Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Psalms 5:7 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 5:7	King James	But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
But--as in Psa 2:6, literally, "and." house-- (Ch1 9:23), the tabernacle. temple--literally, "palace," applied to God's residence, the Holy of Holies (Sa1 3:3; Sa2 22:7); the inner part of the tabernacle. toward--not in; the high priest alone was allowed to enter.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

But--as in Psa 2:6, literally, "and."

house-- (Ch1 9:23), the tabernacle.

temple--literally, "palace," applied to God's residence, the Holy of Holies (Sa1 3:3; Sa2 22:7); the inner part of the tabernacle.

toward--not in; the high priest alone was allowed to enter.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
But as for me - While it is their characteristic that they are wicked, and have no desire to serve God; and while with such characteristics they can have no hope of access to God, and no reason to suppose that he will hear their cry, I am inclined to enter his house, and I feel the assurance that he will listen to my prayer. In character and ill feelings he was wholly unlike them. I will come into thy house - Indicating his expectation and his hope that he would yet be permitted to enter the courts of the Lord, from which he was now driven away (see the introduction to the psalm), and his purpose thus to acknowledge God. The word "house" here refers to the tabernacle, which was regarded as the house or dwelling place of God. The word was applied to the entire structure, embracing all the courts, as being sacred to God, as the word was subsequently to the whole of the temple. It was the holy of holies, however, which was regarded as the special dwelling-place of God, and that none were permitted to enter but the high priest, and he but once in the year. (See the notes at Heb 9:1-7.) In the multitude of thy mercy - In thine abundant mercy. He expected to be delivered from his present troubles, and he felt assured that God would permit him again to enter his earthly courts, and to offer his vows and thanksgivings there. And in thy fear - In profound reverence for thee. Fear, or reverence, is often employed to denote devotion or worship. Will I worship toward thy holy temple - The worshippers were not permitted to enter the temple, but worshipped "toward" it; that is, looking toward it, or prostrating themselves toward it as the special dwelling-place of God. If they were in the courts around the temple, they worshipped with their faces toward the place where God was supposed to reside; if they were far away, even in distant lands, they still directed their faces toward Jerusalem and the temple, as the Muslims now do toward Mecca. See the notes at Dan 6:10. It has been objected, from the use of the word "temple" here, that this psalm could not have been written by David, as the temple was not built until the time of Solomon. But in reply to this it may be observed that the word here used - היכל hêykâl - is a word of large signification, and might be applied to any place of worship. It means, properly, a large and magnificent building, a palace, Pro 30:28; Isa 39:7; Dan 1:4; and then, the place where Yahweh was supposed to reside, or the place of his worship; and might be applied to the tabernacle as well as to the temple. In fact, it is "often" applied to the tabernacle that was in use before the building of the temple, Sa1 1:9; Sa1 3:3; Sa2 22:7. Compare Gesenius' Lexicon.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]

But as for me - While it is their characteristic that they are wicked, and have no desire to serve God; and while with such characteristics they can have no hope of access to God, and no reason to suppose that he will hear their cry, I am inclined to enter his house, and I feel the assurance that he will listen to my prayer. In character and ill feelings he was wholly unlike them.

I will come into thy house - Indicating his expectation and his hope that he would yet be permitted to enter the courts of the Lord, from which he was now driven away (see the introduction to the psalm), and his purpose thus to acknowledge God. The word "house" here refers to the tabernacle, which was regarded as the house or dwelling place of God. The word was applied to the entire structure, embracing all the courts, as being sacred to God, as the word was subsequently to the whole of the temple. It was the holy of holies, however, which was regarded as the special dwelling-place of God, and that none were permitted to enter but the high priest, and he but once in the year. (See the notes at Heb 9:1-7.)

In the multitude of thy mercy - In thine abundant mercy. He expected to be delivered from his present troubles, and he felt assured that God would permit him again to enter his earthly courts, and to offer his vows and thanksgivings there.

And in thy fear - In profound reverence for thee. Fear, or reverence, is often employed to denote devotion or worship.

Will I worship toward thy holy temple - The worshippers were not permitted to enter the temple, but worshipped "toward" it; that is, looking toward it, or prostrating themselves toward it as the special dwelling-place of God. If they were in the courts around the temple, they worshipped with their faces toward the place where God was supposed to reside; if they were far away, even in distant lands, they still directed their faces toward Jerusalem and the temple, as the Muslims now do toward Mecca. See the notes at Dan 6:10. It has been objected, from the use of the word "temple" here, that this psalm could not have been written by David, as the temple was not built until the time of Solomon. But in reply to this it may be observed that the word here used - היכל hêykâl - is a word of large signification, and might be applied to any place of worship. It means, properly, a large and magnificent building, a palace, Pro 30:28; Isa 39:7; Dan 1:4; and then, the place where Yahweh was supposed to reside, or the place of his worship; and might be applied to the tabernacle as well as to the temple. In fact, it is "often" applied to the tabernacle that was in use before the building of the temple, Sa1 1:9; Sa1 3:3; Sa2 22:7. Compare Gesenius' Lexicon.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
fear (See Scofield) - (Psa 19:9).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
(Heb.: 5:8-10) Since the Psalm is a morning hymn, the futt. in Psa 5:8 state what he, on the contrary, may and will do (Psa 66:13). By the greatness and fulness of divine favour (Psa 116:14) he has access (εἴσοδον, for בּוא means, according to its root, "to enter") to the sanctuary, and he will accordingly repair thither to-day. It is the tabernacle on Zion in which was the ark of the covenant that is meant here. That daily liturgical service was celebrated there must be assumed, since the ark of the covenant is the sign and pledge of Jahve's presence; and it is, moreover, attested by Ch1 16:37. It is also to be supposed that sacrifice was offered daily before the tabernacle. For it is not to be inferred from Ch1 16:39. that sacrifice was only offered regularly on the Bama (high place) in Gibeon before the Mosaic tabernacle. (Note: Thus, in particular, Sthelin, Zur Kritik der Psalmen in the Deutsch. Morgenl. Zeitschr. vi. (1852) S. 108 and Zur Einleitung in die Psalmen. An academical programme, 1859. 4to.) It is true sacrifice was offered in Gibeon, where the old tabernacle and the old altars (or at least the altar of burnt-offering) were, and also that after the removal of the ark to Zion both David (Ch1 21:29.) and Solomon (Kg1 3:4; Ch2 1:2-6) worshipped and sacrificed in Gibeon. But it is self-evident sacrifices might have been offered where the ark was, and that even with greater right than in Gibeon; and since both David, upon its arrival (Sa2 6:17.), and Solomon after his accession (Kg1 3:15), offered sacrifices through the priests who were placed there, it is probable-and by a comparison of the Davidic Psalms not to be doubted-that there was a daily service, in conjunction with sacrifices, before the ark on Zion. But, moreover, is it really the אהל in Zion which is meant here in v. 8 by the house of God? It is still maintained by renowned critics that the tabernacle pitched by David over the sacred ark is never called בית ה or היכל or משׁכן ה or מקדשׁ or קדשׁ. But why could it not have all these names? We will not appeal to the fact that the house of God at Shilo (Sa1 1:9; Sa1 3:3) is called בית and היכל ה, since it may be objected that it was really more of a temple than a tabernacle, (Note: Vid., C. H. Graf, Commentation de templo Silonensi ad illustrandum locum Jud. xviii. 30, 31, (1855, 4to.), in which he seeks to prove that the sanctuary in Shilo was a temple to Jahve that lasted until the dissolution of the kingdom of Israel.) although in the same book, Sa1 2:22 it is called אהל מועד, and in connection with the other appellations the poetic colouring of the historical style of 1 Sam 1-3 is to be taken into consideration. Moreover, we put aside passages like Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26, since it may be said that the future Temple was present to the mind of the Lawgiver. But in Jos 6:24; Sa2 12:20, the sanctuary is called בית ה without being conceived of as a temple. Why then cannot the tabernacle, which David pitched for the ark of the covenant when removed to Zion (Sa2 6:17), be called בית ה? It is only when אהל and בּית are placed in opposition to one another that the latter has the notion of a dwelling built of more solid materials; but in itself beit (bt) in Semitic is the generic term for housing of every kind whether it be made of wool, felt, and hair-cloth, or of earth, stone, and wood; consequently it is just as much a tent as a house (in the stricter sense of the word), whether the latter be a hut built of wood and clay or a palace. (Note: The Turkish Kamus says: "Arab. byt is a house (Turk. ew) in the signification of châne (Persic the same), whether it be made of hair, therefore a tent, or built of stone and tiles." And further on: "Beit originally signified a place specially designed for persons to retire to at night from Arab. bâta he has passed the night, if it does not perhaps come from the בוא, Arab. bayya, which stands next to it in this passage, vid., Job at Job 29:15-17]; but later on the meaning was extended and the special reference to the night time was lost." Even at the present day the Beduin does not call his tent ahl, but always bêt and in fact bêt sha'r (בית שׂער), the modern expression for the older bêt wabar (hair-house).) If a dwelling-house is frequently called אהל, then a tent that any one dwells in may the more naturally be called his בּית. And this we find is actually the case with the dwellings of the patriarchs, which, although they were not generally solid houses (Gen 33:17), are called בית (Gen 27:15). Moreover, היכל (from יכל = כּוּל to hold, capacem esse), although it signifies a palace does not necessarily signify one of stone, for the heavens are also called Jahve's היכל, e.g., Psa 18:7, and not necessarily one of gigantic proportions, for even the Holy of holies of Solomon's Temple, and this par excellence, is called היכל, and once, Kg1 6:3, היכל הבּית. Of the spaciousness and general character of the Davidic tabernacle we know indeed nothing: it certainly had its splendour, and was not so much a substitute for the original tabernacle, which according to the testimony of the chronicler remained in Gibeon, as a substitute for the Temple that was still to be built. But, however insignificant it may have been, Jahve had His throne there, and it was therefore the היבל of a great king, just as the wall-less place in the open field where God manifested Himself with His angels to the homeless Jacob was בּית אלהים (Gen 28:17). Into this tabernacle of God, i.e., into its front court, will David enter (בּוא with acc. as in Psa 66:13) this morning, there will he prostrate himself in worship, προσκυνεῖν (השׁתּחוה) reflexive of the Pilel שׁחוה, Ges. 75, rem. 18), towards (אל as in Psa 28:2, Kg1 8:29, Kg1 8:35, cf. ל Psa 99:5, Psa 99:9) Jahve's היכל קדשׁ, i.e., the דּביר, the Holy of holies Psa 28:2, and that "in Thy fear," i.e., in reverence before Thee (genit. objectivus). The going into the Temple which David purposes, leads his thoughts on to his way through life, and the special de'eesis, which only begins here, moulds itself accordingly: he prays for God's gracious guidance as in Psa 27:11; Psa 86:11, and frequently. The direction of God, by which he wishes to be guided he calls צדקה. Such is the general expression for the determination of conduct by an ethical rule. The rule, acting in accordance with which, God is called par excellence צדיק, is the order of salvation which opens up the way of mercy to sinners. When God forgives those who walk in this way their sins, and stands near to bless and protect them, He shows Himself not less צדיק (just), than when He destroys those who despise Him, in the heat of His rejected love. By this righteousness, which accords with the counsel and order of mercy, David prays to be led למען שׁוררי, in order that the malicious desire of those who lie in wait for him may not be fulfilled, but put to shame, and that the honour of God may not be sullied by him. שׁורר is equivalent to משׁורר (Aquila ἐφοδεύων, Jerome insidiator) from the Pilel שׁורר to fix one's eyes sharply upon, especially of hostile observation. David further prays that God will make his way (i.e., the way in which a man must walk according to God's will) even and straight before him, the prayer one, in order that he may walk therein without going astray and unimpeded. The adj. ישׂר signifies both the straightness of a line and the evenness of a surface. The fut. of the Hiph. הישׁיר is יישׁיר in Pro 4:25, and accordingly the Ker substitutes for the imper. הושׁר the corresponding form הישׁר, just as in Isa 45:2 it removes the Hiphil form אושׁר (cf. Gen 8:17 הוצא Keri היצא), without any grammatical, but certainly not without some traditional ground. כּי in Psa 5:10 is closely connected with למען שׁוררי: on account of my way-layers, for the following are their characteristics. אין is separated by בּפיהוּ (= בּפיו Psa 62:5) from נכונה the word it governs; this was the more easily possible as the usage of the language almost entirely lost sight of the fact that אין is the construct of אין, Ges. 152, 1. In his mouth is nothing that should stand firm, keep its ground, remain the same (cf. Job 42:7.). The singular suffix of בפיהו has a distributive meaning: in ore unuiscujusque eorum. Hence the sing. at once passes over into the plur.: קרבּם הוּות their inward part, i.e., that towards which it goes forth and in which it has its rise (vid., Psa 49:12) is הוות corruption, from הוּה which comes from הוה = Arab. hawâ, to yawn, gape, χαίνειν, hiare, a yawning abyss and a gaping vacuum, and then, inasmuch as, starting from the primary idea of an empty space, the verbal significations libere ferri (especially from below upwards) and more particularly animo ad or in aliquid ferri are developed, it obtains the pathological sense of strong desire, passion, just as it does also the intellectual sense of a loose way of thinking proceeding from a self-willed tendency (vid., Fleischer on Job 37:6). In Hebrew the prevalent meaning of the word is corruption, Psa 57:2, which is a metaphor for the abyss, barathrum, (so far, but only so far Schultens on Pro 10:3 is right), and proceeding from this meaning it denotes both that which is physically corruptible (Job 6:30) and, as in the present passage and frequently, that which is corruptible from an ethical point of view. The meaning strong desire, in which הוּה looks as though it only differed from אוּה in one letter, occurs only in Psa 52:9; Pro 10:3; Mic 7:3. The substance of their inward part is that which is corruptible in every way, and their throat, as the organ of speech, as in Psa 115:7; Psa 149:6, cf. Psa 69:4, is (perhaps a figure connected with the primary meaning of הוות) a grave, which yawns like jaws, which open and snatch and swallow down whatever comes in their way. To this "they make smooth their tongue" is added as a circumstantial clause. Their throat is thus formed and adapted, while they make smooth their tongue (cf. Pro 2:16), in order to conceal their real design beneath flattering language. From this meaning, החליק directly signifies to flatter in Psa 36:3; Pro 29:5. The last two lines of the strophe are formed according to the caesura schema. This schema is also continued in the concluding strophe.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

(Heb.: 5:8-10) Since the Psalm is a morning hymn, the futt. in Psa 5:8 state what he, on the contrary, may and will do (Psa 66:13). By the greatness and fulness of divine favour (Psa 116:14) he has access (εἴσοδον, for בּוא means, according to its root, "to enter") to the sanctuary, and he will accordingly repair thither to-day. It is the tabernacle on Zion in which was the ark of the covenant that is meant here. That daily liturgical service was celebrated there must be assumed, since the ark of the covenant is the sign and pledge of Jahve's presence; and it is, moreover, attested by Ch1 16:37. It is also to be supposed that sacrifice was offered daily before the tabernacle. For it is not to be inferred from Ch1 16:39. that sacrifice was only offered regularly on the Bama (high place) in Gibeon before the Mosaic tabernacle.

(Note: Thus, in particular, Sthelin, Zur Kritik der Psalmen in the Deutsch. Morgenl. Zeitschr. vi. (1852) S. 108 and Zur Einleitung in die Psalmen. An academical programme, 1859. 4to.)

It is true sacrifice was offered in Gibeon, where the old tabernacle and the old altars (or at least the altar of burnt-offering) were, and also that after the removal of the ark to Zion both David (Ch1 21:29.) and Solomon (Kg1 3:4; Ch2 1:2-6) worshipped and sacrificed in Gibeon. But it is self-evident sacrifices might have been offered where the ark was, and that even with greater right than in Gibeon; and since both David, upon its arrival (Sa2 6:17.), and Solomon after his accession (Kg1 3:15), offered sacrifices through the priests who were placed there, it is probable-and by a comparison of the Davidic Psalms not to be doubted-that there was a daily service, in conjunction with sacrifices, before the ark on Zion.

But, moreover, is it really the אהל in Zion which is meant here in v. 8 by the house of God? It is still maintained by renowned critics that the tabernacle pitched by David over the sacred ark is never called בית ה or היכל or משׁכן ה or מקדשׁ or קדשׁ. But why could it not have all these names? We will not appeal to the fact that the house of God at Shilo (Sa1 1:9; Sa1 3:3) is called בית and היכל ה, since it may be objected that it was really more of a temple than a tabernacle,

(Note: Vid., C. H. Graf, Commentation de templo Silonensi ad illustrandum locum Jud. xviii. 30, 31, (1855, 4to.), in which he seeks to prove that the sanctuary in Shilo was a temple to Jahve that lasted until the dissolution of the kingdom of Israel.)

although in the same book, Sa1 2:22 it is called אהל מועד, and in connection with the other appellations the poetic colouring of the historical style of 1 Sam 1-3 is to be taken into consideration. Moreover, we put aside passages like Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26, since it may be said that the future Temple was present to the mind of the Lawgiver. But in Jos 6:24; Sa2 12:20, the sanctuary is called בית ה without being conceived of as a temple. Why then cannot the tabernacle, which David pitched for the ark of the covenant when removed to Zion (Sa2 6:17), be called בית ה? It is only when אהל and בּית are placed in opposition to one another that the latter has the notion of a dwelling built of more solid materials; but in itself beit (bt) in Semitic is the generic term for housing of every kind whether it be made of wool, felt, and hair-cloth, or of earth, stone, and wood; consequently it is just as much a tent as a house (in the stricter sense of the word), whether the latter be a hut built of wood and clay or a palace.

(Note: The Turkish Kamus says: "Arab. byt is a house (Turk. ew) in the signification of châne (Persic the same), whether it be made of hair, therefore a tent, or built of stone and tiles." And further on: "Beit originally signified a place specially designed for persons to retire to at night from Arab. bâta he has passed the night, if it does not perhaps come from the בוא, Arab. bayya, which stands next to it in this passage, vid., Job at Job 29:15-17]; but later on the meaning was extended and the special reference to the night time was lost." Even at the present day the Beduin does not call his tent ahl, but always bêt and in fact bêt sha'r (בית שׂער), the modern expression for the older bêt wabar (hair-house).)

If a dwelling-house is frequently called אהל, then a tent that any one dwells in may the more naturally be called his בּית. And this we find is actually the case with the dwellings of the patriarchs, which, although they were not generally solid houses (Gen 33:17), are called בית (Gen 27:15). Moreover, היכל (from יכל = כּוּל to hold, capacem esse), although it signifies a palace does not necessarily signify one of stone, for the heavens are also called Jahve's היכל, e.g., Psa 18:7, and not necessarily one of gigantic proportions, for even the Holy of holies of Solomon's Temple, and this par excellence, is called היכל, and once, Kg1 6:3, היכל הבּית. Of the spaciousness and general character of the Davidic tabernacle we know indeed nothing: it certainly had its splendour, and was not so much a substitute for the original tabernacle, which according to the testimony of the chronicler remained in Gibeon, as a substitute for the Temple that was still to be built. But, however insignificant it may have been, Jahve had His throne there, and it was therefore the היבל of a great king, just as the wall-less place in the open field where God manifested Himself with His angels to the homeless Jacob was בּית אלהים (Gen 28:17).

Into this tabernacle of God, i.e., into its front court, will David enter (בּוא with acc. as in Psa 66:13) this morning, there will he prostrate himself in worship, προσκυνεῖν (השׁתּחוה) reflexive of the Pilel שׁחוה, Ges. 75, rem. 18), towards (אל as in Psa 28:2, Kg1 8:29, Kg1 8:35, cf. ל Psa 99:5, Psa 99:9) Jahve's היכל קדשׁ, i.e., the דּביר, the Holy of holies Psa 28:2, and that "in Thy fear," i.e., in reverence before Thee (genit. objectivus). The going into the Temple which David purposes, leads his thoughts on to his way through life, and the special de'eesis, which only begins here, moulds itself accordingly: he prays for God's gracious guidance as in Psa 27:11; Psa 86:11, and frequently. The direction of God, by which he wishes to be guided he calls צדקה. Such is the general expression for the determination of conduct by an ethical rule. The rule, acting in accordance with which, God is called par excellence צדיק, is the order of salvation which opens up the way of mercy to sinners. When God forgives those who walk in this way their sins, and stands near to bless and protect them, He shows Himself not less צדיק (just), than when He destroys those who despise Him, in the heat of His rejected love. By this righteousness, which accords with the counsel and order of mercy, David prays to be led למען שׁוררי, in order that the malicious desire of those who lie in wait for him may not be fulfilled, but put to shame, and that the honour of God may not be sullied by him. שׁורר is equivalent to משׁורר (Aquila ἐφοδεύων, Jerome insidiator) from the Pilel שׁורר to fix one's eyes sharply upon, especially of hostile observation. David further prays that God will make his way (i.e., the way in which a man must walk according to God's will) even and straight before him, the prayer one, in order that he may walk therein without going astray and unimpeded. The adj. ישׂר signifies both the straightness of a line and the evenness of a surface. The fut. of the Hiph. הישׁיר is יישׁיר in Pro 4:25, and accordingly the Ker substitutes for the imper. הושׁר the corresponding form הישׁר, just as in Isa 45:2 it removes the Hiphil form אושׁר (cf. Gen 8:17 הוצא Keri היצא), without any grammatical, but certainly not without some traditional ground.

כּי in Psa 5:10 is closely connected with למען שׁוררי: on account of my way-layers, for the following are their characteristics. אין is separated by בּפיהוּ (= בּפיו Psa 62:5) from נכונה the word it governs; this was the more easily possible as the usage of the language almost entirely lost sight of the fact that אין is the construct of אין, Ges. 152, 1. In his mouth is nothing that should stand firm, keep its ground, remain the same (cf. Job 42:7.). The singular suffix of בפיהו has a distributive meaning: in ore unuiscujusque eorum. Hence the sing. at once passes over into the plur.: קרבּם הוּות their inward part, i.e., that towards which it goes forth and in which it has its rise (vid., Psa 49:12) is הוות corruption, from הוּה which comes from הוה = Arab. hawâ, to yawn, gape, χαίνειν, hiare, a yawning abyss and a gaping vacuum, and then, inasmuch as, starting from the primary idea of an empty space, the verbal significations libere ferri (especially from below upwards) and more particularly animo ad or in aliquid ferri are developed, it obtains the pathological sense of strong desire, passion, just as it does also the intellectual sense of a loose way of thinking proceeding from a self-willed tendency (vid., Fleischer on Job 37:6). In Hebrew the prevalent meaning of the word is corruption, Psa 57:2, which is a metaphor for the abyss, barathrum, (so far, but only so far Schultens on Pro 10:3 is right), and proceeding from this meaning it denotes both that which is physically corruptible (Job 6:30) and, as in the present passage and frequently, that which is corruptible from an ethical point of view. The meaning strong desire, in which הוּה looks as though it only differed from אוּה in one letter, occurs only in Psa 52:9; Pro 10:3; Mic 7:3. The substance of their inward part is that which is corruptible in every way, and their throat, as the organ of speech, as in Psa 115:7; Psa 149:6, cf. Psa 69:4, is (perhaps a figure connected with the primary meaning of הוות) a grave, which yawns like jaws, which open and snatch and swallow down whatever comes in their way. To this "they make smooth their tongue" is added as a circumstantial clause. Their throat is thus formed and adapted, while they make smooth their tongue (cf. Pro 2:16), in order to conceal their real design beneath flattering language. From this meaning, החליק directly signifies to flatter in Psa 36:3; Pro 29:5. The last two lines of the strophe are formed according to the caesura schema. This schema is also continued in the concluding strophe.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Come - With holy boldness and confidence. Mercy - Trusting only in thy great mercy. Fear - With an holy dread and reverence of thy majesty. Towards - Looking towards it, when I cannot come to it.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
In the multitude of thy mercy - David considered it an inexpressible privilege to be permitted to attend public worship; and he knew that it was only through the multitude of God's mercy that he, or any man else, could enjoy such a privilege. He knew farther that, from the multitude of this mercy, he might receive innumerable blessings in his house. In this spirit, and with this dependence, he went to the house of the Lord. He who takes David's views of this subject will never, willingly, be absent from the means of grace. In thy fear - Duly considering the infinite holiness of thy majesty, will I worship, אשתחוה eshtachaveh, will I bow and prostrate myself in the deepest self-abasement and humility. Toward thy holy temple - If David was the author of this Psalm, as is generally agreed, the temple was not built at this time: only the tabernacle then existed; and in the preceding clause he speaks of coming into the house, by which he must mean the tabernacle. But temple here may signify the holy of holies, before which David might prostrate himself while in the house, i.e., the court of the tabernacle. Even in the house of God, there is the temple of God; the place where the Divine Shechinah dwells. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In all ages and dispensations, Jesus was ever the temple where the Supreme Deity was met with and worshipped. The human nature of Jesus was the real temple of the Deity. Nowhere else can God be found.

Top

⁷ In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

³ And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

²³ So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the LORD, namely, the house of the tabernacle, by wards.

⁶ Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

⁷ In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.

³ And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

⁹ So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.

⁴ Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

⁷ And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

²⁸ The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

¹ Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.
² For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
³ And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
⁴ Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
⁵ And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
⁶ Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God.
⁷ But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:

⁹ The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

⁵ A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet.

³ The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.

¹⁶ To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;

⁴ They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

⁶ Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;

⁷ They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.

³ That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

³ The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

⁹ I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.

³⁰ Is there iniquity in my tongue? cannot my taste discern perverse things?

³ The LORD will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked.

² I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.

⁶ For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.

¹² Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

⁷ And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

⁵ My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

¹⁰ Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.

¹⁷ Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

² I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

²⁵ Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

¹¹ Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

¹¹ Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.

² Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

⁹ Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.

⁵ Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

³⁵ When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:

²⁹ That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.

² Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.

¹³ I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,

¹⁷ And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

³ And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house.

⁷ Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

¹⁵ And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

¹⁷ And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame.
¹⁶ I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
¹⁷ And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

¹⁷ And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

²⁰ Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat.

²⁴ And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

²⁶ The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

¹⁹ The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

²² Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

³ And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

⁹ So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD.

¹⁵ And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

² Then Solomon spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers.
³ So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.
⁴ But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjathjearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem.
⁵ Moreover the brasen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the LORD: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it.
⁶ And Solomon went up thither to the brasen altar before the LORD, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it.

⁴ And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

²⁹ For the tabernacle of the LORD, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon.

³⁹ And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon,

³⁷ So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required:

¹⁴ I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.

¹³ I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,

⁸ Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.