1 {To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} The king shall joy in thy strength, Jehovah; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice.
2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.
3 For thou hast met him with the blessings of goodness; thou hast set a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked life of thee; thou gavest [it] him, length of days for ever and ever.
5 His glory is great through thy salvation; majesty and splendour hast thou laid upon him.
6 For thou hast made him to be blessings for ever; thou hast filled him with joy by thy countenance.
7 For the king confideth in Jehovah: and through the loving-kindness of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Thy hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery furnace in the time of thy presence; Jehovah shall swallow them up in his anger, and the fire shall devour them:
10 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.
11 For they intended evil against thee; they imagined a mischievous device, which they could not execute.
12 For thou wilt make them turn their back; thou wilt make ready thy bowstring against their face.
13 Be thou exalted, Jehovah, in thine own strength: we will sing and celebrate thy power.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 21
Commentary on Psalms 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 21
Ps 21:1-13. The pious are led by the Psalmist to celebrate God's favor to the king in the already conferred and in prospective victories. The doxology added may relate to both Psalms; the preceding of petition, chiefly this of thanksgiving, ascribing honor to God for His display of grace and power to His Church in all ages, not only under David, but also under his last greatest successor, "the King of the Jews."
1. thy strength … thy salvation—as supplied by Thee.
2. The sentiment affirmed in the first clause is reaffirmed by the negation of its opposite in the second.
3. preventest—literally, "to meet here in good sense," or "friendship" (Ps 59:10; compare opposite, Ps 17:13).
blessings of goodness—which confer happiness.
crown of pure gold—a figure for the highest royal prosperity.
4-6. (Compare 2Sa 7:13-16). The glory and blessedness of the king as head of his line, including Christ, as well as in being God's specially selected servant, exceeded that of all others.
6. made him most blessed—or set him "to be blessings," as Abraham (Ge 12:2).
with thy countenance—by sight of thee (Ps 16:11), or by Thy favor expressed by the light of Thy countenance (Nu 6:25), or both.
7. The mediate cause is the king's faith, the efficient, God's mercy.
8. The address is now made to the king.
hand—denotes power, and
right hand—a more active and efficient degree of its exercise.
find out—reach, lay hold of, indicating success in pursuit of his enemies.
9. The king is only God's agent.
anger—literally, "face," as appearing against them.
as a fiery oven—as in it.
10. fruit—children (Ps 37:25; Ho 9:16).
11. This terrible overthrow, reaching to posterity, is due to their crimes (Ex 20:5, 6).
12. turn their back—literally, "place them [as to the] shoulder."
against the face of them—The shooting against their faces would cause them to turn their backs in flight.
13. The glory of all is ascribable to God alone.