The last words of David are comprehended in seven verses; and these,
again, are subdivided into sections of five and two [Pg 153] verses
respectively. First, there is a description of the fulness of blessings
which the dominion of the just ruler shall carry along with it, and
then of the destruction which shall overtake hostile wickedness.
It is not by accident that these last words are not found in the
collection of Psalms. The reason is indicated by the נאם There is a
prophetic element in the lyric poetry of David wheresoever it refers to
the future destiny of his house; but this prophetic element rises,
here, at the close of his life, to pure prophetic inspiration and
utterance, which stand on an equal footing with the prophecy of Nathan
in 2 Sam. vii., and claim an equal authority.
Ver. 1. "_And these are the last words of David. David, the son of
Jesse, prophesies, and the man prophesies who was raised up on high,
the anointed of the God of Jacob, and sweet in the Psalms of Israel._"
It is substantially the same thing, whether we understand: "the last
words of David" or "the latter words of David"--later in reference to
xxi. 1. For even Ps. xviii., which precedes in chap. xxii., belongs,
according to its inscription and contents, to the last times of David;
it is, as it were, "a grand Hallelujah with which he withdraws from the
scene of life." But, at all events, there is a closer connection with
that Psalm; in it, too, David has in view the future destiny of his
race, and we have here, in the last words, the prophetic conclusion of
the lyrical effusion there. From this connection with chap. xxii., the
closer limitation of the "words" follows. We learn from it that _holy_
words only can be meant. The solemn introduction, and the parallelism
with the blessings of Jacob and Moses, fully agree with and confirm
this our introductory remark regarding the chronological position of
these "words."--There can be no doubt that, in this introduction, there
is a reference to Balaam's prophecy in Num. xxiv. 3,--and this goes far
to prove how much David was occupied with the views which men of God
had formerly opened up into future times:--"And he took up his parable
and said: Balaam the son of Beor prophesies, and the man who had his
eyes shut, prophesies: He prophesies who hears the words of God, who
sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down and having his eyes
open." The remarks which we made on that passage find here also a
strict application: [Pg 154] "Balaam begins with a simple designation
of his person, and then, in the following members, adds designations of
such qualities of this person as here come into consideration, and
serve for affording a foundation to the נאם with which he opens his
discourse." As נאם always has the signification, "word of God,"
"revelation," it can here be ascribed to David, as it was in the
fundamental passage to Balaam, only in as far as the word has been
received by, and communicated to, him. The על, "upon," "over," stands
here for "on high,"[1]--those over whom David has been raised up being
omitted in order to express the absolute sovereignty bestowed upon
David, more, however, in his posterity, than in his own person.
(Compare Ps. xviii. 44: "Thou makest me the head of the heathen;" and
in ver. 48: "God who avengeth me, and subdueth people under me.") _He
who was raised up on high_--With the exception of the bodily ancestor
and the lawgiver, of none under the Old Testament could this be with so
much truth affirmed, as of David, the founder of the royal house,
which, in all eternity, was to be the channel of blessings for the
Congregation of the Lord, and to which, at last, all power in heaven
and on earth was to be given. _The anointed of the God of Jacob_--Such
is David, not only as an individual, but also as the representative of
his race; compare Ps. xviii. 51. He is pre-eminently the anointed, the
Christ of God.--זמיר plur. זמירית signifies, according to derivation
and usage, not _song_ or _hymn_ in general, but the hymn in the higher
strain, the skilful, solemn song of praise; compare my commentary on
Song of Sol. ii. 12. David's Psalms are called זמירות of Israel,
because he sang them as the organ of the congregation, and because they
were appointed to be used in public worship; compare Comment, on
Psalms, vol. iii. p. vi. _Sweet in Psalms of Israel_ here finds its
place only on the supposition that David, in his Psalms, spoke in the
Spirit, Matt. xxii. 41-46; compare Commentary on Psalms, vol. iii. p.
vii. viii. The most distinguished excellence in poetry which is [Pg
155] merely human cannot form a foundation for the assertion in ver. 2.
But if, on the other hand, David be an often times tried organ of the
Spirit for the Church, it cannot surprise us that in ver. 2 he even
declares that, in the Spirit, he there foretells the future. Thus the
נאם in our verse also has a good foundation.
Ver. 2. "_The Spirit of the Lord spake to me, and His word is upon my
tongue._" That דבר refers to the communication which David promulgates
in the sequel, and not to other revelations which he had formerly
received, appears from its relation to the נאם in ver. 1. We should
lose the new revelation announced in ver. 1, if ver. 2, and, hence,
ver. 3 also--for the אמר there evidently resumes the דבר--refer to
divine revelations which David, or, as _Thenius_ supposes, even some
other person, had formerly received.--בי is not "through me," for in
that case the Participle would have been used instead of the Preterite;
nor "in me," for that is contradicted by the parallel passages in which
דבר occurs with ב; but "into me," which is stronger than "to me," and
marks the deeply penetrating power of the revelation by the Spirit;
compare remarks on Hosea i. 2. Such being the case, the Preterite is
quite in its proper place; for the inward revelation, the נאם יהוה
precedes the communication--the נאם דוד. (On the whole verse, 1 Pet. i.
11, 2 Pet. i. 21, are to be compared.)
Ver. 3. "_The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me: a
Ruler over men--just; a Ruler--fear of God._"
The omission of the verb, "will be or rise," is quite suited to the
concise and abrupt style of the divine word. The mention of God, the
Rock of Israel, shows that the revelation has a reference to what is
done for the good of the people of God,--of His Church. For her good,
the glorious Ruler shall be raised. (Compare the words, ἀντελάβετο
Ἰσραὴλ παιδὸς αὑτοῦ, in Luke i. 54, as also ver. 68, and ii. 32.) The
appellation. Rock of Israel, indicates God's immutability,
trustworthiness, and inviolable faithfulness; compare my comment, on
Psalm xviii. 3, 32-47. The connection betwixt Ps. xviii. and the "last
words of David" here also clearly appears. The fundamental passage is
Deut. xxxii. 4.--That _men_ must be conceived of as the subjects of
dominion, is proved by Ps. xviii. 44, where David is made the head of
nations, and people whom he has not known [Pg 156] serve him,--and by
ver. 45, where the sons of the stranger do homage to him,--and by ver.
48: "Who subdues people under me."--_A Ruler_--_fear_ of God, _i.e._, a
Ruler who shall, as it were, be fear of God itself--personified fear of
God. We must here compare the expression, "This man is the peace," Mic.
v. 4, and, as to the substance of the expression. Is. xi. 2, "And the
Spirit of the Lord rests upon him ... the spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of the Lord." We might be disposed to refer this exclusively
to the person of the Messiah, especially when those Psalms are compared
which refer to a personal Messiah. But Ps. xviii.--which here receives,
as it were, its prophetic seal--and especially the relation of ver. 3
and 4 to ver. 5, where David speaks of his house, prove that the Ruler
here is, primarily, only an ideal person, viz., the seed of David
spoken of in Ps. xviii. 51. Things so glorious can, however, be
ascribed to it only with a reference to the august personage in whom
that seed will centre at the end of days,--the righteous Branch, whom
the Lord will raise up unto David (Jer. xxiii. 5), who executeth
judgment and righteousness on earth, Jer. xxxiii. 15. David knew too
well what human nature is, and what is in man, to have expected any
such thing from the collective body, as such.
Ver. 4. "_And as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, a
mourning without clouds; by brightness, by rain,--grass out of the
earth._"
In the first hemistich we have to supply: will be His appearance in its
loveliness and saving importance. The morning elsewhere also,
especially in the Psalms (compare remarks on Ps. lix. 17; Song of Sol.
iii. 1), is used as the emblem of salvation. The condition of men
before the appearance of the Ruler among them, is, in its destitution,
like dark night.--The _brightness_ is that of the Ruler, as the
spiritual Sun, the Sun of Salvation. (Compare Mal. iii. 20 [iv. 2],
where righteousness is represented as the sun rising to those who fear
God.) The _rain_--the warm, mild rain, not the winter's rain which, in
the Song of Sol. ii. 11, and elsewhere, occurs as an emblem of
affliction and judgment--is the emblem of blessing (compare Is. xliv.
3, where "rain" is explained by "blessing"). The _grass_, which springs
up out of the earth by means of sunshine and rain, is emblematical of
the fruits and effects of salvation. [Pg 157] (Compare Is. xlv. 8,
where, in consequence of the rain of salvation pouring down from the
skies, the earth brings forth salvation and righteousness.) The passage
in Ps. lxxii. 6 is parallel, where Solomon says of his Antitype, "He
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers watering the
earth." The figure of the rain making fresh grass to spring up is there
likewise employed to designate the blessings of the Messianic time.
Ver. 5. "_For is not thus my house with God? For He has made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and kept; for all my
salvation, and all pleasure,--should He not make it to grow?_"
The special revelation which David received at the close of his life
(compare the remarks on נאם in ver. 1) is here connected with the
fundamental promise in 2 Sam. vii., which was thereby anew confirmed to
him. Those who, like _De Wette_ and _Thenius_, mistake the correct
sense of vers. 3 and 4, are not a little perplexed by the "_for_"
at the beginning of this verse, and attempt in vain to account for
it.--_Thus_, _i.e._, as it had been told in what precedes.--ערוכה,
"prepared," "ordered," forms the contrast to what is only half
finished, indefinite, depending upon circumstances and conditions,
admitting of provisions and exceptions. The extent to which all
interposing obstacles were excluded, or rather, had been considered and
calculated upon beforehand, appears especially from 2 Sam. vii. 14, 15,
according to which, even the most fatal of all interpositions--the
apostasy of the bearers of the covenant--should not destroy the
covenant,--should not annul the gracious promise made to the race.
_Kept_, _i.e._, firm, inviolable, because given by Him who keepeth
covenant and mercy, Deut. vii. 9; Dan. ix. 4. In 1 Kings viii. 25,
Solomon prays, "And now, Lord God of Israel, keep with Thy servant
David my father what Thou promisedst him when Thou saidst. There shall
not be cut off unto thee a man from My sight to sit on the throne of
Israel." The second "_for_" points out the cause of _kept_. _All
pleasure_, _i.e._, all that is well-pleasing to me, all that my heart
desires. The preceding ישעי serves the purpose of qualifying it more
definitely. The object of David's desires is, accordingly, his
salvation, the glory of his house.
Ver. 6. "_And wickedness, like thorns, they will all be driven away;
for not will any one take them into his hands._"
The subject treated of in this verse is: the Ruler among men [Pg 158]
in His relation to His enemies. To those He is as formidable as His
appearance is blessed to those who surrender themselves to Him. In Ps.
xviii. also, there is a celebration of the indomitable power which the
Lord grants to David, His anointed, and to his seed against all their
enemies; compare ver. 38: "I pursue mine enemies and overtake them, and
do not turn again till they are consumed; ver. 39, I crush them and
they cannot rise, they fall under my feet." In the cycle of Psalms from
cxxxviii. to cxlv., David likewise speaks of the dangers which threaten
his house from enemies, and the leading thought of Ps. ii. is: the
Messiah as the conqueror of His enemies. The eyes of David were the
more opened to this circumstance, the more he himself had had to
contend against adversaries.--בליעל always means unworthiness in a
moral point of view, "wickedness," "vileness." _Wickedness_ is here
used in the concrete sense = the wicked ones, the sons of wickedness,
Deut. xiii. 14. The wicked ones, the enemies of the Church, are
compared to the thorns, on account of their pricking nature; and
therefore their end is like that of thorns, they will be thrown aside
like them. In Ezek. xxiv. 28, after the judgment upon the neighbouring
people has been proclaimed, it is said, "And there shall remain no more
a pricking brier everywhere round about the house of Israel, where
their enemies are, nor a grieving thorn;" compare Num. xxxiii. 55; Song
of Sol. ii. 2; Is. xxvii. 4; Nahum i. 10.--מנד, the _Partic. Hoph._ of
נוד, "thrust out," "put to flight" (compare Ps. xxxvi. 12), cannot be
applied to the thorns, but only to the men. _Like thorns_, _i.e._, so
that they become like thorns, of which the land is cleared. _For not
will any one take them into his hands_--_Michaelis_: _Intractabiles
sunt._
Ver. 7. "_And if any one toucheth them, he is filled with iron, and the
staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burnt with fire where they
dwell._"
The two members of vers. 6 and 7 stand in an inverted relation to each
other. In ver. 6, we have, first, the punishment described, and then
their hostile nature, by which the punishment was called forth. In ver.
7, we have, first, the cause, and then the consequence. The thought in
the first member is: every touch of them bears a hostile character.
_Iron_--instead of weapons fabricated of iron; comp. 1 Sam. xvii. 7;
Job xx. 24, xli. 19 compared with vers. 18, 20; Jer. xv. 12. [Pg 159]
בשבת, literally, "in the dwelling" (compare Ps. xxiii. 6, xxvii. 4;
Deut. xxx. 20) instead of "where they dwell," shows that in their own
borders they shall be visited and overtaken by retribution. בשבת cannot
have the signification, "without delay," ascribed to it by _Thenius_.
Footnote 1: תחת, "below," "beneath," "under," is often used
adverbially, _e.g._ Gen. xlix. 25. על, in the signification "on high,"
occurs also in Hosea xi. 7,--less certainly in Hos. vii. 16. For,
according to 2 Chron. xxx. 9, that passage may be explained; "they
return, not _to_," _i.e._, there is the mere commencement of
conversion, but not the attainment of the end. On הוקם Deut. xxviii. 36
is to be compared.