Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 21
Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalms 21
Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalms 21
"The king shall joy in thy strength, O Jehovah; And in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart`s desire, And hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah For thou meetest him with the blessings of goodness: Thou settest a crown of fine gold on his head. He asked life of thee, thou gavest it him, Even length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in thy salvation: Honor and majesty dost thou lay upon him. For thou makest him most blessed for ever: Thou makest him glad with joy in thy presence." — Psalms 21:1-6 (ASV)
Happy the people whose king makes God's strength his confidence, and God's salvation his joy; who is pleased with all the advancements of God's kingdom, and trusts God to support him in all he does for its service. All our blessings are blessings of goodness, and are owing, not to any merit of ours, but only to God's goodness. But when God's blessings come sooner, and prove richer than we imagine; when they are given before we prayed for them, before we were ready for them, indeed, when we feared the contrary; then it may be truly said that He preceded us with them, or went before us with them.
Nothing indeed preceded, or went before Christ, but for mankind, never was any favour more anticipatory than our redemption by Christ. You have made Him to be a universal, everlasting blessing to the world, in whom the families of the earth are, and shall be blessed; and so You have made Him exceedingly glad with the favour You have shown to His undertaking, and to Him in carrying it out. The Spirit of prophecy rises from what related to the king, to that which is peculiar to Christ; no one else is blessed forever, much less a blessing forever.
"For the king trusteth in Jehovah; And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he shall not be moved. Thy hand will find out all thine enemies; Thy right hand will find out those that hate thee. Thou wilt make them as a fiery furnace in the time of thine anger: Jehovah will swallow them up in his wrath, And the fire shall devour them. Their fruit wilt thou destroy from the earth, And their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against thee; They conceived a device which they are not able to perform. For thou wilt make them turn their back; Thou wilt make ready with thy bowstrings against their face. Be thou exalted, O Jehovah, in thy strength: So will we sing and praise thy power. " — Psalms 21:7-13 (ASV)
The psalmist teaches us to look forward with faith, hope, and prayer to what God would do further. The success with which God blessed David was a type of the total overthrow of all Christ's enemies.
Those who could have had Christ to rule and save them, but rejected him and fought against him, will find the remembrance of it to be a worm that does not die. In contrast, God makes sinners willing by his grace, receives them into his favor, and delivers them from the wrath to come.
May he exalt himself, by his all-powerful grace, in our hearts, destroying all the strongholds of sin and Satan. How great should be our joy and praise to behold our Brother and Friend upon the throne, and for all the blessings we may expect from him! Yet he delights in his exalted state, as it enables him to confer happiness and glory on poor sinners, who are taught to love and trust in him.
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