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Psalm Sixteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 16
Michtam of David. This is a new title
not met with before
though it afterwards is prefixed to "five" psalms running
the fifty
sixth
the fifty seventh
the fifty eighth
the fifty ninth
and the sixtieth
psalms. Some take the word "michtam" to be the name of a musical
instrument
as Kimchi on Psalm 4:1; others the name of one of the
tunes
as Jarchi; and others the tune of a song which began with this word
as
Aben Ezra observes
to which this psalm was sung; the Septuagint translate it
"stelography"
or an inscription upon a pillar; such an one as is
erected by conquerors
as Theodoret observes
having writing on it declaring
the victory obtained; suggesting that the psalm
or the subject of it
the
death and resurrection of Christ
was worthy to be inscribed on a pillar of
marble; and the Targum renders it
"a right engraving"
that deserves
to be engraven in a monument of brass: but what seems to be the best sense of
the word is
that it signifies a work of gold
and may be rendered
"a
golden [psalm] of David"; so called
either because it was a dear and
favourite song of his; or from the subject matter
which is more valuable and
precious than the most fine gold: the title of it in the Syriac and Arabic
versions is
"concerning
the election of the church
and the resurrection of Christ;'
and
certain it is from Psalm 16:10
the resurrection of Christ is
spoken of in it
as is clear from the testimonies of two apostles
Peter and
Paul
who cite it in proof of it
Acts 2:25; and since there is but one
person speaking throughout the psalm
and Christ is he that speaks in Psalm 16:10
and which cannot be understood
of David
nor of any other person but Christ
the whole of the psalm must be
interpreted of him.
Psalm 16:1 Preserve
me
O God
for in You I put my trust.
YLT
1A Secret Treasure of David.
Preserve me
O God
for I did trust in Thee.
Preserve me
O God
.... Prayer is proper to Christ as man; he
offered up many prayers and supplications to Cost
even his Father
and his
God
and as the strong and mighty God
as the wordF9אל "Deus fortis seu potens"
Muis; "Deus
omnipotens"
Cocceius
Michaelis. here used is commonly rendered by
interpreters; with whom
all things are possible
and who is able to save; see Hebrews 5:7; and this petition for
preservation was suitable to him and his case
and was heard and answered by
God; he was very remarkably preserved in his infancy from the rage and fury of
Herod; and very wonderfully was his body preserved and supported in the
wilderness under a fast of forty days and forty nights together
and from being
torn to pieces by the wild beasts among which he was
and from the temptations
of Satan
with which he was there assaulted; and throughout the whole of his
ministry he was preserved from being hindered in the execution of his office
either by the flatteries
or menaces
or false charges of his enemies; and
though his life was often attempted they could not take it away before his
time: and whereas Christ is in this psalm represented as in the view of death
and the grave
this petition may be of the same kind with those in John 12:27; and put up with the same
submission to the will of God; and at least may intend divine help and support
in his sufferings and death
preservation from corruption in the grave
and the
resurrection of him from the dead; and it may also include his concern for the
preservation of his church
his other self
and the members of it
his
apostles
disciples
and all that did or should believe in his name
for whom
he prayed after this manner a little before his death; see Luke 22:31;
for in thee do I put my trust: or "have
hoped"F11חסיתי בך
"speravi in te"
V. L. Pagninus
Montanus. ; the graces of faith and
hope were implanted in the heart of Christ
as man
who had the gifts and
graces of the Spirit without measure bestowed on him
and these very early
appeared in him
and showed themselves in a very lively exercise
Psalm 22:7; and were in a very eminent
manner exercised by him a little before his death
in the view of it
and when
he was under his sufferings
and hung upon the cross
Isaiah 1:6
Matthew 27:46; and this his trust and
confidence in God alone
and not in any other
is used as a reason or argument
for his preservation and safety.
Psalm 16:2 2 O my soul
you have said to the Lord
“You are my Lord
My goodness is nothing apart from You.”
YLT
2Thou hast said to Jehovah
`My Lord Thou [art];' My good [is] not for thine own sake;
O my soul
thou hast
said unto the Lord
.... Some take these to be the words of David speaking to the
church
who had owned the Lord to be her Lord
and had declared what follows;
others think they are the words of God the Father to his Son
suggesting to him
what he had said; but they are rather an apostrophe
or an address of Christ to
his own soul; and the phrase
"O my soul"
though not in the original
text
is rightly supplied by our translators
and which is confirmed by the
Targum
and by the Jewish commentators
Jarchi
Aben Ezra
and Kimchi;
thou art my Lord; Christ
as man
is a
creature made by God; his human nature is the true tabernacle which God pitched
and not man
and on this consideration he is his Lord
being his Creator; and
as Mediator Christ is his servant
and was made under the law to him
obeyed
him
and submitted to his will in all things; so that he not only in words said
he was his Lord
but by deeds declared him to be so;
my goodness extendeth not to thee; such who
suppose that David here speaks in his own person
or in the person of other
believers
or that the church here speaks
differently interpret these words:
some render them
"my goodness is not above thee"F12טובתי בל עליך
"bonum meum non est supra te"
Gejerus. ; it is far inferior to
thine
it is not to be mentioned with it
it is nothing in comparison of it;
all my goodness
happiness
and felicity lies
in thee
Psalm 73:25; others
"I have no
goodness without thee": the sense is the same as if it was "I have
said"
as read the Greek
Vulgate Latin
and Oriental versions
and so
Apollinarius; I have none but what comes from thee; what I have is given me by
thee
which is the sense of the Targum; see James 1:17; others
"my goodness is
not upon thee"F13"Bonum meum non est super te"
Montanus
Cocceius. ; does not lie upon thee
or thou art not obliged to bestow
the blessings of goodness on me; they are not due to me
they spring from thy
free grace and favour; to this sense incline Jarchi
Aben Ezra
and Kimchi; see
Luke 17:10; others
"thou hast no need
of my goodness"; nor wilt it profit thee
so R. Joseph Kimchi; see Job 22:2; or the words may be rendered
"O my goodness"
or "thou art my good
nothing is above
thee"F14So Gussetius
p. 299. ; no goodness in any superior to
God. But they are the words of Christ
and to be understood of his goodness;
not of his essential goodness as God
nor of his providential goodness
the
same with his Father's; but of his special goodness
and the effect of it to
his church and people; and denotes his love
grace
and good will towards them
shown in his incarnation
sufferings
and death; and the blessings of goodness
which come thereby; such as a justifying righteousness
forgiveness of sin
peace
and reconciliation
redemption
salvation
and eternal life. Now though
God is glorified by Christ in his incarnation
sufferings
and death
and in
the work of man's redemption
yet he stood in no need of the obedience and
sufferings of his Son; he could have glorified his justice another way
as he
did in not sparing the angels that sinned
in drowning the old world
and in
burning Sodom and Gomorrah
and in other instances of his vengeance; though
there is glory to God in the highest in the affair of salvation by Christ
yet
the good will is to men; though the debt of obedience and sufferings was paid
to the justice of God
whereby that is satisfied and glorified
yet the
kindness in paying the debt was not to God but to men
described in Psalm 16:8.
Psalm 16:3 3 As for the saints who are
on the earth
“They are the excellent ones
in whom is all my delight.”
YLT
3For the holy ones who [are]
in the land
And the honourable
all my delight [is] in them.
But to the saints that are
in the earth
.... Who are sanctified or set apart by God the Father in
election; whose sins are expiated by the blood of Christ in redemption
and who
are sanctified or made holy by the Spirit of God in the effectual calling; and
who live a holy life and conversation: these are said to be "in the
earth"
not to distinguish them from the saints in heaven
to whom the
goodness of Christ extends as to them
unless it be to distinguish them from
the angels in heaven
who are called saints
Deuteronomy 33:2; as Aben Ezra observes;
but to point out the place of their abode
scattered up and down in the earth;
and to show that love
grace
goodness
and kindness of Christ reaches to them
in the present state of things
notwithstanding all their meanness and
imperfection in themselves
and their despicableness in the eyes of others; see
John 13:1;
and to the excellent; the same with the
saints
who though reckoned by men the faith of the world
and the offscouring
of all things
are in high esteem with Christ; they are "nobles"F15אדירי "magnificis"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Rivetus; "nobilibus delectationis meae"
Gejerus;
"ducibus eorum"
Cocceius; so Michaelis. in his account
as the word
is rendered in Jeremiah 30:21; they are princes in all the
earth
and these princes are kings; they are made kings and priests unto God by
Christ; they wear and live like kings
and have the attendance
power
riches
and glory of kings; they are guarded by angels
they have power with God
they
are rich in faith
and heirs of a kingdom;
in whom is all my delight; Christ's delights were
with these sons of men before the world was
and have always continued with
them; they are his "Hepbzibah" and "Beulah"
as in Isaiah 62:4; hence he became incarnate
and
suffered and died for them
and makes application of all the blessings of his
grace and goodness to them.
Psalm 16:4 4 Their sorrows shall be
multiplied who hasten after another god; Their drink offerings of
blood I will not offer
Nor take up their names on my lips.
YLT
4Multiplied are their
griefs
[Who] have hastened backward; I pour not out their libations of blood
Nor do I take up their names on my lips.
Their sorrows shall be multiplied
.... Not the sorrows of
the saints and excellent ones
by seeing the idolatry of men
as Aben Ezra
interprets it; but the sorrows of such
that hasten after
another god; a false god
an idol
to serve and worship it; for
generally
speaking
idolaters are more forward
eager
and hasty to attend a false
worship
than the worshippers of the true God are to attend his service: now
their sorrows are many
even in their worship
by cutting their bodies with
knives and lancets
as the worshippers of Baal did; and by sacrificing their
own children
which
notwithstanding their rash and precipitate zeal
could not
fail of giving them pain and uneasiness; and
besides temporal punishments
inflicted on them for their idolatry by God
and stings of conscience
which
must sometimes attend them
the wrath of God lies upon them
and they will have
their portion in the lake of fire
and the smoke of their torment will ascend for
ever and ever. Some render the words
"their idols are multiplied";
and so the Chaldee paraphrase
"they
multiply their idols
and after that hasten to offer their sacrifices;'
when
men leave the true God
they know not where to stop; the Heathens had not less
than thirty thousand gods
and the Jews when they fell into idolatry ran in the
same way
Jeremiah 2:28. The word "god" is
not in the original text
though the supplement is countenanced by the Jewish
writersF16Jarchi
Aben Ezra
Kimchi
Ben Melech
& Abendana in
loc.
who interpret it in this way; but I rather think the text is to be
understood not of Heathen idolaters
but of unbelieving Jews
who
rejecting
the true Messiah
hasten after another Messiah
king
and saviour; when Jesus
the true Messiah came they received him not; but when another came in his own
name they were eager to embrace him
John 5:43; and to this day they are
hastening after another; and in their daily prayers pray that the coming of the
Messiah might be במהידה
"in haste"
in
their daysF17Seder Tephillot
fol. 128. 2. ; and the sense of the
passage is
that the sorrows of the Jews
rejecting the Messiah and hastening
after another
would come thick and fast upon them
until wrath came upon them
to the uttermost
Matthew 24:6
1 Thessalonians 2:16; and it holds good of
all
whether Jews or Gentiles
that hasten after another saviour; that say to the
works of their hands
that they are their gods
or go about to establish a
righteousness of their own
or seek for life and salvation by their own doings;
these
sooner or later
will lie down in sorrow
Isaiah 50:11;
their drink offerings of blood will I not offer: meaning not
the libations of the Gentiles
which were not wine
according to the law
Numbers 15:10; but blood
even sometimes
human blood; but the sacrifices of the Jews
which were either got by blood
murders and robberies
and on that account were hateful to God
Isaiah 61:8; or rather the sacrifices of
bloodthirsty persons
whose hands were full of blood
Isaiah 1:11; and such were the offerings of
the priests
Scribes
and Pharisees
in Christ's time
who were the children of
them that killed the prophets
and sought after the blood of Christ. Or it may
be rendered
"I will not offer their drink offerings because of
blood"F18מדם "propter
sanguinem"
Cocceius
Gejerus
Michaelis. ; meaning his own blood shed for
the remission of sins
which being obtained
there remains no more offering for
sin; and so the words may express the abolition of all legal sacrifices
and the
causing of them to cease through the blood and sacrifice of Christ. This shows
the person speaking to be a priest
and therefore could not be David
but must
be the Messiah
who is a priest after the order of Melchizedek; and who had a
better sacrifice to other up than any of the offerings of the Jews
even his
own self
by which he has put away sin for ever. He adds
nor take up their names into my lips; not the names
of idol deities
nor of their worshippers
but of the Jews that rejected him as
the Messiah
for whom he would not pray
John 17:9; and so as he refused to offer
their sacrifices
he would not perform the other part of his priestly office
for them in intercession; though this may also have respect to the rejection of
the Jewish nation as the people of God; writing a "Loammi"
Hosea 1:9
upon them
declaring them to be
no longer the children of the living God; leaving their names for a curse
a
taunt
and a proverb in every place; expressing the utmost abhorrence of them
and showing the utmost indignation at them
as persons whose names were not
worthy or fit to be mentioned
Ephesians 5:3.
Psalm 16:5 5 O Lord
You are
the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot.
YLT
5Jehovah [is] the portion of
my share
and of my cup
Thou -- Thou dost uphold my lot.
The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup
.... This is
said by Christ as a priest
and in allusion to the Levitical priests
who had
no inheritance in the land of Canaan with their brethren
but the Lord was
their part and portion
and their inheritance
Numbers 18:20; and it expresses the strong
love and affection Christ had for the Lord as his God
the delight and pleasure
he had in him
and the satisfaction he had in the enjoyment of him and
communion with him
and that it was his meat and drink to serve him
and to do
his will; and though his goodness did not extend to him
yet his goodness and happiness
as man lay in him: unless the sense should be
"the
Lord is he who gives me the portion of mine inheritance;'
meaning
his church and people
all the elect of God
who are Christ's portion and
inheritance
given him by the Father; see Deuteronomy 32:9; And assigns to me my cup
as of blessings
so of sorrows and sufferings
which being measured out
filled
up
and put into his hand by his Father
he freely took it
John 18:11;
thou maintainest my lot; that is
either his
interest in God himself
as his covenant God
which always continued; or the
lot of goods
of grace and glory
put into his hands for his people
which
always remains; or rather the saints themselves
who
as they are Christ's
portion and inheritance
so they are his lot; in allusion to the land of
Canaan
which was divided by lot: these Jehovah took hold of
kept
preserved
and upheld
as the wordF19תומיך
"sustentas"
Musculus
Pagninus
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator;
so Ainsworth; "sustentans"
Montanus
Michaelis;
"tenuisti"
Cocceius; "tenendo quasi sustentans"
Gejerus.
signifies; so that they shall never totally and finally fall and perish; and this
sense is countenanced by what follows.
Psalm 16:6 6 The lines have fallen to
me in pleasant places; Yes
I have a good inheritance.
YLT
6Lines have fallen to me in
pleasant places
Yea
a beauteous inheritance [is] for me.
The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places
.... The
allusion is to the measuring of land by lines
and appropriating each part to
the proper owners; and lines design the land that is measured out by them
and
here the church and people of God
the chosen ones who are given to Christ
as
his portion and inheritance; and the sense is
that Christ's portion lies among
or in pleasant persons; such as were so to him
as he saw them in his Father's
purposes and decrees; and as they are clothed in his righteousness
and washed
in his blood; and as they are adorned with the graces of his Spirit; and as
they will be as a bride adorned for him in the New Jerusalem state
for rather
persons than places are here meant: though as the bounds of the saints'
habitations are set
and they are known to Christ
so they were pleasant to
him
and he took delight and rejoiced in the very spots of ground where he knew
they would dwell
Proverbs 8:31; and the word
"places" is supplied by Aben Ezra and Kimchi: but the former sense
seems best
and agrees with what follows;
yea
I have a goodly heritage: so the Lord's people are
called
1 Peter 5:3; these are Christ's heritage
his peculiar treasure
his jewels
with whom he is greatly delighted and well
pleased; more than men are with their gold and silver
houses and land
and
their greatest wealth and substance: these persons are the inheritance with
which he is contented and fully satisfied.
Psalm 16:7 7 I will bless the Lord who has given
me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
YLT
7I bless Jehovah who hath
counselled me; Also [in] the nights my reins instruct me.
I will bless the Lord
.... As prayer
so
thanksgiving belongs to Christ
as man and Mediator; see Matthew 11:25; and here he determines to
praise the Lord
and give thanks to him for counsel and instruction:
who hath given me counsel; for though he himself is
the Counsellor
with respect to his people
yet as man he received counsel from
God
and the spirit of counsel rested on him
Isaiah 11:2; and fitted him for and
directed him in the execution of his prophetic office; for the doctrine he
taught was not his own
but his Father's; and he said nothing of himself but
what his Father taught him
and instructed him to speak
John 6:16. And he also gave him counsel
about the execution of his priestly office
or about his sufferings and death
and drinking of the cup
which he
with submission to the divine will
desired
might pass from him; but having advice in this matter
most cheerfully and
courageously yielded to take it
see Matthew 26:39;
my reins also instruct me in the night seasons; when engaged
in prayer to God
in which he sometimes continued a whole night together
Luke 6:12; and especially in that dark and
dismal night in which he was betrayed
when it was the hour and power of
darkness with his enemies; then
his inward parts being influenced by the
spirit of wisdom and counsel
directed him how to behave and conduct himself.
Or "the reins" being the seat of the affections
and being put for
them
may signify
that his strong affection for God
and love to his people
put him upon and moved him to take the steps he did
to deliver up himself into
the hands of sinful men
in order to suffer and die for his friends
and obtain
eternal salvation for them.
Psalm 16:8 8 I have set the Lord always before
me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
YLT 8I did place Jehovah before
me continually
Because -- at my right hand I am not moved.
I have set the Lord always before me
Not his fear
only
or the book of the law
as Jarchi interprets it
but the Lord himself;
or
"I foresaw the Lord always before my face"
Acts 2:26; as Christ is set before men in
the Gospel
to look unto as the object of faith and hope
to trust in and
depend upon for life and salvation; so Jehovah the Father is the object which
Christ set before him
and looked unto in the whole course of his life here on
earth; he had always an eye to his glory
as the ultimate end of all his
actions; and to his will
his orders
and commands
as the rule of them; and to
his purposes
and counsel
and covenant
to accomplish them; and to his power
truth
and faithfulness
to assist
support
and encourage him in all his
difficulties and most distressed circumstances;
because he is at my right hand: to counsel
and instruct
to help
protect
and defend: the phrase is expressive of the
nearness of God to Christ
his presence with him
and readiness to assist and
stand by him against all his enemies; see Psalm 109:31; so the Targum paraphrases it
"because his Shechinah rests upon me";
I shall not be moved: as he was not from his
place and nation
from the duty of his office
and the execution of it
by all
the threats and menaces of men; nor from the fear
worship
and service of God
by all the temptations of Satan; nor from the cause of his people he had
espoused
by all the terrors of death
the flaming sword of justice
and the
wrath of God; but
in the midst and view of all
stood unshaken and unmoved;
see Isaiah 42:4.
Psalm 16:9 9 Therefore my heart is
glad
and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
YLT
9Therefore hath my heart
been glad
And my honour doth rejoice
Also my flesh dwelleth confidently:
Therefore my heart is glad
.... Because he had the
Lord always in view; he was at his right hand
for his support and assistance
as well as because of what is expressed in the next verses: this is the same
with rejoicing in spirit
Luke 10:21; it denotes an inward joy
and
fulness of it
because of the Lord's presence with him; see Acts 2:28;
and my glory rejoiceth; meaning either his soul
which is the most glorious and noble part of man
as Aben Ezra
Kimchi
and Ben
Melech interpret it; or rather his tongue
as in Acts 2:26; the faculty of speaking in man
being what gives him a superior glory and excellency to other creatures
and is
that whereby he glorifies God; and so the word is often used in this book; see Psalm 30:12; and here the phrase designs
Christ's glorifying God
and singing his praise with joyful lips
among his
disciples
a little before his sufferings and death;
my flesh also shall rest in hope; in the grave
which
as
it is a resting place to the members of Christ
from all their sorrow
toil
and labour here; so it was to Christ their head
who rested in it on the Jewish
sabbath
that day of rest
and that berth "in safety"F20לבטח "in tuto"
Tigurine version;
"secure"
Junius & Tremellius
Piscator
Cocceius; "in
confidence"
Ainsworth.
as the word used may signify
and in of his
resurrection from the dead
as follows.
Psalm 16:10 10 For You will not leave my
soul in Sheol
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
YLT
10For Thou dost not leave my
soul to Sheol
Nor givest thy saintly one to see corruption.
For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell
.... Meaning
not in the place of the damned
where Christ never went
nor was; for at his
death his soul was committed to his Father
and was the same day in paradise:
but rather
"sheol" here
as "hades" in the Near Testament
signifies the state of the dead
the separate state of souls after death
the
invisible world of souls
where Christ's soul was; though it was not left
there
nor did it continue
but on the third day returned to its body again;
though it seems best of all to interpret it of the grave
as the word is
rendered in Genesis 42:38; and then by his
"soul" must be meant
not the more noble part of his human nature
the soul
in distinction from the body; for as it died not
but went to God
it
was not laid in the grave; but either he himself
in which sense the word
"soul" is sometimes used
even for a man's self
Psalm 3:2. For it might be truly said of
him
God's Holy One
that he was laid in the grave
though not left there; or
rather his dead body
for so the word "nephesh" is rendered in Numbers 9:6; so "anima" is used
in Latin authorsF21"--animamque sepulchro coudimus--".
Virgil. Aeneid. 3. v. 67. : this was laid in the grave; for Joseph having
begged it of Pilate
took it down from the cross
and laid it in his own new
tomb; though it was the will of God it should not be left there
but be raised
from the dead
as it was on the third day
before it was corrupted
as follows:
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption; that is
to
lie so long in the grave as to putrefy and be corrupted; wherefore he was
raised from the dead on the third day
according to the Scriptures
before the
time bodies begin to be corrupted; see John 11:39; and this was owing not to the
care of Joseph or Nicodemus
in providing spices to preserve it
but of God who
raised him from the dead
and gave him glory; and who would not suffer his body
to be corrupted
because he was holy
and because he was his Holy One; that so
as there was no moral corruption in him
there should be no natural corruption
in him; so the Jewish MidrashF23Apud Kimchi in v. 9. interprets it
that
"no
worm or maggot should have power over him;'
which
is not true of David
nor of any but the Messiah. This character of "Holy
One" eminently belongs to Christ above angels and men
yea
it is often
used of the divine Being
and it agrees with Christ in his divine nature
and
is true of him as man; he is the holy thing
the holy child Jesus; his nature
is pure and spotless
free from the taint of original sin; his life and
conversation were holy and harmless
he did no sin
nor knew any
nor could any
be found in him by men or devils; his doctrines were holy
and tended to
promote holiness of life; all his works are holy
and such is the work of
redemption
which is wrought out in consistence with and to the glory of the
holiness and righteousness of God; Christ is holy in all his offices
and is
the fountain of holiness to his people; and he is God's Holy One
he has
property in him as his Son
and as Mediator
and even as an Holy One; for he
was sanctified and sent into the world by him
being anointed with the holy oil
of his Spirit without measure. The word may be rendered
a "merciful"F24חסדיך "misericordem tuum"
Pagninus
Montanus;
"beneficus tuus"
Piscator. or "liberal" and
"beneficent one": for Christ is all this; he is a merciful as well as
a faithful high priest
and he generously distributes grace and glory to his
people.
Psalm 16:11 11 You will show me the path
of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are
pleasures forevermore.
YLT
11Thou causest me to know the
path of life; Fulness of joys [is] with Thy presence
Pleasant things by Thy
right hand for ever!
Thou wilt show me the path of life
.... Not the way of life
and salvation for lost sinners
which is Christ himself; but the resurrection
of the dead
which is a passing from death to life; and was shown to Christ
not doctrinally
or by illuminating his mind
and leading him into the doctrine
of it
for so he himself has brought it to light by the Gospel; practically and
experimentally
by raising him the dead
or by causing him to pass from death
to life; and he was the first to whom the path of life was shown in this sense
or the that who ever trod in it
and so has led the way for others: hence he is
called the that fruits of them that slept
the firstborn and first begotten
from the dead; for though others were raised before
yet not to an immortal
life
never to die more
as he was; now the view
the faith
and hope of this
of not being left in the grave so long as to see corruption
and of being
raised from the dead to an immortal life
caused joy and gladness in Christ
at
the time of his sufferings and death
as well as what follows;
in thy presence is fulness of joy: Christ
being
raised from the dead
ascended to heaven
and was received up into glory into
his Father's presence
and is glorified with his own self
with his glorious
presence
for which he prayed
John 17:5; and which fills his human nature
with fulness of joy
with a joy unspeakable and full of glory; see Acts 2:28; and as it is with the head it
will be with the members in some measure; now the presence of God puts more joy
and gladness into them than anything else can do; but as yet their joy is not
full; but it will be when they shall enter into the joy of their Lord
into the
presence of God in the other world then everlasting joy will be upon their
heads;
at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore; Christ being
entered into heaven is set down at the right hand of God in human nature
an
honour which is not conferred on any of the angels
Hebrews 1:13; where the man Christ Jesus is
infinitely delighted with the presence of God
the never fading joys of heaven
the company of angels and glorified saints; here he sits and sees of the
travail of his soul; he prolongs his days and sees his seed
souls called by
grace
and brought to glory one after another
until they are all brought in
in whom is all his delight; and which was the joy set before him at the time of
his sufferings and death: or the words may be rendered "in thy right are
pleasant things for ever"F25נעימות בימינך נצח "amoenorum quae
sunt in dextera tua perpetuo"
Cocceius; "delectationes in dextera
tua usque in seculum"
Musculas.
and may design those gifts and graces
which Christ
being exalted at the right hand of God
received from thence and
gives to men
for the use and service
of his church and people
in the several
successive ages of time; and so Aben Ezra takes the words to be an allusion to
a man's giving pleasant gifts to his friend with his right hand.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》