Psalms 61:7

Psa 61:7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, [which] may preserve him.

Ver. 7. He shall abide before God for ever] Or, He shall sit, viz. upon the throne, a long while in his person; but for ever in his Son Christ, Luk 1:32-33 : and this affordeth sweet and singular comfort to the whole Church and each member thereof; forasmuch as the dignity of a king cannot stand unless his subjects be in safety.

O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him] Hos duos custodes adhibe quibus unis innitatur, let these two (thy mercy and thy truth) be the supporters of his throne, let them be of his lifeguard, let them be his due and prepared portion, as the Hebrew word Man here used signifieth (Junius). Some understand the words thus, furnish the king with these two virtues, clemency and truth, that thereby his throne may be established. See Pro 20:28; Pro 29:14.

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.

8. (Psa 61:7). He shall sit (enthroned) to eternity before God; mercy and truth do thou provide; let them preserve him (or they shall preserve him). The first verb suggests the two ideas of continuance or permanence and regal exaltation. Compare 2Sa 7:29. Before God, in his presence and under his protection. See above, on Psa 56:13. Provide, prepare, afford, or have in readiness. Mercy and Truth are personified, as in Psa 40:11; Psa 57:3. Compare Psa 43:3. They seem to be here represented as God's messengers or agents in preserving his Anointed.

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

For the stability of my kingdom standeth in thy mercy and truth.

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

abide before God--literally, "sit as a king in God's presence," under His protection.

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 7. He shall abide before God for ever] Literally, "He shall sit for ever before the faces of God." He shall ever appear in the presence of God for us. And he ever sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high; for he undertook this office after having, by his sacrificial offering, made atonement for our sins.

Prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.] As Mediator, his attendants will ever be mercy and truth. He will dispense the mercy of God, and thus fulfil the truth of the various promises and predictions which had preceded his incarnation. There is an obscurity in this clause, חסד ואמת מן ינצרהו chesed veemeth man yintseruhu, owing to the particle מן man, which some translate who or what; and others, number thou, from מנה manah, to count. Houbigant, and he is followed by Bishop Lowth, would read מיהוה miyehovah, Mercy and truth from Jehovah shall preserve him. The Anglo-Saxon has, [A.S.] Mildheartedness, and soothfastness his, who seeketh? which is nearly the rendering of the old Psalter: Mercy and sothfastnes of him, wha sall seke? Dr. Kennicott says, מן man is a Syriasm; and should be translated quaesoutinam, I beseech thee, - I wish, - O that! On this very ground Coverdale appears to have translated, O let thy lovynge mercy and faithfulnes preserve him! The sense I have given above I conceive to be the true one.

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

7. He shall abide before the face of God for ever. This is only a simpler way of expressing what he had said before, I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever. He refers to the security and peace which he would enjoy under the protection of God, who would effectually preserve his life. By the face of God, must be meant the fatherly care and providence which he extends to his people. So numerous are the dangers which surround us, that we could not stand a single moment, if his eye did not watch over our preservation. But the true security for a happy life lies in being persuaded that we are under divine government. There follows a prayer that God would appoint mercy and truth for preserving the king. And this admits of two meanings. As clemency and truth are the best safeguards of a kingdom, it would not be altogether unreasonable to suppose that David prays here to be endued with these dispositions, as a means of establishing his throne. But the other meaning is perhaps preferable, that God would gird himself with clemency and truth in order to the preservation of the king. The Hebrew term מנה, manah, signifies not only to prepare, but to set over, or appoint; and he speaks as if the true defense of the kingdom was only to be found in the mercy and faithfulness of God. He uses the expression prepare, or command, to intimate how easily God can provide the means necessary for preserving his people. In the concluding words, he expresses his resolution to persevere in the constant celebration of the praises of God, with a view to fulfilling the vows which he had contracted — and this again may lead us to remark the agreement which ought ever to subsist between the two parts of invocation: for David, while he applied to God for help, under the pressure of calamity, showed himself uniformly grateful when he had experienced deliverance.

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.

(7) He shall abide.—Better, may he sit enthroned.

Prepare.—Rather, appoint. But the LXX. had a different reading, and an ingenious emendation has been suggested from a comparison with Psa_40:11, viz., “let mercy and truth continually preserve him.”

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

7. He shall abide before God for ever] Rather, He shall sit enthroned before God for ever, an allusion to the promise of eternal dominion to the house of David, ‘in the presence of God,’ enjoying His favour and protection. See 2Sa_7:16 (read with LXX before me), 26, 29; Psa_21:6; Psa_89:36 b: and for the pregnant sense of ‘sit’ cp. Psa_9:7.

O prepare &c.] Appoint lovingkindness and truth that they may guard him. Cp. Psa_40:11; 2Sa_15:20; Psa_42:8; Psa_89:14. God’s covenant love and faithfulness to His promise are like guardian angels to the king; and the reflection of these attributes of God in his own character and administration will be the safeguard of his throne (Pro_20:28).

The word prepare (‘appoint’) is ignored by some of the Ancient Versions (Jer. Aq. Symm.), and variously rendered by others. It is in itself suspicious both for its form and for its position, and perhaps should simply be omitted. Possibly it may be a corruption of the word for ‘continually’ (Psa_40:11), or of an emphatic they (‘Lovingkindness and truth shall continually—or, even they shall—guard him’). Such a statement agrees better with Psa_61:6-7 a than a prayer does.

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.

He shall abide before God for ever,.... Or "sit" (b); or "may he sit". Being raised from the dead he was received up to heaven into the presence of God, and sat down at his right hand; where he abides for ever, a Priest upon his throne, having an unchangeable priesthood, Heb 7:24;

and prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him; which, if literally understood of David, is a prayer that the Lord would show him favour and kindness, and perform his promises to him, whereby his life would be preserved from the plots and, conspiracies of his enemies, and his kingdom be established; or that he might be exalted to exercise mercy towards his subjects, and administer justice, or execute the judgment of truth among them; which would make for the preservation of his person, and the support of his throne and government, Pro 20:28. But as the words may be applied to the Messiah, they are to be understood, not of the preservation of his corporeal life while here on earth; but either of the preservation of his people, in whom he lives, through the mercy and truth of God, expressed in the exertion of his power, by which they are preserved unto the heavenly kingdom and glory; or of the security of his kingdom, which not being of this world, is not supported by worldly power and policy, but in a spiritual manner, and by spiritual means; such as mercy, or "grace and truth"; that is, the doctrines of grace and truth, which came by Christ, and are preached by his ministers, and are the means of continuing, promoting, and preserving his kingdom and interest in the world, Or the words may be rendered, "may mercy and the truth of manna keep thee"; the true manna, Christ; see Joh 6:32; or "mercy and truth, as the manna, keep thee" (c); as that was kept in the golden pot, Exo 16:33; or rather as that kept and sustained the Israelites in the wilderness.

(b) "sedebit", Tigurine version, Vatablus, Musculus, Cocceius, Michaelis; so Ainsworth; "vel sedeat", Vatablus, Gejerus, Amama. (c) Vid. Hackman. Praecidan. Sacr. tom. 1. p. 71.

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

He shall abide before God for ever - That is, perpetually; without danger of change, or of being driven into exile. This may allude, however, to the hope which David had that he would always live with God in a higher world - a world where there would be no danger of change or banishment. His restoration to his home, to his throne, and to the privileges of the sanctuary, he may have regarded as an emblem of his ultimate reception into a peaceful heaven, and his mind may have glanced rapidly from the one to the other. On earth, after his restoration, he would have no fear that he would be banished again; in heaven, of which such a restoration might be regarded as an emblem, there could be no change, no exile.

O prepare mercy and truth - literally, divide, or divide out; then, allot or appoint; and then, make ready or prepare. The prayer is, that God would measure out to him, or impart to him, such favor that this desire of his heart would be realized. On the phrase mercy and truth, see Psa 25:10, note; Psa 57:3, note; Psa 57:10, note.

Which may preserve him - They will preserve him. That is, the manifestation of such mercy and truth would make his permanent occupancy of his throne on earth, and his ultimate reception into heaven, secure.

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

He shall abide, or sit, to wit, in the throne, Jer 13:13.

Before God; living and ruling as in God’s presence, and serving God with his royal power, and worshipping him in his tabernacle.

Prepare, or order, or appoint, as this word signifies, Jon 1:17; 4:6.

Mercy and truth; either,

1. The graces of mercy or compassion, and truth or faithfulness; which are the great supporters of thrones, Pro 20:28; 29:14. Or rather,

2. Thy mercy and truth, i.e. the effects of them; thy truth in giving me those mercies which thou hast promised to me, and thy mercy in giving me such further blessings as I need and thou seest fit to give me.

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

Ver. 7. He shall abide before God for ever. Though this is true of David in a modified sense, we prefer to view the Lord Jesus as here intended as the lineal descendant of David, and the representative of his royal race. Jesus is enthroned before God to eternity; here is our safety, dignity, and delight. We reign in him; in him we are made to sit together in the heavens. David's personal claim to sit enthroned for ever is but a foreshadowing of the revealed privilege of all true believers.

O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. As men cry, "Long live the king, "so we hail with acclamation our enthroned Immanuel, and cry, "Let mercy and truth preserve him." Eternal love and immutable faithfulness are the bodyguards of Jesus' throne, and they are both the providers and the preservers of all those who in him are made kings and priests unto God. We cannot keep ourselves, and nothing short of divine mercy and truth can do it; but these both can and will, nor shall the least of the people of God be suffered to perish.

Ver. 7. O prepare mercy. David having declared in his own behalf the purpose of God towards him for everlasting salvation, he, speaking of himself, shall abide before God for ever: he withal considering what he was to run through in this life, and what it might require to keep him unto the end, and so for ever, doth presently thereupon, in way of prayer, subjoin prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve me. As if he had said, I have yet a long journey to go, and through many hazards, and thy promise is, I shall abide before thee for ever. Lord, thou hast need lay up and aforehand prepare an abundance of mercy and truth to preserve me for time to come. Thomas Goodwin.

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

7. He shall abide before God—That is, he shall be established upon his throne in the presence, and by the favour, of God. “When kings are said to ‘abide’ or sit, it is commonly in the more formal sense of sitting on the throne, the judgment seat.”—Perowne.

Oh prepare mercy and truth— Or, appoint mercy and truth, distinguishing qualities of the divine character and government. These he would have appointed as his watch and guard, that his acts might conform to the divine model.

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

He shall abide (or, may he abide) before God forever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him; literally, appoint that mercy and truth may preserve him. Let "mercy and truth," the highest of thy attributes, preserve him, and keep him in life forever.

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

Add days to the days of the king If it has been decreed upon me to die young, add days to my days until my years will equal seventy years, as the years of every generation.

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.