(1) This will of course be the last psalm that David made, as can be seen from the other book of Samuel, Cap. 22, 1. ff. that he made it shortly before he died. He never had peace until death. This is a common thanksgiving for all the dangers he was saved from, especially those he suffered at the time of his kingdom from Saul, Absalom, the Philistines and the Syrians. That he was saved from many dangers, for this he thanked our Lord God before he died. One would like to understand this Psalm also from Christ, but I think it is more correct to refer it to David; however, the secret interpretation points to Christ.
V. 2. I love you dearly, Lord.
2. racham (XXX) is a word that denotes an intimate affection, and means the
tender love of parents toward their children, and of children toward parents. So now he says: I have a heartfelt and filial affection for you. Thus he confesses his highest love, that he had an air in our Lord God. For he finds that his benefits are unspeakable, and from this exuberant love comes the accumulation of names that follows. There is a wonderful richness in the Hebrew language.
My strength.
3 With this he confesses that everything he has done, he has not done out of his own ability or suggestions, but only out of divine power. As Peter also says, 1 Ep. 4, 11: "If any man have an office, to do it as of the ability which God hath bestowed." Chesek (XXX) refers to such strength by which we are strong.
V. 3. O Lord, my rock, my fortress.
(4) These were the best fortresses of old, a strong castle upon a rock. That is why he calls God a rock and a castle, for protection. I have been safe all the way here, and yet I have had no other wall, castle, fortress around me but my God. These are words of a well-tried faith, which testifies from its experience that God is our strength, rock and fortress through His Word. Therefore, through Him we are able to do what we are able to do; through Him we are also secure against all the gates of hell.
My Savior.
(5) Thou wilt keep me, though I perish. Much misfortune has surrounded me; yet I have been preserved all the way, since others have perished. This is said of perils: I have always been safe, because you are my rock; though I have fallen into some peril, so that many have perished around me, yet I have always been preserved. So now the pope, bishops and the heretics are bursting at us, before whom we nevertheless remain on the rock of Christ, there we stand and defy. Although others fall into heresies, we are still preserved.
My God.
6. from whom we receive all goods, spiritual and corporal, comfort and all other benefits.
My Hoard.
7. to (XXX) is called a fortress, refuge, comfort, defiance, on which I insist, proud and courageous. We have commonly translated it "my stronghold" [Ps. 18, 32. 47.]. Therefore also Tyre is called "Zur", a fortress against all tarnishing [Ps. 83, 8.]. Thus he calls God.
In whom I trust.
Here he explains what "to" is, a defiance, since one relies on. But by it he also gives the opposite meaning, as if he wanted to say: Others have their Zurim, as Moses says in his song [Deut. 32:31]: "Their rocks are not like our rock."
My sign.
9. my armor and my defense, that I may defend myself in battle.
And horn of my salvation.
10 This is the power in which I am victorious. For "horn" means a kingdom, power, as if to say: It is not my power, but God Himself is the horn. All my victories and triumphs are all the work of our Lord God.
And my protection.
(11) Thou hast kept me also against the deceitfulness and insolence of Absalom and the rest of the boys. We are not able to reach these words with such a great movement of the heart as he spoke them.
V. 4. I will praise and call upon the Lord.
This is the art of boasting about God. But it is a contrast, as if he should say, Let no man boast of himself, let no man boast of his strength and wisdom. If any man will be saved, let him think nothing of his wisdom, let him boast of nothing but his Lord; in him let him boast, as I boast of the Lord, and call upon him.
This is how I will be delivered from my enemies.
(13) If thou wilt not be defeated, boast thyself in the Lord. Now this is the art of the Christians, that they know, if they want to be preserved, to boast of the Lord, and if they take comfort in our Lord God, they will win. In the following two verses he says almost nothing but about his temptations and dangers.
V. 5 For the bands of death encompassed me.
(14) That is, I have often been in the throes of death, I have been entangled and imprisoned in death. As when he fought against the lion, against Goliath, against Saul, against other enemies in battle [1 Sam. 17:34, 41]. So he was very often in the midst of mortal peril. He calls it "band. It had already surrounded me, there was no rescue left, because my rock.
The streams of Belial frightened me.
15) It is considered that this word "Belial" is formed from Bal (XX), nothing, and Jaal (XXX),
useful, as, a useless child. That is why they called Satan by that name. But I think it is a common name, like Leviathan, which is a common name of the dragons in the sea. Thus, "the brooks of Belial," that is, of evil men; that it may mean all that is harmful. Water, according to the secret interpretation, denotes temptations: the rivers or streams are the great storms of tyrants, princes and nations, which come with violence, as the great rivers do. As if he wanted to say: There were great wars, great heaps of people; and indeed "the streams of Belial", which wanted to destroy me, they often frightened me, that I would have almost despaired. Flesh and blood stirred, but the horn of my salvation still preserved me.
V. 6: The bonds of hell encompassed me.
16. as he said above [v. of the bonds of death, and as Paul 2 Cor. 1, 9. says: "We had decided with ourselves that we would have to die." I did not think otherwise, because I would have to go down.
And the ropes of death overwhelmed me.
17 He spoke of violence earlier [v. 5]; here he speaks of cunning. He experienced violence in the battle against Goliath and the Philistines; cunning was shown to him by Saul and Absalom, so that he was almost betrayed and sold. They were ropes, as one lays for the birds and the wild. I have suffered dangers, both by force and by guile, and have been attacked with violence and with guile, even to the death, and so that they have often prevailed, that I have thought: I must stay. So now he has been challenged. But experience followed the challenge, and hope followed the experience, Rom. 5:4. These people can then teach others rightly and talk about it. So far he has acted on what he had resolved to do, that he would give thanks to God, who has helped him so often. Now he adds a story.
V. 7 When I am afraid, I call upon the Lord and cry out to my Lord.
18 He sets forth his example. I have often been in tribulation; but I have a salvation
We have had the means, namely calling, otherwise there is no consolation. Hoping in a man does not do it, but hoping in God. But it is impossible to call upon God in times of need without the Holy Spirit. For the heart raises such objections: The God you want to call upon is angry with you, has done this to you, and is sending you such tribulation. And yet it must be. It is not a matter of fleeing from the one who strikes you, but only of giving yourself freely in the spear and in the thrust, and he will come after you.
So he hears my voice.
(19) This is true faith, that one prays in such a way that after the prayer he can be sure that he is heard. And it is a great art, the first thing, that one may pray to an angry God, and then say Amen to the prayer.
From his temple, and my cry comes before him to his ears.
20. They always bind our Lord God to the temple, yet they add that he is in heaven. But they cannot seize him in heaven, except in the place where he has bound himself. One must seek him only there where he has placed himself, otherwise one will not find him, that one may seek him only in his word. That is why they always add: "from the temple". So this is the content of the psalm: I have been in trouble, and have come out through prayer; so do you also to him. Now he adds an example:
V. 8: The earth quaked and was moved.
21 Until then, he told how he had been in mortal peril and yet had been preserved. Now it is the way of this people that they tend to go far and repeat the past stories. As in the Psalm "Let God arise" 2c. [Ps. 68]. Thus they always repeat the miraculous work as they were preserved when they came out of Egypt. Thus Judith, Habakkuk, Isaiah and all the prophets praise GOD for this work, that He saved His people at that time. And it is also a common example for all the godly that they shall be saved, but the wicked perish. Thus he still preserves the pious, but he kills the wicked, like Pharaoh.
The earth is praying.
(22) This is the history of Exodus 14, and a description of the storm in which the Egyptians perished. They saw thunder and lightning and thought that everything would perish. So Sanherib also perished [2 Kings 19:35]. The word, gaash (XXX) means to lift, as it happens when it thunders. This is how he deals with the wicked.
And the foundations of the mountains stirred, and lived, because he was wroth.
(23) He says that the earthquake was heard in the mountains; the mountains and the valley were terrified because he was angry. He is patient with the wicked for a long time, but when he gets behind them, it goes over and over.
V. 9. Steam emanated from his nose.
This is a description of thunder, poetically attached to a person, as we Germans say: Unser HErr GOtt speiet Feuer.
And consuming fire from his mouth.
25. his fire consumes.
That it flashed from it.
He has made a true fire that burns like coals. Between water and rain, it still burns and consumes.
V. 10. He bowed the heavens, and descended, and darkness was under their feet.
27 As if to say, "God was in that storm. When it is light in the sky, the clouds are high; but when there is a storm, it seems as if it were hitting the roof. Then, he says, our Lord God is near. This is a simple and childish way of talking about the weather, as children talk about it. In one weather, our Lord God makes the sky low and comes near, yet he cannot be seen in the clouds.
Darkness was under his feet.
(28) As we say to the children when it thunders: Listen, our Lord God is angry.
V. 11. And he rode on the cherub, and flew along.
29. in scripture cherubin is two angels with wings, but here he calls cherubin the
Winds and clouds; for the clouds fly away like the birds, which are also the wings of our Lord God.
He floated on the fiddles of the wind.
(30) He gives wings to the wind. With wind comes all weather; then comes thunder, rain, lightning, thunderclaps, sulfur, smoke, steam. Now he further describes that God is present in such weather when he wants to take revenge on his enemies.
V. 12. and black thick clouds in which he was hidden.
31 He sitteth on high, saith he, and about him is darkness. He has a strange castle and strange walls; dark, thick and watery clouds, that is his castle and hidden place. It is not made of stones and boards, but only of clouds. There he sits, who wants to do him? He can build a castle that must be left unclimbed and unshot. But he can shoot out against his enemies, so that heaven and earth tremble.
V. 13. From the brightness before him the clouds parted.
This is a description of the lightning. When it wants, it tears the clouds in two and throws out a flash of lightning. The clouds cannot prevent such brilliance; it tears through them with a flash of lightning, as if no cloud were not there, as we see that the whole sky opens up, as it were, when it flashes. Hence this description is taken.
With hail and lightning (Grando et carbones ignis transeunt).
33) "Coals" (carbones) mean burning flames of fire. But it points to what is written in the other book of Moses about the angel: He wrapped himself in fire [Ex. 14, 19].
V.14. And the LORD thundered in heaven, and the Most High let out his thunder with hail and lightning.
34. thunder he calls God's voice; as the poets fable that Jupiter talked with Semele by a thunder. And Job [Cap. 38, 1. and 40, 1.]: "The LORD answered
Job out of a weather." When he speaks, there is lightning and thunder; as he did on Mount Sinai [Ex. 19:16].
V. 15. He shot his rays and scattered them.
35 Now he applies history. The weather was directed so that he would crush his enemies.
He let very flash, and frightened them.
036 He caused great lightning, and chased them with it, that they ran into the red sea.
V. 16: There was a shower of water.
037 And there came up waters from above and from beneath, and he smote them with tempests, and drowned them with waters.
And the ground of the earth was uncovered.
The water ran out of the earth. As I now think it happens here at Wittenberg, because the Elbe grows so, and yet there is no rain.
Lord, from your rebuke.
He calls the thundering a scolding. Our Lord God grumbles a little when he thunders.
From the breath and snort of your nose.
40. is a similitude taken from a man's nose. When one is angry, he grumbles and snorts. But the best thing about this description of the weather is that it actually attributes it to God. For even though the devil and the good angels can cause weather, God restricts them in it and allows them as much as he wants; nevertheless, his snorting does. This is now the digression and the example. Now, after that victory against Pharaoh, he also recounts his victories by which God saved him.
V. 17. He sent from on high and took me.
Here he begins to apply the above description to his history. As if he wanted to say: As God has preserved the children of Israel, so also I have been preserved. To them he sent Moses from heaven; so he also sent to me, be it his angels, or a
He has saved me from the water, that is, from the temptations. The word "he sent" refers to a fact. He sent something, as in the 107th Psalm, v. 20: "He sent his word." Thus the Scripture assigns to GOtte the help that we do not deserve. He must come to us, we cannot come to him except through prayer; for he is too high above us.
And pulled me out of great waters.
(42) He alludes to the name Moses, for Moses means one drawn out of the waters; and he has this name because he was drawn out of the river by Pharaoh's daughter. As if he wanted to say: I also became a kind of Moses, and was pulled out of many waters. Until then, he has told his dangers in general; now he treats them in particular.
V. 18. He delivered me from my strong enemies.
(43) He begins the account of his perils from Saul, and deals with them in the following twelve verses. For he suffered much from Saul, for he both violently persecuted David and put him to great shame, for he charged him with the crime of being ungodly and seeking the kingdom. He had to be called a rebel and an ungodly man against God; this is his first persecution. However, some understand this verse of Goliath, but I understand it of Saul.
From my haters.
44. from those who hated me because of your word. For I have been called to the kingdom by your divine word.
Which were too powerful for me.
45 They became far too powerful for me, and I had to flee.
V. 19. which "overwhelmed me," at the time of my accident.
46 Since I was so ill, they should have had compassion on me, but they overpowered me most of all, as did the Siphites [1 Sam. 23:19] and others who were in the court. And would have given him
his things can do better, and made them only more annoying. So no accident is alone, for an enemy one has a hundred of them.
V.20. And the LORD became my confidence, and he brought me out into the room, he plucked me out.
047 For he hath delivered him out of the hand of Saul very often and very strangely.
Because he has desire to me.
These are words of faith. And this is the greatest consolation, if one can be of such a mind in times of trial. But how does he know this, of which he boasts so highly? No doubt from the words of Samuel, who said to him, "The Lord has made you king over His people," 2 Sam. 7:8. On these words he staked all his defiance, saying, "Even though I am troubled and saddened by my experience and my misfortune, the word and command of God that I am king is still there. And even though I had to suffer many misfortunes, I always believed that he loved me, as he had promised me. This is what he said about violence and persecution. Now he also says of the accusations and the disgrace. He has not only saved and preserved my life, he has also restored my honor.
V. 21: The Lord is well pleased with me according to my righteousness; he repays me according to the cleanness of my hands.
(49) This was a very severe trial for David, as can be seen in the seventh Psalm, that they blamed him as if he were a rebel. As he [Nabal] said, 1 Sam. 25:10, "There are now many servants who tear themselves away from their masters." Such words are painful. Praise God, it has come to day. God sees that I am righteous, I have neither stolen nor taken the kingdom by force, but God has given it to me. And such is a great strengthening and comfort to the conscience. But this is not to be understood as if he were banging our Lord GOD. There it is not to throb, but to say, "Forgive us our trespasses." Nevertheless, we have the defiance with men, that we say.
can: This is what God has said, and it pleases Him. If there is a defect in me that I do not do it as I should, it is not because of that; God's commandment and word is nevertheless true.
(50) So we too can boast against the scribblers that we are right. For though our faith is weak, yet it is not an unrighteous faith. The ministry and the cause must be praised, not as for our person, but for the sake of the word. So I, too, when they say that I am stronger than I should be, can say, "My hands are clean. It is clear that David was more troubled by spiritual persecution than by that of the flesh. To afflict the body is bodily'; 1) but to afflict the conscience, to deprive one of the word, the faith, God, that is very unpleasant.
V. 22. For I keep the ways of the Lord.
(51) I have not done wrong; I have kept his word. I did not do it out of my own sin, but kept my word and did what I was supposed to do; I did not want to act ungodly, but I had to suffer for it.
And I am not ungodly against my God.
I have not acted ungodly against God with ungodliness and unbelief. Someone else, tired of unhappiness, would have said, "If I am not to be king, I will not be king. But I have not done so, but as God has commanded me, so have I done.
V. 23. For all his rights I have before my eyes.
(53) This has been my struggle; I have become absorbed in your commandments. So one commandment drives into all the others. As if he wanted to say, "They always want to persuade me, as if I have acted against God and the king, accuse me of it as a rebel. But I know that I have kept all the commandments and have not sinned against them in any of them.
1) Erlanger (vol. 38, 174) has changed Faber's correct translation: "leiblich" (eorporals), which she found in the original edition, as did Walch, into "leidlich".
And his commandments I will not cast away.
54 This very word "commandment" is written in the 2nd Psalm, v. 7, and means an order, a way. God commanded that he should not be served in any other place than Jerusalem. This I have done in every way. I have not obeyed those who say to me, "Go among the nations and serve foreign gods," as he complains, 1 Sam. 26:19.
V. 24. But I live without change before Him (6UM 60).
55. cum is as much as apud. I have been blameless, "without change" before him. Not that there was no sin in him, but that he had not denied the word. For faith is always weak in itself; but by this it is preserved, that it is not another faith. It remains weak, but it is still right; the other failures belong to the Lord's Prayer.
And beware of sins.
56. I have preserved myself that I did not mistreat.
V.25. Therefore the Lord repays me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
(57) He repeats the previous verse, except that here he adds, "In his sight. He is much concerned about the challenge to faith and conscience, that he should be pushed away from the word; for people can persuade so much that they make one even astray. For thus they conclude, Saul was ordained king by God; so David sins against God and His ordinance, that he arrogates to himself the kingdom, for God changes neither His word nor His ordinance. Then they stood up; like our sophists now, when they have a saying of good works. David was king in Hebron, in the kingdom of Judah, for seven years, because he always had to hear the reproach that he was a rebel and an unruly man. Of this kingdom of Judah he said above [v. 21]: "The Lord forgives me" 2c. But here he adds, "In his sight." As if to say, "At Hebron I was not before the eyes of the Lord; but now, having received the kingdom of Israel in addition, I sit before the
Temple of God in Jerusalem, before the face of God, as a king. There the recompense is completed.
V. 26. With the saints you are holy.
These are very fine sayings. As we are, so is our Lord God: if we are favorable, so is God also favorable. Thus, the devotees, the corner, the spoon, and the servants, have our Lord GOD for dirt; for they are also dirt: when they hear GOD's word, they say it is of the devil, for they are also of the devil. Therefore, no one thinks right of God but a believer. And therefore he says, "With the saints you are holy." Saul and his crowd considered you a heretic, a rebel; but with me you were holy, all your works I considered holy.
And with the pious you are pious.
59 There is no change in thee. But among the corrupt there is nothing so corrupt as you; nothing stinks worse than you. This is seen most of all in the word. Our word is a divine power, and yet they think there is no greater stink. That is why the most pious opinions of God are among the saints, but the most corrupt and perverse among them. This is not the fault of the word, but of the corrupt people.
V. 27. And with the pure you are pure.
60. Those who have pure eyes see that you are also pure. This is seen very well in the word, for without the word God cannot be known. The word is therefore holy, good and completely pure. This we see; but with them it is a vermin.
And Lei the wrong you are wrong.
(61) As they are perverse, so are you perverse. But they are perverse, therefore they also make you perverse. You are not holy to them, but unholy; not without change, but corrupt; not clean, but unclean; for they are unholy, corrupt and unclean, for such are their thoughts. This also happens in temptation, that we must be contrary to our Lord God. So the papists call me a perverse man, not that I am to blame, but the fault lies in the fact that I am a perverse man.
in them, because they are perverse. For the text says, "With the perverse you are perverse." God is not perverted where they would not be perverted themselves. But as they are, so he must go.
V. 28. For you help the wretched people.
(62) Those who must be unholy, perverse and unclean with you are the people you are helping.
And you lower the high eyes.
This is the reason why they are unholy and perverse, because they think much of themselves; this is the cause of all heresies. The wise man says [Sir. 10, 14/: "That is where all hope comes from, when a man falls away from GOD." And Augustine says: ambition is a mother of all heresies. Thus Zwingli and users bring a new doctrine to the people, because they wanted to be above us. They have learned the right doctrine from us; therefore they should have listened to us. But they do not, nor do we demand it. We would like to have them walk beside us, preach and teach; but they do not, they would like to be the foremost. It is a dangerous thing to keep hope in spiritual things. We should only learn from this, that we seek the help of our Lord God, and give God the glory, and say: Lord, even though I know the whole Scripture, a challenge can soon overtake me, so that I cannot know a word or a saying from the Scripture, as has often happened to me. But they do not.
V. 29. For you illuminate my lamp; the LORD my God makes my darkness light.
64. This is spoken according to the Hebrew way. The light among the people is the king, for he is ordained by God's word, and God Himself rules through the kings, and when the kings perform their office, those who obey them obey God Himself. Thus a householder is also the lamp in his house. That is why he says: I was all gone out in Saul's day; but now thou hast shined my lamp, thy word is risen up, and men may judge themselves by it. Now my kingdom shines again. And until now he has said of Saul, in whom he had his first and most cruel enemy.
V. 30. For with you I can crush warriors.
65. 1) Gedud (XXX) means a man of war, from Gad (XX), a man who is armed. But it can be taken here in the nominative as well as in the accusative: I will run toward as one armed; or, I will smite the armed. For now he cometh to foreign wars. For after Saul he had wars with Ammon, with both Syria, Mesopotamia, and Ceylon] 2) [2 Sam. 8 and 10], item, with the Philistines. Of these he says that he overcame them with God, not with his sword, nor with his strength or wisdom. As if to say, The others are armed, these with chariots, those with horses [Ps. 20, 8.], and rely on their piles and armor; but I am not armed, nor do I rely on my armor, but trust in thee, against those who have thee not. So now the Turk, the Pope, and the enemies of the gospel are armed, but we are poor men. And yet the Psalm says that they shall be crushed by us with God.
And jump over the walls with my GOtt.
66) In my God I overthrow all the walls that are in Philistia, the Syrians and the Ammonites, that is, I have overcome nations, and taken cities, I have won land and people. It can be XXXX by shifting the letters also XXXX, 3) that is: I straighten on my paniers on the wall.
V. 31. God's ways are without change.
How does this serve the cause? Answer: He sets his God against all other gods. I boast of great victories. Were they so without all the gods that you overcame? Did they not also have their gods? As Rabshakeh says in Isaiah Cap. 36, 19: "Where is the god Arpad?" Therefore he answers, "They also have their gods, but I...
1) Original note: "On June 13."
2) In Latin: Oaeles. Walch: 2oda. Cöleshria is the land between the lüdunus and the lidanus.
3) Thus set by us; in Latin it is: botest per metrUkesiu esse iä est etc..
but have another God. My God is the true God, but those rely on gods that are nothing. Their gods have only to help with temporal things, as the Philistine god is called Dagon, that is, grain. These are unclean gods, who do not help those who trust in them; but my God has ways without change, his worship, religion and godly nature is righteous; his speeches are purified with fire. I have a God whose religion and word is righteous; therefore I can do it, which I boast.
The speeches of the Lord are purified.
He rules us by the word, we have his speech completely pure, there is no lack, no fault not in him.
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
This can be applied to God and to the word, but I prefer to understand it from the word, that it is a praise of the word, as in the Proverbs of Solomon, Cap. 30, 5: "All the words of God are purified, and are a shield to those who trust in Him," that is, [the word of God] is pure and certain, has no addition, one may boldly rely on it that it is pure. So it is also a shield, therefore we go forth to battle. You are mightier with your chariots and horses; but we, in the name of the Lord our God, are armed with the word, which is a shield. It is faithful, not mixed, not counterfeit. And with this shield David also slew Goliath. So now we have some armor, namely, the word and promises of God, which the other nations do not have. So he now confesses that his victories were not his, but God's.
V. 32. For where is there a God without the Lord?
(70) Now here he sits down against the gods of the others: Tell me, says he, where is such a god among your gods? There is no other god but this one, whom we serve here in the temple. This is an affirmation of the previous verse. No saint in the world trusts in his GOt. Thus, the nobles in the peasants' revolt were the very most fearful, for such was their God. Again, they are now the most hopeful.
Or a Hott, without our God?
Here is a clear contrast. Our God is Zur (in), a stronghold, on which one can defy; the other gods are wood and larvae. Thus, the Papists' god is Mammon. Hserzogs Gseorg] is the bishops' god, and their supreme god is the emperor, who shall do it. This means, then, to trust in men, and to have no God.
V. 33. God equips me with power (apud).
72 Virtute belli [with power to war, that is, with warriors; as we say in German: Der Türke ist mit eitler großen Macht vor Wien gelegen, that is, with a large army. But it is a figurative speech. For God girds the kings with a girdle, that is, that they may have a bound people about them. For the girdle signifies the obedience of the people. But then GOd punishes the kings when he dissolves the belt, that is, arouses sedition and discord, as now in Germany. So now he says here: I have had my people fine around me, which our LORD GOtt gave. It is not in our power to keep the subjects in their duty, force and wisdom are not able to do this; God must give the heart, and must thus interlock it, and in the end still give the victory to it.
And make my ways without change.
He always boasts that God has kept him from defiling his ways, for he has never shed blood wantonly, but what he has done, he has done on his own authority. He secretly stabs all the other warriors who wage wars out of spite and are bloodthirsty people. But that he wages war, he does so because God has commanded him; for this has been his way without change. As Abigail says to him [1 Sam. 25, 28]: "You wage wars against the Lord.
V. 34. He makes my feet like the deer.
A deer runs over mountains and valleys, therefore he compares his success in war to the course of the deer. As if he wanted to say: It went quickly from my hand, it was the work of our Lord God, who gave me such quick victories.
And place me on my height.
The deer run on the heights of the mountains; so I ran on my mountains, that is, nations. I ran over the cities, over the great Hanses and mighty ones, like a deer.
V. 35. He teaches my hand to fight.
Is a repetition. He teaches me how to get, he guides my hand. With this he confesses his inability, and God's power. Our Lord God, he says, wields the sword.
And teach my arm to draw a bow of brass. V. 36. and give me the shield of your salvation.
77) "The poor" are the king's captains, as in Daniel, Cap. 11, 15: "The midday poor will not be able to resist," that is, the princes of Egypt.
And your right hand strengthens me.
He confesses that he was often tired, but God always helped him up.
And when you humble me, you make me great.
(79) Thou hast put me in many troubles, as with Absalom (for here he passes over to the wars within); thou hast afflicted me greatly; but I] am grown up thereby. One must notice that our Lord God makes one small before he makes him great. David says that he also experienced this: You let me see a little bit through Absalom, and you humbled me. But it turned out this way, that you made me great. For afterward Judah and Israel would tear each other apart for him, each wanting to have all of him.
V. 37. You make room for me to walk underneath.
80. 1) I have said that in the previous verse he came from the foreign wars to the civil wars with Absalom. As if he wanted to say here: At that time, when Abfa
ll Note of the original: "The 26th of June. For meanwhile he wrote the 118th Psalm, Oovüteinini. 1530." This note ("meanwhile," that is, from June 13 ls65] to June 26) gives the reason for the long interruption.
lom, my ways seemed and were narrow. My best counselors had fallen away from me and followed Absalom, so that I had nowhere to go; but you made room for me, that is, you preserved me in my kingdom.
That my ankles do not slide.
81. That the administration of my kingdom (which is my running and my walking) may not waver, go mad, or fall over a heap.
V. 38. I will chase after my enemies.
All this is still to be understood of the civil wars, of the people of the Jews and the kingdom of Israel.
And seize them.
83 This happened in the forest of Ephraim, where Absalom was killed [2 Sam. 18:6, 9].
And not turn back until I kill them.
84. He presses on that Israel had to fall at his feet and say: "You are our bones and our flesh" [2 Sam. 5, 1. Vulg.].
V. 39, 40: I will smite them, and they shall not withstand me; they shall fall under my feet. You can arm me with strength for battle; you can throw under me those who oppose me.
85. that is, the rebels, as Seba and Amasa 2) [2 Sam. 20, 1. 5.].
V. 41. You put my enemies to flight, that I may destroy my haters.
86. You disturb my haters. But this he says of his citizens; for this is the gratitude of the world, which it has and repays good kings.
V. 42. They call, but there is no helper; to the Lord, but he does not answer them.
Here you see that he speaks of those who had the same God with him. But the Lord, he says, does not recognize them for his people.
2) In Latin: 6t ^dsla; in the old translation: "and Abele". Now ^bela (Abel 2 Sam. 20, 14. 18.) is not the name of a person, but of a city, therefore, if one wanted to keep the reading Hzsla, it should be read in. But it seems to us that a personal name is required.
V. 43. I will crush them like dust before the wind.
For God is not on their side.
I want to clean them up, like the dung in the alley.
(89) Those who wanted to be the foundation and the precious stones of the earth, I have brought them to lie there like dung on the gaff, in the highest shame. For the Jewish people have been very wicked, and have overtaken the promises which they had.
90 Until now he has spoken of civil wars; now he comes to another challenge, namely, the enmity of his people and daily friends. So now bad boys plague our prince. The nobility, and what little there is of it, 1) attends the pious princes where they can. So it must go with all pious princes; for they must anger their many, since they guard many.
V. 44. You help me from the quarreling people.
91 By this he means the enemies within, the rebellious among the people and the wicked who evade obedience with all cunning. They have always been a rebellious people.
And make me a head among the heathen.
92. you have not only saved me from the rebellion of my own, but you have also made me the head 2c. You have extended my principality, and have brought to my kingdom the Syrians, the Palestinians, 2) the Ammonites, the Moabites, and the Judeans.
A people I did not know serve me.
To serve" means to be subject, according to the Hebrew way of speaking. As if to say, "The promise extended to the land of Canaan alone, but now you have added so many other peoples.
V. 45. It obeys me with obedient ears.
94 That is, it is obedient to me: the strangers are much more obedient to me than my own
1) Thus the old translation: "geheiet" -vexirt; in the original:
2) "Palestinians" are often called the Philistines.
People. That is a pretty praise of his people. That is how it is for our prince now; he shall have more favorable and loyal people in H[archduke] Gseorg's country than in his.
The foreign children have missed it against me.
That is, they are not obedient to me, they will not be subject to me. It is a Hebrew way of speaking, that he calls them "strange children"; as if he wanted to say: They are children of the kingdom; but they place themselves, on my soul, like strangers. This is how it happened in all the promises: The Jews should have remained in the Church, but they fall out; the Gentiles should have remained out, and come in. So the Sacramentarians should have the word, but they have lost it. Again, there are many of them in the places of worship, where the authorities persecute the word, who nevertheless have the word.
V. 46. The foreign children pine away.
They are hardened and hardened. So also no worse people than Christians become when they fall. This is also what happened to the devil, who became so evil because he was such a great creature before. So the Sacramentarians, they are much more evil and poisonous than the Papists.
And wriggle in their bonds.
97. It is the same word as above [Ps. 17:10], "Their fat ones hold together." Thus these two follow one another: that they become stale, that is, hardened; after that they cleave one to another, as the toads in the lenzen in the water. For this he blames them, both that they are not to be reformed, and that they rot, that they may do harm. In sum, they do not honor the authorities. "Claudicant is said in the Hebrew way, and means not to walk right, to pretend on the outside that one is walking right, when in fact it is not true.
These dangers of David can be drawn either to a secret interpretation or to an example. On the interpretation of Christ they can be directed like this: Christ had these four enemies: The first one was Saul.
3) In the original: shall.
1508 D- xvn, 158-160. Brief au[1. on the first 25 Psalms. Ps. 18. 19. w. iv, 2052-2055. 1509
That is, the law; for Saul had much works righteousness. The law did not want to grant Christ the kingdom, it wanted to leave him in his prison; but Christ overcame it. The other enemy, Goliath or the Gentiles, is sin, which Christ also overcame. The third, Absalom, is death. The fourth is the world; for sin and wickedness abide in the world, and murmur against it, but work nothing out.
But in the example of the church, this history can be interpreted like this: David had to wage the first war against Saul, that is, against the Jews, over the righteousness of the works. The second war he had with the pagans and the wise men of the world, because against this doctrine reason sets itself. The third is the civil war, which is the dispute with the heretics. The fourth is the war against the unruly and the limping, that is, "the strange children," the false brethren, who, though they do no heresy, yet only corrupt it.
We also have these enemies. First, Saul, that is, the papists. Second, the pagans, that is, the nobles. Thirdly, there are the mobs. The fourth are the peasants among us, who do not want to do anything for the gospel, but let it go on like this. Thus this psalm is an example for all people in all kinds of distress.
V. 47. The Lord lives, and blessed be my refuge.
They will not kill him. For here he gives thanks.
And the God of my salvation must be exalted.
Let him be exalted who proves that he lives by protecting and saving me. "The God of salvation is the one who has given me victory.
V. 48, 49: The God who gives me vengeance and forces the nations under me. Who delivers me from mine enemies, and lifteth me up from them that set themselves against me.
Here he begins the resolution and repeats the four kinds of enemies one after the other, as he has dealt with them above.
You help me from the wicked.
104 Of the poisonous people.
Therefore will I give thee thanks, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praise unto thy name. Who hath shewed great salvation unto his king, and his anointed, David, and his seed for ever.
My descendants shall sing this psalm, that the LORD will show me great salvation. He gives great victory and salvation.