7<\/strong>. The angel of the Lord<\/em> ] That mysterious Being who appears as Jehovah’s representative in His intercourse with man, called also the angel of His presence<\/em> (Isa 63:9<\/span>). See especially Exo 23:20<\/span> ff. Only here and in Psa 35:5-6<\/span> is he mentioned in the Psalter. He protects those who fear Jehovah like an army encamping round a city to defend it (Zec 9:8<\/span>); or perhaps, since he is ‘the captain of Jehovah’s host’ (Jos 5:14<\/span>), he is to be thought of as surrounding them with the angelic legions at his command. See for illustration Gen 32:2<\/span> (God’s camp<\/em>); 2Ki 6:16<\/span> f. For an examination of the doctrine of the angel of the Lord see Oehler’s O.T. Theology<\/em>, 59, 60.<\/p>\n The angel of the Lord – <\/B>The angel whom the Lord sends, or who comes, at his command, for the purpose of protecting the people of God. This does not refer to any particular angel as one who was specifically called the angel of the Lord, but it, may refer to any one of the angels whom the Lord may commission for this purpose; and the phrase is equivalent to saying that angels encompass and protect the friends of God. The word angel properly means a messenger, and then is applied to those holy beings around the throne of God who are sent forth as his messengers to mankind; who are appointed to communicate his will, to execute his commands; or to protect his people. Compare Mat 24:31<\/span>, note; Job 4:18<\/span>, note; Heb 1:6<\/span>, note; Joh 5:4<\/span>, note. Since the word has a general signification, and would denote in itself merely a messenger, the qualification is added here that it is an angel of the Lord that is referred to, and that becomes a protector of the people of God.<\/P> Encampeth – <\/B>literally, pitches his tent. Gen 26:17<\/span>; Exo 13:20<\/span>; Exo 17:1<\/span>. Then the word comes to mean to defend; to protect: Zec 9:8<\/span>. The idea here is, that the angel of the Lord protects the people of God as an army defends a country, or as such an army would be a protection. He pitches his tent near the people of God, and is there to guard them from danger.<\/P> About them that fear him – <\/B>His true friends, friendship for God being often denoted by the word fear or reverence. See the notes at Job 1:1<\/span>.<\/P> And delivereth them – <\/B>Rescues them from danger. The psalmist evidently has his own case in view, and the general remark here is founded on his own experience. He attributes his safety from danger at the time to which he is referring, not to his own art or skill; not to the valor of his own arm, or to the prowess of his followers, but, to the goodness of God in sending an angel, or a company of angels, to rescue him; and hence, he infers that what was true of himself would be true of others, and that the general statement might be made which is presented in this verse. The doctrine is one that is frequently affirmed in the Scriptures. Nothing is more clearly or constantly asserted than that the angels are employed in defending the people of God; in leading and guiding them; in comforting them under trial, and sustaining them in death; as it is also affirmed, on the other hand, that wicked angels are constantly employed in leading men to ruin. Compare Dan 6:22<\/span>, note; Heb 1:14<\/span>, note. See also Gen 32:1-2<\/span>; 2Ki 6:17<\/span>; Psa 91:11<\/span>; Luk 16:22<\/span>; Luk 22:43<\/span>; Joh 20:12<\/span>. It may be added that no one can prove that what is here stated by the psalmist may not be literally true at the present time; and to believe that we are under the protection of angels may be as philosophical as it is pious. The most lonely, the most humble, the most obscure, and the poorest child of God, may have near him and around him a retinue and a defense which kings never have when their armies pitch their tents around their palaces, and when a thousand swords would at once be drawn to defend them.<\/P><\/p>\n Verse 7<\/span>. The angel of the Lord encampeth round<\/B><\/I>] I should rather consider this angel in the light of a watchman going round his<\/I> circuit<\/I>, and having for the objects of his especial care such as fear the Lord<\/I>.<\/P> <\/p>\n The angel, <\/B>i.e. the angels; the singular number being put for the plural, as it is Psa 78:45<\/span>; 105:33<\/span>,40<\/span>; for it is both improper and unusual to ascribe <\/P> encamping, <\/B>and that round about all good men, to one created angel. And we find many angels employed in this work, Gen 32:1<\/span>,2<\/span>; 2Ki 6:17<\/span>. <\/P> Encampeth round about them; <\/B>guardeth them from dangers on every side; to which work they are appointed by God, Heb 1:14<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 7. angel<\/B>of the covenant (Isa63:9<\/span>), of whom as a leader of God’s host (Jos 5:14<\/span>;1Ki 22:19<\/span>), the phrase <\/P> encampeth,<\/B> c.isappropriate or, “angel” used collectively for angels (Heb1:14<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him<\/strong>,…. By whom may be meant, either the uncreated Angel, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Angel of God’s presence, and of the covenant, the Captain of salvation, the Leader and Commander of the people; and whose salvation is as walls and bulwarks about them; or as an army surrounding them: or a created angel may be intended, even a single one, which is sufficient to guard a multitude of saints, since one could destroy at once such a vast number of enemies, as in 2Ki 19:35<\/span>; or one may be put for more, since they are an innumerable company that are on the side of the Lord’s people, and to whom they are joined; and these may be said to encamp about them, because they are an host or army; see Ge 32:1<\/span>; and are the guardians of the saints, that stand up for them and protect them, as well as minister to them;<\/p>\n and delivereth them<\/strong>; out of the hands of all their enemies. David had a guard, an army of these about him, in the court of Achish, who preserved him from being seized, and receiving any harm there; and who brought him from thence in safety: there is no doubt but he here speaks his own experience.<\/p>\n (Heb.: 34:8-11)<\/strong> This praise is supported by a setting forth of the gracious protection under which God’s saints continually are. The , is none other than He who was the medium of Jahve’s intercourse with the patriarchs, and who accompanied Israel to Canaan. This name is not collective (Calvin, Hupfeld, Kamphausen, and others). He, the One, encampeth round about them, in so far as He is the Captain of the host of Jahve (Jos 5:14<\/span>), and consequently is accompanied by a host of inferior ministering angels; or insofar as He can, as being a spirit not limited by space, furnish protection that covers them on every side. (cf. Zec 9:8<\/span>) is perhaps an allusion to in Gen 32:2<\/span>., that angel-camp which joined itself to Jacob’s camp, and surrounded it like a barricade or carrago<\/em>. On the fut.<\/em> consec<\/em>. , et expedit eos <\/em>, as a simple expression of the sequence, or even only of a weak or loose internal connection, vid., Ewald, 343, a<\/em>. By reason of this protection by the Angel of God arises (Psa 34:9<\/span>) the summons to test the graciousness of God in their own experience. Tasting ( , Heb 6:4<\/span>., 1Pe 2:3<\/span>) stands before seeing; for spiritual experience leads to spiritual perception or knowledge, and not vice versa . Nisi gustaveris <\/em>, says Bernard, non videbis <\/em>. David is desirous that others also should experience what he has experienced in order that they may come to know what he has come to know, viz., the goodness of God.<\/p>\n (Note: On account of this Psa 34:9<\/span>, . . . , Ps 33 (34) was the Communion Psalm of the early church, Constit. Apost.<\/em> viii. 13, Cyril,. Catech. Myst.<\/em> v 17.)<\/p>\n Hence, in Psa 34:10<\/span>, the call to the saints to fear Jahve ( instead of , in order to preserve the distinction between veremini <\/em> and videbunt <\/em>, as in Jos 24:14<\/span>; 1Sa 12:24<\/span>); for whoso fears Him, possesses everything in Him. The young mature lions may sooner lack and suffer hunger, because they have no prey, than that he should suffer any want whatsoever, the goal of whose striving is fellowship with God. The verb (to lack, be poor, once by metaplasm , 1Sa 2:7<\/span>, root , to be or to make loose, lax), elsewhere used only of men, is here, like Psa 104:21<\/span> , transferred to the lions, without being intended to refer emblematically (as in Psa 35:17<\/span>; Psa 57:5<\/span>; Psa 17:12<\/span>) to his powerful foes at the courts of Saul and of Achish.<\/p>\n 7. The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear him. David here discourses in general of God’s fatherly favor towards all the godly; and as the life of man is exposed to innumerable dangers, he at the same time teaches us that God is able to deliver them. The faithful especially, who are as sheep in the midst of wolves, beset as it were with death in every form, are constantly harassed with the dread of some approaching danger. David therefore affirms, that the servants of God are protected and defended by angels. The design of the Psalmist is to show, that although the faithful are exposed to many dangers, yet they may rest assured that God will be the faithful guardian of their life. But in order to confirm them the more in this hope, he adds at the same time, and not without reason, that those whom God would preserve in safety he defends by the power and ministration of angels. The power of God alone would indeed be sufficient of itself to perform this; but in mercy to our infirmity he vouchsafes to employ angels as his ministers. It serves not a little for the confirmation of our faith to know that God has innumerable legions of angels who are always ready for his service as often as he is pleased to aid us; nay, more, that the angels too, who are called principalities and powers, are ever intent upon the preservation of our life, because they know that this duty is intrusted to them. God is indeed designated with propriety the wall of his Church, and every kind of fortress and place of defense (694) to her; but in accommodation to the measure and extent of our present imperfect state, he manifests the presence of his power to aid us through the instrumentality of his angels. Moreover, what the Psalmist here says of one angel in the singular number, ought to be applied to all the other angels: for they are distinguished by the general appellation of <\/p>\n “<\/p>\n ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be the heirs of salvation,” (Heb 1:14<\/span>\ud83d\ude09 <\/p>\n and the Scriptures in other places teach us, that whenever it pleases God, and whenever he knows it to be for their benefit, many angels are appointed to take care of each of his people, (2Kg 6:15<\/span>; Psa 91:11<\/span>; Luk 16:22<\/span>.) The amount then of what has been said is, that however great the number of our enemies and the dangers by which we are surrounded may be, yet the angels of God, armed with invincible power, constantly watch over us, and array themselves on every side to aid and deliver us from all evil. <\/p>\n (694) “ Toute sorte de forteresse et lieu de defense.” — Fr. <\/p>\n (7) The angel of<\/strong> the Lord <\/strong>is an expression which has given rise to much discussion. From comparison with other passages it may be (1) any commissioned agent of God, as a prophet (Hag. 1:13<\/span>). (2) One of the celestial court (Gen. 22:11<\/span>). (3) Any manifestation of the Divine presence, as the flame in the bush (Exo. 3:2<\/span>), the winds (Psa. 35:5-6<\/span>; Psa. 104:4<\/span>). (4) Jehovah Himself, as in the phrase the angel of his presence (Isa. 63:9<\/span>). It may very well be, therefore, that the psalmist uses it here in a general sense for the Divine manifestation of protection. We thus avoid the difficulty in the image of one <\/em>angel encamping round the sufferer, which other commentators try to avoid by supposing angel <\/em>to mean either a troop <\/em>of angels, or captain <\/em>or chief <\/em>of an angelic army. But for this difficulty, we should connect the psalmist’s words immediately with the well-known incident in Jacob’s life at Mahanaim, or with the story of Elisha and the horses and chariots of fire round about him. We certainly must not let go the beautiful thought that round God’s elect<\/p>\n The spangled hosts keep watch in squadrons bright.<\/p>\n 7<\/strong>. <\/strong> Angel of the Lord <\/strong> If this, as many suppose, is the “Angel of his presence,” (Isa 63:9<\/span>,) the leader of Israel, called the “Captain of the Lord’s host,” (Jos 5:14<\/span>,) “Angel of the covenant,” (Mal 3:1<\/span>,) and technically understood as the Christ of the Old Testament, it makes a good sense; if otherwise, it must be taken collectively, as comprehending the host of subordinate angels, and encampeth, supposes plurality. See Psa 91:11<\/span><\/p>\n The ministry of angels is a very pleasing thought. Heb 1:14<\/span> ; Act 12:6-11<\/span> But, Reader! let us ever keep in view the angel of the covenant, even He who is indeed both the covenant itself, and the messenger, administrator, and the whole of it.<\/p>\n Psa 34:7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.<\/p>\n Ver. 7. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about, &c.<\/strong> ] Not one guardian angel only, as some have hence conceited, nor Michael the archangel only, that angel of the covenant, Jesus Christ, as Augustine expoundeth this text, but a host of created angels, those ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation, Heb 1:14<\/span> . For although Christ, the Captain of our salvation, needeth not their help for the safeguard of his people; yet for our comfort he maketh use of the holy angels, who meet us still, as they did Jacob at Mahanaim (where they made a lane for him, as the guard doth for their prince, as the word importeth), Gen 32:1<\/span> ; they minister many blessings to us, though invisibly; stand at our right hands, Luk 1:11<\/span> , as ready to relieve us as the devils are to mischief us, Zec 3:1<\/span> ; yea, they pitch camp round about us, Sicut hostes sunt in circuitu,<\/em> (Kimchi), (oh the dignity and safety of a saint in this respect!) fight in battle array against our enemies, Dan 10:20<\/span> (the heathens speak much of their Castor and Pollux fighting for them and Hesiod telleth of thirty thousand demi-gods that were , keepers of mankind), and convey them at death, as they did Lazarus, through the enemies’ country, the air, into Abraham’s bosom, Luk 16:22<\/p>\n Psalms<\/p>\n THE ENCAMPING ANGEL<\/p>\n Psa 34:7 <\/strong> .<\/p>\n If we accept the statement in the superscription of this psalm, it dates from one of the darkest hours in David’s life. His fortunes were never lower than when he fled from Gath, the city of Goliath, to Adullam. He never appears in a less noble light than when he feigned madness to avert the dangers which he might well dread there. How unlike the terror and self-degradation of the man who ‘scrabbled on the doors,’ and let ‘the spittle run down his beard,’ is the heroic and saintly constancy of this noble psalm! And yet the contrast is not so violent as to make the superscription improbable, and the tone of the whole well corresponds to what we should expect from a man delivered from some great peril, but still surrounded with dangers. There, in the safety of his retreat among the rocks, with the bit of level ground where he had fought Goliath just at his feet in the valley, and Gath, from which he had escaped, away down at the mouth of the glen if Conder’s identification of Adullam be correct, he sings his song of trust and praise; he hears the lions roar among the rocks where Samson had found them in his day; he teaches his ‘children,’ the band of broken men who there began to gather around him, the fear of the Lord; and calls upon them to help him in his praise. What a picture of the outlaw and his wild followers tamed into something like order, and lifted into something like worship, rises before us, if we follow the guidance of that old commentary contained in the superscription!<\/p>\n The words of our text gain especial force and vividness by thus localising the psalm. Not only ‘the clefts of the rock’ but the presence of God’s Angel is his defence; and round him is flung, not only the strength of the hills, but the garrison and guard of heaven.<\/p>\n It is generally supposed that the ‘Angel of the Lord’ here is to be taken collectively, and that the meaning is-the ‘bright-harnessed’ hosts of these divine messengers are as an army of protectors round them who fear God. But I see no reason for departing from the simpler and certainly grander meaning which results from taking the word in its proper force of a singular. True, Scripture does speak of the legions of ministering spirits, who in their chariots of fire were once seen by suddenly opened eyes ‘round about’ a prophet in peril, and are ever ministering to the heirs of salvation. But Scripture also speaks of One, who is in an eminent sense ‘the Angel of the Lord’; in whom, as in none other, God sets His ‘Name’; whose form, dimly seen, towers above even the ranks of the angels that ‘excel in strength’; whose offices and attributes blend in mysterious fashion with those of God Himself. There may be some little incongruity in thinking of the single Person as ‘encamping round about’ us; but that does not seem a sufficient reason for obliterating the reference to that remarkable Old Testament doctrine, the retention of which seems to me to add immensely to the power of the words.<\/p>\n Remember some of the places in which the ‘Angel of the Lord’ appears, in order to appreciate more fully the grandeur of this promised protection. At that supreme moment when Abraham ‘took the knife to slay his son,’ the voice that ‘called to him out of heaven’ was ‘the voice of the Angel of the Lord.’ He assumes the power of reversing a divine command. He says, ‘Thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from Me<\/em> ,’ and then pronounces a blessing, in the utterance of which one cannot distinguish His voice from the voice of Jehovah. In like manner it is the Angel of the Lord that speaks to Jacob, and says, ‘I am the God of Bethel.’ The dying patriarch invokes in the same breath ‘the God which fed me all my life long,’ ‘the Angel which redeemed me from all evil,’ to bless the boys that stand before him, with their wondering eyes gazing in awe on his blind face. It was that Angel’s glory that appeared to the outcast, flaming in the bush that burned unconsumed. It was He who stood before the warrior leader of Israel, sword in hand, and proclaimed Himself to be the Captain of the Lord’s host, the Leader of the armies of heaven, and the true Leader of the armies of Israel; and His commands to Joshua, His lieutenant, are the commands of ‘the Lord.’ And, to pass over other instances, Isaiah correctly sums up the spirit of the whole earlier history in words which go far to lift the conception of this Angel of the Lord out of the region of created beings-’In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His face saved them,’ It is this lofty and mysterious Messenger, and not the hosts whom He commands, that our Psalmist sees standing ready to help, as He once stood, sword-bearing by the side of Joshua. To the warrior leader, to the warrior Psalmist, He appears, as their needs required, armoured and militant. The last of the prophets saw that dim, mysterious Figure, and proclaimed, ‘The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple; even the Angel of the Covenant, whom ye delight in’; and to his gaze it was wrapped in obscure majesty and terror of purifying flame. But for us the true Messenger of the Lord is His Son, whom He has sent, in whom He has put His name; who is the Angel of His face, in that we behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; who is the Angel of the Covenant, in that He has sealed the new and everlasting covenant with His blood; and whose own parting promise, ‘Lo! I am with you always,’ is the highest fulfilment to us Christians of that ancient confidence: ‘The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him.’<\/p>\n Whatever view we adopt of the significance of the first part of the text, the force and beauty of the metaphor in the second remain the same. If this psalm were indeed the work of the fugitive in his rocky hold at Adullam, how appropriate the thought becomes that his little encampment has such a guard. It reminds one of the incident in Jacob’s life, when his timid and pacific nature was trembling at the prospect of meeting Esau, and when, as he travelled along, encumbered with his pastoral wealth, and scantily provided with means of defence, ‘the angels of God met him, and he named the place Mahanaim,’ that is, two camps-his own feeble company, mostly made up of women and children, and that heavenly host that hovered above them. David’s faith sees the same defence encircling his weakness, and though sense saw no protection for him and his men but their own strong arms and their mountain fastness, his opened eyes beheld the mountain full of the chariots of fire, and the flashing of armour and light in the darkness of his cave.<\/p>\n The vision of the divine presence ever takes the form which our circumstances most require. David’s then need was safety and protection. Therefore he saw the Encamping Angel; even as to Joshua the leader He appeared as the Captain of the Lord’s host; and as to Isaiah, in the year that the throne of Judah was emptied by the death of the earthly king, was given the vision of the Lord sitting on a throne, the King Eternal and Immortal. So to us all His grace shapes its expression according to our wants, and the same gift is Protean in its power of transformation; being to one man wisdom, to another strength, to the solitary companionship, to the sorrowful consolation, to the glad sobering, to the thinker truth, to the worker practical force-to each his heart’s desire, if the heart’s delight be God. So manifold are the aspects of God’s infinite sufficiency, that every soul, in every possible variety of circumstance, will find there just what will suit it. That armour fits every man who puts it on. That deep fountain is like some of those fabled springs which give forth whatsoever precious draught any thirsty lip asked. He takes the shape that our circumstances most need. Let us see that we, on our parts, use our circumstances to help us in anticipating the shapes in which God will draw near for our help.<\/p>\n Learn, too, from this image, in which the Psalmist appropriates to himself the experience of a past generation, how we ought to feed our confidence and enlarge our hopes by all God’s past dealings with men. David looks back to Jacob, and believes that the old fact is repeated in his own day. So every old story is true for us; though outward form may alter, inward substance remains the same. Mahanaim is still the name of every place where a man who loves God pitches his tent. We may be wandering, solitary, defenceless, but we are not alone. Our feeble encampment may lie open to assault, and we be all unfit to guard it, but the other camp is there too, and our enemies must force their way through it before they get at us. We are in its centre-as they put the cattle and the sick in the midst of the encampment on the prairies when they fear an assault from the Indians-because we are so weak. Jacob’s experience may be ours: ‘The Lord of Hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our refuge.’<\/p>\n Only remember that the eye of faith alone can see that guard, and that therefore we must labour to keep our consciousness of its reality fresh and vivid. Many a man in David’s little band saw nothing but cold gray stone where David saw the flashing armour of the heavenly Warrior. To the one all the mountain blazed with fiery chariots, to the other it was a lone hillside, with the wind moaning among the rocks. We shall lose the joy and the strength of that divine protection unless we honestly and constantly try to keep our sense of it bright. Eyes that have been gazing on earthly joys, or perhaps gloating on evil sights, cannot see the Angel presence. A Christian man, on a road which he cannot travel with a clear conscience, will see no angel, not even the Angel with the drawn sword in His hand, that barred Balaam’s path among the vineyards. A man coming out of some room blazing with light cannot all at once see into the violet depths of the mighty heavens, that lie above him with all their shimmering stars. So this truth of our text is a truth of faith, and the believing eye alone beholds the Angel of the Lord.<\/p>\n Notice, too, that final word of deliverance. This psalm is continually recurring to that idea. The word occurs four times in it, and the thought still oftener. Whether the date is rightly given, as we have assumed it to be, or not, at all events that harping upon this one phrase indicates that some season of great trial was its birth-time, when all the writer’s thoughts were engrossed and his prayers summed up in the one thing-deliverance. He is quite sure that such deliverance must follow if the Angel presence be there. But he knows too that the encampment of the Angel of the Lord will not keep away sorrows, and trial, and sharp need. So his highest hope is not of immunity from these, but of rescue out of them. And his ground of hope is that his heavenly Ally cannot let him be overcome. That He will let him be troubled and put in peril he has found; that He will not let him be crushed he believes. Shadowed and modest hopes are the brightest we can venture to cherish. The protection which we have is protection in, and not protection from, strife and danger. It is a filter which lets the icy cold water of sorrow drop numbing upon us, but keeps back the poison that was in it. We have to fight, but He will fight with us; to sorrow, but not alone nor without hope; to pass through many a peril, but we shall get through them. Deliverance, which implies danger, need, and woe, is the best we can hope for.<\/p>\n It is the least we are entitled to expect if we love Him. It is the certain issue of His encamping round about us. Always with us, He will strike for us at the best moment. The Lord God is in the midst of her always; ‘the Lord will help her, and that right early.’ So like the hunted fugitive in Adullam we may lift up our confident voices even when the stress of strife and sorrow is upon us; and though Gath be in sight and Saul just over the hills, and we have no better refuge than a cave in a hillside; yet in prophecy built upon our consciousness that the Angel of the Covenant is with us now, we may antedate the deliverance that shall be, and think of it as even now accomplished. So the Apostle, when within sight of the block and the headsman’s axe, broke into the rapture of his last words: ‘The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me to His heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.’ Was he wrong?<\/p>\n The angel of the LORD. Occurs in Psalms only here and Psa 35:5. Here, in mercy; there, in judgment. Compare Act 12: delivering Peter (verses: Psa 34:7-11), and smiting Herod (Psa 34:23). <\/p>\n encampeth. Hebrew. hanah. Hence the name “Maha-naim” = two camps in Jacob’s vision, afterward to be noted in David’s history (2Sa 17:24, 2Sa 17:27; 2Sa 19:32). <\/p>\n fear = revere. <\/p>\n Psa 34:7-10<\/p>\n Psa 34:7-10<\/p>\n “The angel of Jehovah encampeth round about them that fear him.<\/p>\n And delivereth them.<\/p>\n Oh taste and see that Jehovah is good:<\/p>\n Blessed is the man that taketh refuge in him<\/p>\n Oh fear Jehovah, ye his saints;<\/p>\n For there is no want to them that fear him.<\/p>\n The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger;<\/p>\n But they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing.”<\/p>\n “The angel of Jehovah” (Psa 34:7). The angel of Jehovah is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament. He appeared to Joshua as, “The Captain of the host of the Lord” (Jos 5:14), and also in the remarkable visions of Zec 9:8. “He is not merely an angelic messenger, but is in some sense identified with God himself.<\/p>\n We are amused that some scholars are concerned about how “The angel of Jehovah” (in the singular) could “encamp around” them that fear the Lord. Apparently, some writers have never heard of the ubiquitousness of the Almighty, who is in fact everywhere throughout his whole universe at one and the same time! As Delitzsch noted, “The angel of Jehovah, being a spirit not limited by space, can furnish protection on every side. Also, we might add, this protection is available not only for just one of God’s saints in a given location, but is provided for all the saints on earth wherever they live. Is anything too hard for God?<\/p>\n What a great comfort it is to know that, “This great and mighty divine being from days of old, who so often dealt with the patriarchs and figured so effectively in the history of Israel is indeed our protector.<\/p>\n “Taste and see that Jehovah is good” (Psa 34:8). God has made it possible for men to know whether or not his word is true. The person who receives it, obeys it, and trusts its promises will shortly come to know, “Whom he has believed,” having “tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Heb 6:5), and as Peter said, “Ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1Pe 2:3).<\/p>\n “For there is no want for them that fear him” (Psa 34:9). See under Psa 34:10, below, where this thought is repeated.<\/p>\n “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger” (Psa 34:10). Some interpreters would see this as a metaphorical reference to the rich, or to the privileged of earth, but such a view is totally unnecessary. “In God’s animal creation, even the strongest sometimes suffer hunger and want; but those who fear God shall not want any good thing.<\/p>\n “Shall not want any good thing” (Psa 34:10). Dahood states that the Hebrew here will bear the rendition, “shall not have a deficit,” and that it “is an economic term.<\/p>\n E.M. Zerr:<\/p>\n Psa 34:7. God dwells in heaven in the everlasting city, but accomplishes his purposes by the use of means. One of those means is the ministration of angels according to this verse. The same is taught in Heb 1:14. <\/p>\n Psa 34:8. Taste and see etc., is the same idea expressed by the apostle in 1Pe 2:3. Sometimes children will refuse certain articles of food offered to them, and will give as a reason that they “do not like them.” Then the parent will probably tell them that if they would only taste the foods they would find out that they would like them. It is likewise so with the childdren of God in many instances. They imagine they would not relish the things offered to them when they have not even had the interest, perhaps, to taste and see. <\/p>\n Psa 34:9. To fear the Lord means to reverence him. Want means to tack or actually have need. People often desire or long for things they do not need. The real needs of mankind will be supplied by the Lord for all who prove to be worthy. <\/p>\n Psa 34:10. Young lions comes from one Hebrew word. In their lack of judgment they sometimes are hungry for the very nourishment that nature has provided for them. Such a circumstance was used by David to illustrate the professed children of God who do not seek the Lord in the appointed way. Those who do seek properly will not want (lack) any good thing.<\/p>\n angel <\/p>\n (See Scofield “Heb 1:4”) <\/p>\n The angel: Psa 91:11, 2Ki 6:17, 2Ki 19:35, Dan 6:22, Mat 18:10, Luk 16:22, Heb 1:14 <\/p>\n encampeth: Gen 32:1, Gen 32:2, Zec 9:8 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Gen 24:7 – angel Gen 48:16 – Angel 2Sa 4:9 – who hath 1Ki 19:5 – an angel 2Ch 18:31 – the Lord Job 1:10 – an hedge Psa 125:2 – the Lord Pro 14:26 – fear Dan 3:25 – the Son of God Dan 3:28 – hath sent Mat 4:6 – lest Act 5:19 – General Act 12:7 – the angel Act 12:11 – that the<\/p>\n Psa 34:7. The angel of the Lord, &c. This is another reason why men should praise and glorify God. The singular number is here put for the plural; for the psalmist does not speak of one single angel, but of a guard of angels, as unanimous, however, in their service as if they were but one; Encampeth round about them that fear him As a lifeguard about a prince; and delivereth them Guardeth them from dangers on every side, or rescueth them from them, and from trials and troubles when they are suffered to fall into them: to which work they are appointed by God, Heb 1:14. God makes use of the attendance of good spirits, for the protection of his people from the malice and power of evil spirits, and more good offices the holy angels do us daily than we are aware of. Though in dignity and endowments of nature they are very superior to us; though they retain their primitive rectitude, which we have lost; though they have constant employment in the upper world to praise God, and are entitled to constant rest and bliss there; yet, in obedience to their Maker, and in love to those that bear his image, they condescend to minister to the saints, and stand up for them against the powers of darkness. They not only visit them, but encamp round about them, acting for their good as really, though not as sensibly, as for Jacobs, Gen 32:1, and Elishas, 2Ki 6:17. All the glory be to the God of the angels!<\/p>\n 34:7 The {e} angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.<\/p>\n (e) Though God’s power is sufficient to govern us, yet for man’s infirmity he appoints his angels to watch over us.<\/p>\n The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 7. The angel of the Lord ] That mysterious Being who appears as Jehovah’s representative in His intercourse with man, called also the angel of His presence (Isa 63:9). See especially Exo 23:20 ff. Only here and in Psa 35:5-6 … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 34:7”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"