angela hormberg

Category: Reading Through the Psalms

  • Psalm 65

    Psalm 65

    Commonplace –

    “O you who hear prayer” (Psalm 65:2a)

    God does hear prayer. He does give answers. David testified to answered prayers.

    “You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly” (Psalm 65:9)

    Theodoret wisely noted in his work, Cure of the Greek Maladies or Knowledge of the Gospel Truth from the Greek Philosophy,

    “The other nations , through the works of nature and the creation , were led to a knowledge of their God by Him who is Lord of all things. And as in His wonderful bounty He sends His rain, chiefly indeed on the cultivated soil, and that for the service of man, and yet from the abundance of His goodness He waters even the deserts and the mountains; and the land which man has ploughed brings forth a perfect fruit, and that which he has not laboured brings forth wild fruit;

    The Lord rains on the cultivated and uncultivated field.

    It is worthwhile to ponder Matthew Henry’s summary of this psalm.

    “In this psalm we are directed to give to God the glory of his power and goodness, which appear,

    I. In the kingdom of grace (v.1), hearing prayer (v.2), pardoning sin (v.3), satisfying the souls of the people (v.4), protecting and supporting them (v.5).

    II. In the kingdom of Providence, fixing the mountains (v.6), calming the sea (v.7), preserving the regular succession of day and night (v.8), and making the earth fruitful (v.9-13).

    These are blessings we are all indebted to God for, and therefore we may easily accommodate this psalm to ourselves in singing it.

    The kingdom of grace is toward the people, themselves, and the kingdom of providence God working all things together for the good through his creation.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 65.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 64

    Psalm 64

    Commonplace –

    “The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in Him and all the upright in heart shall glory” (Psalm 64:10).

    David opens the psalm beseeching God’s protection over his life. He then spends time discussing the ways of the wicked: how they “whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect” (Psalm 64:3). This is still the way of the wicked. They prowl around anonymously and shoot their vitriol at the followers of God. Yet judgment for evil comes, either in the physical world or in eternity. But God, who is a good, good Father, offers a way even for the worst sinners. Repent, confess and believe in Jesus Christ. However, “the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing” (1 Cor 1:18).

    David closes with verse 10 and the promise for those who remain steadfast in the Lord and trust in him: gladness shall be their portion. Matthew Henry notes,

    “The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, not glad of the misery and ruin of their fellow-creatures, but glad that God is glorified, and his word fulfilled, and the cause of injured innoncency pleaded effectually” (Henry 387).

    It is important to keep in mind that our gladness does not stem from the suffering of the punished, but our gladness stems from the glory of God being magnified.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 64.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 63

    Psalm 63

    Commonplace –

    “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land” (Psalm 63:1a).

    It is good to seek God in the morning. Before breakfast and the busy-ness of the day settles in on us, time set aside to read the Word and draw close to God prepares us for all the day brings.

    In the title of Psalm 63 is the description “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah”. Matthew Henry offers the following commentary on the ‘wilderness’:

    “1. Even in Canaan, ye there were wildernesses, places less fruitful and less inhabited than other places. It will be so in the world, in the church, but not in heaven; there it is all city, all paradise, and no desert ground; the wilderness there shall blossom as the rose.

    2. The best and dearest of God’s saints and servants may sometimes have their lot cast in a wilderness, which speaks them lonely and solitary, desolate and afflicted, wanting, wandering, and unsettled, and quite at a loss what to do with themselves.

    3. All the straits and difficulties of a wilderness must not put us out of tune for sacred songs; but even then it is our duty and interest to keep up a cheerful communion with God. There are psalms proper for a wilderness, and we have reason to thank God that it is the wilderness of Judah we are in, not the wilderness of sin” (Henry 382).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 63.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 62

    Psalm 62

    Commonplace –

    “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation” (Psalm 62:1).

    Matthew Henry offers helpful insight,

    “”We are in the way both of duty and comfort when our souls wait upon God, when we cheerfully refer ourselves, and the disposal of all our affairs, to His will and wisdom, when we acquiesce in and accommodate ourselves to all the dispensations of his providence, and patiently expect a doubtful event, with an entire satisfaction in his righteousness and goodness” (379).

    “He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved” (Psalm 62:6).

    Again, Matthew Henry worthily notes,

    “The more faith is acted the more active it is. Crescit eundo – It grows by being exercised. The more we meditate upon God’s attributes and promises, and our own experience, the more ground we get of our fears, which, like Haman, when they begin to fall, shall fall before us, and we shall be kept in perfect peace, Isa 26:3.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 62.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 61

    Psalm 61

    Commonplace –

    “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer” (Psalm 61:1).

    David calls to God and offers prayers. He is in a state of overwhelm and turns to God. In that state, David reminds himself of God’s past faithfulness, when God was “a shelter for [him], and a strong tower from the enemy” (Psalm 61:2). Because of God’s past faithfulness, David returns seeking comfort and knowing he will receive it. As we have seen over the past few days, David’s prayers are turned to praise.

    Matthew Henry aptly notes,

    “Those abide to good purpose in this world that abide before God, that serve him and walk in his fear; and those that do so shall abide before him for ever” (Henry 379).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 60.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 60

    Psalm 60

    Commonplace –

    “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies” (Psalm 60:11-12).

    In Psalm 60, David again begins with prayers of protection and favor. In verse 6, the Psalm turns to praise, as David writes,

    “God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Schechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth” (Psalm 60:6).

    God answered and gave David the victory. Regarding Psalm 60 Matthew Henry notes, it was written when “David was in the zenith of his prosperity, and the affairs of [David’s] kingdom seem to have been in a better posture than ever they were either before or after” (Henry 376). Further on Henry writes,

    “David, in prosperity, was as devout as David in diversity” (375).

    Matthew Henry outlines Psalm 60 as follows,

    “I. [David] reflects upon the bad state of the public interests, for many years, in which God had been contending with them (v. 1-3).

    II. [David] takes notice of the happy turn lately given to their affairs (v. 4).

    III. [David] prays for the deliverance of God’s Israel from their enemies (v. 5).

    IV. [David] triumphs in hope of their victories over their enemies, and begs of God to carry them on and complete them (v 6-12)” (Henry 375).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 60.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 59

    Psalm 59

    Commonplace –

    “But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble” (Psalm 59:16).

    As with Psalm 57, there is a turning point in this psalm. It begins in prayer and ends with praise; verse 16 is that turning point. In the face of his enemies, David turns to God, his strength and defense. Matthew Henry notes,

    “[David] would praise him because he had still a dependence upon Him and a confidence in Him, as his strength to support him and carry him on in his duty, his defense to keep him safe from evil, and the God of his mercy to make him happy and easy. He that is all this to us is certainly worthy of our best affections, praises and services” (375).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 59.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 58

    Psalm 58

    Commonplace –

    “So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God that judgeth the earth” (Psalm 58).

    Here the Psalmist addresses the wicked and calls them to account. He declares our choices have consequences.

    Regarding “he is a God”, Matthew Henry notes,

    “He is a God (so we read it), not a weak man, not an angel, not a mere name, not (as the atheists suggest) a creature of men’s fear and fancy, not a deified hero, not the sun and moon, as idolaters imagined, but a God, a self-existent perfect Being; he is that judges the earth; his favour therefore let us seek, from whom every man’s judgment proceeds, and to him let all judgment be referred” (372).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 58.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 57

    Psalm 57

    Commonplace –

    “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise” (Psalm 57:7).

    This Psalm turns on this verse. David begins in prayer expressing his dire situation to God. Yet at verse 7, his attitude changes. He eyes are no longer set on the circumstances surrounding him but on God. As Matthew Henry notes:

    “How strangely is the tune altered here! David’s prayers and complaints, by the lively actings of faith, are here, all of a sudden, turned into praises and thanksgivings; his sackcloth is loosed, he is girded with gladness, and his hallelujahs are as fervent as his hosannas. This should make us in love with prayer, that, sooner or later, it will be swallowed up in praise” (369).

    It is at one and the same time a reminder to keep our hearts fixed on God continuing in prayer, and it is a praise that our hearts are fixed on God, our ever present help in trouble.

    Matthew Henry comments,

    “If by the grace of God we be brought into this even composed frame of spirit, we have great reason to be thankful” and “[i]t is implied that the heart is the main thing required in all acts of devotion; nothing is done to purpose, in religion, further than it is done with the heart. The heart must be fixed, fixed for the duty, fitted and put in frame for it, fixed in the duty by a close application, attending on the Lord without distraction” (369).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 57.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg

  • Psalm 56

    Psalm 56

    Commonplace –

    “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me” (Psalm 56:11).

    Here David reminds himself of where he has put his trust. We often need to remind ourselves and again commit to put our trust in God. It is good to remember that this life is comprised of the physical and spiritual; man is only a part of the physical, whereas God is over all. Man’s reach is limited.

    In regards to the words “what can man do unto me” Matthew Henry comments:

    “This triumphant word, so expressive of a holy magnanimity, the apostle puts into the mouth of every true believer, whom he makes a Christian hero, Heb. 13:6, “We may each of us boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and then I will not fear what man shall do unto me; for he has not power but what he has given him from above””(366).

    Finally, the psalmist reminds himself:

    “For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? (Psalm 56:13)”

    The greatest gift we are given, if we choose to receive it, is deliverance from death, which is the wages of sin. Believing God has delivered his soul from death, David inquires as to whether God will “deliver [his] feet from falling”. Here Matthew Henry notes,

    “This may be taken either as the matter of his prayer, pleading his experience, or as the matter of his praise, raising his expectations; and those that know how to praise in faith will give God thanks for mercies in promise and in prospect, as well as in possession” (367).

    Further, David indicates that, if allowed to continue to walk on this earth, he will do so “before God in the light of the living”. If David is allowed to live, he will live as a follower of God. To this Matthew Henry counsels,

    “”That I may do my duty while this life lasts”.” Note, This we should aim at, in all our desires and expectations of deliverance both from sin and trouble, that we may do God so much better the service – that, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we may serve Him without fear” (367).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 56.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.

    Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.

    © 2025 Angela Hormberg