Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 75:9
But I will declare forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
9. But as for me, I will declare for ever. It is easy to supply ‘thy wondrous works.’ But the LXX reads (with change of one letter) I will rejoice, which may be right. Cp. Psa 9:14; Isa 29:19.
For ever may mean ‘while life lasts’ (1Sa 1:22): or is he speaking as the representative of the immortal people?
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9, 10. The vow of praise and the assurance of triumph.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But I will declare for ever – I – the author of the psalm. I will make known at all times the character of God, and will declare the truth respecting his works and ways. The particular mode as referred to here, was praise.
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob – The God whom Jacob worshipped; the God who proved himself to be his Friend, thus showing that he is the Friend of all that trust in him. See the notes at Psa 24:6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 75:9-10
But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
A model of devout praise
The praise resolved upon here is worthy of our imitation, inasmuch as it–
I. Loses sight of self in devout admiration of the character and doings of God.
1. He will praise God for His doings.
(1) Undeserved by us. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
(2) Unsought by us. We did not seek God, but He sought us by Jesus Christ.
(3) Freely and heartily given by God out of His own sovereign love. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
2. He will praise God for His faithfulness. With Him there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
3. He will praise God for ever. Let not thy praises be transient–a fit of music, and then the instrument hung by the wall till another gaudy day of some remarkable providence makes thee take it down. God comes not guest-wise to His saints house, but to dwell with them. David took this up for a life-work: As long as I live, I will praise Thee.
II. Evinces its reality by resolving to imitate him. Our praise of the excellences of others is a very hollow affair unless we also cultivate those excellences. We praise God for His unspeakable gift; are we imitating His pure generosity? We praise Jesus Christ for His great self-sacrifice for us; are we denying ourselves in His spirit that others might be benefited? We bless God for the Gospel; are we exemplifying the spirit of the Gospel? A certain Dr. Whitaker, on reading the fifth chapter of Matthew, brake out, saying, Either this is not the Gospel, or we are not of the Gospel. And is it not to be feared that the spirit of the Gospel for which men praise God, and the spirit of their lives, are often widely different? Let us evince the sincerity of our praise to God by imitating Him in our spirit and life. Let us admire Him, commune with Him, adore Him, until we are transformed into the same image. (W. Jones.)
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Psa 76:1-12
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.] These are the words of the psalmist, who magnifies the Lord for the promise of deliverance from their enemies.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Declare, to wit, this great and glorious work of God, or the praises due unto God for it, as the next words imply.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9, 10. Contrasted is the lot ofthe pious who will praise God, and, acting under His direction, willdestroy the power of the wicked, and exalt that of the righteous.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But I will declare for ever,…. These are not the words of the psalmist, but of Christ, who is all along speaking in the psalm; what he would declare is not expressed, and is to be supplied in sense thus; either that he would declare the wonderful works of God,
Ps 75:1, so the Targum, his thoughts, mercies, and kindnesses to his people, as in Ps 55:5, or his judgments on his enemies, whom he shall pass sentence on, which will be for ever; or the name of the Lord, his purposes and decrees, his counsel and covenant, his mind and will, his Gospel and the truth of it: see Ps 22:22,
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob; the covenant God of his people, Christ’s God, and their God; of his singing praise to him, see
Ps 22:22.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The poet now turns back thankfully and cheerfully from the prophetically presented future to his own actual present. With he contrasts himself as a member of the now still oppressed church with its proud oppressors: he will be a perpetual herald of the ever memorable deed of redemption. , says he, for, when he gives himself up so entirely to God the Redeemer, for him there is no dying. If he is a member of the ecclesia pressa , then he will also be a member of the ecclesia triumphans ; for , (2Ti 2:12). In the certainty of this , and in the strength of God, which is even now mighty in the weak one, he measures himself in v. 11 by the standard of what he expresses in Psa 75:8 as God’s own work. On the figure compare Deu 33:17; Lam 2:3, and more especially the four horns in the second vision of Zechariah, Zec 2:1. Zec 1:18.. The plural is both and , because horns that do not consist of horn are meant. Horns are powers for offence and defence. The spiritual horns maintain the sovereignty over the natural. The Psalm closes as subjectively as it began. The prophetic picture is set in a lyric frame.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
9. and 10. But I will publish for ever. This conclusion of the psalm evinces the joy which God’s people felt from having experienced that He was their deliverer in adversity; for it seems to be their own experience which they engage to publish, and on account of which they resolve to sing praise to God. Whence also they gather, that by the divine aid they will overcome all the power of the reprobate; and that being themselves possessed of righteousness and equity, they will be sufficiently armed for their own preservation and defense. The expression, the horns of the righteous shall be exalted, (263) implies, that the children of God, by a blameless and holy life, acquire greater strength, and more effectually protect themselves than if it were their endeavor to advance their own interests by every species of wickedness.
(263) “By the horns of the wicked is signified pride; by the horns of the righteous, on the other hand, is meant their power. Basil has remarked, that the horn is more exalted and more solid than any other part of the body to which it belongs; and that, at the same time, it supplies ornament to the head, and is also a weapon of defense. Hence it is put metaphorically both for strength and power, and also for pride.” — Cresswell. Here it is threatened that the power and honor of the wicked, which had been employed as the instruments of cruel wrong and oppression, would be destroyed, and their pride effectually humbled; while the righteous would be exalted to power and dignity.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
9. I will declare I will make public; it shall be the prominent fact of my reign and the confession of my lips.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 75:9. But I will declare for ever But as for me, I will exult for ever. See Bishop Hare and Mudge. As for his part, the author declares he would always exult, and celebrate the glory of the God of Jacob; whose minister he should be, to humble the wicked, and to exalt the righteous. This shews the author of the psalm either to have been the prince, or some one in his person.
REFLECTIONS. The psalm opens,
1. With repeated and fervent thanksgivings for God’s great mercies received; and may be considered as the language of the church adoring God for the gift of his Son, who, in his incarnation, was brought near unto us, and whose miracles, and wondrous works of redemption, declared his power and grace. Note; (1.) Praise is ever our bounden duty on every review of God’s mercies towards us. (2.) Every faithful believer experiences wondrous instances of God’s nearness to help him out of dangers, from which he could not escape, and to bring him to the enjoyment of mercies above his expectations.
2. The Psalmist promises, that his administration should be just and upright. And, when the great congregation of God’s people shall be gathered unto Christ in the day of his appearing and glory, then shall righteous judgment proceed against the ungodly. Note; (1.) Magistrates are accountable to God from whom they receive their authority, and their decisions must be without partiality. (2.) They who have the honour of office, must remember the conscientious discharge of the burden thereto annexed.
3. He undertakes to support and restore, through the divine blessing, the weak and distracted state of Israel. Note; (1.) Disunion and faction hasten a kingdom to destruction. (2.) One true patriot has often saved a nation. But this more emphatically appertains to Christ, who, when the world, with all its inhabitants, by sin was dissolved, and ready to be swallowed up in misery, bore up the pillars of it, and by his redemption renewed the face of the earth.
4. He rebukes the folly as well as wickedness of those who opposed his government. Though they exerted all their power against him, with a stiff neck refused to bend, and proudly spoke against his administration, it was all in vain; and therefore he admonishes them to submit, lest they should feel the weight of his arm. Many are the enemies from earth and hell that oppose the kingdom of Jesus; but it shall rise superior to all opposition; the anti-Christian horns shall be broken; and the sinners, who have spoken hard speeches against him, be silenced in eternal destruction. Note; It is folly to oppose where resistance is vain, and madness where ruin must be the consequence; yet thus foolishly and madly do sinners plunge their souls into eternal perdition, and will not have this Jesus to reign over them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The Psalm ends, as it began, with ascribing glory to God, as God in covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The horn of all earthly power must be broken, but Christ, the horn of salvation to his people, must be exalted. Dan 7:21 , etc. Luk 1:68-69 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 75:9 But I will declare for ever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Ver. 9. But I will declare for ever ] viz. God’s great goodness in mine advancement to the kingdom, and the rest of those wonderful works, Psa 75:1 .
I will sing praises, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 75:9-10
9But as for me, I will declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10And all the horns of the wicked He will cut off,
But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.
Psa 75:9-10 This strophe is the closing words of the psalmist.
1. he will declare YHWH’s wondrous deeds (cf. Psa 75:1)
2. he will sing praises to the God of Jacob
3. he will affirm the reversal of YHWH’s righteous judgment
This reflects a temple worship setting!
Psa 75:9 The MT has I will declare but the LXX and Peshitta have, I will rejoice (cf. NRSV). The difference is one consonant. The LXX is attempting to establish a synonymous parallelism between Psa 75:9 a and 9b.
Psa 75:10 He will cut off The MT has I will. The UBS Text Project (p. 328) gives this an A rating.
This Psalm has several speakers. Possibly Psa 75:9 is the psalmist and Psa 75:10 is YHWH.
horns Notice that this idiom can be used positively or negatively (see SPECIAL TOPIC: HORNS USED BY ISRAEL ).
1. negatively – cf. Psa 75:4-5; Psa 75:10 a; Jer 48:25; Lam 2:17
2. positively -cf. Psa 75:10 b; 1Sa 2:1; 1Sa 2:10; Psa 89:17; Psa 89:24; Psa 92:10; Psa 112:9
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. List the different speakers in this Psalm.
2. Does this Psalm magnify God as Creator or Judge?
3. Explain the imagery of
a. pillars
b. horn
c. cup
4. Does this Psalm look toward a temporal judgment or an end-time judgment?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
declare. Septuagint reads “exult”.
God of Jacob: i.e. the God of Grace, who met Jacob when he had nothing, and deserved nothing but wrath.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
But: Psa 9:14, Psa 104:33, Psa 145:1, Psa 145:2
Reciprocal: Oba 1:16 – as ye
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 75:9-10. But I will declare for ever These dispensations of mercy and judgment to the world. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob He will praise God, and give him glory for the power to which he had advanced him, and that not only at first, while the mercy was fresh, but for ever; as long as he lives he will remember, and be grateful for, this instance of the Lords goodness. Thus the exaltation of the Son of David will be the subject of the saints everlasting praises. And he will give glory to God, not only as his God, but as the God of Jacob, knowing it was for his servant Jacobs sake, and because he loved his people Israel, that he made him king over them. All the horns of the wicked Their honour and power, which they made instruments of mischief to oppress good men; a metaphor taken from horned and mischievous beasts; will I cut off I will humble their pride and break their power; I will disable them to do mischief. But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted Good men shall be encouraged and promoted, and intrusted with the management of all public affairs, which will be a great blessing to all my people. Thus he determines to use the power wherewith he was intrusted for the great ends for which it was put into his hands, as every governor ought to do, and as every good governor will do. And herein David was a type of Christ, who, with the breath of his lips, slays the wicked, Isa 11:4; but exalts with honour the horn of the righteous, Psa 112:9.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. God’s glory for judging 75:9-10
Asaph concluded by praising God publicly, and in song, for judging His enemies. The horns symbolize strength, and they picture animals. Israel’s enemies would lose their strength, but God’s people would grow stronger. God may be speaking again in Psa 75:10.
This inspiring psalm pictures Yahweh in His role as Judge of all the earth. Its perspective is toward that day when He will act in justice for His people. This day will inevitably come, and we need to keep it in view since God waits to judge. The Judge of all the earth will do justly (Gen 18:25).