Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 89:15
Blessed [is] the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
15. Happy the people that know the shout of joy,
That walk, Jehovah, In the light of thy countenance.
Ter‘h may mean the jubilant shouting with which religious festivities were celebrated (Psa 27:6; Psa 33:3; Psa 81:1; Psa 95:1-2; 2Sa 6:15); or the acclamation with which a king was greeted (Psa 47:1; Psa 47:5; Num 23:21); or the blowing of trumpets upon certain solemn occasions (Lev 23:24; Num 29:1). Happy indeed is Israel when it can thus greet its God (Psa 144:15), enjoying the sunshine of His favour (Psa 4:6).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
15 18. Happy the people that have such a God, and whose King is the vicegerent of such a Sovereign. These verses form the transition to the second division of the Psalms , vv19 ff. From the praise of God it is natural to pass on to the felicity of His people, and from the mention of the people to the king who is their head and His representative.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Blessed is the people – Happy is their condition. See the notes at Psa 1:1.
That know the joyful sound – That hear that sound. DeWette explains this of the call to the festivals and offerings, Lev 23:24; Num 10:10; Psa 27:6. That is, says he, those who honor and worship God. The Hebrew word – teruah – means a loud noise; a tumult; especially, shouts of joy, or rejoicing, Job 8:21; 1Sa 4:5; the shout of a king, that is, the joyful acclamations with which a king is welcomed, Num 23:21; the shout of battle, Jer 4:19; Jer 49:2. Then it means the sound or clangor of trumpets, Lev 25:9; Num 29:1-6. The word is, therefore, especially applicable to the sounding of the trumpets which attended the celebration of the great; festivals among the Hebrews, and there can be little doubt that this is the reference here. The idea is, that they are blessed or happy who are the worshippers of Yahweh, the true God; who are summoned to his service; who are convened to the place of his worship.
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance – They shall live in thy favor, and enjoy thy smiles.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 89:15-18
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound.
The blessedness of knowing the Gospel
I. The Gospel is a happy message. The joyful sound. It is good news.
1. Liberty to the captive.
2. Pardon to the condemned.
3. Salvation to the lost.
4. Immortality to the dying. It is a trumpet of jubilee.
II. The Gospel accepted secures happy results. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. Know it experimentally.
1. It secures the highest happiness in life. Shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.
2. It secures a personal joy in life. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day. The joy of a grateful heart, an approving conscience, of a glowing hope, of an adoring soul.
3. It secures a righteous exaltation in life. In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. There is no true exaltation in life that is not according to the righteousness of God.
4. It secures complete protection in life. The Lord is our defence, and the Holy One of Israel is our King. Truly, then, Blessed is the people that experimentally know the joyful sound of the Gospel. (Homilist.)
The blessedness of Gods real and devoted servants
I. They know the joyful sound. This is not a mere common or ordinary knowledge; it is not earthly knowledge; for man, by his own powers, could never have discovered a way of reconciliation with God. It is not mere superficial knowledge; but the desires and the affections and the heart are interested in it. It is not more intellectual knowledge; for although these subjects are the grandest upon which the mind of man may exercise itself, yet those who possess the knowledge here spoken of possess it not merely in their heads, but in their hearts; they are influenced by it; it is to them spiritual knowledge, experimental knowledge, practical knowledge, having an influence on their lives and conduct and conversation, their hopes, their desires, and their endeavours.
II. They walk in the light of Gods countenance.
1. They live under the constant recollection that God sees them, that they are under His constant and diligent inspection.
2. They enjoy the favour of God.
III. They rejoice in His name all the day long. What, then, is the character of this joy? It is pure; there is no admixture of unholy principle, or unholy desire, or unholy gratification: it is solid and steady, resting upon a sure and substantial foundation: it is animating; it inspires them amid the difficulties of life: it is satisfying; ah! and it is abiding.
IV. In His righteousness they shall be exalted. (E. Tottenham, M.A.)
Four stages of Christian experience
I. Recognizing the Divine voice. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound–that is, blessed are they who know its meaning, who, hearing it break upon the morning air, know that the hour of their deliverance draweth nigh.
II. Living in the Divine light. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. The walking of which the Bible has so much to say is a sustained progression from sin to holiness. To hear and obey the joyful sound is to live in the Divine light, and to live in the Divine light is to live in the Divine favour. But we can only live thus as we set Him before us; regarding His honour as having the first claim, seeking first the kingdom of God.
III. Rejoicing in the Divine name. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day. Our joy need not depend upon our mood of the moment: for knowing that the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, we may rejoice ever in the saving name of our God.
IV. Being exalted in the Divine righteousness. In Thy righteousness shall they be exalted, or, they are exalted. The people that know the joyful sound are lifted up, not by any power of their own, but by Gods adherence to His own gracious covenant. In Adam we were abased, but in Christ we are exalted. What a paradox that the believer, lowly and poor, taking ofttimes a humble place among men, often cast down by the burdens of life, yet should be sitting with Christ in the heavenly places. (F. Burnett.)
The Christian walking in the blessedness of the Gospel
I. The joyful sound is the gospel.
1. It comes from a world of joy, the happiest world in the universe.
2. It calls to a world of joy.
II. The knowledge of this joyful sound. It is not so easy as we suppose to get the light of Divine truth into a sinners darkened mind. It may shine down upon him from heaven so clear and bright that we may think it must penetrate his understanding at least; but let God leave him alone, it will be found perhaps in the great majority of cases that it has scarcely entered even that; that the mans understanding has been almost as completely closed against Gods truth as the mans heart.
III. The blessedness of those who possess this knowledge.
1. An habitual enjoyment of the Divine favour. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance; that is, as long as their knowledge of the Gospel is clear and their faith in it undisturbed, they shall go on their way with a consciousness within them that He is at peace with them, full of love to them.
2. A rejoicing in the Divine perfections. In Thy name, etc. If we have learnt the Gospel aright, we have learnt that there is something in God which can meet our case under all circumstances; that let the day change as it will, there is always a refuge for us in Him. He is like a port ever near the soul when the storm comes; and such a port, that let the soul be in it, all the storms that can blow will do the soul no harm. It will be as safe and may be as happy as though all around it were a calm.
3. A conscious elevation in the Lords righteousness. They are invested, as it were, with it. And this exalts the soul; exalts it in fact–lifts it up above the laws curses and penalties; gives it in Christ a right and title to the laws promises; places it on a level in Christ with those of Gods creatures who have never sinned. And it exalts the soul within, in its own apprehensions and feelings. With a righteousness upon me wrought out by Gods holy, everlasting Son, where are my fears, my shame, and my native vileness? And feeling thus, the believers soul becomes morally exalted, exalted in character. With his Saviours righteousness upon him, he longs increasingly to be righteous within, like that Saviour. He feels impelled to rise, to live above sin and self and the world, above the ordinary level of his fellow-men; and so through grace in some measure he does rise and does live. (C. Bradley, M.A.)
The privilege of knowing thy joyful sound
I. The duty to which the joyful sound, known and believed, effectually excites men. They shall walk.
1. They shall not sit still, doing nothing to purpose for God and their immortal souls, like the rest of the world, dead in trespasses and sins.
2. They shall not go back to their former lusts in their ignorance.
3. They shall hold forward in their way in spite of all opposition.
4. They shall walk on in the sight of the Lord, as he who walketh in the light walks in the sight of the sun.
II. The privileges which they that know and believe the joyful sound shall thereby have in their walk heavenwards. They shell walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.
1. They shall be ever in a state of favour, peace and reconciliation with God,
2. No cloud of revenging wrath shall ever gather above their heads any more, no curse of the law, no guilt of eternal wrath.
3. Whatever cloud may gather above their head in their way heavenward, it shall never be so thick but the light of the Lords countenance shall shine through it (Psa 89:31-34).
4. They shall be directed in their way (Psa 32:8).
5. They shall be strengthened in their way, for this light is the light of life.
6. They shall be cheered and comforted in their way. Hence we may learn–
(1) Whence it is that many communicants are nothing bettered by Gospel ordinances, but even go away as they come, a prey to their lusts and an evil world. They sit down to the feast, but they rise not up to the journey. Why? Alas! they never get into the saving knowledge of the joyful sound. They hear it, but they do not believe it. They believe it not with application to themselves. Hence it hath no quickening, nor sanctifying influence on them.
(2) Whence it is that many of the saints are so weak and comfortless in their way heavenward, walking so much in the dark. It is all owing to the small measure of their faith of the joyful sound.
(3) That the faith of the Gospel is the sovereign remedy in all darkness and distresses in which a person can be. Believing is a duty that can never be out of season. This is the way to bring one out of darkness into the light. If then thou art in desertion, temptation, or affliction, go to the promise and embrace it by faith. Believers, bless God for what your ears do hear and for what your eyes do see. Seek for more of this blessedness. As ever ye would walk on your way heavenward, safely and comfortably, labour more and more to know the joyful sound; and to know it so as to believe it; and to believe it so as to apply it to your own souls, according to your several exigencies. (T. Boston, D.D.)
The joyful sound
I. The gospel is a joyful sound.
1. Because it is a proclamation of mercy and forgiveness to the guilty and rebellious.
2. Because it proclaims liberty to the enslaved.
3. Because it produces peace to them that are in trouble.
II. What is meant by knowing the joyful sound.
III. The blessedness of the people that know the joyful sound.
1. They are blessed in their life. O what invaluable privileges are contained in this blessedness!
2. They are blessed in their death. (J. Hay, D.D.)
Knowledge of the joyful sound
I. The blessedness of knowing the Gospel.
1. The Gospel is intended to make us blessed, because He, in whose will it has originated, is full of compassion, and announces that here His compassion has had its richest and most determinate exercise.
2. It is fitted to make us blessed; for the same God, whose compassion prompted it, has also contrived all its arrangements and operations, and the infinite wisdom which belongs to Him must have so adapted the means to the end as effectually to secure whatsoever it designs.
3. It is sure to make us blessed; its machinery being moved, and its effects being produced, by the power to which all opposition is feeble, and before which all difficulties vanish away.
4. It is known to make us blessed; for we have only to appeal to the experience of the Church in every successive age, and in every variety of its features, in proof of the fact that the Gospel has done for its disciples what nothing else has been able to accomplish–has put a joy into their hearts, and shed a brightness over their prospects, beyond all that worldly minds have experienced or conceived.
II. What is implied in knowing the sound of the gospel.
1. That the Gospel is communicated to us. And why is this annunciation requisite? Because the plan of saving mercy which it unfolds clearly embraces the character as well as the condition of the sinner; and this connection is so close, and of such a nature, that the condition of the sinner cannot become what his safety requires it to be, unless the character of the sinner is made to undergo a corresponding change. And this change cannot take place without the concurrence of his will, and that movement among all the affections and principles of his moral frame which presupposes him to be acquainted with what the Gospel demands of him, as well as with what the Gospel has effected for him.
2. That we attend to the Gospel and understand it. The blessedness flowing from the Gospel is to be received and enjoyed, not by chance or according to human fancy and caprice, but in a certain instituted way. There is a plan by which this blessedness is secured for the sinner, so far as to be brought within his reach: and there is a plan by which it is made over to him as an actual and personal attainment. If this plan be not studied and comprehended, how can any individual so betake himself to it, and so make use of its provisions, and so submit to its direction and influence, as that he may reasonably expect to derive the benefits by which it will contribute effectually to his safety and his happiness?
3. That we welcome, believe and obey the Gospel. (A. Thomson, D. D.)
The Gospel a joyful sound
I. The character of those who are the people of God. They know the joyful sound–the Gospel.
1. The trumpet in the year of Jubilee announced that all captives and slaves were to be set at liberty: and is not the Gospels joyful sound a universal proclamation of liberty to the captives? But to what description of captives? To all sinners–to all mankind.
2. The debtors also heard with joy the cheering sound of the jubilee trumpet, for they, too, were set at liberty when it was heard. And who are the debtors to whom the joyful sound of the Gospel proclaims a like release? Which of us have not broken Gods holy law, and failed to render to Him the debt of gratitude and obedience that is our rightful due and reasonable service?
3. The jubilee trumpet also announced that all who had forfeited or mortgaged their possessions were to be restored to their full right to them. Similar was our state; and similar also is the joyful sound of the Gospel.
II. The blessedness of those who know this joyful sound, and wherein it consists. (J. L. F. Russell, M.A.)
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countanence.—
Walking in light
The psalmist has been dwelling in magnificent language upon some of the attributes of God. The pillars of His throne are justice and judgment; mercy and truth go before His face. He cannot say anything about that surpassing brightness that fell on the two heralds. The sunshine can only be spoken of as the peoples blessedness that hear the joyful sound, the sound of the great name; they shall walk in the light.
I. walking, a simple metaphor of practical life. Our knowledge of our Fathers character should make common life radiant. We should have continual consciousness of that sunny presence in all occupations. God has done His part, we must do ours, and determine whether that knowledge shall lead us into habitual, happy fellowship with Him. Life with God, for God, in God, is walking in the light of His face. We may choose the sunny or the shady side of the road. Does that name steal into our hearts like sweet, beguiling melody? Hard it is, but possible, to set the Lord always before us. They who walk in the light are surely blessed.
II. Such a walk is a walk in gladness. Light is the emblem of joy. Two landscapes:–Winter, black fortress, grey rocks, dreary moor, dismal black tarns among the heather. Summer changes it into a dream of beauty. Our lives may be either; in the dark, cloudy days the light will break through many a chink in the cloud; men may not see it, but the eye, purged by faith, can behold it. Tropical sky not half as beautiful as ours. Nobody knows what brightness is until they have seen the gilded thunder-cloud; nobody knows Gods presence until in the hour of darkness.
III. walking in the light is guidance. No promise of infallible illumination, but those near God catch the wisdom that removes all clouds from our vision. If we dwelt nearer Him we should less often be in perplexity. I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness.
IV. Light purifies–we should learn our faults (Psa 90:8). That flashing brightness may be a terror or a joy (Psa 139:23). An advantage, that every sin He sees shall be manifested also to us. Secret faults do most harm. A little defect may be the leak through which all our gladness ebbs away. Be thankful if you find it; refer all actions and habits to Him, and the light will reveal the evil. Nothing foul can live in that presence.
V. Light bleaches; walk in the light, and the blood will cleanse from all sin. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
Walking in the light
The out-and-out Christian is a joyful Christian. The half-and-half Christian is the kind of Christian that a great many of you are–little acquainted with the joy of the Lord. Why should we live half-way up the hill, and swathed in mists, when we might have an unclouded sky and a visible sun over our heads? If we would only climb higher, we should walk in the light of His face. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Joyfulness aids character
An English manufacturer of colours could not produce the beautiful carmine tint for which a French competitor was famous, so he went to Lyons, in France, and agreed to pay the Frenchman a thousand pounds for his secret, he was shown through the factory, and everything was explained to him. But the Englishman saw nothing different from his own way of making colours, and thought he had been deceived, and that the secret had been kept from him. Stay, said the Frenchman, dont deceive yourself–what kind of weather is this? A bright, sunny day, replied the Englishman. And such are the days, said the Frenchman, on which I make my colours. Were I to attempt to manufacture it on a dark or cloudy day, my results would be the same as yours. Let me advise you to make carmine on bright, sunny days. And is it not thus with your own life and character? You cannot get the best results without the sunshine of Gods smile and blessing. One of the principal things the Bible tells us to do is to walk in the light. (A. H. Lee.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. Blessed is the people] “O the blessednesses of that people ( ashrey haam) that know the joyful sound;” that are spared to hear the sound of the trumpet on the morning of the jubilee, which proclaims deliverance to the captives, and the restoration of all their forfeited estates. “They shall walk vigorously ( yehallechun) in the light of thy countenance” ( beor paneycha) – the full persuasion of the approbation of God their Father, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The psalmist, intending to describe the doleful estate of the royal family and kingdom of Israel, aggravates it by the consideration of their former felicity.
That know the joyful sound, i.e. who enjoy the presence of God and his ordinances, and the tokens of his grace and mercy to them, to which they were called and invited by the sound of trumpets, which upon that only reason was very pleasant and grateful to the Israelites. See Num 10:9,10. So the sign is put for the thing signified, as is manifest, both from the following clause of the verse, and because otherwise the hearing of the outward sound of trumpets could never make them blessed.
Walk in the light of thy countenance; they live under the comfortable influences of thy grace and favour; whereof at present we are bereaved.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. His government ofrighteousness is served by “mercy” and “truth” asministers (Ps 85:10-13).
know the joyfulsoundunderstand and appreciate the spiritual blessingssymbolized by the feasts to which the people were called by thetrumpet (Le 25:9, c.).
walk . . . countenancelivein His favor (Psa 4:6 Psa 44:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound,…. Of the love, grace, and mercy of God displayed in Christ, of peace and pardon by his blood, of justification by his righteousness, of atonement by his sacrifice, and of complete salvation by his obedience, sufferings, and death; this is the sound of the Gospel, and a joyful one it is to sensible sinners; and is so called in allusion either to a shout made upon a victory gained, and such a sound is the Gospel; it declares victory by Christ over sin, Satan, the world, and death, and every enemy; and that he has made his people more than conquerors over them; or to the jubilee trumpet, which proclaimed liberty and a restoration of inheritances, Le 25:9 and so the Gospel proclaims liberty to the captives, freedom from the dominion of sin, and condemnation by it, from the tyranny of Satan, and the bondage of the law; and gives an account of the inheritance the saints have in Christ, and through his death, to which they are regenerated, and for which they are made meet by the Spirit of God, and of which he is the seal and earnest: or to the silver trumpets, for the use of the congregation of Israel, and blown at their solemn feasts, and other times, and were all of a piece,
Nu 10:1, the trumpet of the Gospel gives a certain sound, an even one, a very musical one; there is no jar nor discord in it; is a soul charming alluring sound, and very loud; it has reached, and will reach again, to the ends of the earth, Ro 10:18, it is a blessing to hear it, but it is a greater to “know” it, not merely notionally, but spiritually and experimentally; so as not only to approve of it, and be delighted with it, but so as to distinguish it from all other sounds; and by faith to receive it, and appropriate the things it publishes to a man’s own soul; and such must be “blessed”, or happy persons, for the reasons following in this verse, and in Ps 89:16:
they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance: enjoy the gracious presence of God, have the manifestation of himself, the discoveries of his love, communion with him through Christ, and the comforts of the Holy Spirit, and these continued; so that they shall walk in the sunshine of these things, though not always; for sometimes they walk in darkness, and see no light; but it is an unspeakable mercy and blessing to walk herein at any time, for ever so short a season, see Ps 4:6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The poet has now described what kind of God He is upon whose promise the royal house in Israel depends. Blessed, then, is the people that walks in the light of His countenance. of a self-assured, stately walk. The words are the statement of the ground of the blessing interwoven into the blessing itself: such a people has abundant cause and matter for exultation (cf. Psa 84:5). is the festive sound of joy of the mouth (Num 23:21), and of trumpets or sackbuts (Psa 27:6). This confirmation of the blessing is expanded in Psa 89:17-19. Jahve’s , i.e., revelation or manifestation, becomes to them a ground and object of unceasing joy; by His , i.e., the rigour with which He binds Himself to the relationship He has entered upon with His people and maintains it, they are exalted above abjectness and insecurity. He is , the ornament of their strength, i.e., their strength which really becomes an ornament to them. In Psa 89:18 the poet declares Israel to be this happy people. Pinsker’s conjecture, (following the Targum), destroys the transition to Psa 89:19, which is formed by Psa 89:18. The plural reading of Kimchi and of older editions (e.g., Bomberg’s), , is incompatible with the figure; but it is immaterial whether we read with the Chethb (Targum, Jerome), or with the Ker (lxx, Syriac) .
(Note: Zur Geschichte des Karaismus, pp. and , according to which, reversely, in Jos 5:1 is to be read instead of , and Isa 33:2 instead of , Psa 12:8 instead of , Mic 7:19 instead of , Job 32:8 instead of , Pro 25:27 instead of (the limiting of our honour brings honour, – an unlikely interpretation of the ).)
and in Psa 89:19 are parallel designations of the human king of Israel; as in Ps 47:10, but not in Psa 84:10. For we are not compelled, with a total disregard of the limits to the possibilities of style (Ew. 310, a), to render Psa 89:19: and the Holy One of Israel, (as to Him, He) is our King (Hitzig), since we do not bring down the Psalm beyond the time of the kings. Israel’s shield, Israel’s king, the poet says in the holy defiant confidence of faith, is Jahve’s, belongs to the Holy One of Israel, i.e., he stands as His own possession under the protection of Jahve, the Holy One, who has taken Israel to Himself for a possession; it is therefore impossible that the Davidic throne should become a prey to any worldly power.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Blessedness of Israel Declared. | |
15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. 16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. 17 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. 18 For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
The psalmist, having largely shown the blessedness of the God of Israel, here shows the blessedness of the Israel of God. As there is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, so, happy art thou, O Israel! there is none like unto thee, O people! especially as a type of the gospel-Israel, consisting of all true believers, whose happiness is here described.
I. Glorious discoveries are made to them, and glad tidings of good brought to them; they hear, they know, the joyful sound, v. 15. This may allude, 1. To the shout of a victorious army, the shout of a king, Num. xxiii. 21. Israel have the tokens of God’s presence with them in their wars; the sound of the going in the top of the mulberry-trees was indeed a joyful sound (2 Sam. v. 24); and they often returned making the earth ring with their songs of triumph; these were joyful sounds. Or, 2. To the sound that was made over the sacrifices and on the solemn feast-day, Ps. lxxxi. 1-3. This was the happiness of Israel, that they had among them the free and open profession of God’s holy religion, and abundance of joy in their sacrifices. Or, 3. To the sound of the jubilee-trumpet; a joyful sound it was to servants and debtors, to whom it proclaimed release. The gospel is indeed a joyful sound, a sound of victory, of liberty, of communion with God, and the sound of abundance of rain; blessed are the people that hear it, and know it, and bid it welcome.
II. Special tokens of God’s favour are granted them: “They shall walk, O Lord! in the light of thy countenance; they shall govern themselves by thy directions, shall be guided by the eye; and they shall delight themselves in thy consolations. They shall have the favour of God; they shall know that they have it, and it shall be continual matter of joy and rejoicing to them. They shall go through all the exercises of a holy life under the powerful influences of God’s lovingkindness, which shall make their duty pleasant to them and make them sincere in it, aiming at this, as their end, to be accepted of the Lord.” We then walk in the light of the Lord when we fetch all our comforts from God’s favour and are very careful to keep ourselves in his love.
III. They never want matter for joy: Blessed are God’s people, for in his name, in all that whereby he has made himself known, if it be not their own fault, they shall rejoice all the day. Those that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and make God their exceeding joy, have enough to counterbalance their grievances and silence their griefs; and therefore their joy is full (1 John i. 4) and constant; it is their duty to rejoice evermore.
IV. Their relation to God is their honour and dignity. They are happy, for they are high. Surely in the Lord, in the Lord Christ, they have righteousness and strength, and so are recommended by him to the divine acceptance; and therefore in him shall all the seed of Israel glory,Isa 45:24; Isa 45:25. So it is here, Psa 89:16; Psa 89:17. 1. “In thy righteousness shall they be exalted, and not in any righteousness of their own.” We are exalted out of danger, and into honour, purely by the righteousness of Christ, which is a clothing both for dignity and for defence. 2. “Thou art the glory of their strength,” that is, “thou art their strength, and it is their glory that thou art so, and what they glory in.” Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph. 3. “In thy favour, which through Christ we hope for, our horn shall be exalted.” The horn denotes beauty, plenty, and power; these those have who are made accepted in the beloved. What greater preferment are men capable of in this world than to be God’s favourites?
V. Their relation to God is their protection and safety (v. 18): “For our shield is of the Lord” (so the margin) “and our king is from the Holy One of Israel. If God be our ruler, he will be our defender; and who is he than that can harm us?” It was the happiness of Israel that God himself had the erecting of their bulwarks and the nominating of their king (so some take it); or, rather, that he was himself a wall of fire round about them, and, as a Holy One, the author and centre of their holy religion; he was their King, and so their glory in the midst of them. Christ is the Holy One of Israel, that holy thing; and in nothing was that peculiar people more blessed than in this, that he was born King of the Jews. Now this account of the blessedness of God’s Israel comes in here as that to which it was hard to reconcile their present calamitous state.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
15. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. Here the same train of reflection concerning the Church is pursued, not only because unbelievers are blind to the consideration of God’s works, but also because the prophet has no other purpose in view than to inspire the godly with good hope, that they may with confidence rely upon God, and not be discouraged by any adversities from boldly calling upon him. It is declared that those are happy to whom it is given to rejoice in God; for although all men in common are sustained and nourished by his liberality, yet the feeling of his paternal goodness is far from being experienced by all men in such a manner as to enable them, from a certain persuasion that he is favorable to them, to congratulate themselves upon their happy condition. It is, therefore, a singular privilege which he confers upon his chosen ones, to make them taste of his goodness, that thereby they may be encouraged to be glad and rejoice. And, in fact, there is not a more miserable condition than that of unbelievers, when by their brutish insensibility they trample under foot the Divine benefits which they greedily devour; for the more abundantly God pampers them, the fouler is their ingratitude. True happiness then consists in our apprehending the Divine goodness which, filling our hearts with joy, may stir us up to praise and thanksgiving.
The prophet afterwards proves from the effect, that those who with joy and delight acknowledge God to be their father are blessed, because they not only enjoy his benefits, but also, confiding in his favor, pass the whole course of their life in mental peace and tranquillity. This is the import of walking in the light of God’s countenance: it is to repose upon his providence from the certain persuasion that he has a special care about our well-being, and keeps watch and ward effectually to secure it. The expressions rejoicing in his name, and glorying in his righteousness, are to the same purpose. The idea involved in them is, that believers find in God abundant, yea more than abundant, ground to rejoice and glory. The word daily appears to denote steadfast and unwavering perseverance; and thus there is indirectly censured the foolish arrogance of those who, inflated only with wind and presuming on their own strength, lift up their horns on high. Standing as they do upon an insecure foundation, they must at length inevitably fall. Whence it follows, that there is no true magnanimity nor any power which can stand but that which leans upon the grace of God alone; even as we see how Paul (Rom 8:31) nobly boasts, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” and defies all calamities both present and to come.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) That know the joyful soundi.e., that are familiar with the shouting and music that accompanied the feasts of Israel.
They shall walk.Better in the present; and so of the verb in the next verse. The light of Jehovahs countenance of course means His favour.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Joyful sound The word means, loud shouting, or noise of trumpets, whether for triumph, signal of battle, or alarm. The allusion here is to the sounding of trumpets accompanied with shouting, to announce a feast and call the people to worship. See on “the feast of trumpets,” (Lev 23:24; Num 29:1,) where the word is rendered blowing of trumpets, and the “year of jubilee;” also, Num 25:9, where the same word is jubilee in the common version. But the true idea of the text is given by French and Skinner: “Happy the people who are familiar with the sound of the trumpet inviting them to join in the celebration of their religious observances.” The figure is easily transferred to Christian times.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 89:15. That know the joyful sound This probably refers to the trumpet, which was always used by the express command of God at the Jewish festivals. And as the ideas in the preceding verses are taken from God’s deliverance of the people from Egypt, and his august appearance on Mount Sinai, where the awful trumpet proclaiming his presence was heard; so here the joyful sound may refer to that trumpet, which in the public worship, as heretofore on Mount Sinai, proclaimed the approach of God, and summoned the people to his worship. The ideas in the following verses have the same reference. Compare Num 23:21.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 648
THE BLESSEDNESS OF GODS PEOPLE
Psa 89:15-16. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
EVERY man by nature desires happiness: but few know where it is to be found. The generality imagine that it will be a sure attendant on earthly prosperity But the Psalmist points out to us its only true source: There be many that say, who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us [Note: Psa 4:6.]. In like manner he instructs us in the text; Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound.
In these words the character and blessedness of the Lords people are fully declared. Let us consider,
I.
Their character
The joyful sound must here import the Gospel
[In the Gospel a Saviour is revealed, even such a Saviour as our necessities require, a Saviour who has made a full atonement for our sins, and who promises salvation to all who come unto God by him. When this Saviour was proclaimed to the shepherds, it was in these memorable terms; Behold, we bring you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people: for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord!
But the joyful sound refers to the sound of the trumpets under the law, when the people were convoked to come up to God in the solemn assembly [Note: Num 10:1-3; Num 10:10.], or when the year of Jubilee was proclaimed [Note: Lev 25:8-13.]. On this latter occasion, in particular, it was indeed a joyful sound: for then all persons who had sold their houses and lands, yea, and their wives and children, and their own selves too for bond-slaves, were restored to perfect liberty, and to the full possession of their former inheritance Suppose a person so circumstanced, what a joyful sound would that of the trumpet be to him! Such then is the Gospel to the weary and heavy-laden sinner, when he hears of a free and full salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ ]
This sound the true Believer knows
[A speculative knowledge of the Gospel is possessed by many who have no personal interest in it, and no desire after its blessings: but the true Believer knows it practically: he has felt its power; he has tasted its sweetness: and he has been brought to a reliance on it for the salvation of his soul. This distinction must be carefully made by us. It is not of a head-knowledge that my text speaks; but of such a knowledge as enters into the heart, and engages all the powers of the soul It is such a knowledge as God alone can impart and all who possess that are truly blessed,]
In our text we have a rich description of,
II.
Their blessedness
They may not have much of this world: but they have much of God: they enjoy,
1.
A sweet sense of his love
[They walk in the light of his countenance. This is a privilege of which a worldly man can form no conception: but it is understood, and experienced, by all who enter into the spirit of the Gospel. They can go to God as a Father: they know that he is reconciled towards them in the Son of his love: and with a spirit of adoption they can draw nigh to him, and pour out their hearts before him, and hear him speaking peace unto their souls. In answer to their daily prayers he draws night to them, and lifts up the light of his countenance upon them, and fills them with joy and peace in believing. Such is their daily walk with God, a foretaste of their happiness in the realms of bliss.]
2.
An habitual confidence in his care
[They are subjected to a variety of circumstances like other men: but they have a Friend to whom they can go on every occasion, and from whom they can receive all such communications as they stand in need of. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, to which they run and are safe. His perfections are all exercised in their behalf: and, being their God, he is a God unto them, doing for them whatsoever their diversified necessities require. In Him therefore, even in his name, they rejoice all the day; spreading before him their every want, and committing to him their every desire. They know in whom they have believed, and cast all their care on him who careth for them.]
3.
An assured prospect of his glory
[In the Gospel the Lord Jesus Christ reveals himself to his people as a complete Saviour, who not only obtains a pardon for them, but has provided also a righteousness, wherein they may stand before God without spot or blemish. To him therefore they look in this view: and on him they rely, as The Lord their righteousness. In this righteousness they are exalted: they are exalted in their own eyes, being no longer condemned sinners, but saints accepted and justified from all their sins. They are exalted in the eyes of God also; for he now beholds no iniquity in them: he views them as one with his dear Son, partakers of his nature, and joint-heirs of his glory. They are exalted also in the eyes of all the angelic hosts, who now delight to minister unto them, and will are long give them the precedence in heaven, and take their station behind them before the throne of God [Note: Rev 7:11.].
Say now, are not these happy? Yes: and David not only asserts it, but appeals to God himself for the truth of his assertion: They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.]
Address
1.
Those who have no knowledge of this joyful sound
[How many amongst us are altogether ignorant of the Gospel itself! and, of those who hear it and profess to receive it, how many have no taste for that joy which it is intended to impart! Will you then call yourselves the people of God; or imagine that salvation belongs to you? Know, that all are not Israel, who are of Israel; nor are all Christians who bear that name. Whilst you are ignorant of the joyful sound, you can have no part or lot in those blessings which the Gospel is intended to convey.]
2.
Those who know the Gospel, but find no blessedness in it
[There are, I must acknowledge, many of this description. But whence does this arise? Is it owing to any insufficiency in the Gospel to make them happy? No: it proceeds in some cases from a disordered constitution: in others, from imperfect views of the Gospel: and in others, from not walking steadfastly and consistently before God. But from whatever source it arise, I would say, Remember what an injury you do to the Gospel itself, and to the souls of men: the world around you will impute your gloom to religion, and take occasion from it to condemn the Gospel itself as a source of melancholy to all who embrace it. O! brethren, do not so dishonour the Lord Jesus Christ: but view the Gospel in all its freeness and all its fulness, and all its excellency; and rest not till you have attained those rich blessings, which every true Believer is privileged to enjoy.]
3.
Those who both know and enjoy the Gospel
[Happy indeed are ye, even though ye be in all other respects the most destitute and distressed. Let then your gratitude to God evince itself in a suitable life and conversation. As for your joys, the world knows nothing about them; and will therefore impute them to enthusiasm and delusion. But they can understand a holy life: that will approve itself to them as a good and genuine fruit of the Gospel. Let them then see, that this Gospel which makes you happy, makes you holy also. Let them see that it brings into subjection every unhallowed temper, every evil desire. Let them see that in every station and relation of life it elevates you above others, rendering you more amiable, more consistent. In a word, let your whole conversation be such as becometh the Gospel of Christ; and, whilst you are made partakers of a felicity which the world knows not of, endeavour to make your light shine before men, that they may be constrained to acknowledge the excellence of your principles, and be led to seek a participation of your bliss.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
A new subject is here opened. The sacred writer, having celebrated the praises of Jehovah in what had gone before, now speaks of the happiness of his people. Moses had long before observed, that there was no people like Israel; none who had privileges so great and distinguished as they had, in a covenant God to look up to, and to be happy in forever: and here the Psalmist points out in what that happiness consists. Observe: He doth not say, Blessed is the people that hear only, but they that know the joyful sound. Probably he alluded to the calling of the people up to the assemblies of divine worship, the new moon feasts, and especially the jubilee trumpet on the great day of release. And although this trumpet of the jubilee was never sounded but once in every fiftieth year, and consequently was not familiar from frequency, yet not a poor captive in Israel’s camp, that longed for the year of release, but perfectly knew the sound, the moment it reached his ear, on the morning of the day of deliverance. Reader, what is the joyful sound of salvation by Jesus, but the same? Oh, what a joyful sound indeed is it to that precious soul, convinced of sin and his utterly lost estate by nature and by practice, that thirsts for Jesus more than the hart for the water brooks! And, Reader, do remark the blessed effects. All such re deemed souls shall walk under divine light, and in the divine life. Jesus’s name, his righteousness, his favor, his love, his visits, shall be their daily, hourly enjoyments. All their spiritual joy and happiness are in him, the Lord their righteousness; not in themselves nor in their highest attainments.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 89:15 Blessed [is] the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
Ver. 15. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound ] Iubilationem, the sound of thy word, the free use of thine ordinances; serving thee with cheerfulness, and giving thee thanks with exaltation of heart, and rapture of spirit. Scias unde gaudeas quod verbis explicate non possis, saith Austin. Accipe quod sentitur antequam discitur , saith Cyprian, writing to Donatus, concerning the joy of his conversion.
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psalms
CONTINUAL SUNSHINE
Psa 89:15
The Psalmist has just been setting forth, in sublime language, the glories of the divine character-God’s strength, His universal sway, the justice and judgment which are the foundation of His Throne, the mercy and truth which go as heralds before His face. A heathen singing of any of his gods would have gone on to describe the form and features of the god or goddess who came behind the heralds, but the Psalmist remembers ‘Thou shalt not make unto thyself any . . . likeness of God.’ A sacred reverence checks his song. He veils his face in his mantle while He whom no man can see and live passes by. Then he breaks into rapturous exclamations which are very prosaically and poorly represented by our version. For the text is not a mere statement, as it is made to be by reading ‘Blessed is the people,’ but it is a burst of adoring wonder, and should be read, ‘Oh! the blessedness of the people that know the joyful sound.’
Now, the force of this exclamation is increased if we observe that the word that is rendered ‘joyful sound’ is the technical word for the trumpet blast at Jewish feasts. The purpose of these blasts, like those of the heralds at the coronation of a king, was to proclaim the presence of God, the King of Israel, in the festival, as well as to express the gladness of the worshippers. Thus the Psalmist, when he says, ‘Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound,’ has no reference, as we ordinarily take him to have, to the preaching of the Gospel, but to the trumpet-blasts that proclaimed the present God and throbbed with the gladness of the waiting worshippers. So that this exclamation is equivalent to ‘Oh! how blessed are the people who are sure that they have God with them!’ and who, being sure, bow before Him in loving worship. It is to be further noticed that the subsequent words of the text state the first element which it indicates of that blessedness of a devout life, ‘They shall walk, O Lord! in the light of Thy countenance.’
I. We deal first with the meaning of this phrase.
There is only one more remark in the nature of explanation which I make, and that is that the expression here for walking is cast in the original into a form which grammarians call intensive, strengthening the simple idea expressed by the word. We may express its force if we read, ‘They walk continually in the light of Thy countenance.’
Is not that just a definition of the Christian life as an unbroken realisation of the divine Presence, and an unbroken experience of the lovingkindness and favour of God? Is not that religion in its truest, simplest essence, in its purest expression? The people who are sure that they have their King in their midst, and who feel that He is looking down upon them with tender pity, with loving care, with nothing but friendship and sweetness in His heart, these people, says the Psalmist, are blessed. So much, then, for the meaning of the word.
II. Consider the possibility of such a condition being ours.
Nor is there any reason why our troubles, sorrows, losses, solitude should darken that sunshine. I know that that is hard, too, perhaps harder than the other. It is more difficult to have a sense of the sunshine of the divine Presence shining through the clouds of disaster and sorrow than even it is to have it shining through the dust that is raised by traffic and secular occupation. But it is possible. There is nothing in all the sky so grand as clouds smitten by sunshine, and the light is never so glorious as when it is flashed back from them and dyes their piled bosoms with all celestial colours. There is no experience of God’s Presence so blessed as that of a man who, in the midst of sorrow, has yet with him the assurance of the Father’s friendship and favour and love, and so can say ‘as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.’ This sunshine shines in the foulest corners, and the most thunder-laden clouds only flash back its glories in new forms.
There is only one thing that breaks the continuity of that blessedness, and that is our own sin. We carry our own weather with us, whether we will or no, and we can bring winter into the middle of summer by flinging God away from us, and summer into the midst of winter by grappling Him to our hearts. There is only one thing that necessarily breaks our sense of His Presence, and that is that our hearts should turn away from His face. A man can work hard and yet feel that God is with him. A man can be weighed upon by many distresses and yet feel that God is with him and loves him; but a man cannot commit the least tiny sin and love it, and feel at the same time that God is with him. The heart is like a sensitive photographic plate, it registers the variations in the sunshine; and the one hindrance that makes it impossible for God’s light to fall upon my soul with the assurance of friendship and the sense of sweetness, is that I should be hugging some evil to my heart. It is not the dusty highway of life nor the dark vales of weeping and of the shadow of death through which we sometimes have to pass that make it impossible for this sunlight to pour down upon us, but it is our gathering round ourselves of the poisonous mists of sin through which that light cannot pierce; or if it pierce, pierces transformed and robbed of all its beauty.
III. Let me note next the blessedness which draws out the Psalmist’s rapturous exclamation.
‘Better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.’
But there is one last word that I must say, and that is that a possible terror is intertwined with this blessedness. The next psalm to this says, with a kind of tremulous awe in the Psalmist’s voice: ‘Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.’ In that sense all of us, good and bad, lovers of God and those that are careless about Him, walk all the day long in the light of His face, and He sees and marks all our else hidden evil. It needs something more than any of us can do to make the thought that we do stand in the full glaring of that great searchlight, not turned occasionally but focussed steadily on us individually, a joy and a blessing to us. And what we need is offered us when we read, ‘His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength, and I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His hand upon me and said, Fear not! I am He that liveth and was dead; and behold! I am alive for ever more.’ If we put our poor trust in the Eternal Light that was manifest in Christ, then we shall walk in the sunshine of His face on earth, and that lamp will burn for us in the darkness of the grave and lead us at last into the ever-blazing centre of the Sun itself.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Blessed = Happy. Figure of speech Beatitudo. App-6. See App-63.
the joyful sound. Of the trumpet’s assembling sound. Lev 23.
countenance = face. See Psa 89:14.
spiritual blessings symbolized by the feasts = 1Co 5:6-8
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
know: Psa 90:6, Psa 98:4-6, Psa 100:1, Lev 25:9, Num 10:10, Num 23:21, Isa 52:7, Isa 52:8, Nah 1:15, Luk 2:10-14, Rom 10:15, Rom 10:18
in the light: Psa 4:6, Psa 44:3, Num 6:26, Job 29:3, Pro 16:15, Isa 2:5, Joh 14:21-23, Act 2:28, Rev 21:23
Reciprocal: Exo 28:34 – General Exo 39:25 – bells Num 10:2 – the calling Num 29:1 – blowing 2Ch 29:28 – the singers sang Job 29:24 – the light Psa 32:1 – Blessed Psa 144:15 – happy Pro 15:30 – a good Son 1:3 – thy name Son 2:12 – time Son 5:13 – as a Isa 27:13 – the great 1Jo 1:7 – If we Rev 11:15 – The kingdoms
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 89:15. Blessed are the people, &c. Next to the praises of Jehovah, is declared the happiness of those who have him for their God, who are his worshippers and servants, living under his righteous and merciful government; that know That hear, from time to time, acknowledge and obey; the joyful sound The sound of the trumpet, by which the festivals of the Jewish Church were proclaimed, and the people were called together to the offices of devotion; that is, who have Gods word and ordinances among them, and are favoured with his presence, and with the tokens of his mercy and grace, in and by these means; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance Being blessed with the light of truth, and being enabled to walk therein, they shall live under the comfortable influences of thy love and favour. Remember, reader, these blessings are now become our own; the evangelical trumpet hath sounded through the once heathen world; the Sun of righteousness hath risen upon all nations. Let us attend to the joyful sound; let us walk in the glorious light. Horne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
89:15 Blessed [is] the people that {m} know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy {n} countenance.
(m) Feeling in their conscience that God is their father.
(n) They will be preserved by your fatherly providence.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Ethan went on to speak of the blessings the Israelites who acknowledged and walked with God experienced. They had joy, exaltation, glory, strength, and security. "The joyful sound" (Psa 89:15, NASB) refers to the shout of joy God’s people uttered when they saw Him lifted up and honored (cf. 1Sa 4:5-6). [Note: Ibid., p. 322.] A better translation might be, "Happy the people who have learnt to acclaim thee" (NEB). "Our horn" (Psa 89:17) means "our strength." Ethan rejoiced that Israel’s king, who was her defense, belonged to God (Psa 89:18).
"In many Jewish synagogues today, Psa 89:15-18 are recited on their New Year’s Day after the blowing of the shofar." [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 252.]