Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 71:19
Thy righteousness also, O God, [is] very high, who hast done great things: O God, who [is] like unto thee!
19. is very high ] Lit., (reacheth) unto the height, of heaven. Cp. Psa 36:5; Psa 57:10; Job 11:8.
who hast done &c.] It is better with R.V. to connect this clause with what follows: Thou who hast done great things, O God, who is like unto thee? Jehovah is incomparable for power and goodness. The fundamental passage is Exo 15:11; cp. Psa 35:10; Psa 86:8; Psa 89:6; Psa 89:8; Mic 7:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high – See the notes at Psa 36:5. The purpose of the psalmist is to exalt that righteousness as much as possible, and he, therefore, compares it with that which is high – the heavens – the highest thing of all. The literal rendering would be, even to the high, or the height; that is, to the highest place. The passage is designed to express his confidence in God, in the infirmities and troubles which he must expect to come upon him with advancing years.
Who hast done great things – In his work of creation; in his providence; in his manifested mercy toward his people. He had done things so great as to show that he could protect those who put their trust in him.
O God, who is like unto thee! – Who can be compared to thee! See the notes at Psa 35:10. Compare the notes at Isa 40:18. See also Psa 89:8; Exo 15:11; 2Sa 7:22.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. Thy righteousness – is very high] ad marom – is up to the exalted place, reaches up to heaven. The mercy of God fills all space and place. It crowns in the heavens what it governed upon earth.
Who hast done great things] gedoloth. Thou hast worked miracles, and displayed the greatest acts of power.
Who is like unto thee!] mi camocha. God is alone, – who can resemble him? He is eternal. He can have none before, and there can be none after; for in the infinite unity of his trinity he is that eternal, unlimited, impartible, incomprehensible, and uncompounded ineffable Being, whose essence is hidden from all created intelligences, and whose counsels cannot be fathomed by any creature that even his own hand can form. WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE! will excite the wonder, amazement, praise, and adoration of angels and men to all eternity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Very high, i.e. most eminent and evident, as high things are.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. is very highdistinguished(Psa 36:5; Isa 55:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thy righteousness also, O God, [is] very high,…. Or, “unto [the place] on high” f; it reaches unto heaven, as the mercy, truth, and faithfulness of God, are said to do, Ps 36:5. The righteousness of Christ is accepted of with God the Father in heaven; it is in Christ, who is there at the right hand of God; and it is higher and infinitely above any righteousness of a creature, angel’s or man’s;
who hast done great things; in nature, in forming the world out of nothing, and in upholding all creatures in their beings; in providence, in governing the world, and ordering all things in it for the best, and to answer the wisest purposes; in grace, in the salvation of lost sinners by Christ; in the justification of them by his righteousness; and in the atonement and pardon of their sins, through his blood and sacrifice; in the regeneration of them by his grace; in making and performing exceeding great and precious promises, and in giving them eternal life;
O God, who [is] like unto thee? either for greatness or goodness; for power or for mercy; for justice, truth, and faithfulness; for the perfections of his nature, or the works of his hands; and to be praised, reverenced and adored, as he is; see Ps 89:6.
f “usque in excelsum”, Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus; “in altum usque”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The thought of this proclamation so thoroughly absorbs the poet that he even now enters upon the tone of it; and since to his faith the deliverance is already a thing of the past, the tender song with its uncomplaining prayer dies away into a loud song of praise, in which he pictures it all to himself. Without Psa 71:19-21 being subordinate to in Psa 71:18, is coupled by close connection with . Psa 71:19 is an independent clause; and takes the place of the predicate: the righteousness of God exceeds all bounds, is infinite (Psa 36:6., Psa 57:11). The cry , as in Psa 35:10; Psa 69:9, Jer 10:6, refers back to Exo 15:11. According to the Chethb, the range of the poet’s vision widens in Psa 71:20 from the proofs of the strength and righteousness of God which he has experienced in his own case to those which he has experienced in common with others in the history of his own nation. The Ker (cf. on the other hand Psa 60:5; Psa 85:7; Deu 31:17) rests upon a failing to discern how the experiences of the writer are interwoven with those of the nation. in both instances supplies the corresponding adverbial notion to the principal verb, as in Psa 85:7 (cf. Psa 51:4). , prop. a rumbling, commonly used of a deep heaving of waters, here signifies an abyss. “The abysses of the earth” (lxx , just as the old Syriac version renders the New Testament , e.g., in Luk 8:31, by Syr. tehuma’ ) are, like the gates of death (Psa 9:14), a figure of extreme perils and dangers, in the midst of which one is as it were half hidden in the abyss of Hades. The past and future are clearly distinguished in the sequence of the tenses. When God shall again raise His people out of the depth of the present catastrophe, then will He also magnify the of the poet, i.e., in the dignity of his office, by most brilliantly vindicating him in the face of his foes, and will once more ( , fut. Niph. like ekil .h above) comfort him. He on his part will also (cf. Job 40:14) be grateful for this national restoration and this personal vindication: he will praise God, will praise His truth, i.e., His fidelity to His promises. instead of sounds more circumstantial than in the old poetry. The divine name “The Holy One of Israel” occurs here for the third time in the Psalter; the other passages are Psa 78:41; Psa 89:19, which are older in time, and older also than Isaiah, who uses it thirty times, and Habakkuk, who uses it once. Jeremiah has it twice (Jer 50:29; Jer 51:5), and that after the example of Isaiah. In Psa 71:23, Psa 71:24 the poet means to say that lips and tongue, song and speech, shall act in concert in the praise of God. with Dagesh also in the second Nun, after the form , , side by side with which we also find the reading , and the reading , which is in itself admissible, after the form , , but is here unattested.
(Note: Heidenheim reads with Segol, following the statement of Ibn-Bil’am in his and of Mose ha-Nakdan in his , that Segol always precedes the ending , with the exception only of and . Baer, on the other hand, reads , following Aben-Ezra and Kimchi ( Michlol 66b).)
The cohortative after (lxx ) is intended to convey this meaning: when I feel myself impelled to harp unto Thee. In the perfects in the closing line that which is hoped for stands before his soul as though it had already taken place. is repeated with triumphant emphasis.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
19. And thy righteousness, O God! is very high. (115) Some connect this verse with the preceding, and repeating the verb I will declare, as common to both verses, translate, And I will declare thy righteousness, O God! But this being a matter of small importance, I will not dwell upon it. David prosecutes at greater length the subject of which he had previously spoken. In the first place, he declares that the righteousness of God is very high; secondly, that it wrought mightily; and, finally, he exclaims in admiration, Who is like thee? It is worthy of notice, that the righteousness of God, the effects of which are near to us and conspicuous, is yet placed on high, inasmuch as it cannot be comprehended by our finite understanding. Whilst we measure it according to our own limited standard, we are overwhelmed and swallowed up by the smallest temptation. In order, therefore, to give it free course to save us, it behoves us to take a large and a comprehensive view — to look above and beneath, far and wide, that we may form some due conceptions of its amplitude. The same remarks apply to the second clause, which makes mention of the works of God: For thou hast done great things. If we attribute to his known power the praise which is due to it, we will never want ground for entertaining good hope. Finally, our sense of the goodness of God should extend so far as to ravish us with admiration; for thus it will come to pass that our minds, which are often distracted by an unholy disquietude, will repose upon God alone. If any temptation thrusts itself upon us, we immediately magnify a fly into an elephant; or rather, we rear very high mountains, which keep the hand of God from reaching us; and at the same time we basely limit the power of God. The exclamation of David, then, Who is like thee? tends to teach us the lesson, that we should force our way through every impediment by faith, and regard the power of God, which is well entitled to be so regarded, as superior to all obstacles. All men, indeed, confess with the mouth, that none is like God; but there is scarce one out of a hundred who is truly and fully persuaded that He alone is sufficient to save us.
(115) “ Usque in excelsum.” — Lat “ Est eslevee jusques en haut.” — Fr. “ אד מרום, ad marom — is up to the exalted place, — reaches up to heaven The mercy of God fills all space and place It crowns in the heavens what it governed upon earth.” — Dr Adam Clarke
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) Very high.Literally, to the height, i.e., to the heavens, as in Psa. 36:5; Psa. 57:10. The clauses should be arranged, Thy righteousness also, O God, to the heightThou who doest great thingsGod, who is like unto thee? (Comp. Exo. 15:11.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Thy righteousness Five times in this psalm is the “righteousness” of God mentioned as the source of salvation and the theme of praise. Psa 71:2; Psa 71:15-16; Psa 71:19; Psa 71:24. It is a technical term for the rectoral justice of God. The Hebrews had no conception of any divine method of salvation, temporal or spiritual, which did not include justice as well as mercy; a vindication of regal rectitude as well as of fatherly pity. Psa 85:10-11; Psa 85:13; Rom 3:26. Hence, no acceptable praise can be given him which does not exalt his righteousness, and no salvation can be expected which bears not the seal of his justice. See on Rom 3:25-26. His acts are in harmony with all his attributes.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 71:19 Thy righteousness also, O God, [is] very high, who hast done great things: O God, who [is] like unto thee!
Ver. 19. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high ] Far above the reach of human reason; yet for the strengthening of my hope, I will look up after it, though mine eye should be tired in the way.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
who is like unto Thee. This is the cry of all God’s saints. See note on Exo 15:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Thy righteousness: Psa 36:5, Psa 36:6, Psa 57:10, Psa 139:6, Pro 15:24, Pro 24:7, Isa 5:16, Isa 55:9
who hast: Psa 72:18, Psa 126:2, Psa 126:3, Job 5:9
who is like: God is alone – who can resemble Him? He is that eternal, illimitable, unimpartible, unchangeable, incomprehensible, uncompounded, ineffable Being, whose essence is hidden from all created intelligences, and whose counsels cannot be fathomed by any creature. Psa 35:10, Psa 86:8, Psa 89:6-8, Exo 15:11, Isa 40:18, Isa 40:25, Jer 10:7
Reciprocal: Deu 3:24 – what God 1Sa 2:2 – rock Psa 22:22 – I will Psa 71:16 – thy righteousness Psa 89:8 – like Psa 145:7 – sing Isa 42:21 – well Isa 54:17 – and their Dan 4:3 – great Joe 2:21 – for Mic 6:5 – know Mic 7:18 – a God Luk 1:49 – hath Rom 10:3 – God’s righteousness
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 71:19. Thy righteousness also is very high Most eminent and evident, as high things are; and that which thou hast in righteousness done for thy people is very great. Gods righteousness, here intended, includes the rectitude of his nature; the equity of his providential dispensations; the righteous laws which he hath given us to be ruled by; the righteous promises he hath given us to depend upon; and the everlasting righteousness which his Son hath brought in, by his obedience unto death, for our justification.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
71:19 Thy {n} righteousness also, O God, [is] very high, who hast done great things: O God, who [is] like unto thee!
(n) Your just performance of your promise.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The great things of which the writer testified included God’s salvation out of many personal troubles. The psalmist had been down before, but God had always lifted him up. [Note: See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament.] He prayed that this would be his experience again. His greatness, or honor, came from trusting in God and having that trust rewarded with deliverance.