Charles Spurgeon

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

“For he shall give his angels charge over thee. Not one guardian angel, as some fondly dream, but all the angels are here alluded to.”

They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

“They, that is the angels, God's own angels, shall cheerfully become our servants. They shall bear thee up in their hands; as nurses carry little children, with careful love, so shall those glorious spirits bear up each individual believer.”

You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent.

“Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder. Over force and fraud shalt thou march victoriously; bold opponents and treacherous adversaries shall alike be trodden down. When our shoes are iron and brass lions and adders are easily enough crushed beneath our heel.”

“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.

“Here we have the Lord himself speaking of his own chosen one. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him.”

When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.

“He shall call upon me, and I will answer him. He will have need to pray, he will be led to pray aright and the answer shall surely come.”

With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

“With long life will I satisfy him. The man described in this Psalm fills out the measure of his days, and whether he dies young or old he is quite satisfied with life, and is content to leave it.”

It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High,

“It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, or Jehovah. It is good ethically, for it is the Lord's right; it is good emotionally, for it is pleasant to the heart; it is good practically, for it leads others to render the…”

to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night

“To shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning. The day should begin with praise: no hour is too early for holy song. Loving kindness is a most appropriate theme for those dewy hours when morn is sowing all the earth with orient pearl.”

to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night

“IT is a notion of the Rabbis that this Psalm was sung by Adam in Paradise. There are no reasons why we should believe it was so and there are a great many why we should be sure it was not.”

with the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre.

“Upon an instrument of ten strings; with the fullest range of music, uttering before God with the full compass of melody the richest emotions of his soul.”

For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

“For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work. It was natural for the psalmist to sing, because he was glad, and to sing unto the Lord, because his gladness was caused by a contemplation of the divine work.”

How great are Your works, O LORD, how deep are Your thoughts!

“O Lord, how great are thy works! He is lost in wonder. He utters an exclamation of amazement. How vast! How stupendous are the doings of Jehovah! Great for number, extent, and glory and design are all the creations of the Infinite One.”

A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,

“A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. In this and the following verses the effect of the psalm is heightened by contrast; the shadows are thrown in to bring out the lights more prominently.”

that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.

“When the wicked spring as the grass, in abundance, and apparent strength, hastening on their progress like verdant plants, which come to perfection in a day, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; flowering in their prime and pride, their pomp and their…”

But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!

“But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore. This is the middle verse of the Psalm, and the great fact which this Sabbath song is meant to illustrate. God is at once the highest and most enduring of all beings.”

For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.

“For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord. It is a wonder full of instruction and warning, observe it, O ye sons of men; for, lo, thine enemies shall parish; they shall cease from among men, they shall be known no more.”

But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.

“But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn. The believer rejoices that he shall not be suffered to perish, but shall be strengthened and enabled to triumph over his enemies, by the divine aid.”

But You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox; with fine oil I have been anointed.

“DAVID IS very positive. He does not say, "I hope I shall be anointed with fresh oil and I have a pleasing expectation that it may be so." But he speaks of his future as absolutely certain—"I shall be anointed with fresh oil."”

My eyes see the downfall of my enemies; my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.

“Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies. The words, "my desire", inserted by the translators, had far better have been left out.”

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

“The song now contrasts the condition of the righteous with that of the graceless. The wicked "spring as the grass", but The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, whose growth may not be so rapid, but whose endurance for centuries is in fine contrast…”

Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.

“Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. In the courtyards of Oriental houses trees were planted, and being thoroughly screened, they would be likely to bring forth their fruit to perfection in trying seasons…”

In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain,

“They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. Nature decays but grace thrives. Fruit, as far as nature is concerned, belongs to days of vigour; but in the garden of grace, when plants are weak in themselves, they become strong in the Lord, and…”

to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”

“This mercy to the aged proves the faithfulness of their God, and leads them to shew that the Lord is upright, by their cheerful testimony to his ceaseless goodness. We do not serve a Master who will run back from his promise.”

The LORD reigns! He is robed in majesty; the LORD has clothed and armed Himself with strength. The world indeed is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

“The Lord reigneth, or Jehovah reigns. Whatever opposition may arise, his throne is unmoved; he has reigned, does reign, and will reign for ever and ever.”

Your throne was established long ago; You are from all eternity.

“Thy throne is established of old. Though thou mayest just now appear in more conspicuous sovereignty, yet thine is no upstart sovereignty: in the most ancient times thy dominion was secure, yea, before time was thy throne was set up.”