Chapter Nineteen

These psalms represent two parts of a work devoted to one and the same subject. In Psalm 19 is set forth a prayer to God on behalf of the people for the granting of David victory over enemies possessing large fighting forces (Ps 19:8). The Ark of the Covenant at that time was on Zion (Ps 19:3). In Psalm 20 is presented a song of thanksgiving to God for the victory granted, so brilliant that David, having destroyed enemies in great number (Ps 20:10), placed upon his head the crown from the head of his opponent—the king, a crown adorned with precious stones (Ps 20:4). Such an event occurred during David’s struggle with the Syro-Ammonites, when he, after victory over enemies, upon taking Rabbah of the Ammonites, took the crown of the king of the Ammonites and placed it on his own head, and the people in the city were utterly destroyed (2 Sam 12:30-31).

Psalm 19:1. To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. In both psalms David is spoken of in the third person. We have said that the psalms represent a prayer on behalf of David by the people. One may also consider these psalms as a prayer of David concerning himself. To speak of oneself in the third person presents no peculiarity or exception; we encounter such, for example, also in Ps 17:51 and elsewhere.

Psalm 19:2. May the Lord answer you on the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May the Lord hear the prayer of the king for help in struggle with the enemy (2–6)! The people hope not in their own strength, but in God, and the enemies are cast down (7–10).

Psalm 19:4. May He remember all your offerings and turn your burnt sacrifice to ashes. “May He remember all your offerings... turn your burnt sacrifice to ashes,”—let every sacrifice offered by David kindle favor from God toward him. A fattened animal, offered in sacrifice, testified to the piety and reverence of the one offering, since it showed that the man was sacrificing to God the most precious of his animals.

Psalm 19:5. May He give you according to your heart and fulfill all your plans. “Plans”—a plan; may the Lord give David the ability to successfully execute his plan of struggle with enemies.

Psalm 19:7. Now I know that the Lord has saved His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand. “Now I know”—past tense instead of future; now, that is, in this present war with the Syro-Ammonites, will be revealed how much (“saves... answers”) the Lord loves His anointed one. The Hebrews thirst for divine help, since the military forces of the warring sides are unequal: “some” (Ps 19:8), that is, the enemies, possessed a large number of battle chariots, to which the Hebrews could only oppose their faith in God and hope in His help.