Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 75:2
When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
2. When I reach the appointed time,
I Judge uprightly.
The ‘appointed time’ (Psa 102:13; Hab 2:3; Act 17:31) is the proper moment foreordained in the Divine counsels and known to God. The intervention of Jehovah at the moment when the Assyrians are ripe for judgement is a favourite thought with Isaiah (Isa 10:32-33; Isa 18:4-5).
The second I is emphatic: I, whatever men may do; I, whatever men may think.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
2, 3. God speaks, as in Psa 46:10, and His words are virtually an answer to men’s thoughts. Men may have thought that He had abdicated His function as Judge of all the earth: not so: He was only waiting for the fitting moment for action.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
When I shall receive the congregation – The marginal rendering is, Take a set time. The phrase is thus rendered in most of the versions. So the Septuagint, When I take the time – hotan labo kairon. So the Vulgate, When I accept the time. So Luther, When in its own time. So De Wette, When I take the time. According to this interpretation, this is the language of God, as if implying that, although the earth was then dissolved, or although disorders were allowed to exist, yet he would take a set time, or take the appointed time for judgment, and would pronounce a sentence on the conduct of people, and deal with them in a righteous manner, punishing the rebellious, and vindicating his own cause. The proper interpretation of the passage turns on the meaning of the Hebrew word rendered in the text congregation – moed. See the word explained in the notes at Psa 74:8. It may mean a set time, an appointed season, 1Sa 13:8, 1Sa 13:11; or a coming together, an assembly, Job 30:23; or a place of assemblage, as the tabernacle, etc.; Exo 27:21; Exo 40:22; Psa 74:8. It may, therefore, be applied to the congregation of the Jewish people – the nation considered as an assemblage for the worship of God; and the idea of taking this, or receiving this, may be applied to the act of assuming authority or sovereignty over the people, and hence, the language may be used to denote the entrance on the discharge of the duties of such sovereignty. The language would be ap plicable to one who had the right of such an elevation to power – a prince – an heir apparent – in a time when his right was disputed; when there was an organized opposition to him; or when the nation was in a state of anarchy and confusion. It seems to me that this supposition best accords with the proper meaning of the language, and with the scope of the psalm.
I will judge uprightly – I will put down all this opposition to law. I will deal with exact justice between man and man. I will restore order, and the supremacy of law, to the state. The language, therefore, according to this interpretation, is not the language of God, but that of a prince having a right to the throne, and about to ascend it in a time of great misrule and disorder.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. When I shall receive the congregation] When the proper time is come that the congregation, my people of Israel, should be brought out of captivity, and received back into favour, I shall not only enlarge them, but punish their enemies. They shall be cut off and cast out, and become a more miserable people than those whom they now insult. I will destroy them as a nation, so that they shall never more be numbered among the empires of the earth.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
When I shall receive the congregation, to wit, the whole congregation, or body of thy people, to wit, all the tribes; which are now distracted and disordered by a civil war, which is a great hinderance to the administration of justice. Or, when I shall receive or obtain the appointment, i.e. what God hath appointed and promised to me, to wit, the full and firm possession of the kingdom; or, the time or place appointed by God for that work. Some make these and the following passages the words of God concerning his church or people; which seems not probable; partly because he speaks of God in the third person, as one distinct from him that speaks these words, Psa 75:7,8; and partly because it is evident that one and the same person speaks from hence to the end of the Psalm, and the ninth verse cannot be spoken by God.
I will judge uprightly; I will not use my power tyrannically and wickedly, as Saul did, and as most other princes do; but holily and righteously, for the good of my people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2, 3. These verses express thepurpose of God to administer a just government, and in a time ofanarchy that He sustains the nation. Some apply the words to thePsalmist.
receive thecongregationliterally, “take a set time” (Psa 102:13;Hos 2:3), or an assembly at a settimethat is, for judging.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
When I shall receive the congregation,…. Some render it, from the Arabic signification of the word, “the promise” o; the Spirit promised, the gifts of the Spirit, which Christ received for men, and gave to men, whereby he executes the judgment or government of the church committed to him: others the time, so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Arabic versions, to which agrees the Targum, the word signifying a set appointed time, Ps 102:14, and so may respect the time appointed for the judgment of the world, which when come, Christ will execute in a most righteous manner, as follows; see Ac 17:31, but whereas the people of Israel met at the door of the tabernacle, which from thence was called “Ohel Moed”, the tabernacle of the congregation; hence the word is used for a congregation, and here designs the general assembly and church of the firstborn written in heaven, even all the elect of God; these were received by Christ of his Father in eternity, when he espoused them to himself, and undertook the care of them; and they are received by him, one by one, in effectual calling; and in like manner are they received by him into glory at death; but when they are all gathered in, and are prepared for him as a bride for her husband, then will he receive them all in a body, and present them to himself a glorious church during the thousand years’ reign; upon which will proceed the judgment of the wicked; see
Re 20:5,
I will judge uprightly; in equity, in strict justice, in the most righteous manner, rendering to every man according to his works; hence the future judgment is called a righteous one, and so is the Judge; no injustice will be done to men, but the strictest integrity, uprightness, and impartiality, will be observed in pronouncing the several sentences on the righteous and on the wicked, and in adjudging them to their several places and states.
o “promissa”, Schultens animadv. p. 174. “festi dona”, Gusset. p. 334.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
2. When I shall have taken the congregation. The Hebrew verb יעד, yaäd, signifies to appoint a place or day, and the noun מועד, moed, derived from it, which is here used, signifies both holy assemblies, or a congregation of the faithful assembled together in the name of the Lord, and festival, or appointed solemn days. As it is certain that God is here introduced as speaking, either of these senses will agree with the scope of the passage. It may be viewed as denoting either that having gathered his people to himself, he will restore to due order matters which were in a state of distraction and confusion, or else that he will make choice of a fit time for exercising his judgment. In abandoning his people for a season to the will of their enemies, he seems to forsake them and to exercise no care about them; so that they are like a flock of sheep which is scattered, and wanders hither and thither without a shepherd. It being his object, then, to convey in these words a promise that he would remedy such a confused state of things, he very properly commences with the gathering together of his Church. If any choose rather to understand the word מועד, moed, as referring to time (254) God is to be understood as admonishing his people, that it is their bounden duty to exercise patience until he actually show that the proper time is come for correcting vices, since he only has the years and days in his own power, and knows best the fit juncture and moment for performing this work. The interpretation to which I most incline is, That, to determine the end and measure of calamities, and the best season of rising up for the deliverance of his people, — matters, the determination of which men would willingly claim for themselves, — is reserved by God in his own hands, and is entirely subject to his own will. At the same time, I am very well satisfied with the former interpretation, which refers the passage to the gathering together of the Church. Nor ought it to seem absurd or harsh that God is here introduced as returning an answer to the prayers of his people. This graphic representation, by which they are made to speak in the first verse, while he is introduced as speaking in the second, is much more forcible than if the prophet had simply said, that God would at length, and at the determined time, show himself to be the protector of his Church, and gather her together again when she should be scattered and rent in pieces. The amount, in short, is, that although God may not succor his own people immediately, yet he never forgets them, but only delays until the fit time arrive, the redress which he has in readiness for them. To judge righteously, is just to restore to a better state matters which are embroiled and disordered. Thus Paul says,
“
Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.” (2Th 1:6)
God, therefore, declares that it is his office to set in order and adjust those things which are in confusion, that, entertaining this expectation, we may be sustained and comforted by means of it in all our afflictions.
(254) The reading adopted by the most eminent critics is, “When I shall have gotten an appointed or fit time or season, I will judge uprightly.” This is supported by all the ancient versions.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) When I.Rather, When I have chosen my time, I will judge uprightly. This sense: my time being shown by the emphatic I of the Hebrew. (Comp. Act. 17:31.) The word rendered in the Authorised Version congregation (moed), has plainly here its first derivative sense of a set time, or occasion. (Comp. Psa. 102:13; Hab. 2:3.) So LXX. and Vulg. here; but Symmachus gives synagogue.
It is quite clear that the speaker of these words is God Himself, who suddenly, as in Psa. 46:10, breaks in with the announcement of judgment. But how far the Divine utterance extends in the psalm is not quite clear. Some end it with Psa. 75:3; others with Psa. 75:5.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. When I shall receive the congregation We must certainly recognise the historic ground of Psa 75:2-3, before any spiritual or prophetic sense is admissible. The king is speaking to God. He states what he will do when he shall take his seat in the assembly, namely, perform the highest function of his office faithfully. “When I shall receive,” or take the place of authority in the stated assembly for the administration of justice, I will judge uprightly. He first thanks God for deliverance, then his heart turns to his distracted people, and, as God’s minister to them, he pledges uprightness of decision. This is part of his gratitude offering. All nations have had their times of restoring order and prosperity after the shattering effects of war, and this example of the pious king of Judah is worthy of universal adoption as the soundest state policy.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 75:2. When I shall receive, &c. When I find the appointed time, I execute righteous judgment; Mudge: who observes, that this and the following verse contain the words of God, in answer to the first verse: that now the time was come for him to do justice, and therefore the earth melted before him. This it might well do, as he had first set up the pillars of it; for so the last clause of the third verse should be rendered. It stood firmly only by his order, and therefore must be dissolved whenever he pleases.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The former verse is evidently the language of the church, for it is in the plural, we give thanks; but here it is changed to one person, I. And who so likely to be represented as the great Head of the church? Indeed, the close of the passage determines it; for who but Christ supported the whole fabric of our nature, when sin had dissolved all its powers? Reader, is it not always blessed to look to Jesus? How delightful, to this purpose, is the language of the Holy Ghost by the apostle, when, having ascribed creation to the Lord Jesus, he ascribes to him the whole of providence also, in upholding all things by the word of his power; Heb 1:3 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 75:2 When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
Ver. 2. When I shall receive the congregation ] i.e. The government of all the twelve tribes, as I believe I shall do shortly, according to God’s promise to me by Samuel.
I will judge uprightly
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I shall receive the congregation = The set time has come, &c.
I = I, even I. Very emphatic.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 75:2-3
Psa 75:2-3
“When I shall find the set time,
I will judge uprightly.
The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved:
I have set up the pillars of it.
(Selah)”
“When I shall find the set time” (Psa 75:2). Everything in the whole universe is, as it were, scheduled according to the time God has set for it. In the life of Christ, one cannot fail to remember the frequent words of Jesus, “My time is not yet come.” The final Judgment Day itself has already been “appointed” by Almighty God (Act 17:31). Christ was not born until “the fullness of time” had come; and all such declarations in the Bible indicate that God has set a time-clock monitor upon the entire progress of history.
McCaw stated that, “The LXX associates this psalm with the invasion of Sennacherib,” and if that is correct, “Jerusalem was humbled in the dust, and at the very `eleventh hour’ as men reckon things, was the time when God acted.”
God never acts because a situation looks desperate, but because the appointed time has come.
This principle has an application especially in the affairs of history.
“When moral foundations are undermined and seem to be destroyed by the violence and injustice of men, The Judge of all the Earth has not abdicated his throne. At the correct time, he will restore the balance, capping a `Thousand-Year Reich’ with a Nuremburg.
More recently we have seen the incredible collapse of the madness known as Communism, and the “Mother of All Battles” turned into the “Mother of All Defeats.” God still rules in the kingdoms of men.
The wickedness of men being what it is, the world itself could not long stand, except for the providence of God. “God is the stabilizing strength in the whole picture of human life on earth. God’s power wielded through his sacred institutions shores up our godless society, by his eternal Truth, and by his guiding hand upon events and upon the lives of certain men.
Ash expressed it beautifully in these words: “Behind all that trembles is that which is beyond any shock. God, upon whom all order moral and otherwise is dependent can surely be trusted to judge with equity.
There are times in history when it appears that the total ruin of all culture and civilization is threatened; but, “Men cannot so disrupt a world that still belongs to God, and whose order is upheld by Him.
“The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved” (Psa 75:3). Some scholars take these words as a metaphor of the collapse of human civilization, but we believe there is a glimpse here of the Eternal Judgment. This does not deny the other interpretation but suggests it as a valid overtone looking to that Eternal Morning.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 75:2. Congregation sometimes means the citizens of the nation in a general sense, whether in assembly or scattered about in their homes. Just as we would speak about a congregation today, meaning the members of the church wherever they might be located in their homes. David meant the congregation when it had assembled for a hearing. At such time he promised he would render righteous judgment.
Psa 75:3. This verse gives a hint of why such an assembly would be formed. It would be because of the confused and disordered condition of the earth’s inhabitants. When that occasion should occur David promised to bear up the pillars by giving good judgments.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
When: Psa 78:70-72, Psa 101:2, 2Sa 2:4, 2Sa 5:3, 2Sa 8:15, 2Sa 23:3, 2Sa 23:4
receive the congregation: or, take a set time, Ecc 3:17, Joh 7:6, Act 1:7, Act 17:31
Reciprocal: Gen 44:17 – God forbid 1Sa 7:16 – in circuit Psa 78:72 – according Psa 119:121 – I have
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 75:2. When I shall receive the congregation The first verse was spoken by many persons, We give thanks, &c.; here the speaker is one, and that one is plainly a ruler, who promises that when he shall have received the congregation, or, as may be properly rendered, an appointed, or fit time, or season; that is, when he shall be established in power and authority, at a fit time and place, he will judge uprightly, and introduce a thorough reformation into a kingdom which, as the following verse makes manifest, stood greatly in need of it. From these circumstances Dr. Horne, with several other commentators, thinks it probable David is speaking here of his advancement to the throne of Israel, and the intended rectitude of his administration when he should be settled thereon.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
75:2 {c} When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly.
(c) When I see my time
(says God) to help your miseries, I will come and set all things in good order.