Psalms 68:9

Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain,.... Not of water literally taken, as when the Israelites passed through the sea, Psalms 77:17; or when the thunderings and lightnings were on Mount Sinai, at

O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: -God's doings for His people in the wilderness; His giving them the law at Sinai; His sustaining

Send a plentiful rain; either, 1. In the wilderness; where they oft wanted water, and were by God’ s extraordinary care supplied with it. Or rather, 2. In the land of Canaan, which he calls God’ s inheritance in the next words; as also , and in many other places of Scripture; in which God’ s people are said to dwell in the next verse, of which, and the things done in it, lie speaks in the following verses, and which, being destitute of those constant supplies from the overflowings of a great river which Egypt enjoyed, God took a special care to supply with rain as occasion required; of which see ,11. Confirm; or, stablish, or support, or sustain. Thine inheritance; either thy people; or rather thy land, as was now said. Weary; dry and thirsty, and parched with excessive heat, and ready to faint for want of rain: compare .

Psalms 68:9 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.Ver. 9. Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain] Heb. Thou didst speak out a rain of liberalities. Spiritually this meaneth the doctrine of the gospel, Deuteronomy 32:2 Isaiah 45:8 Hosea 14:6, and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, bestowed freely and plentifully.

(9, 10) Thou, O God . . .—The text of these two verses literally runs, A rain of gifts thou shakest out, O God, on thine inheritance, and when exhausted didst refresh it. Thy living creatures dwell therein; thou makest provision of thy goodness for the afflicted, O God. The rain of gifts has been variously explained as actual showers, blessings of prosperity, outpourings of the Holy Spirit. Both the latter might no doubt be implied in the expression, but some particular material blessing seems indicated, and in connection with the desert wanderings the rain of manna suggests itself. By thine inheritance we understand God’s people, as in Deuteronomy 4:20; Psalms 28:9, &c. The “living creatures” in the next verse will then probably be the quails; and a slight emendation, lately suggested, carries conviction along with it. It consists in bringing “thy living creatures” into Psalms 68:9, and, by the insertion of a letter, to read instead of “they dwell therein”—they are satisfied with it (comp. Psalms 78:24-25). This gives the rendering, and when it was exhausted thou didst refresh it with thy living creatures; they are satisfied therewith. (Burgess.)

Verse 9. Didst send a plentiful rain] גשם נדבות geshem nedaboth, a shower of liberality. I believe this to refer to the manna by which God refreshed and preserved alive the weary and hungry Israelites.

9. Thou, O God, didst send &c.] Or, dost send, a general truth, illustrated by God’s dealings with Israel. The verse is explained by, many to refer to the manna and the quails which God ‘rained down’ upon the Israelites (Exodus 16:4; Psalms 78:24; Psalms 78:27); or generally, to all the gifts and blessings which He bestowed upon them in the wilderness. But ‘dwelt’ in Psalms 68:10 (though the word is sometimes used of the temporary sojourn in the wilderness, e.g. Numbers 25:1; Deuteronomy 1:46) is most naturally understood of the settlement in Canaan, and the antecedent to ‘therein’ must be ‘thine inheritance,’ i.e. the promised land, which is called God’s inheritance in Exodus 15:17; Jeremiah 2:7; Psalms 79:1; 2Ma 2:4, “The mount which Moses ascended and viewed the inheritance of God.” Psalms 68:9 will thus refer to the gracious preparation of the land of Canaan to be the home of Israel. In contrast to the land of Egypt from which they had come, and the wilderness through which they had passed, it was a land of abundant rain (Deuteronomy 11:10-12; Psalms 65:9): though it too had known what it was to be ‘weary’ with drought (Genesis 47:13). But a plentiful rain, lit. rain of bounteousnesses, is not perhaps to be limited to the literal meaning, but may include all blessings which God pours out upon His people of His gracious liberality. whereby thou didst confirm] Omit whereby, which is not in the Heb. Confirm may mean stablish as in Exodus 15:17; Psalms 48:8; or prepare, LXX κατηρτίσω. weary] Cp., though the word is different, Psalms 63:1.

Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain - Margin, shake out. Prof.

9. Confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary—Literally, Thine inheritance, when it was faint, thou hast established.