Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 71:22
I will also praise thee with the psaltery, [even] thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
22. I will also &c.] I also will give thanks unto thee: in response to this new proof of Thy love. psaltery ] See on Psa 57:8.
thy truth ] For in this manifestation of mercy to Israel God has shewn Himself true to His promises. Cp. Mic 7:20.
unto thee &c.] Unto thee will I make melody.
O thou Holy One of Israel ] A title which is found frequently in the Book of Isaiah, but elsewhere only twice again in the Psalter (Psa 78:41; Psa 89:18), twice in the Book of Jeremiah (Jer 50:29; Jer 51:5), and once in a modified form in Ezekiel (Eze 39:7). Cp. too Hos 11:9; Hab 1:12. Its use here in connexion with the redemption of Israel is significant. It denotes that God in His character of a Holy God has entered into covenant with Israel, and His holiness is pledged to redeem His people. For a fuller explanation of this title the present writer may be allowed to refer to his Doctrine of the Prophets, pp. 177 ff.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will also praise thee with the psaltery – Margin, as in Hebrew, with the instrument of psaltery. The Hebrew word is nebel. In Isa 5:12 it is rendered viol. See the notes at that passage. It is rendered psaltery in 1Sa 10:5; 2Sa 6:5; 1Ki 10:12; and elsewhere. Compare the notes at Psa 33:2.
Even thy truth – I will make mention of thy truth and faithfulness in my songs of praise; or, I will celebrate these in connection with appropriate music.
Unto thee will I sing with the harp – Hebrew, kinnor. See the notes at Isa 5:12. Compare the notes at Psa 33:2.
O thou Holy One of Israel – The God of Israel or the Hebrew people; the God regarded by them as most holy, and worshipped by them as their God. This is the first time that this title occurs in the Psalms, but it is common in the prophets, particularly in Isaiah. See Isa 1:4; Isa 5:19, Isa 5:24; Isa 10:20; Isa 12:6. It occurs also in Psa 78:41; Psa 89:18.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 71:22-24
I will also praise Thee with the psaltery, even Thy truth, O my God: unto Thee will I sing with the harp, O Thou Holy One of Israel.
The praises of a Hebrew saint
Dr. Sanday has remarked that, on the great world-stage different races have different functions, and that for the Hebrew it was reserved beyond all other peoples to teach the world what it knew of religion.
I. Three features of the Divine character.
1. Holiness. O Thou Holy One of Israel. The root idea is separation. The Most High forbids the people to follow certain practices then in vogue among the surrounding heathen, and the reason given is because He is holy, and they, His people, are to be like Him (Lev 19:2). In every case where such prohibitions occur, we find that the practices condemned are morally alike, that they are mischievous and vile; and therefore by such teaching the Hebrew rose to the conception of a God altogether different from the gods of the heathen–of a Being who had no pleasure in selfishness or cruelty or hatred. Further, it is clear that such a doctrine put honour upon men as well as upon God. When the command was understood, Ye shall be holy: for I am holy, the Jews must have seen that they were created for better things than hatred, malice, or lust. They were fulfilling the end of their creation when they conquered such passions, when they were ruled by kindness, honour, and purity.
2. Truth. I will praise Thee with the psaltery, even Thy truth, O my God. The want of this virtue has often made the world a pandemonium. We can scarcely conceive a worse condition of things than when men are unable to trust their fellows–when mens word is not their bond, and their most solemn pledges are no guarantee whatever that they will act accordingly. Sir Richard Burton once said that to the Oriental lying was meat and drink and the roof that covered him. Strong words, and yet a statement confirmed by multitudes of others who have lived in the midst of them. Such a condition of things undoubtedly existed among the neighbours of the Jews; they were false in word and deed, cunning, deceitful, treacherous. Here again the Hebrew stood alone in splendid isolation from his neighbours. His God was the Strength of Israel, who will not lie, the God of truth, and without iniquity. His promises held good; His threats were fulfilled. No wonder, then, when men believed thus, that their conduct should differ from that of others; and hence we find, among the characteristics of the perfect man of the Scriptures, truthfulness both without and within: he that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not; he that speaketh the truth in his heart.
3. Love. Notice the boldness of the psalmists claim–my God; and his grateful acknowledgment of the redemption of his soul–my soul, which Thou hast redeemed. To the writer of this psalm, God was the Father of His creatures, One who had lovingly watched over the psalmist himself from his birth, and to whom in distress he could turn with the certain assurance of help.
II. The characteristics of the praise which the psalmist resolved to offer.
1. Sincere. My lips shall greatly rejoice, etc. Let us see that we do not grieve our heavenly Father by insincere praise; however successful song may be as an artistic performance, it is abhorrent to God if words which mean so much are uttered with lips which do not greatly rejoice–lips which would be as readily used in the service of him who is the great Fathers adversary and ours.
2. Hearty. Not merely should the psalmists lips be made to rejoice, but all the powers of his redeemed soul; and, that he might present a worthy offering to God, both psaltery and harp should be called into service Evidently he believed that music might be the handmaid of worship, and that the skill of man in the production of sweet sounds ought to be consecrated to the service of God. (W. Scott Page.)
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Psa 72:1-20
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 22. I will also praise thee with the psaltery] bichli nebel, with the instrument nebel. Unto thee will I sing with the harp; bechinnor, with the kinnor. Both were stringed instruments, and the principal used in the Jewish worship; and with which, or any thing like them, in Divine worship, we, as Christians, have nothing to do.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
22-24. To the occasion of praisehe now adds the promise to render it.
will . . . praiseliterally,”will thank.”
even thy truthas toThy truth or faithfulness.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I will also praise thee with the psaltery,…. An instrument of music; [See comments on Ps 33:2];
[even] thy truth, O my God; that is, his faithfulness in fulfilling his promises, which is never suffered to fail;
unto thee will I sing with the harp; another instrument of music; and both typical of the spiritual melody in the heart, which believers make in praising the Lord, when they sing the Lamb’s new song; see
Re 14:2;
O thou Holy One of Israel; the God of Israel, that dwells among them, and sanctifies them; and who is essentially and perfectly holy in himself, and in all his ways and works; the remembrance of which occasions praise and thankfulness, Ps 97:12.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22. I will also, O my God! praise thee. He again breaks forth into thanksgiving; for he was aware that the design of God, in so liberally succouring his servants, is, that his goodness may be celebrated. In speaking of employing the psaltery and the harp in this exercise, he alludes to the generally prevailing custom of that time. To sing the praises of God upon the harp and psaltery unquestionably formed a part of the training of the law, and of the service of God under that dispensation of shadows and figures; but they are not now to be used in public thanksgiving. We are not, indeed, forbidden to use, in private, musical instruments, but they are banished out of the churches by the plain command of the Holy Spirit, when Paul, in 1Co 14:13, lays it down as an invariable rule, that we must praise God, and pray to him only in a known tongue. By the word truth, the Psalmist means that the hope which he reposed in God was rewarded, when God preserved him in the midst of dangers. The promises of God, and his truth in performing them, are inseparably joined together. Unless we depend upon the word of God, all the benefits which he confers upon us will be unsavoury or tasteless to us; nor will we ever be stirred up either to prayer or thanksgiving, if we are not previously illuminated by the Divine word. So much the more revolting, then, is the folly of that diabolical man, Servetus, who teaches that the rule of praying is perverted, if faith is fixed upon the promises; as if we could have any access into the presence of God, until he first invited us by his own voice to come to him.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(22) With the psaltery.See Psa. 57:8, Note.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. Thy truth Or, thy faithfulness. David’s salvation would cause him to praise not only the mercy and pity of God, but his truth, righteousness, holiness, because with these he was in harmony, and without these God could extend no mercy. See note on Psa 71:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 71:22. I will also praise thee Therefore will I praise thee.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The longer the faithful soul has been found in the good ways of God, the stronger it grows. Instaurabit iter viresthe powers will be renovated by the journey. Thus David here appears.
1. He professes his confidence in God, amid the sharp trials with which he was now exercised. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; delighting to repeat the pleasing subject, and dwelling upon the glorious foundation on which his hope was built; a rock, no tempest could shake; a fortress, no foe could scale; a strong refuge, where he was safe from danger; a strong habitation, where he rested in comfort. Note; They who know God, his faithfulness and grace, will with comfort and confidence be engaged to trust him in every time of need.
2. He remembers to the glory of God, and for his own present encouragement, the past deliverances that he had experienced. From the womb he had been holden up, protected amidst the dangers of infancy and the perils of youth; and therefore now he has a divine confidence that God will not fail to save him, and resolves never to cease from praising him. Note; The more we reflect on what God hath done for us, it will the more engage our trust in him, and awaken our praises for him.
2nd, Filled with hope and joy, the Psalmist is happy in the midst of all his sorrows, and the greatest of his troubles cannot silence his incessant praise.
1. He expresses his lively hope in a variety of instances; I will hope continually, at all times, and in all situations; when others despair of my recovery, my heart shall not fear. (1.) God’s power and promise are his grand supports; I will go in the strength of the Lord God, disclaiming all self-sufficiency, and strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; for duty I shall be enabled, and in danger be secure. I will make mention of thy righteousness only, his fidelity to his word. Note; Though we have neither strength nor righteousness in ourselves by nature, there is such fulness of both in the Redeemer, that we may be always most confident in him, when most despairing of ourselves. (2.) His past experience encourages his present hopes. God had been the guide of his youth, and he had hitherto acknowledged his wonderous preservation; therefore in his old age, he trusts, God will not forsake him, but enable him to leave with the rising generation, a testimony of God’s faithfulness and care, as a grateful acknowledgement to his glory, and an engagement to them to make him their hope and trust. Note; [1.] Early impressions of divine grace are a singular mercy, and demand suitable improvement. [2.] The longer we live under the Divine protection and favour, the more earnest should we be in commending these good ways of God in which we have walked, to the generations to come. (3.) In many great and sore troubles he had been supported, therefore in the present he trusts he shall not faint; thou shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth; though he seemed as one dead and buried in his grave, he was assured that his case was not beyond the Divine power, nor his circumstances so desperate, but God could retrieve them. Note, [1.] Great and sore troubles are here often the portion of the righteous; but he who permits them to fall into these difficulties can and will safely extricate them out of them. [2.] Though the faithful go down at death into the grave, and the earth closes upon them, they have a hope still full of immortality, a resurrection-day shall quicken their dust, and bring them from these depths of the earth again. (4.) He not only expects deliverance from his troubles, but an increase of his greatness and consolations. Thus the darkness of our troubles, like the cloud which covers the sun, serves but to heighten our joys; where at God’s word the cloud vanishes, the sun of divine grace shines with double lustre, and the trial of our faith contributes to the increase of our honour and glory. (5.) His enemies, who sought his hurt, must with shame retire, and find it vain to contend with him whom God protects. Note; All the spiritual enemies of the faithful shall at last gnash in despair, when they see them set above their malice, and receive the eternal desert of their deeds.
2. He exults in joyful praises. All the day would he be shewing forth God’s righteousness and his salvation; His justice in the destruction of the wicked, his enemies; his faithfulness and mercy in his own preservation; and, above all, the great redemption wrought out by Christ through his death on the cross, on account of the merit of which alone salvation is offered to sinners: these deserved continual thanks; therefore he resolves, I will praise thee more and more, or add to all thy praise; since every day afforded some new occasions, called for increasing acknowledgments, and left him far behind, unable to keep pace even in gratitude with the mercies continually showered upon him, the number of which surpassed his comprehension. They were like the God who bestowed them, very high, above all blessing and praise, and without parallel; for in heaven or earth none can compare with him, or do as he doth. With joy therefore, surpassing great, his soul within, redeemed by divine grace and truth, shall swell with gratitude too big for utterance; his voice be heard aloud in praise; and, calling in the sacred aid of music to assist the expressions of his enraptured spirit, the psaltery and harp should pour forth a flood of harmony, and raise his song high as heaven’s arch, and rival the angelic choir above. Note; (1.) Praise is the natural expression of the grateful heart, the bounden duty of every believer, and an acceptable sacrifice to a gracious God. (2.) When we sing with our lips, let us be careful to make melody with our hearts, and not forget the sense in the sound. They sacrifice profanely who merely love to hear their own voices; and music is not harmonious to God, which draws off our attention from the divine object of our praises, to the manner and performance of it. (3.) It is the joyful hope of every faithful believer, however feeble now his efforts, that shortly he shall be enabled to offer more worthy praises, when, with his golden harp before the throne, he shall have learnt the song of Moses and the Lamb, and shall join those heavenly hosts, whose ceaseless songs fill God’s eternal temple with seraphic harmony.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 71:22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, [even] thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
Ver. 22. I will also praise thee with the psaltery ] In organo natali, with an instrument made like a bottle.
O thou Holy One of Israel
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 71:22-24
22I will also praise You with a harp,
Even Your truth, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my soul, which You have redeemed.
24My tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;
For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek my hurt.
Psa 71:22-24 The psalmist may have been a Levitical singer (cf. Psa 71:22). He praises God for His faithfulness/truth (BDB 54, see SPECIAL TOPIC: Believe, Trust, Faith, and Faithfulness in the Old Testament ), but also for the shame and humiliation He brought on his enemies (Psa 71:24).
Holy One of Israel This is a covenant title for YHWH (cf. Psa 78:41; Psa 89:18; so often in Isaiah, i.e., Psa 1:4; Psa. 5:24). See SPECIAL TOPIC: HOLY .
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Why is this Psalm believed to be written by an older person?
2. How is Psa 71:3 related to Psa 23:6?
3. How is Psa 71:5-6 related to Jer 1:5?
4. Define the word marvel in Psa 71:7.
5. Define ashamed in Psa 71:13.
6. Does Psa 71:19 c teach monotheism?
7. Is Psa 71:20 referring to healing, restoration of vitality, or resurrection?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
with = with the aid of.
sing = sing praise.
Holy One of Israel. Occurs only three times in the Psalms (here, Psa 78:41; Psa 89:18). In Isaiah we find it thirty times. In Jeremiah twice (Psa 50:29; Psa 51:5). See note on Psa 78:41.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
psaltery: Heb. instrument of psaltery, Psa 92:1-3, Psa 150:3-5, Hab 3:18, Hab 3:19
even: Psa 25:10, Psa 56:4, Psa 89:1, Psa 98:3, Psa 138:2, Mic 7:20, Rom 15:8
O thou: Psa 89:18, 2Ki 19:22, Isa 5:16, Isa 5:19, Isa 5:24, Isa 12:6, Isa 30:11, Isa 30:12, Isa 43:3, Isa 57:15, Isa 60:9
Reciprocal: Psa 31:14 – Thou Psa 43:4 – upon Psa 101:1 – unto thee Psa 109:30 – greatly 1Jo 2:20 – the Holy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 71:22-24. I will also praise thee, &c. And then surely I shall be no less forward to bless thee than thou art to bestow thy benefits on me. My lips shall greatly rejoice, and my soul, &c. It is not possible to express the joy wherewith, not merely my lips, but my heart and soul shall sing triumphant songs for the extraordinary deliverance which I expect from thee. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long Which shall not only be the subject of my solemn songs, but of my constant discourse; wherein I will perpetually magnify thy goodness and truth toward me, and thy just vengeance upon mine enemies. How much more is the truth of God, in accomplishing his promises, by the redemption of our souls, and the confusion of our spiritual enemies, a subject which demands a never ceasing tribute of gratitude and love, of praise and thanksgiving. To celebrate it aright, with the melody of voices and affections, all in perfect concord, is the duty and delight of the church militant; which, when thus employed, affords the best resemblance of the church triumphant. Horne.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
71:22 I will also praise thee with the psaltery, [even] thy {q} truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
(q) He confesses that his long delay was well recompensed, when God performed his promise.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In anticipation of God’s help, the writer promised to praise Him with stringed instruments, as well as vocally. The title "Holy One of Israel" (Psa 71:22) is common in Isaiah but rare in the Psalms, occurring only three times (cf. Psa 78:41; Psa 89:18). In conclusion, the psalmist spoke of his accusers’ humiliation as already present, even though that is what he was requesting. This is probably another instance of expressing confidence that something would happen by describing it as having already taken place.
When people have trusted in God over a lifetime and have seen Him deliver them from many trials, it becomes easier for them to trust Him in the present. Just as continual unbelief makes faith more difficult, continual trust makes unbelief more difficult.