King James Version
Psalms 80
19 verses with commentary
Restore Us, O God
To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. of: or, for
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.</strong> This communal lament opens with urgent appeal, combining shepherd imagery with throne-room majesty. The congregation calls upon God to hear, to lead, and to shine forth in saving power.<br><br>"Give ear" (<em>ha'azinah</em>, הַאֲזִינָה) is an imperative fro...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) The reference to the shepherd, so characteristic *of *the Asaphic psalms, is, no doubt, here chosen especially in recollection of Genesis 48:15; Genesis 49:24. “Shepherd” and “Rock” were Jacob’s especial names for God, as the “Fear” was that of Isaac, and the “Mighty” that of Abraham; but in the blessing of Joseph the patriarch seems to have made more than usually solemn pronunciation of it. I...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
PSALM 49 Psa 49:1-20. This Psalm instructs and consoles. It teaches that earthly advantages are not reliable for permanent happiness, and that, however prosperous worldly men may be for a time, their ultimate destiny is ruin, while the pious are safe in God's care.
1-3. All are called to hear what interests all.
**world--**literally, "duration of life," the present time.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 80
Chapter Outline
The psalmist complains of the miseries of the church.(1-7)
Its former prosperity and present desolation.(8-16)
A prayer for mercy.(17-19)
**Verses 1-7**
He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace....
Read full commentary →Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. come: Heb. come for salvation to us
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.</strong> This urgent plea invokes God's presence associated with the wilderness tabernacle's marching order. The tribal sequence—Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh—deliberately recalls Numbers 2:18-24, where these tribes camped on the tabernacle's west side behind the ark. When Israel marched, these tribes follow...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Before Ephraim . . .**—The tribes named from Joseph’s sons and his uterine brother naturally range together; they encamped side by side on the west of the Tabernacle, and when the ark moved forward they took their places immediately behind it to head the procession. The preposition “before” would alone show that this ancient arrangement, and *no *recent political event, determines the manner...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. incline--**to hear attentively (Psa 17:6; 31:2).
**parable--**In Hebrew and Greek "parable" and "proverb" are translations of the same word. It denotes a comparison, or form of speech, which under one image includes many, and is expressive of a general truth capable of various illustrations. Hence it may be used for the illustration itself. For the former sense, "proverb" (that is, one word...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 80
Chapter Outline
The psalmist complains of the miseries of the church.(1-7)
Its former prosperity and present desolation.(8-16)
A prayer for mercy.(17-19)
**Verses 1-7**
He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace....
Read full commentary →Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.</strong> This verse serves as the psalm's refrain, appearing with slight variations in verses 3, 7, and 19. Each repetition intensifies the divine title: "O God" (verse 3), "O God of hosts" (verse 7), "O LORD God of hosts" (verse 19). The refrain captures the psalm's central petition and theology.<br><br>"Turn us aga...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Turn us again**—*i.e.*, “restore us,” not necessarily with reference to the Captivity, but generally, *restore us to our pristine prosperity.*
**Cause thy face to shine.**—The desert encampment and march is still in the poet’s thought. As in Psalm 67:1 (see Note) we have here a reminiscence of the priestly benediction.
**Saved.**—Or, *helped. *This verse constitutes the refrain.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. iniquity--**or, "calamity" (Psa 40:12).
**of my heels--**literally "my supplanters" (Ge 27:36), or oppressors: "I am surrounded by the evils they inflict."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 80
Chapter Outline
The psalmist complains of the miseries of the church.(1-7)
Its former prosperity and present desolation.(8-16)
A prayer for mercy.(17-19)
**Verses 1-7**
He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace....
Read full commentary →O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? be: Heb. smoke
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?</strong> This lament uses God's full military title "LORD God of hosts" (יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי צְבָאוֹת, <em>Yahweh Elohei Tseva'ot</em>)—emphasizing sovereignty over heavenly and earthly armies. The title appears 285 times in Scripture, predominantly in prophetic books addressing national crisis. By invoking this ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **How long wilt thou be angry?**—Literally, *until when hast thou fumed? *A pregnant construction combining two clauses. Thou hast been long angry; how long wilt thou continue to be angry? (Comp. Psalm 13:2, Note, and Exodus 10:3.) Others say the preterite here has the sense of a future perfect, which comes to *the *same thing: “How long wilt thou have fumed? (See Müller’s *Syntax, *§ i. 3, re...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6. They are vainglorious.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 80
Chapter Outline
The psalmist complains of the miseries of the church.(1-7)
Its former prosperity and present desolation.(8-16)
A prayer for mercy.(17-19)
**Verses 1-7**
He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace....
Read full commentary →Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.</strong> This vivid metaphor inverts covenant blessing into covenant curse. Where God promised to feed Israel with finest wheat and honey (Deuteronomy 32:13-14; Psalm 81:16), He now feeds them tears. The parallel structure—"bread of tears" (<em>lechem dim'ah</em>, לֶחֶם דִּמְעָה) and "tears to drink...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Bread of tears.**—See Psalm 42:3.
**In great measure.**—Heb., *shalîsh, i.e., *a third part. (Comp. Isaiah 40:12, Margin.) Probably meaning a third part of an ephah. (See Exodus 16:36; Isaiah 5:10, LXX.) But here evidently used in a general way, as we say “a peck of troubles.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. yet unable to save themselves or others.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 80
Chapter Outline
The psalmist complains of the miseries of the church.(1-7)
Its former prosperity and present desolation.(8-16)
A prayer for mercy.(17-19)
**Verses 1-7**
He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace....
Read full commentary →Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.</strong> This verse describes Israel's international humiliation. "Thou makest us a strife" (<em>tesimenu madon lishkeneinu</em>, תְּשִׂימֵנוּ מָדוֹן לִשְׁכֵנֵינוּ) indicates God has positioned Israel as object of contention—neighboring nations dispute over and mock them. <em>Madon</em> (מָדוֹן) means stri...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **A strife**—*i.e., *an object of contention. In no other sense could Israel be a strife to neighbouring nations. For the bearing of this on the date of the psalm see its Introduction.
**Laugh among themselves.**—Literally, *for themselves. *But LXX. and Vulg. read, “at us.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. yet unable to save themselves or others.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 80
Chapter Outline
The psalmist complains of the miseries of the church.(1-7)
Its former prosperity and present desolation.(8-16)
A prayer for mercy.(17-19)
**Verses 1-7**
He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace....
Read full commentary →Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
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KJV Study Commentary
The refrain intensifies: "Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved" (Hebrew <em>Elohim Tseva-ot hashivenu v-ha'er paneycha v-nivvasha</em>). This adds "of hosts" (Hebrew <em>Tseva-ot</em>)—commander of heavenly armies. The escalation from "God" (v.3) to "God of hosts" (v.7) to "LORD God of hosts" (v.19) intensifies the appeal. Military language invokes divi...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7-9. yet unable to save themselves or others.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 80
Chapter Outline
The psalmist complains of the miseries of the church.(1-7)
Its former prosperity and present desolation.(8-16)
A prayer for mercy.(17-19)
**Verses 1-7**
He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace....
Read full commentary →Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.</strong> This verse begins Psalm 80's extended vineyard metaphor, one of Scripture's richest images for Israel's covenant relationship with God. The vine imagery recalls Isaiah 5:1-7 and Jesus's adaptation in John 15:1-8. "Thou hast brought a vine" (<em>gefen mimitsrayim tassia</em>, גֶּפֶן מִמִּצְרַיִם ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Thou hast brought.**—The verb is to be taken as a historic present, “Thou bringest.” It is a verb used both of horticulture (Job 19:10) and, like the word “planted” in the next clause, of breaking up and removing a nomadic encampment, “pulling out the tent-pins, and driving them in.,,
The vine (or vineyard), as an emblem of Israel, is so natural and apt that we do not wonder to find it repea...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. For he seeth--**that is, corruption; then follows the illustration.
**wise ... fool--**(Psa 14:1; Pr 1:32; 10:1).
**likewise--**alike altogether--(Psa 4:8)--die--all meet the same fate.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.</strong> This verse details God's horticultural care, emphasizing comprehensive preparation for Israel's flourishing. "Thou preparedst room" (<em>pinnita lefaneha</em>, פִּנִּיתָ לְפָנֶיהָ) uses <em>panah</em> (פָּנָה), meaning to clear, make clear, turn away—God cleared space by removing Canaanit...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Thou preparedst room.**—The reference is, of course, to the casting out of the heathen in Psalm 80:8.
**Didst cause** **. . .**—Rather, *it struck its roots deep; *literally, *rooted its roots.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. Still infatuated and flattered with hopes of perpetuity, they call their lands, or "celebrate their names on account of (their) lands."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. goodly: Heb. cedars of God
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.</strong> This verse continues describing Israel's past glory through hyperbolic vineyard imagery. "The hills were covered with the shadow of it" (<em>kasu harim tsillah</em>, כָּסוּ הָרִים צִלָּהּ) uses <em>kasah</em> (כָּסָה, to cover) depicting the vine's extensive canopy. Though vines don't...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Goodly cedars.**—Literally, *cedars of God. *The branches of the vine are to grow to resemble the luxuriance of the most magnificent of all forest trees.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
12. Contrasted with this vanity is their frailty. However honored, man
**abideth not--**literally, "lodgeth not," remains not till morning, but suddenly perishes as (wild) beasts, whose lives are taken without warning.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.</strong> This verse describes Israel's maximal territorial extent, using geographical boundaries to depict the vine's spread. "She sent out her boughs unto the sea" (<em>teshalach qetsireha ad-yam</em>, תְּשַׁלַּח קְצִירֶהָ עַד־יָם) refers to the Mediterranean Sea (western boundary), while "her branches unto the river" ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **The sea . . .** **the river**—*i.e.,* the Mediterranean and the Euphrates, the limits of the Solomonic empire. (See Deuteronomy 11:24; comp. Genesis 28:14; Joshua 1:4.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
13. Though their way is folly, others follow the same course of life.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?</strong> This pivotal question introduces the lament's crisis: inexplicable reversal of blessing into curse. "Why?" (<em>lamah</em>, לָמָּה) challenges God for explanation. The question isn't rhetorical but genuine theological wrestling: if You carefully planted, cultivated, and blessed this vin...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Pluck.**—For the same image of the broken fence, and the fruit gathered by the passers by, see Psalm 89:40-41.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. Like sheep--**(compare Psa 49:12) unwittingly, they
**are laid--**or, "put," &c.
**death shall feed on--**or, better, "shall rule"
**them--**as a shepherd (compare "feed," Psa 28:9, Margin).
**have dominion over--**or, "subdue"
**them in the morning--**suddenly, or in their turn.
**their beauty--**literally, "form" or shape.
**shall consume--**literally, "is for the consump...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.</strong> This verse specifies the predators ravaging the exposed vineyard. "The boar out of the wood" (<em>yekarsemenah chazir miyya'ar</em>, יְכַרְסְמֶנָּה חֲזִיר מִיָּעַר) introduces destructive wild swine. <em>Chazir</em> (חֲזִיר) is swine/boar—unclean animal (Leviticus 11:7; Deuteronomy 14:8) that r...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Boar.**—This is the sole mention of the *wild *boar in Scripture. But it must not therefore be inferred that it was rare in Palestine. (See Tristram’s *Nat. Hist. Bib., *p. 54.) The writer gives a sad picture of the ravage a herd of them will make in a single night. Comp.—
“In vengeance of neglected sacrifice,
On Oencus’ fields she sent a monstrous boar,
That levell’d harvests and whole for...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
15. The pious, delivered from "the power of the grave."
**power--**literally, "the hand," of death, are taken under God's care.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
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KJV Study Commentary
The psalm pleads: "Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine" (Hebrew <em>Elohim Tseva-ot shuv-na habet mi-shamayim u-r'eh u-foqed gefen zot</em>). "Return" (Hebrew <em>shuv</em>) begs God to turn back from judgment. "Look down from heaven" appeals to God's transcendent position. "Behold" requests attentive observation. "Visit" (Hebrew <em>paqa...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16-19. applies this instruction. Be not anxious (Psa 37:1, &c.), since death cuts off the prosperous wicked whom you dread.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.</strong> This verse appeals to God's personal investment in Israel. "The vineyard which thy right hand hath planted" (<em>kannah asher nat'ah yeminekha</em>, כַּנָּה אֲשֶׁר נָטְעָה יְמִינֶךָ) emphasizes divine agency. <em>Yamin</em> (יָמִין, right hand) symbolizes power, skill, favor, an...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **And the vineyard which . . .**—Most modern scholars follow the LXX. and Vulg. in making the word rendered *vineyard *an imperative of a verb, meaning *protect: And protect what thy right hand hath planted. *This makes a good parallelism.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16-19. applies this instruction. Be not anxious (Psa 37:1, &c.), since death cuts off the prosperous wicked whom you dread.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.</strong> This verse describes comprehensive devastation of the vineyard. "It is burned with fire" (<em>serupah va'esh</em>, שְׂרֻפָה בָאֵשׁ) and "it is cut down" (<em>kesukhah</em>, כְּסוּחָה) use passive participles indicating completed destruction. Fire represents divine judgment throughout Scripture (D...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **It is burned.**—This verse would certainly be far more intelligible, and also fit better into the rhythm, if it followed immediately after Psalm 80:13. The poet, while complaining that God fumed with anger while Israel prayed, would scarcely speak of themselves as perishing under His rebuke, which, in Psalm 76:6, is used of His attitude towards foes actually contending against Him. But if w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16-19. applies this instruction. Be not anxious (Psa 37:1, &c.), since death cuts off the prosperous wicked whom you dread.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless l...
Read full commentary →Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.</strong> This verse introduces a figure who has intrigued interpreters throughout history. After the vine metaphor (verses 8-16) describing Israel's planting, growth, and devastation, the psalmist now prays for a specific individual to be strengthened for deliverance.<br><br>"The man of...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Man of thy right hand.**—This is manifestly a continuation of Psalm 80:15, and should follow it:—
“Protect what thy right hand hath planted,
The branch which thou hast made strong for thyself:
Let thy hand be over the man of thy right hand,
Over the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.”
A fine instance of the mode in which the thought can pass naturally from the figurative to the...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
16-19. applies this instruction. Be not anxious (Psa 37:1, &c.), since death cuts off the prosperous wicked whom you dread.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-19**
The Messiah, the Protector and Saviour of the church, is the Man of God's right hand; he is the Arm of the Lord, for all power is given to him. In him is our strength, by which we are enabled to persevere to the end. The vine, therefore, cannot be ruined, nor can any fruitful branch perish; but the unfruitful will be cut off and cast into the fire. The end of our redemption is...
Read full commentary →So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.</strong> This verse concludes the psalm with covenant recommitment. "So will not we go back from thee" (<em>ve'lo-nasug mimekha</em>, וְלֹא־נָסוּג מִמֶּךָּ) uses <em>sug</em> (סוּג), meaning to turn back, retreat, apostatize. The people pledge: grant restoration and we will not repeat the apostasy that brought ju...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
20. (Compare Psa 49:12). The folly is more distinctly expressed by "understandeth not," substituted for "abideth not."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-19**
The Messiah, the Protector and Saviour of the church, is the Man of God's right hand; he is the Arm of the Lord, for all power is given to him. In him is our strength, by which we are enabled to persevere to the end. The vine, therefore, cannot be ruined, nor can any fruitful branch perish; but the unfruitful will be cut off and cast into the fire. The end of our redemption is...
Read full commentary →Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.</strong> The final refrain brings the psalm to its climactic conclusion, now using the fullest divine title: "LORD God of hosts" (<em>Yahweh Elohim Tseva'ot</em>, יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים צְבָאוֹת). The progression from "God" (verse 3) to "God of hosts" (verse 7) to "LORD God of hosts" (verse 19) represents intensif...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **Turn us.**—By a fine gradation in the style of the address to God, the refrain has at last reached its full tone, expressive of the completest trust—
“God’s ways seem dark, but soon or late
They touch the shining hills of day.
The evil cannot brook delay;
The good can well afford to wait.”
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Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permis...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 17-19**
The Messiah, the Protector and Saviour of the church, is the Man of God's right hand; he is the Arm of the Lord, for all power is given to him. In him is our strength, by which we are enabled to persevere to the end. The vine, therefore, cannot be ruined, nor can any fruitful branch perish; but the unfruitful will be cut off and cast into the fire. The end of our redemption is...
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