Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: Psalms 74:12 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 74:12	Strong Concordance	For God [0430] is my King [04428] of old [06924], working [06466] salvation [03444] in the midst [07130] of the earth [0776].
	King James	For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
For--literally, "And," in an adversative sense.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

For--literally, "And," in an adversative sense.

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
For God is my King of old - That is, the king, or ruler of his people. The people had acknowledged him as their king and ruler, and he had showed himself to be such. This is given as a reason why he should now interpose in their behalf. It is an argument, proper always to be urged, drawn from the faithfulness and unchangeableness of God. Working salvation in the midst of the earth - Salvation for his people. The reference here particularly is to what he had done for his people in delivering them from bondage in Egypt, and conducting them to the promised land, as is stated in the following verses.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
With this prayer for the destruction of the enemies by God's interposition closes the first half of the Psalm, which has for its subject-matter the crying contradiction between the present state of things and God's relationship to Israel. The poet now draws comfort by looking back into the time when God as Israel's King unfolded the rich fulness of His salvation everywhere upon the earth, where Israel's existence was imperilled. בּקרב הארץ, not only within the circumference of the Holy Land, but, e.g., also within that of Egypt (Exo 8:18-22). The poet has Egypt directly in his mind, for there now follows first of all a glance at the historical (Psa 74:13-15), and then at the natural displays of God's power (Psa 74:16, Psa 74:17). Hengstenberg is of opinion that Psa 74:13-15 also are to be understood in the latter sense, and appeals to Job 26:11-13. But just as Isaiah (Isa 51:9, cf. Psa 27:1) transfers these emblems of the omnipotence of God in the natural world to His proofs of power in connection with the history of redemption which were exhibited in the case of a worldly power, so does the poet here also in Psa 74:13-15. The תּנּיּן (the extended saurian) is in Isaiah, as in Ezekiel (התּנּים, Psa 29:3; Psa 32:2), an emblem of Pharaoh and of his kingdom; in like manner here the leviathan is the proper natural wonder of Egypt. As a water-snake or a crocodile, when it comes up with its head above the water, is killed by a powerful stroke, did God break the heads of the Egyptians, so that the sea cast up their dead bodies (Exo 14:30). The ציּים, the dwellers in the steppe, to whom these became food, are not the Aethiopians (lxx, Jerome), or rather the Ichthyophagi (Bocahrt, Hengstenberg), who according to Agatharcides fed ἐκ τῶν ἐκριπτομένων εἰς τὴν χέρσον κητῶν, but were no cannibals, but the wild beasts of the desert, which are called עם, as in Pro 30:25. the ants and the rock-badgers. לציים is a permutative of the notion לעם, which was not completed: to a (singular) people, viz., to the wild animals of the steppe. Psa 74:15 also still refers not to miracles of creation, but to miracles wrought in the course of the history of redemption; Psa 74:15 refers to the giving of water out of the rock (Psa 78:15), and Psa 74:15 to the passage through the Jordan, which was miraculously dried up (הובשׁתּ, as in Jos 2:10; Jos 4:23; Jos 5:1). The object מעין ונחל is intended as referring to the result: so that the water flowed out of the cleft after the manner of a fountain and a brook. נהרות are the several streams of the one Jordan; the attributive genitive איתן describe them as streams having an abundance that does not dry up, streams of perennial fulness. The God of Israel who has thus marvellously made Himself known in history is, however, the Creator and Lord of all created things. Day and night and the stars alike are His creatures. In close connection with the night, which is mentioned second, the moon, the מאור of the night, precedes the sun; cf. Psa 8:4, where כּונן is the same as הכין in this passage. It is an error to render thus: bodies of light, and more particularly the sun; which would have made one expect מאורות before the specializing Waw. גּבוּלות are not merely the bounds of the land towards the sea, Jer 5:22, but, according to Deu 32:8; Act 17:26, even the boundaries of the land in themselves, that is to say, the natural boundaries of the inland country. קיץ וחרף are the two halves of the year: summer including spring (אביב), which begins in Nisan, the spring-month, about the time of the vernal equinox, and autumn including winter (צתו), after the termination of which the strictly spring vegetation begins (Sol 2:11). The seasons are personified, and are called God's formations or works, as it were the angels of summer and of winter.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

With this prayer for the destruction of the enemies by God's interposition closes the first half of the Psalm, which has for its subject-matter the crying contradiction between the present state of things and God's relationship to Israel. The poet now draws comfort by looking back into the time when God as Israel's King unfolded the rich fulness of His salvation everywhere upon the earth, where Israel's existence was imperilled. בּקרב הארץ, not only within the circumference of the Holy Land, but, e.g., also within that of Egypt (Exo 8:18-22). The poet has Egypt directly in his mind, for there now follows first of all a glance at the historical (Psa 74:13-15), and then at the natural displays of God's power (Psa 74:16, Psa 74:17). Hengstenberg is of opinion that Psa 74:13-15 also are to be understood in the latter sense, and appeals to Job 26:11-13. But just as Isaiah (Isa 51:9, cf. Psa 27:1) transfers these emblems of the omnipotence of God in the natural world to His proofs of power in connection with the history of redemption which were exhibited in the case of a worldly power, so does the poet here also in Psa 74:13-15. The תּנּיּן (the extended saurian) is in Isaiah, as in Ezekiel (התּנּים, Psa 29:3; Psa 32:2), an emblem of Pharaoh and of his kingdom; in like manner here the leviathan is the proper natural wonder of Egypt. As a water-snake or a crocodile, when it comes up with its head above the water, is killed by a powerful stroke, did God break the heads of the Egyptians, so that the sea cast up their dead bodies (Exo 14:30). The ציּים, the dwellers in the steppe, to whom these became food, are not the Aethiopians (lxx, Jerome), or rather the Ichthyophagi (Bocahrt, Hengstenberg), who according to Agatharcides fed ἐκ τῶν ἐκριπτομένων εἰς τὴν χέρσον κητῶν, but were no cannibals, but the wild beasts of the desert, which are called עם, as in Pro 30:25. the ants and the rock-badgers. לציים is a permutative of the notion לעם, which was not completed: to a (singular) people, viz., to the wild animals of the steppe. Psa 74:15 also still refers not to miracles of creation, but to miracles wrought in the course of the history of redemption; Psa 74:15 refers to the giving of water out of the rock (Psa 78:15), and Psa 74:15 to the passage through the Jordan, which was miraculously dried up (הובשׁתּ, as in Jos 2:10; Jos 4:23; Jos 5:1). The object מעין ונחל is intended as referring to the result: so that the water flowed out of the cleft after the manner of a fountain and a brook. נהרות are the several streams of the one Jordan; the attributive genitive איתן describe them as streams having an abundance that does not dry up, streams of perennial fulness. The God of Israel who has thus marvellously made Himself known in history is, however, the Creator and Lord of all created things. Day and night and the stars alike are His creatures. In close connection with the night, which is mentioned second, the moon, the מאור of the night, precedes the sun; cf. Psa 8:4, where כּונן is the same as הכין in this passage. It is an error to render thus: bodies of light, and more particularly the sun; which would have made one expect מאורות before the specializing Waw. גּבוּלות are not merely the bounds of the land towards the sea, Jer 5:22, but, according to Deu 32:8; Act 17:26, even the boundaries of the land in themselves, that is to say, the natural boundaries of the inland country. קיץ וחרף are the two halves of the year: summer including spring (אביב), which begins in Nisan, the spring-month, about the time of the vernal equinox, and autumn including winter (צתו), after the termination of which the strictly spring vegetation begins (Sol 2:11). The seasons are personified, and are called God's formations or works, as it were the angels of summer and of winter.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
King - It belongs therefore to thy office to protect and save me. Midst - In the view of the world.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
For God is my King of old - We have always acknowledged thee as our sovereign; and thou hast reigned as a king in the midst of our land, dispensing salvation and deliverance from the center to every part of the circumference.

Top

¹¹ For, lo, the winter [05638] is past [05674], the rain [01653] is over [02498] and gone [01980];

²⁶ And [5037] hath made [4160] of [1537] one [1520] blood [129] all [3956] nations [1484] of men [444] for to dwell [2730] on [1909] all [3956] the face [4383] of the earth [1093], and hath determined [3724] the times [2540] before appointed [4384], and [2532] the bounds [3734] of their [846] habitation [2733];

⁸ When the most High [05945] divided [05157] to the nations [01471] their inheritance [05157], when he separated [06504] the sons [01121] of Adam [0120], he set [05324] the bounds [01367] of the people [05971] according to the number [04557] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

²² Fear [03372] ye not me? saith [05002] the LORD [03068]: will ye not tremble [02342] at my presence [06440], which have placed [07760] the sand [02344] for the bound [01366] of the sea [03220] by a perpetual [05769] decree [02706], that it cannot pass [05674] it: and though the waves [01530] thereof toss [01607] themselves, yet can they not prevail [03201]; though they roar [01993], yet can they not pass over [05674] it?

⁴ What is man [0582], that thou art mindful [02142] of him? and the son [01121] of man [0120], that thou visitest [06485] him?

¹ And it came to pass, when all the kings [04428] of the Amorites [0567], which were on the side [05676] of Jordan [03383] westward [03220], and all the kings [04428] of the Canaanites [03669], which were by the sea [03220], heard [08085] that the LORD [03068] had dried up [03001] the waters [04325] of Jordan [03383] from before [06440] the children [01121] of Israel [03478], until we were passed over [05674], that their heart [03824] melted [04549], neither was there spirit [07307] in them any more, because [06440] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

²³ For the LORD [03068] your God [0430] dried up [03001] the waters [04325] of Jordan [03383] from before [06440] you, until ye were passed over [05674], as the LORD [03068] your God [0430] did [06213] to the Red [05488] sea [03220], which he dried up [03001] from before [06440] us, until we were gone over [05674]:

¹⁰ For we have heard [08085] how the LORD [03068] dried up [03001] the water [04325] of the Red [05488] sea [03220] for you [06440], when ye came out [03318] of Egypt [04714]; and what ye did [06213] unto the two [08147] kings [04428] of the Amorites [0567], that were on the other side [05676] Jordan [03383], Sihon [05511] and Og [05747], whom ye utterly destroyed [02763].

¹⁵ Thou didst cleave [01234] the fountain [04599] and the flood [05158]: thou driedst up [03001] mighty [0386] rivers [05104].

¹⁵ He clave [01234] the rocks [06697] in the wilderness [04057], and gave them drink [08248] as out of the great [07227] depths [08415].

¹⁵ Thou didst cleave [01234] the fountain [04599] and the flood [05158]: thou driedst up [03001] mighty [0386] rivers [05104].

²⁵ The ants [05244] are a people [05971] not strong [05794], yet they prepare [03559] their meat [03899] in the summer [07019];

³⁰ Thus the LORD [03068] saved [03467] Israel [03478] that day [03117] out of the hand [03027] of the Egyptians [04714]; and Israel [03478] saw [07200] the Egyptians [04714] dead [04191] upon the sea [03220] shore [08193].

² Blessed [0835] is the man [0120] unto whom the LORD [03068] imputeth [02803] not iniquity [05771], and in whose spirit [07307] there is no guile [07423].

³ The voice [06963] of the LORD [03068] is upon the waters [04325]: the God [0410] of glory [03519] thundereth [07481]: the LORD [03068] is upon many [07227] waters [04325].

¹³ Thou didst divide [06565] the sea [03220] by thy strength [05797]: thou brakest [07665] the heads [07218] of the dragons [08577] in the waters [04325].
¹⁴ Thou brakest [07533] the heads [07218] of leviathan [03882] in pieces, and gavest [05414] him to be meat [03978] to the people [05971] inhabiting the wilderness [06728].
¹⁵ Thou didst cleave [01234] the fountain [04599] and the flood [05158]: thou driedst up [03001] mighty [0386] rivers [05104].

¹ A Psalm of David [01732]. The LORD [03068] is my light [0216] and my salvation [03468]; whom shall I fear [03372]? the LORD [03068] is the strength [04581] of my life [02416]; of whom shall I be afraid [06342]?

⁹ Awake [05782], awake [05782], put on [03847] strength [05797], O arm [02220] of the LORD [03068]; awake [05782], as in the ancient [06924] days [03117], in the generations [01755] of old [05769]. Art thou not it that hath cut [02672] Rahab [07294], and wounded [02490] the dragon [08577]?

¹¹ The pillars [05982] of heaven [08064] tremble [07322] and are astonished [08539] at his reproof [01606].
¹² He divideth [07280] the sea [03220] with his power [03581], and by his understanding [08394] [08394] he smiteth [04272] through the proud [07293].
¹³ By his spirit [07307] he hath garnished [08235] the heavens [08064]; his hand [03027] hath formed [02342] the crooked [01281] serpent [05175].

¹⁷ Thou hast set [05324] all the borders [01367] of the earth [0776]: thou hast made [03335] summer [07019] and winter [02779].

¹⁶ The day [03117] is thine, the night [03915] also is thine: thou hast prepared [03559] the light [03974] and the sun [08121].

¹⁸ And the magicians [02748] did [06213] so with their enchantments [03909] to bring forth [03318] lice [03654], but they could [03201] not: so there were lice [03654] upon man [0120], and upon beast [0929].
¹⁹ Then the magicians [02748] said [0559] unto Pharaoh [06547], This is the finger [0676] of God [0430]: and Pharaoh's [06547] heart [03820] was hardened [02388], and he hearkened [08085] not unto them; as the LORD [03068] had said [01696].
²⁰ And the LORD [03068] said [0559] unto Moses [04872], Rise up early [07925] in the morning [01242], and stand [03320] before [06440] Pharaoh [06547]; lo, he cometh forth [03318] to the water [04325]; and say [0559] unto him, Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068], Let my people [05971] go [07971], that they may serve [05647] me.
²¹ Else, if thou wilt not let my people [05971] go [07971], behold, I will send [07971] swarms [06157] of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants [05650], and upon thy people [05971], and into thy houses [01004]: and the houses [01004] of the Egyptians [04714] shall be full [04390] of swarms [06157] of flies, and also the ground [0127] whereon they are.
²² And I will sever [06395] in that day [03117] the land [0776] of Goshen [01657], in which my people [05971] dwell [05975], that no [01115] swarms [06157] of flies shall be [01961] there; to the end [04616] thou mayest know [03045] that I am the LORD [03068] in the midst [07130] of the earth [0776].