PEACE. THE REDEEMER'S RESPLENDENT REIGN I. COMMENCING PRAYER (1). For the King. II. PROPHECY CONCERNING THE KING (2-7). Character of His Rule. I. Peace by Righteousness (2-4 ). ß- Permanent Result (s ). Continual Reverence for God. 3. Prosperity with Revival ( 6--7 ). "Flourish." ill. PROPHECY CONCERNING THE KING (8-u ). Compass of His Rule. Universal Homage. Dominion of the King. I V. PROPHECY CONCERNING THE KING (12-16). Character of His Rule. 1. Power for Redress (12-14). 2. Permanent Result (15). Continual Remembrance oy Messiah. 3. Prosperity with Revival (16). "Flourish.;' V. PROPHECY CONCERNING THE KING (17). Continuance of His Rule. Universal Honour. Duration of the Kingdom. VI. CONCLUDING PRAISE (18-19). Doxology. (Closes the Psalm and Book II.). EPILOGUE (20). SUPERSCRIPT.-To (or, for) Solomon. PRIMARY AssocIATION.-It seems better to follow the Authorised Version rather than the Revised Version in the title, reading as above, see 20. It is doubtless David's last prayer for the son whom he had set upon his own throne before he died. Nevertheless it seems clear that the poet-seer with God's pro1nise in 1nind (2 Sam. vii.) looks
beyond the young king to the fulfilment in a yet greater Son, Messiah the King, our Lord Jesus Christ. The name Solomon is connected with the word "shalom" = peace, 1 Chron. xxii. 9, and the character of his reign ·was general peace, while that of David in the main was war, 1 Chron. xxviii. 3. Both typify Christ in different aspects. Solomon was also called Jedidiah, Belovíd of Jehovah, 2 Sam. xii. 24-25; c£ Luke iii. 22. The closing doxology concludes not only Book II specifically, but also Books I and II regarded as a whole; c£ 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, where David remembers his humble origin. The epilogue seems to indicate two things; (a) that with the fulfilment of the last psalm, the height of David's desires will be reached, hence he has no further prayer to offer, and (b) that psalms composed by David and found in the later Books are in quite a different relationship, the nucleus of a series of psalms of later times. PROPHETIC ANTICIPATION.-Long recognised as Messianic, this psalm "is a lovely picture of the Golden Age so graphically described by inspired prophets and so ardently desired by pious Israelites throughout all ages." "Messiah is seen as the perfect ruler, champion of the oppressed and redresser of every wrong." With the personal reign of Christ, the theocracy will be restored to Israel. We need again to remind ourselves that the Old Testament does not reveal the full and final, eternal condition of things, except in types and "dark sayings." The kingdom of Messiah is the con summation of Israel's hopes, the limit,of the national horizon, and while perfectly true is nevertheless incomplete. The New Testament reveals much more concerning the close of the Millennium, the final judgment and the eternal state. PERSONAL APPLICATION.-Our chief exercise should be to contemplate our blessed Lord as the central figure in the glorious scene portrayed. Read the psalm again in a worshipful spirit and you will surely join .in the "Amen and amen," signifying your whole-hearted identification with the utterance of the sacred writer in his closing doxology. Because our lives are precious in His sight, the Saviour shed His blood for us (14). Our Lord raised the standard of human -life, placing a higher value upon it than did the nations before He came and than do the nations to-day .(14); c£ the Gospels. Christ champions the cause of the crushed (4). In the time of His triumph, He will show tenden1ess to the troubled (12-14).
VERSE NOTES I. David desires for Solomon the divine b"estowal of gifts necessary for right exercise of the kinĶly office. This one petition then blossoms out into clear prediction in which 'a greater than Solomon" is seen; I Chron. xxix. 19; I Kings iii. 5; Isa. xi. 3-4; xvi. 5. The king is also a king, s son, hence legitimate successor to the throne. Christ is King in His own divine right and King also as Son of David; see Luke i. 32. "· d ul m: d P h · all JU ge, or r e; not s. .w. as m 4; poor = arructe ones. rop enc y points to those who shall have suffered in the Great Tribulation. 3. Clauses divided for sake of rhythm; two subjects, one predicate; "mountains" and "hills" are types respectively of greater and lesser established powers repre senting Messiah's government. With the verse c£ of Solomon, I Chron. xxii. 8-9 and I Kings v. 4; of Messiah, c£ Isa. ii. 3-4; ix. 6-7; xi. 9; xxxii. 16-18; Iv. 12-13; (b) "in"= by. 4. Expands verse 2; "judge"= do justice to; (c) "And crush ... " 5. I.e. everywhere and always. 6. Showers upon the mown grass cause it to flourish again; suitable type of the effect of Messiah's reviving ministry by the Spirit upon the recently oppressed remnant of Israel; c£ Deut. xxxii. 2; 2 Sam. xxiii. 3-4. In eastern lands, water is a veritable worker of miracles. The outcome of 6 is seen in 7. "th . h "LXX:h ". h e ng teous, as ng teousness. 8. Contrary to the usual interpretatiqn of universal dominion, the language of this verse seems to de.fine the limits of Israel's land-Messiah's dominion according to the ancient promises; of Solomon's, c£ I Kings iv. 20 ff.; "sea to sea" = Mediterranean to Persian Gulf; hr. "the River . .. unto the ends of the land,'' i.e. from, the Euphrates to the Nile and the Red Sea; see map. This view is confirmed by the next verse. Israel has never yet obtained such wide territory for her own kingdom, even under David and Solomon; see Gen. xv. 18-21; Exod. xxiii. 31; Deut. xi. 24; Joshua i. 2-4; Ezek. xlvii. 13-48; Dan. vii. 13-14; Zech. ix. IO. 9. (a) i.e. the nomadic tribes within these borders; (b) i.e. prostrate themselves with faces to the ground in token of abject submission; also sign of dire abasement, Gen. iii. 14; Isa. lxv. 25. IO. "Tarshish," now regarded as the coast of India or Ceylon; "isles" in Scrip. gen. = western coastlands of Europe; c£ I Kings x. 22; ix .. 26. "Sheba" = S.E. ,6.rabia; "Seba" also in Arabia, Gen. x. 7; Isa. xliii. 3; xlv. 14. Descendant peoples of Japheth, Shem and Ham here included. II. (a) i.e. in worship; typified I Kings iv. 21, 34; x. 1-13. 12. The claim to universal homaķe here rests upon His just and merciful rule; ( b) "And the affiicted who hath ... ' 13. "souls" ĸrim. = lives, so next line. 14._ "redeem' i.e. as the Goel (Kinsman-Redeemer); see note, Ps. lxix. 18. (b) i.e. He will not suffer it to be shed.with impunity; c£ cxvi. 15. 15. Variously understood. The best interpretation seems to be that which carries on the thought from the preceding verse; read, "And he (specifically one of the gĹqyeĺed ones) shal live, and Ļo him shļ be given of the gold of Sheba; and
prayer shall He (Messiah) make for him continually. All the day shall he be blessed." Messiah's priestly office as the true Melchizedek is emphasised. Gifts He has received He; dispenses to others, c£ !xviii. r8. 16. "earth" = land. Th® terraced com.fields stretch right to the hilltops, which are usually rocky and bare-a picture of extraordinary fertility; ctr. Gen. iii. 17 with Isa. x:xxv. r-2; "shake ... ," i.e. wave or rustle like the cedars on Lebanon; "grass" = here the symbol of abundance, freshness and beauty; c£ 1 Kings iv. 20 (of Solomon's reign); Isa. xlix. 20 ff. (Messiah's reign). The Millennium will see a superabundance, both of plant life (a) and human life (b). 17. (b) c£ margin;• here indicates, perhaps, a spiritual seed, see Ps. xxu. 30; ( c) refers back to Gen. xii. 3. 18-19. "Blessed ... " c£ 1 Kings i. 48; 1 Chron. xxix. ro-n, 13, 20. 19. (c) The response of the congregation in the temple services; implies assent and consent. 20. C£ "David's last words," 2 Sam. xxiii. 1-7; see 2 Cor. i. 20.
Book Three. Israel's Return and Restoration: lxxiii.-lxxxix. As befits this "Leviticus" Book we find the Sanctuary especially in view from its ruin to its restoration. Emphasis is laid upon God's holiness in dealing with His people; see notes, Introduction III and pp. 23-24. Prophetically, we see the godly remnant in the last days· with their thoughts centring round the temple and its worship. God's holiness is active in the discipline of the righteous as well as in the destruction of the wicked. I. REVELATION OF THE DIVINE HOLINESS, LXXIII-LXXXIII. The Sanctuary in its Relation to Man. The Remnant Prominent. Asaphic Psalms. 1. Affirmed in Isrcel's Heart-searchings, lxxiii.-lxxv®. 2. Applied in Israel's History, lxxviii.-lxxxiii. II. REALISATION OF THE DIVINE HOLINESS, LXXXIV-LXXXIX. The Sanctuary in its Relation to God. The Redeemer Prominent. Various Psalmists. 1. Acclaimed in Israel's Restoration, lxxxiv.-lxxxv. 2. Attained through Israel's Restorer, lxxxvi.-lxxxvii. 3. Attested in Israel's Restoration, lxxxviii.-1.xxxix. Book Three. I. Revelation of the Divine Holiness: lxxiii.-lxxxiii. The Remnant Prominent. Asaphic Psalms. r. Affirmed in Israel's Heart-searchings, lxxiii.-lxxvii.
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