Charles Spurgeon

Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!

“MESECH was the son of Japheth, from whom, according to history, were descended the men who inhabited that most barbarous of all regions, according to the opinion of the ancients, the northern parts of Muscovy or Moscow and Russia.”

I am in favor of peace; but when I speak, they want war.

“I am for peace. Properly, "I am peace"; desirous of peace, peaceful, forbearing, —in fact, peace itself. But when I speak, they are for war. My kindest words appear to provoke them, and they are at daggers drawn at once.”

He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.

“He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. Though the paths of life are dangerous and difficult, yet we shall stand fast, for Jehovah will not permit our feet to slide; and if he will not suffer it we shall not suffer it.”

Behold, the Protector of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

“Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The consoling truth must be repeated: it is too rich to be dismissed in a single line.”

The LORD will guard you from all evil; He will preserve your soul.

“The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, or keep thee from all evil. It is a great pity that our admirable translation did not keep to the word keep all through the psalm, for all along it is one.”

The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.

“The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. When we go out in the morning to labour, and come home at eventide to rest, Jehovah shall keep us.”

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”

“I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Good children are pleased to go home, and glad to hear their brothers and sisters call them thither.”

Our feet are standing in your gates, O Jerusalem.

“Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem; or, better, "our feet are standing." The words imply present and joyous standing within the walls of the city of peace; or perhaps the pilgrims felt so sure of getting there that they antedated the joy…”

Jerusalem is built up as a city united together,

“Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together. David saw in vision the city built; no more a waste, or a mere collection of tents, or a city upon paper, commenced but not completed.”

where the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.

“Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord. When there is unity within there will be gatherings from without: the tribes go up to a compact centre.”

For there the thrones of judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.

“For there are set thrones of judgment. If discontented with the petty judgments of their village lords, the people could bring their hard matters to the royal seat, and the beloved King would be sure to decide aright; for the judgment thrones were The thrones…”

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Peace was her name, pray that her condition may verify her Title — Abode of Peace, peace be to thee.”

May there be peace within your walls, and prosperity inside your fortresses.”

“Peace be within thy walls. See how the poet personifies the church, and speaks to it: his heart is with Zion, and therefore his conversation runs in that direction.”

For the sake of my brothers and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.”

“For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. It is to the advantage of all Israel that there should be peace in Jerusalem.”

For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your prosperity.

“Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good. He prays for Jerusalem because of Zion. How the church salts and savours all around it.”

I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.

“Unto thee lift I up mine eyes. It is good to have some one to look up to. The Psalmist looked so high that he could look no higher. Not to the hills, but to the God of the hills he looked.”

Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.

“Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us. He hangs upon the word "mercy, "and embodies it in a vehement prayer: the very word seems to hold him, and he harps upon it.”

We have endured much scorn from the arrogant, much contempt from the proud.

“Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease. Knowing no troubles of their own, the easy ones grow cruel and deride the people of the Lord.”

If the LORD had not been on our side— let Israel now declare—

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, now may Israel say. The opening sentence is abrupt, and remains a fragment.”

when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,

“Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us. They were so eager for our destruction that they would have made only one morsel of us, and have swallowed us up alive and whole in a single instant.”

then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us,

“Then the waters had overwhelmed us. Rising irresistibly, like the Nile, the flood of opposition would soon have rolled over our heads. Across the mighty waste of waters we should have cast an anxious eye, but looked in vain for escape.”

then the raging waters would have swept us away.

“Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. The figure represents the waves as proud, and so they seem to be when they overleap the bulwarks of a frail bark, and threaten every moment to sink her.”

Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as prey to their teeth.

“Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Leaving the metaphor of a boiling flood, he compares the adversaries of Israel to wild beasts who desired to make the godly their prey.”

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the net is torn, and we have slipped away.

“THIS text describes a soul-matter. The Psalmist is not speaking of a temporal deliverance, although, even in that sense, an escape from death would be a theme worthy of his sweetest song.”

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the net is torn, and we have slipped away.

“Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. Our soul is like a bird for many reasons; but in this case the point of likeness is weakness, folly, and the ease with which it is enticed into the snare.”