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21. Psalm 21

1 The king rejoices in your strength, LORD.
   How great is his joy in the victories you give!

    2 You have granted him his heart’s desire
   and have not withheld the request of his lips. The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

3 You came to greet him with rich blessings
   and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
   length of days, for ever and ever.

5 Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;
   you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.

6 Surely you have granted him unending blessings
   and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

7 For the king trusts in the LORD;
   through the unfailing love of the Most High
   he will not be shaken.

    8 Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;
   your right hand will seize your foes.

9 When you appear for battle,
   you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.
The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath,
   and his fire will consume them.

10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
   their posterity from mankind.

11 Though they plot evil against you
   and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

12 You will make them turn their backs
   when you aim at them with drawn bow.

    13 Be exalted in your strength, LORD;
   we will sing and praise your might.


8. Thy hand shall find. Hitherto the internal happiness of the kingdom has been described. Now there follows, as it was necessary there should, the celebration of its invincible strength against its enemies. What is said in this verse is of the same import as if the king had been pronounced victorious over all his enemies. I have just now remarked, that such a statement is not superfluous; for it would not have been enough for the kingdom to have flourished internally, and to have been replenished with peace, riches, and abundance of all good things, had it not also been well fortified against the attacks of foreign enemies. This particularly applies to the kingdom of Christ, which is never without enemies in this world. True, it is not always assailed by open war, and there is sometimes granted to it a period of respite; but the ministers of Satan never lay aside their malice and desire to do mischief, and therefore they never cease to plot and to endeavor to accomplish the overthrow of Christ’s kingdom. It is well for us that our King, who lifts up his hand as a shield before us to defend us, is stronger than all. As the Hebrew word מצא, matsa, which is twice repeated, and which we have translated, to find, sometimes signifies to suffice; and, as in the first clause, there is prefixed to the word כל, kal, which signifies all, the letter ל, lamed, which signifies for, or against, and which is not prefixed to the Hebrew word which is rendered those that hate thee; some expositors, because of this diversity, explain the verse as if it had been said, Thy hand shall be able for all thine enemies, thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thus the sentence will ascend by degrees, — Thy hand shall be able to withstand, thy right hand shall lay hold upon thy enemies, so that they shall not escape destruction.


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