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For some time now, we have been studying Psalm 147 under the general heading of “the Posture of Praise.” We have been learning that we, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, look our best when we demonstrate both the disposition and the demeanour of praise. This study brings us to our final consideration of this issue, as revealed in vv. 12-20.

We have been looking at the deep gratitude of the returned Jewish remnant for God’s faithfulness to them. In the face of strong military might, of economic hardship, and of human impossibility, the Lord showed His faithfulness to His covenant with His people. He brought them back just as He said He would. He empowered them to rebuild Jerusalem (Mount Zion, the City of God) just as He said He would. He would fulfil His promise to bring the Saviour into the world, just as He said He would. He would establish His kingdom on the earth, just as He said He would.

In our studies, we have sought to make the legitimate connection between what the old covenant church experienced and what the new covenant church should expect. We are to expect that God’s purpose of hallowing His name through the extension of His kingdom will be accomplished—in space-time history. In other words, we are to have the “sure expectancy of gospel victory in time and on earth before the second advent.”1

Yes, we are to live with the certainty that Christ will build His Church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The result is that the church is to be continually developing a posture of praise as we grow in our fear of God, with a corresponding increase of hope in His mercy.

We fully expect the certainty of God’s revealed goal for His people and are certain of this goal because we are certain of God’s sovereign governance of everything that happens. Such expectations lead to praise.

But let me ask a very important question—and one which might make you uncomfortable: Who cares? Do you?

Let me just make an important comment as we proceed here: We need to beware, as always, of the danger of individualism when it comes to this issue. It is all too possible to study this Psalm individualistically. That is, it is quite possible to superficially read, and even to superficially sing, this psalm as though it is all about you and your individual needs. But to do so is to completely miss this point. We who follow Christ face the very real danger of losing sight of God’s purpose for us. We can lose sight of what should be our passion.

May I give you a word of pastoral counsel? At this time of the year—especially—let us seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Let us work hard at prioritising the church, and our local church in particular. As we do, so may the Lord bless us with the encouragement, in the depth of our souls, that He will establish the city of God on earth for His glory. And as we do so, our posture of praise will improve, for the good of our souls and to the glory of God.

In this closing passage of the Psalm we will look at several aspects of God’s grace to His people. And as we contemplate God’s amazing grace, we will be led to praise this great God who “comes to our meetings, attends our services, listens to our hymns, delights in our prayers, finds joy in our expressions of praise.”2

The Select Choir

This song of praise is sung by a particular choir, and you have to qualify to be a part of this choir. The psalmist writes, “Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!” (v. 12).

As I have often indicated, one of the unpopular aspects of the pastoral ministry is that of being a naysayer. The pastor is called by God to be antithetical in his ministry, for the simple reason that God’s Word separates the light from the darkness; it separates truth from error. Therefore, to be a faithful shepherd requires that error is pointed out while truth is at the same time proclaimed. I must do so again here at the start of this study by pointing out that this song is not for everyone.

It is quite clear from the content of this psalm that the people who are called to praise God are a select group. The command to praise God, at least in this Psalm, is specifically for those who inhabit “Jerusalem”; it is for those who are identified as “Zion.” It is this special people who are called upon to shout, “Hallelujah!”

Zion is another name for Jerusalem, with specific reference to the Temple Mount; the place where God met with His people in a unique way. This word denoted the special relationship that God had with His chosen (selected) people. Those who were truly of God’s people were members of Zion, regardless of their physical address. In other words, all of those who had a saving interest in God (see Romans 9:6) were to join this praise choir out of deep gratitude for what the LORD had done. Elohim had re-created, as it were, Jerusalem on earth, and those who loved God were to praise Him for this.

The Israel of God

We would do well to learn from this that only those who are of New Jerusalem—those who make up spiritual Mount Zion, those who are the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16)—have the right to praise God. In fact, they are the only ones who can truly praise God!

Those who have not experienced God’s sovereign and saving grace find no delight in what God is doing in, through and for His church. Rather, they are indifferent to the church at best; or at worst, they despise the church of God. They oppose the church of God. They loathe the real church of God. Therefore, when they see the church advancing (if, in fact, they take any notice), they find no joy in it.

But those, on the other hand, who do love the Lord (because He first loved them, 1 John 4:19) will find themselves praising God for His work. God’s grace in the heart finds expression through the mouth—unless, of course, the fog of unbelief has enveloped them.

I know that there is always the danger of being misunderstood when you swim upstream against the wider culture but it must be clearly stated, again, that this Psalm only offers comfort for those who fear the Lord and therefore have been brought to the point of hoping in His mercy. In other words, this is only for Christians. This is especially relevant in the light of recent world events.

The world was rocked recently with the news of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which 28 people—including twenty children—were killed by Adam Lanza.3 Around the same time, in a slightly less publicised story, a Chinese man attacked 22 children and one adult outside a primary school in China’s Henan province.4

There were a lot of foolish people giving advice in the light of these events, not the least of which are journalists. In an article I read following the Sandy Hook attacks, Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author, wrote an anger-laden article in which He completely denied almost everything that Psalm 147 reveals. He is loath that anyone would suggest that what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School was God’s will. At the end of his irreverent article—titled simply “My Take,” which betrays his fundamental problem—he gives his “religious” audience this advice:

If you believe in a God who is all powerful and all good, then covering up for the Almighty at a time like this is in my view deeply unfaithful. Today is a day to shake your fist at heaven and demand answers, and then to shake it harder when no answers are forthcoming. To do anything else is in my view to diminish the idea of God, and to cheapen faith in the process.5

That is blasphemous! The truly faithful, and helpful, response is not to shake your fist in God’s face and demand an answer, but rather to shake the dust off of your Bible and look for the answer there.6 We will find the answer to be that we are sinners in a sin-cursed world, and the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against the ungodliness of men who suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness. When one sees this answer, an appropriate response of fear of God results, and rather than shaking our fist in anger will seek God’s face for mercy. That is, we will come to see that God offers deliverance from wrath through His Son, who died for sinners and who rose again for their justification.

If that is your response then you have been blessed beyond words. If you can say, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” then you have been blessed by God’s sovereign and saving grace. You have been graciously added to a very special—and undeserving—choir. May those who grieve in the United States and China come to know that they can truly hope in His mercy!

Biblical Anthropology

We need a healthy dose of biblical anthropology. That is, we need to get a biblical perspective on just how bad to the bone we are. But that is precisely the problem with our world: We are much too “healthy.” Our self-esteem is much too high. In fact, we have imbibed all too long at the intoxicating well of I’m-okay-you’re-okay.” We have bought into the lie that we can be like God. But those who have been rescued from this stupor of sinful self-centredness are to praise the Lord.

There is something else that must also be said with reference to this time of the year. This is often referred to as the “silly season.” Perhaps another designation might be the “sentimental season.” And that can be just as silly. Many attend church on Christmas Day—and we should be grateful for that. But what do they hear and how do they respond? Do they fear the Lord and hope in His mercy, or do they flippantly take false assurance in misunderstanding “peace on earth and good will toward men”?

Let me point out that there is only one way by which you can join this choir: You must stop trusting in the strength of the horse and cease all your trusting in the legs of a man. Rather, by God’s grace, fear Him. As you do so, you will turn from your sins as you turn to Him, hoping in His mercy and casting yourself on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Specific Cause

As we have already hinted at a number of times in our studies in this psalm, there was a specific cause for the praise lifted to God here. We see something of this again in vv. 13-14: “For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children within you. He makes peace in your borders, and fills you with the finest wheat.”

The psalmist praised the Lord for repairing the ruins of Jerusalem. I will not belabour that historical context; however, these verses reveal to us that there were several things for which this special choir was to praise God.

God had Fortified their City

First, they were to praise God because He had fortified their city. The psalmist writes, “He has strengthened the bars of your gates.”

The word translated “strengthened” in the NKJV is found numerous times in Nehemiah—and 28 of these occurrences are in Nehemiah 3. There, the word is translated as “repair.” The people banded together to repair the breaches. They laboured together tirelessly for 52 days with the result that they fortified Jerusalem by repairing the breaches in the wall so that the city was protected. It is that, even though Nehemiah identified numerous individuals who repaired the walls, the psalmist here gives the credit to the Lord. This highlights another truth taught in the Psalms: “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labour in vain who build it” (Psalm 127:1). Yes, the people of God laboured, but it was the God of the people who assured the outcome.

Let us learn from this that God grows His church. Yes, He uses the means of men and women, but He is the one who causes it to grow (1 Corinthians 3:5-7). He restores, reforms and revives His Church—and He does so by means of His people.

God had Favoured their Children

Second, they were to praise God because He had favoured their children. In the words of the psalmist, “He has blessed your children within you.”

The result of the ruins being repaired was that Zion’s children were blessed “within” the city. It was God who did the blessing. He graciously enabled their children to be raised in the city of God. Leupold observes, “The thought turns to the children and calls them blessed for being able to live in a place and at a time when security was a cherished reality.”7 At least at this point in history, there was no need for Rachel to weep for her children.

The incalculable suffering of those parents whose children were murdered in the Sandy Hook shootings is unimaginable. This evil has especially touched the world at large because the victims were young children who seemingly had decades of living before them. Their parents had goals and hopes for their futures. But now that future will never be.

Thoughtful parents carry with them hopes and aspirations for the future of their children. We desire for them to have better and more productive lives then we have lived. And godly parents—those whose lives are characterised by a passion for the hallowing of God’s name, the extension of His kingdom and the realisation of His revealed will on earth as it is in heaven—desire their children to be an integral part in accomplishing that purpose and passion. In words in keeping with the context of this Psalm, such parents are deeply committed to their children being used of God in the establishment of the city of God.

Children, if your parents are believers, then you have been favoured by God (1 Corinthians 7:14). Don’t take that for granted. Rather, seek the Lord while He may be found!

The result of these fortifications was the protection of their children. Following the Sandy Hook shooting, President Barack Obama stated that not enough was being done “to protect our children.” Parents, are you raising your children to appreciate that they have been favoured by God? Are you making much of the city of God to your children? What, in fact, are your aspirations for your children? Are they driven by the city of God or by the city of man? In educating your children, are you thinking kingdom significance or worldly significance?

Let me put this another way: Are you raising your children to appreciate the central role of the church or are you training your children that actually the church is only an appendage; something on the periphery of life? These are vitally important issues for which God will hold Christian parents accountable.

BBC has plenty of faults. Nevertheless, our children have been blessed to be “within” these constantly repaired, renovated and re-enforced walls. It is my prayer that the parent of BBC will not take that for granted, but that they will use the body to shelter their children.

God had Favoured their Community

Third, they were to praise God because He had favoured their community. “He makes peace in your borders, and fills you with the finest wheat” (v. 14).

This verse informs us that, upon the restoration of the city, the Lord met all the needs of His people (see Ezra 6:9; 7:22). Whatever concerns they had about living within the city walls were more than compensated as the Lord blessed them with shalom.

The idea of “peace” or shalom in the Jewish economy meant far more than the mere absence of hostilities. Though it included this (1 Kings 5:12), it carried the wider meaning of wholeness, completeness, soundness, and wellbeing. It referred to prosperity (Psalm 73:3), safety (Psalm 4:8) and general wellbeing (Genesis 43:27). But it also referred to the wonderful state of being right with God and with others. And I would suggest that this is the meaning which should be applied here.

Because of God’s grace and power, the people of renewed Jerusalem were right with God and with each other. One of the fruits of this was that He satisfied them: He filled them with finest wheat. This was in full accord with His past covenantal care for them (see Deuteronomy 32:14). In other words, they were once again experiencing God’s covenantal blessings. God blesses obedience (see Psalm 81:13-16).

When we live seriously for the Lord and for His passion, we will find our concerns being cared for. We will find ourselves satisfied and filled to overflowing. And to the degree that we do so as a local church, to such a degree we will also find ourselves favoured with both contentment and communion. We will have unity among the brethren.

It is almost impossible for a local church to enjoy the favour of communion with God and with one another if the whole is not committed to God’s purposes. Can two walk together unless they are agreed? This does not mean that there cannot be some disagreements among church members, but it does mean that, even in disagreeing, the larger agenda of God must be agreed upon. If we are at cross purposes with reference to what God wants of us (e.g. Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 6:1-4) then we have no hope of meaningful communion and little hope of working fruitfully together for the glory of God.

However if each of us is committed to repairing the ruins—if each member is committed to the larger agenda of reformation, revival and reach—then we will find ourselves enjoying a greater unity of purpose and a greater sense of focused passion to the glory of God. Let us obey God together and enjoy God’s blessing together.

Tom Wallace has argued that the assignment of the church is to do the great commission and to tackle the problems which doing the great commission produces. That is a pretty good statement. But I also believe that when the local church—In its majority, if not in its entirety—is focused on what God wants for her, then she will experience much shalom. She will experience much wellbeing and even, to some degree, prosperity. That is, her needs will be more than met.

Let us not be afraid of the concept of prosperity. God does bless His people with peace (Psalms 29:11). But prosperity is the byproduct of God’s people corporately pursuing Him and His purposes (see 3 John 2).

If we want to be a church that genuinely praises God, we need to continually work on our priorities. We need to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. As we do so, we will experience wonderful fellowship both with God and with each other. We will also experience the blessing of God giving to us the finest wheat, which we will then be privileged to use to see that the world receives the Bread of Life. That is true gospel prosperity. And that will lead to abundant and sustained praise to God.

The Sovereign’s Control

In vv. 15-18, we are reminded by the psalmist of the Lord’s sovereign control: “He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly.  He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes; He casts out His hail like morsels; who can stand before His cold?  He sends out His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.”

In these four verses, the psalmist once again weaves the natural world into the world of the church; that is, the spiritual and the physical/natural are intertwined. As we have learned, the inspired writer does this for the purpose of arguing from the lesser to the greater. That is, if God is in control of the weather, then how much more can we rest in Him as He cares for His worshippers? This is what is occurring once again here in these verses. But further, this gracious God is also a terrifying God. The winter and the hail indicate this.

For those living in Palestine, these verses describe scenes that were both unusual and frightening. The Palestinian environment was pretty temperate, and so things such as snow, ice and frost were (and still are) somewhat rare. Perhaps to the average Jew such inclement weather would have suggested God’s judgement or displeasure. Regardless, here we have a description of meteorological conditions that reveal, once again, the mighty power of God. In the immediate context we might note that that the same Lord who provides the finest wheat to His people also sends the most severe of weather conditions.

Sustaining General Revelation

We are told in v. 15 that the Lord runs the natural/physical world with His Word. This is important to note. Not only did God create all that is by His Word, but He also sustains it by His Word (see Hebrews 1:3; 2 Peter 3:5-7).

The Lord ensures that His Word accomplishes His purposes perfectly and on time—even “quickly.”

God’s command created, and it sustains. It is continually effective. No wonder God said that man will not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds His mouth (Deuteronomy 8:3). God is continually active and involved in His creation.

When it is God’s good pleasure to do so, He gives the command and the snow falls and blankets the earth as wool covers the lamb. It is not Jack Frost nipping at your nose when the cold arrives, but rather Elohim who is doing so (v. 16).

In v. 17 we get the fuller explanation as to why hail forms and breaks into our atmosphere, pelting our bodies, houses, cars and the like—at the same time depleting the capital of insurance companies!

I love the imagery here. We are told that these hailstorms (even the ones the size of cricket balls) are like crumbs to God. The next time you see hail and witness the damage done, contemplate the powerful majesty of God.

Verse 18 seems inform us that God who sends the ice crystals is also the one who melts them. When the winter and the hail have accomplished God’s purpose, then He sends the warmth so that the snow and ice melt to form the streams, which drain into the rivers, which then fill the oceans, from which God draws it up again to form clouds, and so the whole process occurs again.

Though it is true that God uses secondary causes, we are meant to learn from such general revelation that, ultimately, it is God who sends the weather. John Phillips helpfully reminds us that “there is nothing we grumble more about than the weather, which should be one of our greatest themes of praise. We scarcely think of the celestial machinery that underlies the laws of evaporation and precipitation.”8

But why, we must ask, is this passage here? A primary reason is that God desires for us to be impressed with Him. I believe that He also wants His people to trust Him. Spurgeon comments in this light, “The Lord can deliver His people right speedily, or send them supplies immediately from His courts above. God’s commands in nature and providence are fiats against which no opposition is ever raised.”9 God will accomplish His purposes.

God makes this very point, as Isaiah records in 55:10-11: “For as the rain comes down, and snow from heaven, and do not return there; but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my Word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void. But it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Again, God does accomplish His purposes and therefore His people are to praise Him—even when appearances for the time being may be deceiving. Again, listen to Spurgeon, “It is wise to see God in winter and in distress as well as in summer and prosperity. He who one day feeds us with the finest of the wheat, at another time robes us in snow: He is the same God in each case, and each form of His operation bestows a gift on men.”10

Therefore, whether snow time or harvest, let us praise the Lord. Church, let us praise Him even in the day of small things, for the future is as bright as the promises of God.

The Saviour’s Chosen

With the closing verses the Psalm reaches its climax, and it is no wonder that the final words are “Praise the Lord”! After all, these verses highlight the special relationship that Israel had with God; a relationship which was solely by His sovereign grace: “He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His judgements to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any nation; and as for His judgements, they have not known them. Praise the LORD!” (vv. 19-20).

God graciously chose to deliver Israel from Egypt, but of course there was a greater motivation: the salvation of the world. These verses reveal that Israel was blessed above all nations to have received not only salvation, but also the stewardship of the Scriptures. “None of the nations had such a wise set of directives to guide its footsteps, and Israel was therefore singularly favored. . . . Israel is blessed above measure by having the Word of the Lord in its midst.” And in the light of this, “An obvious responsibility laid upon the Israelites by such a gift is that God be worthily praised for what He has given to His own.”11 They were to praise God that He had chosen them and therefore given to them the special revelation of His Word.

As we have seen, this Psalm mentions much that we would categorise as “general revelation”—that is, “the natural realm” as a means to point us to the knowledge of God (thereby rendering all without excuse in accountability to Him—see Romans 1:18-21). But in these closing verses of the Psalm we have a reference to what theologians call “special revelation.” This refers to God’s revelation of Himself through His inspired Word. It is special in that it is a form of revelation that can only be grasped by those who have been sovereignly and graciously blessed with the capacity to receive it (see 1 Corinthians 2:9-11ff).

As Kirkpatrick notes, “The Lord of Nature is He Who has endowed Israel with unique privileges. . . . The Lord, whose Word all Nature obeys, has given Israel His Word in the law; a privilege which distinguishes it from every other nation.”12 They indeed were a specially chosen people. They could truly say, “God, our Saviour.”

God had made this very point much earlier in Israel’s history, as revealed through Moses: “For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are in all this law which I set before you this day?” (Deuteronomy 4:7, 8).

In the context of these words, Moses was exhorting the chosen nation to reflect upon God’s grace to them (vv. 1-4) as a motivation to live in obedience to Him in Canaan, the Promised Land (vv. 5ff). The goal was that the nations would glorify God as they observed Israel showing forth God’s praise (see Isaiah 43:21). This is precisely what the inspired hymn writer is doing here.

The Psalmist is making the point that, although the nations can observe the various manifestations of God as revealed in the stars (v. 4), the clouds (v. 8), the mountains (v. 8), the zoological realm (v. 9), and the snow and the hail (vv. 16, 17); it is only by God’s sovereign grace that Israel (Jacob) was given the privilege to know God and to be brought into a unique relationship with Him. The psalmist is boasting in the truth that salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9). The returned, and yet beleaguered, remnant was to be encouraged by the realisation that it was the recipient of special revelation. By God’s grace, His people were enabled to see what others would not and could not see. And for this they were to praise the Lord (v. 20b).

This is not the only place in the Psalms where there is a merging of (and contrast between) general and special revelation. Psalm 19 does the same thing. After introducing us to the contemplation of the glory of God as revealed in the heavens (vv. 1-6), the writer then turns our attention to contemplate God’s more special and particular revelation in His law, statutes, judgements, etc. (vv. 7-ff)—that is, His revelation in His Inspired Word. And the Jewish nation was the steward of such a privilege.

The Unique Capacity to Praise

It will be helpful to understand that general revelation provides enough light for the condemnation of the unbeliever, whereas special revelation provides what is necessary for the salvation of the believer. And it is only by the special work of the Holy Spirit that one can be translated from condemnation to salvation; it is only by the special work of the Holy Spirit, through His Word, that one can receive the Word of God as it is in truth, the Word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

The point of this is that a sure means of developing and maintaining a posture of praise is to reflect on God’s sovereign grace in choosing to reveal Himself to us by His Spirit through His Word. The church of God is a privileged people on this privileged planet.

David Dickson observed long ago, “Albeit all the earth be obliged to praise God, yet only the Lord’s people are the right estimators of his glory, and the fit proclaimers of his praise. . . . As the benefits bestowed upon the church are most excellent, so the church is most bound to praise God, both for those mercies, and for all other his glorious works.”13

We should praise God for this and our praise should also manifest itself in our living like those who have been chosen by grace. We are to be lawful and joyful. But that theme will require another study.

The Ultimate Revelation

Of course, Israel was God’s chosen vehicle for the promised Seed, the one to whom all of God’s statutes and judgements pointed, and the one alone who could fulfil all of God’s judgements and statutes. After all, He is the Word (John 1:1-4). I am speaking, of course, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Everything that happened with reference to Judah being restored was ultimately with reference to the revelation of God in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the reason that Judah and Jerusalem were preserved, for it was through Judah that Jesus would physically come, and it was in Jerusalem that He would be crucified, buried and raised from the dead (and where He will return, Acts 1:9-11). And this was necessary for sinners like us to be saved. Praise the Lord!

John records that, even when the Word came to earth, most rejected Him (vv. 5, 10-11). Yes, even this most special of revelations was rejected and despised by men. But, by God’s grace, by God our Saviour (1 Timothy 2:3), the many who were chosen to salvation were given the ability to see and to repent and believe on Him (vv. 12-13). And all of those who have done so have been motivated to praise the Lord—both in song and by obeying His statutes. Does this describe you? Will it describe you?

Far too many people hear such appeals and continue to put off repentance. Please pay heed to what God is doing in this world. He is exercising His wrath even now. Let God’s general revelation persuade you to heed His special revelation in His Word as it points you to His Son. Plead with the Holy Spirit, “Open my eyes that I might see and be saved!” And when that prayer is answered you will find yourself humbled to be a member of God’s select choir because of God’s special choice to save you. Praise the Lord!

As we close our study, let me simply remind you that it is the church’s responsibility to praise God (v. 1), and that it is reasonable to do so because of His goal (vv. 2-6), His governance (vv. 7-11) and His grace (vv. 12-20a).

In the light of all that we have learned, there can be only response from His people: “Praise the Lord” (v. 20b). Church, be encouraged: “What God was to His people of old He still is to His Church. He is still the binder of broken hearts, and the healer of wounded spirits. He still restores backsliders, and gives back the years which the locust has eaten.”14

Show 14 footnotes

  1. Kenneth L. Gentry, He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology (Draper: Apologetics Group Media, 1992), 181.
  2. John Phillips, Exploring the Psalms, 2 vols. (Neptune: Loizeaux Brothers, 1988), 2:673.
  3. Wikipedia, “Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,” http://goo.gl/hLZ8Z, retrieved 23 December 2012.
  4. Daily News, “Chinese man attacks 22 children, 1 adult with knife outside primary school,” http://goo.gl/SIHOq, retrieved 23 December 2012.
  5. Stephen Prothero, “My Take: Six things I don’t want to hear after the Sandy Hook massacre,” http://goo.gl/WruOp.
  6. We should perhaps note that, in the context of this particular Psalm, the Babylonian exile was exactly what the Jews deserved. In fact, it was actually less than they deserved!
  7. H. C. Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1969), 992.
  8. Phillips, Exploring the Psalms, 2:672.
  9. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: An Expository and Devotional Commentary on the Psalms, 4 vols. (Welwyn: Evangelical Press, 1978), ??.
  10. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, ??.
  11. Leupold, Exposition of the Psalms, 994.
  12. A. F. Kirkpatrick, The Book of Psalms (Cambridge: Scripture Truth, n.d.), 824.
  13. David Dickson, Psalms: The Geneva Series of Commentaries (London: Banner of Truth, 1965), 523, 26.
  14. W. Graham Scroggie, The Psalms, 4 vols. (London: Pickering and Inglis, 1972), 4:134-35.