Psalms 7:17

Verse 17. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness] I shall celebrate both his justice and his mercy. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. The name of God is often put for his perfections. So here, שם יהוה עלין shem Yehovah Elyon; "The perfections of Jehovah, who is above all." My old Scotico-English MS., mentioned at the conclusion of the introduction, begins at this verse, where are the following words by way of paraphrase: Sang falles til ioy; and he that synges well that name, his ioy es mare than i kan tell. Those who are happy may sing; and he who can duly celebrate the name of God, who knows it to be a strong tower into which he can run and find safety, has inexpressible happiness. That is the sense of the above.

ANALYSIS OF THE SEVENTH PSALM

I. His appeal to God by way of petition, Ps 7:1; Ps 7:2; Ps 7:6.

II. The reasons of this appeal, - set down through the whole Psalm.

III. His doxology or thanksgiving, Ps 7:17.

I. He begins his appeal with a petition for deliverance from his persecutors: "Save me and deliver me," Ps 7:1. In which he desires God to be,

1. Attentive to him: 1. Because of the relation between them. For he was the Lord his God. 2. He trusted in him: "O Lord my God, I trust in thee," Ps 7:1.

2. Benevolent to him. For he was now in danger of death. He had, 1. Enemies. 2. Many enemies. 3. Persecuting enemies. 4. But one above the rest, a lion ready to rend him in pieces; so that if God forsook him, he would do it. "Save me from those that persecute me," c., Ps 7:2.

II. And then he gives his reasons why he doth appeal to his God, which are: 1. His own innocence. 2. God's justice.

1. He makes a protestation of his innocence. He was accused that he lay in wait, and plotted for Saul's life and kingdom but he clears himself, shows the impossibility of it, and that with a fearful imprecation. 1. O Lord-if I have done any such thing as they object; if I have rewarded evil to him that was at peace with me, Ps 7:3; Ps 7:4, which was indeed an impossible matter. For I have delivered him-as Saul in the cave, 1Sa 24:2. His imprecation - Then let mine enemy persecute me-let him take both my life and my honour, kingdom, property, and whatever thou hast promised me.

2. And, which is the second reason of this appeal, being innocent, he calls for justice. "Arise, O Lord-lift up thyself-awake for me to judgment." For, 1. The rage of my enemies is great. 2. The judgment was thine that chose me to be king of thy people. Awake for me. 3. This will be for thy honour, and the edification of thy Church. "The congregation of thy people shall compass thee about. For their sakes return thou on high." Ascend the tribunal, and do justice.

Now, upon this argument of God's justice, he dwells and insists to the last verse of the Psalm.

1. He avows God to be his Judge.

2. He prays for justice to be done to him and to the wicked. 1. To him, an innocent person: "Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness." 2. To the wicked: "O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end!"

3. He prays not only for himself, but for all good men: "Establish the just." And adds this reason, that as "God trieth the hearts and reins," he is fittest to be judge, in whom is required knowledge and prudence.

4. The other two properties of a judge are, to save, and to punish; and the triumph of his faith is, that he knows He will do both. 1. He will save the just and upright in heart, and therefore his defence is in God. 2. He will punish the wicked, for he is angry with them every day; and yet even to them he shows much clemency and forbearance. He waits for their conversion. He whets, binds on, and sharpens his instruments of death; but he shoots not till there is no remedy. But, If they will not return he will whet his sword, c.

5. But the Lord's longsuffering had no good effect upon Saul he grew worse and worse: He travailed with mischief; conceived iniquity; brought forth falsehood; and digged a pit for his innocent neighbour, into which he fell himself. Thus the righteous God executed judgment and vindicated innocence.

III. The close of the Psalm is a doxology. Thanks that a good and merciful God would judge for the righteous, save those who are true of heart, establish the just, and take vengeance upon the wicked. For this, saith David, "I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord the Most High."

The righteous may be oppressed, but they shall not be forsaken: nor can they lose even by their afflictions, for they shall be turned to their advantage. Every occurrence helps a good man, whether prosperous or adverse; but to the wicked every thing is a curse. By his wickedness, even his blessings are turned to a bane.

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

Psa 7:17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

Ver. 17. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness] i.e. His faithfulness in keeping promise with his people, and with myself in particular. I will say to his honour, as Deu 32:4, "A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he."

And will sing praise to the name, &c.] Where the psalmist mentioneth the overthrow of the wicked. Laus praecedit et sequitur, saith R. Joshua Ben Levi here, as in this place, and Psa 9:2

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 7:17. I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness — I will give him the glory of that gracious protection under which he takes his afflicted people, and of the just vengeance with which he will pursue them that afflict them; and will most thankfully acknowledge, not only the power, but the just judgment of God, and his faithfulness to his word. “Whatever doubts may at present arise in our minds concerning the ways of God, let us rest assured that they will receive a solution; and that the

‘righteousness’ of the great Judge, manifested in his final determinations, will be the subject of everlasting hallelujahs.” — Horne.

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

18. (Psa 7:17). While the wicked enemy of God and his people is thus made to execute the sentence on himself, the Psalmist already exults in the experience of God's saving mercy. I will praise the Lord, Jehovah, i. e. acknowledge his favours. See above, on Psa 7:6 (5). According to his right, desert, or due, as in Psa 7:9 (8) above. Or according to his righteousness, his justice, i. e. the praise shall correspond to the display just made of this attribute, as well in the deliverance of the Psalmist as in the destruction of his enemies. And I will sing praise, praise by singing, praise in song, the name, the manifested excellence (see above, on Psa 7:12 (11),) of the Lord, Jehovah, High or Most High. He will praise the Lord in this exalted character as manifested by his dealings in the case which gave occasion to the psalm. The resolution thus expressed may be considered as fulfilled in the psalm itself, so confident is he that it cannot be performed before his prayer is answered. Or the words may be understood as engaging to continue these acknowledgments hereafter.

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

7:17 I will thank . . . sing praise: The laments in Pss 3–7 usually move from lament to praise, as does the Psalter as a whole. • Most High: This is an ancient designation for God (see Gen 14:19). • God is just and reliable, so his order prevails in this world.

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

In keeping faithfully his promise with me.

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

his righteousness-- (Psa 5:8). Thus illustrated in the defense of His servant and punishment of the wicked.

Next: Psalms Chapter 8

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

17 I will praise Jehovah according to his righteousness; and I will sing to the name of Jehovah, Most High As the design of God in the deliverances which he vouchsafes to his servants is, that they may render to him in return the sacrifices of praise, David here promises that he will gratefully acknowledge the deliverance which he had received, and at the same time affirms that his preservation from death was the undoubted and manifest work of God. He could not, with truth, and from the heart, have ascribed to God the praise of his deliverance, if he had not been fully persuaded that he had been preserved otherwise than by the power of man. He, therefore, not only promises to exercise the gratitude which was due to his deliverer, but he confirms in one word what he has rehearsed throughout the psalm, that he is indebted for his life to the grace of God, who had not suffered Saul to take it from him. The righteousness of God is here to be understood of his faithfulness which he makes good to his servants in defending and preserving their lives. God does not shut up or conceal his righteousness from our view in the secret recesses of his own mind, but manifests it for our advantage when he defends us against all wrongful violence, delivers us from oppression, and preserves us in safety although wicked men make war upon us and persecute us.

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.

17. A closing doxology.

I will praise the Lord] R.V., I will give thanks unto the Lord. The idea conveyed by this word, so characteristic of the Psalter, is that of the acknowledgement due from man to God for His goodness. Hence the rendering of the LXX, ἐξομολογήσομαι, and of the Vulg., confitebor.

according to his righteousness) Manifested and vindicated in the judgment of the wicked.

the name of the Lord Most High] Since He has thus revealed Himself in His character of Supreme Governor of the world. On the title Most High see Appendix, Note II.

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 praise the Lord according to his righteousness,.... Or on account of it, as it was displayed in vindicating the innocent, and punishing the wicked; so Pharaoh having ordered male infants of the Hebrews to be drowned, and he himself and his host in righteous judgment being drowned in the Red sea; Moses and the children of Israel sung a song, as the psalmist here;

and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high; whose name is Jehovah, and is the most High over all the earth; and who had now, according to the psalmist's request, Psa 7:6; arose and lifted up himself, and returned on high, and had shown himself to be above all David's enemies, and had sat on the throne judging right.

Next: Psalms Chapter 8

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

I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness - That is, particularly as manifested in the treatment of the righteous and the wicked, protecting the one, and bringing deeserved punishment upon the other. The purpose of the psalm is to show this. In the course of the psalm the author had declared his full conviction that this was the character of God, and now, in view of this, he says that he will render to him the praise and glory which such a character deserves. He will acknowledge him by public acts of praise as such a God; and will at all times ascribe these attributes to him.

And will sing praise to the name of the Lord - To the name of Jehovah; that is, to Yahweh himself, the “name” being often used to designate a person, or that by which he is known; and also, in many cases, as in this, being significant, or designating the essential nature of him to whom it is applied.

Most high - Exalted above all other beings; exalted above all worlds. The purpose here declared of praising God may refer either to the act which he was then performing in the composition of the psalm, or it may be a purpose in respect to the future, declaring his intention to be to retain in future life the memory of those characteristics of the divine nature now disclosed to him, and to celebrate them in all time to come. The great truth taught is, that God is to be adored for what he is, and that his holy character, manifested alike in the treatment of the righteous and the wicked, lays the foundation for exalted praise.

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

According to his righteousness, declared and asserted by him in their exemplary punishment, and my seasonable and wonderful deliverance.

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

Ver. 17. We conclude with the joyful contrast. In this all these Psalms are agreed; they all exhibit the blessedness of the righteous, and make its colours the more glowing by contrast with the miseries of the wicked. The bright jewel sparkles in a black foil. Praise is the occupation of the godly, their eternal work, and their present pleasure. Singing is the fitting embodiment for praise, and therefore do the saints make melody before the Lord Most High. The slandered one is now a singer: his harp was unstrung for a very little season, and now we leave him sweeping its harmonious chords, and flying on their music to the third heaven of adoring praise.

Ver. 17. To bless God for mercies is the way to increase them; to bless him for miseries is the way to remove them: no good lives so long as that which is thankfully improved; no evil dies so soon as that which is patiently endured. William Dyer.

Ver. 17. The excellent duty of praise.

Ver. 17. View the verse in connection with the subject of the Psalm, and show how the deliverance of the righteous, and the destruction of the wicked are themes for song.

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

I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness. Another abrupt transition a song of thankfulness to Jehovah for giving the deliverance which the psalmist foresees, and considers as good as accomplished. And will sing praise to the Name of the Lord most high. (comp. Psa_8:1, Psa_8:9, "How excellent is thy Name in all the earth! God is identified with his Name very commonly in Scripture, or, perhaps we should say, the Name of God is used as a periphrasis for God himself. Where God puts his special presence, he is said to "put his Name". (Deu_12:5, 21 1Ki_14:21 2Ch_12:13) His Name is "holy and reverend"; (Psa_111:1-9) "incense is offered unto it"; (Mal_1:11) it is "magnified for ever"; (1Ch_17:24) for it the temple is built; (1Ki_8:44) through it the godly "tread down their enemies"; (Psa_44:5) the "desire of men"s souls is to it". (Isa_26:8) (See also Psa_92:1 Psa_96:8 Psa_99:3 Psa_103:1 Psa_105:1 Psa_113:1 Psa_115:1 119:55 145:1, 2, 21 148:13 149:3)

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

His iniquity shall return on his own head: – The treachery he has acted in his pursuit of me shall return on his own head,

And his violence shall come down upon his own pate: – a repetition of the idea with a change of terms.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.