My covenant I will not break,

Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

³⁵Once I have sworn by My holiness;

I will not lie to David:

³⁶His seed shall endure forever,

And his throne as the sun before Me;

³⁷It shall be established forever like the moon,

Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

Turning away from them, and returning to God’s covenant with David, Nathan recalls God’s Promise to never take His lovingkindness away from him, nor allow His faithfulness to fail. For even when David’s posterity went astray, God Himself preserved His throne because of His Promise to him (see 1 Kings 11:26-40, vs. 36; 1 Kings 15:1-5, vs. 4; 2 Kings 8:10 etc.). That David’s seed (i.e., offspring) would endure forever is again clearly pointing to Christ, who as the Son of Man came through David’s lineage. Same with his throne enduring as the sun before Him, that it shall be established forever like the moon and like the faithful witness in the sky, all then ultimately speaks to the Lord Jesus Christ, His people, His Throne.

Vs. 38-39 ³⁸But You have cast off and abhorred,

You have been furious with Your anointed.

³⁹You have renounced the covenant of Your servant;

You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

The frustration of Ethan the Ezrahite now is heard, for the Babylonians had invaded the land of Judah, overthrew Jerusalem, and destroyed its Temple. However, these things were done according to Word of the Lord spoken to His people through His prophets, who warned them night and day that their continuing in their idolatry and faithfulness to Him would only lead to their own captivity and Jerusalem’s plundering. Thus, at that time it must have seen to them that God had renounced the covenant of his servant, that He had removed his throne forever. Nonetheless as we know God did not do that, Jeremiah’s 70-year prophecy of their captivity also assured their being returned to their land, and thus God continuing His promise to David to establish his throne forever. Which brings us to David’s lineage which comes right down to Jesus Christ born in Bethlehem, to Mary the virgin betrothed to Joseph whose lineage traces right back to David (see Matt. 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38). In Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior then God has fulfilled His Word and Covenant to David. For it is in Jesus Christ that David’s throne will be perpetuated forever!

Vs. 40-45 ⁴⁰You have broken down all his hedges;

You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

⁴¹All who pass by the way plunder him;

He is a reproach to his neighbors.

⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;

You have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³You have also turned back the edge of his sword,

And have not sustained him in the battle.

⁴⁴You have made his glory cease,

And cast his throne down to the ground.

⁴⁵The days of his youth You have shortened;

You have covered him with shame. Selah

If nothing else then in these verses you should learn that God’s chastisement of either individuals or nations does not then mean His abandonment of them. For though God raised up the Babylonians to bring Judah and Jerusalem to desolation; for all their crimes and the defilement and abominations that they themselves committed in His holy land, city, and temple (see Ezekiel 8:1-18; Ezekiel 9:9-10 etc.). He did not abandon them, but He let them reap the consequences of all their sins as testified too here in these verses and many, many, others (read the Book of Lamentations). And this happened to them all because they would not listen to Him (Jeremiah 2:4-37; 11:7-8; 25:1-14 Seventy-year prophecy; 25:15-17; 44:4-6 and on it goes). Thus David here is being used here for e metaphor for the nation. 

Vs. 46 “How long, Lord?

Will You hide Yourself forever?

Will Your wrath burn like fire?”

In seeing his beloved nation and people brought so low, Nathan can only ask, how long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn like fire? (vs. 46). Basically when will their chastisement end? But we know that the Lord only relents when His people repent, when they humble themselves and they confess that they have sinned, and they turn, or return to Him.

Vs. 47-48 ⁴⁷Remember how short my time is;

For what futility have You created all the children of men?

⁴⁸What man can live and not see death?

Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? Selah

Ethan’s plea for the nation, and here for himself continues, for he is not a proud man, nor a self sufficient man, for knows how short his time is down here; he knows its not of his own strength or hand to either save himself, or preserve himself. thus, he asks Our Eternal Lord to remember this as well. Indeed, in his troubled state he only sees his life as futility, just as Job did in his. Nonetheless greater things await us all who repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ no matter what our lives circumstances maybe down here. For on that Day death shall be shallowed up by life, and darkness by light! All sorrow and sadness than shall flee away forever! Which should compel us all to be ready for our lives end down here and when our eternities begin. For what we do down here will affect our eternities forever (John 5:24-30), better than to repent and believe while we can then continue in one’s indifference and unbelief and then only be faced with a most sorrowful darkened eternal end.

Vs. 49 “Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses,

Which You swore to David in Your truth?”

Once again God’s covenant with David is brought forth as a means of justification for the nation, as a means of God being merciful to them all. Now as strong as that covenant was, it by no means comes near the New Covenant God has made with us all who believe in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. For God’s lovingkindnesses, His mercies, His grace can now come freely to us all because of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us all, amen.

Vs. 50-52 ⁵⁰Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants

How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,

⁵¹With which Your enemies have reproached, O Lord,

With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

⁵²Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen.

Finally, in asking for the Lord’s deliverance, Ethan asks that the Lord remember the reproach that His servants have born for Him, how he himself daily bears in his bosom the reproach of many peoples. How they reproach him for his faith in Him, even reproaching the footsteps of God’s anointed. Thus, there is no fear of God in any of them, nonetheless they will fear Him! Therefore, in closing lets us say, let us know and believe that faith in the Lord always triumphs over evil, thus we can all say, “Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen.”

 Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.

 

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