Psalms 118:15
in Psalms 118Shouts of joy and salvation resound in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous: The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.
KJV
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.
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This verse in Psalms 118
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous,.... In all the dwellings of good men, throughout the land of Israel, was heard nothing but the voice of joy, on account of David's accession to the throne; the deliverance of him from a persecuting Saul, and of them from his real administration; and the victories David obtained over all his enemies: for, "when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice", Pro 29:
This site's exposition
Shouts of joy and salvation resound
on Psalms 118:15-16
The shouting is in the tents of the righteous, the ordinary dwellings of the people. One line carries it, the right hand of the LORD, which performs with valor and is exalted. The psalm says it three times in two verses.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous" (ver. 15); where they who raged against their bodies thought there was the voice of sorrow and destruction. For they did not know the inward joy of the saints in their future hope. Whence the Apostle also saith, "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing;" and again, "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
There is salvation; safety from evil, earnests of eternal salvation, which has come to this house, Luke xix. Where there is salvation there is cause for rejoicing, for continual joy in God. Holy joy is called the joy of salvation, for in that there is abundant matter for joy.
We are weak, and act but cowardly for ourselves; but God is mighty, and acts valiantly for us, with jealousy and resolution, Isa. lxiii. There is spirit, as well as strength, in all God's operations for his people. And, when God's right hand does valiantly for our salvation, it ought to be exalted in our praises.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. They sympathised in the delight of their leader and they abode in their tents in peace, rejoicing that one had been raised up who, in the name of the Lord, would protect them from their adversaries. The families of believers are happy, and they should take pains to give their happiness a voice by their family devotion. The dwelling place of saved men should be the temple of praise; it is but righteous that the righteous should praise the righteous God, who is their righteousness.
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. They sympathised in the delight of their leader and they abode in their tents in peace, rejoicing that one had been raised up who, in the name of the Lord, would protect them from their adversaries. The families of believers are happy, and they should take pains to give their happiness a voice by their family devotion. The dwelling place of saved men should be the temple of praise; it is but righteous that the righteous should praise the righteous God, who is their righteousness. The struggling hero knew that the voice of woe and lamentation was heard in the tents of his adversaries, for they had suffered severe defeat at his hands; but he was delighted by the remembrance that the nation for whom he had struggled would rejoice from one end of the land to the other at the deliverance which God had wrought by his means. That hero of heroes, the conquering Saviour, gives to all the families of his people abundant reasons for incessant song now that he has led captivity captive and ascended up on high. Let none of us be silent in our households: if we have salvation let us have joy, and if we have joy let us give it a tongue wherewith it may magnify the Lord. If we hearken carefully to the music which comes from Israel's tents, we shall catch a stanza to this effect, the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly: Jehovah has manifested his strength, given victory to his chosen champion, and overthrown all the armies of the foe. "The Lord is a man of war, the Lord is his name." When he comes to blows, woe to his mightiest opponent.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2539: “The Joy of Holy Households” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
A BELIEVER in Christ is not long without finding joy. He is in the land which flows with milk and honey and he will get a sip of sweetness very soon. Like Nicodemus, he comes to Jesus in the dark, but the sun is rising. When he casts himself at the foot of the Cross, his dawning has begun and, before long, he will walk in the Light of God—being justified by faith, he will have peace with God. And not only so, for he also learns to joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also he has received the Atonement. This joy is in him and abounds, so that he belongs to a happy people. It is true that all Believers are not equally happy, but they have, each one of them, a right to be exceedingly glad. Some float upon a flood-tide ofjoy, while others drift upon the ebb, but they are all in the same stream and it is bearing them on to the ocean of perfect happiness. All who trust in Christ as they ought to do, will find a measure of this joy springing up within them, keeping company with the new life which the Holy Spirit has created. Ours is peace which passes all understanding and joy unspeakable! This joy is contagious—it spreads like a sweet perfume. The happy man makes others happy. The man who is full of the blessedness of God overflows for others. Music is not alone for him who makes it, but for all who have ears. The happy man's influence is first felt at home—he goes home to his own family a converted man and they soon perceive the change. He tells them of what the Lord has done, but even if he did not do so, they would soon discover by his gentleness, his love, his truth, his holiness, that something remarkable had happened to him! His actions, his words, his temper, his spirit are singularly altered and those around him can see it! He is glad and, before long, they are glad, too.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2539: “The Joy of Holy Households” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
A BELIEVER in Christ is not long without finding joy. He is in the land which flows with milk and honey and he will get a sip of sweetness very soon. Like Nicodemus, he comes to Jesus in the dark, but the sun is rising. When he casts himself at the foot of the Cross, his dawning has begun and, before long, he will walk in the Light of God—being justified by faith, he will have peace with God.
The voice of rejoicing - Formerly there was nothing but wailings; but now there is universal joy because of the salvation - the deliverance, which God has wrought for us.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The voice of rejoicing and salvation - Rejoicing for salvation; song, praise, thanksgiving. Luther renders this beautifully; “They sing with joy for victory in the houses of the righteous.” Is in the tabernacles of the righteous - The tents of the righteous; their dwellings. That is, (a) it is a fact that the voice of joy and rejoicing is there; (b) it is appropriate that it should be so, or that a righteous family should be happy - the dwelling-place of praise; (c) God will add to the happiness of the righteous, or will make their habitation happy, peaceful, blessed. There is nothing that diffuses so much happiness through a family as religion; there is no joy like that when a member of a family is converted; there is no place on earth more happy than that where a family bows before God with the feeling that all are children of God and heirs of salvation. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly - Hebrew “Doeth strength.” That is, God does great things, laying the foundation for joy and praise.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The might and the cutting power of God was my salvation Heb. עזי וזמרת, the might of the Holy One, blessed be He, was my salvation.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק֤וֹל׀ | kol | [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| רִנָּ֬ה | rinah | a shout of joy | H7440 → | 33 times |
| וִֽישׁוּעָ֗ה | vishuah | and salvation | H3444 → | 78 times |
| בְּאָהֳלֵ֥י | beoholei | [is] in [the] tents of | H168 → | 345 times |
| צַדִּיקִ֑ים | tzadikim | righteous [people] | H6662 → | 206 times |
| יְמִ֥ין | yemin | [the] right [hand] of | H3225 → | 140 times |
| יְ֝הוָה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עֹ֣שָׂה | ʾosah | [is] doing | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| חָֽיִל׃ | chayil | strength | H2428 → | 246 times |
ק֤וֹל׀[the] sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
רִנָּ֬הa shout of joy
rinahH7440 →33 times
וִֽישׁוּעָ֗הand salvation
vishuahH3444 →78 times
בְּאָהֳלֵ֥י[is] in [the] tents of
beoholeiH168 →345 times
צַדִּיקִ֑יםrighteous [people]
tzadikimH6662 →206 times
יְמִ֥ין[the] right [hand] of
yeminH3225 →140 times
יְ֝הוָהYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עֹ֣שָׂה[is] doing
ʾosahH6213 →2628 times
חָֽיִל׃strength
chayilH2428 →246 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 98:1Sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand and holy arm have gained Him the victory.
it leads to
- Exodus 15:6
Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.
- Isaiah 52:10
The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
- Psalms 96:3
Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all peoples.
- Exodus 15:6
Through
Psalms 60:12With God we will perform with valor, and He will trample our enemies.
it leads to
- Psalms 44:5
Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.
- Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
- Isaiah 63:3
“I have trodden the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me. I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My fury; their blood spattered My garments, and…
- Revelation 19:15
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath…
- 1 Chronicles 19:13
Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.”
- Psalms 44:5
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 118; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2539: “The Joy of Holy Households” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.