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Selected Verse: Psalms 11:4 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Ps 11:4 |
King James |
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
| temple . . . heaven--The connection seems to denote God's heavenly residence; the term used is taken from the place of His visible earthly abode (Psa 2:6; Psa 3:4; Psa 5:7). Thence He inspects men with close scrutiny. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
The Lord is in his holy temple - Hebrew, "Jehovah is in the temple of his holiness." That is, he is in heaven, regarded as his temple or dwelling-place. This is the answer of the psalmist to the suggestions of his advisers that he should flee from danger. The answer is, in substance, that he had nothing to fear; that he had a protector in heaven; and that he might appeal to Him for defense. The idea is, that God, the protector of the righteous, is always in the heavens; that his throne is always accessible; and that to it the persecuted may come, and may always be safe.
The Lord's throne is in heaven - God is a king, ruling the universe. As such, the seat of his power or dominion is represented as in heaven, where he administers his government. That throne is fixed, and the affairs of his universe will be administered with justice. The righteous, therefore, may hope in his protection, and need not flee when the wicked assail them. The idea here is that of unwavering confidence in God as sitting upon the throne of the universe, and administering its affairs with justice and truth. Compare Isa 66:1, "heaven is my throne." See the notes on that verse.
His eyes behold - He sees everything in all parts of his vast empire, and therefore he knows all the purposes of the wicked, and all the wants of the righteous. The thought here, as one imparting a sense of safety, is, that God sees us. He is not ignorant of what our enemies are doing, and he is not ignorant of what we need. If he were, the case would be different. We might their despair of safety, and feel that our enemies could overcome and destroy us. It is much, in the trials of life, to have this assurance - this constant feeling - that God sees us. He knows our condition, our wants, our dangers; he knows all that our enemies are doing - all their machinations against us. Knowing all this, we may be assured that he will interpose when it is best that he should interpose, and that he will suffer nothing to come upon us which it is not best that he should permit. When evil befalls us, therefore, it does not come because God does not know it, or because he could not prevent it, but because, seeing it all, he judges that it is best that it should thus occur. Compare Gen 16:13.
His eyelids try - That is, they prove, penetrate into, as if by seeing through them. The "eyelids" here are synonymous with the eyes. The form of the language is varied in accordance with a custom common in Hebrew, and there is attributed here to the eyelids what properly belongs to the eyes - the power of seeing.
The children of men - All men, good and bad. He knows them all - all their purposes, their designs, their wishes, their dangers. He knows, therefore, what our enemies are doing; he knows what are our perils; and we may safely leave our cause with him. We should not, therefore, listen to the counsel which advises us to flee Psa 11:1, but should rather put our trust in him who dwells in the heavens. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
| The words of David's counsellors who fear for him are now ended. And David justifies his confidence in God with which he began his song. Jahve sits enthroned above all that takes place on earth that disheartens those of little faith. At an infinite distance above the earth, and also above Jerusalem, now in rebellion, is a קדשׁ היכל קד, Psa 18:7; Psa 29:9, and in this holy temple is Jahve, the Holy One. Above the earth are the heavens, and in heaven is the throne of Jahve, the King of kings. And this temple, this palace in the heavens, is the place whence issues the final decision of all earthly matters, Hab 2:20; Mic 1:2. For His throne above is also the super-terrestrial judgment-seat, Psa 9:8; Psa 103:19. Jahve who sits thereon is the all-seeing and omniscient One. חזה prop. to split, cf. cernere, is used here according to its radical meaning, of a sharp piercing glance. בּחן prop. to try metals by fire, of a fixed and penetrating look that sees into a thing to the foundation of its inmost nature. The mention of the eyelids is intentional. When we observe a thing closely or ponder over it, we draw the eyelids together, in order that our vision may be more concentrated and direct, and become, as it were, one ray piercing through the object. Thus are men open to the all-seeing eyes, the all-searching looks of Jahve: the just and the unjust alike. He tries the righteous, i.e., He knows that in the depth of his soul there is an upright nature that will abide all testing (Psa 17:3; Job 23:10), so that He lovingly protects him, just as the righteous lovingly depends upon Him. And His soul hates (i.e., He hates him with all the energy of His perfectly and essentially holy nature) the evil-doer and him that delights in the violence of the strong towards the weak. And the more intense this hatred, the more fearful will be the judgments in which it bursts forth. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| Temple - In heaven; which is mentioned as an evidence of his glorious majesty, of his sovereign power and dominion over all men and things, and of his accurate inspection into all men and their actions. Throne - Where he sits to examine all causes, and to give righteous sentence according to every man's works. Try - He throughly discerns all men, their most inward and secret actions: and therefore he sees and will reward my innocency, notwithstanding all the calumnies of mine enemies; and withal he sees all their secret designs, and will discover and defeat them. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
| The Lord is in his holy temple - He is still to be sought and found in the place vhere he has registered his name. Though the priests be destroyed, the God in whose worship they were employed still lives, and is to be found in his temple by his upright worshippers. And he tries the heart and the reins of both sinners and saints. Nothing can pass without his notice. I may expect his presence in the temple; he has not promised to meet me in the mountain. |
7 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.
4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.
6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
3 Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
19 The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.
20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
9 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.