Psalms 116:19

"In the courts," he saith, "of the Lord's house." What is the Lord's house, the same is the Lord's handmaid: and what is God's house, save all His people? It therefore followeth, "In the sight of all His people." And now he more openly nameth his mother herself. For what else is His people, but what followeth, "In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem"? For than that which is returned grateful, if it be returned from peace, and in peace. But they who are not sons of this handmaid, have loved war rather than peace. ...

In the courts of the Lord'S house: in the proper place, where God had ordained that he should be worshipped. See how he is stirred up at the remembrance of the house of the Lord, and must needs speak of the holy city with a note of joyful exclamation—In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. The very thought of the beloved Zion touched his heart, and he writes as if he were actually addressing Jerusalem, whose name was dear to him.

In the courts of the Lord'S house: in the proper place, where God had ordained that he should be worshipped. See how he is stirred up at the remembrance of the house of the Lord, and must needs speak of the holy city with a note of joyful exclamation—In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. The very thought of the beloved Zion touched his heart, and he writes as if he were actually addressing Jerusalem, whose name was dear to him. There would he pay his vows, in the abode of fellowship, in the very heart of Judea, in the place to which the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord. There is nothing like witnessing for Jesus, where the report thereof will be carried into a thousand homes. God's praise is not to be confined to a closet, nor his name to be whispered in holes and corners, as if we were afraid that men should hear us; but in the thick of the throng, and in the very centre of assemblies, we should lift up heart and voice unto the Lord, and invite others to join with us in adoring him, saying, Praise ye the Lord, or Hallelujah. This was a very fit conclusion of a song to be sung when all the people were gathered together at Jerusalem to keep the feast. God's Spirit moved the writers of these Psalms to give them a fitness and suitability which was more evident in their own day than now; but enough is perceptible to convince us that every line and word had a peculiar adaptation to the occasions for which the sacred sonnets were composed. When we worship the Lord we ought with great care to select the words of prayer and praise, and not to trust to the opening of a hymn book, or to the unconsidered extemporizing of the moment. Let all things be done decently and in order, and let all things begin and end with Hallelujah, Praise ye the Lord.

In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem - He speaks as if present in the city, offering his vowed sacrifices in the temple to the Lord. Most of this Psalm has been applied to our Lord and his Church; and in this way it has been considered as prophetic; and, taken thus, it is innocently accommodated, and is very edifying. This is the interpretation given of the whole by the old Psalter.

In the courts of the Lord’s house - See the notes at Psa 65:4. Compare Psa 84:2; Psa 92:13; Psa 96:8; Psa 100:4; Psa 135:2. In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem - Where the tabernacle, and afterward the temple, was reared. Praise ye the Lord - Hallelujah. A call on others to join in the praise of God. The psalmist felt his own heart drawn to the service of praise by all the mercies of God; he desired, as an expression of his own feelings, that others should unite with him in that sacred exercise. When our own hearts are filled with gratitude, we wish that all others may partake of the same feeling.