Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Psalms
Book: Psalms
Chapter: 21
Overview:
Thanksgiving for victory.
(1-6) Confidence of further success.
(7-13)
1-6 Happy the people whose
King makes
God's strength his
confidence, and
God's
Salvation his joy; who is pleased with all
the advancements of
God kingdom, and trusts
God to support him
in all he does for the service of it. All our blessings are
blessings of
Goodness, and are owing, not to any merit of ours,
but only to
God's
Goodness. But when
God's blessings come
sooner, and prove richer than we imagine; when they are given
before we prayed for them, before we were ready for them, nay,
when we feared the contrary; then it may be truly said that he
prevented, or went before us, with them. Nothing indeed
prevented, or went before
Christ, but to mankind never was any
favour more preventing than our
Redemption By Christ. Thou hast
made him to be a universal,
Everlasting blessing to the world,
in whom the families of the
Earth are, and shall be blessed; and
So thou hast made him exceeding glad with the countenance thou
hast given to his undertaking, and to him in the prosecution of
it. The
Spirit of
Prophecy rises from what related to the
King,
to that which is
Peculiar to
Christ; none other is blessed for
ever, much less a blessing for ever.
7-13 The psalmist teaches to look forward with
Faith, and
Hope,
and
Prayer upon what
God would further do. The success with
which
God blessed
David, was a
Type of the total overthrow of
all
Christ's enemies. Those who might have had
Christ to rule
and save them, but rejected him and fought against him, shall
find the remembrance of it a
Worm that dies not.
God makes
sinners willing
By his
Grace, receives them to his favour, and
delivers them from the wrath to come. May he exalt himself,
By
his all-powerful
Grace, in our hearts, destroying all the
strong-holds of
Sin and
Satan. How great should be our joy and
praise to behold our
Brother and Friend upon the
Throne, and for
all the blessings we may expect from him! yet he delights in his
exalted state, as enabling him to confer happiness and
Glory On
Poor sinners, who are taught to
Love and trust in him.