Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 61:8
So will I sing praise unto thy name forever, that I may daily perform my vows.
8. The preservation of a life demands lifelong thanksgiving. Cp. Psa 50:14. If David is the speaker in Psa 61:6-7, the return to the first person in this resolution is entirely natural: otherwise the transition is harsh.
Very pathetic is the paraphrase of the Targum. “So will I pay my vows in the day of the redemption of Israel, even in the day when King Messiah is anointed to reign.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever – As the result of this gracious interposition. Compare the notes at Isa 38:20. The meaning is, that he would do this constantly. It would be the regular business of his life.
That I may daily perform my vows – The solemn promises which I have made in my exile; the purposes which I have expressed to devote myself to thee. Or, the language may have been used in a more general sense, denoting that, as a religious man, the vows of God were constantly on him, or that he had pledged himself to serve God faithfully and always, and that he could better perform this duty at the tabernacle – in the place consecrated to public worship – than he could in exile. He desired, therefore, to be restored to the sanctuary, that he might keep up the performance of the daily duties of religion without interruption or hindrance. The whole psalm indicates a fervent desire to be engaged in the worship and service of God; a desire to be with Him and to enjoy His favor on earth; a confident hope that he would be permitted to enjoy His presence forever.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 8. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever] For the benefits which I have received, and hope to receive endlessly from thee, I will to all perpetuity praise thee.
That I may daily perform my vows.] While I live, I shall yom, yom, “day by day,” each day as it succeeds, render to thee my vows – act according to what I have often purposed, and as often promised. The Chaldee ends remarkably: “Thus I will praise thy name for ever, when I shall perform my vows in the day of the redemption of Israel; and in the day in which the King Messiah shall be anointed, that he may reign.”
The ancient Jews were full of the expectation of the Messiah; the Jews of the present day have given up their hope.
ANALYSIS OF THE SIXTY-FIRST PSALM
The author of this Psalm prays and vows perpetual service to God. It is composed of two parts: –
I. His prayer, Ps 61:1-3.
II. His vow, Ps 61:4-8.
He begins with a prayer, in which he begs, –
1. Audience: “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer,” Ps 61:1.
2. The reason to enforce it.
1. He was in banishment, in the farther part of the land of Judah: “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee.”
2. He was in extremity: “When my heart is overwhelmed.”
3. For defence: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I;” that is, To some safe and defenced place to which my enemies may have no access, whither without thy help I cannot ascend.
And he adds a reason to this part of his prayer drawn from his own experience: “For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.”
His faith now presents him as delivered; and, therefore, he vows, –
1. “I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever.” I will return, and adore thee in thy temple.
2. “I will trust in the covert of thy wings.” He alludes to the cherubim, whose wings cover the ark.
And for this he assigns many reasons also: –
1. “For thou, O God, hast heard my vows,” i.e., my prayers.
2. “Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name; ” made me king over thy people, and more fully performed to me the promise made to Abraham, in the land of Canaan.
3. “Thou wilt prolong the king’s life.”
4. “And his years,” i.e., in his posterity, “as many generations;” of which the beginning of the next verse is the prediction. “He shall abide before God for ever.”
And now David, assuring himself of the crown, and that his posterity should inherit it, puts forth an earnest vote for that which should establish it: “O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him; i.e., me thy king;” for these two virtues, mercy, i.e., clemency, and truth, do commend a king, and make him dear to his subjects; for in the practice of these it is not possible that his government should be harsh, unjust, or tyrannical.
Which if it please God to bestow upon him, then he makes a new vow: “So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever.”
Though here this appears to be a new vow, yet he had vowed it before, and engaged to discharge; for in singing praise to God’s name, he should but pay what by vow he had often undertaken: “I will sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
That so I may pay unto thee those services and sacrifices which I vowed to thee when I was in trouble.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. Thus for new blessings willnew vows of praise ever be paid.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever,…. Or constantly; and not only in this world, but in that to come, for the favours before mentioned; for hearing his prayers; giving him a goodly heritage; prolonging the King’s life; and preparing mercy and truth to preserve him;
that I may daily perform vows; which is done by praising the Lord, giving him the glory of all mercies, as vowed and promised; see
Ps 50:14. The Targum adds,
“in the day of the redemption of Israel, and in the day that the King Messiah shall be anointed, that he may reign.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
8. So will I sing praise The particle “so” indicates the agreement of what follows with what precedes. As if he would say, In accordance with these my petitions and their gracious fulfilment, I will sing praise to thy name for ever, etc. Neither prayer nor the answer of prayer will avail anything if the response of our lives and thanksgivings be not in harmony therewith.
That I may daily perform my vows To the end, or with the aim, of performing my vows daily. Thus the goodly effect of all grace given, and all afflictions endured, shall culminate in a devout and obedient life.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 61:8. So will I sing praise, &c. Thus will I sound thy name for ever, when I pay my vows every day.
REFLECTIONS.In this psalm,
1. David looks up to God in his troubles; Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, to a place of present safety, but especially to the rock of ages, the promised Messiah, the hope of his afflicted people. Note; (1.) Wherever we are, a throne of grace is open; and the more we are removed from other means, the more diligent ought we to be in secret prayer. (2.) There is, blessed be God, a rock higher than we, on which if placed, we need not fear what earth or hell can do against us. (3.) Every day we need cry to God, to fix us more securely on this sure foundation, Jesus Christ.
2. From past experience he is encouraged to expect present help. Thou hast been a shelter, or a covert for me, and a strong tower from the enemy; therefore, in humble hope of the same needful protection, I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever; now taking refuge under thy protection, hoping shortly to return to thy tabernacle in Sion, and by and by to go to that heavenly hill, where God’s glory is ever visible to his saints; and I will trust in the covert of thy wings, confident of safety there, when every prospect around me is most dark and threatening. Note; (1.) We should often remember what God has done for us, as an argument to encourage our hearts to hope for greater mercies. (2.) They are safe, whom God’s almighty power keeps under his wing. (3.) If we abide faithful and constant in his worship and service below, we may comfortably look forward to an eternal mention in his better tabernacle above.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
PRECIOUS Lord Jesus! let the reading of this sweet Psalm be so accompanied with thy grace, that it may incline my soul to be cleaving closer and closer to thee, my God, in all the exercises of my warfare. Surely, Lord, it is good to be brought low, nay, to be overwhelmed in myself and all surrounding circumstances, if, from the multitude of oppressions, my soul is constrained to see thy blessedness, and to have my heart more earnestly directed towards thee. And oh! thou holy, blessed Spirit, do thou, I beseech thee, most gracious God, lead me amidst all those waves which would overpower me; lead me to the Rock that is higher than I. Jesus is my Rock, where, among the inhabitants, I would forever sing. In him I would rest; on him I would forever dwell: to him would I daily perform my vows, and make mention of his righteousness, even his righteousness only. And as I would come to thee, thou ever full and ever gracious Saviour, as I came the first day, poor and needy, so let the continued supplies of thy grace only endear thee the more, and make me the more sensible of my wretchedness without thee. Be thou, indeed, all in all, and as thou art the all of everything that is blessed to thy people, so be thou all my blessedness and all my joy, and glory, now and forever. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 61:8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
Ver. 8. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever ] Conclusio votiva. Praise is so pleasing a service to God, that he indented with his people for it, Psa 50:15 , and they, knowing his mind therein, do usually restipulate that they will perform it; as holding it the least that they in conscience can do, and knowing it the most that they are able to do. They present it, therefore, to God, as that Grecian did his small gift to Augustus, saying, E , If I had a better thing I could well beteem it thee.
That I may daily perform my vows
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
To the chief Musician. See App-64.
to = for.
Jeduthun. A precentor appointed by David, by name Ethan (see App-65), afterward called Jeduthun = confession (1Ch 15:17-19; 1Ch 16:41; 1Ch 25:1-6). Other Jeduthun Psalms are Psalm 38 and Psalm 76; in all three “vows” find a place.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
sing: Psa 30:12, Psa 79:13, Psa 145:1, Psa 145:2, Psa 146:2
that I: Psa 65:1, Psa 66:13-16
Reciprocal: Gen 28:20 – vowed Lev 22:18 – vows
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
3. Promise of praise 61:8
When God would deliver him, David would praise God with song and continue to pay his vowed offerings regularly in the future.
Believers can confidently petition God for deliverance on the basis of His promises and His former faithfulness. These resources can give strength when we feel vulnerable and alone.