Salvation belongs to Yahweh. May your blessing be on your people.
Parallel Translations
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Salvation belongs to Yahweh. May your blessing be on your people.
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Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.
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(3-9) Salvation belongeth unto the LORD; Thy blessing be upon Thy people. Selah
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Psalms 3:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 43:11 I myself am Yahweh. Besides me, there is no savior.
- Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”
- Psalms 37:39-40 But the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh. He is their stronghold in the time of trouble. Yahweh helps them and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, because they have taken refuge in him.
- Hosea 13:4 “Yet I am Yahweh your God from the land of Egypt; and you shall acknowledge no god but me, and besides me there is no savior.
- Revelation 7:10 They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
- Proverbs 21:31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with Yahweh.
- Acts 4:12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”
- Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
- Psalms 72:17 His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.
- Acts 3:26 God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”
- Jeremiah 3:23 Truly help from the hills, the tumult on the mountains, is in vain. Truly the salvation of Israel is in Yahweh our God.
- Psalms 29:11 Yahweh will give strength to his people. Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
- Revelation 19:1 After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God;
- Isaiah 45:21-22 Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior. There is no one besides me. “Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Hebrews 6:14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”
- 1 Peter 3:9 not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult; but instead blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Because ל is…
8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Because ל is sometimes used by the Hebrews for מך Min, some not improperly translate this clause, Salvation is of the Lord. I, however consider the natural and obvious meaning to be simply this, that salvation or deliverance is only in the hands of God. By these words, David not only claims the office and praise of saving for God alone, tacitly opposing his power to all human succor; but also declares, that although a thousand deaths hang over his people, yet this cannot render God unable to save them, or prevent him from speedily sending forth without any effort, the deliverance which he is always able to impart. In the end of the psalm, David affirms that this was vouchsafed, not so much to him as an individual, as to the whole people, that the universal Church, whose welfare depended on the safety and prosperity of his kingdom, might be preserved from destruction. David, therefore, acknowledges the dispersion of this wicked conspiracy to have been owing to the care which God had about the safety of his Church. From this passage we learn, that the Church shall always be delivered from the calamities which befall her, because God who is able to save her, will never withdraw his grace and blessing from her.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Be the dangers never so great or many, yet…
Be the dangers never so great or many, yet God hath ever means to deliver his.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 3:8 Salvation [belongeth] unto the LORD: thy blessing…
Psa 3:8 Salvation [belongeth] unto the LORD: thy blessing [is] upon thy people. Selah.
Ver. 8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord] Here is much in few. Fulgentius saith, that the most golden sentence is ever measured by brevity and suavity. Brevis et suavis, planeque aurea est haec sententia. Salvation in the full extent of it (and it is very comprehensive) is of the Lord. It properly denoteth the privative part of man’s happiness, freedom from evils and enemies of all sorts. But it importeth the positive part also, fruition of all good; and all is from the Lord, he alone is the chief efficient, and author of all, the true sospitator, the ο Sωτηρ, which, saith Cicero (Acts iv. in Verr.), is a word so emphatic, that other tongues can hardly find another word fit to express it. {See Trapp on "Jon 2:9"}
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Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah] Or, prayerwise, Let thy blessing be upon thy people. Etiam qui imprudenter ad Absalomum desciverat (Jun.), even upon those also who have foolishly taken part with Absalom against me (thus David prays for his rebels, as Christ and Stephen afterwards did for their persecutors and murderers), but especially upon those that do yet adhere unto me, and are shortly to fight for me. David knew that victory is of the Lord, and must be got by prayer. For if Queen Elizabeth could say, Cui adhaereo praeest, He whose part I take shall get the better, how much more may the Lord of hosts say so! This the people also knew, and therefore persuaded David not to venture his person among them in the field, but to stay at home and pray for them, 2Sa 18:5. It is better, say they, that thou help us out of the city; thence shalt thou help us, or cause us to be helped; that is, thy prayers shall prevail with God for our assistance, as the Rabbis sense that text.
Selah] Or, So be it, Hoc ratum, firmumquo esto. See Psa 3:2.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain I expect not salvation from my forces, but from…
I expect not salvation from my forces, but from thy power and favour alone.
Thy blessing is, or rather, let it be, (so he closeth with a prayer,)
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upon thy people; either upon my friends and followers, who alone are thy people, the rest being rebels to thee as well as to me; or, upon all thy people Israel, to preserve my friends, to convince and convert mine enemies, and to save the body of the nation, which without thy mercy are likely by this civil war to be brought to utter ruin.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Salvation belongeth unto the Lord,.... As the author of…
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord,.... As the author of it; temporal salvation is of him; all the deliverances of the saints out of their troubles are from him; and to him is owing their spiritual and eternal salvation; this belongs to Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit: Jehovah the Father resolved upon it, chose men to it from everlasting, contrived the scheme of it in his infinite wisdom, made a covenant with his Son, in which he secured it, and appointed him to be the author of it, and sent him in the fulness of time to effect it; and Christ the Son of God, being qualified for it, being mighty to save, came into this world for that purpose, and is become the author of eternal salvation; his own arm has brought it to him, though there were many difficulties in the way; such as fulfilling the law, satisfying justice, making an end of sin, grappling with all the powers of darkness, and undergoing an accursed death: and the Spirit of God, he makes men sensible of their need of this salvation; he brings it near to them, and works faith in them to lay hold upon it, and shows them their interest in it; and in consequence of all this the glory of salvation belongs to the Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit, and should be given to the Father as the contriver of it, to the Son as the author of it, and to the Spirit as the applier of it; see Rev 7:10;
thy blessing is upon thy people; or it may be considered prayer wise, let "thy blessing be upon thy people" (b); either upon those that were on the side of David, or on those, as others interpret it, who had imprudently joined themselves to Absalom; which latter sense, if right, shows in what a divine frame and disposition of mind the psalmist was, to pray for his enemies: or the words are an assertion, that the blessing of the Lord was come upon his covenant people, and does descend upon them as they are called by grace; even all spiritual blessings, the blessings of a justifying righteousness, of pardon of sin, of reconciliation and peace by the blood of Christ, of adoption, and of eternal life; the blessing of grace, and the blessing of glory.
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Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psa 3:2.
(b) "sit benedictio tua", Junius & Tremellius, Tarnovius, Gejerus, Michaelis.
Next: Psalms Chapter 4
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord] It is…
Verse 8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord] It is God alone who saves. He is the fountain whence help and salvation come; and to him alone the praise of all saved souls is due. His blessing is upon his people. Those who are saved from the power and the guilt of sin are his people. His mercy saved them; and it is by his blessing being continually upon them, that they continue to be saved. David adds his selah here also: mark this!
1. Salvation comes from God.
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2. Salvation is continued by God.
These are great truths; mark them!
ANALYSIS OF THE THIRD PSALM
The occasion of this Psalm was Absalom's rebellion. David being deserted by his subjects, railed on by Shimei, pursued for his crown and life by his ungracious son, and not finding to whom to make his moan, betakes himself to his God; and before him he expostulates his wrong, confesses his faith, and makes his prayer.
There are three strains of this accurate Psalm: I. His complaint. II. The confession of his confidence. III. His petition.
I. He begins with a sad and bitter complaint, amplified,
1. By the number and multitude of his enemies. They were many, very many; they were multiplied and increased: "All Israel was gathered together from Dan to Beer-sheba, as the sand of the sea for multitude;" 2Sa 17:11.
2. From their malice they came together to do him mischief. They rose up, not for him, but against him; not to honour, but to trouble him; not to defend him as they ought, but to take away his crown and life; 2Sa 17:2.
3. From their insults and sarcasm. It was not Shimei only, but many, that said it: "Many - say there is no help for him in his God."
II. The second part of the Psalm sets forth David's confidence: -
1. To their multitude, he opposeth ONE GOD. But THOU, O LORD!
2. To their malicious insurrection, Jehovah; who, he believed, 1. Would be a buckler to receive all the arrows shot against him. 2. His glory, to honour, though they went about to dishonour, him. 3. The lifter up of his head, which they wished to lay low enough.
3. To their vain boast of desertion, There is no help for him in his God, he opposeth his own experience, "I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me."
4. By whose protection being sustained and secured, he deposes all care and fear, all anxiety and distraction. 1. He sleeps with a quiet mind: "I laid me down and slept, I awoke." 2. He sings a requiem: "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people, that have set themselves against me round about."
III. In the close, or third part, he petitions and prays, notwithstanding his security: "Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!" To move God to grant his request, he thankfully reminds him of what he had done before: -
1. "Arise and save me, for thou hast smitten all mine enemies." Thou art the same God: do then the same work; be as good to thy servant as ever thou hast been.
2. He inserts an excellent maxim: Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. As if he had said, It is thy property and prerogative to save. If thou save not, I expect it from none other.
3. Lastly, as a good king should, in his prayers he remembers his subjects. He prayed for those who were using him despitefully: Thy blessing be upon thy people! To the same sense, Coverdale, in his translation.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 3:8. Salvation belongeth unto God — I expect…
Psa 3:8. Salvation belongeth unto God — I expect not salvation from my counsels or forces, but from thy power and favour alone. Thy blessing is — Or rather, let it be; upon thy people — Either upon my friends and followers, who alone are thy people, the rest being rebels to thee as well as to me; or upon all thy people Israel, to preserve my friends, to convince and convert my enemies, and to save the body of the nation, which, without thy mercy, are likely, by this civil war, to be brought to utter ruin.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Salvation belongeth unto the Lord - That is, it…
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord - That is, it pertains to God alone to save. The psalmist had no expectation of saving himself; he had no confidence in the unaided prowess of his own arm. If he was to be saved he felt that it was to be only by God, and the praise of this was to be given to Him. The particular reference here is to temporal deliverance, or deliverance from the dangers which surrounded him then; but the declaration is as true of spiritual deliverance - of the salvation of the soul - as it is of deliverance from temporal danger. In both cases it is true that God only saves, and that all the praise is due to him.
Thy blessing is upon thy people - Or perhaps, rather, “thy blessing be upon thy people,” regarding this as a “prayer” rather than an “affirmation.” It is true, indeed, as an affirmation (compare Psa 2:12); but it accords better with the connection here, and is a more appropriate conclusion of the psalm to regard it as a petition, expressing an earnest desire that the blessing of God might ever rest upon his own people. Then the thoughts of the psalmist are turned away from his own perils to the condition of others; from his individual case to that of the Church at large; and he prays that all others may find the same favors from God which he had so richly enjoyed, and which he hoped still to enjoy. It is one of the characteristics of true piety thus to turn from our own condition to that of others, and to desire that what we enjoy may be partaken of by the people of God everywhere.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain An ascription of praise to a delivering God, whose…
An ascription of praise to a delivering God, whose favor is an efficient benefit.
Next: Psalms Chapter 4
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord—Literally, to Jehovah (is)…
8. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord—Literally, to Jehovah (is) the salvation. The Hebrew is peculiarly expressive of Jehovah’s sole and sovereign possession and right of disposal of the blessings of the national covenant. No political combinations, no party uprisings of the people, can selfishly engross them.
Thy people—Not the entire Hebrew nation, “for they are not all Israel which are of Israel,” but those true hearted of the nation who abide faithful to the covenant and the spirit of the theocracy. The spiritual application of this beautiful psalm to struggling individual faith in all ages is apparent.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. Salvation] R.V. marg. victory unduly limits the thought,…
8. Salvation] R.V. marg. victory unduly limits the thought, though no doubt it is the particular form in which David desires to see Jehovah’s saving power manifested. ‘Save’ is the constant prayer, ‘salvation’ the constant desire, of the Psalmists. The Hebrew words thus rendered denote primarily enlargement, liberation from a state of confinement and distress, power to move freely and at will, and so deliverance generally. Such deliverance comes from Jehovah alone: it is eagerly sought as the proof of His favour. It is, mainly at least, temporal and material, and is looked for in this life; for in the O.T. this life is the sphere of God’s dealings with His people. But the word grows with the growth of revelation, till it gains an inexhaustible fulness of spiritual meaning in the N.T.
thy blessing is upon thy people] Rather as R.V., thy blessing be upon thy people. This prayer reveals the noble heart of the true king, to whom the welfare of his people is more than his own personal safety. Like Him of whom he was the type, he intercedes on behalf of the rebels, for ‘thy people’ cannot be limited to the loyal few. The whole nation is still Jehovah’s people, though they have been misled into revolt against His king. As the sequel shewed, the revolt was the work of a party, not of the nation (2Sa_19:9).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) Thy blessing . . .—Rather, let thy blessing…
(8) Thy blessing . . .—Rather, let thy blessing be upon thy people. It is not the statement of a fact, but an intercessory prayer. The true Shepherd of His people was a noble and generous man. This close, as Ewald says, “throws a bright light on the depth of his noble soul.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Salvation belongeth unto the Lord; or, salvation is the…
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord; or, salvation is the Lord"s (Kay). "To him alone it belongs to save or to destroy. Therefore is my prayer addressed to him, and him only" (see ver. 7). Thy blessing is upon thy people; rather, let thy blessing be upon thy people. "Whatever becomes of me," i.e. , "let thy people be blest" (Kay). David is not deterred, by the revolt of almost the whole people against him, from commending them to God, entreating God"s blessing upon them, and desiring their welfare. He echoes Moses; (Exo_32:31, Exo_32:32) he anticipates Christ. (Luk_23:34)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Verse 8. This verse contains the sum and substance…
Verse 8. This verse contains the sum and substance of Calvinistic doctrine. Search Scripture through, and you must, if you read it with a candid mind, be persuaded that the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is the great doctrine of the word of God: "Salvation belongeth unto the Lord." This is a point concerning which we are daily fighting. Our opponents say, "Salvation belongeth to the free will of man; if not to man's merit, yet at least to man's will;" but we hold and teach that salvation from first to last, in every iota of it, belongs to the Most High God. It is God that chooses his people. He calls them by his grace; he quickens them by his Spirit, and keeps them by his power. It is not of man, neither by man; "not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." May we all learn this truth experimentally, for our proud flesh and blood will never permit us to learn it in any other way. In the last sentence the peculiarity and speciality of salvation are plainly stated: "Thy blessing is upon thy people." Neither upon Egypt, nor upon Tyre, nor upon Ninevah; thy blessing is upon thy chosen, thy blood-bought, thine everlastingly-beloved people. "Selah:" lift up your hearts, and pause, and meditate upon this doctrine. "Thy blessing is upon thy people." Divine, discriminating, distinguishing, eternal, infinite, immutable love, is a subject for constant adoration. Pause, my soul, at this Selah, and consider thine own interest in the salvation of God; and if by humble faith thou art enabled to see Jesus as thine by his own free gift of himself to thee, if this greatest of all blessings be upon thee, rise up and sing
"Rise, my soul! adore and wonder!
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Ask, `O why such love to me?'
Grace hath put me in the number
Of the Saviour's family:
Hallelujah!
Thanks, eternal thanks, to thee!"
Verses 2, 4, 8. "Selah." (Heb.) Much has been written on this word, and still its meaning does not appear to be wholly determined. It is rendered in the Targum or Chaldee paraphrase, (Heb.), lealmin, for ever, or to eternity. In the Latin Vulgate, it is omitted, as if it were no part of the text. In the Septuagint it is rendered Diaqalma, supposed to refer to some variation or modulation of the voice in singing. Schleusner, Lex. The word occurs seventy-three times in the Psalms, and three times in the book of Habakkuk (3:3, 9, 13). It is never translated in our version, but in all these places the original word Selah is retained. It occurs only in poetry, and is supposed to have had some reference to the singing or cantillation of the poetry, and to be probably a musical term. In general, also, it indicates a pause in the sense, as well as in the musical performance. Gesenius (Lex.) supposes that the most probable meaning of this musical term or note is silence or pause, and that its use was, in chanting the words of the Psalm, to direct the singer to be silent, to pause a little, while the instruments played an interlude or harmony. Perhaps this is all that can now be known of the meaning of the word, and this is enough to satisfy every reasonable enquiry. It is probable, if this was the use of the term, that it would commonly correspond with the sense of the passage, and be inserted where the sense made a pause suitable; and this will doubtless be found usually to be the fact. But anyone acquainted at all with the character of musical notation, will perceive at once that we are not to suppose that this would be invariably or necessarily the fact, for the musical pauses by no means always correspond with pauses in the sense. This word, therefore, can furnish very little assistance in determining the meaning of the passages where it is found. Ewald supposes, differing from this view, that it rather indicates that in the places where it occurs the voice is to be raised, and that it is synonymous with up, higher, loud, or distinct, from (Hebrew) sal, (Hebrew) salal, to ascend. Those who are disposed to enquire further respecting its meaning, and the uses of musical pauses in general, may be referred to Ugolin, "Thesau. Antiq. Sacr.," tom. xxii.
Albert Barnes, 1868.
Verses 2, 4, 8. Selah, (Heb) is found seventy-three times in the Psalms, generally at the end of a sentence or paragraph; but in Psalm 55:19 and 57:3, it stands in the middle of the verse. While most authors have agreed in considering this word as somehow relating to the music, their conjectures about its precise meaning have varied greatly. But at present these two opinions chiefly obtain. Some, including Herder, De Wette, Ewald (Poet. Bcher, i. 179), and Delitzsch, derive it from (Heb.), or (Heb.), to raise, and understand an elevation of the voice or music; others, after Gesenius, in Thesaurus, derive it from (Heb.), to be still or silent, and understand a pause in the singing. So Rosenmuller, Hengstenberg, and Tholuck. Probably selah was used to direct the singer to be silent, or to pause a little, while the instruments played an interlude (so Sept., diuqalma) or symphony. In Psalm 9:16, it occurs in the expression higgaion selah, which Gesenius, with much probability, renders instrumental music, pause; i.e., let the instruments strike up a symphony, and let the singer pause. By Tholuck and Hengstenberg, however, the two words are rendered meditation, pause; i.e., let the singer meditate while the music stops.
Benjamin Davies, Ph.D.,L.L.D., article Psalms, in Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature.
Verse 8. "Salvation belongeth unto the Lord:" parallel passage in Jonah 2:9, "Salvation is of the Lord." The mariners might have written upon their ship, instead of Castor and Pollux, or the like device, Salvation is the Lord's; the Ninevites might have written upon their gates, Salvation is the Lord's; and whole mankind, whose cause is pitted and pleaded by God against the hardness of Jonah's heart, in the last, might have written on the palms of their hands, Salvation is the Lord's. It is the argument of both the Testaments, the staff and supportation of heaven and earth. They would both sink, and all their joints be severed, if the salvation of the Lord's were not. The birds in the air sing no other notes, the beasts in the field give no other voice, than Salus Jehov, Salvation is the Lord's. The walls and fortresses to our country's gates, to our cities and towns, bars to our houses, a surer cover to our heads than a helmet of steel, a better receipt to our bodies than the confection of apothecaries, a better receipt to our souls than the pardons of Rome, is Salus Jehov, the salvation of the Lord. The salvation of the Lord blesseth, preserveth, upholdeth all that we have; our basket and our store, the oil in our cruses, our presses, the sheep in our folds, our stalls, the children in the womb, at our tables, the corn in our fields, our stores, our garners; it is not the virtue of the stars, nor nature of all things themselves, that giveth being and continuance to any of these blessings. And, "What shall I more say?" as the apostle asked (Hebrews 9) when he had spoken much, and there was much more behind, but time failed him. Rather, what should I not say? for the world is my theatre at this time, and I neither think nor can feign to myself anything that hath not dependence upon this acclamation, Salvation is the Lord's. Plutarch writeth, that the Amphictions in Greece, a famous council assembled of twelve sundry people, wrote upon the temple of Apollo Pythius, instead of the Iliads of Homer, or songs of Pindarus (large and tiring discourses), short sentences and memoratives, as, Know thyself, Use moderation, Beware of suretyship, and the like; and doubtless though every creature in the world, whereof we have use, be a treatise and narration unto us of the goodness of God, and we might weary our flesh, and spend our days in writing books of that inexplicable subject, yet this short apothegm of Jonah comprehendeth all the rest, and standeth at the end of the song, as the altars and stones that the patriarch set up at the parting of the ways, to give knowledge to the after-world by what means he was delivered. I would it were daily preached in our temples, sung in our streets, written upon our door-posts, painted upon our walls, or rather cut with an adamant claw upon the tables of our hearts, that we might never forget salvation to be the Lord's. We have need of such remembrances to keep us in practise of revolving the mercies of God. For nothing decayeth sooner than love; nihil facilius quam amar putrescit. And of all the powers of the soul, memory is most delicate, tender and brittle, and first waxeth old, memoria delicata, tenera, fragilis, in quam primum senectus incurrit; and of all the apprehensions of memory, first benefit, primum senescit beneficium.
John King's Commentary on Jonah, 1594.
Verse 8. "Thy blessing is upon thy people." The saints are not only blessed when they are comprehensors, but while they are viators. They are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to flesh and blood: what, reproached and maligned, yet blessed! A man that looks upon the children of God with a carnal eye, and sees how they are afflicted, and like the ship in the gospel, which was covered with waves (Matthew 8:24), would think they were far from blessedness. Paul brings a catalogue of his sufferings (2 Corinthians 11:24 - 26), "Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck," etc. And those Christians of the first magnitude, of whom the world was not worthy, "Had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, they were sawn asunder, they were slain with the sword." Hebrews 11:36, 37. What! and were all these during the time of their sufferings blessed? A carnal man would think, if this be to be blessed, God deliver him from it. But, however sense would give their vote, our Saviour Christ pronounceth the godly man blessed; though a mourner, though a martyr, yet blessed. Job on the dunghill was blessed Job. The saints are blessed when they are cursed. Shimei did curse David (2 Samuel 16:5), "He came forth and cursed him;" yet when he was cursed David he was blessed David. The saints though they are bruised, yet they are blessed. Not only they shall be blessed, but they are so. Psalm 119:1. "Blessed are the undefiled." Psalm 3:8. "Thy blessing is upon thy people." Thomas Watson.
As a curious instance of Luther's dogmatical interpretations we give very considerable extracts from his rendering of this Psalm without in any degree endorsing them.
C. H. S.
Whole Psalm. That the meaning of this Psalm is not historical, is manifest from many particulars, which militate against its being so understood. And first of all, there is this which the blessed Augustine has remarked; that the words, "I laid me down to sleep and took my rest," seem to be the words of Christ rising from the dead. And then that there is at the end the blessing of God pronounced upon the people, which manifestly belongs to the whole church. Hence, the blessed Augustine interprets the Psalm in a threefold way; first, concerning Christ the head; secondly, concerning the whole of Christ, that is, Christ and his church, the head and the body; and thirdly, figuratively, concerning any private Christian. Let each have his own interpretation. I, in the meantime, will interpret it concerning Christ; being moved so to do by the same argument that moved Augustine that the fifth verse does not seem appropriately to apply to any other but Christ. First, because, "lying down" and "sleeping," signify in this place altogether a natural death, not a natural sleep. Which may be collected from this because it then follows, "and rose again." Whereas if David had spoken concerning the sleep of the body, he would have said, "and awoke;" though this does not make so forcibly for the interpretation of which we are speaking, if the Hebrew word would be closely examined. But again, what new thing would he advance by declaring that he laid him down and slept? Why did he not say also that he walked, ate, drank, laboured, or was in necessity, or mention particularly some other work of the body? And moreover, it seems an absurdity under so great a tribulation, to boast of nothing else but the sleep of the body; for that tribulation would rather force him to a privation from sleep, and to be in peril and distress; especially since those two expressions, "I laid me down," and "I slept," signify the quiet repose of one lying down in his place, which is not the state of one who falls asleep from exhausture through sorrow. But this consideration makes the more forcibly for us that he therefore glories in his rising up again because it was the Lord that sustained him, who raised him up while sleeping, and did not leave him in sleep. How can such a glorying agree, and what new kind of religion can make it agree, with any particular sleep of the body? (for in that case, would it not apply to the daily sleep also?) and especially, when this sustaining of God indicates at the same time an utterly forsaken state in the person sleeping, which is not the case in corporal sleep; for there the person sleeping may be protected even by men being his guards; but this sustaining being altogether of God, implies, not a sleep, but a heavy conflict. And lastly, the word HEKIZOTHI itself favours such an interpretation; which, being here put absolutely and transitively, signifies, "I caused to arise or awake." As if he had said, "I caused myself to awake, I roused myself." Which certainly more aptly agrees with the resurrection of Christ than with the sleep of the body; both because those who are asleep are accustomed to be roused and awaked, and because it is no wonderful matter, nor a matter worthy of so important a declaration, for anyone to awake of himself, seeing that it is what takes place every day. But this matter being introduced by the Spirit as a something new and singular, is certainly different from all that which attends common sleeping and waking.
Verse 8. "Salvation is of the Lord, and thy blessing is upon thy people." A most beautiful conclusion this, and, as it were, the sum of all the feelings spoken of. The sense is, it is the Lord alone that saves and blesses: and even though the whole mass of all evils should be gathered together in one against a man, still, it is the Lord who saves: salvation and blessing are in his hands. What then shall I fear? What shall I not promise myself? When I know that no one can be destroyed, no one reviled, without the permission of God, even though all should rise up to curse and to destroy; and that no one of them can be blessed and saved without the permission of God, how much soever they may bless and strive to save themselves. And as Gregory Nazianzen says, "Where God gives, envy can avail nothing; and where God does not give, labour can avail nothing." And in the same way also Paul saith (Romans 8:31), "If God be for us, who can be against us?" And so, on the contrary, if God be against them, who can be for them? And why? Because "salvation is of the Lord," and not of them, nor of us, for "vain is the help of man." Martin Luther.
Verse 8. (first clause). Salvation of God from first to last. (See the exposition.)
Verse 8. (last clause). They were blessed in Christ, through Christ, and shall be blessed with Christ. The blessing rests upon their persons, comforts, trials, labours, families, etc. It flows from grace, is enjoyed by faith, and is insured by oath, etc.
James Smith's Portions, 1802 - 1862.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Psa_3:2; Psa_3:4; Psa_3:8
Psa_3:2; Psa_3:4; Psa_3:8
Selah.
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Stop and think
That seems to sum up the several meanings of the word Selah. Some say it is a direction to the musicians to play an interlude while the singers ceased; some regard it as a direction to the players to stop and tune their instruments. Others see an injunction to raise heart and voice, harp and organ, to their fullest capacity. Others see a reference to eternity, as if one interposed, World without end, Amen! Many regard the word as equivalent to certain well-known signs in music, bidding you turn back and repeat. In any case, it is as if a solemn rock (sela) stood right across our path, bidding us stop and think. On the ground of this injunction meet all meanings, however divergent they seem. No help for him in God. Stop and think. Selah looks forward as well as back. God has been a shield for David; He can also lift up his head once more, and invest him with glory, the sunshine of the Divine countenance. For us who conduct the services of Gods house, Selah has a message. It bids the preacher rightly divide the word of truth. It bids him compare truth with truth, bringing out things new and old, and fixing each in its most telling place. It says--tune your hearts, voices, instruments. Seek inspiration, do justice to the Divine message and the gospel song, so that with holy passion, and sacred emphasis, and heart-felt pathos you shall lead our hearts to God, and incite our minds to things eternal. (Michael Eastwood.)
Psa_3:8
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.
Thanksgiving after peace
I. The meaning of this sentiment. The words carry a general confession of the influence of Divine Providence upon every event, and in particular with respect to salvation, or deliverance from impending danger. The words imply three things.
1. All confidence in man stands opposed to the sentiment. It is not opposed to the use of means, but to an excessive reliance on second causes of any kind. Success in any attempt is to be ultimately attributed to God.
2. The Psalmist had in view the omnipotence of Providence. God has not only the direction and government of means and second causes, but is Himself superior to all means. Salvation signifies a great and distinguished deliverance.
3. The sentiment has respect to the mercy and goodness of God, or His readiness to hear the cry of the oppressed and send deliverance to His people. Power and wisdom alone give an imperfect display of the Divine character.
II. Divine providence in dealing with the united states of america. In conclusion, some practical improvement of the subject.
1. It is our duty to give praise to God for the present happy and promising state of public affairs.
2. We should testify our gratitude to God by living in His fear, and by a conversation such as becometh the gospel.
3. And by usefulness in our several stations. Let us guard against using our liberty as a cloak for licentiousness, and thus poisoning the blessing after we have attained it. (T. Witherspoon, D. D.)
God the Author of salvation
This will be seen if we consider--
I. The work of the Father in devising it.
1. Adam fell by his own sin, and so involved all posterity.
2. Thus all needed salvation; and.
3. Gods flee grace devised it.
II. The incarnation and atonement of Christ, the Son of God, which executed it.
III. The work of the Holy Ghost in applying it. For of ourselves we cannot repent and believe. And yet unless we do we are lost. It is the Holy Spirit that brings us into a state of grace. (T. Myers, A. M.)
Thy blessing is upon Thy people.--
Blessings
At the Mint a piece of gold is put under the stamp, and in the twinkling of an eye the machine descends and the gold becomes a sovereign. So when we see that God is our Father, and that He in Christ died for us, then in a moment, like the stamp on the gold, we receive the witness of the Holy Spirit. The gold bears the stamp of the a the image and blessing of God.
I. What is a blessing? Not merely when we have what we wish, but far more when we do not wish what we have not.
II. The greatest blessing is to know that we have the Lord for our Father.
III. It is a great blessing when we can live temperately. What a curse is drunkenness.
IV. Is not the Bible a blessing? An infidel said one day, There is only one thing that troubles me: I am afraid the Bible is true. But what a blessing that it is so. When Sir Walter Scott lay dying he requested a friend to help him into his library, so that he could look out from the window on the river Tweed. Then he asked for something to be read to him. His friend said, What book shall I select? Sir Walter replied, Can you ask? There is but one--the Bible. Is this book a blessing to you?
V. The Lord gives His people the blessing of being able to trust Him. In the darkness of night you may strike a match and try to light the candle, but you must first take off the extinguisher. And so you cannot feel happy while you keep on the extinguisher of doubt over your heart. How blessed it is to trust in God.
VI. What a blessing to know that Jesus died for us. (William Birch.)
Gods blessing, and the way to gain it
I. What is Gods blessing? Given an occasion upon which we are called upon to write on paper our idea of the Divine blessing: hand me the papers and I will examine them: shall I find in a thousand instances upwards of nine hundred that will run after this fashion?--Gods blessing is sunshine, music, prosperity, deliverance from all affliction, distress, fear; Gods blessing is on the house where there is no vacant chair, upon the fold where there is no dead lamb, upon the estate where there is no covered grave. So your papers would read, and so would they be wrong. Gods blessing may be upon a man without any sense of external sunshine. The clouds do not alter the month. There may be dark clouds upon a June noonday, but it is still June, the sun is still warm, summer is still on the eve of coming upon us, with all its countless flowers and all its ineffable music. Gods blessing does not mean exemption from pain; nor does Gods discipline mean mere penalty. Gods blessing is not a sleeping draught but an inspiration. If you are asleep when you ought to be awake do not say, This is the blessing of God. Gods blessing, I repeat, is not an opiate; it is an inspiration, an excitement, a voice in the soul that says, Onward!
II. How are we to know that the blessing is on us? Easily; there need be no difficulty about that. When you feel that you must do more work, Gods blessing is upon you. Be sure of that confidence. When you want to be idle, God has withdrawn from you because you have withdrawn from Him. When are we to know that Gods blessing is upon us? I will tell you: when you feel that you must help other people more liberally than you have ever done; not when you tie your purse strings, but when you open them is Gods blessing on you. You have done nothing yet; I have done nothing yet. It is the crime of the Church that it has played with its responsibilities. We are always compounding with God, we are always filing our bill in the chancery court of heaven, and asking God to accept a penny in the pound. Do not close your eyes under such circumstances and say, This is the comfort of grace. When you feel that you must go four-and-twenty hours in the day in doing good, Gods blessing is upon you. Of course, nature will say, Lie down, poor child, and rest awhile, because time spent in sleep is time spent in true labour; thou shalt in sleep recover thine energy, and do ten fold more because of a good nights rest. But when the first thought is work, and the middle thought is work, and the last thought is work, then say, Thy blessing is upon Thy people; this is no longer an inspiration but a fact accomplished.
III. We cannot arrange for the Divine blessing. Do not accept the sophism that the Divine blessing can be used as an element in speculation or investment. The Divine blessing comes as the wheat comes: it comes after ripping up the earth, sowing it, preparing it, and after a long process, it may be, of waiting; so it comes not by itself but as the final mark in a series, as the blessing upon a process. When the golden wheat swings in the autumnal wind and throws back the autumnal sunlight, all the seasons of the year seem to culminate in that one motion. Winter is there, because winter gave the earth its hospitality of sleep; spring is there, and summer is there, and autumn is there: in that golden wheat the four seasons of the year hold harmonious festival. Some have not begun yet to do anything. When the lists are made out our names will not be upon them. The first shall be last and the last shall lie first. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The blessing of God
I. Gods special relation in the world. Thy people. The king of a nation and the father of a family hold peculiar relations
II. From Gods special relation spring special benefits. Thy blessing. The ruler of a people, from his position and power, holds in his hands benefits which are for his nation alone. A loving father has a peculiar regard for the welfare of his own family. Israel enjoyed benefits that were not extended to other nations.
III. The benefits springing from the special relation must be sought by prayer. Spiritual blessings are obtained only by prayer. The Apostles had a definite promise given to them of the Holy Ghost, yet they were commanded to pray for His descent (Act_1:4-14). So in the individual life (Luk_11:18). (William Harris.)
The best inheritance
This was the confidence and comfort of the Psalmist when deprived of earthly friends and earthly comforts. The more we know of the power of sin, the more we shall prize the sovereignty of God.
I. The nature of this blessing which is upon the people of God. All the blessedness they have is by Christ Jesus the Lord; and to understand the blessing we must look to the Lord Jesus Christ. As there was a fourfold curse pronounced upon the serpent, you will find the very reverse relative to the Lord Jesus Christ and His people.
1. The serpent was to go upon his belly. While the enemy is condemned in all that he does, the Lord Jesus Christ is justified in all that He does. The Lord Jesus felt that all He thought, and all He did, and all He said was right. He felt that He had no sin of His own. He enjoys the consciousness that all He has done and does is right, and we in Him get rid of all our sins, guilt, and fears, and rest not in a consciousness of our fleshly, personal, legal right, but in a consciousness of the righteousness of Christ, the efficacy of His great salvation, the eternity of His glory. Draw a line of distinction between a moral reality and a spiritual reality. Moral reality is good, and a good principle to act upon among men; but if I go to eternal things I must go beyond this--I must come to the reality of atoning blood, I must come to the reality of saving grace.
2. The enemy was to eat dust. This is to be understood figuratively. As for the enemy, and all that are with him, their attainments shall be all perishable--shall be but dust. Was the Lord Jesus to feed upon perishable things? No. His meat His attainments are imperishable, His honours incorruptible, His glories inimitable, His grandeur indescribable. While He lived in this world He lived upon immortal things. He is with us in these infinite provisions, in opposition to that destitution, that famine, that state of misery which we deserve. The blessing overcomes a great curse. While dust shall be the serpents meat, our bread shall be royal dainties.
3. The serpent was to be cast out. There was to be enmity between him and the woman, and between his seed and her seed. They should come together, and one or the other must prevail. The prince of this world is cast out.
4. The serpents head should be bruised. Here is the confusion, the defeat, of all his plans. But can confusion ever reach the infinite mind of Jehovah-Jesus?
II. The progression of this blessing. It has been progressive from age to age; and nothing has met with so much opposition. Look at some typical circumstances and watch the progression. Cases of Joseph, David, Mordecai, the Redeemer Himself. See the progress in two individual cases, that of Jeremiah and that of Paul. There is this difference between providence, and grace. Grace is progressive, but providence is retrogressive. The fruit we had last year is gone, but the grace we had when the world was created we have now. None of it passes away.
III. The continuation of the blessing. This originates chiefly in the manner of it. There is no way in which anything contrary to it can enter into the vitals of this blessing, or into the union which the people have with Christ, to affect that union. If you look behind them there is mercy behind them from everlasting. If you look at what is before them, it is eternal life, eternal salvation, eternal glory. So that from the very manner of this blessing no curse can come in. (James Wells.)
The people of God
I. The people. The children of Israel were, in a national sense, the people of God. But were they so individually? It is not the name of Christian that can stamp us the people of God. It is in a personal, and not merely in a national or ecclesiastical sense, that Gods people are an elect people.
II. This people are a purchased people. What shall be the price paid down for that spiritual people, the Church of the firstborn? We are redeemed, not with corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but with the blood of Christ.
III. The people are a voluntary people. They do not follow God reluctantly, as did the literal Israel. Everyone can say with David, I have chosen the way of truth.
IV. A holy people (Deu_14:2). The sanctity of Israel was only external and relative; only a type of the purity of the invisible Church. The whole body of the people of whom we speak are holy in an internal and personal sense (Joh_1:13; 1Jn_3:24).
V. A people valued and beloved. We value the objects of our choice because we have chosen them. Gods blessing is on the people themselves, and on their allotments, enjoyments, and even their afflictions, and their labours and connections. (T. Kennion, M. A.)
Trust in Gods overrule
Dr. Stewart of Moulin said, I remember an old pious very recluse minister whom I used to meet once a year. He scarcely ever looked at a newspaper. When others were talking about the French Revolution he showed no concern or curiosity about it. He said he knew from the Bible how it would all end, better than the most sagacious politician: that the Lord reigns; that the earth shall be filled with His glory; that the gospel should be preached to all nations; that all subordinate events are working out these great ends. This was enough for him, and he gave himself no concern about the news or events of the day, only saying, It will be well with the righteous..
Psa_4:1-8
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.