Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 21:6
For thou hast made him most blessed forever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
6. R.V. For thou makest him most blessed for ever:
Thou makest him glad with joy in thy presence.
Lit. thou makest him blessings, the possessor and the medium of blessing. Cp. Gen 12:2. The victory is a pledge of Divine favour and fellowship, an evidence that the king walks in the light of Jehovah’s countenance. Cp. Psa 4:6; Psa 16:11; Psa 89:15; Psa 140:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For thou hast made him most blessed for ever – Margin, as in Hebrew, set him to be blessings. The expression in our translation, as it is now commonly understood, would mean that God had made him happy or prosperous. This does not seem to be the sense of the original. The idea is, that he had made him a blessing to mankind or to the world; or, that he had made him to be a source of blessing to others. Blessings would descend through him; and though in the consciousness of this fact he would be happy, and in that sense be blessed, yet the idea is rather that blessings would be imparted or scattered through him. Blessings would abound to others through his own reign; blessings through the reigns of those who should succeed him in the throne; blessings would be imparted to men as far as the import of the promise extended, that is, forever, Psa 21:4. The word forever here undoubtedly, as it was used by the Spirit of inspiration, was designed to refer to the eternal blessings which would descend on mankind through the Messiah, the illustrious descendant of David. How far David himself understood this, is not material inquiry. He was undoubtedly directed by the Spirit of inspiration to use such language as would fairly and properly express this. It is right, therefore, for us so to regard it, and so to interpret and apply it.
Thou hast made him exceeding glad – Margin, as in Hebrew, gladded him with joy. The Hebrew phrase means, as it is expressed in our translation, that he had been made very glad, or very happy. The favors of God to him, alike in his protection and in the promises which had been made in reference to the future, were such as to make him happy in the highest degree.
With thy countenance – With thy favor. By lifting the light of thy countenance upon him; or, as we should express it, by smiling upon him. See the notes at Psa 4:6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 21:6
For Thou hast made him most blessed forever: Thou hast made him exceeding glad with Thy countenance.
Exceeding gladness
You have heard a great many sermons upon the Man of Sorrows, you cannot have heard too many; but probably you have never listened to a discourse upon the Man of Joys! I venture thus to name the Christ of God. We do not meditate enough upon the happiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, it was for the joy set before Him that He endured the Cross; and the expectation of joy is joy. The light of that expectation shone on His daily path. Sin is the mother of sorrow, and Jesus knew no sin. He was the Prince of Peace, even when He was despised of men. He had the joy of knowing that His Father heard Him always, and that His every word and act were blessings to fallen men. A man cannot be full of such benevolence as that of Christ and be utterly miserable. Unselfishness necessarily brings with it a measure of joy. The fountain which yields such streams of blessing has its own flash and sparkle; we feel sure of it. As pearls may lie in plenty in caverns over which there rolls a dread tempestuous sea, so there slept in the heart of Jesus treasures of joy even when the ocean of His holy soul was lashed with hurricanes of woe. And what must not His joy be now in heaven! To this the text and the verses preceding primarily refer. As God, as Mediator, He is filled with joy; for His work is finished. Consummatum est is written at the foot of His throne. And He is the fountain of priceless, numberless, endless blessings to men. Thou hast made Him blessings forever, for so our text may be read. It is ever good to be the channel of blessing to others; what, then, must be the joy of Christ? Think, too, of His joy in the conversion, the comfort, the justification, the salvation of every soul that comes to Him. We read, There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Nearly all readers take this as telling of the angels joy. And no doubt they do rejoice. But the Word does not say so. It says, There is joy in the presence of the angels; that is to say, they are present where there is joy, they look upon the face of Christ, and see the joy which fills His heart. And He has joy in all the deeds of His saved people, and in their patient suffering, and especially in their joy. He is the blessed Leader of a blessed company. And now, turning to His people–
I. That gladness is the peculiar privilege of saints. Why should we not be glad?
1. It is all right between us and God. There is no quarrel between the believing soul and God. And–
2. Many are their present solaces. We can count our sorrows, we are quite au fait at adding them up. But recapitulate your joys with equal readiness. Why not? Review the shining ranks of your mercies Are they not new every morning? I heard a brother in a prayer meeting say, The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we desire to be glad; and I wanted to jump down that mans throat, and pull that passage back again, and put it into its natural shape. What business had the brother to mend the Bible and talk such wretched stuff. Whereof we desire to be glad! Why, if the Lord has done great things for us, we are glad.
3. We have a brilliant future before us. And–
4. All blessings secured to them. In the parable it is said, they began to be merry, and it is not said they ever left off. Let us also begin.
II. Their gladness is of a peculiar sort.
1. God has wrought it.
2. It is permanent.
3. Exceeding. Who would think it to see many Christians? I am told that many shopkeepers are so poor that they put the most of their goods in the shop window; but this is a method which few Christians follow, for the opposite is the fact; their window is badly set out, and yet they have a costly stock upon their shelves. The children of this world are wiser in their generation in this as in other things. I would recommend such believers to dress their windows a little, and show some of their better things. Put your ashes into the backyard, but pour out the oil of joy in the parlour. Let people see it.
4. It comes to us in one way–with Thy countenance. Have you not sometimes been made very glad with the look of a friends face? But what must the countenance of God be to us, when He smiles on us as reconciled, as approving us, when listening to us?
5. But through many channels. Read the Psalm–The King shall joy in Thy strength, and in Thy salvation. Answers to prayer are told of. Preventing With the blessings of goodness, giving us mercies before we seek them. Then, be glad in the Lord, as we are bound to be.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Saviour, Jesus Christ,
Who hath blessed us with such blessings, all uncounted and unpriced;
Let our high and holy calling, and our strong salvation be
Theme of never-ending praises, God of sovereign grace, to Thee.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
The light of Gods favour
Flowers, when deprived of the rays of the sun, lose their bright colours, and become pale and sickly. This is generally seen in the night-blossoming plants, which are, for the most part, pale and unattractive. The soul that has not found God will lose all joy, and the beauty of life will fade without the presence and love of Christ. If it is to flourish, it must be ever basking in the healing rays of the Sun of Righteousness.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. Thou hast made him most blessed for ever] Literally, “Thou hast set him for blessings for ever.” Thou hast made the Messiah the Source whence all blessings for time and for eternity shall be derived. He is the Mediator between God and man.
Thou hast made him exceeding glad] Jesus, as Messiah, for the joy that was set before him, of redeeming a lost world by his death, endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is for ever set down on the right hand of God.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou hast made him most blessed, Heb. thou hast set (or, made, as this verb is used, Psa 40:5; 89:42; 91:9; Lam 3:45) him blessings; i.e. either,
1. The author or instrument of manifold blessings to the world, and especially to thy people; which David was in a good measure, but Christ much more truly and eminently. Although this may not seem very suitable to the context, which only speaks of the blessing conferred by God upon this king, and not at all of the blessings flowing from him to others. Or,
2. The great example of all blessings, whom the Israelites in all ages shall propound to themselves, in all their forms and pronunciations of blessings. They shall say, God make thee as blessed as this king, either David or the Messias; compare Gen 12:2; 48:20; or rather most blessed, as we translate it; the abstract form and the plural number being here used emphatically, as they commonly are, as Eze 34:26; Psa 5:10; 19:10; 35:6, to note a man in whom all sorts of blessings are united and met together, filled with blessings, and as it were a man of blessings, made up altogether of blessings, as Christ upon a like reason was called a man of sorrows, Isa 53:3. And possibly the word man may be understood here, as it is in many other places, as I have showed before, and the place rendered thus, thou hast made him a man of blessings. Forever; of which See Poole “Psa 21:4“.
With thy countenance, to wit, smiling upon him, as it must necessarily be understood from the foregoing words, i.e. by thy grace and favour manifested and imparted to his soul, and by the effects of it in saving him from all his enemies and calamities.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. made him most blessedorset him “to be blessings,” as Abraham (Ge12:2).
with thy countenancebysight of thee (Ps 16:11), orby Thy favor expressed by the light of Thy countenance (Nu6:25), or both.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For thou hast made him most blessed for ever,…. Not as God, for as such he is over all blessed for ever, and not made so; but as man and Mediator; the words may be rendered, “thou hast set him to be blessings for ever” z; which design the blessings which are laid up in Christ for his people, and which he imparts unto, them, and they are blessed with in him; so that he is made a blessing, or rather blessings to them; such as redemption to free them from, bondage, righteousness to justify them, sanctification to make them holy, wisdom to direct and guide them, and strength to assist and support them; through whom they have the forgiveness of sins, by whom they have peace with God, and from whom they receive all their joy and comfort, and at last eternal life and happiness; and all these are for ever, they are irreversible blessings, are never repented of, nor taken away: or this blessedness may be understood of that which Christ himself enjoys as man; which lies in his human nature being exalted to union with the Son of God; in being heard and helped in the day of salvation; in being raised from the dead, and glory given him; in being set at God’s right hand, angels, authorities, and powers, being subject to him; and in seeing the travail of his soul with satisfaction: the particular instance of his blessedness follows;
thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance; the glorious presence of God in heaven; Christ having done his work on earth ascended to heaven, where he was received by his Father with a cheerful countenance, was made to sit down on the same throne with him, being well pleased with his obedience, righteousness, and sacrifice; and being now in the presence of God, in which is fulness of joy, and at his right hand, where are pleasures for evermore, the human nature of Christ is filled with an excess of joy; the words may be rendered, “thou hast made” or “wilt make him glad with joy a, with thy countenance”; see Ps 16:11.
z “posuisti vel pones eum benedictiones”, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; so Ainsworth, Cocceius, Gejerus. a “laetificabis eum in laetitia”, Pagninus, Montanus, Michaelis; so Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6. For thou hast set him to be blessings for ever. Some explain these words simply thus, That God had chosen David to be king, in order to pour upon him his blessings in rich abundance. But it is evident that something more is intended by this manner of speaking. It implies, that the king had such an exuberant abundance of all good things, that he might justly be regarded as a pattern of the greatness of the divine beneficence; or that, in praying, his name would be generally used to serve as an example of how the suppliant wished to be dealt with. The Jews were accustomed to speak of those being set to be a curse, who were rendered so detestable, and on whom the dreadful vengeance of God had been inflicted with such severity, that their very names served for cursing and direful imprecations. On the other hand, they were accustomed to speak of those being set to be a blessing, whose names we propose in our prayers as an example of how we desire to be blessed; as if a man for instance should say, May God graciously bestow upon thee the same favor which he vouchsafed to his servant David! I do not reject this interpretation, but I am satisfied with the other, which views the words as implying that the king, abounding in all kind of good things, was an illustrious pattern of the liberality of God. We must carefully mark what is said immediately after concerning joy: Thou hast gladdened him with joy before thy countenance (484) The people not only mean that God did good to the king, seeing he looked upon him with a benignant and fatherly eye, but they also point out the proper cause of this joy, telling us that it proceeded from the knowledge which the king had of his being the object of the Divine favor. It would not be enough for God to take care of us, and to provide for our necessities, unless, on the other hand, he irradiated us with the light of his gracious and reconciled countenance, and made us to taste of his goodness, as we have seen in the 4 Psalm, “There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us, and we shall be saved.” And without all doubt, it is true and solid happiness to experience that God is so favorable to us that we dwell as it were in his presence.
(484) Walford reads this clause — “Thou hast made him glad with the joy of thy presence.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) Most blessed.Literally, blessings. The idiom is similar to that in Psa. 1:1.
With thy countenance.Rather, In thy presence. (Comp. Psa. 16:11.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Thou hast made him most blessed for ever Thou hast constituted him blessings for ever. Compare “And thou shalt be a blessing.” Gen 12:2; Gen 28:4; Gal 3:3-14.
Exceeding glad with thy countenance The parallel passage, almost verbatim, is Psa 16:11, where “fulness of joy” is said to be in the divine presence: quoted by Peter, (Act 2:28,) and applied to Christ.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 21:6. Thou hast made him most blessed for ever According to the original, Thou hast set him to be blessings for ever; i.e. to be the author of all felicity and blessedness to his subjects and servants. See Gal 3:8. In conformity to the next clause, Thou hast made him glad, &c. Jesus Christ says of himself, My heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; in thy presence is the fulness of joy, &c. Psa 9:11. And thus the Psalmist says of him: Thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Psa 45:7.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 21:6 For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
Ver. 6. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever ] Heb. Thou hast set him to be blessings. For as the wicked, when destroyed by some horrible judgment, are examples to others of God’s curse, Isa 65:15 Jer 29:22 2Pe 2:6 Iudaeus sim, si fallam, Let me be Judus if I lie, say the Turks at this day, when they would assure anything for a certainty; so the godly, when in a special manner blessed, are patterns of blessings to others, that in them they may bless themselves or others, Psa 72:17 ; Psa 128:4 Gen 12:2 ; Gen 48:20 Rth 4:11-12 Psa 37:26 . So here they shall say, Tanto rerum successu polleas, quanto David, Mayest thou be as successful as ever David was.
Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
blessed. Compare Rev 5:13.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
made: Heb. set him to be blessings, Psa 72:17-19, Gen 12:2, Luk 2:10, Luk 2:11, Luk 2:30-32, Act 3:26, Gal 3:9, Gal 3:14, Eph 1:3
made him exceeding glad: Heb. gladdened him with joy, Psa 4:6, Psa 4:7, Psa 16:11, Psa 45:7, Psa 63:2-5, Act 2:28
Reciprocal: Gen 39:5 – for Joseph’s Num 6:25 – The Lord 1Ki 2:45 – blessed Psa 11:7 – his Psa 45:2 – God Psa 61:6 – wilt prolong the king’s life Psa 63:3 – Because Pro 16:15 – the light Luk 1:42 – blessed is
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 21:6. Thou hast made him blessed for ever Hebrew, , teshitheehu berachoth, Thou hast set him to be blessings for ever; that is, to be the author of all felicity to his subjects and servants: see Gal 3:8, where we learn, that Christ, by his death and passion, having removed the curse, became the fountain of all blessedness to his people, in time and in eternity; being himself the blessing promised to Abraham, and the chief subject of the patriarchal benedictions. Thou hast made him exceeding glad Thus Christ says of himself, Psa 16:9-11, My heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; in thy presence is fulness of joy, &c., and the psalmist says of him, Psa 45:7, Thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
21:6 For thou hast made him most {d} blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.
(d) You have made him your blessings to others, and a perpetual example of your favour forever.