Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 3:8
Salvation [belongeth] unto the LORD: thy blessing [is] upon thy people. Selah.
8. Salvation ] R.V. marg. victory unduly limits the thought, though no doubt it is the particular form in which David desires to see Jehovah’s saving power manifested. ‘Save’ is the constant prayer, ‘salvation’ the constant desire, of the Psalmists. The Hebrew words thus rendered denote primarily enlargement, liberation from a state of confinement and distress, power to move freely and at will, and so deliverance generally. Such deliverance comes from Jehovah alone: it is eagerly sought as the proof of His favour. It is, mainly at least, temporal and material, and is looked for in this life; for in the O.T. this life is the sphere of God’s dealings with His people. But the word grows with the growth of revelation, till it gains an inexhaustible fulness of spiritual meaning in the N.T.
thy blessing is upon thy people ] Rather as R.V., thy blessing be upon thy people. This prayer reveals the noble heart of the true king, to whom the welfare of his people is more than his own personal safety. Like Him of whom he was the type, he intercedes on behalf of the rebels, for ‘thy people’ cannot be limited to the loyal few. The whole nation is still Jehovah’s people, though they have been misled into revolt against His king. As the sequel shewed, the revolt was the work of a party, not of the nation (2Sa 19:9).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord – That is, it pertains to God alone to save. The psalmist had no expectation of saving himself; he had no confidence in the unaided prowess of his own arm. If he was to be saved he felt that it was to be only by God, and the praise of this was to be given to Him. The particular reference here is to temporal deliverance, or deliverance from the dangers which surrounded him then; but the declaration is as true of spiritual deliverance – of the salvation of the soul – as it is of deliverance from temporal danger. In both cases it is true that God only saves, and that all the praise is due to him.
Thy blessing is upon thy people – Or perhaps, rather, thy blessing be upon thy people, regarding this as a prayer rather than an affirmation. It is true, indeed, as an affirmation (compare Psa 2:12); but it accords better with the connection here, and is a more appropriate conclusion of the psalm to regard it as a petition, expressing an earnest desire that the blessing of God might ever rest upon his own people. Then the thoughts of the psalmist are turned away from his own perils to the condition of others; from his individual case to that of the Church at large; and he prays that all others may find the same favors from God which he had so richly enjoyed, and which he hoped still to enjoy. It is one of the characteristics of true piety thus to turn from our own condition to that of others, and to desire that what we enjoy may be partaken of by the people of God everywhere.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 3:2; Psa 3:4; Psa 3:8
Selah.
Stop and think
That seems to sum up the several meanings of the word Selah. Some say it is a direction to the musicians to play an interlude while the singers ceased; some regard it as a direction to the players to stop and tune their instruments. Others see an injunction to raise heart and voice, harp and organ, to their fullest capacity. Others see a reference to eternity, as if one interposed, World without end, Amen! Many regard the word as equivalent to certain well-known signs in music, bidding you turn back and repeat. In any case, it is as if a solemn rock (sela) stood right across our path, bidding us stop and think. On the ground of this injunction meet all meanings, however divergent they seem. No help for him in God. Stop and think. Selah looks forward as well as back. God has been a shield for David; He can also lift up his head once more, and invest him with glory, the sunshine of the Divine countenance. For us who conduct the services of Gods house, Selah has a message. It bids the preacher rightly divide the word of truth. It bids him compare truth with truth, bringing out things new and old, and fixing each in its most telling place. It says–tune your hearts, voices, instruments. Seek inspiration, do justice to the Divine message and the gospel song, so that with holy passion, and sacred emphasis, and heart-felt pathos you shall lead our hearts to God, and incite our minds to things eternal. (Michael Eastwood.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psa 3:8
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.
Thanksgiving after peace
I. The meaning of this sentiment. The words carry a general confession of the influence of Divine Providence upon every event, and in particular with respect to salvation, or deliverance from impending danger. The words imply three things.
1. All confidence in man stands opposed to the sentiment. It is not opposed to the use of means, but to an excessive reliance on second causes of any kind. Success in any attempt is to be ultimately attributed to God.
2. The Psalmist had in view the omnipotence of Providence. God has not only the direction and government of means and second causes, but is Himself superior to all means. Salvation signifies a great and distinguished deliverance.
3. The sentiment has respect to the mercy and goodness of God, or His readiness to hear the cry of the oppressed and send deliverance to His people. Power and wisdom alone give an imperfect display of the Divine character.
II. Divine providence in dealing with the united states of america. In conclusion, some practical improvement of the subject.
1. It is our duty to give praise to God for the present happy and promising state of public affairs.
2. We should testify our gratitude to God by living in His fear, and by a conversation such as becometh the gospel.
3. And by usefulness in our several stations. Let us guard against using our liberty as a cloak for licentiousness, and thus poisoning the blessing after we have attained it. (T. Witherspoon, D. D.)
God the Author of salvation
This will be seen if we consider–
I. The work of the Father in devising it.
1. Adam fell by his own sin, and so involved all posterity.
2. Thus all needed salvation; and.
3. Gods flee grace devised it.
II. The incarnation and atonement of Christ, the Son of God, which executed it.
III. The work of the Holy Ghost in applying it. For of ourselves we cannot repent and believe. And yet unless we do we are lost. It is the Holy Spirit that brings us into a state of grace. (T. Myers, A. M.)
Thy blessing is upon Thy people.—
Blessings
At the Mint a piece of gold is put under the stamp, and in the twinkling of an eye the machine descends and the gold becomes a sovereign. So when we see that God is our Father, and that He in Christ died for us, then in a moment, like the stamp on the gold, we receive the witness of the Holy Spirit. The gold bears the stamp of the a the image and blessing of God.
I. What is a blessing? Not merely when we have what we wish, but far more when we do not wish what we have not.
II. The greatest blessing is to know that we have the Lord for our Father.
III. It is a great blessing when we can live temperately. What a curse is drunkenness.
IV. Is not the Bible a blessing? An infidel said one day, There is only one thing that troubles me: I am afraid the Bible is true. But what a blessing that it is so. When Sir Walter Scott lay dying he requested a friend to help him into his library, so that he could look out from the window on the river Tweed. Then he asked for something to be read to him. His friend said, What book shall I select? Sir Walter replied, Can you ask? There is but one–the Bible. Is this book a blessing to you?
V. The Lord gives His people the blessing of being able to trust Him. In the darkness of night you may strike a match and try to light the candle, but you must first take off the extinguisher. And so you cannot feel happy while you keep on the extinguisher of doubt over your heart. How blessed it is to trust in God.
VI. What a blessing to know that Jesus died for us. (William Birch.)
Gods blessing, and the way to gain it
I. What is Gods blessing? Given an occasion upon which we are called upon to write on paper our idea of the Divine blessing: hand me the papers and I will examine them: shall I find in a thousand instances upwards of nine hundred that will run after this fashion?–Gods blessing is sunshine, music, prosperity, deliverance from all affliction, distress, fear; Gods blessing is on the house where there is no vacant chair, upon the fold where there is no dead lamb, upon the estate where there is no covered grave. So your papers would read, and so would they be wrong. Gods blessing may be upon a man without any sense of external sunshine. The clouds do not alter the month. There may be dark clouds upon a June noonday, but it is still June, the sun is still warm, summer is still on the eve of coming upon us, with all its countless flowers and all its ineffable music. Gods blessing does not mean exemption from pain; nor does Gods discipline mean mere penalty. Gods blessing is not a sleeping draught but an inspiration. If you are asleep when you ought to be awake do not say, This is the blessing of God. Gods blessing, I repeat, is not an opiate; it is an inspiration, an excitement, a voice in the soul that says, Onward!
II. How are we to know that the blessing is on us? Easily; there need be no difficulty about that. When you feel that you must do more work, Gods blessing is upon you. Be sure of that confidence. When you want to be idle, God has withdrawn from you because you have withdrawn from Him. When are we to know that Gods blessing is upon us? I will tell you: when you feel that you must help other people more liberally than you have ever done; not when you tie your purse strings, but when you open them is Gods blessing on you. You have done nothing yet; I have done nothing yet. It is the crime of the Church that it has played with its responsibilities. We are always compounding with God, we are always filing our bill in the chancery court of heaven, and asking God to accept a penny in the pound. Do not close your eyes under such circumstances and say, This is the comfort of grace. When you feel that you must go four-and-twenty hours in the day in doing good, Gods blessing is upon you. Of course, nature will say, Lie down, poor child, and rest awhile, because time spent in sleep is time spent in true labour; thou shalt in sleep recover thine energy, and do ten fold more because of a good nights rest. But when the first thought is work, and the middle thought is work, and the last thought is work, then say, Thy blessing is upon Thy people; this is no longer an inspiration but a fact accomplished.
III. We cannot arrange for the Divine blessing. Do not accept the sophism that the Divine blessing can be used as an element in speculation or investment. The Divine blessing comes as the wheat comes: it comes after ripping up the earth, sowing it, preparing it, and after a long process, it may be, of waiting; so it comes not by itself but as the final mark in a series, as the blessing upon a process. When the golden wheat swings in the autumnal wind and throws back the autumnal sunlight, all the seasons of the year seem to culminate in that one motion. Winter is there, because winter gave the earth its hospitality of sleep; spring is there, and summer is there, and autumn is there: in that golden wheat the four seasons of the year hold harmonious festival. Some have not begun yet to do anything. When the lists are made out our names will not be upon them. The first shall be last and the last shall lie first. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The blessing of God
I. Gods special relation in the world. Thy people. The king of a nation and the father of a family hold peculiar relations
II. From Gods special relation spring special benefits. Thy blessing. The ruler of a people, from his position and power, holds in his hands benefits which are for his nation alone. A loving father has a peculiar regard for the welfare of his own family. Israel enjoyed benefits that were not extended to other nations.
III. The benefits springing from the special relation must be sought by prayer. Spiritual blessings are obtained only by prayer. The Apostles had a definite promise given to them of the Holy Ghost, yet they were commanded to pray for His descent (Act 1:4-14). So in the individual life (Luk 11:18). (William Harris.)
The best inheritance
This was the confidence and comfort of the Psalmist when deprived of earthly friends and earthly comforts. The more we know of the power of sin, the more we shall prize the sovereignty of God.
I. The nature of this blessing which is upon the people of God. All the blessedness they have is by Christ Jesus the Lord; and to understand the blessing we must look to the Lord Jesus Christ. As there was a fourfold curse pronounced upon the serpent, you will find the very reverse relative to the Lord Jesus Christ and His people.
1. The serpent was to go upon his belly. While the enemy is condemned in all that he does, the Lord Jesus Christ is justified in all that He does. The Lord Jesus felt that all He thought, and all He did, and all He said was right. He felt that He had no sin of His own. He enjoys the consciousness that all He has done and does is right, and we in Him get rid of all our sins, guilt, and fears, and rest not in a consciousness of our fleshly, personal, legal right, but in a consciousness of the righteousness of Christ, the efficacy of His great salvation, the eternity of His glory. Draw a line of distinction between a moral reality and a spiritual reality. Moral reality is good, and a good principle to act upon among men; but if I go to eternal things I must go beyond this–I must come to the reality of atoning blood, I must come to the reality of saving grace.
2. The enemy was to eat dust. This is to be understood figuratively. As for the enemy, and all that are with him, their attainments shall be all perishable–shall be but dust. Was the Lord Jesus to feed upon perishable things? No. His meat His attainments are imperishable, His honours incorruptible, His glories inimitable, His grandeur indescribable. While He lived in this world He lived upon immortal things. He is with us in these infinite provisions, in opposition to that destitution, that famine, that state of misery which we deserve. The blessing overcomes a great curse. While dust shall be the serpents meat, our bread shall be royal dainties.
3. The serpent was to be cast out. There was to be enmity between him and the woman, and between his seed and her seed. They should come together, and one or the other must prevail. The prince of this world is cast out.
4. The serpents head should be bruised. Here is the confusion, the defeat, of all his plans. But can confusion ever reach the infinite mind of Jehovah-Jesus?
II. The progression of this blessing. It has been progressive from age to age; and nothing has met with so much opposition. Look at some typical circumstances and watch the progression. Cases of Joseph, David, Mordecai, the Redeemer Himself. See the progress in two individual cases, that of Jeremiah and that of Paul. There is this difference between providence, and grace. Grace is progressive, but providence is retrogressive. The fruit we had last year is gone, but the grace we had when the world was created we have now. None of it passes away.
III. The continuation of the blessing. This originates chiefly in the manner of it. There is no way in which anything contrary to it can enter into the vitals of this blessing, or into the union which the people have with Christ, to affect that union. If you look behind them there is mercy behind them from everlasting. If you look at what is before them, it is eternal life, eternal salvation, eternal glory. So that from the very manner of this blessing no curse can come in. (James Wells.)
The people of God
I. The people. The children of Israel were, in a national sense, the people of God. But were they so individually? It is not the name of Christian that can stamp us the people of God. It is in a personal, and not merely in a national or ecclesiastical sense, that Gods people are an elect people.
II. This people are a purchased people. What shall be the price paid down for that spiritual people, the Church of the firstborn? We are redeemed, not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the blood of Christ.
III. The people are a voluntary people. They do not follow God reluctantly, as did the literal Israel. Everyone can say with David, I have chosen the way of truth.
IV. A holy people (Deu 14:2). The sanctity of Israel was only external and relative; only a type of the purity of the invisible Church. The whole body of the people of whom we speak are holy in an internal and personal sense (Joh 1:13; 1Jn 3:24).
V. A people valued and beloved. We value the objects of our choice because we have chosen them. Gods blessing is on the people themselves, and on their allotments, enjoyments, and even their afflictions, and their labours and connections. (T. Kennion, M. A.)
Trust in Gods overrule
Dr. Stewart of Moulin said, I remember an old pious very recluse minister whom I used to meet once a year. He scarcely ever looked at a newspaper. When others were talking about the French Revolution he showed no concern or curiosity about it. He said he knew from the Bible how it would all end, better than the most sagacious politician: that the Lord reigns; that the earth shall be filled with His glory; that the gospel should be preached to all nations; that all subordinate events are working out these great ends. This was enough for him, and he gave himself no concern about the news or events of the day, only saying, It will be well with the righteous..
Psa 4:1-8
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord] It is God alone who saves. He is the fountain whence help and salvation come; and to him alone the praise of all saved souls is due. His blessing is upon his people. Those who are saved from the power and the guilt of sin are his people. His mercy saved them; and it is by his blessing being continually upon them, that they continue to be saved. David adds his selah here also: mark this!
1. Salvation comes from God.
2. Salvation is continued by God.
These are great truths; mark them!
ANALYSIS OF THE THIRD PSALM
The occasion of this Psalm was Absalom’s rebellion. David being deserted by his subjects, railed on by Shimei, pursued for his crown and life by his ungracious son, and not finding to whom to make his moan, betakes himself to his God; and before him he expostulates his wrong, confesses his faith, and makes his prayer.
There are three strains of this accurate Psalm: I. His complaint. II. The confession of his confidence. III. His petition.
I. He begins with a sad and bitter complaint, amplified,
1. By the number and multitude of his enemies. They were many, very many; they were multiplied and increased: “All Israel was gathered together from Dan to Beer-sheba, as the sand of the sea for multitude;” 2Sa 17:11.
2. From their malice they came together to do him mischief. They rose up, not for him, but against him; not to honour, but to trouble him; not to defend him as they ought, but to take away his crown and life; 2Sa 17:2.
3. From their insults and sarcasm. It was not Shimei only, but many, that said it: “Many – say there is no help for him in his God.”
II. The second part of the Psalm sets forth David’s confidence: –
1. To their multitude, he opposeth ONE GOD. But THOU, O LORD!
2. To their malicious insurrection, Jehovah; who, he believed, 1. Would be a buckler to receive all the arrows shot against him. 2. His glory, to honour, though they went about to dishonour, him. 3. The lifter up of his head, which they wished to lay low enough.
3. To their vain boast of desertion, There is no help for him in his God, he opposeth his own experience, “I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me.”
4. By whose protection being sustained and secured, he deposes all care and fear, all anxiety and distraction. 1. He sleeps with a quiet mind: “I laid me down and slept, I awoke.” 2. He sings a requiem: “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people, that have set themselves against me round about.”
III. In the close, or third part, he petitions and prays, notwithstanding his security: “Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!” To move God to grant his request, he thankfully reminds him of what he had done before: –
1. “Arise and save me, for thou hast smitten all mine enemies.” Thou art the same God: do then the same work; be as good to thy servant as ever thou hast been.
2. He inserts an excellent maxim: Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. As if he had said, It is thy property and prerogative to save. If thou save not, I expect it from none other.
3. Lastly, as a good king should, in his prayers he remembers his subjects. He prayed for those who were using him despitefully: Thy blessing be upon thy people! To the same sense, Coverdale, in his translation.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I expect not salvation from my forces, but from thy power and favour alone.
Thy blessing is, or rather, let it be, (so he closeth with a prayer,)
upon thy people; either upon my friends and followers, who alone are thy people, the rest being rebels to thee as well as to me; or, upon all thy people Israel, to preserve my friends, to convince and convert mine enemies, and to save the body of the nation, which without thy mercy are likely by this civil war to be brought to utter ruin.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. An ascription of praise to adelivering God, whose favor is an efficient benefit.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Salvation [belongeth] unto the Lord,…. As the author of it; temporal salvation is of him; all the deliverances of the saints out of their troubles are from him; and to him is owing their spiritual and eternal salvation; this belongs to Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit: Jehovah the Father resolved upon it, chose men to it from everlasting, contrived the scheme of it in his infinite wisdom, made a covenant with his Son, in which he secured it, and appointed him to be the author of it, and sent him in the fulness of time to effect it; and Christ the Son of God, being qualified for it, being mighty to save, came into this world for that purpose, and is become the author of eternal salvation; his own arm has brought it to him, though there were many difficulties in the way; such as fulfilling the law, satisfying justice, making an end of sin, grappling with all the powers of darkness, and undergoing an accursed death: and the Spirit of God, he makes men sensible of their need of this salvation; he brings it near to them, and works faith in them to lay hold upon it, and shows them their interest in it; and in consequence of all this the glory of salvation belongs to the Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit, and should be given to the Father as the contriver of it, to the Son as the author of it, and to the Spirit as the applier of it; see Re 7:10;
thy blessing [is] upon thy people; or it may be considered prayer wise, let “thy blessing [be] upon thy people” b; either upon those that were on the side of David, or on those, as others interpret it, who had imprudently joined themselves to Absalom; which latter sense, if right, shows in what a divine frame and disposition of mind the psalmist was, to pray for his enemies: or the words are an assertion, that the blessing of the Lord was come upon his covenant people, and does descend upon them as they are called by grace; even all spiritual blessings, the blessings of a justifying righteousness, of pardon of sin, of reconciliation and peace by the blood of Christ, of adoption, and of eternal life; the blessing of grace, and the blessing of glory.
Selah; on this word, [See comments on Ps 3:2].
b “sit benedictio tua”, Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius, Gejerus, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Because ל is sometimes used by the Hebrews for מך Min, some not improperly translate this clause, Salvation is of the Lord. I, however consider the natural and obvious meaning to be simply this, that salvation or deliverance is only in the hands of God. By these words, David not only claims the office and praise of saving for God alone, tacitly opposing his power to all human succor; but also declares, that although a thousand deaths hang over his people, yet this cannot render God unable to save them, or prevent him from speedily sending forth without any effort, the deliverance which he is always able to impart. In the end of the psalm, David affirms that this was vouchsafed, not so much to him as an individual, as to the whole people, that the universal Church, whose welfare depended on the safety and prosperity of his kingdom, might be preserved from destruction. David, therefore, acknowledges the dispersion of this wicked conspiracy to have been owing to the care which God had about the safety of his Church. From this passage we learn, that the Church shall always be delivered from the calamities which befall her, because God who is able to save her, will never withdraw his grace and blessing from her.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) Thy blessing . . .Rather, let thy blessing be upon thy people. It is not the statement of a fact, but an intercessory prayer. The true Shepherd of His people was a noble and generous man. This close, as Ewald says, throws a bright light on the depth of his noble soul.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord Literally, to Jehovah (is) the salvation. The Hebrew is peculiarly expressive of Jehovah’s sole and sovereign possession and right of disposal of the blessings of the national covenant. No political combinations, no party uprisings of the people, can selfishly engross them.
Thy people Not the entire Hebrew nation, “for they are not all Israel which are of Israel,” but those true hearted of the nation who abide faithful to the covenant and the spirit of the theocracy. The spiritual application of this beautiful psalm to struggling individual faith in all ages is apparent.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 3:8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord, &c. This should rather be rendered, Salvation be unto the Lord; thy blessing be unto thy people: It shews David’s generosity of heart, thus to become an intercessor for the prosperity of his people, many of whom had engaged in support of the unnatural rebellion of his son.
REFLECTIONS.1st, David, in deep distress, is here flying from his unnatural son; and, as human help failed him, his heart looks up to God; the greatness of his trials could not so discompose his spirit, as to interrupt his communion with the father; nor his danger, however imminent, sink him into despair. We have here,
1. The complaint of the suffering David poured forth into the bosom of the compassionate God: not that he wants our prayers to inform him, but he will be thus inquired of. Many were his foes; the revolt was general, and he, a fugitive, driven from his capital; his cause, to appearance, desperate; and his enemies triumphant and insulting, as if God had forsaken him, and either, as they blasphemously suggested, could not or would not succour him. The sufferings of the Son of David, in the same place, were greater still; betrayed by one disciple, denied by another, forsaken by all; the multitude thirsting for his blood; seized, condemned, insulted, mocked, scourged, crucified; and while he hung upon the bloody tree, he heard the blasphemy of the multitude, deriding his confidence, as utterly forsaken of his God. Such enemies also every faithful follower of Jesus must expect; many within, many without, seeking to trouble his repose, and shake his confidence in God: a frowning world will threaten, a tempting devil suggest distressing doubts and fears, and an unbelieving heart be ready to despond: but, through divine grace, he rises superior to his fears, rejects the dishonourable thought, and rests his hope secure upon the Divine protection.
2. The Psalmist professes his unshaken confidence in God, notwithstanding all his foes: the higher the storm of temptation blew, the deeper his faith took root in God. Thou art a shield for me, to protect me from the impending danger, to quench the fiery darts, which my insulting foes hurl against me; and, safe under thy shadow, I shall rest from fear of evil. My glory; the author of all the greatness to which he had been advanced; and still, in his low estate, in God’s salvation he would glory, confident of his restoration: and the lifter-up of mine head, though now bowed downthrough outward troubles. Thus Jesus, covered with the shield of the Almighty, was rescued from the hand of his persecutors; foiled the temptations of the wicked one; rose superior to all his sufferings; was glorified by his Father in his resurrection, ascension, and session at the right hand of Majesty on high; and now is lifted up above all his enemies to reign till they are for ever put under his feet.
2nd, The Psalmist had often sweet experience, how good it was for him to draw near to God; for he ever heareth the prayer of the poor destitute: and, as faith encourages the voice of prayer, prayer reciprocally confirms and strengthens our confidence in God. We have here,
1. The application which David made to God, and the answer of peace that he received: I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. The eagerness of his cry spoke the fervour of his heart; and God heard him with favourable acceptance, out of his holy hill, the mount Sion, where he had chosen his residence: Thither the ark had been sent by David on his flight; but the God of the ark was with him, to hear and help him. The great Redeemer thus, in the days of the flesh, with strong crying and tears, presented his supplications, and was strengthened; and every faithful soul has a thousand times experienced the support derived from effectual fervent prayer, and known, by unquestionable evidence, that there is a God who heareth prayer.
2. The effect of the divine answer from God was, rest and peace. Though in the midst of danger from open enemies and suspected friends, I laid me down and slept: I awaked; for the Lord sustained me. No terrors disturb his repose; that guardian whom he trusted sweetly closed his eyes, and he awaked, safe and refreshed, to see the welcome light of the returning morn. Thus Jesus slept in the grave; and, after a short night, awaked on the morning of the resurrection-day, as a giant refreshed with wine: and does not every believer experience the same divine protection; having commended himself into the arms of Jesus, he lays in peace his head upon his pillow; while conscious terrors haunt the bosom of the guilty, and trouble their repose, his sleep is sweet to him, and he awakes refreshed and comforted, ready for the duties of the returning day, thankful for God’s mercies, and, from what he has already received, encouraged to trust for what is yet to come. May I ever so lie down, O Lord, in peace and prayer; and when I wake up, may I be still with thee!
3. He expresses his confident trust in God. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. His enemies were on every side; his forces few; himself especially struck at, and for his blood they thirsted: but since faith has seen a covenant God, fear is silenced; and his prayers are the more earnest, for that his faith did not supersede his supplications, but encouraged them. And as God had so often smitten his enemies upon the cheek-bone, and broken the teeth of the ungodly, both covered them with reproach, and disabled them from hurting him, he doubted not but the same mercy would still follow him. The Son of David exercised still greater faith, and fearlessly met his more furious foes, confounded their devices, and turned them to their own destruction. By dying he destroyed death, and him that had the power of it, that is the devil: and in him, and by him, his faithful people also are made more than conquerors; while all the combined powers of Satan, the world, and sin, are kept from hurting them; and, as the answer to their repeated prayers, they behold the salvation of God.
4. The Psalmist gratefully ascribes the praise of all to God: salvation of every kind, temporal or spiritual, belongeth unto the Lord; he is the great author and finisher of it, and to him alone the glory is due. And thy blessing is upon thy people: he is willing as he is able to save them to the uttermost; and his promises have bound him to those who cleave to him in simple faith, to help them in every time of need; for he hath said to such, I will never leave nor forsake thee: blessed then surely are the people who are in such a case.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
See Reader what a blessed joyful conclusion! What could open more gloomy and discouraging than this Psalm did! What can end more triumphant and joyful! But do not fail to trace the whole to its source. Salvation is of God. Yes! Jesus saith, Mine own arm brought salvation, and of the people there was none with me. Isa 63:3-5 . Oh! Lord! suffer me never to rob my God of his glory, by mingling anything of my wretchedness with the finished redemption of my Saviour. Lord Jesus do thou have all the praise, for thou alone art able to bear the glory. Zec 6:12-13 .
REFLECTIONS
CAN I, my soul, read this Psalm of David’s distresses in his flight from Absalom, and not behold David’s Lord in his agonies and conflicts, the very same spot of the Mount of Olives? Must I not suppose that the Holy Ghost was shadowing forth in the instance of David, as in numberless other cases, in the trials and afflictions of the faithful, in the Old Testament scripture, the outlines of the Lord of his church, to be brought forward in the after ages of the New? And shall not such scenes, which the Lord of life and glory passed through in the days of his flesh, when enduring the contradiction of sinners against himself, endear the Lamb of God to my heart, and animate me in all my exercises, that I may never be weary nor faint in my mind?
Learn, my soul, from what is said of David in this Psalm, what a holy composure, faith in God’s love, and dependence upon God’s grace, is capable of inducing under the most afflicting circumstances. It should seem that David meditated this Psalm, if he did not immediately write it down, when he was in such a situation of hurry and confusion, as was enough to have discomposed the stoutest mind. And so it would, had not the Lord been his shield, his glory, and the lifter up of his head. Oh I precious Jesus! do I not learn from hence, that the only security and defense against all danger is the leaning upon thee and thy great salvation. Oh! Lord, let the arm of thy strength be under me, and the light of thy countenance shining upon me, and then will I not fear though ten thousands set themselves against me round about.
Reader! behold from the perusal of this sweet and blessed Psalm, what must be your confidence now in your nightly slumbers, and what alone will be your confidence then, when laying down in the long slumber of the grave; even sleeping in Jesus. You need not be afraid in the recurrence of every night to drop asleep, if so be your soul is sustained by its union with Jesus. And a consciousness of the same interest in all that belongs to Jesus, will be the well grounded security, when the body falls asleep in Jesus unto the day of the resurrection. Everything speaks in the language of a covenant God, as the Lord did to the Patriarch: fear not to go down into Egypt, even the Egypt of the grave, for I am with thee. Blessed Jesus! it is thou, that by thy death hast overcome death, and made the grave a sweet chamber of repose, until thou shalt call upon thy members to arise at the great day of everlasting joy. Then thou shalt call and I will answer thee, for thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“Thy blessing is upon thy people.” Psa 3:8
The reading should be, “Let thy blessing be upon thy people.” The Psalmist is not stating a fact, he is rather praying for the Church. David’s was a pastoral soul. A fine tone of solicitude runs through all his supplications and desires. But that which is literally a prayer may at the same time be also a fact, and in this case is proved to be so. Taking the text therefore as a fact, we are reminded that God has a “people,” a community specifically his own; the reference is not to the total humanity, but to humanity specialised and set apart, humanity sanctified. By God’s “blessing” we are not to understand a merely external sunshine, a light which floods the path and makes the physical man radiant: we are rather to understand a light that fills the soul with morning, and that gives promise of a nightless day. When God’s blessing is upon a man it does not follow that the man is relieved from chastisement. The contrary doctrine is distinctly laid down in Scripture, “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” A man often scourges his own child when he would not scourge another, simply because the child is his own, and he has the child’s advantage at heart. No one can come into the church for the sake of the blessing. Then would church communion become a kind of commercial relationship. We do not come for the blessing; we get the blessing in coming. God’s blessing is often a discipline; we do not set down on some green knoll and contemplate the landscape, nor do we bury ourselves in velvet sward and look up to the blue sky with the poet’s contemplativeness; because the blessing of God is upon us we are to arise and pursue, we are to take the prey with a strong hand, and to show ourselves skilful workmen in the Lord’s service. The Lord’s blessing is therefore an inspiration as well as a benediction. Know that the blessing of God is upon you when you are going to do more work. Be sure that the divine blessing is resting largely and lovingly on you when you feel you must give away your substance with both hands that poverty may be relieved and that knowledge may be increased on the earth. When you are inclined to shut yourself up in elegant solitude, and to contemplate all life from a distance which deprives it of vividness, be quite sure that the blessing of the Lord is withdrawn from you. God’s blessing is not set upon people with the view of discouraging others, but with the view of encouraging them towards divine fellowship and divine confidence.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Psa 3:8 Salvation [belongeth] unto the LORD: thy blessing [is] upon thy people. Selah.
Ver. 8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord ] Here is much in few. Fulgentius saith, that the most golden sentence is ever measured by brevity and suavity. Brevis et suavis, planeque aurea est haec sententia. Salvation in the full extent of it (and it is very comprehensive) is of the Lord. It properly denoteth the privative part of man’s happiness, freedom from evils and enemies of all sorts. But it importeth the positive part also, fruition of all good; and all is from the Lord, he alone is the chief efficient, and author of all, the true sospitator, the S , which, saith Cicero (Acts iv. in Verr.), is a word so emphatic, that other tongues can hardly find another word fit to express it. See Trapp on “ Jon 2:9 “
Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah
Selah
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Salvation = deliverance, same word as “help”, Psa 3:2.
Thy blessing is = Thy blessing hast been, and wilt be: i.e. whatever may happen to me. In this spirit he sends back the Ark (2Sa 15:25.
Selah. Connecting Psalm 3 with Psalm 4, which has the same subject. See App-66.
To the chief Musician. See App-64.
Neginoth = smitings; from nagan, to strike, as on strings. See App-65. Here the reference is to the smitings with words in Psalm3, as in Lam 3:63 (compare Job 30:9. Lam 3:14). Compare the other Neginoth Psalms: Psa 3:2; Psa 5:6; Psa 53:1; Psa 54:3; Psa 60:1, Psa 60:11, Psa 60:12; Psa 66:10-12; Psa 75:4-6 (Compare Psa 77:7, Isa 38:20, and Hab 3:19).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Salvation: Psa 37:39, Psa 37:40, Pro 21:31, Isa 43:11, Isa 45:21, Isa 45:22, Jer 3:23, Hos 13:4, Jon 2:9, Act 4:12, Rev 7:10, Rev 19:1
thy blessing: Psa 29:11, Psa 72:17, Act 3:26, Eph 1:3, Heb 6:14, 1Pe 3:9
Reciprocal: Exo 14:13 – see the Jdg 15:18 – Thou hast given 1Sa 17:45 – in the name 2Sa 19:5 – saved 2Sa 23:12 – the Lord Psa 3:2 – Selah Psa 5:12 – bless Psa 27:1 – salvation Psa 115:15 – blessed Dan 3:29 – because Mat 19:26 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 3:8. Salvation belongeth unto God I expect not salvation from my counsels or forces, but from thy power and favour alone. Thy blessing is Or rather, let it be; upon thy people Either upon my friends and followers, who alone are thy people, the rest being rebels to thee as well as to me; or upon all thy people Israel, to preserve my friends, to convince and convert my enemies, and to save the body of the nation, which, without thy mercy, are likely, by this civil war, to be brought to utter ruin.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3:8 {d} Salvation [belongeth] unto the LORD: thy blessing [is] upon thy people. Selah.
(d) No matter how great or many the dangers may be, yet God always has ways to deliver his.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The conclusion contains a testimony from the writer that should serve as a lesson to the reader (cf. Jon 2:9), and a final prayer. In view of the content of this psalm, the blessing on God’s people that David may have had in mind could be rescue from their enemies when they call on Him.
This encouraging psalm teaches us that when God’s elect call on Him for deliverance from enemies who are behaving contrary to the will of God, they can count on His salvation.