(1) The Jews understand this psalm par excellence of the king, as if it were a song of joy at the victories of which he spoke in the previous psalms; but it seems to me to be too strong for that. I think it is to be understood of the Lord Christ as he was raised from the dead and transfigured with glory. It is a very light psalm, since Christ is already reigning.
V. 2. Lord, the king rejoices in your power.
(2) First of all, he praises this, that God raised Christ from the dead and made him king by divine power. This is a great promise, that we have a king who, having conquered death, now reigns in joy and rules against sin, hell and the devil.
And how very happy he is about your help.
3. "Above your help," that is, above your victory, which you gave him in the resurrection.
V. 3. You give him his heart's desire, and do not refuse what his mouth asks.
4 All this is said of Christ. "He asked in the days of his flesh and was heard because he honored God", Hebr. 5, 7. But he asked for the transfiguration and resurrection from death.
V. 4. for you shower (praevenisti) him with good blessings.
5. praevenisti, that is, you have showered him, because XXX means much do (privatere). But here he indicates continually, though darkly, that Christ suffered and was crucified. For because he says that he was showered with blessings, he also indicates the contradiction, namely, that he was showered with curses before, as he is called by the prophet [Ps. 22, 7]: "a contempt of the people". The same is indicated by: "his heart's desire" [v. 3.]. So that in the first verse [v. 2.] he said that he rejoices in the power of GOD, so that
he indicates that he felt pain in his weakness and suffering; God even made everything different with him. Therefore, he speaks clearly of his glory, but the suffering he shows only darkly, only through the contrast.
And put a golden crown on his head.
6 That is, you have given him a kingdom after he is saved from his suffering, shame and curse.
V. 5. He asks you for life.
Here he indicates that he was dead.
So you give him long life forever and ever.
8. that can ever not be called David, nor any other king.
V. 6. He has great honor in your help.
9 He describes how the kingdom of the Lord Christ will extend exceedingly throughout the whole world. "He hath great glory," saith he, "in thy sheath," not in the help of popes, emperors, or men; for it shall be spread abroad through the whole face of the earth. This is his great glory, that he will be a glorious king by making sinners blessed.
You put praise and adornment on him.
10. ornament and adornment means praise and splendor, that one is finely dressed, and beautifully adorned with jewelry, so that it has a splendor; as in the second book of Moses Cap. 28 is written of Aaron's garments. So now he says, As the crown is golden, so are his garments. But this is all spoken figuratively. The crown means the kingdom and the power over the whole world, by which he makes the nations blessed through the salvation of God. But by the garments is meant the preaching of Christ, now and then in all places in the world, that he may be adorned. His adornment is the glory which he exercises in his own; so he is clothed. Where therefore Christ is, there the adornment goes with it; for the Word brings all things with it, those gifts of the Spirit of which Paul writes.
V. 7 For you set him up to be a blessing forever.
11. he took this text from the first book of Moses Cap. 18, 18, where God speaks to
Abraham says, "In thy seed shall all the Gentiles be blessed." For Christ, after his curse, was made a blessing to all nations forever, that he might bless us all and make us blessed in his name.
You gladden him with the joy of your countenance.
12. He speaks of rejoicing before GOD; for he says, "Your face." It is a joyful king, not in our sight before the world, but before GOD.
V. 8: For the king hopes in the Lord.
So this king lives, and all who are in his kingdom still trust in the Lord and in his mercy. But with this he shows that the mighty are raging against him. For here he goes on to the second part.
And will remain firm through the goodness of the Most High.
(14) If one is not in goodness and grace, he cannot stand firm; otherwise there is no standing but in God's mercy. By works we shall not stand; it is said: in the goodness of the Most High one stands firm. Now he comes to the other part.
V. 9. Your hand will find all your enemies.
(15) This is especially true of the Jews, who wanted to overthrow this king and turn his blessing into a curse. But it shows that the enemies have become very secure after they have killed Christ, as our bishops and princes are now. Therefore the hand of the Lord will also find them one day, when they are least careful.
Your right will find you monkeys.
(16) These are actually the Jews, and after them all the wicked in general.
V. 10. You will make them like a furnace of fire when you see three (tempore vultus tui).
17 That is, they shall be filled with the fear and dread of their conscience. "The time of his face" or "when he looks" is the time he calls when he looks for them and begins to look for them; as he looked for the Egyptians, when he looked for them, they were already in the red
Sea. By "furnace of fire" he indicates a red appearance, that they appear like flames of fire. A similar image is also in the prophets Isaiah [Cap. 29, 6] and Zephaniah [Cap. I, 18]; their faces will have an appearance like flames. With this he wants to indicate: then, when the disaster will come upon them, they will be red with fire. So that the first plague is that God makes them a despondent heart. It can also be understood of the conscience. For this is how it happens: when God punishes, the conscience says from the beginning, "You deserve it. For without an evil conscience, the torture would not hurt; so the appearance must be disguised not only of the eyes and noses, but of the whole body.
The LORD will devour them in his wrath, fire will devour them.
(18) He drieth both with one another, the gospel fire and the infernal fire. If it has gone around for a long time, they will still have to go down to hell in the end, but they do not believe it. Rather, they read this verse as follows: "The Lord will reward us and give us His kingdom of heaven for having slain His Son. Therefore these words are all to be understood spiritually. Just as above [v. 7] the contrast was: You have blessed the cursed, and made alive the one who suffered; so here it is the other way around: Those who are kings, and want to reign mightily, you will first strike down, so that they perish in their own person. But after this:
V. 11. Their fruit you will destroy from the face of the earth.
19 That is, their children and heirs. The children of men have a rule on earth, which they have not; for they also have lost such glory, which is given to all men in general, even to the wicked; as, "Ye shall rule over fishes of the sea" [Gen. 1:28] Their [the Jews'] descendants shall not rule on earth. It is a wretched thing to dwell among the children of men, and yet have no part with the children of men, which all the rest have. Thus it is said in the prophet Zechariah [Cap. 5, 9] that they are suspended between heaven and earth.
Moses also prophesied such misery to them beforehand.
V. 12: For they thought to do you evil, and made designs which they could not perform.
(20) They thought to cut you off, and dealt with attacks which they could not raise. Our disciples do not believe this today either. But this sin, crucifying the Lord Christ, is a sin that will not be forgiven. "They have not sinned against a man, but against the Lord Himself.
V. 13. For you will make them a shoulder.
21 Thus he briefly calls their wretchedness and misery a hardening. They are made to shoulder, they turn their backs on our Lord GOD, so he turns his back on them again. They are hardened, and the more they are punished, the harder they are hardened. Such are the urges from the fifth book of Moses Cap. 28, 15. ff.
With your sinew you will aim against her face.
(22) What they propose shall not depart from them. For since they do not want what God wants, he does not want what they want either, and yet they do not let go. Thus, Duke G[eorg] goes straight away turned away from God; from this it follows that nothing ever happens to him. Nevertheless, he does not allow himself to be instructed by his misfortune, he does not recognize his sin, and continues straight away in the thought: It is right. Therefore God says to him: You have become a back, wait, I will also put something under your eyes that you will not like to see. We see the same thing in the Jews of our time, that so many attempts and hopes have failed them, that arrows have gone under their noses everywhere; wherever they want to go out, he strikes them on the snouts. This is spoken after the manner of the Hebrews, which we give with another image: Wherever one wants to go out, one stands with a club, and strikes him on the head, and cuts off his way. They set themselves against God, and he sets himself against them again.
V. 14. Arise, O Lord, in your power, and we will sing and praise your might.
(23) If they will not continue, continue thou, that thy kingdom may pass through all the heavens. So
let us do this, and thank you and sing, praise and preach your power, which you have demonstrated in us, namely, the victory over death, sin and the devil, the way of salvation, the resurrection 2c.