Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 61:8

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 61:8. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever — For the benefits which I have received, and hope to receive endlessly from thee, I will to all perpetuity praise thee.

That I may daily perform my vows. — While I live, I shall יום יום yom, yom, "day by day," each day as it succeeds, render to thee my vows - act according to what I have often purposed, and as often promised. The Chaldee ends remarkably: "Thus I will praise thy name for ever, when I shall perform my vows in the day of the redemption of Israel; and in the day in which the King Messiah shall be anointed, that he may reign."

The ancient Jews were full of the expectation of the Messiah; the Jews of the present day have given up their hope.

ANALYSIS OF THE SIXTY-FIRST PSALM

The author of this Psalm prays and vows perpetual service to God. It is composed of two parts: -

I. His prayer, Psalms 61:1-3.

II. His vow, Psalms 61:4-8.

He begins with a prayer, in which he begs, -

1. Audience: "Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer," Psalms 61:1.

2. The reason to enforce it.

1. He was in banishment, in the farther part of the land of Judah: "From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee."

2. He was in extremity: "When my heart is overwhelmed."

3. For defence: "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I;" that is, To some safe and defenced place to which my enemies may have no access, whither without thy help I cannot ascend.

And he adds a reason to this part of his prayer drawn from his own experience: "For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy."

His faith now presents him as delivered; and, therefore, he vows, -

1. "I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever." I will return, and adore thee in thy temple.

2. "I will trust in the covert of thy wings." He alludes to the cherubim, whose wings cover the ark.

And for this he assigns many reasons also: -

1. "For thou, O God, hast heard my vows," i.e., my prayers.

2. "Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name; " made me king over thy people, and more fully performed to me the promise made to Abraham, in the land of Canaan.

3. "Thou wilt prolong the king's life."

4. "And his years," i.e., in his posterity, "as many generations;" of which the beginning of the next verse is the prediction. "He shall abide before God for ever."

And now David, assuring himself of the crown, and that his posterity should inherit it, puts forth an earnest vote for that which should establish it: "O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him; i.e., me thy king;" for these two virtues, mercy, i.e., clemency, and truth, do commend a king, and make him dear to his subjects; for in the practice of these it is not possible that his government should be harsh, unjust, or tyrannical.

Which if it please God to bestow upon him, then he makes a new vow: "So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever."

Though here this appears to be a new vow, yet he had vowed it before, and engaged to discharge; for in singing praise to God's name, he should but pay what by vow he had often undertaken: "I will sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows."

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 61-64 Longing for God

Far from home, weary, depressed and in danger, David seeks refuge and refreshment with God. He trusts that God will bring him safely back to Jerusalem and give him the strength to carry out his promise to lead God’s people in God’s ways (61:1-5). The people with him add their support to his request (6-7), and David responds that he will always remain faithful to his task (8).
God alone is the strength of David’s assurance (62:1-2). David’s enemies think they can ruin him. They think he is as unstable as a leaning wall, as easy to push over as a broken-down fence (3-4). Actually, he is as strong and secure as a fortress, for he is built on God. All God’s people should therefore take courage and realize that they can trust in God through all circumstances (5-8). The unstable ones are those who live as if God does not matter. Life is uncertain, but they put their trust in wealth, even though that wealth must soon be lost (9-10). The only ones who have true security are those who take God into account and build their lives according to his values (11-12).
At times David experiences weakness and thirst in the dry Judean wilderness, but they are nothing compared with the spiritual thirst he has to worship at Israel’s sanctuary again (63:1). He praises God as he recalls the power and glory of God that he experienced at the sanctuary in former days. He looks forward to a life of continuing praise because of God’s continuing love (2-4). As he lies on his bed he thinks back with much satisfaction at all God’s goodness to him over the years (5-8). This gives him the confidence to believe that God will punish his enemies and bring him safely back to Jerusalem (9-11).
Again David cries to God to save him from enemies who by cunning and lying seek to kill him (64:1-4). They plot their evil carefully, thinking that God cannot see them (5-6). However, they are deceiving themselves. God will act against them suddenly and certainly, bringing shameful defeat upon them. God’s decisive action will be a warning to others, and at the same time bring honour to his name (7-10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE PRAYER FOR "THE KING"

"Thou wilt prolong the king's life; His years shall be as many generations. He shall abide before God forever: Oh prepare lovingkindness and truth that they may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy name forever, That I may daily perform my vows."

"The king's life" Who is this "King"? As Delitzsch noted, "The Jewish Targum, after the end of the Davidic (earthly) dynasty rendered this place `The King Messiah.'"F. Delitzsch, V-B, p. 204.

This shows, of course, that the Jewish interpreters for centuries before Christ interpreted these verses as applicable to the Messiah.

"His years shall be as many generations" These words cannot possibly refer to David; they refer to David's Greater Son, the Messiah.

"He shall abide before God forever" These words also are a reference, not to David, but to Christ. The RSV has a preferable reading:

"May he be enthroned forever before God; bid steadfast love and faithfulness watch over him!" (Psalms 61:7, RSV)

David was the one who did the praying in these verses, and one may wonder if David was really praying for such extravagant and eternal blessings upon himself as those which are outlined in these verses. Yes, they may actually apply to David, as Spurgeon declared, "In a very limited and modified sense,"Charles Haddon Spurgeon, p. 269. but as Kidner said, "David probably could not have foreseen the magnificent fulfilment of this prayer, which was destined, in the fulness of time, to be granted `in Christ Jesus,' above all that he could have asked or thought."Derek Kidner, Vol. 1, p. 219.

"So will I sing praise… perform my vows" This marvelous prayer has soothed and healed the troubled heart of David; and he now feels once more the confidence and security that come of complete trust in God. However, he accepts the sense of obligation that goes along with all of God's blessings. As Spurgeon put it, "A man who leaps in prayer should not limp in praise."Charles Haddon Spurgeon, p. 169.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever - As the result of this gracious interposition. Compare the notes at Isaiah 38:20. The meaning is, that he would do this constantly. It would be the regular business of his life.

That I may daily perform my vows - The solemn promises which I have made in my exile; the purposes which I have expressed to devote myself to thee. Or, the language may have been used in a more general sense, denoting that, as a religious man, the vows of God were constantly on him, or that he had pledged himself to serve God faithfully and always, and that he could better perform this duty at the tabernacle - in the place consecrated to public worship - than he could in exile. He desired, therefore, to be restored to the sanctuary, that he might keep up the performance of the daily duties of religion without interruption or hindrance. The whole psalm indicates a fervent desire to be engaged in the worship and service of God; a desire to be with Him and to enjoy His favor on earth; a confident hope that he would be permitted to enjoy His presence forever.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Shall we turn now to the sixty-first psalm for our beginning of our Bible study this evening. Psalms 61:1-8 .

Hear my cry, O Lord ( Psalms 61:1 );

Now in the Hebrew, this word for cry is very intense. It is actually, "Hear my loud wailing, O Lord." Now David was the kind of a guy when he was in trouble, he really let go. Some people are very reserved in their nature. I'm sort of a reserved kind of a person, but David wasn't. I mean, when he was in trouble he wanted everybody to know. And especially God. And so, he would wail out. "Hear my wailing, my loud cries, O God."

attend unto my prayer ( Psalms 61:1 ).

It is thought that David probably wrote this psalm at the time that he had been in exile as the result of the rebellion of Absalom. David had fled across the Jordan River when Absalom came from Hebron with an army to take Jerusalem. David did not want to encounter his son in battle. He didn't want to be fighting against his own son. And so rather than making a stand there in Jerusalem, which would have been the natural thing to do, because Jerusalem was a walled city, it was a difficult city to take. And he could have, no doubt, withstood Absalom. But yet, because of his son and all and his own broken heart, he just fled from Jerusalem with his armies and with those that followed after him and just sort of capitulated to Absalom and fled across Jordan. And now he is crying unto God, "Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer."

From the end of the eaRuth ( Psalms 61:2 )

Driven out of the Land of Promise, he now feels that he is out to the end of the earth. If we would put that in our common vernacular, we might say, "The end of the world." And sometimes we do have those experiences which we feel are the end of the world kind of an experience. In other words, "Man, this is it. This is the end of the world. This is as far as I can go. This is as deep as I can get. This is it. You know, from the end of the world." Or,

From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed ( Psalms 61:2 ):

Many things can cause our hearts to be overwhelmed: the loss of loved ones, financial problems, the loss of a job, the loss of health. So many things can cause our hearts to be overwhelmed. What do I do? When I get to the end of the proverbial rope, when I have no place else to turn, where do I turn? What do I do? Every one of us are driven by circumstances, sooner or later, to this end of the road type of an experience, where I have no place else to go, no place else to turn. And where I turn at this point is so important. Some people turn to pills, some people turn to the bottle, some people turn to a gun and just try to end it all. "When my heart is overwhelmed," David said,

lead me to the rock that is higher than I ( Psalms 61:2 ).

There is a place of refuge, there is a place of strength, there is a place of security that we can have in Christ, the Rock that is higher than I. The place where I can be sheltered from the storm. Sheltered from the enemy. Protected. A rock is a symbol of strength in the Bible. The Bible says concerning Jehovah, "He is our Rock," Deuteronomy 32:1-52 . In I Corinthians, chapter 10, Paul said concerning the rock from which the water flowed in the wilderness, and that rock was Christ. That life-giving source. The rock. Smitten from whence life flows to all men.

So, "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." It is so comforting to know that at my extremity I can turn to God. There is a verse of the song, "He Giveth More Grace," that beautifully describes it. "When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength is gone, ere the day is half through, when we have reached the end of our hoarded resources, our Father's full giving has only begun. His grace has no limits, His love has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto man. For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again." And when I've come to the end, when I am overwhelmed, and I cry unto Him, that Rock that is higher than I. At that point of my extremity, God has just begun His glorious work within my life.

God brought many people of the Bible to the end of the road. I think of the angel wrestling with Jacob all night. It was a bad day for Jacob. He had just left his father-in-law, and that was a bad scene. They had had words, and their leaving wasn't on the best on terms. Even though when they departed from each other they said, "Mizpah," which means, "The Lord watch between me and thee while we're absent one from the other." Yet, that isn't as pleasant as it sounds when we put it into English. In the Hebrew it literally means, "You've ripped me off, and now you are leaving with all of my goods that you have ripped off from me. And I can't keep my eye on you anymore, because you are going to be gone. You have gone with my daughters, you've gone with my flock, my herds, and I can't watch you any more, so may God watch over you while we are absent one from the other, you crook." And it had been a bad scene; Jacob didn't know how he was going to fare out of it. In fact, he wouldn't have fared so well unless God had been with him. And the night before his father-in-law had caught up with him and the Lord said to his father-in-law, "Don't you touch Jacob. You keep your hands off of him." And so because Laban was afraid of God, he didn't touch Jacob. He said, "Listen, I have the power to really do you hurt, but last night the Lord told me not to touch you." So it was a strained experience.

Now Jacob has left his father-in-law. They have gone back toward Babylon, and Jacob receives word, "Your brother is coming with a host of men to meet you." But that isn't really a welcome home party kind of a thing that you are anticipating or looking for, because the last time you saw Esau seventeen years ago, he was saying, "As soon as I get a chance I am going to kill that rat." And his brother had been threatening to murder him. Now, if his brother was coming to welcome him home, he wouldn't need two or three hundred men with him in a welcome party, so Jacob knew that trouble was brewing, and he was trouble.

That was the night that there came an angel of the Lord and wrestled with Jacob all night. The Lord was trying to bring Jacob to the end of the road. You see, he was going to need all kinds of strength tomorrow. He is going to be meeting Esau. He doesn't know what the situation is going to be; it could be perilous. And so all night, a night when you especially need sleep, you need strength for tomorrow; he is wrestling with this angel. Now, Jacob at this point is a ninety-six-year-old man. I mean, he is no spring chicken anymore. And in the morning, as the day began to break, still wrestling. Man, this guy is tenacious. He's not going to give up. So the angel touched him in his thigh and caused his muscle to shrivel, and crippled him. And the angel said to Jacob, "Let me go before the day breaks." And Jacob at this point was hanging on with all that he had, but he broke down and he began to weep. Now, Genesis doesn't tell us that he wept, but Hosea tells us that Jacob now was in tears; he was a broken man. And he said, "I will not let you go until you bless me." But that was not a demand, that was a plea. It was a plea with tears. "Please don't go without blessing me." He is defeated now. God has him where He wants him.

Jacob, the name means heel catcher, Jacov. For when he was born, he had hold of his brother's heel, so they said, "Oh, look at that heel catcher." And the name stuck. "What is your name?" "My name is heel catcher." "You won't be called heel catcher anymore. You are going to be called Governed by God, Israel." His life was changed. No longer the supplanter. No longer the deceiver. Now a man, Israel, governed by God. What a difference. But God had to bring him to the end of the road to bring about those necessary changes. And so the last cry of desperation that came forth with weeping and tears from Jacob was really the first cry of victory.

So often that is true in our lives. When my heart is overwhelmed, when I turn to God out of desperation, that becomes the beginning of God's glorious victory in my life as He leads me to the Rock that is higher than I.

For you have been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy [the shelter of the rock, strong tower]. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert [or the covering] of thy wings. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: you have given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. And you will prolong the king's life: and the years as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. And so will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows ( Psalms 61:3-8 ).

And so David ends the psalm with more or less words of confidence. "God, You are going to take care of it. The Rock that is higher than I will see me through. He will bring me back. I will dwell in Your tabernacle. I will dwell before Thee." "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 61

Several of the commentators believe David wrote this individual royal lament psalm when he was fleeing from Saul. However, the text itself records no such information (cf. Psalms 61:6 a). David strengthened himself in the Lord-when he felt faint and inadequate-by remembering his Rock and by relying on His promises.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. Promise of praise 61:8

When God would deliver him, David would praise God with song and continue to pay his vowed offerings regularly in the future.

Believers can confidently petition God for deliverance on the basis of His promises and His former faithfulness. These resources can give strength when we feel vulnerable and alone.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever,.... Or constantly; and not only in this world, but in that to come, for the favours before mentioned; for hearing his prayers; giving him a goodly heritage; prolonging the King's life; and preparing mercy and truth to preserve him;

that I may daily perform vows; which is done by praising the Lord, giving him the glory of all mercies, as vowed and promised; see

Psalms 50:14. The Targum adds,

"in the day of the redemption of Israel, and in the day that the King Messiah shall be anointed, that he may reign.''

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      5 For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name.   6 Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations.   7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.   8 So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

      In these verses we may observe,

      I. With what pleasure David looks back upon what God had done for him formerly (Psalms 61:5; Psalms 61:5): Thou, O God! hast heard my vows, that is, 1. "The vows themselves which I made, and with which I bound my soul: thou hast taken notice of them; thou hast accepted them, because made in sincerity, and been well pleased with them; thou hast been mindful of them, and put me in mind of them." God put Jacob in mind of his vows, Genesis 31:13; Genesis 35:1. Note, God is a witness to all our vows, all our good purposes, and all our solemn promises of new obedience. He keeps an account of them, which should be a good reason with us, as it was with David here, why we should perform our vows, Psalms 61:8; Psalms 61:8. For he that hears the vows we made will make us hear respecting them if they be not made good. 2. "The prayers that went along with those vows; those thou hast graciously heard and answered," which encouraged him now to pray, O God! hear my cry. He that never did say to the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in vain, will not now begin to say so. "Thou hast heard my vows, and given a real answer to them; for thou hast given me a heritage of those that fear thy name." Note, (1.) There is a peculiar people in the world that fear God name, that with a holy awe and reverence accept of and accommodate themselves to all the discoveries he is pleased to make of himself to the children of men. (2.) There is a heritage peculiar to that peculiar people, present comforts, earnests of their future bliss. God himself is their inheritance, their portion for ever. The Levites that had God for their inheritance must take up with him, and not expect a lot like their brethren; so those that fear God have enough in him, and therefore must not complain if they have but little of the world. (3.) We need desire no better heritage than that of those who fear God. If God deal with us as he uses to deal with those that love his name we need not desire to be any better dealt with.

      II. With what assurance he looks forward to the continuance of his life (Psalms 61:6; Psalms 61:6): Thou shalt prolong the king's life. This may be understood either, 1. Of himself. If it was penned before he came to the crown, yet, being anointed by Samuel, and knowing what God had spoken in his holiness, he could in faith call himself the king, though now persecuted as an out-law; or perhaps it was penned when Absalom sought to dethrone him, and force him into exile. There were those that aimed to shorten his life, but he trusted to God to prolong his life, which he did to the age of man set by Moses (namely, seventy years), which, being spent in serving his generation according to the will of God (Acts 13:36), might be reckoned as many generations, because many generations would be the better for him. His resolution was to abide in God's tabernacle for ever (Psalms 61:4; Psalms 61:4), in a way of duty; and now his hope is that he shall abide before God for ever, in a way of comfort. Those abide to good purpose in this world that abide before God, that serve him and walk in his fear; and those that do so shall abide before him for ever. He speaks of himself in the third person, because the psalm was delivered to the chief musician for the use of the church, and he would have the people, in singing it, to be encouraged with an assurance that, notwithstanding the malice of his enemies, their king, as they wished, should live for ever. Or, 2. Of the Messiah, the King of whom he was a type. It was a comfort to David to think, whatever became of him, that the years of the Lord's Anointed would be as many generations, and that of the increase of his government and peace there should be no end. The Mediator shall abide before God for ever, for he always appears in the presence of God for us, and ever lives, making intercession; and, because he lives, we shall live also.

      III. With what importunity he begs of God to take him and keep him always under his protection: O prepare mercy and truth which may preserve him! God's promises and our faith in them are not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer. David is sure that God will prolong his life, and therefore prays that he would preserve it, not that he would prepare him a strong lifeguard, or a well-fortified castle, but that he would prepare mercy and truth for his preservation; that is, that God's goodness would provide for his safety according to the promise. We need not desire to be better secured than under the protection of God's mercy and truth. This may be applied to the Messiah: "Let him be sent in the fulness of time, in performance of the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham." Micah 7:20; Luke 1:72; Luke 1:73.

      IV. With what cheerfulness he vows the grateful returns of duty to God (Psalms 61:8; Psalms 61:8): So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever. Note, God's preservation of us calls upon us to praise him; and therefore we should desire to live, that we may praise him: Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee. We must make praising God the work of our time, even to the last (as long as our lives are prolonged we must continue praising God), and then it shall be made the work of our eternity, and we shall be praising him for ever. That I may daily perform my vows. His praising God was itself the performance of his vows, and it disposed his heart to the performance of his vows in other instances. Note, 1. The vows we have made we must conscientiously perform. 2. Praising God and paying our vows to him must be our constant daily work; every day we must be doing something towards it, because it is all but little in comparison with what is due, because we daily receive fresh mercies, and because, if we think much to do it daily, we cannot expect to be doing it eternally.