the letter of this Psalm into the spirit of the New Covenant; the Christian expositor, however, has to ascertain the literal meaning of this portion of the Scriptures of the Old Testament in its relation to contemporary history.
Verses 1-5
A period, in which the church is renewing its youth and drawing nearer to the form it is finally to assume, also of inward necessity puts forth new songs. Such a new era has now dawned for the church of the saints, the Israel that has remained faithful to its God and the faith of its fathers. The Creator of Israel (עשׂיו, plural, with the plural suffix, like עשׂי in Job 35:10, עשׂיך in Isa 54:5, cf. עשׂו in Job 40:19; according to Hupfeld and Hitzig, cf. Ew. §256, b, Ges. §93, 9, singular; but aj , ajich , aw, are always really plural suffixes) has shown that He is also Israel's Preserver and the King of Zion, that He cannot leave the children of Zion for any length of time under foreign dominion, and has heard the sighing of the exiles (Isa 63:19; Isa 26:13). Therefore the church newly appropriated by its God and King is to celebrate Him, whose Name shines forth anew out of its history, with festive dance, timbrel, and cithern. For (as the occasion, hitherto only hinted at, is now expressly stated) Jahve takes a pleasure in His people; His wrath in comparison with His mercy is only like a swiftly passing moment (Isa 54:7.). The futures that follow state that which is going on at the present time. ענוים is, as frequently, a designation of the ecclesia pressa, which has hitherto, amidst patient endurance of suffering, waited for God's own act of redemption. He now adorns them with ישׁוּעה, help against the victory over the hostile world; now the saints, hitherto enslaved and contemned, exult בכבוד, in honour, or on account of the honour which vindicates them before the world and is anew bestowed upon them (בּ of the reason, or, which is more probable in connection with the boldness of the expression, of the state and mood);[1] they shout for joy upon their beds, upon which they have hitherto poured forth their complaints over the present (cf. Hos 7:14), and ardently longed for a better future (Isa 26:8);
- ↑ Such, too (with pomp, not “with an army”), is the meaning of μετὰ δόξης in 1 Macc. 10:60; 14:4, 5, vid., Grimm in loc.)
