Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 110:3

"Thy people offer themselves willingly In the day of thy power, in holy array: Out of the womb of the morning Thou hast the dew of thy youth." — Psalms 110:3 (ASV)

Your people - All who are given to You; all over whom You are to rule. This verse has been variously translated. The Septuagint renders it, With thee is the beginning in the day of thy power, in the splendor of thy saints, from the womb, before the light of the morning have I begotten thee. So the Latin Vulgate. Luther renders it, After thy victory shall thy people willingly bring an offering to thee, in holy adorning: thy children shall be born to thee as the dew of the morning. DeWette, Willingly shall thy people show themselves to thee on the day of the assembling of thy host in holy adorning, as from the womb of the morning, thy youth (vigor) shall be as the dew. Prof. Alexander, Thy people (are) free-will offerings in the day of thy power, in holy decorations, from the womb of the dawn, to thee (is) the dew of thy youth.

Every clause of the verse is obscure, though the general idea is not difficult to perceive. This idea is that, in the day of Messiah’s power, His people would willingly offer themselves to Him. They would do so in holy robes or adorning, like the glittering dew of the morning, or in numbers that might be compared with the drops of the morning dew.

The essential ideas are:

1. that He would have a people;
2. that their subjection to Him would be a willing subjection;
3. that this would be accomplished by His power;
4. that they would appear before Him in great beauty—in robes of holy adorning;
5. that they would in some way resemble the dew of the morning; and
6. that to Him in thus subduing them there would be the vigor of youth, the ardor of youthful hope.

Shall be willing - Literally, Your people (are, or shall be) willing-offerings. The word rendered willing—nedaboth—is in the plural number: your people, ‘willingnesses.’ The singular—nedabah—means voluntariness, spontaneousness; and therefore, it comes to mean spontaneously, voluntarily, of a willing mind.

It is rendered a willing offering in (Exodus 35:29); free offering in (Exodus 36:3); voluntary offering in (Leviticus 7:16); free-will offering in (Leviticus 22:18, Leviticus 22:21, Leviticus 22:23, Leviticus 23:38; Numbers 15:3, Numbers 29:39; Deuteronomy 12:6, Deuteronomy 12:17, Deuteronomy 16:10, Deuteronomy 23:23; 2 Chronicles 31:14; Ezra 1:4, Ezra 3:5, Ezra 8:28; Psalms 119:108); willingly in (2 Chronicles 35:8); plentiful in (Psalms 68:9); voluntary, and voluntarily in (Ezekiel 46:12); freely in (Hosea 14:4); and free-offering in (Amos 4:5). It does not occur elsewhere.

The idea is that of freeness, of voluntariness, of doing it from choice, doing it of their own will. They did it in the exercise of freedom.

There was no compulsion, no constraint. Whatever power there was in the case was to make them willing, not to compel them to do a thing against their will.

What was done, or what is intended to be described here, is evidently the act of them devoting themselves to Him who is designated here as their Ruler—the Messiah.

The allusion may be either

• to their devoting themselves to Him in conversion, or becoming His;
• to their devoting themselves to His service—as soldiers do in war; or
• to their devoting their time, wealth, talents, to Him in lives consecrated to Him.

Whatever there is as the result of His dominion over them is voluntary on their part. There is no compulsion in His religion. People are not constrained to do what they are unwilling to do. All the power that is exerted is on the will, disposing people to do what is right and what is for their own interest.

No man is forced to go to heaven against his will; no man is saved from hell against his will; no man makes a sacrifice in religion against his will; no man is compelled to serve the Redeemer in any way against his will.

The acts of religion are among the most free that people ever perform. Of all the hosts of the redeemed, no one will ever say that the act of his becoming a follower of the Redeemer was not perfectly voluntary. He chose—he professed—to be a friend of God, and he never saw the time when he regretted the choice.

In the day of your power - The power given to the Messiah to accomplish the work of His mission; the power to convert people, and to save the world (Matthew 28:18; Matthew 11:27; John 17:2). This implies

• that power would be employed in bringing people to submit to Him; and
• that there would be a fixed time when that power would be put forth.

Still, it is power which is not inconsistent with freedom. It is power exerted in making people willing, not in compelling or forcing them to submit to Him. There is a power which may be exerted over the will consistent with liberty, and that is the power which the Messiah employs in bringing people to Himself.

In the beauties of holiness - This power will be connected with the beauty of holiness; or, holiness will be manifested when that power is put forth. The object is to secure holiness, and there will be beauty in that holiness. The only power put forth in the case is to make people holy; and they will, in their lives and conduct, manifest all the beauty or attractiveness which there is in a holy and pure character.

The word rendered beauty is in the plural number, and the allusion may be to the raiment of those who are referred to. They would appear in pure garments—in sacerdotal vestments—as priests of God. .

The idea may be that they would be a kingdom of priests, clad in priestly vestments (Exodus 19:6; compare the notes at 1 Peter 2:5, notes at 1 Peter 2:9), and that they would be adorned with robes appropriate to that office.

This may refer, however, to their actual, internal holiness, and may mean that they would, when they were subjugated to Him, appear as a holy or a righteous people.

From the womb of the morning: you have the dew of your youth - Margin, more than the womb of the morning, thou shalt have, etc. The expression here is evidently designed to refer to the source of the dew—the dew of the early dawn—as having its birth then, or as seeming to be born then. The morn is represented as the mother of the dew. The figure is highly poetic and beautiful. The ground of the comparison may be either

• that the beauty of holiness—the beautiful array of the saints—is more than that produced in the womb of the morning; or
• that the dew of youth is more beautiful than the dew produced in the morning.

As the word dew, that on which the comparison must turn, occurs in the last member of the sentence, it is probable that the second of these interpretations is the true one, as indicated in the margin: More than the womb of the morning (more than the morning produces) thou hast the dew of thy youth. That is, as the young morning—the youth of the day—has its beauties in the abundance and luster of the dewdrops, so shall the dew of thy youth be—the beginning of thy glorious day.

May there not be here also an allusion to the multitudes that would be among His people—numerous as the dewdrops of the morning, and as beautiful as they—on His going forth to the world with all the beauty of a bright dawn?

The meaning of the whole, I understand, is, “Your reign shall be like the day—a long bright day. Your coming—the morning of that day—shall be like the early dawn—so fresh, so beautiful, made so lovely by the drops of dew sparkling on every blade of grass. More beautiful by far—more lovely—shall be the beginning of the day of your reign; more lovely to the world your youth—your appearing—the beginning of your day.”

Thus understood, the verse is a most beautiful poetic description of the bright morning when the Messiah should come—the dawn of that glorious day when He should reign. .