John Wesley (NT Notes)

“The name of Joseph, the most eminent of the patriarchs, is elsewhere put for all the tribes. Cherubim - Which were by the mercy seat above the ark. Before Ephraim - Here is an allusion to the ancient situation of the tabernacle in the wilderness, where these t…”

“Be - To protect and strengthen him. Right-hand - Benjamin signifies the son of the right hand, a dearly beloved son, as Benjamin was to Jacob. Son of man - The people of Israel, who are often spoken of as one person, as God's son and first-born.”

“Testimony - For a witness of that glorious deliverance. Went - As a captain at the head of his people. Egypt - To execute his judgments upon that land.”

“Standeth - To observe all that is said or done there. Mighty - Kings or chief rulers. By their congregation he understands all persons whatsoever of this high and sacred order.”

“Walk on - They persist: it is their constant course. In darkness - In their sinful courses. The foundations - This corruption of the supreme rulers, flows from them to their inferior officers and members.”

“Hidden ones - Thy people of Israel, who are called God's hidden or secret ones, to intimate the respect which God has to them, as to his peculiar treasure.”

“The tabernacles - The people dwelling in them. Ishmaelites - Some of the posterity of Ishmael, called by their father's name, as others of them are supposed to be called Hagarens from their grandmother Hagar.”

“They-That constantly abide in thy house; the priests and Levites, or other devout Jews who were there perpetually, as Anna, Luke ii, 36-37. They will - They are continually employed in that blessed work.”

“Whose strength - Who trusteth in thee as his only strength. Thy ways - Blessed are they whose hearts are set upon Zion and their journey is thither.”

“Shield - To save his people from all their enemies. Grace - His favour, which is better than life. Glory - The honour which comes from God here, and eternal glory.”

“Will speak - What answer God will give to my prayers. Peace - He will give an answer of peace. Saints - Not to all that are called God's people, but only to those who are truly such.”

“And the psalmist might well say this salvation was nigh, because the seventy weeks determined by Daniel were begun. Glory - The glorious presence of God, and the God of glory himself, even Christ, who is the brightness of his father's glory.”

“Righteousness - And God's justice shall be satisfied: he shall look down upon sinful men with a smiling countenance.”

“Before him - As his harbinger. He shall fulfil all righteousness, he shall satisfy the righteousness of God, and shall advance righteousness and holiness among men.”

“Zion - That is, Zion itself, or Jerusalem, which was built upon and near Mount Zion. He saith Zion rather than Jerusalem, to intimate that he loved Jerusalem for Zion's sake, or for the temple, which he chose for his peculiar dwelling place.”

“Babylon - Under these two and Philistia, the constant enemies of Israel, he seems to understand all the enemies of the church of God, who shall now be not only reconciled but united to them. Arabia - The nations on every side of them, for Tyre was on the north…”

“Man and man, all sorts of men without difference of nations. Establish - And this shall not be a transient, but a lasting work; Zion shall continue in its strength and fertility because the Almighty God is her founder and protector.”

“When - When God, the maker and governor of this city shall take a survey of all his citizens. It is an allusion to princes or governors of cities that use to write and keep a register of all their people.”

“In thee - In Zion or the church. These words may be here added as the burden of the song, which these singers are supposed to have sung, in the name of all the people of God. All our desires and delights are in thee, all the springs of mercy, grace, and glory,…”

“Sing - He prefaces this, lest the following complainers of present miseries should argue ingratitude for former mercies. Faithfulness - Whatsoever hath befallen us, it proceeded not from thy unfaithfulness.”

“Build up - I will perpetuate the kingdom to thy posterity; which was promised upon condition, and was literally accomplished in Christ.”

“Tabor - The several parts of the land of Canaan, both within Jordan, where mount Tabor is; and without it, where Hermon lies. Rejoice - Shall be fruitful and prosperous, and so give their inhabitants cause to rejoice.”

“Know - Who enjoy the presence of God and his ordinances, to which they are called by the sound of trumpets. Walk - Under the comfortable influences of thy favour.”

“The glory - To thee alone belongs the glory of all their valiant achievements.”

“Holy one - To thy holy prophets; the singular number being put for the plural; especially to Samuel and Nathan. Laid help - I have provided help for my people. Upon - Upon a person of singular courage and wisdom.”