John Gill Commentary Psalms 21

The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord
Either in that strength which is in Jehovah himself, in whom is everlasting strength; and which is seen in the works of creation and providence, and is the same in Christ himself, as he is the mighty God.

Or else in the strength which Jehovah communicated to Christ as man, whereby he was strengthened in his human nature to go through and complete the work of man's redemption; or in the strength which the Lord puts forth, and the power which he exerts towards and upon his people, in conversion; which is the produce of the exceeding greatness of his power; and in strengthening them, from time to time, to exercise grace, discharge duty, and withstand temptations and sin; and in keeping them safe to the end; in supporting them under all their trials, and in carrying on and finishing the work of faith upon their souls; all which is matter of joy to Christ.

and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice ?
meaning either his own salvation by the Lord, from all his sorrows and troubles, and out of the hands of all enemies, being in the presence of God, where is fulness of joy, (Psalms 16:9–11) ; or else the salvation of his people by him, which Jehovah appointed them to, secured for them in the covenant of grace, sent Christ to work out for them, applies by his Spirit, and at last puts into the full possession of: Christ rejoices at the effectual calling and conversion of his people, when salvation is brought near unto them; and especially at their glorification, when they shall be in the full enjoyment of it; then will they be his joy, and crown of rejoicing: this is the joy that was set before him, which made him go so cheerfully through his sufferings and death for them, (Hebrews 12:2).

The reasons of this joy are, because of the great love he bears to them; the interest and property he has in them; his undertakings for them, as their surety, to bring them safe to glory; his purchase of them by his blood; his intercession for them, that they might be with him to behold his glory; and, last of all, because of his Father's glory, his own glory, and the glory of the blessed Spirit, which are concerned in the salvation of these persons.

You have given him his heart's desire
Which the church had prayed for in (Psalms 20:4) ; whatever Christ's heart desired, or his lips requested, has been given him;

and have not withheld the request of his lips .
Whatever he asked in the council and covenant of peace was granted; he asked for all the elect, as his spouse and bride; these were the desire of his heart and eyes, and they were given him; he asked for all the blessings of grace for them, and all grace was given to them in him; he asked for glory, for eternal life, and it was promised him; and not only the promise of it was put into his hand, but the thing itself; see (Psalms 2:8) (2 Timothy 1:1 2 Timothy 1:9) (1 John 5:11) ; and (Psalms 20:4) ;

whatever he requested of his Father, when here on earth, was granted; he always heard him; that memorable prayer of his in (John 17:1–26) is heard and answered, both in what respects himself, his own glorification, and the conversion, sanctification, union, preservation, and glorification of his people; whatever he now desires and requests in heaven, as the advocate and intercessor for his saints, is ever fulfilled; which is an instance of the great regard Jehovah has unto him, and may be considered as a reason of his joy in him.

Selah; on this word, (See Gill on Psalms 3:2).

For you prevent him with the blessings of goodness
Not temporal, but spiritual blessings, which spring from the grace and goodness of God, and consist of it; and relate to the spiritual and eternal welfare of those for whose sake he receives them, and who are blessed with them in him: his being "prevented" with them denotes the freeness of the donation of them; that before he could well ask for them, or before he had done requesting them, they were given him; and also the earliness of the gift of them, they were put into his hands before his incarnation, before he was manifest in the flesh, even from the foundation of the world, and before the world began, (Ephesians 1:3Ephesians 1:4) (2 Timothy 1:9) , and likewise the order in which they were given; first to Christ, and then to his people in him, as the passages referred to show;

you set a crown of pure gold on his head ;
which is expressive of his victory over all enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, death and hell; and of his being possessed of his throne and kingdom; and has respect to his exaltation at the right hand of God, where he is crowned with glory and honour: and this crown being of "pure gold" denotes the purity, glory, solidity, and perpetuity of his kingdom; this is a crown, not which believers put upon him by believing in him, and ascribing the glory of their salvation to him, or what the church, called his mother, has crowned him with, (Song of Solomon 3:11) , but which his father put upon him, who has set him King over his holy hill of Zion, (Psalms 2:6) (8:5) ; compare with this (Revelation 14:14) .

The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions read "a crown of a precious stone"; and so Apollinarius; and seem to refer to the crown set on David's head, which had precious stones in it, (2 Samuel 12:30) ; Josephus ^F24 says it had a sardonyx. Fortunatus Scacchus ^F25 fancies the topaz is meant, and that the Hebrew text should be read "a crown of topaz"; mistaking the sense of the word "phaz", which never signifies a topaz, but the best gold, pure solid gold.

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: Antiqu. l. 7. c. 7. s. 5.
• F25: Elaeochrism. Sacr. l. 3. c. 40. p. 1003.

He asked life of thee, [and] thou gavest [it] him
Both for himself, as man, when he was about to die, that he might be raised to life again, which was granted him; and for his people, that they might live spiritually and eternally, and accordingly life is given to him for them; and he has power to give it to as many as the Father has given him, (John 17:2) ;

[even] length of days for ever and ever ;
the life he has for himself as man is what will ever continue; he will die no more, death will have no more dominion over him; he will live for evermore, and that to make intercession for his members, (Romans 6:9Romans 6:16) (Revelation 1:18) (Hebrews 7:25) ; and the life which is granted them at his request is an everlasting one, both as to body and soul; for though they die as other men, they shall live again in the resurrection of the just, and never die more, but shall be like the angels in heaven; and as for the second death, that shall not harm them, nor have any power over them; they will live and reign with Christ for ever.

His glory [is] great in your salvation
That is, the glory of the King Messiah is great in the Lord's salvation of him; delivering him from all his troubles and sorrows, and out of the hands of all his enemies, when he was raised from the dead, and was set at the right hand of God, and crowned with glory and honour.

Or the sense is, that his glory is great in the salvation of his people by him; it was his glory as Mediator to be appointed to be the Lord's salvation to them; and it being effected by him declares the glory and greatness of his person; and the nature of it is such as cannot fail of bringing glory to him; and such is the sense his people have of it, that it obliges them to ascribe the glory of it alone to him.

honour and majesty you have laid upon him ;
That is to be understood not of the honour and majesty of his divine nature, which are essential to him, and not laid upon him by any; nor of the glory which the saints attribute to him on account of their salvation by him.

But of that which his Father has put upon him, and lies in the introduction of him into his glory after his sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead; in exalting him at his right hand above all creatures and things; in giving him all power in heaven and in earth; in putting all the gifts of the Spirit into his hands, which he receiving gave to men, and in ordaining him Judge of quick and dead.