Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 21:13
Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: [so] will we sing and praise thy power.
13. The congregation’s concluding prayer (as in Psa 20:9), returning to the thought of Psa 21:1. Jehovah is exalted when He manifests His strength (Psa 7:6; Psa 46:10; Psa 57:5; Psa 57:11). R.V., in thy strength, for in thine own strength.
thy power ] Thy might, made known in mighty acts of salvation (Psa 20:6).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength – This is the concluding part of the psalm (see the introduction), expressing a desire that God might be exalted over all his foes; or that his own strength might he so manifestly put forth that he would be exalted as he ought to be. This is the ultimate and chief desire of all holy created beings, that God might be exalted in the estimation of the universe above all other beings – or that he might so triumph over all his enemies as to reign supreme.
So will we sing and praise thy power – That is, as the result of thy being thus exalted to proper honor, we will unite in celebrating thy glory and thy power. Compare Rev 7:10-12; Rev 12:10; Rev 19:1-3. This will be the result of all the triumphs which God will achieve in the world, that the holy beings of all worlds will gather around his throne and sing and praise his power. The thought in the psalm is that God will ultimately triumph over all his foes, and that this triumph will be followed by universal rejoicing and praise. Come that blessed day!
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 13. Be thou exalted] Exalt thyself, O Lord – thy creatures cannot exalt thee. Lift thyself up, and discomfit thy foes by thine own strength! Thou canst give a victory to thy people over the most formidable enemies, though they strike not one blow in their own defence. God’s right hand has often given the victory to his followers, while they stood still to see the salvation of God. How little can the strength of man avail when the Lord raiseth up himself to the battle! His children, therefore, may safely trust in him, for the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous flee into it, and are safe.
Praise thy power.] God is to receive praise in reference to that attribute which he has exhibited most in the defence or salvation of his followers. Sometimes he manifests his power, his mercy, his wisdom, his longsuffering, his fatherly care, his good providence, his holiness, his justice, his truth, c. Whatever attribute or perfection he exhibits most, that should be the chief subject of his children’s praise. One wants teaching, prays for it, and is deeply instructed: he will naturally celebrate the wisdom of God. Another feels himself beset with the most powerful adversaries, with the weakest of whom he is not able to cope: he cries to the Almighty God for strength he is heard, and strengthened with strength in his soul. He therefore will naturally magnify the all-conquering power of the Lord. Another feels himself lost, condemned, on the brink of hell; he calls for mercy, is heard and saved: mercy, therefore, will be the chief subject of his praise, and the burden of his song.
The old Anglo-Scottish Psalter says, We sal make knowen thi wordes in gude wil and gude werk, for he synges well that wirkes well. For thi, sais he twise, we sal syng; ane tyme for the luf of hert; another, for the schewyng of ryghtwisness, til ensampil.
ANALYSIS OF THE TWENTY-FIRST PSALM
This is the people’s E, or triumphal song, after the victory which they prayed for in the former Psalm, when David went out to war. In this they praise God for the conquest which he gave him over his enemies, and for the singular mercies bestowed on himself. It consists of three parts: –
I. The general proposition, Ps 21:1.
II. The narration, which is twofold, from Ps 21:1-4. 1. An enumeration of the blessings bestowed on David, Ps 21:1-6. 2. An account how God would deal with his enemies, Ps 21:6-12.
III. A vow, or acclamation, Ps 21:13, which is the epilogue of the piece.
I. The sum of the Psalm is contained in the first verse: “The king shall joy; the king shall be exceeding glad.” Joy is the affection with which the king and people were transported; for all that follows shows but the rise and causes of it.
I. The rise and object of it: “The strength of God; the salvation of God.” 1. His strength, by which he subdued his enemies, and contemned dangers. 2. His salvation, by which he escaped dangers, and fell not in battle.
II. 1. The narration of the goodness of God to David’s person, the particulars of which are the following: –
1. God granted to him what his heart desired: “Thou hast given him his heart’s desire,” and what his lips requested: “and hast not withholden the request of his lips.”
2. He granted him more than he asked: “Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness.”
3. He chose him to be king: “Thou hast set a crown of pure gold upon his head.” In which God prevented him, and chose him when he thought not of it.
4. When David went to war, “he asked life, and thou gavest him even length of days for ever and ever:” which is most true of Christ, the Son of David. In him his life and kingdom are immortal.
5. A great accession of glory, honour, and majesty. Though his glory was great, it was in God’s salvation; “Honour and majesty did God lay upon him.”
All which are summed up under the word blessing in the next verse. “For thou hast made him most blessed for ever;” and God had added the crown of all, a heart to rejoice in it: “Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.”
6. The continuance of these blessings, which is another favour, with the cause of it: “For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved.” Thus far the first part of the narrative, which concerned David’s person particularly.
2. The effects of God’s goodness to David in outward things, and to the whole kingdom, in the overthrow of his enemies, (for without God’s protection what kingdom is safe?) form the second part.
1. God would make David his instrument in delivering Israel by the overthrow of his enemies: “Thine hand.”
2. He would certainly do it, for he could find them out wheresoever they were: “Thine hand shall find out thine enemies.”
3. This was easy to be done, as easy as for fire to consume stubble: “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven.”
4. This destruction should be universal; it should reach even to their posterity: “Their fruit shalt thou destroy, and their seed.”
5. Their judgment should be fearful and unavoidable. God would set them up as a mark to shoot at: “Thou shalt make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows.”
At last the cause is added for these judgments; of the succour he will afford his afflicted, oppressed people; and the revenge he will take upon their enemies: “They intended evil against thee; they imagined a mischievous device.”
III. The vow or acclamation. This is properly the epilogue, and has two parts: 1. A petition – “Save the king and the people.” 2. A profession: “And we will give thanks to thee.”
I. “Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thine own strength.” Show thyself more powerful in defending thy Church than men and devils are in their attempts to destroy it.
2. We will be a thankful people; we will show that we have not received this grace of God in vain: “So will we sing, and praise thy power.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In thine own strength; by thy own power, or by the manifestation thereof, whereby thou wilt have the whole glory of the work.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. The glory of all isascribable to God alone.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength,…. Exert thy strength, display thy power in such manner, that thou mayest be exalted and magnified on account of it. This was fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem, when the kingdom of God came with power, Mr 9:1; and will be again when Babylon shall be utterly destroyed, because the Lord is strong who judgeth her, Re 18:8; and finally at the day of judgment, when the wicked will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power, 2Th 1:9;
[so] will we sing and praise thy power; forms of such songs of praise may be seen, as Cocceius observes, in Re 11:15; at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, at the victory over the beast, and his image, and at the destruction of Babylon.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 21:14) After the song has spread abroad its wings in twice three tetrastichs, it closes by, as it were, soaring aloft and thus losing itself in a distich. It is a cry to God for victory in battle, on behalf of the king. “Be Thou exalted,” i.e., manifest Thyself in Thy supernal (Psa 57:6, 12) and judicial (Psa 7:7.) sovereignty. What these closing words long to see realised is that Jahve should reveal for world-wide conquest this , to which everything that opposes Him must yield, and it is for this they promise beforehand a joyous gratitude.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
13. Raise thyself, O Jehovah! The psalm is at length concluded with a prayer, which again confirms that the kingdom which is spoken of is so connected with the glory of God, that his power is reflected from it. This was no doubt true with respect to the kingdom of David; for God in old time displayed his power in exalting him to the throne. But what is here stated was only fully accomplished in Christ, who was appointed by the heavenly Father to be King over us, and who is at the same time God manifest in the flesh. As his divine power ought justly to strike terror into the wicked, so it is described as full of the sweetest consolation to us, which ought to inspire us with joy, and incite us to celebrate it with songs of praise and thanksgivings.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) Thou.Again the song turns to address Jehovah.
So will we sing and praise.Better, We will both with song and lyre celebrate Thy power.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. Exalted in thine own strength The closing verse is a call upon Jehovah to exalt himself by a manifestation of his own strength in the overthrow of his enemies and the deliverance of his Church. On this, compare Rev 11:17.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
A Final Cry is Now Made Directly To YHWH ( Psa 21:13 ).
Psa 21:13
‘Be exalted, O YHWH, in your strength,
So will we sing and praise your power.’
And their final plea is that YHWH might be exalted, revealing His strength. Thus will they be able to sing and praise His power. In the end it is the glory of God that matters, not the success of men, and it is that which should be our main concern, and it should always lead us to praise and worship.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
A beautiful close to this most glorious Psalm is here, in which the Church offers up a joyful acclamation to her Sovereign Redeemer, that being now exalted in his own strength, and having gotten himself the victory, and a name being given to him above every name, all the ransomed of Zion, the whole church of God’s redeemed ones, shout aloud his praises, devoutly bend the knee, the heart, the whole soul, before him, and with one heart, and one tongue, confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
REFLECTIONS
READER, here let us pause, and with holy admiration, love and praise, contemplate the astonishing love of God our Father, in giving his dear Son, and the astonishing love of God the Son, in coming to redeem our nature, and by such a process of grace opening the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Surely never did God display such love, wisdom, and grace, as in the redemption by Jesus. And if the King rejoiceth in such great salvation, well may the happy objects of it, who, by his gracious undertaking, and victory, are made kings and priests to God and the Father.
And oh, thou glorious Mediator! was it thine heart’s desire, which God thy Father granted thee, that thou mightest see of the travail of thy soul, that thou mightest have thy church, thy spouse, thy fair one? Didst thou, blessed Lord, from everlasting set thine heart’s desire upon thy people? Didst thou, from this desire towards thy people, come and tabernacle among them? And was such thine ardent desire for the working out their redemption, by thy sufferings and death, that thou was straitened until that thy baptism of pain and agonies was accomplished? And as thou didst all along desire everything that had a tendency to bring about those blessed purposes, is it not now, blessed Jesus, thy desire for the time to come, in every individual instance of thy purchased ones, that their conversion may be accomplished? Dost thou not wait to be gracious? Dost thou not count thy people as the excellent of the earth, in whom is all thy desire, all thy delight? And do we not know, that those desires of thine will never be fully gratified, until thou hast gathered all thy redeemed around thee in glory? O thou glorious, thou almighty Shiloh! to thee shall the gathering of the people be. Yes, Lord, thou art the desire of all nations! Thou art the one glorious object of desire in every awakened heart. Lord Jesus, be thou my King, my God! And as the Father hath put a crown of pure gold upon thy head, and declared thee to be his King in Zion, so would my poor withered hand, through thy grace, be stretched forth in faith, to put the crown of my salvation on thy sacred head, declaring thee to be my lawful, rightful Lord, both by the Father’s gift, the purchase of thy blood, and the conquests of thy grace. Lord! henceforth make me wholly thine, for I am no longer my own; thou hast bought me with a price, and therefore would I glorify thee with my whole soul and body, and spirit, which I pray thee to sanctify, and to preserve blameless, until the day of thy coming.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: [so] will we sing and praise thy power.
Ver. 13. Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength ] Finit Psalmum cum laude, sicut incepit, saith Aben Ezra. He closeth up the psalm, as he began it, with praise and prayer that God would arise and destroy the rest, as he had already done some of their enemies. God’s power and strength is in itself infinite, and cannot be exalted or amplified; but in respect of us it is said to be exalted when exerted and put forth for the defence of his people.
So will we sing and praise thy power
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
To the chief Musician. See App-64.
upon = relating to.
Aijeleth Shahar = the Day-dawn: David’s Coronation, 953BC. Looking forward to the Day-dawn of Messiah’s Coronation, which is the subject of the Psalm 21, not of Psalm 22. Compare 2Sa 23:4; see note on 2Pe 1:19 and App-65. Compare Psa 139:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 21:13
Psa 21:13
“Be thou exalted, O Jehovah, in thy strength:
So will we sing and praise thy power.”
As the psalm began, so it ends, in the praise of God. The very purpose for which God created men was that they might exalt and glorify God. There can be no higher activity on the part of mankind than that of worshipping and praising the Creator. “To fear God and keep his commandments is the whole duty of man” (Ecc 12:13). As a matter of fact the word `duty’ in that verse is not in the text which reads, “the whole of man,” instead of “the whole duty of man.” Nothing that mortal men can do could be as important as that of acquiring and maintaining a relationship with the Creator, attended by the utmost praise and adoration.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 21:13. The psalm or prayer closes with a tribute of praise for the Lord. Thine own strength means that God is strong in his own might and not in that of another.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Be thou: Psa 18:46, Psa 46:10, Psa 57:5, Psa 57:11, Psa 72:18, Psa 72:19, Psa 113:5, *marg. 1Ch 29:11, Job 9:19, Mat 6:10, Mat 6:13, Rev 11:17
so will: Psa 58:10, Psa 58:11, Rev 15:3, Rev 15:4, Rev 16:5-7, Rev 18:20, Rev 19:1-6
Reciprocal: 1Ch 17:24 – that thy name Psa 13:6 – I Psa 27:6 – I will Psa 54:6 – praise Psa 56:12 – I will Psa 59:16 – But Psa 65:1 – Praise Psa 99:5 – Exalt Psa 108:5 – Be thou Pro 17:8 – gift Isa 5:16 – the Lord Isa 12:4 – his name Isa 51:9 – put Eze 28:22 – I will
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THANKSGIVING FOR VICTORY
Be Thou exalted, Lord, in Thine own strength; so will we sing and praise The power.
Psa 21:13
This psalm follows naturally on the preceding. In the former, prayer had been offered for the warrior king as he went forth to war, but now in the opening strains of this (17), the priests of the temple, and perhaps the people, celebrate his victory. Ah! tried and conflicting soul, as surely as thou hast uttered thy prayer for salvation thou shalt utter thy thanks for it. Was it asked that God should grant thee thy hearts desire? (20:4). It shall be said Thou hast given him (Psa 21:2).
I. How admirably do these sweet words describe, not only the case of the Church militant, but also that of the Church triumphant!Think of those whom you have loved and lost awhile, and then say of them Psa 21:2-6. Oh, when will that day come, when of us too those words so exuberant in their triumph will be true? Of how many of our sainted dead may we not say that, in answer to their faithful prayers, God hath made them most blessed for ever, making them glad with His countenance?
II. But as the fire which ripens fruit consumes straw, so the same love which deals so tenderly with the saints is stern to punish all who oppose themselves.Beware, O hardened sinner, lest in a moment thou be plunged into irretrievable ruin! Be thou exalted, O blessed Christ! in all coming ages, for Thy reign means joy and song to Thy saints.
Illustrations
(1) The Targum and the Talmud understand this psalm of the King Messiah. In this, as in the last, the people come before God with matters which concern the welfare of their king; in the former with their wishes and prayers, in the latter with their thanksgivings and hopes in the certainty of a victorious termination of the war.
(2) A noble coronation psalm. It was sung throughout England by the over-trustful Presbyterians at the Restoration of Charles II. They afterwards mildly characterised it as a day when the bitter was mingled with the sweet.
(3) Given the Messianic interpretation, it seems an irresistible conclusion that the group, from the twenty-first to the twenty-fourth inclusive, forms a connected wholethe twenty-first a thanksgiving for the victory of the King.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
21:13 {i} Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: [so] will we sing and praise thy power.
(i) Maintain your Church against your adversaries that we may have ample opportunity to praise your Name.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. Vow to praise 21:13
Evidently David joined his people in lifting up the Lord because of His strength. They promised continued worship for His power that had brought victory.
When God’s people experience victory over their spiritual enemies, they should acknowledge that their success is the work of God for them. We can look forward to future victories in the will of God because God is loyal to His promises and strong enough to overcome every foe.