King James Version
Psalms 75
10 verses with commentary
God Is the Judge
To the chief Musician, Altaschith, A Psalm or Song of Asaph. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. Altaschith: or, Destroy not of: or, for
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.</strong> This psalm of thanksgiving opens with emphatic repetition. The doubled "unto thee... do we give thanks" (<em>hodinu... hodinu</em>, הוֹדִינוּ... הוֹדִינוּ) intensifies the expression of gratitude. The Hebrew <em>yadah</em> (root of <em>hodinu</em>) means to prais...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **For that . . .**—The wonders just wrought for Israel have repeated the old conviction that God’s name, a word of power to save (comp. Psalm 34:18; Psalm 145:18), is near. (Comp. Psalm 105:1.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6-8. In Paul's view this passage has more meaning than the mere expression of grateful devotion to God's service. He represents Christ as declaring that the sacrifices, whether vegetable or animal, general or special expiatory offerings, would not avail to meet the demands of God's law, and that He had come to render the required satisfaction, which he states was effected by "the offering of the b...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 75
Chapter Outline
The psalmist declares his resolution of executing judgment.(1-5)
He rebukes the wicked, and concludes with resolutions to praise God.(6-10)
**Verses 1-5**
We often pray for mercy, when in pursuit of it; and shall we only once or twice give thanks, when we obtain it? God shows that he is nigh to us in what we call upon him for. Public trusts are to be ma...
Read full commentary →When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. receive: or, take a set time
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KJV Study Commentary
God speaks in first person: "When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly" (Hebrew <em>ki eqqach mo-ed ani meysharim eshpot</em>). "Receive the congregation" can mean "appoint the set time"—God sovereignly determines when judgment occurs. "Judge uprightly" (Hebrew <em>meysharim eshpot</em>) emphasizes perfect justice. The verse teaches divine patience: God delays judgment not from ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **When I.**—Rather, *When I have chosen my time, I will judge uprightly. *This sense: “my time” being shown by the emphatic “I” of the Hebrew. (Comp. Acts 17:31.) The word rendered in the Authorised Version “congregation” (*moed*)*, *has plainly here its first derivative sense of a set time, or “occasion.” (Comp. Psalm 102:13; Habakkuk 2:3.) So LXX. and Vulg. here; but Symmachus gives “synagog...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-10. I have preached--**literally, "announced good tidings." Christ's prophetical office is taught. He "preached" the great truths of God's government of sinners.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 75
Chapter Outline
The psalmist declares his resolution of executing judgment.(1-5)
He rebukes the wicked, and concludes with resolutions to praise God.(6-10)
**Verses 1-5**
We often pray for mercy, when in pursuit of it; and shall we only once or twice give thanks, when we obtain it? God shows that he is nigh to us in what we call upon him for. Public trusts are to be ma...
Read full commentary →The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
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KJV Study Commentary
God continues: "The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it" (Hebrew <em>namogim eretz v-khol-yoshveha anoki tikanti a-mudeha</em>). "Dissolved" (Hebrew <em>mug</em>) describes melting, chaos, instability. Yet God declares "I bear up the pillars"—He sustains cosmic order despite apparent chaos. The metaphor of pillars (from ancient cosmology) pictures God h...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **The earth . . .**—Better—
“Are earth and all its inhabitants dissolved?
It was I adjusted its pillars.”
(See Hannah’s song, 1Samuel 2:8.) Though the crisis be such that all is confusion and anarchy (comp. Isaiah 24:19-20 for the figure), there is no cause for fear; there is still a Ruler in heaven, He who built up the edifice which now seems to totter to its fall. The verb rendered in the Au...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9-10. I have preached--**literally, "announced good tidings." Christ's prophetical office is taught. He "preached" the great truths of God's government of sinners.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 75
Chapter Outline
The psalmist declares his resolution of executing judgment.(1-5)
He rebukes the wicked, and concludes with resolutions to praise God.(6-10)
**Verses 1-5**
We often pray for mercy, when in pursuit of it; and shall we only once or twice give thanks, when we obtain it? God shows that he is nigh to us in what we call upon him for. Public trusts are to be ma...
Read full commentary →I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn:
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KJV Study Commentary
God warns the wicked: "I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly: and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn" (Hebrew <em>amarti la-holelim al-taholu v-la-r-shaim al-tarimu qaren</em>). "Fools" (Hebrew <em>holelim</em>) are morally deficient, not intellectually. "Deal not foolishly" warns against arrogant boasting. "Lift not up the horn" uses animal imagery—raising horns signals aggressive pride. God...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Fools . . . foolishly.**—Better, *arrogant ***. . .** *arrogantly. *See Psalm 73:3. (Comp. 1Samuel 2:3.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. may be rendered as an assertion, that God will not withhold (Psa 16:1).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 75
Chapter Outline
The psalmist declares his resolution of executing judgment.(1-5)
He rebukes the wicked, and concludes with resolutions to praise God.(6-10)
**Verses 1-5**
We often pray for mercy, when in pursuit of it; and shall we only once or twice give thanks, when we obtain it? God shows that he is nigh to us in what we call upon him for. Public trusts are to be ma...
Read full commentary →Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck.
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KJV Study Commentary
God continues His warning: "Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck" (Hebrew <em>al-tarimu la-marom qarn-kem t-dab-ru b-tzavvar ataq</em>). "Lift not up your horn" repeats verse 4's warning against pride. "Stiff neck" adds verbal arrogance to postural pride. Ancient Near Eastern imagery: raised horn = aggressive pride, stiff neck = refusal to submit. The verse warns that arrogan...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Lift not up your horn.**—The “horn” is a symbol of *honour *(Psalm 112:9); of *strength *(Micah 4:13; Deuteronomy 33:17). The figure is taken from horned animals. (See 1Samuel 2:1; 1Samuel 2:10.)
**With a stiff neck.**—Better, *with the neck proudly or wantonly raised.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. evils--**inflicted by others.
**iniquities--**or penal afflictions, and sometimes calamities in the wide sense. This meaning of the word is very common (Psa 31:11; 38:4; compare Ge 4:13, Cain's punishment; Ge 19:15, that of Sodom; 1Sa 28:10, of the witch of En-dor; also 2Sa 16:12; Job 19:29; Is 5:18; 53:11). This meaning of the word is also favored by the clause, "taken hold of me," which ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 75
Chapter Outline
The psalmist declares his resolution of executing judgment.(1-5)
He rebukes the wicked, and concludes with resolutions to praise God.(6-10)
**Verses 1-5**
We often pray for mercy, when in pursuit of it; and shall we only once or twice give thanks, when we obtain it? God shows that he is nigh to us in what we call upon him for. Public trusts are to be ma...
Read full commentary →For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. south: Heb. desert
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalm teaches: "For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south" (Hebrew <em>ki lo mi-motza u-mi-ma-arav v-lo mid-bar harim</em>). The three directions (excluding north where God's throne is, v.6) represent all earthly sources. "Promotion" (Hebrew <em>harim</em>, literally "lifting up") doesn't come from human sources—geography, politics, or effort. The verse ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **For promotion . . .**—The Authorised Version has here rightly set aside the pointing of the text, which, as the LXX. and Vulg., reads—
“For not from the east, nor from the west,
Nor from the wilderness of mountains,”
a sentence which has no conclusion. The recurrence also of parts of the verb “to lift up” in Psalm 75:4-5; Psalm 75:7, makes in favour of taking *harîm *as part of the same verb...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13. (Compare Psa 22:19).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-10**
No second causes will raise men to preferment without the First Cause. It comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. He mentions not the north; the same word that signifies the north, signifies the secret place; and from the secret of God's counsel it does come. From God alone all must receive their doom. There are mixtures of mercy and grace in the cup...
Read full commentary →But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.</strong> This central theological affirmation corrects human presumption about power and success. After warning against arrogant self-exaltation (verses 4-6), the psalmist declares that God alone determines who rises and falls.<br><br>"God is the judge" (<em>Elohim shophet</em>, אֱלֹהִים שֹׁפֵט) uses <em>shaphat</em>, meani...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-15. The language is not necessarily imprecatory, but rather a confident expectation (Psa 5:11), though the former sense is not inconsistent with Christ's prayer for the forgiveness of His murderers, inasmuch as their confusion and shame might be the very means to prepare them for humbly seeking forgiveness (compare Ac 2:37).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-10**
No second causes will raise men to preferment without the First Cause. It comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. He mentions not the north; the same word that signifies the north, signifies the secret place; and from the secret of God's counsel it does come. From God alone all must receive their doom. There are mixtures of mercy and grace in the cup...
Read full commentary →For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalm describes judgment: "For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them" (Hebrew <em>ki khos b-yad-YHWH v-yayin chamar male mesekh va-yaggēr mi-zeh akh-sh-mareha yim-tzu yish-tu kol rish-ey-aretz</em>). The "cup" symbolizes God's wra...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **A cup.**—The figure of the cup of Divine fury is developed, as Psalm 11:6 compared with Psalm 16:5 shows, from the more general one which represents life itself as a draught which must be drunk, bitter or sweet, according to the portion assigned. It appears again in Psalm 60:3, and is worked out in prophetic books, Isaiah 51:17; Habakkuk 2:16, Ac.; Ezekiel 23:32-34, and frequently in Jeremia...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
14-15. The language is not necessarily imprecatory, but rather a confident expectation (Psa 5:11), though the former sense is not inconsistent with Christ's prayer for the forgiveness of His murderers, inasmuch as their confusion and shame might be the very means to prepare them for humbly seeking forgiveness (compare Ac 2:37).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-10**
No second causes will raise men to preferment without the First Cause. It comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. He mentions not the north; the same word that signifies the north, signifies the secret place; and from the secret of God's counsel it does come. From God alone all must receive their doom. There are mixtures of mercy and grace in the cup...
Read full commentary →But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.</strong> Amid pronouncements of divine judgment, the psalmist interrupts with personal vow of perpetual worship. The emphatic "But I" (Hebrew וַאֲנִי/<em>va'ani</em>) contrasts the psalmist's response with the arrogant wicked who exalt their own horn (v. 4-5). While the ungodly boast, the righteous worship.<br><br><stron...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16. (Compare Psa 35:27).
**love thy salvation--**delight in its bestowal on others as well as themselves.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-10**
No second causes will raise men to preferment without the First Cause. It comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. He mentions not the north; the same word that signifies the north, signifies the secret place; and from the secret of God's counsel it does come. From God alone all must receive their doom. There are mixtures of mercy and grace in the cup...
Read full commentary →All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
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KJV Study Commentary
God declares: "All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted" (Hebrew <em>v-khol-qar-ney r-shaim agaddea qar-not tzaddiq t-romamnah</em>). Violent imagery: God will "cut off" (destroy) the wicked's power ("horns") while "exalting" the righteous. The verse promises complete reversal—prideful power humbled, humble righteousness elevated. This is esc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Will I cut.**—The Divine speaker again abruptly takes up the word in this verse. (For the abruptness, comp. Isaiah 48:15.) The “cutting off of the horns” recalls Zechariah 1:18 *seq.; *Lamentations 2:3.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
17. A summary of his condition and hopes.
**thinketh upon--**or provides for me. "He was heard," "when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was able to save him from death" [He 5:7].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-10**
No second causes will raise men to preferment without the First Cause. It comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. He mentions not the north; the same word that signifies the north, signifies the secret place; and from the secret of God's counsel it does come. From God alone all must receive their doom. There are mixtures of mercy and grace in the cup...
Read full commentary →