Psalms 70:4

Psa 70:4 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

Ver. 4. Let all those that seek thee, &c.] Piorum characteres, saith one, a godly man characterized, by his search after God, his joy in him, his love to him, his praises of him.

Let God be magnified] In illo quicquid ego; ille, non ego, saith Augustine.

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_70:4

Let such as love Thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

Our watchword

These words occur at least three times in the Psalms, and therefore we may regard them as especially important.

I. Discriminate the character. The individuals here spoken of are those who love Gods salvation. Then it is implied that they are persons who are saved, because it is not according to nature to love a salvation in which we have no part. We may admire the salvation which is preached, but we shall only love the salvation which is experienced. But, more than this, to sustain and bring to perfection in the renewed heart an ardent affection towards the Divine salvation of a sort that will continue, and become practically fruitful, there must be an intelligent consideration, and an instructed apprehension as to the character of this salvation. Now, let me show you what it is in salvation that the thoughtful believer loves; and I may begin by saying that he loves, best of all, the Saviour Himself. Often our Lord is called Salvation, because He is the great worker of it, the author and finisher, the Alpha and the Omega of it. He who has Christ has salvation; and, as He is the essence of salvation, He is the centre of the saved ones affection. But you love not only the Saviours person, for I am sure you delight in the plan of salvation. What is that plan? It is summed up in a single word--substitution. Oh, then let us always say, Let God be magnified, since He devised, arranged, and carried out this Godlike method of blending justice with mercy. But we also love Gods salvation when we consider what was the object of it. The object of it towards us was to redeem unto Christ a people who should be zealous for good works. The sinner loves a salvation from hell; the saint loves a salvation from sin.

II. Meditate on the saying. Every nation has its idiom, every language has its shibboleth, almost every district has its proverb. Behold the idiom of gracious souls, listen to their household word, their common proverb--it is this, Let God be magnified! Let God be magnified! Observe that this is a saying which is founded upon truth and justice. Let God be magnified, for it is He that saved us, and not we ourselves. None can divide the honours of grace, for the Lord alone hath turned our captivity. From beginning to end salvation is of the Lord, therefore, let God be magnified. This saying is naturally suggested by love. It is because we love His salvation that we say, The Lord be magnified. You cannot love God without desiring to magnify Him, and I am sure that you cannot know that you are saved without loving Him. Moreover, this saying of our text is, deeply sincere and practical. I am sure David did not wish to see hypocrites multiplied; but such would be the case if men merely said, Let God be magnified, and did not mean it. Moreover, it must not only be sincere, but it must be paramount. I take it that there is nothing which a Christian man should say continually, except this, Let God be magnified. That which a man may say continually is assuredly the master-thought of his mind. Listen to the cherubim and seraphim; they continually do cry, Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Hosts! And the text tells us this must be continual. How earnest you feel about the cause of Christ when you have heard an inspiriting sermon, but how long does it last?

III. The wish. Let God be magnified. This wish is promoted by an anxiety for Gods glory; it is a most holy wish, and it ought to be fulfilled. I shall ask your attention to the reasons of the wish. Why should it be wished?

1. First, because it always ought to be said, Let God be magnified. It is only right, and according to the fitness of things, that God should be magnified in the world which Ha Himself created. Such a handiwork deserves admiration from all who behold it. But when He new-made the world, and especially when He laid the foundation of His new palace in the fair colours of Jesus blood, and adorned it with the sapphires of grace and truth; He had a double claim upon our praise.

2. But, we wish it next, because it always needs saying. The word is dull and sleepy, and utterly indifferent to the glory of God in the work of redemption. We need to tell it over and over and over again, that God is great in the salvation of His people.

3. And, again, we desire this, because the saying of this continually does good to the sayers. He who blesses God blesses himself. We cannot serve God with the heart without serving ourselves most practically. Nothing, brethren, is more for your benefit than to spend and be spent for the promotion of the Divine honour.

4. Then, again, this promotes the welfare of Gods creatures. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

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

5. (Psa 70:4). They shall rejoice and be glad in thee—all (those) seeking thee; and they shall say always, great be Jehovah—(those) loving thy salvation. See above, on Psa 40:16. The only variation here is the insertion of the copulative and at the beginning of the second clause.

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

Verse 4. Let God be magnified.] Let his glory, mercy, and kindness, continually appear in the increase of his own work in the souls of his followers!

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

(4) For a reward of . . .—Psa_40:14, “and put to shame.” The change is probably a copyist’s error.

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

4. Cp. Psa_35:27. The discomfiture of the wicked gives occasion for the righteous to rejoice in God, not only because they are set free from persecution, but because they see in it the proof of God’s righteous sovereignty and the unfolding of His purposes of salvation.

such as love thy salvation] Cp. “they that love his name” (Psa_69:36); and the corresponding N.T. thought in 2Ti_4:8.

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.

Let all those that seek thee,.... The Targum is,

"that seek doctrine (or instruction) from thee.''

rejoice and be glad in thee; the Targum paraphrases it,

"rejoice and be glad in thy word.''

and let such as love thy salvation say continually, let God be magnified; the Targum is,

"let the glory of the Lord be increased;''

and in Psa 40:16, instead of "God", it is "the Lord", or "Jehovah": See Gill on Psa 40:16.

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

Let all those that seek thee ... - The only change in this verse from Psa 40:16, is in the insertion of the word “and” in the beginning of the second clause - “and let such as love,” etc.

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

Ver. 4. Anger against enemies must not make us forget our friends, for it is better to preserve a single citizen of Zion, than to kill a thousand enemies.

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. All true worshippers, though as yet in the humble ranks of seekers, shall have cause for joy. Even though the seeking commence in darkness, it shall bring light with it.

And let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. Those who have tasted divine grace, and are, therefore, wedded to it, are a somewhat more advanced race, and these shall not only feel joy, but shall with holy constancy and perseverance tell abroad their joy, and call upon men to glorify God. The doxology, "Let the Lord's name be magnified, "is infinitely more manly and ennobling than the dog's bark of "Aha, aha."

Ver. 4. Such as love thy salvation. They love it for its own sake; they love it for the sake of him who procured it by his obedience until death; they love it for the sake of that Holy Spirit who moved them to seek it and accept it; and they love it for the sake of their own souls, which they cannot but love, and which, without it, would be the most miserable outcasts in the universe. No wonder that in the light of its intrinsic importance, and of its intrinsic relations, they should be "such as love God's salvation." All men are lovers as well as seekers; for all men love. Some love money more than God's salvation; others love pleasure, even the pleasures of sin, more than God's salvation; and others love bustle and business more than God's salvation. But, as the stamp of the material, the temporal and the evanescent, is on all these earthly objects of men's love, the friends of Jesus elevate above them all, as the worthier object of their regard and embrace, the salvation of God. James Frame.

Ver. 4. Let God be magnified. Not only The Lord be magnified, but also alway. Behold, when thou wast straying, and wast turned away from him; he recalled thee: Be the Lord magnified. Behold, he hath inspired thee with confession of sins; thou hast confessed, he hath given pardon: Be the Lord magnified.... Now, thou hast begun to advance, thou hast been justified, thou hast arrived at a sort of excellence of virtue; is it not a seemly thing that thou also sometime be magnified? No! Let them say, Be the Lord alway magnified. A sinner thou art, to be magnified in order that he may call; you confess, be he magnified in order that he may forgive: now thou livest justly, be he magnified in order that he may direct; you persevere even unto the end, be he magnified in order that he may glorify. Be the Lord, then, alway magnified. Let just men say this, let them say this that seek him. Whosoever doth not say this, doth not seek him... Be the Lord magnified. But, wilt thou thyself never be great? wilt thou be nowhere? In him was something, in me nothing; but if in him is whatsoever I am, be he magnified, not I. But, what of thee? But I am poor and needy: he is rich, he abounding, he needing nothing. Behold my light, behold whence I am illumined, for I cry, "Thou shalt illumine my candle, O Lord; my God, thou shalt illumine my darkness. The Lord doth loose men fettered, the Lord raiseth up men crushed, the Lord maketh wise the blind men, the Lord keepeth the proselytes." Ps 18:28 146:7. What, then, of thee? But I am needy and poor. I am like an orphan, my soul is like a widow destitute and desolate; help I seek, alway mine infirmity I confess. But I am poor and needy. There have been forgiven me my sins, now I have begun to follow the commandments of God; still, however, I am needy and poor. Why still needy and poor? Because I see another law in my members fighting against the law of my mind. Ro 7:23. Why needy and poor? Because, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness." Mt 5:6. Still I hunger, still I thirst. Augustine.

Ver. 4. Joy for seekers, and employment for finders.

Ver. 4. (last clause).

I. The character.

II. The saying.

III. The wish.

Psalms 70:5*

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

4. Let God be magnified—In Psalms 40, “Jehovah,” for Eloheem, (God,) here.

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

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified. Psa_40:16 has, "Let the Lord be magnified."

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

ויאמרו instead of יאמרו is unimportant. But since the divine name Jahve is now for once chosen side by side with Elohim, it certainly had a strong claim to be retained in Psa 70:5. Instead of תּשׁועתך we have ישׁועתך here; instead of עזרתי, here עזרי. And instead of אדני יחשׁב לי we have here אלהים חוּשׁה־לּי - the hope is turned into petition: make haste unto me, is an innovation in expression that is caused by the taking over of the לי.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

seek you

Seeking God represents either 1) asking God for help or 2) thinking about God and obeying him. AT: "ask you for help" or "think about you and obey you" (See: Metaphor)

rejoice and be glad

These two phrases mean basically the same thing and emphasize the intensity of gladness. AT: "rejoice greatly" or "be very glad" (See: Doublet)

love your salvation

The abstract noun "salvation" can be stated as an action. AT: "love you because you saved them" (See: Abstract Nouns)

always say

This exaggeration emphasizes that it is important to praise God often. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

May God be praised

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Let everyone praise God" (See: Active or Passive)

poor and needy

Here the words "poor" and "needy" mean basically the same thing and emphasize that he is unable to help himself. AT: "very needy" (See: Doublet)

hurry to me

The writer speaks of God as if he were running to the writer in order to help him. AT: "come quickly to help me" (See: Metaphor)

you are my help and you rescue me

Here the phrase "you rescue me" explains how God is his "help." AT: "you help me by rescuing me" (See: Parallelism)

do not delay

This can be stated in active form. AT: "please come quickly" (See: Litotes)

translationWords

joy

love

save

praise

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

Let them return in the path of their shame Measure for measure, as they did to me.

in the path In that very same path, en ses trazes, on (their) its footsteps.

those who say about me.

“Aha” An expression of joy, when one sees that his wishes concerning his enemy have been fulfilled.

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.