Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 119:114
Thou [art] my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
114. Cp. Psa 32:7; Psa 28:7; Psa 119:74; Psa 119:81.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou art my hiding place – See the notes at Psa 32:7, where the same expression occurs.
And my shield – See Psa 5:12, note; Psa 84:11, note.
I hope in thy word – See Psa 119:74, Psa 119:81.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 119:114-117
Thou art my hiding-place and my shield: I hope in Thy Word.
The Guardian and Support of souls
I. The guardianship of god enjoyed. Hiding-place is a place of protection, a place where the enemy cannot discover you. Shield is an instrument of protection, that which prevents the arrow or the sword from touching the life. The two expressions mean safe guardianship. What a Guardian is God!
1. His guardianship does not circumscribe liberty. Not like the hiding-place, it allows ample room for the development of all the powers, and satisfaction for all the desires.
2. His guardianship is sufficient for all purposes. It protects from all evils, material and spiritual, all enemies, human and satanic. With the enjoyment of this guardianship there is hope in Thy Word.
II. Deliverance from the wicked desired. Depart from Me, ye evil-doers.
1. The expulsion of evil companions is at once the duty and the interest of all men. The companion of fools shall be destroyed. Come out from among them.
2. The expulsion of evil companions is necessary in order to obey God. For I will keep the commandments of my God.
III. The support of Heaven implored. Uphold me, etc. The words imply–
1. Consciousness of the ruin of a fall. That I may live, implying, If I fall I die. A moral fall is soul death.
2. Consciousness of liability of a fall. Hold Thou me up. I cannot stand without Thee. I totter on the verge of ruin, I am unable to support myself. Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe. (Homilist.)
God our hiding-place and shield
I. The relation which God sustains to the Christian.
1. My hiding-place. God is thus described as a refuge, as a place of security and retreat from the trials and agitations of the world without; just as a vessel may find a hiding-place in the calm and shelter of the haven, guarded and hidden by the rocks. There may be a pirate-ship upon the sea beyond, and a storm may be hurling its fury upon the waves, but within the shelter of the high rooks all is secure and undisturbed.
2. Again: under the figure of a shield, the Almighty is represented as the Defender of His people. Both the figures convey a like meaning of protection; still their application will admit of, perhaps, a variety of difference. We may take the former case as implying refuge in the hour of sorrow and sadness; One to whom we can look in trust and hope at all times, and find in Him a source of peacefulness amid the din and anxieties of the world in which we live. In the latter case we seem to be brought from obscurity and retirement into the open battlefield of life, where the shafts of temptation are flying around us, where the sounds of struggle meet our ears, where latent feelings are awakened and passions roused. Into the hiding-place of God the soul retires as into her quiet home away from the noise and stir of life; behind the shield of God the soul takes her stand as behind her rampart when the hosts of the enemy are encamped round about her.
II. The basis of Christian hope–I hope in Thy Word. There is a twofold and mutual recognition conveyed in this passage. God recognizes man in his helplessness and dependency, and man recognizes God in the mercy, and compassion, and goodness of His character and relationship to His creatures. And thus the basis of Christian hope is to be found in the Divine testimony, conveyed in the writings of Moses and the prophets, of Christ and His apostles. This testimony has also its response in the human heart and life, and so produces its evidence in the actual experience of our common nature. What rule of faith so high–what standard of morals so perfect–what criterion by which we may judge of right and wrong so infallible as the Scriptures? We hesitate not to bring them to the bar of public opinion unbiased by prejudice, for the very freedom of that opinion shall witness in favour of their claims, and give evidence to their truthfulness and authority. They can bear the most powerful tests of human wisdom and judgment, and the more they are examined, the brighter, and broader, and deeper becomes their excellency. (W. D. Horwood.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 114. My hiding place] My asylum.
And my shield] There is a time in which I may be called to suffer in secret; then thou hidest me. There may be a time in which thou callest me to fight; then thou art my Shield and Protector.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
114. hiding-place(Compare Ps27:5).
shield (Psa 3:3;Psa 7:10).
hope in thy wordconfidentlyrest on its teachings and promises.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou [art] my hiding place,…. From temporal calamities. The perfections of God are chambers of retreat and safety to his people, where they may hide themselves and be safe, till such calamities are over, Isa 26:20. And from spiritual evils; from avenging justice, from divine wrath, from the rage of Satan, and the fury of men, Isa 32:2; and from eternal death, and being hurt by it; the spiritual and eternal life of saints being hid with Christ in God, Col 3:3; see Ps 32:7;
and my shield; to protect from all dangers, and preserve from every enemy: such are the love and grace, the power and strength, the truth and faithfulness of God; which are the saints’ shield and buckler, Ps 5:12; such also the person, blood, righteousness, and salvation of Christ, who is a sun and shield; the shield of faith, or which faith holds up and defends the soul against the attacks of a powerful enemy, Ps 84:11;
I hope in thy Word; in Christ the Word, for acceptance and justification, for peace, pardon, and eternal salvation; all which are in him: in the word of promise, for all supplies of grace, strength, light, life, and comfort here, and for glory hereafter, contained therein; see Ps 119:74.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Here is, 1. God’s care of David to protect and defend him, which he comforted himself with when his enemies were very malicious against him: Thou art my hiding-place and my shield. David, when Saul pursued him, often betook himself to close places for shelter; in war he guarded himself with his shield. Now God was both these to him, a hiding-place to preserve him from danger and a shield to preserve him in danger, his life from death and his soul from sin. Good people are safe under God’s protection. He is their strength and their shield, their help and their shield, their sun and their shield, their shield and their great reward, and here their hiding-place and their shield. They may by faith retire to him, and repose in him as their hiding-place, where they are kept in secret. They may by faith oppose his power to all the might and malice of their enemies, as their shield to quench every fiery dart. 2. David’s confidence in God. He is safe, and therefore he is easy, under the divine protection: “I hope in thy word, which has acquainted me with thee and assured me of thy kindness to me.” Those who depend on God’s promise shall have the benefit of his power and be taken under his special protection.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
114. Thou art my hiding place and my shield. The meaning is, that the prophet, persuaded that the only way in which he could be safe, was by lying hid under the wings of God, confided in his promises, and, therefore, feared nothing. And, assuredly, the first point is, that the faithful should hold it as a settled principle, that amidst the many dangers to which they are exposed, the preservation of their life is entirely owing to the protection of God; in order that they may be excited to flee to him, and leaning upon his word, may confidently wait for the deliverance which he has promised. This confidence, That God is our refuge and our shield, is, no doubt, derived from the word; but we must remember that there is here a mutual relation — that, when we have learned from the word of God that we have in him a safe hiding-place, this truth is to be cherished and confirmed in our hearts, under a consciousness of our absolute need of the divine protection. Besides, although his power ought abundantly to suffice in inspiring us with the hope of salvation, yet we should always set the word before us, that our faith may not fail when his aid is slow in coming.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(114) My shield.For this expression see Psa. 3:3; Psa. 7:10.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 119:114. Hiding-place Or, Covert.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 119:114 Thou [art] my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Ver. 114. Thou art my hiding place and my shield ] To defend me from deadly darts and dangers. See Psa 18:2 ; Psa 32:7 . God either preserveth his from common calamities or from the hurt of them.
I hope in thy word
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hiding place. Compare Psa 32:7; Psa 91:1. shield. Compare Psa 84:9, and note. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
my hiding: Psa 32:7, Psa 91:1, Psa 91:2, Isa 32:2
my shield: Psa 3:3, Psa 84:11
I hope: Psa 119:81, Psa 130:5, Psa 130:6
Reciprocal: Gen 15:1 – thy shield Psa 27:5 – hide