Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 68:10

Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

10. Thy congregation took up its abode therein:

In thy goodness, O God, thou dost provide for the afflicted.

The word rendered congregation, or, as R.V. marg., troop, or family, is a peculiar one. The corresponding Arabic word means “such a kindred group as was guided in war and on the march by one chief, migrating together, and forming generally a single settlement.” Robertson Smith, Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, pp. 36 ff. From the meaning life or living, the word came to mean a clan, a group of one blood, on the old Semitic principle that “the life of the flesh lies in the blood” (Lev 17:11). Thou dost provide for the afflicted is a general truth, which found special illustration in regard to Israel, ‘afflicted’ by the bondage of Egypt (Exo 3:7; Exo 3:17).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Thy congregation hath dwelt therein – In the land of promise; for the connection requires us to understand it in this manner. The idea of the writer all along pertains to that land, and to the mercy which God had shown to it. After showing by an historical reference what God had done for the people in the wilderness, he returns here, though without expressly mentioning it, to the land of promise, and to what God had done there for his people. The word tendered congregation – chayah – means properly a beast, an animal, Gen 1:30; Gen 2:19; Gen 8:19; Gen 37:20. Then it comes to be used as a collective noun, meaning a herd or flock; thus, a troop of people, an array or host, 2Sa 23:11, 2Sa 23:13; and it is applied here to the people, under the idea so common in the Scriptures that God is a Shepherd.

Thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor – For thy flock considered as poor or wretched. That is, Thou hast provided for them when they had no resources of their own – when they were a poor, oppressed, and afflicted people – wanderers wholly dependent on thee.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Psa 68:10

Thou, O God, hast prepared of Thy goodness for the poor.

Gods provision for the poor

We hold it as altogether one of the most forcible sayings of Holy Writ, that the poor shall never cease out of the land. The words may be regarded in the nature of a prophecy; and we think their fulfilment has been every way most surprising. But our great business lies with the fact that poverty is the appointment of God. The rich and the poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all. When we have fastened on the truth that God troth appointed poverty, we must set ourselves to show that God hath not overlooked the poor. The Gospel of Christ makes no distinction, whether preached in a palace or in a cottage–whether it addresses itself to ignorant men or to learned men. There is no variation in the message: it speaks to all as being born in sin and shapen in iniquity; and announces to all the same free and glorious tidings–namely, that God hath made Him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. But not only has God thus introduced a kind of natural counterpoise to the evil of poverty; in the appointment of the method of redemption He may be said to have especially provided for the meanest and the most destitute. There is nothing in the prescribed duties of religion which, in the smallest degree, requires that the man be a man of learning and leisure. The Gospel message is one of such exquisite simplicity–the sum and substance of truth may be gathered into such brief sentences–that all which is necessary to know may be told in a minute, and borne about by the labourer in the field, or the soldier on the battle-plain. Nay, we shall not overstep the boundaries of truth if we carry this statement further. We hold unreservedly that the Bible is even more the poor mans book than the rich mans. There is a vast deal of the Bible which seems to have been written for the very purpose of making good our text: Thou, O God, preparest, etc. But there is yet another point on which we think it well to turn your attention; for it is one which is not a little misunderstood. We know that what are termed the evidences o! Christianity are of a costly and intricate description, scarcely accessible except to the studious. It is hard to suppose that the unlettered man can be master of the arguments which go to the proof of the Divine origin of our faith. We think assuredly that, if you take the experience of the generality of Christians, you will find that they do not believe without proof, and that, therefore, they are not unfurnished with weapons with which to repel infidelity. They do not believe without proof; but the proof lies, as Horsley says, in the surprising manner in which the Bible commends itself to their souls–in the inexhaustible stores which they find in Jesus–in the agreement of the doctrines and precepts of religion–in that exemplar of good, and in that fear, which a devout heart carries about with itself. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. And we think there can he nothing far-fetched in the assertion that there is no evidence of the divinity of the Scripture half so strong as that which a man knocks out for himself with the simple apparatus of a Bible and a conscience. So that we think that God hath so ordered His Word that it carries its own witness to the poor mans intellect and to his heart. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

Harvest

The reference is to Gods care of Israel in the wilderness. But God still cares for men.

I. The nature of His goodness. It is seen in the produce of the ground. The brute creation as wall as man share in this, but the corn is especially for man. Judea was famous for its corn. By a bold metaphor, Moses speaks of the kidneys of the wheat. And as there, so here the barns shall be full of wheat. We are hindered in seeing the goodness of God herein by its constant repetition and by the moans–second causes–which He employs. But if some things hinder our seeing, others may help. Think how easily he could have destroyed all our hopes; and how dreadful if He had; and yet how righteously, for our sins, He might have done this.

II. The subjects of His goodness–the poor. It is not for them exclusively, but they are spoken of as being the mass of mankind: they would be most affected by deficiency: God would encourage them to trust in Him; and He would have the rich care for the poor, for He does. (W. Jay.)

Gods provision, for the poor

What is Gods provision for the poor?

1. He has provided them with a very honourable name. That name has been tarnished and sullied in the course of years. But the name as originally found in the Hebrew contained no idea of shame, guilt, or disgrace. To the poor and weak, not to the rich and self-helping, Gods richest promises are made.

2. God has provided the poor with necessary succour. There is ample provision in the world for the entire human family. The provision is Gods part, the just distribution is the duty of man. If we could only properly distribute the things which we have at our command every one would be provided for. If any man does not get his share it is the fault of his fellow-man; not Gods omission. In one department of individual economics especially there is a special call for the work of the Christian Church. And that is in the region of those numberless casual changes which fall to the lot of man, and, for the time, make him poor. Here is the opportunity for the Christian to go to him and to give him the personal word of cheer. Then again, the Christian, in his dealings with his fellow-man, must adapt the Jewish law concerning not shaking the olive-tree twice, or too nicely gleaning the cornfield. He is ever in his business transactions to set an example of high-souled generosity. He should take a personal interest in those who are dependent upon him. When we turn to the New Testament we naturally expect to find evidence that God has made provision for the poor. Nor are we disappointed. From the time of the founding of the Church the greatest care of the poor was enjoined. An experiment of the Communist system was tried. It early passed, either because there was not sufficient religion to sustain it, or because it was not the method of Gods idea. Its place has been taken by the law of Fraternity. Every one is responsible for the welfare of his fellow-believer. (J. Lorimer.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 10. Thy congregation hath dwelt therein] chaiyathecha, thy living creature; , Septuagint; animalia, Vulgate; so all the Versions. Does not this refer to the quails that were brought to the camp of the Israelites, and dwelt, as it were, round about it? And was not this, with the manna and the refreshing rock, that goodness which God had provided for the poor-the needy Israelites?

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Thy congregation; thy people of Israel, who are all united in one body under thee, their Head and Governor. For though this word commonly signifies living creatures, yet sometimes it signifies a company of men, as here below, Psa 68:31, and 2Sa 23:13, compared with 1Ch 11:15; Psa 74:19. Or the proper signification of the word may be retained, and it may be rendered thy flock; for God oft compares himself to a shepherd, and his people to sheep, and particularly he is said to have led his people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron, Psa 77:20, to wit, in the wilderness; and consequently he may be here said to have brought his sheep into and made them to dwell in Canaan, as in a green and good pasture, as God speaks of his people under this very metaphor, Psa 23:2.

Prepared; or, prepared it; which pronoun is oft understood, and here most easily out of the foregoing clause of this verse, where it is expressed. Prepared it, to wit, this land, for the use of thy people; which God did many ways; partly by designing it for them, and expelling the old inhabitants to make way for them; and partly by furnishing it with all sorts of provisions, both for necessity. and delight, and making it fruitful by his special blessing, in giving rain in its proper seasons.

Of thy goodness; by thy free and singular goodness; which may be referred both to the cause of this preparation, God did it not for their righteousness or worthiness, but out of his mere mercy, as God oft telleth them; and to the manner and measure of it, God did wonderfully increase the fruits of it, that it might suffice for the supply of such a numerous people; which without his extraordinary blessing it would not do, as appears by the state of that land at this day, as it is reported by travellers and eye-witnesses of it.

For the poor, to wit, for thy people of Israel, whom he here calls poor, partly to repress that pride and arrogance to which they are exceeding prone, and to mind them of the dependence upon God for all that they have and hope for; and partly because they really were, when God undertook the conduct of them into Canaan, a very poor and beggarly people, and so they would have still been, if God had not provided for them in a singular manner.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

10. Thy congregationliterally,”troop,” as in 2Sa 23:11;2Sa 23:13 the military aspectof the people being prominent, according to the figures of thecontext.

thereinthat is, in theland of promise.

the poorThy humblepeople (Ps 68:9; comparePsa 10:17; Psa 12:5).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Thy congregation hath dwelt therein,…. That is, in the Lord’s inheritance, in the midst of his church and people. The word for “congregation” signifies “beasts” or “living creatures” w: some understand them of the Gentiles, who, before the Gospel came among them, were comparable to such; but, under the Gospel dispensation, being called and taken out by it, were put among the people of God, and dwelt in his inheritance. Though, without any limitation, it may be applied to all that are quickened and made alive by the grace of God; to all that are written among the living in Jerusalem; and particularly to the ministers of the Gospel, who are signified by the four living creatures, in Ezekiel’s vision and in John’s Revelation; though not to the exclusion of any living believer, who has a name and a place here, and who are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God:

thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor; blessings of goodness, spiritual blessings, blessings of grace and of glory; which flow from divine goodness, are in themselves good, and in their effects; and these were prepared in the covenant of grace and in Christ from all eternity; and that for persons poor and mean, indigent and helpless; and so the goodness of God in preparing them appears to he free and unmerited. The Targum is,

“thou hast prepared an host of angels to do good to the poor of God.”

Arama interprets it of the manna.

w , Sept. “animalia tua”, V. L. so Eth. Syr. Arab. Cocceius “pecus tuum”, Musculus, and some in Vatablus.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(10) Thy congregation.See above. If the emendation there adopted seems unnecessary, we may render here, Thy life dwells in her, i.e., in the people of Israel. (Comp. Psa. 143:3.) The vigour consequent on the heavenly food might be called the Divine life, and conceal a higher application.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

10. Thy congregation hath dwelt therein Literally, Thy living creatures have dwelt in it, that is, in the desert. The word rendered “congregation” denotes any thing that has life, a living creature of any kind, and is often used substantively for animal, beast. Here it includes flocks and herds with the people. So the Septuagint, , thy living creatures, or animals: Vulgate, animalia tua habitabunt, thy animals shall dwell. See same word in Psa 68:30. It is spoken of as a wonder that such a multitude of people and animals could subsist so long in the desert of Sinai, where climate and soil yielded no adequate natural supplies, and the simple fact was a standing evidence of the power and care of God. The supposition that it applies to the people alone, considered as a flock, is against usage, and the reference to 2Sa 23:11; 2Sa 23:13 is too dubious to give any satisfaction. The word never means “congregation,” as in the English text.

For the poor The afflicted, with the accessory idea of humble, meek.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments