Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 110:3
Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power ] Rather, Thy people offer themselves willingly (lit. are freewill offerings) in the day of thy muster (lit. army). The promised victory is not to be won without human agency, and Jehovah inspires the king’s subjects with a spirit of loyal self-devotion. Theirs is no forced unwilling service. Their alacrity recalls the days of Deborah, when the people and the governors of Israel “offered themselves willingly” to fight the battles of Jehovah (Jdg 5:2; Jdg 5:9).
The connexion of the clauses in the remainder of the verse is somewhat uncertain. It is possible, with R.V. marg., to join in the beauties of holiness, or, as it should rather be rendered, in holy adornments, with the preceding clause, and from the womb of the morning with the following clause. In this case from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth might describe the constantly renewed youthful vigour of the king. But it is preferable, with R.V. text, to adhere to the Massoretic accentuation, and join both clauses with what follows, In holy adornments, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth.
These words will then be a further description of the army mustering to march forth to battle for the king. Thy youth denotes the youthful warriors who flock with eagerness to his standard. They are clad in holy adornments, as it were an army of priests following their priestly leader. They are compared to dew; the mysterious birth of the morning, so abundant and so precious in hot Eastern countries. The comparison, however, need not be limited to a single point. It may further suggest their sudden appearance in obedience to the Divine command, their freshness, their inspiriting effect upon the king, their numbers, the glittering of their armour in the sunshine. Cp. Hos 14:5; Isa 26:19 ; 2Sa 17:12; Mic 5:7, for various emblematical uses of dew. Cp. also Milton, Par. Lost, v. 744,
An host
Innumerable as the stars of night
Or stars of morning, dewdrops, which the sun
Impearls on every leaf and every flower.”
in the beauties of holiness ] Rather, in holy adornments. The similar phrase in Psa 29:2; Psa 96:9 (= 1Ch 16:29); 2 Chron. 22:21; denotes the “holy garments for glory and for beauty” in which the priests were arrayed (Exo 28:2). Israel was “a kingdom of priests”; these warriors had in an especial manner offered themselves to fight the battles of Jehovah, and their armour was the symbol of their consecration. Those who follow the priest-king are at once priests and warriors.
The reading however is uncertain. The plural hadr ( ) ‘adornments’ does not occur elsewhere, and a trifling change in a single letter gives the reading harr ( ); on the holy mountains (Psa 87:1), i.e. the mountains of Zion, where the army musters. This reading is supported by Symmachus and Jerome ( in montibus Sanctis), and agrees well with the figure of the dew. Cp. Psa 133:3.
from the womb of the morning ] The morning is the mother of the dew. For the personification, cp. Job 3:9; Job 38:12-13.
The rendering of this verse in the LXX deserves notice on account of the doctrinal importance attached to it by many of the Fathers who were dependent on that Version or on the Vulgate. Reading some of the words with different vowels, the LXX rendered it, “With thee is the beginning in the day of thy power, in the splendours of thy saints; from the womb before the daystar I begat thee.” The last clause was interpreted of the eternal generation of Christ, or of His birth in the early morning.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy people – All who are given to thee; all over whom thou art to rule. This verse has been variously translated. The Septuagint renders it, With thee is the beginning in the day of thy power, in the splendor of thy saints, from the womb, before the light of the morning have I begotten thee. So the Latin Vulgate. Luther renders it, After thy victory shall thy people willingly bring an offering to thee, in holy adorning: thy children shall be born to thee as the dew of the morning. DeWette, Willingly shall thy people show themselves to thee on the day of the assembling of thy host in holy adorning, as from the womb of the morning, thy youth (vigor) shall be as the dew. Prof. Alexander, Thy people (are) free-will offerings in the day of thy power, in holy decorations, from the womb of the dawn, to thee (is) the dew of thy youth. Every clause of the verse is obscure, though the general idea is not difficult to perceive; that, in the day of Messiahs power, his people would willingly offer themselves to him, in holy robes or adorning, like the glittering dew of the morning; or, in numbers that might be compared with the drops of the morning dew. The essential ideas are:
(1) that he would have a people;
(2) that their subjection to him would be a willing subjection;
(3) that this would be accomplished by his power;
(4) that they would appear before him in great beauty – in robes of holy adorning;
(5) that they would in some way resemble the dew of the morning; and
(6) that to him in thus subduing them there would be the vigor of youth, the ardor of youthful hope.
Shall be willing – literally, Thy people (are, or shall be) willing-offerings. The word rendered willing – nedaboth – is in the plural number; thy people, willingnesses. The singular – nedabah – means voluntariness, spontaneousness: and hence, it comes to mean spontaneously, voluntarily, of a willing mind. It is rendered a willing offering, in Exo 35:29; free offering, in Exo 36:3; voluntary offering, in Lev 7:16; free-will offering, in Lev 22:18, Lev 22:21, Lev 22:23; Lev 23:38; Num 15:3; Num 29:39; Deu 12:6, Deu 12:17; Deu 16:10; Deu 23:23; 2Ch 31:14; Ezr 1:4; Ezr 3:5; Ezr 8:28; Psa 119:108; willingly, in 2Ch 35:8; plentiful, in Psa 68:9; voluntary, and voluntarily, in Eze 46:12; freely, in Hos 14:4; and free-offering, in Amo 4:5. It does not occur elsewhere. The idea is that of freeness; of voluntariness; of doing it from choice, doing it of their own will. They did it in the exercise of freedom. There was no compulsion; no constraint. Whatever power there was in the case, was to make them willing, not to compel them to do a thing against their will. That which was done, or that which is here intended to be described as having been done, is evidently the act of devoting themselves to him who is here designated as their Ruler – the Messiah. The allusion may be either
(a) to their devoting themselves to him in conversion, or becoming his;
(b) to their devoting themselves to his service – as soldiers do in war; or
(c) to their devoting their time, wealth, talents, to him in lives consecrated to him.
Whatever there is as the result of his dominion over them is voluntary on their part. There is no compulsion in his religion. People are not constrained to do what they are unwilling to do. All the power that is exerted is on the will, disposing people to do what is right, and what is for their own interest. No man is forced to go to heaven against his will; no man is saved from hell against his will; no man makes a sacrifice in religion against his will; no man is compelled to serve the Redeemer in any way against his will. The acts of religion are among the most free that people ever perform; and of all the hosts of the redeemed no one will ever say that the act of his becoming a follower of the Redeemer was not perfectly voluntary. He chose – he professed – to be a friend of God, and he never saw the time when he regretted the choice.
In the day of thy power – The power given to the Messiah to accomplish the work of his mission; the power to convert people, and to save the world. Mat 28:18; Mat 11:27; Joh 17:2. This implies
(a) that power would be employed in bringing people to submit to him; and
(b) that there would be a fixed time when that power would be put forth.
Still, it is power which is not inconsistent with freedom. It is power exerted in making people willing, not in compelling or forcing them to submit to him. There is a power which may be exerted over the will consistent with liberty, and that is the power which the Messiah employs in bringing people to himself.
In the beauties of holiness – This power will be connected with the beauty of holiness; or, holiness will be manifested when that power is put forth. The object is to secure holiness; and there will be beauty in that holiness. The only power put forth in the case is to make people holy; and they will, in their lives and conduct, manifest all the beauty or attractiveness which there is in a holy and pure character. The word rendered beauty is in the plural number, and the allusion may be to the raiment of those who are referred to. They would appear in pure garments – in sacerdotal vestments – as priests of God. Compare Lev 16:4. The idea may be that they would be a kingdom of priests, clad in priestly vestments (Exo 19:6; compare the notes at 1Pe 2:5, notes at 1Pe 2:9), and that they would be adorned with robes appropriate to that office. This may refer, however, to their actual, internal holiness, and may mean that they would, when they were subjugated to him, appear as a holy or a righteous people.
From the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth – Margin, more than the womb of the morning, thou shalt have, etc. The expression here is evidently designed to refer to the source of the dew – the dew of the early dawn – as having its birth then, or as seeming to be born then. The morn is represented as the mother of the dew. The figure is highly poetic and beautiful. The ground of the comparison may be either
(a) that the beauty of holiness – the beautiful array of the saints – is more than that produced in the womb of the morning; or
(b) that the dew of youth is more beautiful than the dew produced in the morning. As the word dew, that on which the comparison must turn, occurs in the last member of the sentence, it is probable that the second of these interpretations is the true one, as indicated in the margin: More than the womb of the morning (more than the morning produces) thou hast the dew of thy youth. That is, as the young morning – the youth of the day – has its beauties in the abundance and luster of the dew-drops, so shall the dew of thy youth be – the beginning of thy glorious day. May there not be here also an allusion to the multitudes that would be among his people – numerous as the dewdrops of the morning, and as beautiful as they – on his going forth to the world with all the beauty of a bright dawn?
The meaning of the whole, I apprehend, is, Thy reign shall be like the day – a long bright day. Thy coming – the morning of that day – shall be like the early dawn – so fresh, so beautiful, made so lovely by the drops of dew sparkling on every blade of grass. More beautiful by far – more lovely – shall be the beginning of the day of thy reign; – more lovely to the world thy youth – thy appearing – the beginning of thy day. Thus understood, the verse is a most beautiful poetic description of the bright morning when the Messiah should come; the dawn of that glorious day when he should reign. Compare Isa 9:1-3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 110:3
Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.
Christ subdues a people to Himself
The glory of a king consists in the multitude of his people. Messiah is a king, but He is described as ruling in the midst of His enemies. Has He, then, none but these over whom He is to reign–none that willingly do Him service? Was He to spend His labour in vain, His time and strength for that which profiteth nothing? No! He should see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in His hand. Jehovah promises to Him, Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power.
I. The character and condition of Messiahs subjects. They are His people–
1. Because they are given to Him by the Father.
2. Because they are bought with a price, even with His own precious blood.
3. Because they are created anew by His Holy Spirit, and so fitted for His service here, and for the full enjoyment of heaven hereafter.
II. The prediction regarding them. They shall be willing. Worldly kingdoms have often been established by violence–they rule over the body only, they govern by fear and terror. In all these respects, Christs kingdom is not of this world. His people are willing to enter into His kingdom in the way of His own appointment, they are willing to obey the laws of His kingdom, and they are willing to submit to that discipline which His infinite wisdom sees meet for them.
III. The time when, and the means by which, they shall be made willing. In the day of Thy power. The exertion of Messiahs power is requisite to bring the most amiable of the human race cordially to submit to Him as their rightful Lord; and by the exertion of this power, the most hardened rebel may be transformed into a willing subject. (C. Greig, M. A.)
Christs triumph and our glory
I. Christs triumph.
1. Christ triumphs through us, manifesting His power to destroy sin in the flesh, and to restore the God-like image. He works in us, enabling us to will and to do His good pleasure.
2. His triumph waits upon us. Because He lives, His people shall live for ever.
3. There will come a day when we shall be willing–
(1) To learn of Him. To receive with meekness the truth; to be taught of Him.
(2) To suffer with Him. We shall be willing to humble ourselves, and sacrifice every hearts desire and ambition to His glory.
(3) To follow Him, in going out after all the lost and erring ones.
(4) To do His will, promptly and perfectly as the angels, who stand around the throne, awaiting His bidding.
II. Our glory. We have a victorious Leader. Our King will come forth in the beauties of holiness. His reign will be refreshing and quickening as dew, every drop reflecting all heaven. He will lead His people gloriously, while they shout their song of triumph. Christ is also our royal priest, the mystery of His birth and succession being prefigured in the person of Melchizedek. His Word is our battle-axe, which strikes devastating blows in the ranks of the enemy. We read of the triumphal entrance of Pompey into Rome, when for two days the procession moved along the Via Sacra. At the head of the procession were carried the brazen tablets, engraven with the names of the conquered nations, the record of the wealth amassed, and the vast increase in the revenues of the empire. The captives followed the triumphal chariot, and as many trophies were displayed as there had been victories gained, either by Pompey or his officers. But how vastly more magnificent and dazzling will be the procession of the heavenly hosts of the redeemed of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues as they enter the New Jerusalem with their King of kings, to crown Him Lord of all. (J. B. Donaldson, D.D.)
Soldier priests
We have here the very heart of the Christian character set forth as being willing consecration; then we have the work which Christian men have to do, and the spirit in which they are to do it, expressed in that metaphor of their priestly attire; and then we have their refreshing and quickening influence upon the world.
I. The subjects of the Priest-King are willing soldiers. We are all soldiers, and He only has to determine our work. We are responsible for the spirit of it, He for its success. Again, there are no mercenaries in these ranks, no pressed men. The soldiers are all volunteers. Thy people shall be willing. Constrained obedience is no obedience. The word here rendered willing is employed throughout the Levitical law for freewill offerings. This glad submission comes from self-consecration and surrender.
II. The soldiers are priests. The beauties of holiness is a frequent phrase for the sacerdotal garments, the holy festal attire of the priests of the Lord. So considered, how beautifully it comes in here. The conquering King whom the psalm hymns is a Priest for ever; and He is followed by an army of priests. The soldiers are gathered in the day of the muster, with high courage and willing devotion, ready to fling away their lives; but they are clad not in mail, but in priestly robes, like those who wait before the altar rather than like those who plunge into the fight, like those who encompassed Jericho with the ark for their standard and the trumpets for all their weapons. The servant of the Lord must not strive. We cannot scold nor dragoon men to love Jesus Christ. We are to be gentle, long-suffering, not doing our work with passion and self-will, but remembering that gentleness is mightiest, and that we shall best adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour when we go among men with the light caught in the inner sanctuary still irradiating our faces, and our hands full of blessings to bestow on our brethren.
III. The soldier-priests are as dew upon the earth. There are two points in this last clause which may occupy us–that picture of the army as a band of youthful warriors; and that lovely emblem of the dew as applied to Christs servants. As to the former–there are many other words of Scripture which carry the same thought, that he who has fellowship with God, and lives in the constant reception of the supernatural life and grace which come from Jesus Christ, possesses the secret of perpetual youth. If we live near Christ, and draw our life from Him, then we may blend the hopes of youth with the experience and memory of age; be at once calm and joyous, wise and strong, preserving the blessedness of each stage of life into that which follows, and thus at last possessing the sweetness and the good of all at once. We may not only bear fruit in old age, but have blossoms, fruit, and flowers–the varying product and adornment of every stage of life united in our characters. Then, with regard to the other point in this final clause–that emblem of the dew comes into view here, I suppose, mainly for the sake of its effect upon the earth. It is as a symbol of the refreshing which a weary world will receive from the conquests and presence of the King and His host, that they are likened to the glittering morning dew. We are meant to gladden, to adorn, to refresh this parched, prosaic world, with a freshness brought from the chambers of the sunrise. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
A willing people and an immutable Leader
I. A promise made to Christs people. Here is a promise of time: in the day of Thy power. Here is a promise of people: Thy people. Here is a promise of disposition: Thy people shall be willing. Here is a promise of character: Thy people shall be willing in the beauties of holiness. And here is a majestic figure to show the manner in which they shall be brought forth. By a very bold metaphor, they are said to come out as mysteriously as the dew-drops from the womb of the morning. We know not how, but they are produced by God. Philosophy has laboured to discover the origin of dew, and perhaps has guessed it; but to the Eastern, one of the greatest riddles was, out of whose womb came the dew? Who is the mother of those pearly drops? Now, so will Gods people come mysteriously. It will be said by the bystander, There was nothing in that mans preaching; I thought I should hear an orator; this man has been made the means of salvation to thousands, and I thought I should hear an eloquent man, but I have heard a great many preachers far more intelligent and intellectual than he; how were these souls converted? Why, they have come from the womb of the morning, mysterously. Again, the dew-drops–who made them? God speaks; He whispers in the ears of nature, and it weeps for joy at the glad news that the morning is coming. That is how Gods people shall be saved; they come forth from the womb of the morning divinely called, divinely brought, divinely blessed, divinely numbered, divinely scattered over the entire surface of the globe, divinely refreshing to the world, they proceed from the womb of the morning.
II. A promise made to Christ. Thou hast the dew of Thy youth. Ah! believer, this is the great source of Gospel success, that Christ has the dew of His youth. Jesus Christ, personally, has the dew of His youth. Certain leaders in their young days have led their troops to battle, and by the loudness of their voice, and the strength of their bodies, they have inspired their men with courage; but the old warrior hath his hair sown with grey; he begins to be decrepit, and no longer can lead men to battle. It is not so with Jesus Christ. He has still the dew of His youth. The same Christ who led His troops to battle in His early youth leads them now. The arm which smote the sinner with His Word smites now; it is as unpalsied as it was before. The eye which looked upon His friends with gladness, and upon his foemen with a glance most stern and high–that same eye is regarding us now, undimmed, like that of Moses. He has the dew of His youth. So also doctrinally, Christ hath the dew of His youth. Usually, when a religion starts it is very rampant, but it afterwards decays. Look at the religion of Mahommed. For one hundred years or more it threatened to subvert kingdoms, and overturn the whole world, but where are the blades that flashed then? Where are now the willing hands that smote down the foes of Mahommed? Why, his religion has become an old worn-out thing; no one cares about it; and the Turk, sitting on his divan, with his legs crossed, smoking his pipe, is the best image of the Mahommedan religion–old, infirm, effete. But the Christian religion,–ah, it is as fresh as when it shafted from its cradle at Jerusalem; it is as hale, and hearty, and mighty, as when Paul preached it at Athens, or Peter at Jerusalem. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christs people, a willing people
There is here–
1. Something supposed. Namely, that Christ hath a people in the world where He erects His standard, that He hath a special relation to, and interest in. Thy people, even His people (Mat 1:21). He hath bought them with His blood (Joh 10:15). It is supposed also, that He finds these unwilling to submit to Him, as well as the rest of the world. The corruption of the will is common to them with others.
2. Something ensured to the Mediator, respecting this people of His; namely, that these unwilling people shall be willing, Hebrew, willingnesses; which imports that they shall submit to Him, and give away themselves to Him; acknowledge the right which Christ hath to them, and be His people by their own consent (Isa 49:18; Isa 55:5).
3. The time when, and the way how this shall be done. In the day of Thy power. That is, in a day of the Gospels coming with power. For the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
I. That corruption of the will, with which Christ finds His people, as well as others, possessed.
1. There is a weakness in their will; they cannot will what is spiritually good and acceptable to God.
2. An aversion to good.
3. A proneness to evil, a woful bent of the will carrying it to sin.
4. A contrariety in the will, to the will of God.
5. Contumacy: the will is wilful or obstinate in evil.
II. The willingness of the soul submitting to Christ. What makes the change? They are made, they do not make themselves willing. The Lord changes their wills, takes away the evil qualities of their will, and gives new qualities.
1. They are willing to part with sin.
2. They are willing to go out of themselves; to cast off all confidence in their attainments and duties; to come to Christ empty, with nothing in them or on them to recommend them to Him but misery.
3. They are willing to take Christ as their Saviour, and to submit to His righteousness.
4. They are willing to take on the yoke of Christs commandments.
5. Willing to bear Christs Cross, to cleave to Him and His ways, and to follow Him through fire and water.
6. Willing to go away with Christ, for altogether, home to His Fathers house.
III. The day of power.
1. Though the Gospel may be long preached unto a people, yet there are some special seasons that may be looked on as days of power. Days when the Gospel is new to a people, days of persecution, days when there is a spirit of prayer poured out, and times of sealing ordinances, these are more likely than others to be days of power.
2. There is an appointed time for the inbringing of all the elect of God, and that is the particular day of power to them.
3. A dark night usually goes before this day of power.
4. Whenever this day of power comes, the soul is made willing, the fort of the heart is taken, and the King of glory enters in state, turns out the old inhabitants, and puts in new. (T. Boston, D.D.)
The necessity and claims of the missionary enterprise
I. The nature of the work itself. The Gospel is just a voice from heaven calling on the Church to evangelize the world.
II. The necessity of this work. Ill. The prospects of this work.
IV. The relation in which Christians stand to this work. (D. Young.)
The willingness of Gods people
I. God has a people in the world, and there never was a period when He had not.
II. There is a day of His power that shall pass on them for their regeneration and conversion.
1. It is a day, not a natural day of twenty-four hours, that is interrupted by night, but I conceive it means three things–
(1) A period destined for the conversion of His people,
(2) A period perfectly clear to God,
(3) A period limited to time.
2. It is the day of His power. To the perishing sinner the Gospel comes, not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. It is an arresting power; it meets the sinner, and stays his mad career, as in the case of Saul of Tarsus. It is a convincing power; it teaches the sinner that he is ruined in every respect, and leads him to cry out, What shall I do to be saved? It is a life-giving power; it quickens dead souls, and will eventually bring the dead bodies from their graves.
III. The result; that they shall be brought to Him, made willing to part with all things, and to be His voluntary subjects and followers in the world. The power of God does not do away with the liberty of the will, nor does the liberty of the will render unnecessary the exercise of the power of God. (J. Jones.)
The law of least resistance
I. The day of Christs power. The day of our Lords power was the day when, like Samson, He burst the green withes of death, and carried the gates of the grave up the hill of God. The day of His power was proclaimed to all the world when He ascended up on high and sat down at the right hand of God; and the day of Pentecost witnessed, by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the assembled thousands, that, the work of Christ was finished and accepted, and had achieved all the mighty results for which it was undertaken. Ever since then, the day of Christs power has continued. All power on earth and in heaven has been given to Him for the purpose of carrying on His mediatorial work.
II. The willingness of the people in the day of the Lords power. What a world of meaning is there in that word willing! It denotes the condition of one who offers the least resistance to the saving power of Jesus, and in whom, therefore, that power finds it easiest to work and to carry on its gracious purposes. Such a person has no self-will, giving it freely up to be moulded by the Divine will; willing to give up all–to give first the heart and then the life, a living sacrifice.. Such a person is not compelled by law, but impelled by love. Not my will, but Thine be done, is his rule not only in regard to the salvation of his soul, but also in regard to all the duties and relations of life. Christ will bless such an one up to the fulness of His own loving heart, because there is nothing in his heart to prevent it.
III. What will the day of power do for them? It will adorn them with the beauty of holiness, and it will renew their youth. The will of God is our sanctification. The dearest wish of His heart is that the fair image in which He created us, and which we have marred by our sin, should be restored. He wishes us to place ourselves unreservedly in His hands, that He may create us anew in Christ Jesus. The glory of the Godhead shines in Him who assumed our nature; and all power is given to Him in order that He may make us conformable to His image. Who would not accept a king to reign over them who could thus make them what they were meant to be–sons of God and heirs of heaven; who could fulfil here and hereafter, to the fullest extent, their prayer, Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us? But, besides the beauties of holiness, perpetual youthfulness is also what the grace of Christ will produce in those who are willing in the day of His power. In His service the dew of their youth, the brightness of lifes morning, will be ever upon them. He who has the power of an endless life, who is the same yesterday, today, and for ever, will renew their strength from day to day from the fountainhead of His own strength. Eternal life is eternal youth; and He who takes away the old nature of sin and gives the new nature of grace, with it makes all things new. (H. Macmillan, D.D.)
The increase of the Messiahs kingdom prophetically anticipated
I. The prospect which the text affords.
1. Its nature. Light pours in upon his understanding–Divine influence renews his heart. The kingdom of God is within him, and he is swayed by the sceptre of redeeming love.
2. Its effects. True holiness is, in strict propriety of expression, the holiness of truth–it is excellence of character, produced by excellence of principle. Its moral influence is Divinely designed to be, and actually has been in every age, for the healing of the nations.
3. Its extent. The subjects of the Redeemers kingdom shall be numerous as the drops of morning dew, which sparkle upon the grass in countless profusion when the day breaks, and the glory of the rising sun is poured over the earth. Sinners of every class will perceive so much beauty and evidence in Divine truth, that they will have no more power to resist its illumination, to elude its force, and to remain longer in subjection to their errors, their vices, and their prejudices.
II. The certainty of its accomplishment.
1. The immutability of Jehovahs counsel.
2. The perfection of the Redeemers atonement.
3. The invincibility of Divine grace. (W. Hutchings.)
The Gospel dispensation one of power
I. Look at its extent. Superstitions the most powerful and beloved,–systems of philosophy the most specious and plausible,–opinions which are congenial to the human heart, and have been entertained for ages,–and habits, strengthened not merely by personal indulgence, but by the influence of the most remote antiquity,–all give way before the Cross. Conversion of the most degraded and ignorant tribes takes place,–the change effected, and the contrast furnished by it, being more visible, and, therefore, more impressive than former dispensations have witnessed. And the most glorious displays are yet future. The close of this day of power is to be most excessive in its brightness,–at eventide there is to be the purest and the fullest light.
II. The production and increase of piety in mens souls is more natural to this dispensation than the preceding ones. What was made known under them is not to be compared with what has been made known since, for explicitness and fulness.
III. It is the dispensation of the Spirit. He is the official agent in the conversion and sanctification of men. (A. J. Morris.)
When God marshals His forces
The word rendered power has the same ambiguity which that word has in the English of the date of our translation, and for a century later, as you may find in Shakespeare and Milton, who both used it in the sense of army. We do not employ powers in that meaning, but we do another word which means the same thing, and talk of forces, meaning thereby troops. The day of thy power is not a mere synonym for the time of thy might, but means specifically the day of thine army; that is, the day when thou dost muster thy forces, and set them in array for the war. The King is going forth to conquest. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
In the beauties of holiness.
The excellence of Christian morality
The words of the text evidently describe the subjects of the Messiah They illustrate the most distinguishing features of their character and principles. They display the predicted, expected, and now realized superiority of the morality of the Gospel.
I. Its principles. Strictly speaking, religion and true morality are in substance the same. In the Scriptures, the application of religion to practice is expressed by the term holiness, and the maturity or perfection of its principles, appearing in the demeanour and actions of men, is elegantly called the beauties of holiness. Religion refuses not the aid of reason, when unsophisticated; of the moral sense, when enlightened; or of the eternal distinctions of things, when rightly understood. Nay, religion requires, employs, and retains them all in her service. But above these she exalts, as her peculiar principles of morality.
1. The authority of an all-perfect Being.
2. The operation of faith. True faith is the offspring of light, and the parent of purity. It originates in knowledge and in reason. It is cherished by inquiry and research. It is perfected in the free and full assent of the will, communicated by the Spirit of God, when men are made willing in the day of His power.
3. Supreme love to God.
4. To live to the glory of God.
II. Its extent. Social and relative duties are unquestionably of high importance in morality, and politicians and legislators will ever regard them as the most valuable part of religion, because they are most immediately conducive to the external peace and order of states. But shall philosophers, admirers of wisdom, and students of virtue, pious and aspiring inquirers, extend no farther their conceptions of morality? Let persons of this character prosecute their researches with candour and fidelity, and in the Scriptures of truth they shall soon attain to many new and elevating discoveries. In that sacred volume, does not the great God and our Saviour demand assent, not merely to the common position, that He exists, but require that the conviction of His perfections and presence should affect all our actions? Does He not reveal, not merely His counsels, but challenge an active and universal obedience to His will? Does He not claim, not merely respect for His laws, but zeal for His glory? not merely the homage of the body, but fervour of the spirit in serving Him; not merely submission, but confidence; not merely gratitude, but joy; not merely hope, but assurance; not merely desire, but delight in His communion?
III. Its efficacy. The Gospel is, in more respects than one, like the principle of light to which it has been so justly compared. It may be distorted by a false medium, or obscured by the intervention of clouds, yet still it assists vision, still it may be beneficial, still it is light, and preferable, in every case, to darkness. Or it is like the element of heat, which, even though unseen, may latently support and invigorate life. Thus even the worst corruptions of the Christian religion have not utterly extinguished its beneficial tendency. To what but the influence of the Gospel is Europe indebted for her boasted superiority of civilization? What has exalted the whole female sex to respectability, to deference and to love? Without a question it was Christianity. What has mitigated the horrors of war, civilized the manners of nations, attempered the power of the great, and exalted the condition of the poor? It was the same cause. And no system of philosophy, before its appearance, ever produced any similar effects, or ever even attempted such designs.
IV. Its consequences.
1. Exemption from the power of sin and the practice of vice (Rom 6:14; Joh 8:36).
2. A willing mind in the performance of every duty, with its attendant satisfaction and delight, follows this exemption from the dominion of sin.
3. The evidence thus established, that we are in a state of grace and acceptance with God, is a new consequence and fruit of this invaluable morality. Upon no other presumption can the persuasion of this opinion be founded, than the evidence of our conformity to the standards and precepts of the Gospel, the palpable and genuine proof that we are actually redeemed from sin, exempted from its dominion, habituated to holiness, active in virtue, and made willing in a favoured time of power.
4. The true enjoyment of life results from these principles. Without them all is dark, cheerless, and uncertain. With their support, all is light, joyous, and secure.
5. How delightful a talk would it be to describe the peculiar resources in affliction, which flow from these principles, and the triumph in the arms of death, to which they lead!
6. The preparation for heaven, which they confer, the anticipation of its joys, and consequently the proof of its assured existence, which they afford, is their last and most important consequence. (W. Bennet.)
The secret of moral beauty
If you would make your life truly graceful, truly beautiful, you must go back to conscience, principle, conviction; there must be within you reality, a true godliness and a true consecration to God and to man. You often meet with people whose beauty disappoints you–I mean their moral beauty. They are excellent people, charming people, but somehow or other you are not satisfied with them. What is the matter? There is more amiability than energy. You never like to speak discouragingly about nice people, because there are so few of them; but really some people who are exceedingly amiable are exceedingly unsatisfying. What is the matter with them? It is this–lack of depth, reality, force. They have got more graciousness than they have grit. They make a great many gracious concessions that at last question their conscientiousness. They have a supply of amiability about them that makes you suspect a flabbiness within. No amiability is really satisfactory to men except as it springs from deep, radical, organic conscientiousness, conviction, and devotion. To see lilywork upon a pillar is admirable, but frosted work on a bride-cake is another thing altogether. And I say to you that if you would make your character as you are anxious to make it–graceful, noble, beautiful–there is no way for you but to go back to the roots and foundations of life. If you wish to make yourself right, I say to you: Dont paint your face; see to it that there is health in the central organs. Dont revise your etiquette; see to it that you are transformed in the spirit of your mind. Out of the heart are the issues of life, and out of the love of God and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit spring at last the real majesty and sweetness of human character. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Thou hast the dew of thy youth.–
The youth of Godhead
Everything young and fresh, everything bright and smiling, everything buoyant and happy, may be traced to the perpetual youth of Godhead, which streams forth for ever and ever, impregnating all receptive souls and substances with its own quality; and it is owing to the unchangeable youth of the Son of God, that every new-born babe, after thousands of years, preserves the freshness and the beauteous innocence of the first-born child of Adam. The fulness of life which rises and dances in every young heart, and the living sunbeams which play upon the face of youth, are from the same one and only eternal source. And after myriads of springtimes in myriads of planets, each succeeding spring is as fresh and full of young vigour and beauty as were the springs before the flood. Every babe, and every spring, and every new morning, are world-types of the everlasting youth of our God. There is no light like the early morning light, there is no air like the early morning air, there is no water like the dew of early morning, and when do the birds sing as they sing in the opening day? Every morning is a new sermon on the youth of Jesus. And the new life that rises with us in the morning, after our nightly death in sleep, is a daily demonstration that life continues young and fresh in its fountain-head. (John Pulsford.)
The dew of Christs youth
I. Christ has the dew of His youth.
1. Let me speak first of Christ personally; has He not all the freshness, all the vigour, all the strength of ancient times?
2. It is the same if you think of Him as revealed in His doctrine. The Gospel is always fresh.
3. Our text is also specially true of Christ as revealed in the Bible. There are many other valuable books that have been written; but, as a rule, however valuable they may be, when you have read them half-a-dozen times, you may be quite satisfied that you need not read them any more. You can get to the bottom of all other books; you dive into them, and at first they seem to be very deep; but every time you plunge, they appear to get shallower and shallower, until at last you can see the bottom at a glance. But in Gods Word, every time you dive, the depths grow deeper.
4. Everything that has to do with Christ is always young. Everything lives where He is; for He is life, and in Him there is no death at all; and because lie is life, He is always full of freshness, and therefore doth He scatter living force wheresoever He goeth.
II. What is the reason for this freshness?
1. No man, who understands what it is to have Christ in his heart, will ever get tired of Him through want of variety. You may look at Christ a thousand times, and you shall have, if you please, a thousand different aspects of His beauty.
2. Christ has the dew of His youth because of His excellence. Ah, you thought Christ was sweet when first you tasted Him; but you will know Him to be sweeter still when you know more of Him, and taste and see that He is good; but you can never know all His sweetness, for you can eat, and eat, and yet not discover it all; possibly, scarcely in heaven itself will you know all the sweetness of Christ.
3. Christ will never lose His freshness to us, because He is Divine, and therefore inexhaustible.
4. Another reason why Christ will always have the dew of His youth is, because He meets all the cravings of our nature. When we really have Christ, we feel that we have nothing else that we can wish for.
5. We shall never be tired of Christ, because the need we have of Christ can never cease. But, says one, we shall not need Him in heaven. Who told you that? Not need Christ in heaven! Why, if you could take Christ away from heaven, you would take heaven away altogether. If I shall not need Christ to cleanse me in heaven, yet I shall want Christ to commune with Him. If I shall not need to pray to Him, I shall want to praise Him. If I shall not need Him as a Shepherd, I shall need Him as a Priest, as a King, that I may for ever serve Him with joy and gladness.
III. What are the lessons we should learn from this truth?
1. For the pulpit, a lesson of admonition. We who occupy the pulpit must take care that we never entertain the idea that the Gospel has become worn out. It still has the dew of its youth.
2. A lesson of self-examination to each one here present. What you should ask yourself is, Have I found the right Christ?If the Christ I have found has lost His freshness, is it not very likely that I have found a wrong Christ, one of my own making, one of my own conception? For the real Christ is always fresh, always interesting, always new. Have I not either laid hold of the wrong truth, or held it in the wrong way?
3. A word of aspiration, if Christ has the dew of His youth upon Him, let us, my dear friends who serve the Lord Jesus Christ, aspire to show the world that we do so. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The dew of youth
1. Make sure that your lifes morning is fresh as the dew. The first thing which strikes us in the dew is its transparency. Is your soul transparently clear? Is your conscience without offence toward God and toward men? How is this purity and beauty of soul to be had? Look at the dew-drop again and ask whence comes its jewelled brightness. It is all the suns doing. Now, Christ is the Sun of Righteousness. He is wooing you now from all that is low and unworthy, even as the sun woos the vapour from the murky pool. It cannot resists–you can; but will you?
2. Make sure that you keep the freshness of the dew. First by never allowing a stain to remain on your conscience and in your life. That stains will come is inevitable. But let them not remain. But it is not enough to keep clear of stains, or when stains are contracted to have them at once washed away; there must also be a constant renewal of life. You cannot live on the strength of yesterday; you must have the strength of to-day for the work of to-day. Live in time, and for time, and your morning will soon change to sultry noon, to sad afternoon, darkening down to the blackness of night. But accept the eternal life which God gives you in His Son Christ Jesus, and lo! the freshness of the morning is about you all through life. (J. M. Gibson.)
The dew
I. The dew descends from heaven.
1. Every moral production of the earth is impure. Man–systems–institutions–maxims.
2. The productions of the earth may be known by their distinguishing characteristics. The naturalist knows the country of an animal. The botanist, of a plant. The moralist, of a sentiment, or action, or character.
3. The character of the believer proves him not of the world. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
4. The Bible tells his native country.
(1) He is Divine in his parentage.
(2) The Spirit comes down to regenerate him.
(3) Grace comes down to animate and actuate, etc.
5. Do you feel heaven-born and home affections towards heaven?
II. The dew descends during the night.
1. The present is to the heavenly state as night to day. It is now that the believer is regenerated and sanctified.
2. A season of suffering is to one of personal joy, as night is to day. It is in suffering that the believer is most effectually purified.
III. The dew-drops are very plentiful.
1. Believers are a little flock, in any past time–at present–at any one given time.
2. They shall be more numerous during the latter-day glory.
3. They shall be very numerous in heaven.
IV. The dew-drops refresh the vegetable world.
1. Believers, being themselves refreshed, refresh others.
(1) By their conversation.
(2) By their example.
(3) By their prayers.
(4) By their deeds of kindness.
2. Are you to your neighbourhood as a dew from the Lord?
V. Each dew-drop reflects the suns image.
1. Man originally bore Gods image.
2. When renewed he again bears it.
3. What is it to have Gods image?
(1) The same views–Bible views.
(2) The same objects–His glory in redemption.
(3) The same character–in heart and life.
4. When the believer thinks of God, how high is the attainment of bearing His image!
5. Do you love His law–doings–designs–character–fellowship–people?
VI. The dew reascends to heaven when it has refreshed the earth.
1. Even now the believer soars aloft–in thought–desire–conversation–hope–confident anticipation.
2. At death, his soul ascends–a constant ascension.
3. At the resurrection, his body ascends.
4. Are your tendencies heavenward?
VII. When the dew ascends, it is in perfect purity, freed from any mixture of earth. (James Stewart.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power] This verse has been wofully perverted. It has been supposed to point out the irresistible operation of the grace of God on the souls of the elect, thereby making them willing to receive Christ as their Saviour. Now, whether this doctrine be true or false, it is not in this text, nor can it receive the smallest countenance from it. There has been much spoken against the doctrine of what is called free will by persons who seem not to have understood the term. Will is a free principle. Free will is as absurd as bound will, it is not will if it be not free; and if it be bound it is no will. Volition is essential to the being of the soul, and to all rational and intellectual beings. This is the most essential discrimination between matter and spirit. MATTER can have no choice; SPIRIT has. Ratiocination is essential to intellect; and from these volition is inseparable. God uniformly treats man as a free agent; and on this principle the whole of Divine revelation is constructed, as is also the doctrine of future rewards and punishments. If man be forced to believe, he believes not at all; it is the forcing power that believes, not the machine forced. If he be forced to obey, it is the forcing power that obeys; and he, as a machine, shows only the effect of this irresistible force. If man be incapable of willing good, and nilling evil, he is incapable of being saved as a rational being; and if he acts only under an overwhelming compulsion, he is as incapable of being damned. In short, this doctrine reduces him either to a punctum stans, which by the vis inertiae is incapable of being moved but as acted upon by foreign influence; or, as an intellectual being, to nonentity. “But if the text supports the doctrine laid upon it, vain are all these reasonings.” Granted. Let us examine the text. The Hebrew words are the following: ammecha nedaboth beyom cheylecha, which literally translated are, Thy princely people, or free people, in the day of thy power; and are thus paraphrased by the Chaldee: “Thy people, O house of Israel, who willingly labour in the law, thou shalt be helped by them in the day that thou goest to battle.”
The Syriac has: “This praiseworthy people in the day of thy power.”
The Vulgate: “With thee is the principle or origin (principium) in the day of thy power.” And this is referred, by its interpreters, to the Godhead of Christ; and they illustrate it by Joh 1:1: In principio erat Verbum, “In the beginning was the Word.”
The Septuagint is the same; and they use the word as St. John has it in the Greek text: “With thee is the Arche, or principle, in the day of thy power.”
The AEthiopic is the same; and the Arabic nearly so, but rather more express: “The government, [Arabic] riasat, exists with thee in the day of thy power.”
The Anglo-Saxon, [A.S.]. With thee the principle in day of thy greatness.”
The old Psalter, With the begynnyngs in day of thi vertu. Which it thus paraphrases: “I, the fader begynnyng with the, begynnyng I and thou, an begynnyng of al thyng in day of thi vertu.”
Coverdale thus: “In the day of thy power shal my people offre the free-will offeringes with a holy worship.” So Tindal, Cardmarden, Beck, and the Liturgic Version.
The Bible printed by Barker, the king’s printer, 4to. Lond. 1615, renders the whole verse thus: “Thy people shall come willingly at the time of assembling thine army in the holy beauty; the youth of thy womb shall be as the morning dew.”
By the authors of the Universal History, vol. iii., p. 223, the whole passage is thus explained: “The Lord shall send the rod, or sceptre, of thy power out of Sion,” i.e., out of the tribe of Judah: compare Ge 49:20, and Ps 78:68. “Rule thou over thy free-will people;” for none, but such are fit to be Christ’s subjects: see Mt 11:29. “In the midst of thine enemies,” Jews and heathens; or, in a spiritual sense, the world, the flesh, and the devil. “In the day of thy power,” i.e., when all power shall be given him, both in heaven and earth; Mt 28:18. “In the beauties of holiness,” which is the peculiar characteristic of Christ’s reign, and of his religion.
None of the ancient Versions, nor of our modern translations, give any sense to the words that countenances the doctrine above referred to; it merely expresses the character of the people who shall constitute the kingdom of Christ. nadab signifies to be free, liberal, willing, noble; and especially liberality in bringing offerings to the Lord, Ex 25:2; Ex 35:21, Ex 35:29. And nadib signifies a nobleman, a prince, Job 21:8; and also liberality. nedabah signifies a free-will offering – an offering made by superabundant gratitude; one not commanded: see Ex 36:3; Le 7:16, and elsewhere. Now the am nedaboth is the people of liberality – the princely, noble, and generous people; Christ’s real subjects; his own children, who form his Church, and are the salt of the world; the bountiful people, who live only to get good from God that they may do good to man. Is there, has there ever been, any religion under heaven that has produced the liberality, the kindness, the charity, that characterize Christianity? Well may the followers of Christ be termed the am nedaboth-the cheerfully beneficent people. They hear his call, come freely, stay willingly, act nobly, live purely, and obey cheerfully.
The day of Christ’s power is the time of the Gospel, the reign of the Holy Spirit in the souls of his people. Whenever and wherever the Gospel is preached in sincerity and purity, then and there is the day or time of Christ’s power. It is the time of his exaltation. The days of his flesh were the days of his weakness; the time of his exaltation is the day of his power.
In the beauties of holiness] behadrey kodesh, “In the splendid garments of holiness.” An allusion to the beautiful garments of the high priest. Whatever is intended or expressed by superb garments, they possess, in holiness of heart and life, indicative of their Divine birth, noble dispositions, courage, c. Their garb is such as becomes the children of so great a King. Or, They shall appear on the mountains of holiness, bringing glad tidings to Zion.
From the womb of the morning] As the dew flows from the womb of the morning, so shall all the godly from thee. They are the dew of thy youth they are the offspring of thy own nativity. As the human nature of our Lord was begotten by the creative energy of God in the womb of the Virgin; so the followers of God are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but by the Divine Spirit.
Youth may be put here, not only for young men, but for soldiers; – so the Trojana juventus “the Trojan troops,” or soldiers, in Virgil, AEn. i. ver. 467;-and for persons, courageous, heroic, strong, active, and vigorous. Such were the apostles, and first preachers of the Gospel; and, indeed, all genuine Christians. They may be fully compared to dew, for the following reasons: –
1. Like dew, they had their origin from heaven.
2. Like dew, they fructified the earth.
3. Like dew, they were innumerable.
4. Like dew, they were diffused over the earth.
5. Like dew, they came from the morning; the dawn, the beginning of the Gospel day of salvation.
1. As the morning arises in the EAST, and the sun, which produces it, proceeds to the WEST; so was the coming of the Son of man, and of his disciples and apostles.
2. They began in the EAST – Asia Proper and Asia Minor; and shone unto the WEST-Europe, America, c. Scarcely any part of the world has been hidden from the bright and enlivening power of the Sun of Righteousness and now this glorious sun is walking in the greatness of its strength.
Saw ye not the cloud arise,
Little as a human hand?
Now it spreads along the skies,
Hangs o’er all the thirsty land.
Lo, the promise of a shower
Drops already from above;
But the Lord will shortly pour
All the spirit of his love.
The heavenly dew is dropping every where from the womb of the morning; and all the ends of the earth are about to see the salvation of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy people; thy subjects.
Shall be willing, Heb. willingnesses, i.e. most willing, as such plural words are frequently used, as Psa 5:10; 21:7. Or, free-will offerings, as the word properly signifies; whereby he may intimate the difference between the worship of the Old Testament and that of the New. They shall offer and present unto thee as their King and Lord, not oxen, or sheep, or goats, as they did under the law, but themselves, their souls and bodies, as living sacrifices, as they are called, Rom 12:1, and as free-will offerings, giving up themselves to the Lord, 2Co 8:5, to live to him, and to die and be offered for him. The sense is, Thou shalt have friends and subjects as well as enemies, and thy subjects shall not yield thee a forced and feigned obedience, as those who are subject to or conquered by earthly princes frequently do, of which see on Psa 18:44,45, but shall most willingly, and readily, and cheerfully obey all thy commands, without any dispute, or delay, or reservation; and they shall not need to be pressed to thy service, but shall voluntarily list themselves and fight under thy banner against all thy enemies.
In the day of thy power; when thou shalt take into thy hands the rod of thy strength, as it is called, Psa 110:2, and set up thy kingdom in the world, and put forth thy mighty power in the preaching of thy word, and winning souls to thyself by it. Or, in the day of thine army, or forces; when thou shalt raise thine army, consisting of apostles, and other preachers and professors of the gospel, and shalt send them forth to conquer the world unto thyself.
In the beauties of holiness; adorned with the beautiful and glorious robes of righteousness and true holiness, wherewith all new men or true Christians are clothed, Eph 4:24; compare Rev 19:5,14; with various gifts and graces of Gods Spirit, which are beautiful in the eyes of God and of all good men. The last clause noted the inward disposition, the willingness, of Christs subjects, and this notes their outward habit and deportment; wherein there seems to be an allusion either,
1. To the beautiful and glorious garments of the Levitical priests, all Christians being priests unto God, Rev 1:6; 1Pe 2:5,9. Or,
2. To the military robes wherewith soldiers are furnished and adorned, all Christians being soldiers in the Christian warfare. But the words are and may well be rendered thus, in the beauties or glories of the sanctuary, i.e. by a usual Hebraism, in the beautiful and glorious sanctuary, which is called the holy and beautiful house, Isa 64:11; either in the temple at Jerusalem, which was honoured with Christs presence, whereby it excelled the glory of the first house, according to Hag 2 9, in which both Christ and the apostles preached, and by their preaching made many of these willing people; or in Jerusalem, which is oft called the holy place or city, by the same word which is here rendered sanctuary; or in the church of God and of Christ, which was the antitype of the old sanctuary or temple, as is evident from 1Co 3 16,17; 2Co 6:16; Heb 3:6; 1 Pet 2:5. And this place may be mentioned as the place either where Christs people are made willing, and show their willingness, or where Christ exerciseth and manifesteth that power last mentioned. From the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. This place is judged the most difficult and obscure of any in this whole book. The words are diversly rendered and understood. They are to be understood either,
1. Of Christ himself; and that in respect either,
1. Of his Divine and eternal generation, which may be called
the dew of his youth or birth, and which he may be said to have had from the womb of the morning, before the first morning or light was created, or brought out of its womb; that is, before the world was, which is a common description of eternity in Scripture. Or,
2. Of his human nature and birth; and so the words may be thus rendered, from the womb of the morning (or, as it is rendered by divers others, from the womb, from the morning, i.e. from thy very first birth) thou hast or hadst the dew of thy youth, i.e. those eminent blessings and graces wherewith thou wast enriched, or thy youth or childhood was like the dew, precious and acceptable. Or rather,
2. Of Christs subjects or people, of whom he evidently spoke in the former part of the verse, wherewith these words are joined. And it seems not probable that the psalmist, after he had discoursed of Christs advancement to his kingdom, and his administration of it, and success in it, both as to his enemies and friends, would run back to his birth, either Divine or human, both which were evidently and necessarily supposed in what he had already said of him. But then these words may be read either,
1. Separately, as two distinct clauses, as they seem to be taken by our English translators, and by the colon which they placed in the middle. And so the first clause belongs to the foregoing words, as noting the time when the people should be willing, which having declared more generally in those words,
in the day of thy power, he now describes more particularly and exactly, that they should be so even from the morning, or in a poetical strain, which is very suitable to this book, from the womb of the morning, to wit, of that day of his power, i.e. from the very beginning of Christs entrance upon his kingdom, which was after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, and from the very first preaching of the gospel after that time, when multitudes were made Christs willing people by the preaching of the apostles, as we read, Ac 2; Ac 3; Ac 4; Ac 5, &c. And for the second clause, it is to be understood thus, thou hast, or, as it is in the Hebrew, to thee is, the dew of thy youth, or of thy childhood; for the word jeled, from which this is derived, signifies sometimes young man, and sometimes a child or infant. By youth or childhood, he here seems to understand those young men or children which shall be born to the Messias, who are called his children, Heb 2:13, and his seed, Isa 53:10, wherein possibly there might be an allusion to this dew. Thus the abstract is here put for the concrete, which is very frequent in the Hebrew tongue, as circumcision and uncircumcision are put for the circumcised and the uncircumcised, &c. And even in the Latin tongue this very word youth is oft used for a young man, or for a company of young men. By the dew of youth he means youth or young men like dew, the note of similitude being oft understood. And this progeny of Christ is compared to the dew, partly because of their great multitude, being, like drops of dew, innumerable, and covering the whole face of the earth; see 2Sa 17 12; and partly because of the strange manner of their generation, which, like that of the dew, is done suddenly and secretly, and not perceived till it be accomplished, and to the admiration of those that behold it; of which see Isa 49 21. Or,
2. Jointly, as one entire sentence, the dew of thy youth (i.e. thy posterity, which is like the dew, as was noted and explained before) is as the dew (which may very well be understood out of the foregoing clause, as the word feet is understood in like manner, Psa 18:33, He maketh my feet like hinds feet) of or from the womb of the morning; it is like the morning dew, as it is called both in Scripture, as Hos 5:4, and in other authors. Nor is it strange that a womb is ascribed to the morning, seeing we read of the womb of the sea, and of the womb of the ice and frost, Job 38:8,28,29.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. Thy people . . .willingliterally, “Thy people (are) free will offerings”;for such is the proper rendering of the word “willing,”which is a plural noun, and not an adjective (compare Exo 25:2;Psa 54:6), also a similar form(Jud 5:2-9).
in the day of thy powerThypeople freely offer themselves (Ro12:1) in Thy service, enlisting under Thy banner.
in the beauties ofholinesseither as in Ps29:2, the loveliness of a spiritual worship, of which the templeservice, in all its material splendors, was but a type; or moreprobably, the appearance of the worshippers, who, in this spiritualkingdom, are a nation of kings and priests (1Pe 2:9;Rev 1:5), attending this Priestand King, clothed in those eminent graces which the beautifulvestments of the Aaronic priests (Le16:4) typified. The last very obscure clause
from the womb . . .youthmay, according to this view, be thus explained: The word”youth” denotes a period of life distinguished for strengthand activity (compare Ec 11:9)the “dew” is a constant emblem of whatever is refreshingand strengthening (Pro 19:12;Hos 14:5). The Messiah, then, asleading His people, is represented as continually in the vigor ofyouth, refreshed and strengthened by the early dew of God’s grace andSpirit. Thus the phrase corresponds as a member of a parallelism with”the day of thy power” in the first clause. “In thebeauties of holiness” belongs to this latter clause,corresponding to “Thy people” in the first, and the colonafter “morning” is omitted. Others prefer: Thy youth, oryouthful vigor, or body, shall be constantly refreshed by successiveaccessions of people as dew from the early morning; and this accordswith the New Testament idea that the Church is Christ’s body (compareMic 5:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thy people shall be willing in the day of that power….. Or, in the day of thine army s. When thou musterest thy forces, sendest forth thy generals, the apostles and ministers of the word, in the first times of the Gospel; when Christ went forth working with them, and their ministry was attended with signs, and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost; and which was a day of great power indeed, when wonderful things were wrought; the god of this world was cast out, the Heathen oracles ceased, their idols were abolished, and their temples desolate; and Christianity prevailed everywhere. Or this may respect the whole Gospel dispensation, the day of salvation, which now is and will be as long as the world is; and the doctrine of it is daily the power and wisdom of God to them that are saved. Or rather this signifies the set time of love and life to every particular soul at conversion; which is a day for light, and a day of power; when the exceeding greatness of the power of God is put forth in the regeneration of them: and the people that were given to Christ by his Father, in the covenant of grace, and who, while in a state of nature, are rebellious and unwilling, are made willing to be saved by Christ, and him only; to serve him in every religious duty and ordinance; to part with their sins and sinful companions, and with their own righteousness; to suffer the loss of all things for him; to deny themselves, and take up the cross and follow him: and when they become freewill offerings to him, as the word t signifies; not only willingly offer up their spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise, but themselves, souls and bodies, to him; as well as enter volunteers u into his service, and cheerfully fight his battles, under him, the Captain of their salvation; being assured of victory, and certain of the crown of life and glory, when they have fought the good fight, and finished their course. The allusion seems to be to an army of volunteers, such as described by Cicero w, who willingly offered themselves through their ardour for liberty.
In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning: this does not design the place where these willing subjects of Christ should appear; either in Zion, beautiful for situation; or in Jerusalem, the holy city, compact together; or in the temple, the sanctuary, in which strength and beauty are said to be; or in the church, the perfection of beauty: but the habit or dress in which they should appear, even in the beautiful garment of Christ’s righteousness and holiness; the robe of righteousness, and garments of salvation; the best robe, the wedding garment; gold of Ophir, raiment of needlework; and which is upon all them that believe: as also the several beautiful graces of the Spirit; the beauty of internal holiness, by which saints are all glorious within; and holiness is the beauty and glory of God himself, of angels and glorified saints. This, though imperfect now, is the new man put on as a garment; and is true holiness, and very ornamental. The phrase, “from the womb of the morning”, either stands in connection with “the beauties of holiness”; and the sense is, that as soon as the morning of the Gospel dispensation dawns, these people should be born again, be illuminated, and appear holy and righteous: or, “from the womb, from the morning x”, shall they be “in the beauties of holiness”; that is, as soon as they are born again, and as soon as the morning of spiritual light and grace breaks in upon them, and they are made light in the Lord, they shall be clad with these beautiful garments of holiness and righteousness; so, “from the womb”, signifies literally as soon as men are born; see Ps 58:3 Ho 9:11 or else with the latter clause, “thou hast the dew of thy youth”: and so are rendered, “more than the womb of the morning”, i.e. than the dew that is from the womb of the morning, is to thee the dew of thy youth; that is, more than the dew of the morning are thy converts; the morning is the parent of the dew, Job 38:28, but the former sense is best; for this last clause is a remember or proposition of itself,
thou hast the dew of that youth; which expresses the open property Christ has in his people, when made willing; and when they appear in the beauty of holiness, as soon as they are born of the Spirit, and the true light of grace shines in them; then those who were secretly his, even while unwilling, manifestly appear to belong unto him: so young lambs, just weaned, are in Homer y called , “dews”; and it is remarkable that the Hebrew words for “dew” and “a lamb” are near in sound. Young converts are Christ’s lambs; they are Christ’s youth, and the dew of it; they are regenerated by the grace of God, comparable to dew, of which they are begotten to a lively hope of heaven; and which, distilling upon them, makes them fruitful in good works; and who for their numbers, and which I take to be the thing chiefly designed by this figure, are like to the drops of the dew; which in great profusion is spread over trees, herbs, and plants, where it hangs in drops innumerable: and such a multitude of converts is here promised to Christ, and which he had in the first times of the Gospel, both in Judea, when three thousand persons were converted under one sermon; and especially in the Gentile world, where the savour of his knowledge was diffused in every place; and as will be in the latter day, when a nation shall be born at once, and the fulness of the Gentiles be brought in. The sense given of these words, as formed upon the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, respecting the generation of Christ’s human or divine nature, is without any foundation in the original text.
s “in die exercitus tui”, Munster, Vatablus, Piscator, Gejerus; so Ainsworth; “quum educes tuas copias”, Tigurine version; “die copiarum tuarum”, Junius Tremellius. t “oblationes voluntariae”, Junius & Tremellius “spontanea oblatio”, Cocceius, Gejerus. u “Milites voluntarii”, Bootius. w Epist. l. 11. Ep. 8. x “a vulya, ab aurora”, Montanus. y Odyss. ix. v. 222.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In order that he may rule thus victoriously, it is necessary that there should be a people and an army. In accordance with this union of the thoughts which Psa 110:3 anticipates, signifies in the day of thy arriere ban, i.e., when thou callest up thy “power of an army” (2Ch 26:13) to muster and go forth to battle. In this day are the people of the king willingnesses ( ), i.e., entirely cheerful readiness; ready for any sacrifices, they bring themselves with all that they are and have to meet him. There is no need of any compulsory, lengthy proclamation calling them out: it is no army of mercenaries, but willingly and quickly they present themselves from inward impulse ( , Jdg 5:2, Jdg 5:9). The punctuation, which makes the principal caesura at with Olewejored, makes the parallelism of and distinctly prominent. Just as the former does not signify roboris tui , so now too the latter does not, according to Ecc 11:9, signify (Aquila), and not, as Hofmann interprets, the dew-like freshness of youthful vigour, which the morning of the great day sheds over the king. Just as signifies both exile and the exiled ones, so , like , juventus , juventa , signifies both the time and age of youth, youthfulness, and youthful, young men (the youth). Moreover one does not, after Psa 110:3, look for any further declaration concerning the nature of the king, but of his people who place themselves at his service. The young men are likened to dew which gently descends upon the king out of the womb ( uterus) of the morning-red.
(Note: The lxx renders it: (belonging to the preceding clause), (Psalt. Veron. exegennesa se; Bamberg. gegennica se). The Vulgate, following the Italic closely: in splendoribus sanctorum; ex utero ante luciferum genui te . The Fathers in some cases interpret it of the birth of the Lord at Christmas, but most of them of His antemundane birth, and accordingly Apollinaris paraphrases: . In his own independent translation Jerome reads (as in Psa 87:1), in montibus sanctis quasi de vulva orietur tibi ros adolescentiae tuae , as Symmachus , – elsewhere, however, . The substitution is not unmeaning, since the ideas of dew and of mountains (Psa 133:3) are easily united; but it was more important to give prominence to the holiness of the equipment than to that of the place of meeting.)
is related to just as is to ; the notion of and appears to be more sharply defined, and as it were apprehended more massively, in and . The host of young men is likened to the dew both on account of its vigorousness and its multitude, which are like the freshness of the mountain dew and the immense number of its drops, 2Sa 17:12 (cf. Num 23:10), and on account of the silent concealment out of which it wondrously and suddenly comes to light, Mic 5:7. After not having understood “thy youth” of the youthfulness of the king, we shall now also not, with Hofmann, refer to the king, the holy attire of his armour. is the vestment of the priest for performing divine service: the Levite singers went forth before the army in “holy attire” in 2Ch 20:21; here, however, the people without distinction wear holy festive garments. Thus they surround the divine king as dew that is born out of the womb of the morning-red. It is a priestly people which he leads forth to holy battle, just as in Rev 19:14 heavenly armies follow the Logos of God upon white horses, – a new generation, wonderful as if born out of heavenly light, numerous, fresh, and vigorous like the dew-drops, the offspring of the dawn. The thought that it is a priestly people leads over to Psa 110:4. The king who leads this priestly people is, as we hear in Psa 110:4, himself a priest ( cohen ). As has been shown by Hupfeld and Fleischer, the priest is so called as one who stands (from = in an intransitive signification), viz., before God (Deu 10:8, cf. Psa 134:1; Heb 10:11), like the spokesman, viz., of God.
(Note: The Arabic lexicographers explain Arab. kahin by mn yqum b – ‘mr ‘l – rjl w – ysa f hajth , “he who stands and does any one’s business and managest his affair.” That Arab. qam , , and Arab. mtl , , side by side with are synonyms of in this sense of standing ready for service and in an official capacity.)
To stand before God is the same as to serve Him, viz., as priest. The ruler whom the Psalm celebrates is a priest who intervenes in the reciprocal dealings between God and His people within the province of divine worship the priestly character of the people who suffer themselves to be led forth to battle and victory by him, stands in causal connection with the priestly character of this their king. He is a priest by virtue of the promise of God confirmed by an oath. The oath is not merely a pledge of the fulfilment of the promise, but also a seal of the high significance of its purport. God the absolutely truthful One (Num 13:19) swears – this is the highest enhancement of the of which prophecy is capable (Amo 6:8).
He appoints the person addressed as a priest for ever “after the manner of Melchizedek” in this most solemn manner. The i of is the same ancient connecting vowel as in the of the name Melchizedek; and it has the tone, which it loses when, as in Lam 1:1, a tone-syllable follows. The wide-meaning , “in respect to, on account of,” Ecc 3:18; Ecc 7:14; Ecc 8:2, is here specialized to the signification “after the manner, measure of,” lxx . The priesthood is to be united with the kingship in him who rules out of Zion, just as it was in Melchizedek, king of Salem, and that for ever. According to De Wette, Ewald, and Hofmann, it is not any special priesthood that is meant here, but that which was bestowed directly with the kingship, consisting in the fact that the king of Israel, by reason of his office, commended his people in prayer to God and blessed them in the name of God, and also had the ordering of Jahve’s sanctuary and service. Now it is true all Israel is a “kingdom of priests” (Exo 19:6, cf. Num 16:3; Isa 61:6), and the kingly vocation in Israel must therefore also be regarded as in its way a priestly vocation. Btu this spiritual priesthood, and, if one will, this princely oversight of sacred things, needed not to come to David first of all by solemn promise; and that of Melchizedek, after which the relationship is here defined, is incongruous to him; for the king of Salem was, according to Canaanitish custom, which admitted of the union of the kingship and priesthood, really a high priest, and therefore, regarded from an Israelitish point of view, united in his own person the offices of David and of Aaron. How could David be called a priest after the manner of Melchizedek, he who had no claim upon the tithes of priests like Melchizedek, and to whom was denied the authority to offer sacrifice
(Note: G. Enjedin the Socinian (died 1597) accordingly, in referring this Psalm to David, started from the assumption that priestly functions have been granted exceptionally by God to this king as to no other, vid., the literature of the controversy to which this gave rise in Serpilius, Personalia Davidis, S. 268-274.)
inseparable from the idea of the priesthood in the Old Testament? (cf. 2Ch 26:20). If David were the person addressed, the declaration would stand in antagonism with the right of Melchizedek as priest recorded in Gen. 14, which, according to the indisputable representation of the Epistle to the Hebrews, was equal in compass to the Levitico-Aaronic right, and, since “after the manner of” requires a coincident reciprocal relation, in antagonism to itself also.
(Note: Just so Kurtz, Zur Theologie der Psalmen, loc. cit. S. 523.)
One might get on more easily with Psa 110:4 by referring the Psalm to one of the Maccabaean priest-princes (Hitzig, von Lengerke, and Olshausen); and we should then prefer to the reference to Jonathan who put on the holy stola, 1 Macc. 10:21 (so Hitzig formerly), or Alexander Jannaeus who actually bore the title king (so Hitzig now), the reference to Simon, whom the people appointed to “be their governor and high priest for ever, until there should arise a faithful prophet” (1 Macc. 14:41), after the death of Jonathan his brother – a union of the two offices which, although an irregularity, was not one, however, that was absolutely illegal. But he priesthood, which the Maccabaeans, however, possessed originally as being priests born, is promised to the person addressed here in Psa 110:4; and even supposing that in Psa 110:4 the emphasis lay not on a union of the priesthood with the kingship, but of the kingship with the priesthood, then the retrospective reference to it in Zechariah forbids our removing the Psalm to a so much later period. Why should we not rather be guided in our understanding of this divine utterance, which is unique in the Old Testament, by this prophet, whose prophecy in Zec 6:12. is the key to it? Zechariah removes the fulfilment of the Psalm out of the Old Testament present, with its blunt separation between the monarchical and hierarchical dignity, into the domain of the future, and refers it to Jahve’s Branch ( ) that is to come. He, who will build the true temple of God, satisfactorily unites in his one person the priestly with the kingly office, which were at that time assigned to Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the prince. Thus this Psalm was understood by the later prophecy; and in what other sense could the post-Davidic church have appropriated it as a prayer and hymn, than in the eschatological Messianic sense? but this sense is also verified as the original. David here hears that the king of the future exalted at the right hand of God, and whom he calls his Lord, is at the same time an eternal priest. And because he is both these his battle itself is a priestly royal work, and just on this account his people fighting with him also wear priestly garments.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
3 Thy people shall come (324) In this verse the Psalmist sets forth the honors of Christ’s kingdom in relation to the number of his subjects, and their prompt and cheerful obedience to his commands. The Hebrew term, which he employs, frequently denotes voluntary oblations; but, in the present case, it refers to the chosen people, those who are truly Christ’s flock; declaring that they shall be a willing people, spontaneously and cheerfully consecrating themselves to his service. At the time of the assembling of thine army, that is to say, as often as there shall be a convening of solemn and lawful assemblies, or the king shall desire an account of his people; which may be expressed in French, au jour des montres, — in the day of the review. Others render it, in the day of thy power; (325) but the former is preferable, for when Christ shall wish to assemble his people, immediately they will yield a prompt obedience, without being forcibly constrained to it. Moreover, for the purpose of assuring us that this, in preference to all other kingdoms, was set apart by God for his peculiar services, it is added, the beauties or honors of holiness, thereby intimating, that all who become Christ’s subjects will not approach him as they would do an earthly king, but as they would come into the presence of God himself, their sole aim being to serve God.
Out of the womb of the morning, (326) etc. It would not be for edification to recount all the interpretations which have been given of this clause, for when I have established its true and natural import, it would be quite superfluous to enter upon a refutation of others. There does not, indeed, appear to me any reason to doubt that, in this place, David extols the Divine favor displayed in increasing the number of Christ’s people; and hence, in consequence of their extraordinary increase, he compares the youth or race which would be born to him to the dew. (327) As men are struck with astonishment at seeing the earth moistened and refreshed with dew, though its descent be imperceptible, even so, David declares that an innumerable offspring shall be born to Christ, who shall be spread over the whole earth. The youth, therefore, which, like the dew-drops, are innumerable, are here designated the dew of childhood or of youth The Hebrew term, ילדות, yalduth, is used as a collective noun, that is, a noun which does not point out a single individual only, but a community or society. (328) Should any wish to attach a more definite and distinct signification to the term, he may do so in the following manner: That an offspring, innumerable as the dew-drops of the morning, shall issue from his womb. The testimony of experience proves that there was good reason for uttering this prediction. The multitude who, in so short a time, have been gathered together and subjected to Christ’s sway, is incredible; the more so, as this has been accomplished by the sound of the Gospel alone, and that, too, in spite of the formidable opposition of the whole world. Besides, it is not surprising that aged persons, who are recently converted to Christ, should be designated children newly born, because the spiritual birth, according to Peter, makes all the godly become as new-born babes, (1Pe 2:2) To the same purpose are the words of Isaiah, (Isa 53:10,) that Christ “shall see a seed whose days shall be prolonged;” and under his reign the Church has the promise of enjoying a season of incalculable fertility. What has been said will serve to account for the appellation given to the Church or children of God. And, assuredly, it is matter of surprise that there should be any, though the number may be few, gathered out of a world lying in ruins, and inhabited by the children of wrath; and it is still more surprising, that such vast multitudes are regenerated by the Spirit of Christ and by the word. At the same time, we would do well to bear in mind, that to execute God’s commands promptly and cheerfully, and to be guided solely by his will, is the peculiar honor and privilege of his chosen; for Christ will recognize none as his people, except those who willingly take his yoke upon them, and come into his presence at the voice of his word. And that no one may imagine that eye-service is a proper discharge of his duty, the Psalmist very properly adds, that Christ will not be satisfied with mere external ceremony, but that he must be worshipped with true reverence, such as he himself instructs us to bring into the presence of God.
(324) “‘Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.’ Voluntaries, a people of voluntarinesses or of liberalities, (as Psa 68:10😉 that is, shall most freely, willingly, and liberally present themselves and their oblations to thee, as Jud 5:9; Act 11:41 [ sic ]; Exo 25:2; Rom 12:1; Psa 48:10; Psa 119:108; Son 6:11.” — Ainsworth. “ נדבות is literally promptitudines, readinesses; so that the term being plural and abstract, may be regarded as highly emphatic, as if the Psalmist said, Thy people shall be very willing. This noun also signifies voluntary oblations. Thus Luther has rendered it by williglich opfern In this sense it is found in many passages, as Exo 35:29; Deu 23:24, and several other places. It will be necessary, if this meaning be assigned to it here, to supply some such verb as יביא. The Psalmist, however, is evidently speaking of a battle, and, therefore, the admission of this meaning would be incongruous ” — Phillips. “Since an army,” says Rosenmüller, “is represented in this passage as called out to a warlike expedition, we cannot understand נדבות otherwise than as signifying a prompt and willing mind, in which sense we find it, Hos 14:5, ultro , voluntarily, of his own accord, Psa 51:14; Jud 5:2.” — Messianic Psalms, Biblical Cabinet, volume 32, page 271.
(325) “I have rendered the words, ביום חילד, in the day of thy power; and I understand that day as referring to the time when, in consequence of Peter’s exhortation, three thousand persons made profession of the Christian faith.” — Dante on the Messianic Psalms, Biblical Cabinet, volume 32, page 318. With this corresponds the interpretation of Hammond: “The Messiah, in the former verses, is set upon his throne, for the exercise of his regal power, with a sword or scepter in his hand; and, as such, he is supposed to rule in the world, to go out to conquer and subdue all before him. The army which he makes use of to this end is the college of apostles, sent out to preach to all nations; and the time of their thus preaching is here called יום חילך ‘the day of his power’ or ‘forces,’ or ‘army.’” But Queen Elizabeth’s translators understood the phrase in the same sense as Calvin, rendering it, “The people shall come willingly at the time of assembling thine army.” In like manner, Rosemüller reads, “ In the day of thy army; that is,” says he, “in the day when thou assemblest and leadest forth thine army. The word חיל, militia, is here used as in Deu 11:4; 2Kg 6:15, signifying military forces.” — Ibid. volume 32, page 273.
(326) “ Des la matrice, comme de, l ’ estoille du matin ” — Fr. “ Out of the womb, as if from or out of the star of the morning. ”
(327) “Among the earliest Greek writers, dew seems to have been a figurative expression for the young of any animal. Thus, δροσος is used by æschylus for an unfledged bird, ( Agamemn. 145;) and ἑρση, by Homer, for a young lamb or kid, ( Od. 1, 222.)” — Horsley.
(328) “ Qui ne se dit pas d’une personne seule, mais de quelque multitude et compagnie.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(3) This difficult verse runs, literally, Thy people willingnesses (or, willing offerings) in the day of thy force in holy attire, from the womb of morning dew of thy youth.
The first clause is tolerably clear. The word rendered force means either strength or an army; and the noun willingnesses appears as a verb in Jdg. 5:9, to express the alacrity with which the northern clans mustered for battle. We may therefore translate: Thy people will be willing on thy muster-day.
As to the next two-words there is a variation in the text. Many MSS. read, by the slightest change of a Hebrew letter, on the holy mountains (this was also, according to one version, the reading of Symmachus and Jerome), and, adopting the reading, we have a picture of the people mustering for battle with alacrity on the mountains round Zion, under the eye of Jehovah Himself, and in obedience to the outstretched sceptre.
The second clause is not so clear. By themselves the words from the womb of morning dew of thy youth, would naturally be taken as a description of the vigour and freshness of the person addressed: thine is the morning dew of youth. With the image compare
The meek-eyed morn appears; mother of the dews.
THOMSON.
(Comp. Job. 38:28.)
But the parallelism directs us still to the gathering of the army, and the image of the dew was familiar to the language as an emblem at once of multitude (2Sa. 17:11-12), of freshness and vigour (Psa. 133:3; Hos. 14:5), and was especially applied to Israel as a nation in immediate relation to Jehovah, coming and going among the nations at His command (Mic. 5:7). Here there is the additional idea of brightnessthe array of young warriors, in their bright attire, recalling the multitudinous glancing of the ground on a dewy morning: thy young warriors come to thee thick and bright as the morning dew.
Milton has the same figure for the innumerable hosts
of angel warriors:
An host
Innumerable as the stars of night
Or stars of morning, dewdrops, which the sun
Impearls on every leaf and every flower.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. In this verse the King Messiah appears as conqueror, preparing for war, his willing people freely enlisting. While the imagery is that of war, it also indicates a peculiar kind of war: a priestly king and a holy warfare, as 2Co 10:4; Rev 19:11-21.
Thy people shall be willing Literally, Thy people willingnesses, that is, abundantly willing, the plural for intensity. But it is better to give the sacrificial turn to the word, and translate thy people are freewill offerings, as the same word is often rendered in the law. Lev 22:18; Lev 22:21; Lev 22:23; Num 29:39; Deu 12:6; Deu 12:17. The fundamental idea of the “freewill offering” was its perfect voluntariness, as it might have been omitted without any sin or violation of duty. See Exo 35:29; Exo 36:3; Ezr 1:4. Here the people spontaneously offer themselves for the war, as in Jdg 5:2; Jdg 5:9 ; 2Ch 17:16, and as opposed to a drafted or hireling soldiery.
Day of thy power Day of thy host, or army. The language is strictly military, and the idea is, that on the muster day of Messiah’s army the people will enroll themselves with alacrity. This would be evidence of their faith and love, and an omen of victory. Popularly and widely this text has been quoted as if it read, “Thy people shall be made willing in the day of thy power,” and applied to prove that by an irresistible grace men would be made willing to repent and submit, when the special day or time of God for manifesting his saving power to them should arrive. A perversion of language and the laws of interpretation which falls below the dignity of criticism.
In the beauties of holiness The reference is to the dress and appearance of the army. , ( hadrey,) plural, translated beauties, has the sense of ornaments, honour, excellence, and may apply to apparel, as in Isa 63:1. The army appears in rich and ornamental dress. But the moral sense prevails here. Compare the army dress of “fine linen, clean and white,” (Rev 19:14,) and see note on Psa 96:9.
From the womb of the morning The Septuagint and Vulgate read, “I have begotten thee from the womb before the morning star,” as if Jehovah thus declared the eternal generation of the Son of God. But, though this would be a true doctrine, it does not arise from the Hebrew text, which, agreeably with the connexion, gives the clause as part of the description of Messiah’s army. The “womb of the morning” is a poetical phrase for the earliest dawn, which gives birth to the day. And such should be the freshness, vigour, and zeal of this army, like the morning issuing from the earliest dawn.
Thou hast the dew of thy youth Literally, To thee [is] the dew of thy young men; for the word must here be taken concretely for young men, as in Ecc 11:9-10, and not abstractly for the period of youth. See also its primitive form, (Gen 4:23,) applied to Joseph when he was seventeen years old. Gen 42:22. In the text, the multitude of enlistments in the army of this priest-king is the point of the metaphor. So Mendelssohn: “In the days of thy battle thy young men are unto thee as dew from the womb of the morning.” That this early dew, which is more copious in the East than with us, denoted great numbers, is seen in 2Sa 17:11-12. Such should be the gathering of converts through the publication of the gospel.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 110:3. From the womb of the morning, &c. Thou hast shone like the morning from thy very birth; thy youth has been covered with dew. Ross. 98: sed vid. Hiller, part 2: p. 26. Nold. p. 1029. Or, The dew of thy youth is as from the womb of the morning. Mr. Mann in his Critical Notes, after a variety of observations, gives us the second and third verses thus: A sceptre of might will Jehovah deliver thee out of Sion; reign thou in the midst of thine enemies; Psa 110:3 and with thee, O prince, in the day of thy power, thy saints, through mercy clothed with splendour. Before the morning-star I begot thee, my Son. Houbigant renders the latter clause somewhat similar: Before the morning-star I have begotten thee from the womb. According to the first exposition of the words, the meaning must be, that quickly after the morning or beginning of Christ’s kingdom, it should over-spread the earth as the morning dew. According to the second exposition, the multiplicity of Christ’s seed, or the faithful, is foretold: “Thy seed will not be less numerous “or fruitful than the morning dew.” And according to that of Mann and Houbigant, with which many of the ancient versions agree, the eternal generation of the Son is declared. Bishop Reynolds explains it agreeably to the second exposition. “Thy children shall be born in as great abundance unto thee, as the dew which falleth from the womb of the morning;” and I cannot help adding, that this interpretation appears to me not only most agreeable to the context, but the most natural and easy interpretation of the Hebrew. “The dew of thy youth is [as the dew] from the womb of the morning.” See Son 5:3. Isa 26:19. Job 8:22; Job 8:22. Bishop Lowth, speaking of the intermixture of metaphor with allegory in Gen 49:9 observes, that the case is the same with regard to that memorable prophesy which foretold the surprising growth of the gospel; where, indeed, the metaphor being blended with the simile, and the principal word not being repeated, causes some obscurity: The dew of thy progeny is more than the womb of the morning; meaning, “The dew of thy progeny is more abundant than the dew which proceeds from the womb of the morning.” See his 10th Lecture.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Numberless beauties appear, in this verse, like the constellations of the heavenly borders, to call upon our notice. First, the promise made concerning the people of Christ. Here we find that Christ had a people, a church, a seed, an offspring, before his incarnation: and hence, not only at his birth, but even before his conception, his name was called Jesus, because he should save his people from their sins. Mat 1:21 ; Psa 89:3-4 ; Isa 59:21Isa 59:21 . Secondly, God the Father promiseth that this people shall be a willing people; a people of willingness, as it might be rendered; volunteers, listing under Christ’s banner. When Jesus is set up as an ensign to the nations, the Gentiles shall seek to it, and his rest shall be glorious, Isa 11:10 . And the prophet introduceth Christ, by the spirit of prophecy as looking amazed at the accession of his people unto him, Isa 49:20 . Thirdly, God’s promise is, that all these blessings shall take place in the day of Christ’s power. The sovereignty of grace, and the influence of his Spirit, which accompanieth his word, shall make it effectual; so that it shall not return void, but like the rain and the snow, which cometh down from heaven, shall give gracious influences; Isa 55:10-11 . And it is beautiful to remark how variously this day of Christ’s power is spoken of in scripture, so as to point out the blessed properties of it: A day of espousals of the soul to Christ, Son 3:11 : A day of salvation, 2Co 6:2 ; hence when Christ made the publican Zaccheus willing in the day of his power, he said, This day is salvation come to this house; Luk 19:9 . and a day of the Lord’s making and marvellous in our eyes, Psa 118:24 . One sweet thought more is suggested by this verse, when it is said that these great events are to be accomplished in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning; Christ hath the dew of his youth. It was an Old Testament promise to New Testament saints, that they should see the King in his beauty. For though to the carnal eye Christ’s visage was marred more than any man’s, and he had no comeliness to make him desired; yet to the spiritual, like the disciples, they saw his glory, and believed in him; Isa 33:17 ; Joh 2:11Joh 2:11 . David, in his dying hours, under the spirit of prophecy, described Christ as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds, 2Sa 23:4 ; and another prophet represented the remnant of Jacob begotten to Christ in the midst of many people, as the dew is from the Lord, Mic 5:7 . Probably to show that sovereign grace will give to Christ an abundance of souls like the dew drops, so numerous as to be perfectly incalculable. And they shall come, as the dew cometh, of heavenly extraction, being born of God, and not of the will of the flesh, Joh 1:13 . And unperceived, unnoticed, unknown, as the silent dew-drops of the morn; for the kingdom of God cometh not with observation, Luk 17:20 . And as they are begotten, like the dew, without the aid of man; so also shall they be preserved by the same predisposing cause, without man’s deserts. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts, Zec 4:6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 110:3 Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
Ver. 3. Thy people shall be willing ] All Christ’s subjects are volunteers, free hearted, like those isles that wait for God’s law, Isa 42:8 Zec 8:21 . They love to be his servants, Isa 56:6 . Lex voluntarios quaerit, saith Ambrose.
In the day of thy power
In the beauties of holiness
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psalms
SOLDIER PRIESTS
Psa 110:3
It is no part of my present purpose to establish the reference of this psalm to our Lord. We have Christ’s own authority for that.
It does not seem to be typical-that is to say, it does not appear to have had a lower application to a king of Israel who was a shadow of the true monarch, but rather to refer only to the coming Sovereign, whom David was helped to discern, indeed, by his own regal office, but whose office and character, as here set forth, far surpass anything belonging to him or to his dynasty. The attributes of the King, the union in His case of the royal and priestly dignities, His seat at the right hand of God, His acknowledged supremacy over the greatest Jewish ruler, who here calls him ‘my Lord,’ His eternal dominion, His conquest of many nations, and His lifting up of His head in triumphant rule that knows no end-all these characteristics seem to forbid the possibility of a double reference, and to demand the acknowledgment of a distinct and exclusive prophecy of Christ.
Taking that for granted without more words, it strikes one as remarkable that this description of the subjects of the Priest-King should be thus imbedded in the very heart of the grand portraiture of the monarch Himself. It is the anticipation of the profound New Testament thought of the unity of Christ and His Church. By simple faith a union is brought about so close and intimate that all His is theirs, and the picture of His glory is incomplete without the vision of ‘the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.’ Therefore, between the word of God which elevates Him to His right hand, and the oath of God which consecrates Him a priest for ever, is this description of the army of the King.
The full force of the words will, I hope, appear as we advance. For the present it will be enough to say that there are really in our text three co-ordinate clauses, all descriptive of the subjects of the monarch, regarded as a band of warriors-and that the main ideas are these:-the subjects are willing soldiers; the soldiers are priests; the priest-soldiers are as dew upon the earth. Or, in other words, we have here the very heart of the Christian character set forth as being willing consecration; then we have the work which Christian men have to do, and the spirit in which they are to do it, expressed in that metaphor of their priestly attire; and then we have their refreshing and quickening influence upon the world.
I. The subjects of the Priest-King are willing soldiers.
The King is going forth to conquest. But He goes not alone. Behind Him come His faithful followers, all pressing on with willing hearts and high courage. Then, to begin with, the warfare which He wages is one not confined to Him. Alone He offers the sacrifice by which He atones; but, as we shall see, we too are priests. He rules, and His servants rule with Him. But ere that time comes, they are to be joined with Him in the great warfare by which He wins the earth for Himself. ‘As Captain of the Lord’s host am I now come.’ He wins no conquests for Himself; and now that He is exalted at God’s right hand, He wins none by Himself. We have to do His work, we have to fight His battles as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. By power derived from Him, but wielded by ourselves; with courage inspired by Him, but filling our hearts; not as though He needed us, but inasmuch as He is pleased to use us, we have to wage warfare for and to please Him who hath chosen us to be soldiers. The Captain of our salvation sits at the right hand of God, expecting till His enemies be made His footstool. He has bidden us to keep the field and fight the fight. From His height He watches the conflict-nay, He is with us while we wage it. So long as we strike for Him, so long is it His power that teaches our hands to war. Our King’s flag is committed to our care; but we are not left to defend it alone. In indissoluble unity, the King and the subjects, the Chief and His vassals, the Captain and His soldiers, are knit together-and wheresoever His people are, in all the danger and hardships of the long struggle, there is He, to keep their heads in the day of battle, and make them more than conquerors.
Then, again, that warfare is shared in by all the subjects. It is a levy en masse -an armed nation. The whole of the people are embodied for the battle. It is not the work of a select few, but of every one who calls Christ ‘Lord,’ to be His faithful servant and soldier. Whatever varieties of occupation may be set us by Him, one purpose is to be kept in view and one end to be effected by them all. Every Christian man is bound to strive for the reduction of all human hearts under Christ’s dominion. The tasks may be different, but the result should be one. Some of us have to toil in the trenches, some of us to guard the camp, some to lead the assault, some to stay by the stuff and keep the communications open. Be it so. We are all soldiers, and He alone has to determine our work. We are responsible for the spirit of it, He for its success.
Again, there are no mercenaries in these ranks, no pressed men. The soldiers are all volunteers. ‘Thy people shall be willing.’ Pause for a moment upon that thought.
Dear brethren! there are two kinds of submission and service. There is submission because you cannot help it, and there is submission because you like it. There is a sullen bowing down beneath the weight of a hand which you are too feeble to resist, and there is a glad surrender to a love which it would be a pain not to obey. Some of us feel that we are shut in by immense and sovereign power which we cannot oppose. And yet, like some raging rebel in a dungeon, or some fluttering bird in a cage, we beat ourselves, all bruised and bloody, against the bars in vain attempts at liberty, alternating with fits of cowed apathy as we slink into a corner of our cell. Some of us, thank God! feel that we are enclosed on every side by that mighty Hand which none can resist, and from which we would not stray if we could, and we joyfully hide beneath its shelter, and gladly obey when it points. Constrained obedience is no obedience. Unless there be the glad surrender of the will and heart, there is no surrender at all. God does not want compulsory submission. He does not care to rule over people who are only crushed down by greater power. He does not count that those serve who sullenly acquiesce because they dare not oppose. Christ seeks for no pressed men in His ranks. Whosoever does not enlist joyfully is not reckoned as His. And the question comes to us, brethren!-What is my relation to that loving Lord, to that Redeemer King? Do I submit because His love has won my heart, and it would be a pang not to serve Him; or do I submit because I know Him strong, and am afraid to refuse? If the former, all is well; He calls us ‘not servants but friends.’ If the latter, all is wrong; we are not subjects, but enemies.
There is another idea involved in this description. The soldiers are not only marked by glad obedience, but that obedience rests upon the sacrifice of themselves. The word here rendered ‘willing’ is employed throughout the Levitical law for ‘freewill offerings.’ And if we may venture to bring that reference in here, it carries us a step farther in this characterisation of the army. This glad submission comes from self-consecration and surrender. It is in that host as it was in the army whose heroic self-devotion was chaunted by Deborah under her palm-tree, ‘The people willingly offered themselves.’ Hence came courage, devotion, victory. With their lives in their hands they flung themselves on the foe, and nothing could stand against the onset of men who recked not of themselves. There is one grand thing even about the devilry of war-the transcendent self-abnegation with which, however poor and unworthy may be the cause, a man casts himself away, ‘what time the foeman’s line is broke.’ The poorest, vulgarest, most animal natures rise for a moment into something like nobility, as the surge of the strong emotion lifts them to that height of heroism. Life is then most glorious when it is given away for a great cause. That sacrifice is the one noble and chivalrous element which gives interest to war-the one thing that can be disentangled from its hideous associations, and can be transferred to higher regions of life. That spirit of lofty consecration and utter self-forgetfulness must be ours, if we would be Christ’s soldiers. Our obedience will then be glad when we feel the force of, and yield to, that gentle, persuasive entreaty, ‘I beseech you, brethren! by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.’ There is ‘one Sacrifice for sin for ever’-which never can be repeated, nor exhausted, nor copied. And the loving, faithful acceptance of that sacrifice of propitiation leads our hearts to the response of thank-offering, the sacrifice and surrender of ourselves to Him who has given Himself not only to, but for us. It cannot be recompensed, but it may be acknowledged. Let us give ourselves to Christ, for He has died for us. Let us give ourselves to Christ, for only in such surrender do we truly find ourselves. Let us give ourselves to Christ, for such a sacrifice makes all life fair and noble, and that altar sanctifies the gift. Let us give ourselves to Christ, for without such sacrifice we have no place in the host whom He leads to victory. ‘Thy people shall be willing offerings in the day of Thy power.’
Still further, another remarkable idea may be connected with this word. By a natural transition, of which illustrations may be found in other languages, it comes to mean ‘ free ,’ and also ‘ noble .’ As, for instance, it is used in the fifty-first Psalm, ‘Uphold me with Thy free Spirit’-and in the forty-seventh, ‘The princes of the people are gathered together.’ And does not this shading of significations-willing sacrifices, free, princely-remind us of another distinctly evangelical principle, that the willing service which rests upon glad consecration raises him who renders it to true freedom and dominion? Every man enlisted in His body-guard is noble. The Prince’s servants are every other person’s master. The King’s livery exempts from all other submission. As in the old Saxon monarchies, the monarch’s domestics were nobles, the men of Christ’s household are ennobled by their service. They who obey Him are free from every yoke of bondage-’free indeed.’ All things serve the soul that serves Christ. ‘He hath made us kings unto God.’
II. The soldiers are priests.
The main purpose, then, of this part of our text seems to be to bring out the priestly character of the Christian soldier-a thought which carries with it many important considerations, on which I can barely touch.
Mark, then, how the warfare which we have to wage is the same as the priestly service which we have to render. The conflict is with our own sin and evil; the sacrifice we have to offer is ourselves. As soldiers, we have to fight against our selfish desires and manifold imperfections; as priests, we have to lay our whole selves on His altar. The task is the same under either emblem. We have a conflict to wage in the world, and in the world we have a priestly work to do, and these are the same. We have to be God’s representatives in the world, bringing Him nearer to men’s apprehensions and hearts by word and work. We have to bring men to God by entreaty, and by showing the path which leads to Him. That priestly service for men is in effect identical with the merciful warfare which we have to wage in the world. The Church militant is an army of priests. Its warfare is its sacerdotal function. It fights for Christ when it opposes the message of His grace and the power of His blood to its own and the world’s sins-and when it intercedes in the secret place for the coming of His kingdom.
Does not this metaphor teach us also, what is to be our defence and our weapon in this warfare? Not with garments rolled in blood, nor with brazen armour do they go forth, who follow Him that conquered by dying. Their uniform is the beauties of holiness, ‘the fine linen clean and white, which is the righteousness of saints.’ Many great thoughts lie in such words, which I must pass over. But this one thing is obvious-that the great power which we Christian men are to wield in our loving warfare is- character . Purity of heart and life, transparent simple goodness, manifest in men’s sight-these will arm us against dangers, and these will bring our brethren glad captives to our Lord. We serve Him best, and advance His kingdom most, when the habit of our souls is that righteousness with which He invests our nakedness. Be like your Lord, and as His soldiers you will conquer, and as His priests you will win some to His love and fear. Nothing else will avail without that. Without that dress no man finds a place in the ranks.
The image suggests, too, the spirit in which our priestly warfare is to be waged. The one metaphor brings with it thoughts of strenuous effort, of discipline, of sworn consecration to a cause. The other brings with it thoughts of gentleness and sympathy and tenderness, of still waiting at the shrine, of communion with Him who dwells between the Cherubim. Whilst our work demands all the courage and tension of every power which the one image presents, it is to be sedulously guarded from any tinge of wrath or heat of passion, such as mingles with conflict, and is to be prosecuted with all the pity and patience, the brotherly meekness of a true priest. ‘The wrath of men worketh not the righteousness of God.’ If we forget the one character in the other, we shall bring weakness into our warfare, and pollution into our sacrifice. ‘The servant of the Lord must not strive.’ We must not be animated by mere pugnacious desire to advance our principles, nor let the heat of human eagerness give a false fervour to our words and work. We cannot scold nor dragoon men to love Jesus Christ. We cannot drive them into the fold with dogs and sticks. We are to be gentle, long-suffering, not doing our work with passion and self-will, but remembering that gentleness is mightiest, and that we shall best ‘adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour’ when we go among men with the light caught in the inner sanctuary still irradiating our faces, and our hands full of blessings to bestow on our brethren. We are to be soldier-priests, strong and gentle, like the ideal of those knights of old who were both, and bore the cross on shield and helmet and sword-hilt.
He, our Lord, is our pattern for both; and from Him we derive the strength for each. He is the Captain of our salvation, and we fight beneath His banner, and by His strength. He is a merciful and faithful High Priest, and He consecrates His brethren to the service of the sanctuary. To Him look for your example of heroism, of fortitude, of self-forgetfulness. To Him look for your example of gentle patience and dewy pity. Learn in Christ how possible it is to be strong and mild, to blend in fullest harmony the perfection of all that is noble, lofty, generous in the soldier’s ardour of heroic devotion; and of all that is calm, still, compassionate, tender in the priest’s waiting before God and mediation among men. And remember, that by faith only do we gain the power of copying that blessed example, to be like which is to be perfect-not to be like which is to fail wholly, and to prove that we have no part in His sacrifice, nor any share in His victory.
III. The final point in this description must now engage us for a few moments. The soldier-priests are as dew upon the earth.
There are two points in this last clause which may occupy us for a few moments-that picture of the army as a band of youthful warriors; and that lovely emblem of the dew as applied to Christ’s servants.
As to the former-there are many other words of Scripture which carry the same thought, that he who has fellowship with God, and lives in the constant reception of the supernatural life and grace which come from Jesus Christ, possesses the secret of perpetual youth. The world ages us, time and physical changes tell on us all, and the strength which belongs to the life of nature ebbs away, but the life eternal is subject to no laws of decay and owes nothing to the external world. So we may be ever young in heart and spirit. It is possible for a man to carry the freshness, the buoyancy, the elastic cheerfulness, the joyful hope of his earliest days, right on through the monotony of middle-aged maturity, and even into old age, unshadowed by the lonely reflection of the tombs which the setting sun casts over the path. It is possible for us to get younger as we get older, because we drink more full draughts of the fountain of life: and so to have to say at the last, ‘Thou hast kept the good wine until now.’ ‘Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.’ If we live near Christ, and draw our life from Him, then we may blend the hopes of youth with the experience and memory of age; be at once calm and joyous, wise and strong, preserving the blessedness of each stage of life into that which follows, and thus at last possessing the sweetness and the good of all at once. We may not only bear fruit in old age, but have blossoms, fruit, and flowers-the varying product and adornment of every stage of life, united in our characters.
Then, with regard to the other point in this final clause-that emblem of the dew leads to many considerations upon which I can but inadequately touch.
It comes into view here, I suppose, mainly for the sake of its effect upon the earth. It is as a symbol of the refreshing which a weary world will receive from the conquests and presence of the King and His host, that the latter are likened to the glittering morning dew. Another prophetic Scripture gives us the same emblem when it speaks of Israel being ‘in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord.’ Such ought to be the effect of our presence. We are meant to gladden, to adorn, to refresh, this parched, prosaic world, with a freshness brought from the chambers of the sunrise.
It is worth while to notice how we may discern a sequence of thought in these successive features of description in our text. It began with that inmost spirit and motive of the Christian life, the submission of will and consecration of self to Christ. It advanced to the function and character of His servants in the world. And now it deals finally with the influence which they are to exert by this their soldier-like obedience and priestly ministration.
There is progress of thought, too, in another way. We began with a symbol that had in it something almost harsh and stern. We advanced to one in which there was a predominance of gentle and gracious thoughts and images. And now all that was severe, and all that reminded either of opposition or of effort, has melted away into this sweet emblem. Instead of the ‘confused noise’ of the battle of the warrior, we have the silence of the dawn, and the noiseless falling of the dew amid the solitudes of the wildernesses, or the recesses of the mountains. So the highest thought of our Christian influence, is that it comes with silent footfall and refreshes men’s souls, like His, who will come down as ‘rain upon the mown grass,’ who will not strive nor cry, but in gentle omnipotence and meek persistence of love, ‘will not fail nor be discouraged till He have set judgment in the earth.’
Remember other symbols by which the same general thought of Christian influence upon the world is set forth with very remarkable variation. ‘Ye are the light of the world.’-’Ye are the salt of the earth.’ The light guides and gladdens; the salt preserves and purifies; the dew freshens and fertilises; the light, conspicuous; the salt, working concealed; and the dew, visible like the former, but yet unobtrusive and operating silently like the latter. Some of us had rather be light than salt; prefer to be conspicuous rather than to diffuse a wholesome silent influence around us. But these three types must all be blended, both in regard to the manner of working, and in regard to the effects produced. We shall refresh and beautify the world only in proportion as we save it from its rottenness and corruption, and we shall do either only in proportion as we bear abroad the name of Christ, in whom is ‘life; and the life is the light of men.’
Nor need we omit allusions to other associations connected with this figure. The dew, formed in the silence of the darkness while men sleep, falling as willingly on a bit of dead wood as anywhere, hanging its pearls on every poor spike of grass, and dressing everything on which it lies with strange beauty, each separate globule tiny and evanescent, but each flashing back the light, and each a perfect sphere, feeble one by one, but united, mighty to make the pastures of the wilderness rejoice-so, created in silence by an unseen influence, weak when taken singly, but strong in their myriads, glad to occupy the lowliest place, and each ‘bright with something of celestial light,’ Christian men and women are to be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord.
Brethren! that characteristic, like all else which is good, belongs to us in proportion as we keep near to Christ Jesus, and are filled with His fulness. All these emblems which have been occupying us now, originally belonged to Him, and we receive from Him the grace that makes us as He is in the world. He Himself is the Warrior King, the Captain of the Lord’s host, the true Joshua, whose last word ere His Cross was a shout of victory, ‘I have overcome the world’-whose promises from the throne seven times crown the conqueror who overcomes as He overcame. He makes us His soldiers and strengthens us for the war, if we live by faith in Him. He Himself is the Priest-the only Eternal Priest of the world-who wears on His head the mitre and the diadem, and bears in His hand the sceptre and the censer; and He makes us priests, if faith in His only sacrifice and all-prevalent intercession be in our souls. He is the dew unto Israel-and only by intercourse with Him shall we be made gentle and refreshing, silent blessings to all the weary and the parched souls in the wilderness of the world.
Everything worth being or doing comes from Jesus Christ. Heroic courage; then hold His hand, and He will strengthen your heart. Glad surrender; then think of His sacrifice for us until ours to Him be our answering gift. Priestly power; then let Him bring us nigh by His blood, that we too may be able to have compassion on the ignorant and to draw them to God. Dewy purity and freshness; then open your hearts for the reception of His grace, for all the invigoration that we can impart to the world is but the communication of that refreshing wherewith we ourselves are refreshed of Christ. In every aspect of our relations to the world, we draw all our fitness for all our offices from that Lord, who is and gives everything that we can be or do. Then let us seek by humble faith and habitual contact with Him and His truth, to have our emptiness filled by His fulness, and our unfitness made ready for all service by His all-sufficiency.
And let me close by reiterating what I have said already. There is a twofold manner of subjection-the spurious and the real. The involuntary is nought; the glad and cheerful surrender alone is counted submission. This psalm shows us Christ surrounded by His friends who are glad to obey. But it also shows us Christ ruling in the midst of His enemies. They cannot help obeying; His dominion is established over them, but they do not wish to have Him to reign over them, and therefore they are enemies-even though they be subjects. Which is it with you, my brother? Do you serve because you love-and love because He died for you? or do you serve because you must? Then, remember, constrained service is no service; and subjects without loyalty are rebel traitors. Our psalm shows us Christ gathering His army in array. He is calling each of us to a place there, in this day of His power, and day of His grace. Take heed lest the day of His power should for you darken into that other day of which this psalm speaks-the day of His wrath, when He strikes through kings, and bruises the head over many countries. Put your trust in that Saviour, my friend! cleave to that Sacrifice, then you will not be amongst those whom He treads down in His march to victory, but one of that happy band of priestly warriors who follow Him as He goes forth ‘conquering and to conquer.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
shall be. Supply Ellipsis (App-6) thus: “[shall offer] themselves for voluntary offerings, in the day that Thou warrest”.
willing = freewill offerings, as in Exo 35:29; Exo 36:3. 1Ch 29:9, 1Ch 29:14, 1Ch 29:17. Ezr 3:5; Ezr 8:28.
the beauties of holiness. Some codices, with two early printed editions, read “in (or on) the holy mountains”.
from the womb, &c. Supply Ellipsis (App-6): “[as the dew] from the womb before the morning I have begotten thee [a son]”. Compare Psa 2:7. There should be no stop after the word “morning”.
youth = a son.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 110:3
Psa 110:3
“Thy people offer themselves willingly
In the day of thy power, in holy array:
Out of the womb of the morning
Thou hast the dew of thy youth.”
“Thy people offer themselves willingly.” Christ’s rule will be over those people alone who willingly and wholeheartedly submit themselves to his authority.
“Out of the womb of the morning, …” As Rawlinson said, “The intention of this last clause is very doubtful. Delitzsch rendered the passage thus:
“Out of the womb of the morning’s dawn
Cometh the dew of thy young.
“Some understand it of Messiah himself, applying it to his perpetual youth; but the larger number interpret it of Messiah’s army. The quotation which we take to be Rawlinson’s understanding of the passage is as follows:
“As dew out of the early morning dawn, descending by a silent, mysterious birth from the star-lit heavens, so comes to Messiah his mighty host of followers.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 110:3. One word in the lexicon definition for willing is “spontaneity.” The force of the word lies chiefly in its contrast with the Mosaic system which included infants in its membership. Such members had no will in the matter but were enrolled in the list as soon as they were circumcised. In the system of Christ a person must be old enough to accept the service of his own choice before he can become a part of the institution. It is the same thought indicated in Heb 8:10-11 which was cited from Jer 31:31-34. The added thought would be logical, therefore, that such persons would be expected to be willing to obey a ruler whom they had voluntarily accepted over them. Day of thy power means the Christian Dispensation. The material appointments of the tabernacle and temple service were designed “for glory and for beauty” (Exo 28:2). That was a type of the spiritual service that was to be rendered under Christ, and a service that is rendered willingly would indeed constitute the beauties of holiness. Dew appears in the morning and soon disappears as a general thing. As a contrast, the vigor and strength and freshness of the reign of Christ will continue throughout the “day” of the Dispensation; will continue as it was from the womb of the morning, or from the time the reign started. (Dan 2:44.)
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
A Volunteer Army
Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power:
In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning,
Thou hast the dew of thy youth.Psa 110:3.
1. This psalm was composed by some patriotic Hebrew poet on the sallying forth of the king to war, to whom he hears Jehovah promising support and success in the coming campaign, and sees in imagination Jehovah Himself accompanying the king as his chariot rolled away, driving with him, seated by his side, to the battle. Fired by this vision, he pictures him triumphantly victorious over his foes, their power shattered, and the field heaped with their dead bodies; while he describes the enthusiasm of the people for the sovereign and his cause, the readiness with which they flock to follow him on his march to the frontier, the great multitude eager to put themselves at his disposal for the fray; and the splendid appearance of the troops, in their glittering armour, like priests clad in sacred vestments, or victims decked for the sacrifice, innumerable and brilliant as dew-drops from the womb of morning, and fresh as dew in comprising all the fine youth, all the young blood and vigour of the land.
But in the course of time the psalm came to be read as a prophetic description of what should be achieved by the future Messiah of whom the nation dreamt; to whom, indeed, would be the gathering of the people; who would prove the champion of Israels redemption, and of whose Kingdom and dominion there would be no end, His name enduring for ever, His name continuing as long as the sun throughout all generations.
This was a favourite psalm of Luthers. The 110th, he says, is very fine. It describes the kingdom and priesthood of Jesus Christ, and declares Him to be the King of all things and the intercessor for all men; to whom all things have been remitted by His Father, and who has compassion on us all. Tis a noble psalm; if I were well, I would endeavour to make a Commentary upon it.1 [Note: R. E. Prothero, The Psalms in Human Life, 122.]
2. In accordance with the warlike tone of the whole psalm, the subjects of the monarch are described as an army. The military metaphor comes out more clearly when we attach the true meaning to the words, in the day of thy power: Calvin translates, at the time of the assembling of their armyau jour des montres, in the day of the review. And the meaning is, Thy subjects shall be ready in the day when thou dost muster thy forces, and set them in array for the war.
I
Patriots
Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power.
1. The subjects of the King are true patriots. There are no mercenaries in these ranks, no pressed men. The soldiers are all volunteers.
There are two kinds of submission and service. There is submission because you cannot help it, and there is submission because you like it. There is a sullen bowing down beneath the weight of a hand which you are too feeble to resist, and there is a glad surrender to a love which it would be a pain not to obey. Some of us feel that we are shut in by immense and sovereign power which we cannot oppose. And yet, like some raging rebel in a dungeon, or some fluttering bird in a cage, we beat ourselves all bruised and bloody against the bars in vain attempts at liberty, alternating with fits of cowed apathy as we slink into a corner of our cell. Some of us, however, feel that we are enclosed on every side by that mighty hand which none can resist, and from which we would not stray if we could; and we joyfully hide beneath its shelter, and gladly obey when it points. Constrained obedience is no obedience. Unless there be the glad surrender of the will and heart, there is no surrender at all. God does not want compulsory submission. He does not care to rule over people who are only crushed down by greater power. He does not count that those serve who sullenly acquiesce because they dare not oppose. Christ seeks for no pressed men in His ranks. Whosoever does not enlist joyfully is not reckoned as His.
An ironic historian sets side by side Frederick the Greats account of the performance of his troops in one battle and a home letter of a recruit engaged in it. Never, says Frederick, have my troops done such marvels in point of gallantry, never since it has been my honour to lead them. And the soldier tells his squalid story, of men driven into battle with blows from sergeants canes, skulking, when they could, behind walls, and taking the opportunity of passing through a vineyard to desert in scores. Frederick won many battles, but he won them in spite of a detestable system, and this poet finds a promise of triumph for his King in the glad loyalty with which He inspires His soldiers.1 [Note: W. M. Macgregor, Jesus Christ the Son of God, 59.]
2. The soldiers are not only volunteers; they are animated by a spirit of self-surrender and sacrifice. The word here rendered willing is employed throughout the Levitical law for freewill offerings. It is a striking word in the Hebrew. We have a similar idea in Psa 68:9, where we are told that God has poured forth a refreshing rain for His inheritance because it is weary. And as we receive the refreshing rain of Gods Holy Spirit from heaven, in order that we may become a river pouring out His riches, so the real meaning of the Hebrew is this, Thy people shall become a freewill offering in the day of thy power. It is in that host as it was in the army whose heroic self-devotion was chanted by Deborah under her palm treeThe people willingly offered themselves. Hence came courage, devotion, victory. With their lives in their hands they flung themselves on the foe, and nothing could stand against the onset of men who recked not of themselves.
For there is this one grand thing even about the devilry of warthe transcendent self-abnegation with which, however poor and unworthy may be the cause, a man casts himself away, what time the foemans line is broke. The poorest, most vulgar, most animal natures rise for a moment into something like nobility, as the surge of the strong emotion lifts them to that height of heroism. Life is then most glorious when it is given away for a great cause. That sacrifice is the one noble and chivalrous element which gives interest to war, the one thing that can be disentangled from its hideous associations, and can be transferred to higher regions of life. That spirit of lofty consecration and utter self-forgetfulness must be ours, if we would be Christs soldiers. Our obedience will then be glad when we feel the force of, and yield to, that gentle persuasive entreaty, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice.
I raised such men, said Cromwell, as had the fear of God before them, as made some conscience of what they did; and from that day forward, I must say they were never beaten.
To be true to himself, to renounce nothing which he knew to be good and yet bring all things captive to the obedience of Christ, was the problem before him. He hesitated long before he could believe that such a solution was possible. His heart was with this rich, attractive world of human life, in the multiplicity and wealth of its illustrations, until it was revealed to him that it assumed a richer but a holier aspect when seen in the light of God. But to this end, he must submit his will to the Divine will in the spirit of absolute obedience. Here the struggle was deep and prolonged. It was a moral struggle mainly, not primarily intellectual or emotional. He feared that he should lose something in sacrificing his own will to Gods will. How the gulf was bridged he could not tell. He wrote down as one of the first of the texts on which he should preach, Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, with the comment that willingness is the first Christian step. Thus the conversion of Phillips Brooks becomes a representative process of his age. So far as the age has been great, through science or through literature, its greatness passed into his soul. The weakness of his age, its sentimentalism, its fatalism, he overcame in himself when he made the absolute surrender of his will to God. All that he had hitherto loved and cherished as the highest, instead of being lost, was given back to him in fuller measure. To the standard he had now raised there rallied great convictions and blessed experiences, the sense of the unity of life, the harmony of the whole creation, the consciousness of joy in being alive, the conviction that heaven is the goal of earth.1 [Note: Phillips Brooks: Memories of his Life, by A. V. G. Allen, 82.]
II
Patriot-Priests
In the beauties of holiness.
The phrase in the beauty of holiness is frequently used for the sacerdotal garments, the holy festal attire of the priests of the Lord. So the soldiers are priests as well as patriots.
1. The King and Leader is Himself a Priest of Gods making, another Melchizedek. In different ages of the world there have been men in whom a certain native priestliness has been apparent, men born to bring others into the secrets of God, and seeming to need no introduction or furtherance themselves; men who, in the Scots phrase, are far ben, for they always, with unveiled face, see God. It is their task to make the hidden things apprehensible to those who belong to the rough world outside. And Gods King, when He comes, will be a priest of that kind, whose priesthood is a matter of native endowment and not of human ordination.
The medival emperor was a deacon in the Roman Church, just as the pope, on his side, was a great secular prince. In Israel, too, the king had something of priestly rank. But here is no such fictitious dignity. Thou art a priest of my making, says God, another Melchizedek. Professor Davidson comments on the picture which is given us of Melchizedekwithout father, without mother, without descent. He passes over the stage a king, a priest, living; that sight of him is all we ever get. He is like a portrait having always the same qualities, presenting always the same aspect, looking down on us always with the same eyes, which turn and follow us wherever we may standalways royal, always priestly, always individual, and neither receiving nor imparting what he is, but being all in virtue of himself.
The conquering King whom the psalm hymns is a Priest for ever; and He is followed by an army of priests. The soldiers are gathered in the day of the muster, with high courage and willing devotion, ready to fling away their lives; but they are clad not in mail, but in priestly robes, like those who wait before the altar rather than like those who plunge into the fight, like those who compassed Jericho with the ark for their standard and the trumpets for all their weapons. We can scarcely fail to remember the words which echo these and interpret them. The armies which were in heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
Christina Rossetti comments on the strangeness of such armour against cut of sword and thrust of spear. But the suggestion is that the soldiers have one heart with their Leader, and are great in consecration like Himself. They go out after Him where hard blows are struck, where there is turmoil and shouting and the burden of the weary day, but they go as priests. That warfare which belongs to the extension of the Kingdom of God calls for services which may often be sordid and ugly and painful; but when they are rightly rendered they are as sacred and as acceptable as any incense offering in the dim seclusion of a temple. The one priestly sacrifice worth speaking of which men can render is the offering of a heart given willingly to the Divine service: and the cause is sure to prevail which can count on volunteers of that complexion.
Dr. Butler, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, writing of Keith-Falconer, who had been one of his pupils at Harrow, says: I do not think our dear friend and I had any further communication with each other till the end of last year (1886), when I received from him at Davos-Platz a most kind letter of congratulation on my appointment to the Mastership of Trinity. He told me also of the plan which he had formed for going to Aden, and there employing his knowledge of Arabic for missionary purposes. The result of this generous enterprise we know but too well. The work was scarcely begun before it reached its earthly end. To those who believe in the abiding results of devotion to the cause and the Person of Christ, his short life will not seem a failure. His image will remain fresh in the hearts of many as of a man exceptionally noble and exceptionally winning, recalling to them their own highest visions of unselfish service to God and man, and helping them to hold fast the truth that in the spiritual world nothing but self-sacrifice is permanently fruitful, and that the seed of a truly Christian life is never quickened except it die.1 [Note: R. Sinker, Memorials of the Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer, 23.]
2. The priestly attire suggests that the great power which we are to wield in our Christian warfare is character. Purity of heart and life, transparent simple goodness, manifest in mens sightthese will arm us against dangers, and these will bring our brethren glad captives to our Lord. We serve Him best, and advance His Kingdom most, when the habit of our souls is that righteousness with which He invests our nakedness. Be like your Lord, and as His soldiers you will conquer, and as His priests you will win some to His love and fear. Nothing else will avail without that. Without that dress no man finds a place in the ranks.
I have known many a man, says Thoreau, who pretended to be a Christian; but it was ridiculous, for he had no genius for it. This poet was persuaded that his King would go far because of the temper of the people. They offer themselves willingly; in holy, beautiful garments they come, fresh, young, countless like dew at the dawn.1 [Note: W. M. Macgregor.]
Turn your energies towards your moral cultivation. In doing so you will accumulate imperishable riches. All that your worldly care can bring will be the doubtful possession of riches of doubtful value. In the possession of the moral wealth of a noble and disciplined character, you possess that which can neither wither nor be stolen. What we have we must leave at the threshold of the grave. What we are goes with us into the other world. Riches will drop from our dying hand into the grasp of others. Character passes with us into the presence of God. Character is everything. This, rather than worldly riches, is the true end of life. The perfecting of this is the true purpose of God in life.2 [Note: Bishop Boyd Carpenter.]
Few things tell on character more surely and precisely than the goal on which the heart is set and the temper in which that goal is sought. And certainly the Christian character, as it appears in Christ-like lives, does not look at all as though it had been formed and fostered and determined by a mercenary attention to a selfish aim. For the faculties and the capacity that grow in those who try to be true to Christ in daily life are strikingly ill-suited for the opportunities of enjoyment which might be imagined in a heaven of selfishness. Christians do not grow in the capacity for selfish pleasure, nor attain an exceptional power of relishing to the utmost a separate and individual gratification. The faculty which they develop is the faculty of self-denial; of glad, unhindered self-forgetfulness for others sake; of delighting in goodness and eliciting what is best in others; of simple, cheerful, unclouded self-surrender. These, and such as these, are the powers that accrue to those who choose the Christian life; and it is strange if the way along which they are acquired is a way of self-seeking; strange if, in striving towards a paradise of selfish pleasure, there is formed a character which would be as wretched there as a selfish character in the heaven of the saints. Surely it is a very different sort of aim and quest that is betrayed in the development of the Christian character and in the lines on which it presses forward; its preparation through the discipline of this life is for something else than what is here called pleasure or success; the faculties that are strengthened with its strength must have a work surpassing all our thoughts, and the capacity it brings can never be satisfied with aught that is created. For, in truth, the Christian character prophesies of thisthat God has made us for Himself; and that there is neither rest, nor goal, nor joy for man, save in His love.1 [Note: Francis Paget, Studies in the Christian Character.]
III
Patriot-Priests in Perpetual Youth
From the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth.
Alexander Henderson, expounding this passage, says: The words are somewhat obscure even to the learned ear, but look to the 133rd Psalm, and there ye will see a place to help to clear them. Always (however) observe here, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth, that as in a May morning, when there is no extremity of heat, the dew falls so thick that all the fields are covered with it, and it falls in such a secret manner that none sees it fall, so the Lord, in the day of His power, He shall multiply His people, and He shall multiply them in a secret manner; so that it is marvellous to the world, that once there should seem to be so few or none of them, and then incontinent He should make them to be through all estates.
1. The dew of thy youth has often been understood to mean the fresh youthful energy attributed by the psalm to the Priest-King. It has been suggested that the historical setting of the psalm is to be found in the Maccabean period. The heroic Judas had fallen in battle. Only one Maccabee remained, an elder brother, Simon, who had been passed over till this timea great man and a wise one, it would seem, who had deliberately and unselfishly stood aside while his younger brethren had been doing their mighty work. He had been their lieutenant, counsellor, helper in every way. The father of them all was the affectionate title which he bore among them; the organizer and statesman of the valiant band; one of those strong, keen, silent souls who are content to work in obscurity, so that the grand object is obtained, but who often have more real power than those who stand glittering in the front. But now his time was comecome when he was apparently more than sixty years of age. He rose to the occasion; he took the critical and dangerous place. He went up to Jerusalem, stood among the excited and trembling multitude, and said: Ye yourselves know what great things I and my brethren and my fathers house have done for the laws and the sanctuary. You know the battles and troubles we have seen, by reason whereof all my brethren are slain for Israels sake, and I am left alone. Now therefore, be it far from me that I should spare mine own life in any time of trouble, for I am no better than my brethren. I will defend my nation and the sanctuary, and our wives and our children, though all the heathen be gathered together to destroy us for very malice.
The people gazed upon the grand old man. They watched his kindling eye, his martial bearing; they saw the fires of a still youthful spirit burning in the aged frame, and they answered with a loud voice, Thou shalt be our leader. Fight thou our battles, and whatsoever thou commandest us, we will do. Then they brought him into the temple, clothed him in the sacred robes, placed the tiara upon his head, and saluted him as the great Priest-King of Israel: and it may be that this 110th Psalm preserves the memory of the coronation anthem sung at that service in the temple when the old man with the brave young heart inside him stood before the awestruck multitudes and took the perilous honour of the lofty place. A joy-shout of the people finds its echo in the text, From the breaking of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth; that is to say, Though aged, it is upon thee still.
Certain leaders in their young days have led their troops to battle, and, by the loudness of their voice, and the strength of their bodies, have inspired their men with courage; but the old warrior hath his hair sown with grey; he begins to be decrepit, and no longer can lead men to battle. It is not so with Jesus Christ. He has still the dew of His youth. The same Christ who led His troops to battle in His early youth leads them now. The arm which smote the sinner with His word smites now; it is as unpalsied as it was before. The eye which looked upon His friends with gladness, and upon His foemen with a glance most stern and highthat same eye is regarding us now, undimmed, like that of Moses. He has the dew of His youth.1 [Note: C. H. Spurgeon.]
As I witness the energies of nature, I feel that the heart that fashioned it was young. There is no sign of age about creation. There is no trace of the weariness of years. It is inspired with an abounding energy that tells me of a fresh and youthful mind. Christ may have lived from everlasting ages before the moment of creation came; but the eternal morning was still upon His brow when He conceived and bodied out the world. There are the powers of youth in it. There are the energies of opening life. Thou hast the dew of thy youth.2 [Note: G. H. Morrison, Flood-Tide, 286.]
2. We may however take youth to be a collective noun, equivalent to young men. In that case the army is described as a host of young warriors, led forth in their fresh strength and countless numbers and gleaming beauty, like the dew of the morning. Did you never see the dew-drops glistening on the earth? and did you never ask, Whence came these? How came they here so infinite in number, so lavishly scattered everywhere, so pure and brilliant? Nature whispered the answer, They came from the womb of the morning. So Gods people will come forth as noiselessly, as mysteriously, as divinely, as if they came from the womb of the morning, like the dew-drops. Science has laboured to discover the origin of dew, and perhaps has guessed it; but to the Eastern, one of the greatest riddles was, Out of whose womb came the dew? Who is the mother of those pearly drops? Now, so will Gods people come mysteriously. Again, the dew-dropswho made them? Do kings and princes rise up and hold their sceptres, and bid the clouds shed tears, or affright them to weeping by the beating of the drum? Do armies march to the battle to force the sky to give up its treasure, and scatter its diamonds lavishly? No; God speaks; He whispers in the ears of nature, and it weeps for joy at the glad news that the morning is coming. God does it; there is no apparent agency employed, no thunder, no lightning; God has done it. That is how Gods people shall be saved; they come forth from the womb of the morning; divinely called, divinely brought, divinely blessed, divinely numbered, divinely scattered over the entire surface of the globe, divinely refreshing to the world, they proceed from the womb of the morning.
When you go out, delighted, into the dew of the morning, have you ever considered why it is so rich upon the grass;why it is not upon the trees? It is partly on the trees, but yet your memory of it will be always chiefly of its gleam upon the lawn. On many trees you will find there is none at all. I cannot follow out here the many inquiries connected with this subject, but, broadly remember the branched trees are fed chiefly by rain,the unbranched ones by dew, visible or invisible; that is to say, at all events by moisture which they can gather for themselves out of the air; or else by streams and springs. Hence the division of the verse of the song of Moses: My doctrine shall drop as the rain; my speech shall distil as the dew: as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.1 [Note: Ruskin, Proserpina, i. chap. iii. 22.]
Until I heard from my friend Mr. Tyrwhitt of the cold felt at night in camping on Sinai, I could not understand how deep the feeling of the Arab, no less than the Greek, must have been respecting the Divine gift of the dew,nor with what sense of thankfulness for miraculous blessing the question of Job would be uttered, The hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? Then compare the first words of the blessing of Isaac: God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of earth; and, again, the first words of the song of Moses: Give ear, oh ye heavens,for my speech shall distil as the dew; and you will see at once why this heavenly food (manna) was made to shine clear in the desert, like an enduring of its dew;Divine remaining for continual need. Frozen, as the Alpine snowpure for ever.2 [Note: Ruskin, Deucalion, i. chap. vii. 12.]
3. The soldiers of this King retain their youth. He who has fellowship with God, and lives in the constant reception of the supernatural life and grace which come from Jesus Christ, possesses the secret of perpetual youth. The world ages us, time and physical changes tell on us all, and the strength which belongs to the life of nature ebbs away; but the life eternal is subject to no laws of decay and owes nothing to the external world. So we may be ever young in heart and spirit. It is possible for a man to carry the freshness, the buoyancy, the elastic cheerfulness, the joyful hope of his earliest days, right on through the monotony of middle-aged maturity, and even into old age shadowed by the long reflection of the tombs which the setting sun casts over the path. It is possible for us to grow younger as we grow older, because we drink more full draughts of the fountain of life, and so to have to say at the last, Thou hast kept the good wine until now. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. If we live near Christ, and draw our life from Him, then we may blend the hopes of youth with the experience and memory of age; be at once calm and joyous, wise and strong, preserving the blessedness of each stage of life into that which follows, and thus at last possessing the sweetness and the good of all at once. We may not only bear fruit in old age, but have buds, blossoms, and fruitthe varying product and adornment of every stage of life united in our characters.
A man is not old, however hoary and bent, who is conversing, as Emerson says, with what is above him, with the religious eye looking upward, and abandoned the while with delight to the inspirations flowing in from all sides. A man is not old in whom the faculty of imagination is undecayed, who throbs with sympathy as eager and strong as ever for whatsoever is just and lovely and pure and true; whose mind, still responsive and aspiring, is fully open to new thoughts and new ideas, and cherishes dreams of the ideal; upon whom no weight of custom or of habit lies so heavily that he cannot move out of grooves under the direction of some felt better way, or who carries with him the optimism which, without hiding its face from the dark and ugly facts of existence, can front them smilingly, and sing its song in defiance of them, because of faith in humanity and trust in the divine purpose of the Universe. A man is not old, who is at one with Michael Angelo when, just before he died on the verge of ninety, he carved an allegorical figure, and inscribed on it in large letters, Still learning, or whose heart echoes Robert Browning, when he sang:
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all nor be afraid!
1st December 1895. A pleasant party at York House. The conversation straying to Watts, Miss Lawless, who was sitting on one side of me, mentioned that he had said to her: I think I am quite accurate in telling you that I saw the sun rise every day last summer, and Mrs. Tyrrell, who was sitting on my other side, told us that he had said to her: I am seventy-eight, and I hope still to do my best work.1 [Note: M. E. Grant Duff, Notes from a Diary, 189295, ii. 290.]
4. The soldier of the cross should exercise in the world a gracious refreshing influence, like the dew. The dew, formed in the silence of the darkness while men sleep, falling as willingly on a bit of dead wood as anywhere, hanging its pearls on every poor spike of grass, and dressing everything on which it lies with strange beauty, each separate globule tiny and evanescent, but each flashing back the light, and each a perfect sphere, feeble one by one, but united mighty to make the pastures of the wilderness rejoiceso, created in silence by an unseen influence, feeble when taken in detail but strong in their myriads, glad to occupy the lowliest place, and each bright with something of celestial light, Christian men and women are to be in the midst of many people as dew from the Lord.
The personal influence of Henry Bradshaw (the librarian at Cambridge University) was extraordinary. It was not gained by any arts, nor did he ever manifest the slightest wish to interfere or to exercise influence. One just knew him to be a man of guileless life, laborious, high-principled, incapable of any sort of meanness or malice. To love is to understand everything, says the French proverb. It is not easy really to improve people by scolding them or lecturing them, but if one knows that a generous, unsuspicious, high-minded man has a real affection for one, it is impossible not to be restrained by the thought from acting in a way that he would disapprove. Bradshaws influence over the men he knew was stronger than the influence of any other man at Cambridge. But his affection was sisterlyif one can use the wordrather than paternal. He was fond of little demonstrations of affection, would pat and stroke ones hand as he talked, and yet there was never the least shadow of sentimentality about it. I have never heard any one suggest that there was anything weak or unmanly about his tenderness. It was preserved from that by his critical judgment, his excellent sense, his power of saying the most incisive things, and the irony which, however lambent, had got a very clear cutting edge, and which he was always ready to use if there was occasion. If any one traded on the affection of Bradshaw or counted on indulgence, he was sure to be instantly and kindly snubbed. It was more that there was an atmosphere of intimacy and confidence in ones relations with him, which pervaded the time spent in his company as with fragrant summer air.1 [Note: A. C. Benson, The Leaves of the Tree, 225.]
When love has made the most of the man himself it overflows to bless others. Christs disciples are not here to be ministered unto, but to minister. Religion, says Christ, is love, and love is gentle toward those with hollow eyes and faminestricken faces. Love is kindly toward those who have a tragedy written in the sharpened countenance. Love is patient toward those who have lost fidelity as a man loses a golden coin; who have lost morality as one who flounders in the Alpine drifts. And this religion of love takes on a thousand modern forms. If it is not rowing out against the darkness and storm, as did Grace Darling, to save the shipwrecked, it is going forth to those tossed upon lifes billows, to succour and to save. For love is making the individual life beautiful, making the home beautiful, and will at last make the Church and State beautiful. Men will not bow down to crowned power nor philosophic power nor sthetic power; but in the presence of a great soul, filled with vigour of inspiration and glowing with love, man will do obeisance. There is no force upon earth like Divine love in the heart of man, and at last that force will sweeten and regenerate society.2 [Note: N. D. Hillis, The Investment of Influence, 274.]
Literature
Ball (C. J.), Testimonies to Christ, 209.
Critchley (G.), When the Angels have gone Away, 163.
Duff (R. S.), Pleasant Places, 120.
Henderson (A.), Sermons, 9.
Macgregor (W. M.), Jesus Christ the Son of God, 52.
Maclaren (A.), Sermons Preached in Manchester, iii. 321.
Meyer (F. B.), Christian Living, 62.
Morrison (G. H.), Flood-Tide, 282.
Price (A. C.), Fifty Sermons, vii. 129.
Spurgeon (C. H.), New Park Street Pulpit, ii. No. 74.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xlvii. (1901), No. 2724.
Tipple (S. A.), Days of Old, 200.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons to Children, i. 132.
Vaughan (J.), Sermons (Brighton Pulpit), xxv. (1884), No. 1291.
Fuente: The Great Texts of the Bible
Thy: Psa 22:27, Psa 22:28, Jdg 5:2, Act 2:41, Rom 11:2-6, 2Co 8:1-3, 2Co 8:12, 2Co 8:16, Phi 2:13, Heb 13:21
day: Act 1:8, Act 2:33, Act 4:30-35, Act 19:20, 2Co 13:4, Gal 1:15, Gal 1:16
beauties: Psa 96:9, Eze 43:12, Eph 1:4, 1Th 4:7, Tit 2:14
from the womb: etc. or, more than the womb of the morning, thou shalt have, etc. thou hast. Act 4:4, Act 21:20, Rev 7:9
Reciprocal: Exo 3:18 – and they Exo 25:2 – willingly Exo 35:5 – whosoever Exo 35:21 – General Lev 1:3 – his own Lev 7:30 – own hands Deu 33:13 – the dew 1Sa 10:26 – whose hearts 2Sa 19:14 – even 2Sa 23:4 – as the light 1Ki 8:58 – incline 1Ch 12:38 – all the rest 1Ch 16:29 – the beauty 1Ch 28:21 – willing 1Ch 29:9 – they offered 2Ch 17:16 – willingly 2Ch 30:12 – the hand of God Ezr 1:6 – willingly offered Ezr 2:68 – offered freely Ezr 7:13 – minded Neh 4:6 – had a mind Psa 45:4 – prosperously Psa 47:9 – The princes Psa 90:17 – And let Psa 144:2 – who subdueth Psa 145:12 – make known Son 1:16 – also Son 2:14 – thy countenance Son 5:4 – put Isa 26:19 – thy dew Isa 53:10 – he shall see Hos 1:11 – for Mic 4:1 – and people Mic 5:7 – as a dew Hag 1:14 – stirred Zec 14:20 – HOLINESS Mar 11:3 – and straightway Mar 14:8 – hath done Mar 14:15 – he will Luk 14:23 – compel Joh 1:13 – nor of the will of man Joh 6:37 – shall Act 6:1 – when Act 9:35 – all Act 13:44 – came Act 16:14 – whose Rom 9:16 – General 1Co 1:18 – unto 1Co 12:18 – as it 2Co 8:3 – beyond 2Co 10:5 – the obedience Eph 1:19 – exceeding Phi 3:12 – apprehended Col 1:6 – knew Phm 1:14 – thy benefit Heb 9:4 – and Aaron’s 2Pe 1:3 – his
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 110:3. Thy people Thy subjects; shall be willing Hebrew, , nedaboth, willingnesses, that is, most willing, as such plural words frequently signify, or shall be free-will-offerings, as the word properly means; by which he may intend to intimate the difference between the worship of the Old Testament and that of the New. They shall offer and present unto thee, as their King and Lord, not oxen, or sheep, or goats, as thy people did under the law, but themselves, their souls and bodies, as living sacrifices, Rom 12:1, and as free-will-offerings, giving up themselves to thee, to live to thee, and die to thee. The sense is, Thou shalt have friends and subjects, as well as enemies, and thy subjects shall not yield thee a false and feigned obedience, as those who are subjects to, or conquered by earthly princes frequently do, but shall most willingly and readily obey all thy commands, without any dispute, delay, or reservation. And they shall not need to be pressed to thy service, but shall voluntarily enlist themselves, and fight under thy banner against all thy enemies. In the day of thy power When thou shalt take into thy hands the rod of thy strength, and set up thy kingdom in the world, exerting thy mighty power in the preaching of thy word, and winning souls to thyself by it. In the beauties of holiness Adorned with the beautiful and glorious robes of righteousness and true holiness, wherewith all new men, or true Christians, are clothed, Eph 4:24; Rev 19:8; Rev 19:14; and with various gifts and graces of Gods Spirit, which are beautiful in the eyes of God, and of all good men. From the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth That is, thy offspring (the members of the Christian Church) shall be more numerous than the drops of the morning dew. Or, as Bishop Reynolds expresses it, Thy children shall be born in as great abundance unto thee as the dew which falleth from the womb of the morning. To the same purpose Bishop Lowth, in his tenth Lecture: The dew of thy progeny is more abundant than the dew which proceeds from the womb of the morning.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
110:3 Thy people [shall be] willing in the day of {c} thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
(c) By the word your people will be assembled into your Church…increase will be…anointed wonderful… drops of the…
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. The rule of Messiah 110:3-4
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
When Messiah comes to rule over His enemies, His people will willingly join in His reign (cf. Jdg 5:2). They will be holy, in contrast to the unholy whom Messiah will subdue. They will be as youthful warriors, namely, strong and energetic. They will be as the dew in the sense of being fresh, numerous, and a blessing from God. The expression "from the womb of the dawn" probably signifies their early appearance during Messiah’s reign. Later revelation identifies these people as faithful believers (Rev 5:10; Rev 20:4; Rev 20:6; Rev 22:5).