Psalms 54:6

Psa 54:6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for [it is] good.

Ver. 6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee] Or, liberally; not with an ill will and pinchingly. The Arabic rendereth it, Laudabo te obediens. Praise is the best sacrifice, and obedience is the best praise.

I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good] Thy name is good, and it is a good thing to praise it; for thereby men do thee right, help thee to thine own, secure to themselves former favours, and procure future.

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_54:6-7

I will freely sacrifice unto Thee: I will praise Thy name, O Lord, for it is good.

Thank-offerings

The closing verses of this simple little psalm touch very familiar notes. The faith which has prayed has grown so sure of answer that is already begins to think of the thank-offerings. This is not like the superstitious vow, I will give so-and-so if Jupiter--or the Virgin--will hear me. This praying man knows that he is heard, and is not so much vowing as joyfully anticipating his glad sacrifice. The same incipient personification of the name as in Psa_54:1 is very prominent in the closing strains. Thank-offerings--not merely statutory and obligatory, but brought by free, uncommanded impulse--are to be offered to Thy name, because that name is good. Verse 7 probably should be taken as going even further in the same direction of personification, for Thy name is probably to be taken as the subject of hath delivered. The Senses of the verbs in Psa_54:7 are perfects. They contemplate the deliverance as already accomplished. Faith sees the future as present. This psalmist, surrounded by strangers seeking his life, can quietly stretch out a hand of faith, and bring near to himself the to-morrow when he will look back on scattered enemies and present, glad sacrifices! That power of drawing a brighter future into a dark present belongs not to those who build anticipations on wishes, but to those who found their forecasts on Gods known purposes and character. The name is a firm foundation for hope. There is no other. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

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Psa_55:1-23

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

Psa 54:6-7. I will freely sacrifice, &c. — Not by constraint, as many do, because they are obliged to do it, and cannot neglect it without shame and inconvenience to themselves; but with a willing and cheerful mind, which thou lovest in and above all sacrifices. I will praise thy name, for it is good — Thy name is not only great, but good, and therefore to be praised. And to praise thy name is not only our duty, but our interest and our happiness. It is pleasant and profitable; good for us, as well as reasonable, just, and good in itself. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble — Hebrew, מכל צרה, michal tzarah, from every strait. Or, as the Seventy render it, εκ πασης θλιψεως, out of every affliction. He speaks of his deliverance as already effected, either to express his assurance of it, or because this Psalm was made after it was wrought. And mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies — Not seen them cut off and ruined, but forced to retreat; tidings being brought to Saul that the Philistines had invaded the land, 1Sa 23:27-28. All that David desired was to see himself safe: and when he saw Saul draw off his forces, he saw his desire. The words, his desire, however, are not in the Hebrew, which may be properly rendered, mine eye hath looked upon mine enemies, that is, “mine enemies came near enough to be seen by me, and that was all. God kept them from coming near me, so that they have all been disappointed of their prey.” This was the very case with David. He saw his enemies with pleasure at a distance, and he enjoyed the sight; especially when they marched off and left him to escape. His deliverance was great, and was manifestly the work of God, and he gave God the glory of it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. (Psa 54:6). With a free-will offering will I sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, Jehovah, for it is good. In the confident assurance of a favourable answer to his prayer, he promises a suitable acknowledgment. See above, on Psa 5:8 (7). A free-will or voluntary offering, as opposed to one prescribed by law, not to one rendered obligatory by a vow, for then a voluntary offering would in this case be impossible. The Hebrew word is the technical term applied to such an offering in the law. See Lev 7:16; Lev 22:23, and compare Exo 25:2; Exo 35:29, Num 15:3. With the last clause compare Psa 52:9.

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

54:6-7 In anticipation of God’s response, the mood of the psalm changes from gloom to thanksgiving.

54:6 A voluntary offering is a sacrifice of praise. Sacrifices of praise are the kind of offering God most desires (see Ps 50:14-15, 23).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For hypocrites serve God for fear or upon conditions.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

I will freely, &c.--or, present a freewill offering (Lev 7:16; Num 15:3).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee] Or, I will sacrifice nobly unto thee. Not only with a willing mind, but with a liberal hand will I bring sacrifice unto thee.

For it is good] Thy name is good; it is descriptive of thy nature; full of goodness and mercy to man. And it is good to be employed in such a work: whoever worships thee in sincerity is sure to be a gainer. To him who orders his conversation aright, thou dost show thy salvation.

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

6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee. According to his usual custom, he engages, provided deliverance should be granted, to feel a grateful sense of it; and there can be no doubt that he here promises also to return thanks to God, in a formal manner, when he should enjoy an opportunity of doing so. Though God principally looks to the inward sentiment of the heart, that would not excuse the neglect of such rites as the Law had prescribed. He would testify his sense of the favor which he received, in the manner common to all the people of God, by sacrifices, and be thus the means of exciting others to their duty by his example. And he would sacrifice freely: by which he does not allude to the circumstance, that sacrifices of thanksgiving were at the option of worshippers, but to the alacrity and cheerfulness with which he would pay his vow when he had escaped his present dangers. The generality of men promise largely to God so long as they are under the present pressure of affliction, but are no sooner relieved than they relapse into that carelessness which is natural to them, and forget the goodness of the Lord. But David engages to sacrifice freely, and in another manner than the hypocrite, whose religion is the offspring of servility and constraint. We are taught by the passage that, in coming into the presence of God, we cannot look for acceptance unless we bring to his service a willing mind. The last clause of this verse, and the verse which follows, evidently refer to the time when the Psalmist had obtained the deliverance which he sought. The whole psalm, it is true, must have been written after his deliverance; but up to this point, it is to be considered as recording the form of prayer which he used when yet exposed to the danger. We are now to suppose him relieved from his anxieties, and subjoining a fresh expression of his gratitude: nor is it improbable that, he refers to mercies which he had experienced at other periods of his history, and which were recalled to his memory by the one more immediately brought under our notice in the preceding verses; so that he is to be understood as declaring, in a more general sense, that the name of God was good, and that he had been delivered out of all trouble I have already adverted, in a former psalm, (Psalm 52:6,) to the sense in which the righteous are said to see the destruction of their enemies. It is such a sight of the event as is accompanied with joy and comfort; and should any inquire, whether it is allowable for the children of God to feel pleasure in witnessing the execution of Divine judgments upon the wicked, the answer is obvious, that all must depend upon the motive by which they are influenced. If their satisfaction proceed in any measure from the gratification of a depraved feeling, it must be condemned; but there is certainly a pure and unblameable delight which we may feel in looking upon such illustrations of the divine justice.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(6) I will freely sacrifice.—Better, I will offer a willing (or freewill) sacrifice.

For it is good.—Comp. Psa_52:9.

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

6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee] Or, With a free will I will sacrifice unto thee. So the LXX and Jer. R.V., with a freewill offering. But cp. Num_15:3, “a burnt offering or sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or of freewill, or in your set feasts.”

I will praise thy name, O Lord] R.V., I will give thanks unto thy name. Cp. Psa_52:9. Lord, i.e. Jehovah, appears here, contrary to the general usage of the book. It may have been retained, or restored, in a familiar formula. For it, viz. Thy name, is good. Cp. Psa_52:9, and Psa_54:1.

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.

I will freely sacrifice unto thee,.... Not legal sacrifices; no, nor freewill offerings the law gives directions about, though the allusion is to them; but the freewill offerings of his mouth, Psa 119:108; the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, on account of help, salvation, and deliverance, as appears from the following clause; which he determines to offer, not by constraint, but willingly; not by force, but of a ready mind; freely, and with all his heart. The sacrifice of his antitype is himself, his soul and body, as in union with his divine Person; and this was offered up to God, against whom man has sinned, and whose justice must be satisfied; and this was done freely and voluntarily; he gave himself an offering; he laid down his life of himself, and that for sinners. The sacrifices of his people are their prayers and praises, their acts of beneficence, and the presentation of their souls and bodies in divine service; all which they do freely, under the influence of divine grace;

I will praise thy name, O Lord; which explains what is meant by sacrificing: this is what is due to the Lord, and comely in his people;

for it is good; either the name of God; and therefore to be praised. He himself is good, as, he is, both in a way of providence and of grace; and it is good, both pleasantly and profitably good, to sing praises to him, Psa 147:1.

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

I will freely sacrifice unto thee - The Hebrew words rendered “freely,” mean with “willingness, voluntariness, spontaneousness.” The idea is, that he would do it of a free or willing mind; without constraint or compulsion; voluntarily. The reference is to a free-will or voluntary offering, as distinguished from one, that was prescribed by law. See Exo 35:29; Exo 36:3; Lev 7:16; Lev 22:18; Num 15:3; Num 29:39. The idea is, that as the result of the divine interposition which he prayed for, he would bring voluntary offerings to God in acknowledgment of his goodness and mercy.

I will praise thy name, O Lord - I will praise thee. See Psa 52:9.

For it is good - That is, God himself is benevolent; and David says that he would express his sense of God’s goodness by offering him praise.

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

Freely sacrifice; not by constraint, as many do, because they are obliged to it, and cannot neglect it without shame and inconvenience to themselves; but with a willing and cheerful mind, which thou lovest in and above all sacrifices.

It; either thy name; or rather, to praise thy name;

is good, i.e. an act of justice, and piety, and gratitude.

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

Ver. 6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee. Spontaneously will I bring my freewill offerings. So certain is he of deliverance that he offers a vow by anticipation. His overflowing gratitude would load the altars of God with victims cheerfully presented. The more we receive, the more we ought to render. The spontaneousness of our gifts is a great element in their acceptance; the Lord loveth a cheerful giver.

I will praise thy name, O Lord. As if no amount of sacrifice could express his joyful feelings, he resolves to be much in vocal thanksgiving. The name which he invoked in prayer (Ps 54:1), he will now magnify in praise. Note how roundly he brings it out:

O Jehovah. This is ever the grand name of the revealed God of Israel, a name which awakens the most sublime sentiments, and so nourishes the most acceptable praise. None can praise the Lord so well as those who have tried and proved the preciousness of his name in seasons of adversity. The psalmist adds,

for it is good, and surely we may read this with a double nominative, God's name is good, and so is his praise. It is of great use to our souls to be much in praise; we are never so holy or so happy as when our adoration of God abounds. Praise is good in itself, good to us, and good to all around us. If David's enemies are described in Ps 54:3 as not setting God before them, he here declares that he is of a different mind from them, for he resolves to have the Lord in perpetual remembrance in his sacrifices and praises.

Ver. 6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee. He would sacrifice freely: by which he does not allude to the circumstance, that sacrifices of thanksgiving were at the option of worshippers, but to the alacrity and cheerfulness with which he would pay his vow when he had escaped his present dangers. John Calvin.

Ver. 6. We should sacrifice voluntarily, liberally, joyfully, continuously, with pure motive.

Ver. 6. The goodness of praising the good name.

Psalms 54:7*

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

6. I will freely sacrifice—Hebrew, with a free-will offering I will sacrifice, etc. נדבה, (nedabah,) is always used for the free-will offering in the Pentateuch, and generally elsewhere. Its peculiarity consisted in its pure spontaneity, springing solely from the willing heart of the worshipper, without the prompting of a legal requirement or an antecedent vow, with which it, namely, the votive offering, stood in contrast. The free-will sacrifices of the text “were not spiritual in opposition to the ritual sacrifices, (as in Psa_50:14; Psa_51:17,) but ritual as an outward representation of the spiritual.”—Delitzsch. The free-will offering belonged to the class of peace offering on receiving the answer of prayer, and assured acceptance and fellowship with God. The remaining members of the verse corroborate the view here given. It is good—That is, thus to give thanks.

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

I will freely sacrifice unto thee. Confidence has now mounted up to certainty. Regarding the deliverance as accomplished, the psalmist promises a freewill offering (Hengstenberg, Kay, Canon Cook) to God, so soon as he can approach the sanctuary. The phrase used is the ordinary one for sacrifices of thanksgiving. (Num_15:3) I will praise thy Name, O Lord; for it is good. (comp. Psa_52:9)

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

I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good

Yahweh's name represents him. AT: "I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, for you are good" (See: Synecdoche)

my eye has looked

The eye represents the person. AT: "I have looked" (See: Synecdoche)

my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies

Possible meanings are 1) seeing that his enemies have been defeated. AT: "I have seen that my enemies have been defeated" or 2) defeating his enemies. AT: "I have defeated my enemies" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

sacrifice

freewill offering

name

Yahweh

trouble

adversary

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.