Psalms 89:40

Psa 89:40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.

Ver. 40. Thou hast broken down all his hedges] Or, walls. The walls of Sparta were their militia, of England are their ships, of all lands their laws, Ecc 10:8.

Thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin] Or, to consternation and deadly fright.

Siqua manet gelida formidine concutis arcem

(Buchanan).

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.

41. (Psa 89:40) Thou hast broken down all his walls; thou hast wide his defences a ruin. As the word translated walls is commonly used to denote the enclosures of vineyards, whether walls or hedges, this may be the figure here intended, which is then exchanged, in the last clause, for that of a walled town, with its defences or defensive works, its fortifications. See above, on Psa 80:12. Some interpreters allege that the last word always has the sense of terror; but it may be doubted whether it ever has, whereas that of ruin often occurs, particularly in the Book of Proverbs.

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

89:40 broken down the walls: The Lord’s people are completely vulnerable.

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

Verse 40. Thou hast broken down all his hedges] Thou hart permitted the land to be stripped of all defence; there is not even one strong place in the hands of thy people.

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

40. Thou hast broken down all his walls. The prophet, although he might easily have found another cause to which to impute the breaking down and razing of the fortifications, yet under the influence of devout and sanctified feeling acknowledges God to be the author of this calamity; being fully convinced that men could not at their pleasure have destroyed the kingdom which God had set up had not the Divine anger been kindled. Afterwards speaking metaphorically, he complains that the kingdom was exposed as a prey to all passers-by, resembling a field or garden, of which the walls were broken down, and the ground laid open to depredation. As an aggravation of a calamity which in itself was sufficiently grievous, the additional indignity is brought forward, that the king was a reproach to his neighbors. The worldly and the profane, there can be no doubt, finding an opportunity so much according to their wishes, derided him, saying, Is this that king of God’s choice, a king more excellent than the angels, and whose throne was to continue as long as the sun and the moon should endure? As these railings recoiled upon God himself, the prophet justly complains of the reproachful derision with which God’s Anointed was treated, whose dignity and royal estate were ratified and confirmed by heavenly anointing.

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.

40. Insensibly the king is identified with the nation whose head and representative he was. The first line is taken from the description of Israel as a vine in Psa_80:12.

hedges] Or, as R.V. in Psa_80:12, fences.

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.

All that pass by the way spoil him,.... His church, his members, which are himself, when made havoc of by their persecutors, and they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, Heb 10:34, so the church of Christ may be spoiled, however, attempted to be spoiled, by false teachers, who are the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; crafty seducers, who spoil Christians of their peace and comfort, through philosophy and vain deceit, Sol 2:15. Christ himself may be said to be spoiled, when he was stripped of his clothes by the Roman soldiers, who also parted his garments, casting lots on his vesture; when they that passed by his cross, as he hung upon it, reviled him, and robbed him of his good name, and of his kingly and priestly offices; and he is also spoiled by false teachers, who rob him of his deity, his divine and eternal sonship, and of his satisfaction and righteousness, by whom he is trodden under foot, and his blood counted as an unholy thing; and so the Targum,

"all that pass by the way tread upon him;''

see Heb 10:29, these are they that walk not in the right way; but go out of it, and choose their own way; they are such as pass over the right way, or cross it; they are they that transgress, and abide not in the doctrine of Christ, that so use him, Jo2 1:9,

he is a reproach to his neighbours; his name and character were reproached by the Jews, his countrymen, who called him a glutton and a wine bibber; and represented him as a notorious sinner; his miracles as done by the help of Satan; his doctrine as hard sayings, novel opinions, contrary to common sense and reason, and tending to licentiousness; and his followers and members as the offscouring of all things: but all this has been or will be rolled off, and is no objection to the glory promised him.

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

Thou hast broken down all his hedges - His walls or defenses; all that he relied on for safety.

Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin - His towers, fortifications; defenses. The enemy has been suffered to destroy them. They are now heaps of ruins.

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

All his hedges; all the means of his protection and safety.

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

Ver. 40. Thou hast broken down all his hedges. He was no longer sheltered from the slanderous assaults of contemptuous tongues; the awe which should guard the royal name had ceased to separate him from his fellows. The "divinity which doth hedge a king" had departed. Hitherto, the royal family had been like a vine within an enclosure, but the wall was now laid low, and the vine was unprotected. It is sorrowfully true that in many places the enclosures of the church have been destroyed, the line of demarcation between the church and the world has almost vanished, and godless men fill the sacred offices. Alas, O Lord God, shall it be always so? Shall thy true vine be deserted by thee, thou great Husbandman? Set up the boundaries again, and keep thy church as a vineyard reserved for thyself.

Thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin. The forts of the land were in the possession of the enemy and were dismantled, the defences of the kingdom were overthrown. Thus has it happened that precious truths, which were the bulwarks of the church, have been assailed by heresy, and the citadels of sound doctrine have been abandoned to the foe. O God, how canst thou suffer this? As the God of truth, wilt thou not arise and tread down falsehood?

Ver. 40. Hedges and strong holds. Both of these may refer to the appointments of a vineyard in which the king was the vine. It was usually fenced around with a stone wall, and in it was a small house or tower, wherein a keeper was set to keep away intruders. When the wall, or hedge, was thrown down, every passer by plucked at the fruit, and when the tower was gone the vineyard was left open to the neighbours who could do as they would with the vines. When the church is no longer separated from the world, and her divine Keeper has no more a dwelling place within her, her plight is wretched indeed. C.H.S.

Ver. 40.

1. What God had done. "Broken down", etc.

2. What he had not done. Not taken away sorrow for his departure and desire for his return.

Psalms 89:41*

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

40. His hedges—His defences, called his strongholds in the next member.

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

Thou hast broken down all his hedges; i.e. "all his defences the strongholds, that guarded the frontiers of the land, were brought to ruin. (comp. 2Ch_11:5-10)

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

You abrogated You nullified.

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.