Psa 137:1

HISTORICAL CONTEXT: (a) Sennacherib carried 200,000 captives from Judea: cp Mic 4:10; (b) Edom was active in the Assyrian invasions: Isa 34; 63:1-6; Joe 3:19; Oba.

BABYLON = (prob) Assyria: (1) spoke virtually same language; (2) cp Isa 13;14 with Isa 14:25; (3) Isa 13:8 = Psa 48:5,6; (4) Isa 13 has 4 refs to Joel, which is about Assyria, not Babylon; (5) Mic 4:10 mentions Babylon but is about Assyria: ‘Now!”, not 100+ years from now; and (6) 2Ch 33:11 has king of Assyria carrying Manasseh captive to Babylon…

And Assyria = BABYLON: (1) Amo 5:2 — cp Act 7:43; (2) 2Ki 23:29; (3) Ezr 6:22; (4) Lam 5:6; Zec 10:10,11. Edom (v 7) renders assistance to Assyria in their invasions of the Promised Land (2Ch 28:17; Isa 34:6; 63:1-6; Oba 1:15-19).

Vv 1-3: These captives, carried by Assyrian army away to Babylon, were to return QUICKLY: Isa 27:6,12,13; 35:10; 37:30,31; 42:6,7; 48:20,21; 49:17-26; cp Psa 70:11; 85:1,11; 136:22-25; etc. (LD) Israel overthrown; her enemies rejoice over her (Eze 35:10,12; 36:2; Psa 79:10; Rev 11:10).

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON: Jewish custom to pray near running water, for purification purposes? See Eze 1:1; Dan 8:2; 10:4; Act 16:13. The land of Babylon, interlaced with numerous canals, rivers (cp Rev 17:1,5,15).

WE SAT: Posture of distress (Job 2:13; Lam 2:10; 3:28; Jer 6:26; Mic 1:10).

WEPT: Jer 9:1,18; Lam 2:11,18; 3:48; etc.

Vv 1-3 (LD): The scorn of those who have long wished to see the state of Israel overthrown. At last their holy war has achieved triumph (Eze 35:10,12; 36:2; Psa 79:10; Rev 11:10). All this is to be followed by a marked contrast when the Jews, now a true “Israel” (Prince with God), will rejoice in mount Zion for ever — and then, in an outpouring of joy, the harps will play again (Rev 14:2)!

Psa 137:3

SONGS OF ZION: Temple hymns (v 4: songs of the Lord). This proud mockery expresses the deep religious motive behind this invasion of Judah. It was seen as a contest between the “gods” of Assyria and Israel’s God. The Greek historian Strabo says that, some three or four centuries later, Hebrew singing girls were known to be the best in the world

Psa 137:4

At one time, had Assyrian demanded the temple choir and orchestra as hostages (Taylor Prism)? The earlier equally shameful episode in Ahaz’s reign, when part of the temple was handed over to an Assyrian garrison (cp Psa 79:1; 74:6,7; 2Ch 28:21), had left in some Assyrian minds a strong and envious memory of the splendor of the temple service.

Psa 137:5

MAY MY RIGHT HAND FORGET ITS SKILL: Note the italics in AV. Instead, read: “… let my right hand forget ME”. Or, as the RSV, by an emendation: “let my right hand wither”. Cp the idea of Psa 76:5.

Psa 137:6

JERUSALEM MY HIGHEST JOY: Difficult to imagine such language if Jerusalem lay in ruins, but more appropriate to the Jerusalem of Hezekiah’s day.

Psa 137:7

The Edomite hatred of Israel persisted through the ages, from Esau on (Gen 27:41). But v 7 (AV) does NOT say “WHEN Jerusalem fell”, but simply “in the day of Jerusalem”: “Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem” — ie, of Jerusalem’s distress (when she was IN DANGER of falling).

Psa 137:8

DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION: The fate of Nineveh (100 years later, at the hand of Nebuchadnezzar). But never the fate of Babylon!

HAPPY IS HE WHO REPAYS YOU FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO US: “And they [Jacob and Israel] shall take them [Babylon/Assyria] captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors… I will break the Assyrian in the land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders” (Isa 14:2,25).

Psa 137:9

The cruelties of war: 2Ki 8:12; 15:16; Hos 10:14; 13:16; Amo 1:13. (LD) The “children” of Islam dash themselves, in vain, against the “Rock” of Israel!

This verse links directly with Isa 13:16: “Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished”… and had its sequel in what Nah 3:10 also foretold against Nineveh: “Yet was she carried away, she went into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets.”

And so the bestial Assyrians — and Edomites — no doubt suffered the same atrocities which they had visited (or sought to visit) on the people of Israel. The God who, through Christ, destroyed a wicked “tree” would not shrink from destroying its soon-to-be wicked “fruit” (cp Mat 21:19)!

Psa 138:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF DAVID”.

CONTEXT: See v 4: “all the Kings of the Land [eretz]”: ie 2Sa 6-8; Psa 60: the crisis in David’s early reign, when threatened by surrounding Arab nations.

BEFORE THE “GODS”: “Gods” (elohim) may = the princes of Israel (cp Psa 82), or the conquered kings of Arab nations (cp v 4; Psa 97:7,9; 119:46), or the vain idols they served (Psa 95:3; 96:4,5; 135:5).

Psa 138:2

TOWARD YOUR HOLY TEMPLE: (1) From the court before the sanctuary (1Ki 8:29), or (2) From the field of battle, as David thankfully faces Jerusalem (cp Psa 5:7; 28:2). (HEZEKIAH) After recovery from sickness, this was Hezekiah’s great delight: 2Ki 20:8; Isa 38:20.

YOUR WORD: That is, Heb “imrah”: Your “promise” (Psa 119:38,41,50, etc) ref to God’s promise, probably the special promise given to David in 2Sa 7:12-16 (see vv 21,25,26,28 there) at the beginning of his reign in Jerusalem. (Note the coincidence between Psa 138:2 and 2Sa 7:26: “let thy name be magnified for ever.”) The unexpected series of brilliant victories is here seen as a first token of the utter dependability of that great promise.

Psa 138:3

WHEN I CALLED: (HZ) The great double crisis of Hezekiah’s reign: his mortal illness, and the Assyrian invasion.

(NT) Christ in his Gethsemane experience! And how much even the Messiah needed the strengthening of his soul, which help could come only from the Father!

Psa 138:4

Was the prophecy of 2Sa 7 published far and wide, thus provoking the hostile reactions described in 2Sa 8?

(HEZEKIAH) The kings of the Land brings gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem (2Ch 32:23; cp Isa 49:22,23; 60:3; Psa 138:2).

(LD) The kings of the nations bring gifts to Messiah (Psa 72:10,11; 102:15,22).

Psa 138:5

Did this really happen also in the time of David? Or was he aware that the Holy Spirit was guiding him to expand the remarkable experiences of his own time into a prophecy of Messiah’s kingdom?

Psa 138:6

LOWLY: David, dancing before the ark. (HEZEKIAH) Hezekiah himself.

PROUD: Michal (2Sa 6:20-23), removed “afar” from David.

(HEZEKIAH) “Lowly” = Hezekiah; “proud” = Sennacherib.

Psa 138:7

(DAVID) 2Sa 8.

THOUGH I WALK IN THE MIDST OF TROUBLE: Christ’s walking on the stormy waters was emblematic of the help given him against the tide of opposition from the rulers which constantly surged round him.

Psa 138:8

HIS PURPOSE FOR ME: God has spoken of David’s house for a great while to come: 2Sa 7:13,26.

THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS: (NT) The saints: Psa 102:18; 103:22; 145:9,10; Eph 2:1-10; 4:22-24; Col 1:15-18; 3:9,10; 2Co 5:14-19.

SUBSCRIPTION: “FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC”.

Psa 139:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “OF DAVID. A PSALM”.

SEARCHED: Sig “to dig, or mine”. ‘You know me inside out!’

Psa 139:2

YOU PERCEIVE MY THOUGHTS FROM AFAR: The prodigal son: “When he was yet a great way off” (Luk 15:20).

Psa 139:6

‘Such knowledge… as God has… is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.’ But see Eph 3:19; 4:13 and context (in which Paul is quoting this psalm: cp Eph 4:9 with v 15 here).

Psa 139:7

FLEE: Suggesting the need to escape, as old as the Fall (Gen 3:8). Jonah (Jon 1:3,10).

Psa 139:8

Vv 8,9: Heavens, depths: vertical limits of creation. Dawn (east), far side of sea (Mediterranean, west): horizontal limits…

Psa 139:13

Vv 13-16: (NT) Christ’s virgin birth: Eph 4:9 quotes v 15 here. Jesus was “from above” (Joh 3:31; 6:33,50; 8:23,42), yet actually woven together in the womb of a woman.

CREATED: This reading is confirmed by Ugaritic (see Gen 4:1n; Gen 14:19,22; Pro 8:22).

KNIT ME TOGETHER: The fantastic complexity of the human genetic code. This last verb [“knit together”] describes the meticulously interwoven intricacy of pattern on the veil of the Tabernacle. Yet that unique man-made fabric was utter simplicity compared with the fantastic complexity of every human being coming to birth. David, even without the resources of modern investigation in the field of genetics, was awestruck as he contemplated the “weaving together” of the human fetus in the womb. Then what would he have said if he had known what is commonly known today: how the genes of two parents are “knit together” by the unseen Hand to produce, every time, an absolutely unique human specimen?

Such a comparison, between a fabric and a human being, is fitting to teach us that the true “tabernacle” was the man Christ Jesus (John 1:14; 2:19; Col 2:9; Heb 8:2; 9:8,9,11; Mat 12:6).

Like a fabric is created of individual strands or threads, carefully woven together, so even a great building is created of separate building materials, skillfully arranged and intertwined by the builder. And so the same analogy holds, on another level, for the construction of a building. And thus we are taught also that — in Jesus Christ — every person may be a temple, filled with the glory of God: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have received from God, and you are not your own?” (1Co 6:19,20; cp 2Co 6:16).

Psa 139:14

WONDERFUL: The sw in Heb occurs in Isa 9:6: “His name shall be called Wonderful…”

Psa 139:15

WOVEN TOGETHER: The embroidery of the door hangings and the vail in the tabernacle (Exo 26:31,36; 27:16; 36:37; 38:18; cp Heb 10:20) and the high priest’s coat (Exo 28:39; 39:29). And so, here, the body of the fetus (cp Jer 1:5).

IN THE DEPTHS OF THE EARTH: Perhaps, “in the lowest parts, even the earth”: cp Isa 44:23 with Isa 49:13: an idiomatic way of emphasizing the contrast between God’s heaven and the human sphere of earth. See Eph 4:9.

Vv 15,16: Do these verses also picture the re-creation of life in the entombed Christ? (See Eur 1:15.) Jesus, born from a virgin womb and, later, from a “virgin” tomb (John 19:41)! Then “all my members” (KJV) or “all my days” (NIV) would be all believers, destined to become members of the One Christ-Body (1Co 12:27; Col 1:15,18) as a result of the death and resurrection of the Head.

Psa 139:16

God saw the end from the beginning, even in the development of the individual fetus.

WRITTEN IN YOUR BOOK: Cp Psa 40:6-8.

Psa 139:17

HOW PRECIOUS TO ME ARE YOUR THOUGHTS, O GOD!: That is, God’s purposes with the psalmist. The marvel of formation in the womb is now matched by the equally wonderful Providence with which each day and every day runs its course according to the unperceived guidance of God. The evidences of this Providence are not to be counted (v 18); they are too numerous, too complex, too “wonderful”.

“Divine omniscience affords no comfort to the ungodly mind, but to the child of God it overflows with consolation. God is always thinking upon us, never turns aside His mind from us, has us always before His eyes; and this is precisely as we would have it, for it would be dreadful to exist for a moment beyond the observation of our heavenly Father. His thoughts are always tender, loving, wise, prudent, far-reaching, and they bring to us countless benefits: hence it is a choice delight to remember them. The Lord always did think upon His people: hence their election and the covenant of grace by which their salvation is secured; He always will think upon them: hence their final perseverance by which they shall be brought safely to their final rest. In all our wanderings the watchful glance of the Eternal Watcher is evermore fixed upon us — we never roam beyond the Shepherd’s eye.

“In our sorrows He observes us incessantly, and not a pang escapes Him; in our toils He marks all our weariness, and writes in His book all the struggles of His faithful ones. These thoughts of the Lord encompass us in all our paths, and penetrate the innermost region of our being. Not a nerve or tissue, valve or vessel, of our bodily organization is uncared for; all the little things of our little world are thought upon by the great God” (CHS).

Psa 139:23

Vv 23,24: (NT) Jesus’ yielding of self to his Father.

TEST ME AND KNOW MY ANXIOUS THOUGHTS: “What we are putting in our minds from day to day is what we are making of ourselves, our lives, and our eternal destiny. God requires that to the fullest of our abilities and opportunities we build minds spiritually by filling them with His Word. Each spiritual thought adds to the spiritual man; each fleshly thought adds to the fleshly man. Each thought leaves permanent physical imprint for good or ill” (GVG).

Psa 139:24

LEAD ME IN THE WAY EVERLASTING: “A great mistake — perhaps our greatest mistake — is not to seek the guidance of God enough. We seek it generally, and formally, and ritually, but we do not seek it specifically enough nor frequently enough. We tend to reserve God’s direct guidance for ’emergencies’: we feel we can handle all ordinary affairs with our own unerring understanding and common sense. We wouldn’t say so, but we act that way. We know nothing, and have no sense, common or otherwise. Seeking God’s guidance must be a continuous, conscious, moment-to-moment operation, in all things, great and small. It must, as much as possible, by constant effort and remembrance, become second nature. This is how those of old who succeeded, did succeed, and how those who failed, failed. Of ourselves, we are ignorant and foolish, and no amount of worldly education or knowledge can change this basic fact, although it can mask and obscure it, and deceive us concerning it. Only in the sought-for guidance of God moment to moment is there any possibility of ‘directing the steps aright.’ It’s a fatal error to leave God’s guidance to the ‘big’ things. It is the constant ‘little’ things that are shaping our character and our destiny. God is not a compass to be glanced at occasionally and briefly, to see that we are moving generally in the right direction. He is the balance-pole on the tightrope of life: essential for safety every moment” (GVG).

“We do not love a dream; that is only a kind of self-love, like the fabled Greek who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. We cannot love a convention, a respectability; that is only a refuge for dried-up souls, who by running in a groove can evade the need of loving. We do not love a hobby (however much we may like it), because a hobby in itself is only an expression of our own energy, mental or physical. The fact is that we cannot love God unless we know Him to be wholly other than ourselves; and then we can say with the Psalmist: O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off… Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting” (TM 185).

SUBSCRIPTION: “FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC”.

Psa 140:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A PSALM OF DAVID”.

CONTEXT: Poss Absalom’s rebellion. (HEZEKIAH) The cursing of Rabshakeh, and Sennacherib. (NT) Plots, evil words, and intrigues directed against Christ: John 5:16,18; Mark 3:6; Luke 11:54; John 7:19-21,25; 8:59; Luke 13:31; John 10:31,39; 11:8,16,44-54; Luke 20:14-26; Matt 26:3-5,16. Esp the intrigue and hostility of the last week of his ministry, which he spent in and around Jerusalem.

Psa 140:3

THEIR TONGUES AS SHARP AS A SERPENT’S: A clear allusion to the serpent of Gen 3. This contrasts beautifully with the tongue and lips of the Bride — which drips with honey (Song 4:11).

(NT) Mat 23:33; Rom 3:13.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 140:4

THE WICKED… MEN OF VIOLENCE: Shimei (2Sa 16:5-13), Ahithophel (2Sa 17:1-3).

Psa 140:5

SNARE… NET… TRAPS: Secret and deceitful activity: Psa 31:4; 57:6; 64:5; 142:3.

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 140:7

WHO SHIELDS MY HEAD: Like a bodyguard (1Sa 28:2; 2Sa 15:18).

Psa 140:8

See Lesson, Selah.

Psa 140:9

Brought down by their own disloyalty: Absalom, Ahithophel, Shimei, Ziba.

(NT) “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matt 27:25) was followed by AD 70. And the decree of Caiaphas, that “one man should die for the people” (John 11:50), resulted in the annulment of his own priesthood. Cp also Psa 7:16; 109:5-20.

Psa 140:10

BURNING COALS: Pro 16:27; 25:21,22; Rom 12:20. Coals of fire may be a curse (Eze 10:2; Psa 120:2-4), but in certain instances (with those who recognize their sins?) they may also be a blessing (Isa 6:6,7)!

Cp stones flung by Shimei at David.

(HEZEKIAH) The fire of God falling on Assyrians (Isa 30:30-33).

INTO MIRY PITS: Absalom, cast into a “great pit” (2Sa 18:17).

(HEZEKIAH) Assyrian corpses by the 1000s, buried in Gehenna.

Psa 140:11

MAY DISASTER HUNT DOWN MEN OF VIOLENCE: Sennacherib was finally slain by his own sons (Isa 37:38).

Psa 140:12

A marvelous expression of faith. God is in control — all will yet be well; cp the spirit of David’s reaction to the curses of Shimei: “If he is cursing because the LORD said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’… My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. It may be that the LORD will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today” (2Sa 16:10-12).

Psa 140:13

THE UPRIGHT WILL LIVE BEFORE YOU: The highest ambition of this man whose leprosy had excluded him from the sanctuary of the Lord.

Psa 141:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A PSALM OF DAVID”.

CONTEXT: Poss Absalom’s rebellion.

Psa 141:2

Incense = prayer: Mal 1:11; Rev 5:8; 8:4. For David fleeing from Jerusalem and for Jesus in Gethsemane, these literal offerings were not possible. But the lifting up of their hands in praise and supplication was (and still is, for others) equally acceptable. Hence also Lam 3:41; Psa 63:4; 86:4; and 1Ti 2:8. // Psa 50:13,14; 51:15-17; 69:30,31; 40:6-10.

(NT) Jesus kneels in the evening shadows of Gethsemane; there he was “touched” by Gabriel at the time of the evening oblation (Dan 9:21; Luk 22:43). See the prayer of Joh 17.

Psa 141:3

SET A GUARD OVER MY MOUTH: (NT) A Christ under the strain of great temptation: cp Joh 18:19-23; 19:10.

Psa 141:4

LET ME NOT EAT OF THEIR DELICACIES: It was at a special religious feast at Hebron that Absalom solicited and received support, and proclaimed himself king — rebelling against his father David (2Sa 15:7-12).

(NT) This suggests Jesus’ wariness at the social invitations offered him by the Pharisees, whose intent was to watch him closely and if possible catch him off guard (eg Luk 14:1).

To share the close friendly “table” fellowship of certain sorts of men is to become, first by small degrees and then more and more by wholesale lots, like unto them. In certain social settings, the general standards of courtesy forbid men to express exception to what they see and hear, which at other times they would resolutely shun. And so, almost subconsciously, “bad company ruins good morals” (1Co 15:33) — and the best of men, unless they are constantly on their guard, tend to turn into the sort of people which mere formality “compels” them to put up with. How dangerous such “polite” associations with worldly men can be!

Psa 141:5

LET A RIGHTEOUS MAN STRIKE ME: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Pro 27:6). “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee” (Pro 9:8; cp Pro 3:11,12; Heb 12:5-11; Ecc 4:13; Rev 3:19). David’s rebuke by Nathan: 2Sa 12:7.

MY HEAD WILL NOT REFUSE IT: “Which shall not break my head” (AV). Subtle allusion to Gen 3:15.

Psa 141:6

THROWN DOWN FROM THE CLIFFS: “Overthrown in stony places” (AV): Rebellion leaders Absalom and Ahithophel (2Sa 15:4; 16:23), Absalom esp buried in a “great pit with a great heap of stones upon him” (2Sa 18:17; cp Psa 140:10).

Even more graphically, since the NIV has: “Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs” (sw 2Ki 9:33: “Throw her [Jezebel] down!” — cp Psa 137:9; Hos 10:14; 2Ch 25:12; Luke 4:29): did such a thing really happen to some of Absalom’s henchmen in the aftermath of the defeat of the revolution?

Psa 141:7

SO OUR BONES HAVE BEEN SCATTERED AT THE MOUTH OF THE GRAVE: (1) Hyperbole: David and his loyal bodyguard thought they were as good as dead.

(NT) Terrible persecutions of Christ’s followers.

(2) Or, poss, as RSV and NEB, “THEIR bones..” — ref to the wicked rulers in Psa 141:6.

(NT) Death of Judas: Act 1:18.

AS ONE PLOWS AND BREAKS UP THE EARTH: Plowing as a figure of affliction in Psa 129:3. Or, “as when one cleaveth wood” (AV). Vivid figures of wholesale slaughter.

Psa 141:10

(NT) What the rulers sought to avoid (Joh 11:48-50) came upon them.

Psa 134:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A SONG OF ASCENTS”: Or “degrees” (AV).

In Psa 134, the climax of the Songs of Degrees, blessings stream forth from Zion, not upon a few scattered saints only, but upon the whole world. The law goes forth from Zion (Isa 2:2-4), and all nations are harvested in the great ingathering (Zec 14:16). The mountain of the Lord’s house is established in the top of the mountains, a house of prayer for all peoples (Isa 56:7).

BY NIGHT: Night watches were customarily set in the Temple (cp 1Ch 9:33). An official, known as the “captain of the temple” (Act 4:1), was entrusted with the command of the 24 guard stations, each consisting of 10 men (Temple 147). Hezekiah had profound interest in the temple service (2Ch 29:11; 30:16; 31:2). Exhortations: Mat 24:42,46; Rev 16:15; 1Th 5:6.

Psa 134:2

LIFT UP YOUR HANDS: In supplication: Psa 141:2. Cp 1Ti 2:8.

Psa 134:3

MAY THE LORD… BLESS YOU FROM ZION: Echoing the traditional blessing of the High Priest: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee…” (Num 6:24-26).

Psa 123:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A SONG OF ASCENTS”: Or “degrees” (AV).

PSS 123-125: Israel in the Land faces the Assyrian siege.

(HEZEKIAH) The waves of Assyrian aggression have reached their zenith; Judah lies smoldering and desolate, and the expeditionary force moves within range of Jerusalem’s walls. At their head rides Rabshakeh, the chief officer of King Sennacherib. His blasphemous speech is a classic of intrigue and insult (Isa 36:4; 2Ki 18:19-35). Hezekiah unerringly strikes the proper chord of faith. Entering the house of the Lord in sackcloth, he laments: “This is a day of… blasphemy” (Isa 37:1,3). The profane Rabshakeh has not just threatened a city — he has rashly reproached the living God! Will not God now reprove the words He has heard? Will He not take action against the one who has rashly lifted up his eyes against the God of Israel (2Ki 19:22; ct Psa 123:1,2)?

(NT) The LD deliverance of Israel, overrun by enemies, will come only when there is repentance in Israel (Psa 81:13,14; Lev 26:40-42; Deu 30:1-3; 1Ki 8:44-53; Jer 4:1,2,14-18; Act 3:19,20). Also see Eze 35:5,10,12; Rev 11:10; Mal 4:5,6.

Psa 123:2

The loyal slave’s attitude of watchfulness toward his/her master (Pro 27:18). (A wonderful example is the nameless maiden of Naaman’s wife: 2Ki 5:2,3.) Sitting quietly but observantly, the servant is ready to respond immediately at the slightest hand or eye movement of the master or mistress. To do otherwise, to be lazy or inattentive, is to court disfavor or punishment, perhaps even death. But to fulfill the slave’s duty is to win honor and promotion (Pro 27:18).

The servant also looks to the master for help in time of distress (vv 3,4; Psa 33:20; 25:15; 69:3; 130:5,6).

Psa 123:3

CONTEMPT: The scorn of Rabshakeh (Isa 36:13-20).

Psa 124:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A SONG OF ASCENTS. OF DAVID”: Or “degrees” (AV).

CONTEXT: (DAVID) Escape from the bird-catcher’s snare: cp 1Sa 23:24-29; 24:14,15; 25:29.

Psa 124:3

(HEZEKIAH) The armies of Sennacherib were so large, and their advance so devastating, and their rounding up of captives so comprehensive, that it was as though the earth had opened up and swallowed its victims alive (Psa 56:1,2; 57:3). But just as with the intimidating band of Korah who rose up before Moses and Aaron (Num 16:2,3), the fate with which they threatened the righteous became their fate instead (vv 32,33).

Psa 124:4

FLOOD… TORRENT… RAGING WATERS: The advancing Assyrian army as a raging river, overflowing its banks (Isa 8:7,8).

Psa 124:7

(HEZEKIAH) This figure (also found in Psa 10:9; 91:3; Pro 6:5) stresses the relative weakness of Israel and the cunning of her enemy. But Israel’s eyes are ever toward the Lord: He is the One who plucks her feet out of the net (cp Psa 25:15 with Psa 123:2).

Though this psalm may have been written by David, relating to his wilderness escapes from Saul, it is amazingly fitting to Hezekiah’s circumstances. We see this especially in this verse, for which there is a striking parallel in Assyria’s own archives. The cylinder, or prism, of Sennacherib (housed today in the British Museum) has the following statement: “Hezekiah himself like a caged bird, within Jerusalem, his royal city, I shut in.”

It is to be expected that a boastful monarch would insist that only his successes be recorded; and so the prism has nothing to say of the mighty stroke against Sennacherib’s confederacy, nor of his final retreat from Judah and Jerusalem. However, these setbacks for the northern colossus are substantiated from other secular histories. By God’s hand, the “cage” was “opened” and the “bird” Hezekiah set free!

Psa 124:8

OUR HELP IS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, THE MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH: The natural man, like Ahaz, looks inward for the cleverness to deliver himself from danger; and when this fails he looks outward to other men, other political combinations, stronger armaments and higher walls. The spiritual man, like Hezekiah, looks upward, to the God who created all things.

Psa 128:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A SONG OF ASCENTS”: Or “degrees” (AV).

Psa 128:2

THE FRUIT OF YOUR LABOR: Hezekiah’s writing his own copy of the Law (Deu 17:18-20).

Psa 128:3

YOUR WIFE… A FRUITFUL VINE: Hephzibah (2Ki 21:1) lost her husband through his disease, and then was “married” to him again (Isa 62:4) after his recovery, and then shortly gave birth to the prayed-for child. (NT) The ecclesia, or church: Eph 5:22-32.

OLIVE SHOOTS: Rich fruitfulness. Sym light, prosperity, peace, joy (Psa 52:8; Jer 11:16). Often an aged and decaying olive tree will be found surrounded by young shoots, sprung from the root of the elder. These have sprung from the root of the older tree; they seem to uphold, protect and embrace the parent. They offer promise to carry on in the production of fruit even after their parent has died. They contribute materially now, and offer hope for the future. In like manner must many a righteous man have viewed the bright young faces of his children round his table. The olive is proverbial for light, prosperity, peace and joy (Psa 52:8; Jer 11:16). Olive orchards were among the most valuable of all possessions to the Israelite.

(NT) Shoots of wild olive, grafted into the other (Rom 11:24).

Psa 128:5

MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU FROM ZION: The closing psalm of the 3-cycle speaks of peace and blessing out of Zion (Psa 122:6-9; 125:5).

Everlasting life to be bestowed at Jerusalem: see Lesson, Judgment seat at Jerusalem.

THE PROSPERITY OF JERUSALEM: True of Hezekiah’s reign (2Ch 32:27-30), but never really true thereafter.

Psa 128:6

MAY YOU LIVE TO SEE YOUR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN: As did Job (Job 42:16) and Joseph (Gen 50:23).

(NT) The numerous conversions in Jerusalem were really the work of Jesus, not Peter, etc (Act 2:41; 5:14; etc.)

PEACE BE UPON ISRAEL: Isa 39:8.

Psa 132:1

SUPERSCRIPTION: “A SONG OF ASCENTS”: Or “degrees” (AV).

Suggested outline: Vv 1,2: “Lord, remember David”; vv 3-9: David’s psalm — the ark in Zion; v 10: For David’s sake; vv 11-18: Commentary on David’s psalm.

Psa 132:2

HE SWORE AN OATH: Implied in 2Sa 7:2.

THE MIGHTY ONE OF JACOB: Quoting Gen 49:24, where “stone” ref the great stone (“sela”), on Ornan’s threshingfloor, on which the altar of burnt offering was built.

Add “saying” at the end of this verse (see Psa 9:12n).

Psa 132:3

Vv 3-5: How can David rest until he has prepared a permanent dwelling place for the Ark of God? (2Sa 7:2). Cp sentiment of Haggai (Hag 1:4,5).

Psa 132:5

PLACE: Heb “maqom”: commonly meaning a holy place, an altar, or sanctuary (Gen 22:3,4,9,14; 28:11-19; Deu 12:11-21; Psa 24:3; 26:8; Isa 60:13; 66:1).

Psa 132:6

WE HEARD ABOUT IT: The ark of God was the center of David’s hopes. Even as a youth, growing up in Bethlehem-Ephrathah (Gen 35:19; 48:7; Rth 4:11; Mic 5:2), he had heard of it in Shiloh (1Sa 1:3). He had known of its being carried away by the Philistines (1Sa 4:17), and its coming at last to Kirjath-jearim, where it abode 20 years (1Sa 6:21; 7:1,2).

EPHRATHAH: Bethlehem-Ephrathah.

WE CAME UPON IT…or FOUND IT: Suggests Saul allowed the Tabernacle to remain in obscurity and neglect.

JAAR: Kirjath-jearim.

Psa 132:7

FOOTSTOOL: // to “ark” in v 8 (cp Psa 99:5; Lam 2:1; 1Ch 28:2; Isa 60:13; 66:1).

Psa 132:8

ARISE, O LORD: The ancient battle-cry of Israel, uttered by Moses in the wilderness (Num 10:35,36). As David brought the ark to Zion, he sang, “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered” (2Sa 6:1). Similarly, Solomon at the Temple dedication (2Ch 6:41,42).

(NT) “Arise” = the resurrection (sw Mar 5:41), to a new priesthood!

Psa 132:9

MAY YOUR PRIESTS BE CLOTHED WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS: Saints to be kings and priests: Rev 5:10; cp Rev 19:8.

Psa 132:10

FOR THE SAKE OF DAVID YOUR SERVANT: Here starts Hezekiah’s psalm, modeled on David’s earlier one (vv 1-8). “For David’s sake” God had spared the kings of Judah and the nation itself (1Ki 11:12,13; 15:4; 2Ki 8:19,24-26), and Hezekiah was firmly convinced He would do it again.

Psa 132:11

Vv 11,12: Thus, Hezekiah remembers the great Davidic promise: 2Sa 7:8-17; 1Ch 17:7-17. Since at this time Hezekiah had no child (2Ki 20:8; Isa 39:7), the phrase “IF your sons…” (v 12) would have special significance for him!

ONE OF YOUR DESCENDANTS: “Of the fruit of thy body” (AV). The Heb is “belly” (AV mg), or more precisely “womb” (sw 2Sa 7:12). In other places, the standard promise is “out of thy loins”, emphasizing the male element in procreation. But here, although spoken to a man, the emphasis is on the female — hence the Virgin Birth! “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luk 1:42).

Psa 132:13

ZION: The city of David, the city of the great king (Mat 5:35): Chosen above all others (Psa 48:1,2; 68:16).

A NT doctrine also: Heb 12:22; Rev 14:1-3.

Psa 132:15

Vv 15-18: 6 allusions to the Sanctuary: the shewbread (v 15), the priests (16), choir (16), the horn of the altar (17), lampstand (17), and the high-priestly crown (18).

ABUNDANT PROVISIONS: Hezekiah’s “great store” (2Ch 31:10), by which Jerusalem was sustained during the Assyrian siege (cp Isa 33:16,20).

HER POOR WILL I SATISFY: Hezekiah’s jubilee? Isa 37:30,31.

WITH FOOD: Or “bread” (AV). The breaking of bread.

Psa 132:16

I WILL CLOTHE HER PRIESTS WITH SALVATION: …While Israel’s enemies are “clothed” with shame (v 18; Isa 37:36,37)!

Psa 132:17

HORN: Sym strength (Psa 18:2; 75:4,5,10; 89:17,24; 92:10; 112:9), and the strength of a man is revealed in his children (Gen 49:3; Jdg 8:21).

GROW: Or “sprout” or “bud”, suggesting the great “Branch” prophecies: Jer 23:5,6; Zec 3:8; 6:12 — applied to Christ: Luk 1:69.

A LAMP FOR MY ANOINTED ONE: Lamp = dignity, joy, prosperity (Psa 18:28; 2Sa 21:17). The continuation of the Davidic line: 1Ki 15:4; 2Ch 21:7; Isa 62:1.

(NT) Christ is the “light” of the world: Joh 8:12; likewise, his followers: Mat 5:14-16.