Psalms 105:41

Psa 105:41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places [like] a river.

Ver. 41. He opened the rock] Set it abroach, giving them pluviam escatilem, et petram aquatilem, as Tertullian hath it.

They ran in the dry places] Per deserta Sinis et Tzinis, saith Junius. See 1Co 10:4.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_105:41

He opened the rock.

The rock at Horeb

I. The source whence the waters are said to have sprung. A rock is in many respects an appropriate emblem of Christ.

1. It suggests the ideas of stability and unchangeableness.

2. Chosen by God Himself.

3. Smitten.

II. The uses for which they were designed.

1. To save from death by thirst.

2. To purify.

3. To refresh.

Hungry and thirsty, we are told, their soul fainted in them. But the same waters that saved them from perishing, renewed their strength, and enabled them to prosecute their journeyings to Canaan with fresh vigour and alacrity. And is it not thus with the weary and heavy-laden traveller to Zion, when supplies from the Redeemers grace are afforded to his soul?

III. The manner in which the waters flowed from the opened rock.

1. Abundantly. So it is with the grace of Christ. It is exceeding abundant. Its efficacy to save, to purify, and to refresh our souls is inexhaustible.

2. Freely. So with the blood of Christ. It is open even to the vilest and guiltiest.

3. Constantly. No drought could exhaust nor cold arrest the waters which the Israelites enjoyed in the wilderness; so neither shall any worldly trial deprive the true Israel of the reviving streams of the Redeemers grace. Goodness and mercy shall surely follow the ransomed of the Lord through all their earthly pilgrimage. (P. Grant.)

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Psa_106:1-48

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. (Psa 105:41) He is Jehovah our God; in all the earth (are) his judgments. His covenant relations are with us the seed of Abraham; but the proofs of his existence and vindicatory justice are common to all nations. This whole introduction seems intended to dispose both Jews and Gentiles to the praise of God.

41. (Psa 105:41) He opened a rock and forth gushed waters; they ran in the wastes, a river. See above, on Psa 78:16; Psa 78:20. The word translated wastes means, according to its etymology, dry places.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 41. He opened the rock, and the waters rushed out] See Clarke on Ex 17:6, to which I can now add, that a piece of this rock, broken off by the hand of my nephew, E. S. A. Clarke, in the course of the present year [1822,] now lies before me. It is fine granite; and so well distinguished as a granite, that the feldt-spar, the mica, and the quartz, of which granite is composed, appear very distinctly. It is worthy of remark, that, as granite is supposed, in the most accredited systems of geology, to be the very basis of the earth, the original rock, and all other substances to be superimpositions upon it, and as the decompositions of the feldt-spar produce pure vegetable earth, this rock should be used for this purpose, and should be an emblem of Jesus Christ, the Creator and Redeemer of the human race; and that it should signify him who is the basis of all things; who upholds all by the word of his power; without whom nothing is stable, nothing fruitful; from whom alone the water of life proceeds; and in whose name only is salvation. And that rock (in the wilderness) was Christ! and it is the only remaining emblem of him in creation.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(41) Rock.—The Hebrew tsûr refers us to the miracle at Horeb.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

41. the rock] In Rephidim, Exo_17:1 ff. A different word (‘cliff’) is used in Num_20:8 ff. The language is borrowed from Psa_78:15-16; Psa_78:20 : cp. Isa_41:18; Isa_48:21.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For he remembered his holy promise,.... It was not owing to the goodness of this people, to their obedience to the divine will, to any worthiness or merit of theirs, that such signs and wonders were wrought for them in Egypt; and that they were brought out from thence in such a manner as they were; and were protected and so plentifully provided for in the wilderness; but it was owing to the grace and goodness of God, to his covenant and promise, which he sacredly and inviolably observed; the grace and covenant of God are the source and spring of all blessings of goodness; he is ever mindful of his covenant, and therefore sends meat to them that fear him, as he did to the Israelites, Psa 111:5.

And Abraham his servant; or the promise he made to Abraham his servant; so the Targum,

"which "was" with Abraham his servant;''

that is, which holy word or promise was with Abraham, was spoken to him; and was with him, that he would give him and his seed the land of Canaan; and that though they should be afflicted long in Egypt, yet should come out from thence with great substance, Gen 15:13, this he remembered, as he never forgets any promise of his, nor ever suffers his faithfulness to fail, nor his covenant to be broken. Hence it follows,

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He opened the rock ... - See the notes at Psa 78:15. “They ran in the dry places like a river.” Or, “a river.” They flowed along in the desert - a river of waters. See the notes at 1Co 10:4.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They flowed in channels which God provided for them, and followed the Israelite’s in their march, as is noted, 1Co 10:4. Hence they complained no more of want of water till they came to Kadesh, Num 20, which was many years after this time.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 41. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out. With Moses' rod and his own word he cleft the rock in the desert, and forth leaped abundant floods for their drinking where they had feared to die of thirst. From most unlikely sources the all sufficient God can supply his people's needs; hard rocks become springing fountains at the Lord's command.

They ran in the dry places like a river: so that those at a distance from the rock could stoop down and refresh themselves, and the stream flowed on, so that in future journeyings they were supplied. The desert sand would naturally swallow up the streams, and yet it did not so, the refreshing river ran "in the dry places." We know that the rock set forth our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom there flows a fountain of living waters which shall never be exhausted till the last pilgrim has crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan.

Ver. 41. We have,

1. A type of the person of Christ, in the rock.

(a) Unsightly as Horeb"When we shall see him, there

is no beauty, "etc. (Isa 43:2).

(b) Firm and immovable "Who is a rock, save our God?"

(2Sa 22:32).

2. A type of the sufferings of Christ, in the smitten rock.

(a) Smitten by the rod of the Law.

(b) Smitten to the heart.

3. A type of the benefits of Christ, in the water flowing from the rockpure, refreshing, perpetual, abundant. James Bennett, 1828.

Ver. 41.

1. The miraculous energy of God's grace in the conversion of a sinner: "He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out."

2. The effect in relation to others, which demonstrates at once the excellence and the reality of the miracle in ourselves: "They ran in the dry places like a river." Thomas Dale, 1836.

Ver. 41.

1. The grand sourcethe rock opened.

2. The liberal stream"gushed out".

3. The continued flow"in dry places".

Psalms 105:42*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

41. The rock—The reference is particularly to Horeb, Exo_17:6. See note on Psa_78:16

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out. (see Exo_17:5, Exo_17:6, and Num_20:8-11) They ran in the dry places like a river. A poetical exaggeration of Num_20:11, "The water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

River - They flowed in channels which God provided for them, and followed the Israelites in their march.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

in the deserts ran rivers Rivers flowed from the well in an arid land.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.