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Psalms 21:1-7

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

1. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! 2. Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. 3. For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. 4. He asked life of thee, [and] thou gavest [it] him, [even] length of days for ever and ever. 5. His glory [is] great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him. 6. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. 7. For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.

Psalms 21:1-7 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Psalms 21:1

Theological / Devotional

The king. Verses 1–7 express the gratitude of the congregation for the victory God has given the king. It is always becoming to make public recognition of answered prayer.

The king is probably David. Here the expression ledawid, “by David,” or “for David” (see p. 616), should probably be translated “concerning David.”

In thy strength. The chariots and horses were powerless against God’s strength (see Ps. 20:7). The reversing of the order of ideas in the parallelism is a favorite rhetorical device: “joy … strength”; “salvation … rejoice.” God’s salvation had previously been anticipated (Ps. 20:5, 6, 9). Now it is realized. Ancient Jewish tradition regarded the psalm as Messianic, as is shown by the free translation of the Targum: “O Lord, in thy strength king Messiah shall rejoice.”

By SdaBc