It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, or JEHOVAH. It is good ethically, for it is the Lord's right; it is good emotionally, for it is pleasant to the heart; it is good practically, for it leads others to render the same homage.

To shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning. The day should begin with praise: no hour is too early for holy song. Loving kindness is a most appropriate theme for those dewy hours when morn is sowing all the earth with orient pearl.

Upon an instrument of ten strings; with the fullest range of music, uttering before God with the full compass of melody the richest emotions of his soul. And upon the psaltery; thus giving variety to praise: the Psalmist felt that every sweet-sounding instrument should be consecrated to God.

For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work. It was natural for the psalmist to sing, because he was glad, and to sing unto the Lord, because his gladness was caused by a contemplation of the divine work.

O Lord, how great are thy works! He is lost in wonder. He utters an exclamation of amazement. How vast! How stupendous are the doings of Jehovah! Great for number, extent, and glory and design are all the creations of the Infinite One. And thy thoughts are very deep.

A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. In this and the following verses the effect of the psalm is heightened by contrast; the shadows are thrown in to bring out the lights more prominently.

When the wicked spring as the grass, in abundance, and apparent strength, hastening on their progress like verdant plants, which come to perfection in a day, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; flowering in their prime and pride, their pomp and their prosperity; it is that they shall…

But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore. This is the middle verse of the Psalm, and the great fact which this Sabbath song is meant to illustrate. God is at once the highest and most enduring of all beings. Others rise to fall, but he is the Most High to eternity.

For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord. It is a wonder full of instruction and warning, observe it, O ye sons of men; for, lo, thine enemies shall parish; they shall cease from among men, they shall be known no more.

But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn. The believer rejoices that he shall not be suffered to perish, but shall be strengthened and enabled to triumph over his enemies, by the divine aid.

Mine eye also shall see MY DESIRE on mine enemies. The words, "my desire", inserted by the translators, had far better have been left out. He does not say what he should see concerning his enemies, he leaves that blank, and we have no right to fill in the vacant space with words which look…

The song now contrasts the condition of the righteous with that of the graceless. The wicked "spring as the grass", but The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, whose growth may not be so rapid, but whose endurance for centuries is in fine contrast with the transitory verdure of the meadow.

Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. In the courtyards of Oriental houses trees were planted, and being thoroughly screened, they would be likely to bring forth their fruit to perfection in trying seasons; even so, those who by grace are brought…

They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. Nature decays but grace thrives. Fruit, as far as nature is concerned, belongs to days of vigour; but in the garden of grace, when plants are weak in themselves, they become strong in the Lord, and abound in fruit acceptable with God.

This mercy to the aged proves the faithfulness of their God, and leads them to shew that the Lord is upright, by their cheerful testimony to his ceaseless goodness. We do not serve a Master who will run back from his promise. Whoever else may defraud us, he never will.

It is a good thing. It is bonum, honestum, jucundum, utile; an honest, pleasant, and profitable good. The altar of incense was to be overlaid with pure gold, and to have a crown of gold round about it.

In the morning. When indeed the mind after the rest of the night is more active, devoted and constant. In other parts of the day, as at noon, or in the afternoon, many sounds of business disturb, and greater lassitude oppresses.

Upon an instrument of ten strings. Eusebius, in his comment on this psalm, says: "The psaltery of ten strings is the worship of the Holy Spirit performed by means of the five senses of the body, and by the five powers of the soul." And to confirm this interpretation, he quotes the apostle, 1Co…

Thou LORD hast made me glad through thy work. One of the parts of the well spending of the Sabbath, is the looking upon, and consideration of the works of creation.

Thy thoughts. The plural of tbvrm, from the verb bvr, to meditate, to count, to weave; and this last word gives a good idea of what is here made the subject of admiration and praise, the wonderful intricacy and contrivance with which the Divine Mind designs and executes his plans, till at length…

Expressively he wrote: "The man brute will not know; the fool will not understand this", viz., that when the wicked spring up with rapid and apparently vigorous growth as the summer flowers in Palestine, it is that they may ripen soon for a swift destruction.

When the wicked spring as the grass, etc. Their felicity is the greatest infelicity.—Adam Clarke. Little do they think that they are suffered to prosper that like beasts they may be fitter for slaughter.

Here is the central pivot of the Psalm. But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore, lit. "art height", & c., the abstract used for the concrete, to imply that the essence of all that is high is concentrated in Jehovah.

"Lo thine enemies"; "lo thine enemies." He represents their destruction as present, and as certain, which the repetition of the words implies.—Matthew Pool. Thine enemies shall perish. This is the only Psalm in the Psalter which is designated a Sabbath song.

Thou shalt lift up, as a Reêym, my horn, seems to point to the mode in which the bovidoe use their horns, lowering the head and then tossing it up.—William Houghton, in Smith's Bible Dictionary.

Mine enemies.—The word here used rwv shur—occurs nowhere else. It means, properly, a lier in wait, one who watches; one who is in ambush; and refers to persons who watched his conduct; who watched for his ruin.—A. Barnes.

Like the palm tree. Look now at those stately palm trees, which stand here and there on the plain, like military sentinels, with feathery plumes nodding gracefully on their proud heads.

Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God, are not distinctive of some from others, as though some only of the flourishing righteous were so planted; but they are descriptive of them all, with an addition of the way and means whereby they are caused so…

They shall still bring forth fruit in, old age. The point on which the Psalmist in this passage fixes, as he contemplates the blessedness of God's own children, is the beauty and happiness of their old age.

He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in, him. Implying that God can no more be moved or removed from doing righteously, than a rock can be removed out of its place.—Joseph Caryl.