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Selected Verse: Psalms 99:4 - King James
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
Ps 99:4 |
King James |
The king's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. |
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] |
To His wise and righteous government all nations should render honor.
king's . . . judgment--His power is combined with justice.
he is holy--(compare Psa 22:3). |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
The king's strength - The word king here undoubtedly refers to God as a king, Psa 99:1. The word rendered "strength," means power, force; and the reference here is to what constitutes the main strength or power of his character and government. It is rendered in the Septuagint, τιμή timē - "honor." So in the Latin Vulgate - "honor." DeWette renders it, "The praise of the king who loves judgment." So Rosenmuller, "Let them praise the strength - the power - of the king who loves judgment." But perhaps our common version best expresses the sense, that whatever there is in the character of the "king," that is God, which constitutes strength, or gives power to his administration, is favorable to justice, or will be exerted in the cause of right. God's essential character; all the acts of his power; all the demonstrations of his authority, will be in favor of justice, and may be relied on as sustaining the righteous cause. It is not the "mere" exertion of power - it is power that is always exercised in favor of right; and this lays the foundation of praise. We could not praise a being of "mere" power, or one who was merely "almighty," without respect to his moral character. It is only when the character is such that power will be exerted in favor of that which is right and just that it becomes the proper subject of praise.
Loveth judgment - Is always on the side of justice and right. He so loves justice that his power will be put forth only in behalf of that which is right. God shows this by his law, and by all the acts of his administration.
Thou dost establish equity - That which is equal and just; alike by thy law, and by thine interpositions. All that thou doest, and all that thou dost appoint, is in favor of that which is equal and just.
Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob - That which is just; that which ought to be done. Thou doest this among thy people; thou doest it in their relation to the surrounding nations. All the acts of thy administration tend to the establishment of that which is right. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
The second Sanctus celebrates Jahve with respect to His continuous righteous rule in Israel. The majority of expositors construe it: "And (they shall praise) the might of the king, who loves right;" but this joining of the clause on to יודוּ over the refrain that stands in the way is hazardous. Neither can ועז מלך משׁפּט אהב, however, be an independent clause, since אהב cannot be said of עז, but only of its possessor. And the dividing of the verse at אהב, adopted by the lxx, will therefore not hold good. משפט אהב is an attributive clause to מלך in the same position as in Psa 11:7; and עז, with what appertains to it, is the object to כּוננתּ placed first, which has the king's throne as its object elsewhere (Psa 9:8, Sa2 7:13; Ch1 17:12), just as it here has the might of the king, which, however, here at the same time in מישׁרים takes another and permutative object (cf. the permutative subject in Psa 72:17), as Hitzig observes; or rather, since מישׁרים is most generally used as an adverbial notion, this מישׁרים (Psa 58:2; Psa 75:3; Psa 9:9, and frequently), usually as a definition of the mode of the judging and reigning, is subordinated: and the might of a king who loves the right, i.e., of one who governs not according to dynastic caprice but moral precepts, hast Thou established in spirit and aim (directed to righteousness and equity). What is meant is the theocratic kingship, and Psa 11:4 says what Jahve has constantly accomplished by means of this kingship: He has thus maintained right and righteousness (cf. e.g., Sa2 8:15; Ch1 18:14; Kg1 10:9; Isa 16:5) among His people. Out of this manifestation of God's righteousness, which is more conspicuous, and can be better estimated, within the nation of the history of redemption than elsewhere, grows the call to highly exalt Jahve the God of Israel, and to bow one's self very low at His footstool. להדם רגליו, as in Psa 132:7, is not a statement of the object (for Isa 45:14 is of another kind), but (like אל in other instances) of the place in which, or of the direction (cf. Psa 7:14) in which the προσκύνησις is to take place. The temple is called Jahve's footstool (Ch1 28:2, cf. Lam 2:1; Isa 60:13) with reference to the ark, the capporeth of which corresponds to the transparent sapphire (Exo 24:10) and to the crystal-like firmament of the mercaba (Eze 1:22, cf. Ch1 28:18). |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
Judgment - Though his dominion be absolute, and his power irresistible, yet he manages it with righteousness. The king's strength is by a known Hebraism put for the strong, or powerful king. Equity - In all thy proceedings. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
The king's strength - If this Psalm were written by David, he must mean by it that he was God's vicegerent or deputy, and that, even as king, God was his strength, and the pattern according to which equity, judgment, and righteousness should be executed in Jacob. |
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
1 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
18 And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD.
22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
13 The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
1 How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!
2 Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:
14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.
7 We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.
5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
9 Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the LORD loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.
14 So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.
15 And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.
4 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
3 The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. Selah.
2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
17 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
13 He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
7 For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.