The theme of this psalm, as of those immediately preceding, is the kingship of Jehovah, ver. 1. The remainder falls into two stanzas of four verses each. In the first, Jehovah’s goodness to his people is propounded as a subject of applause to all mankind, ver. 2-5. In the second, the same duty is enforced by an appeal to historical examples, ver. 6-9. The strophical arrangement is marked by the resemblance of ver. 5 and 9. The psalm is related in the closest manner to those before and after it, as forming one connected series. See below, on Ps. c.
1. Jehovah reigns, the nations tremble; sitting on (or dwelling between) the cherubim (he reigns), the earth quakes. The second member of each clause describes the effect produced by the disclosure of the fact that God has begun to reign, is actually reigning. For the meaning of the phrase sitting on (or dwelling between) the cherubim, see above, on Ps. lxxx. 2 (1). As used in history, it always presupposes the presence of the ark as symbolising that of God himself. See 1 Sam. iv. 4, 2 Sam. vi. 2, 2 Kings xix. 15. Its use here, therefore, shews that the psalm before us, and by necessary consequence, the series to which it belongs (Ps. xci.-c.), and by parity of reasoning, the later prophecies of Isaiah, were all composed before the Babylonian conquest, when the temple was destroyed and the ark lost sight of. The futures have their strict sense, as this is a prediction. If they were optative (let the nations tremble, &c.) one of the verbs at least would have that form.
2. Jehovah in Thou (is) great, and high (is) he above all nations. Compare Ps. xlviii. 2 (1), xcv. 3, xcvi. 4, xcvii. 9. The addition of the qualifying phrase in Zion shews that the reference is not to God’s absolute essential greatness, but to some signal manifestation of his greatness to his people. The word translated high is originally a participle, and may be likened to our English towering.
3. They shall acknowledge thy name, great and terrible: Holy (is) He! The subject of the first verb is the nations mentioned in ver. 2. See above, Ps. xcvi. 9, xcvii. 7, xcviii. 1, 4. The verb itself means to acknowledge thankfully, to thank, to praise for benefits received. See above, on Pa. vi. 5 (4). Thy name, the evidence already furnished of thine infinite perfection. Great and feared, or to he feared, epithets derived from Deut. X. 17, xxviii. 58. In the last clause some would read. Holy (is) it, i. e. thy name. But the sense is determined by the analogy of ver. 5, 9, and the obvious allusion to Isa. vi. 3. This allusion is by some supposed to be the reason of the sudden change of person. He instead of 2’Thou. But this may be still more readily accounted for, by making these the very words in which God is acknowledged by the nations: (saying) Holy is he! Holy, in the wide sense which it has in the Old Testament, and more particularly in the Psalms. See above, on Ps. xxii. 4 (3).
4. And the king’s strength loves judgment; thou hast established equity: judgment and justice in Jacob thou hast done. Some continue the construction from the preceding sentence; they shall acknowledge thy name and the king’s strength loving judgment. But as sentences of this length are unusual in Hebrew, and as HHhJ is not elsewhere a participle or verbal adjective, the best construction is the old one, which makes this an independent proposition. The meaning of the first clause seems to be, that God’s power is controlled in its exercise by his love of justice. To establish equity is to give it permanence by a habitually}^ pure administration of justice. The terms of the last clause are the same by which the history describes the judicial fidelity of David, 2 Sam. viii. 15, as if to indicate that it was a mere type of God’s more perfect and infallible administration of impartial justice.
5. Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and prostrate yourselves to his footstool. Holy (is) He! With the first clause compare Ps. xxx. 2 (1), xxxiv. 4 (3); with the second, Ps. xcvi. 9, xcvii. 7. As in those cases, the address is to the nations. Bow down (or prostrate) yourselves, as an act of worship. Not at Ms footstool, as the mere place of worship, but to it, as the object, this name being constantly given to the ark, 1 Chron. xxviii. 2, Lam. ii. 1, Ps. cxxxii. 7, Isa. lx. 13. Even in Isa. lx\a. 1, there is allusion to the ordinary usage of the terms. The ark is here represented as the object of worship, just as Zion is in Isa. xlv. 14, both being put for the God who was present in them.
6. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those calling on his name—calling to Jehovah, and he answers them. The structure of the sentence is elliptical, and may be completed either by supplying are or were before among, or by making the participle calling mean are calling, call. In explaining the sentence due regard must be had to its parallel structure. As Moses and Aaron are evidently meant to be included among those who called upon the name of the Lord, so Samuel must be comprehended among his priests. Moses and Samuel are so described because they were theocratic mediators between God and the people, and as such performed occasionally what were strictly sacerdotal functions. See Lev. “viii. 15-30, 1 Sam. ix. 13. The prayers here referred to are their intercessions for the people. See Exod. xviii. 19, xxxii. 11-30, Num. xi. 2, xiv. 9, xxi. 7, Deut. v. 5, ix. 18, 19, 1 Sam. vii. 9, xii. 23, Ps. cvi. 23. The connection of this verse with the foregoing context is obscure, but the idea seems to be, that as even the chiefs of the theocracy were under the necessity of seeking the divine favour, such prayer must, to say the least, be equally necessary in the case of others.
7. In a pillar of cloud he speaks to them. They kept his testimonies and the statute he gave unto them. The first clause may be figuratively understood as denoting any special divine communication, or what was literally time of Moses and Aaron (Exod. xxxiii. 9, Num. xii. 5, Deut. xxxi. 15) may be here applied to all three indiscriminately. The verse contains a second lesson drawn from the history of the theocracy, to wit, the necessity of obedience no less than of prayer. It was true, God spoke to these men in an extraordinary manner; but it was for the purpose of making known his will, and that will they obeyed. For the meaning of testimonies, see above, on Ps. xciii. 5. The last clause may be construed as an independent proposition, and he gave a statute to them, i. e. he rewarded their obedience by revealing to them new laws. But the sense thus obtained is not so clear or natural as that afforded by the relative construction, and the statute (which) he gave them.
8. Jehovah our God, thou didst answerlthem; a forgiving God wast thou to them, and (a God) taking vengeance on their crimes. The apostrophe to God himself adds solemnity and tenderness to the discourse. The pronoun is emphatic, they called and thou didst hear or answer. The following description is borrowed from Exod. xxxiv. 7. The divine name (7K), implies that he had infinite power to destroy, and yet forgave them. The last Hebrew word in the verse is used of God in a good sense, and of man always in a bad one. See above, on Ps, ix. 12 (11), xiv. 1, lxxvii. 13 (12). There is here a beautiful transition from the representatives of the people to the people themselves. The pronoun in the first clause (them) can refer only to Moses, Aaron, and Samuel; in the second, it is applicable both to them and to the people; in the third, it relates to the latter exclusively.
9. Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and how down to his holy hill; for holy (is) Jehovah our God. See above, on ver. 5, from which this differs only in the substitution of the holy hill for the equivalent expression footstool, and in the more distinct assertion of God’s holiness as a reason for the worship thus required.
