1. A Song of the Ascents. By David. I rejoice in (those) saying to me. To the house of Jehovah we will go. This psalm, though so much older than the two before it, was probably placed third in the series, because it was intended to be sung, and was actually sung, at the entrance of the Holy City, whereas the others were used at the commencement of the march, and on coming in sight of Jerusalem. The ideal speaker represents the church or chosen people. After the introduction, ver. 1, 2, comes a panegyric on Jerusalem, as the royal and holy city, ver. 3-5, followed by a prayer for her prosperity as such, ver. 6-9. The Ascents, or upward journeys of the people to the sanctuary, as in Ps. cxx. 1, cxxi. 1. To rejoice in those saying is to rejoice because they say. On the last clause is founded Isa. ii. 3, where the gentiles are described as joining in the words here uttered by the Jews.
2. Standing are our feet in thy gates, 0 Jerusalem! The common version (shall stand) is entirely ungrammatical. The past tense of the substantive verb with the participle means strictly have been standing^ i. e. have begun to stand, or are already standing.
3. Jerusalem, the (one) built like a city which is joined to itself together. This seems to be a continuation of the address in the preceding verse. The unusual expressions in the last clause are intended to describe the city as substantially and strongly built. The sense is correctly given in the English Bible, a city that is compact together. This seems to imply that Jerusalem had recently assumed this character, and may therefore help to determine the period in the reign of David, when the psalm was written. See 2 Sam. v. 9. The abbreviated relative (ni^nii^) has by some been made a proof of later date; but it no doubt belonged from the beginning to the dialect of common life, though not commonly employed in writing till a. later date. It occurs in the song of Deborah, Judges v. 7, and elsewhere in the Book of Judges (vi. 17, vii. 12. viii. 26).
4. Where the tribes go up, the tribes of J ah (as) a testimony to Israel to give thanks to the name of Jehovah. There is obvious reference to the requisition in Exod. xxiii. 17, xxxiv. 23, Deut. xvi. 16, which is called a testimony, not merely as the law in general is (Ps. xciii. 5), but as a constant memorial of God’s goodness to his people. The mention of the tribes seems to point to the period of the undivided monarchy.
5. For there sit thrones for judgment, thrones for the home of David. This means simply that Jerusalem was a civil as well as a religious capital. There, literally thither, implying that the singers were themselves in motion towards these thrones. Sit, or as we should say in English, stand. See below, Ps. cxxv. 1.
6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; may they have peace that love thee! Peace, in both clauses, includes all prosperity. There is obvious allusion to the meaning of the name Jerusalem. See above, on Ps. lxxvi. 3 (2).
7. Peace be within thy rampart, and repose within thy palaces. Peace and repose from all distracting! causes, of whatever nature. Rampart, breast-work, circumvallation. Rampart and palaces are put for the outer and inner masses of building. Compare Ps. xlviii. 14.
8. For the sake of my brethren and my friends, let me speak, Peace (be) within thee. By brethren and friends we are to understand the whole body of the chosen people. For their sake may include the sense of in their behalf. The last clause admits of a different construction. Let me speak peace to thee, literally in thee. See above, on Ps. lxxxv. 9 (8). The optative meaning of the verb is determined by the particle (Xi), the use of which here seems to be imitated In Ps. cxv. 2, cxvi. 4.
9. For the sake of the house of Jehovah our God, I will seek thy good. The house of God is here the sanctuary and all the interests of which it was the local centre. Jehovah our God, our patron and protector, our peculiar covenant God. Seek includes every form of effort to promote it; but the prominent idea is that of intercession.
