Psalms 71:19

Psa 71:19 Thy righteousness also, O God, [is] very high, who hast done great things: O God, who [is] like unto thee!

Ver. 19. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high] Far above the reach of human reason; yet for the strengthening of my hope, I will look up after it, though mine eye should be tired in the way.

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 71:19. Thy righteousness also is very high — Most eminent and evident, as high things are; and that which thou hast in righteousness done for thy people is very great. God’s righteousness, here intended, includes the rectitude of his nature; the equity of his providential dispensations; the righteous laws which he hath given us to be ruled by; the righteous promises he hath given us to depend upon; and the everlasting righteousness which his Son hath brought in, by his obedience unto death, for our justification.

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

19. Thy righteousness—Five times in this psalm is the “righteousness” of God mentioned as the source of salvation and the theme of praise. Psa_71:2; Psa_71:15-16; Psa_71:19; Psa_71:24. It is a technical term for the rectoral justice of God. The Hebrews had no conception of any divine method of salvation, temporal or spiritual, which did not include justice as well as mercy; a vindication of regal rectitude as well as of fatherly pity. Psa_85:10-11; Psa_85:13; Rom_3:26. Hence, no acceptable praise can be given him which does not exalt his righteousness, and no salvation can be expected which bears not the seal of his justice. See on Rom_3:25-26. His acts are in harmony with all his attributes.

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

The thought of this proclamation so thoroughly absorbs the poet that he even now enters upon the tone of it; and since to his faith the deliverance is already a thing of the past, the tender song with its uncomplaining prayer dies away into a loud song of praise, in which he pictures it all to himself. Without Psa 71:19-21 being subordinate to עד־אגיד in Psa 71:18, וצדקתך is coupled by close connection with בגורתך. Psa 71:19 is an independent clause; and עד־מרום takes the place of the predicate: the righteousness of God exceeds all bounds, is infinite (Psa 36:6., Psa 57:11). The cry כמוך מי, as in Psa 35:10; Psa 69:9, Jer 10:6, refers back to Exo 15:11. According to the Chethb, the range of the poet's vision widens in Psa 71:20 from the proofs of the strength and righteousness of God which he has experienced in his own case to those which he has experienced in common with others in the history of his own nation. The Ker (cf. on the other hand Psa 60:5; Psa 85:7; Deu 31:17) rests upon a failing to discern how the experiences of the writer are interwoven with those of the nation. תּשׁוּב in both instances supplies the corresponding adverbial notion to the principal verb, as in Psa 85:7 (cf. Psa 51:4). תּהום, prop. a rumbling, commonly used of a deep heaving of waters, here signifies an abyss. "The abysses of the earth" (lxx ἐκ τῶν ἀβύσσων τῆς γῆς, just as the old Syriac version renders the New Testament ἄβυσσος, e.g., in Luk 8:31, by Syr. tehūmā') are, like the gates of death (Psa 9:14), a figure of extreme perils and dangers, in the midst of which one is as it were half hidden in the abyss of Hades. The past and future are clearly distinguished in the sequence of the tenses. When God shall again raise His people out of the depth of the present catastrophe, then will He also magnify the גּדלּה of the poet, i.e., in the dignity of his office, by most brilliantly vindicating him in the face of his foes, and will once more (תּסּוב, fut. Niph. like תּשׁוּב ekil .h above) comfort him. He on his part will also (cf. Job 40:14) be grateful for this national restoration and this personal vindication: he will praise God, will praise His truth, i.e., His fidelity to His promises. בּכלי נבל instead of בּנבל sounds more circumstantial than in the old poetry. The divine name "The Holy One of Israel" occurs here for the third time in the Psalter; the other passages are Psa 78:41; Psa 89:19, which are older in time, and older also than Isaiah, who uses it thirty times, and Habakkuk, who uses it once. Jeremiah has it twice (Jer 50:29; Jer 51:5), and that after the example of Isaiah. In Psa 71:23, Psa 71:24 the poet means to say that lips and tongue, song and speech, shall act in concert in the praise of God. תּרנּנּה with Dagesh also in the second Nun, after the form תּקוננּה, תּשׁכּנּה, side by side with which we also find the reading תּרנּנּה, and the reading תּרנּנה, which is in itself admissible, after the form תּאמנה, תּעגנה, but is here unattested.

(Note: Heidenheim reads תּרנּנּה with Segol, following the statement of Ibn-Bil'am in his טעמי המקרא and of Mose ha-Nakdan in his דרכי הנקוד, that Segol always precedes the ending נּה, with the exception only of הנּה and האזנּה. Baer, on the other hand, reads תונּנּה, following Aben-Ezra and Kimchi (Michlol 66b).)

The cohortative after כּי (lxx ὅταν) is intended to convey this meaning: when I feel myself impelled to harp unto Thee. In the perfects in the closing line that which is hoped for stands before his soul as though it had already taken place. כי is repeated with triumphant emphasis.

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.)

Psa 71:19. And thy righteousness, 0 God, (reaches) even to the height (or high place), i.e. heaven, (thou) who hast done great things, 0 God, who is like thee? With the first clause compare Psa 36:5; Psa 57:10); with the last, Exo 15:11, Deu 3:24, 2Sa 7:22.

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

71:19-21 God’s righteous character provides encouragement and strength in the midst of suffering. The wounded psalmist confesses faith in God’s ability to transform his misery and weakness into abundant life.

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

His faith breaketh through all tentations, and by this exclamation he praiseth the power of God.

Thy just performance of thy promise.

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

Verse 19. Thy righteousness - is very high] עד מרום ad marom - is up to the exalted place, reaches up to heaven. The mercy of God fills all space and place. It crowns in the heavens what it governed upon earth.

Who hast done great things] גדלות gedoloth. Thou hast worked miracles, and displayed the greatest acts of power.

Who is like unto thee!] מי כמוך mi camocha. God is alone, - who can resemble him? He is eternal. He can have none before, and there can be none after; for in the infinite unity of his trinity he is that eternal, unlimited, impartible, incomprehensible, and uncompounded ineffable Being, whose essence is hidden from all created intelligences, and whose counsels cannot be fathomed by any creature that even his own hand can form. WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE! will excite the wonder, amazement, praise, and adoration of angels and men to all eternity.

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

19. And thy righteousness, O God! is very high. Some connect this verse with the preceding, and repeating the verb I will declare, as common to both verses, translate, And I will declare thy righteousness, O God! But this being a matter of small importance, I will not dwell upon it. David prosecutes at greater length the subject of which he had previously spoken. In the first place, he declares that the righteousness of God is very high; secondly, that it wrought mightily; and, finally, he exclaims in admiration, Who is like thee? It is worthy of notice, that the righteousness of God, the effects of which are near to us and conspicuous, is yet placed on high, inasmuch as it cannot be comprehended by our finite understanding. Whilst we measure it according to our own limited standard, we are overwhelmed and swallowed up by the smallest temptation. In order, therefore, to give it free course to save us, it behoves us to take a large and a comprehensive view — to look above and beneath, far and wide, that we may form some due conceptions of its amplitude. The same remarks apply to the second clause, which makes mention of the works of God: For thou hast done great things. If we attribute to his known power the praise which is due to it, we will never want ground for entertaining good hope. Finally, our sense of the goodness of God should extend so far as to ravish us with admiration; for thus it will come to pass that our minds, which are often distracted by an unholy disquietude, will repose upon God alone. If any temptation thrusts itself upon us, we immediately magnify a fly into an elephant; or rather, we rear very high mountains, which keep the hand of God from reaching us; and at the same time we basely limit the power of God. The exclamation of David, then, Who is like thee? tends to teach us the lesson, that we should force our way through every impediment by faith, and regard the power of God, which is well entitled to be so regarded, as superior to all obstacles. All men, indeed, confess with the mouth, that none is like God; but there is scarce one out of a hundred who is truly and fully persuaded that He alone is sufficient to save 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.

(19) Very high.—Literally, to the height, i.e., to the heavens, as in Psa_36:5; Psa_57:10. The clauses should be arranged, Thy righteousness also, O God, to the height—Thou who doest great things—God, who is like unto thee? (Comp. Exo_15:11.)

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

19. is very high] Lit., (reacheth) unto the height, of heaven. Cp. Psa_36:5; Psa_57:10; Job_11:8.

who hast done &c.] It is better with R.V. to connect this clause with what follows: Thou who hast done great things, O God, who is like unto thee? Jehovah is incomparable for power and goodness. The fundamental passage is Exo_15:11; cp. Psa_35:10; Psa_86:8; Psa_89:6; Psa_89:8; Mic_7:18.

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.

Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high,.... Or, "unto the place on high" (f); it reaches unto heaven, as the mercy, truth, and faithfulness of God, are said to do, Psa 36:5. The righteousness of Christ is accepted of with God the Father in heaven; it is in Christ, who is there at the right hand of God; and it is higher and infinitely above any righteousness of a creature, angel's or man's;

who hast done great things; in nature, in forming the world out of nothing, and in upholding all creatures in their beings; in providence, in governing the world, and ordering all things in it for the best, and to answer the wisest purposes; in grace, in the salvation of lost sinners by Christ; in the justification of them by his righteousness; and in the atonement and pardon of their sins, through his blood and sacrifice; in the regeneration of them by his grace; in making and performing exceeding great and precious promises, and in giving them eternal life;

O God, who is like unto thee? either for greatness or goodness; for power or for mercy; for justice, truth, and faithfulness; for the perfections of his nature, or the works of his hands; and to be praised, reverenced and adored, as he is; see Psa 89:6.

(f) "usque in excelsum", Pagninus, Montanus, Gejerus; "in altum usque", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

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

Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high - See the notes at Psa 36:5. The purpose of the psalmist is to exalt that righteousness as much as possible, and he, therefore, compares it with that which is high - the heavens - the highest thing of all. The literal rendering would be, “even to the high,” or the height; that is, to the highest place. The passage is designed to express his confidence in God, in the infirmities and troubles which he must expect to come upon him with advancing years.

Who hast done great things - In his work of creation; in his providence; in his manifested mercy toward his people. He had done things so great as to show that he could protect those who put their trust in him.

O God, who is like unto thee! - Who can be compared to thee! See the notes at Psa 35:10. Compare the notes at Isa 40:18. See also Psa 89:8; Exo 15:11; 2Sa 7:22.

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

Very high, i.e. most eminent and evident, as high things are.

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

Ver. 19. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high. Very sublime, unsearchable, exalted, and glorious is the holy character of God, and his way of making men righteous. His plan of righteousness uplifts men from the gates of hell to the mansions of heaven. It is a high doctrine gospel, gives a high experience, leads to high practice, and ends in high felicity.

Who hast done great things. The exploits of others are mere child's play compared with thine, and are not worthy to be mentioned in the same age. Creation, providence, redemption, are all unique, and nothing can compare with them.

O God, who is like unto thee. As thy works are so transcendent, so art thou. Thou art without compeer, or even second, and such are thy works, and such, especially, thy plan of justifying sinners by the righteousness which thou hast provided. Adoration is a fit frame of mind for the believer. When he draws near to God, he enters into a region where everything is surpassingly sublime; miracles of love abound on every hand, and marvels of mingled justice and grace. A traveller among the high Alps often feels overwhelmed with awe, amid their amazing sublimities; much more is this the case when we survey the heights and depths of the mercy and holiness of the Lord.

O God, who is like unto thee.

Ver. 19. O God, who is like unto thee? Either for greatness or goodness, for power or for mercy, for justice, truth, and faithfulness; for the perfections of his nature, or the works of his hands; and to be praised, reverenced, and adored, as he is. John Gill.

Ver. 19. Who is like unto thee! Krmk ym, Mi camocha. God is alone: who can resemble him? He is eternal; he can have none before, and there can be none after; for, in the infinite unity of trinity, he is that eternal, unlimited, impartible, incomprehensible, and uncompounded, ineffable Being, whose essence is hidden from all created intelligences, and whose counsels cannot be fathomed by any creature that even his own hand can form. "WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE!" will excite the wonder, amazement, praise, and adoration of angels and men to all eternity. Adam Clarke.

Ver. 19. A sermon might be instructively worked out upon "the high things of God."

Psalms 71:20*

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

Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high; or, reaches to the height. (comp. Psa_7:7 Psa_10:5 Psa_18:16, etc.) Who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!. (comp. Psa_35:10 Psa_89:6, Psa_89:8)

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

Very high - Most eminent.

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

Your righteousness also, God, is very high

The psalmist speaks of the good things God has done as though they were put together as a high building or a mountain. (See: Metaphor)

who is like you?

This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "there is no one like you!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

revive

strengthen or make lively again

from the depths of the earth

"The depths of the earth" here is a metaphor for where people go when they die. The psalmist had not already died, but in this exaggeration he speaks as if he had. AT: "when we are near death" (See: Metaphor and Hyperbole and Generalization)

translationWords

trouble

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

And Your charity, O God which is up to the heights. The two verses are connected by “I shall tell [of] Your strength to the 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.