Verse 1. Assyrians. Septuagint “against the Assyrian,” Sennacherib, 4 Kennicott. 19:35. Bible.—David composed this after his victory over the Ammonites, and Ezechias used it when he was delivered from the Assyrians. Grot.—This part of the title is of no great authority, as it is not found in Hebrew and so forth Bert.—The psalm seems to speak of the victories of all the just; ( Menochius.) and instances one memorable example in the defeat of the Assyrians. Worthington.—The Church triumphs over her persecutors. Saint Augustine
Psalms
Verse 2. Judea. Hebrew “Juda.” Bible.—This shews that the psalm was composed after the separation of the tribes, ( Calmet.) though not invincibly; as the names of Juda and Israel were used in David’s time. Bible.—The divine worship was almost confined to the promised land till the birth of Christ; whose gospel has diffused light throughout the world. Saint Augustine Calmet. and so forth—See Jeremiah 50:23. Bert.—A Christian is the true Juda, or “Confessor.” Menochius.—God was known to some philosophers, but not by such special benefits. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 3. Peace. Hebrew Shalem.—Abode. Hebrew “tent or hut,” an expression which shews, how much the finest structure of the East was beneath God’s majesty. Calmet.—He suffered the rest of the world to follow their own inventions, and false gods, reserving Israel for his Church. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 4. There. In that favoured country. The army of Sennacherib perished on its road to Pelusium. 4 Kennicott. 20.—Powers. Hebrew “sparks,” ( Calmet.) or “burning arrows.” Mont. Psalms 120:4. and 119:4. Bible.—All the opponents of the Church, or Sion, must perish. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 5. Hills. Of Juda, which are styled eternal, on account of their stability. Deuteronomy 33:15. Hebrew seems to be incorrect. Calmet.—“Thou art a light magnificently from ( Bible.) or more than, (Bert.) the mountains of the captivity.” Saint Jerome—Or, “of prey.” Prot.—“Thou art more terrible … than the richest mountains.” Theod.—Yet this comparison hardly suits in this place, ( Calmet.) and Houbigant prefers the Vulg. and Septuagint who may have read terem, “before,” or saraph, “of the seraph,” (alluding to God’s seat upon the ark) instead of tareph, “prey.” Bert.—God grants victory to his people, and enlightens them with the true faith. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 6. Troubled. Hebrew “plundered,” or “stupified.” Bert.—The haughty and blasphemous Sennacherib, Rabsaces, and so forth were full of dismay, when the destroying angel slew 185,000 ( Calmet.) in the dead of the night.
“What dire astonishment, ye men
Of Media, sunk you to despair?” Hymn on War, p. 52. Bible.
—Sleep in death. Job 27:19.—Of riches, with which they are possessed, as with a fever, (Seneca, ep. cxix.) and of which they dream. Isaiah 29:8. Calmet.—Yet the most opulent must die, and are foolish in clinging to riches, since they can carry nothing away. Menochius.—Hands. Hebrew “the men of the army have not found their hands.” Bert.—They could not use their arms against a spirit. Bible.—Christ has enlightened the mountains, his apostles; and fools despise their instructions, as the Athenians did Saint Paul’s, being too much attached to the world. Saint Augustine Bert.—Though they may be troubled, they will not open their eyes to be convinced. Hence, they have no oil of good works, when they awake in eternity. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 7. Mounted. Hebrew “the chariot and horse.” Calmet.—But the riders are meant. Bert.—Rabsaces had boasted, that Ezechias could not find men to mount 2,000 horses, if he should give them to him. 4 Kennicott. 18:23. Calmet.—But God chastised his vain boasting. Bible.—While he defends his people, their enemies seem to slumber. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 8. And. Hebrew “thou, and who shall subsist before thee in the moment of thy wrath?” Houbigant rejects the second thou. Bert.—From. From the time that thy wrath shall bread out. Challoner.—Ex tunc, often relates to a distant period. We have long known the effects of thy indignation. Calmet. Hebrews 10:31.—At the first notice of thy will the enemy is dejected, and fears thy potent anger. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 9. Heard. Some edit. of the Septuagint read, “thou hast darted judgment.” Saint Augustine—Still. All were filled with astonishment, and Sennacherib was glad to escape in the most private manner. Calmet.—Persecutors will all be terrified when the signs of judgment begin to appear in heaven, when are here represented as past, on account of thier certainty. Worthington.—The divine power will be again displayed. Menochius.
Psalms
Verse 10. God. After the signs of dissolution, the Son of God shall come to judge. Bert.—The earth is now full of bustle: but then all shall be silent. Saint Augustine—Meek. Ezechias had given large sums to preserve peace. 4 Kennicott. 18:14. Calmet.—Judgment will take place for the sake of the just. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 11. To thee. The enemy shall repress his resentment, when he beholds the fall of Sennacherib. Tirinus.—The people who had been delivered, express their constant sentiments of gratitude. They revolve in mind the wonders of God, ( Bible.) both in time and in eternity, and keep holidays in memory of such benefits. Bert.—Hebrew “for the wrath of man shall confess to thee, thou shalt be girded with the remains of wrath.” Saint Jerome—The fury of the enemy shall only cause thy power to shine forth in his destruction. Bible.—Petau unites both these ideas, in his beautiful Greek verses, though it must be confessed, this passage is very obscure, both in the original and versions. Bert.—Men shall meditate on these benefits, and praise God with gladness, being moved to make vows, even of things left to their discretion, which they must perform. Worthington.
Psalms
Verse 12. God. Victims of thanksgiving, as was customary after a victory. Psalm 21. 26. 49 and 14. He speaks to the people who had been spared, particularly to the priests, though it may be understood also of foreign nations, who complied with this invitation. 2 Chronicles 32:22. Calmet.—Vows, and their completion, ought not to be separated, even though the thing vowed may have been before a matter of choice, as virginity, and so forth Saint Augustine Bert.—What says Luther? Bible.
Psalms
Verse 13. Away. Hebrew “he will cut off,” (Mont.) like grapes: which means rather to destroy, than to bereave of counsel. Isaiah 19:13. This might be written after Sennacherib was slain. 4 Kennicott. 19:37. Calmet.—God is terrible, and will demand an account even of princes, respecting vows and other good works. Great discretion is therefore requisite. Worthington.