Psalm 89:17

For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) Glory.—Better, ornament. The crown of a nation’s strength is not the triumphs it wins, nor the prosperity it secures, but the spirit in which these are used. Humility, and not pride, acknowledgment of God, and not conceit in her wealth or power, was the ornament of Israel’s strength, and made her greatness in her best days.

Our horn shall be exalted.—See Note, Psalm 132:17. Modern Eastern proverbs, such as “What a fine horn he has!” spoken of a great man, still preserve the figure.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

89:15-18 Happy are those who so know the joyful sound of the gospel as to obey it; who experience its power upon their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives. Though believers are nothing in themselves, yet having all in Christ Jesus, they may rejoice in his name. May the Lord enable us to do so. The joy of the Lord is the strength of his people; whereas unbelief dispirits ourselves and discourages others. Though it steals upon us under a semblance of humility, yet it is the very essence of pride. Christ is the Holy One of Israel; and in him was that peculiar people more blessed than in any other blessing.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For thou art the glory of their strength - The ornament; the beauty; the honor; that is, Their strength derives its beauty and honor, not from anything in themselves, but from the fact that it is derived from thee. The strength thus imparted is an honor or ornament in itself; it is an honor and glory to them that it is imparted to them.

And in thy favor - Or, by thy favor, or good pleasure.

Our horn shall be exalted - The horn is a symbol of power. Compare Psalm 22:21, note; Psalm 75:4; Daniel 7:8, note; Job 16:15, note. The meaning here is, that their power had been derived from God; or that all which contributed to their exaltation and honor in the world, had been derived from him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16, 17. in—or, "by"

thy righteousness—Thy faithful just rule.

glory—or, "beauty."

of their strength—They shall be adorned as well as protected.

our horn—exalt our power (Ps 75:10; Lu 1:69).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

All that strength in which they do or may glory is not their own, but is a mere vouchsafement of thy grace, and to thee alone belongs the glory of all their valiant achievements.

Our horn shall be exalted, i.e. our power and honour, which now lies in the dust, shall be raised and recovered.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For thou art the glory of their strength,.... By which they walk, and do all they do, exercise every grace, and discharge their duty; they have their strength from Christ, as well as their righteousness, without whom they can do nothing, but all things through him strengthening them; and as his righteousness exalts them, his strength adorns and glorifies them; how glorious and beautiful does a believer look, that is strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, in the grace that is in Christ, and in the exercise of faith on him, giving glory to God; on whom the power of Christ rests, and it overshadows, and in whose weakness his strength is made perfect!

and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted; either Christ, the Horn of their salvation, who in an acceptable time, in the time of God's favour, or good will, was heard and helped by him as man, carried through his sufferings and death, was raised from the dead, and exalted at his right hand; see Psalm 89:24 or the saints themselves, their power and strength, kingdom and glory; by the special favour of God in Christ, their mountain is made so strong, and they so highly exalted, as that they think they shall never be moved; and in the latter day the mountain of the Lord's house shall be exalted above the hills, Psalm 30:6.

Geneva Study Bible

For thou art the {o} glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

(o) In that they are preserved and continue, they should give the praise and glory to you alone.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

17. Jehovah alone is the strength of which they boast. Cp. Psalm 44:6 ff.

in thy favour] Cp. Psalm 44:3; Psalm 30:7.

our horn shall be exalted] So the Qrç, with the LXX and Syr. The Kthîbh, with which agree Targ. and Jer., has wilt thou exalt our horn. Cp. Psalm 75:5; Psalm 75:10. By the change of person, the poet claims his share in this glorious inheritance. “They gives place to we unconsciously, as his heart swells with the joy that he paints.” (Maclaren.)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 17. - For thou art the Glory of their strength; or, "the Ornament" - that in which their strength and might as a people culminate. And in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. Thy favour towards us exalts us among the nations. Psalm 89:17

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The poet has now described what kind of God He is upon whose promise the royal house in Israel depends. Blessed, then, is the people that walks in the light of His countenance. הלּך of a self-assured, stately walk. The words ידעי תּרוּעה are the statement of the ground of the blessing interwoven into the blessing itself: such a people has abundant cause and matter for exultation (cf. Psalm 84:5). תּרוּעה is the festive sound of joy of the mouth (Numbers 23:21), and of trumpets or sackbuts (Psalm 27:6). This confirmation of the blessing is expanded in Psalm 89:17-19. Jahve's שׁם, i.e., revelation or manifestation, becomes to them a ground and object of unceasing joy; by His צדקה, i.e., the rigour with which He binds Himself to the relationship He has entered upon with His people and maintains it, they are exalted above abjectness and insecurity. He is תּפארת עזּמו, the ornament of their strength, i.e., their strength which really becomes an ornament to them. In Psalm 89:18 the poet declares Israel to be this happy people. Pinsker's conjecture, קרנם (following the Targum), destroys the transition to Psalm 89:19, which is formed by Psalm 89:18. The plural reading of Kimchi and of older editions (e.g., Bomberg's), קרנינוּ, is incompatible with the figure; but it is immaterial whether we read תּרים with the Chethb (Targum, Jerome), or with the Ker (lxx, Syriac) תּרוּם.

(Note: Zur Geschichte des Karaismus, pp. קפא and קפב, according to which, reversely, in Joshua 5:1 עברוּ is to be read instead of עברם, and Isaiah 33:2 זרענוּ instead of זרעם, Psalm 12:8 תשמרנּוּ instead of תשמרם, Micah 7:19 חטאתנוּ instead of חטאתם, Job 32:8 תביננּוּ instead of תבינם, Proverbs 25:27 כבודנוּ instead of כבודם (the limiting of our honour brings honour, - an unlikely interpretation of the חקר).)

מגנּנוּ and מלכּנוּ in Psalm 89:19 are parallel designations of the human king of Israel; מגן as in Psalm 47:10, but not in Psalm 84:10. For we are not compelled, with a total disregard of the limits to the possibilities of style (Ew. 310, a), to render Psalm 89:19: and the Holy One of Israel, (as to Him, He) is our King (Hitzig), since we do not bring down the Psalm beyond the time of the kings. Israel's shield, Israel's king, the poet says in the holy defiant confidence of faith, is Jahve's, belongs to the Holy One of Israel, i.e., he stands as His own possession under the protection of Jahve, the Holy One, who has taken Israel to Himself for a possession; it is therefore impossible that the Davidic throne should become a prey to any worldly power.