Hallelujah.
1 א I will thank Jehovah with my whole heart,
ב In the council of the upright and in the congregation.
2 ג Great are the works of Jehovah,
ד Inquired into by all who delight in them.
3 ה Honour and majesty is His working,
ו And His righteousness stands fast for aye.
4 ז He has made a memorial for His wonders,
ח Gracious and compassionate is Jehovah.
5 ט Food has He given to those who fear Him,
י He remembers His covenant for ever.
6 כ The power of His works has He showed to His people,
ל In giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 מ The works of His hands are truth and judgment
נ Trustworthy are all His commandments;
8 ס Established for aye and for ever,
ע Done in truth and uprightness.
9 פ Redemption has He sent to His people,
צ He has ordained His covenant for ever,
ק Holy and dread is His name.
10 ר The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom,
ש Good understanding [belongs] to all who do them;
ת His praise stands fast for aye.
Another series of psalms headed with Hallelujah begins here, and
includes the two following psalms. The prefix apparently indicates
liturgical use. The present psalm is closely allied to the next. Both
are acrostic, and correspond verse to verse, as will appear in the
exposition. Together they represent God and the godly, this psalm
magnifying the Divine character and acts, the other painting the ideal
godly man as, in some real fashion, an "imitator of God as a beloved
child." Both are gnomic, and built up by accumulation of slightly
connected particulars, rather than flowing continuously in a sequence
which springs from one pregnant thought. Both have allusions to other
psalms and to the Book of Proverbs, and share with many of the psalms
of Book V. the character of being mainly working over of old materials.
The Psalmist begins by a vow to thank Jehovah with his whole heart,
and immediately proceeds to carry it out. "The upright" is by
some understood as a national designation, and "council" taken as
equivalent to "congregation." But it is more in accordance with usage
to regard the psalmist as referring first to a narrower circle of
like-minded lovers of good, to whose congenial ears he rejoices to
sing. There was an Israel within Israel, who would sympathise with
his song. The "congregation" is then either the wider audience of the
gathered people, or, as Delitzsch takes it, equivalent to "_their_
congregation"--_i.e._, of the upright.
The theme of thanksgiving is, as ever, God's works for Israel; and
the first characteristic of these which the psalmist sings is their
greatness. He will come closer presently, and discern more delicate
features, but now, the magnitude of these colossal manifestations
chiefly animates his song. Far-stretching in their mass and in their
consequences, deep-rooted in God's own character, His great deeds draw
the eager search of "those who delight in them." These are the same
sympathetic auditors to whom the song is primarily addressed. There
were indolent beholders in Israel, before whom the works of God were
passed without exciting the faintest desire to know more of their
depth. Such careless onlookers, who see and see not, are rife in all
ages. God shines out in His deeds, and they will not give one glance of
sharpened interest. But the test of caring for His doings is the effort
to comprehend their greatness, and plunge oneself into their depths.
The more one gazes, the more one sees. What was at first but dimly
apprehended as great resolves itself, as we look; and, first, "Honour
and majesty," the splendour of His reflected character, shine out from
His deeds, and then, when still more deeply they are pondered, the
central fact of their righteousness, their conformity to the highest
standard of rectitude, becomes patent. Greatness and majesty, divorced
from righteousness, would be no theme for praise. Such greatness is
littleness, such splendour is phosphorescent corruption.
These general contemplations are followed in vv. 4-6 by references
to Israel's history as the greatest example of God's working. "He
has made a memorial for His wonders." Some find here a reference to
the Passover and other feasts commemorative of the deliverance from
Egypt. But it is better to think of Israel itself as the "memorial,"
or of the deeds themselves, in their remembrance by men, as being,
as it were, a monument of His power. The men whom God has blessed
are standing evidences of His wonders. "Ye are My witnesses, saith
the Lord." And the great attribute, which is commemorated by that
"memorial," is Jehovah's gracious compassion. The psalmist presses
steadily towards the centre of the Divine nature. God's works become
eloquent of more and more precious truth as he listens to their
voice. They spoke of greatness, honour, majesty, righteousness, but
tenderer qualities are revealed to the loving and patient gazer. The
two standing proofs of Divine kindness are the miraculous provision
of food in the desert and the possession of the promised land. But
to the psalmist these are not past deeds to be remembered only, but
continually repeated operations. "He remembers His covenant for
ever," and so the experiences of the fathers are lived over again by
the children, and to-day is as full of God as yesterday was. Still He
feeds _us_, still He gives us _our_ heritage.
From ver. 7 onwards a new thought comes in. God has spoken as well
as wrought. His very works carry messages of "truth and judgment,"
and they are interpreted further by articulate precepts, which are at
once a revelation of what He is and a law for what we should be. His
law stands as fast as His righteousness (vv. 3, 8). A man may utterly
trust His commandments. They abide eternally, for Duty is ever Duty,
and His Law, while it has a surface of temporary ceremonial, has a
core of immutable requirement. His commandments are _done_--_i.e._,
appointed by Him--"in truth and uprightness." They are tokens of His
grace and revelations of His character.
The two closing verses have three clauses each, partly from the
exigencies of the acrostic structure, and partly to secure a more
impressive ending. Ver. 9 sums up all God's works in the two chief
manifestations of His goodness which should ever live in Israel's
thanks, His sending redemption and His establishing His everlasting
covenant--the two facts which are as fresh to-day, under new and
better forms, as when long ago this unknown psalmist sang. And
he gathers up the total impression which God's dealings should
leave, in the great saying, "Holy and dread is His name." In ver.
10 he somewhat passes the limits of his theme, and trenches on the
territory of the next psalm, which is already beginning to shape
itself in his mind. The designation of the fear of the Jehovah as
"the beginning of wisdom" is from Prov. i. 7, ix. 10. "Beginning"
may rather mean "principal part" (Prov. iv. 7, "principal thing").
The "them" of ver. 10_b_ is best referred, though the expression
is awkward, to "commandments" in ver. 7. Less probably it is taken
to allude to the "fear" and "wisdom" of the previous clause. The
two clauses of this verse descriptive of the godly correspond in
structure to _a_ and _b_ of ver. 9, and the last clause corresponds
to the last of that verse, expressing the continual praise which
should rise to that holy and dread Name. Note that the perpetual
duration, which has been predicated of God's attributes, precepts,
and covenant (vv. 3, 5, 8, 9), is here ascribed to His praise. Man's
songs cannot fall dumb, so long as God pours out Himself in such
deeds. As long as that Sun streams across the desert, stony lips will
part in music to hail its beams.