Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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P S A L M S

PSALM XCIII.

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This short psalm sets forth the honour of the kingdom of God among men,

to his glory, the terror of his enemies, and the comfort of all his

loving subjects. It relates both to the kingdom of his providence, by

which he upholds and governs the world, and especially to the kingdom

of his grace, by which he secures the church, sanctifies and preserves

it. The administration of both these kingdoms is put into the hands of

the Messiah, and to him, doubtless, the prophet here hears witness, and

to his kingdom, speaking of it as present, because sure; and because,

as the eternal Word, even before his incarnation he was Lord of all.

Concerning God’s kingdom glorious things are here spoken.

I. Have other kings their royal robes? So has he,

ver. 1.

II. Have they their thrones? So has he,

ver. 2.

III. Have they their enemies whom they subdue and triumph over? So has

he,

ver. 3, 4.

IV. Is it their honour to be faithful and holy? So it is his,

ver. 5.

In singing this psalm we forget ourselves if we forget Christ, to whom

the Father has given all power both in heaven and in earth.

The Glory and Majesty of God.

     

1 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is

clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the

world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

  2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from

everlasting.

  3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up

their voice; the floods lift up their waves.

  4 The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters,

yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

  5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house,

O LORD, for ever.

     

Next to the being of God there is nothing that we are more concerned to

believe and consider than God’s dominion, that Jehovah is God, and that

this God reigns

(v. 1),

not only that he is King of right, and is the owner and proprietor of

all persons and things, but that he is King in fact, and does direct

and dispose of all the creatures and all their actions according to the

counsel of his own will. This is celebrated here, and in many other

psalms: The Lord reigns. It is the song of the gospel church, of

the glorified church

(Rev. xix. 6),

Hallelujah; the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Here we are told how

he reigns.

     

I. The Lord reigns gloriously: He is clothed with majesty. The

majesty of earthly princes, compared with God’s terrible majesty, is

but like the glimmerings of a glow-worm compared with the brightness of

the sun when he goes forth in his strength. Are the enemies of God’s

kingdom great and formidable? Yet let us not fear them, for God’s

majesty will eclipse theirs.

     

II. He reigns powerfully. He is not only clothed with majesty, as a

prince in his court, but he is clothed with strength, as a

general in the camp. He has wherewithal to support his greatness and to

make it truly formidable. See him not only clad in robes, but clad in

armour. Both strength and honour are his clothing. He can do

every thing, and with him nothing is impossible.

1. With this power he has girded himself; it is not derived from

any other, nor does the executing of it depend upon any other, but he

has it of himself and with it does whatsoever he pleases. Let us not

fear the power of man, which is borrowed and bounded, but fear him who

has power to kill and cast into hell.

2. To this power it is owing that the world stands to this day. The

world also is established; it was so at first, by the creating power of

God, when he founded it upon the seas; it is so still, by that

providence which upholds all things and is a continued creation; it is

so established that though he has hanged the earth upon nothing

(Job xxvi. 7)

yet it cannot be moved; all things continue to this day,

according to his ordinance. Note, The preserving of the powers of

nature and the course of nature is what the God of nature must have the

glory of; and we who have the benefit thereof daily are very careless

and ungrateful if we give him not the glory of it. Though God clothes

himself with majesty, yet he condescends to take care of this lower

world and to settle its affairs; and, if he established the world, much

more will he establish his church, that it cannot be moved.

     

III. He reigns eternally

(v. 2):

Thy throne is established of old.

1. God’s right to rule the world is founded in his making it; he that

gave being to it, no doubt, may give law to it, and so his title to the

government is incontestable: Thy throne is established; it is a

title without a flaw in it. And it is ancient: it is established of

old, from the beginning of time, before any other rule,

principality, or power was erected, as it will continue when all other

rule, principality, and power shall be put down,

1 Cor. xv. 24.

2. The whole administration of his government was settled in his

eternal counsels before all worlds; for he does all according to the

purpose which he purposed in himself; The chariots of Providence came

down from between the mountains of brass, from those decrees which are

fixed as the everlasting mountains

(Zech. vi. 1):

Thou art from everlasting, and therefore thy throne is

established of old; because God himself was from everlasting, his

throne and all the determinations of it were so too; for in an eternal

mind there could not but be eternal thoughts.

     

IV. He reigns triumphantly,

v. 3, 4.

We have here,

1. A threatening storm supposed: The floods have lifted up, O

Lord! (to God himself the remonstrance is made) the floods have

lifted up their voice, which speaks terror; nay, they have

lifted up their waves, which speaks real danger. It alludes to a

tempestuous sea, such as the wicked are compared to,

Isa. lvii. 20.

The heathen rage

(Ps. ii. 1)

and think to ruin the church, to overwhelm it like a deluge, to sink it

like a ship at sea. The church is said to be tossed with

tempests

(Isa. liv. 11),

and the floods of ungodly men make the saints afraid,
Ps. xviii. 4.

We may apply it to the tumults that are sometimes in our own bosoms,

through prevailing passions and frights, which put the soul into

disorder, and are ready to overthrow its graces and comforts; but, if

the Lord reign there, even the winds and seas shall obey him.

2. An immovable anchor cast in this storm

(v. 4):

The Lord himself is mightier. Let this keep our minds fixed,

(1.) That God is on high, above them, which denotes his safety (they

cannot reach him,

Ps. xxix. 10)

and his sovereignty; they are ruled by him, they are overruled, and,

wherein they rebel, overcome,

Exod. xviii. 11.

(2.) That he is mightier, does more wondrous things than

the noise of many waters; they cannot disturb his rest or rule;

they cannot defeat his designs and purposes. Observe, The power of the

church’s enemies is but as the noise of many waters; there is

more of sound than substance in it. Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a

noise,
Jer. xlvi. 17.

The church’s friends are commonly more frightened than hurt. God is

mightier than this noise; he is mighty to preserve his people’s

interests from being ruined by these many waters and his people’s

spirits from being terrified by the noise of them. He can, when he

pleases, command peace to the church

(Ps. lxv. 7),

peace in the soul,

Isa. xxvi. 3.

Note, The unlimited sovereignty and irresistible power of the great

Jehovah are very encouraging to the people of God, in reference to all

the noises and hurries they meet with in this world,

Ps. xlvi. 1, 2.

     

V. He reigns in truth and holiness,

v. 5.

1. All his promises are inviolably faithful: Thy testimonies are

very sure. As God is able to protect his church, so he is true to

the promises he has made of its safety and victory. His word is passed,

and all the saints may rely upon it. Whatever was foretold concerning

the kingdom of the Messiah would certainly have its accomplishment in

due time. Those testimonies upon which the faith and hope of the

Old-Testament saints were built were very sure, and would not fail

them.

2. All his people ought to be conscientiously pure: Holiness becomes

thy house, O Lord! for ever. God’s church is his house; it is a

holy house, cleansed from sin, consecrated by God, and employed in his

service. The holiness of it is its beauty (nothing better becomes the

saints than conformity to God’s image and an entire devotedness to his

honour), and it is its strength and safety; it is the holiness of God’s

house that secures it against the many waters and their noise. Where

there is purity there shall be peace. Fashions change, and that which

is becoming at one time is not so at another; but holiness always

becomes God’s house and family, and those who belong to it; it is

perpetually decent; and nothing so ill becomes the worshippers of the

holy God as unholiness.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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