Psalm 35:18

I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

35:17-28 Though the people of God are, and study to be, quiet, yet it has been common for their enemies to devise deceitful matters against them. David prays, My soul is in danger, Lord, rescue it; it belongs to thee the Father of spirits, therefore claim thine own; it is thine, save it! Lord, be not far from me, as if I were a stranger. He who exalted the once suffering Redeemer, will appear for all his people: the roaring lion shall not destroy their souls, any more than he could that of Christ, their Surety. They trust their souls in his hands, they are one with him by faith, are precious in his sight, and shall be rescued from destruction, that they may give thanks in heaven.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will give thee thanks ... - That is, When I am delivered I will publicly express my gratitude and joy. Compare Psalm 22:25; Psalm 18:49.

I will praise thee among much people - Margin, "strong." So the Hebrew. The idea here is, "strong in respect to numbers;" that is, when a large body of people should be assembled together.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

18. (Compare Ps 22:22).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

When I shall be restored to the liberty of the public assemblies and solemn feasts.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

I will give thee thanks in the great congregation,.... This is the resolution the psalmist came unto; the promise he made, that should he be delivered from his enemies, he would give God thanks in the most public manner; that is, he would acknowledge God to be the author of the mercy, and himself unworthy of it; and would ascribe glory, honour, blessing, and thanksgiving to him, in the midst of the church and people of God; they joining with him in it, when he should be restored to an attendance with them he before prays for;

I will praise thee among much people; meaning the same as before, the people of God meeting together for solemn worship; the great congregation of all, and the much people, will be the saints in heaven, when they shall be gathered together, and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. The words will bear to be applied to the Messiah, see Psalm 22:22.

Geneva Study Bible

I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. Another parallel to Psalms 22vv22, 25. Cp. Psalm 40:9-10.

much people] Or, a mighty people (R.V. marg.). The publicity of the thanksgiving is the point.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 18. - I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I win praise thee among much people. The promise is repeated (see vers. 9, 10); hut, as before, it is conditional on deliverance being granted, and intended to induce God to grant it, and to grant it speedily. Psalm 35:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Just as the first part of the Psalm closed with wishes, and thanksgiving for their fulfilment, so the second part also closes with a prayer and thanksgiving. כּמּה (compounded of כּ, instar, and the interrogative מה which is drawn into the genitive by it; Aramaic כּמא, Arabic kam, Hebrew, like בּמּה, with Dag. forte conjunct., properly: the total of what?), which elsewhere means quot, here has the signification of quousque, as in Job 7:19. משּׁאיהם from שׁאה, the plural of which may be both שׁאים and שׁאות (this latter, however, does not occur), like the plural of אימה, terror, אימים and אימות. The suffix, which refers to the enemies as the authors of the destructions (Proverbs 3:25), shows that it is not to be rendered "from their destroyers" (Hitzig). If God continues thus to look on instead of acting, then the destructions, which are passing over David's soul, will utterly destroy it. Hence the prayer: lead it back, bring that back, which is already well night borne away to destruction. On יהידה vid., Psalm 22:21. The כּפירים, which is intended literally in Psalm 34:11, is here emblematical. אודך is the cohortative. עצוּם as a parallel word to רב always refers, according to the context, to strength of numbers or to strength of power.