angela hormberg

Tag: Jesus

  • Psalm 87

    Psalm 87

    Commonplace –

    “Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah” (Psalm 87:3).

    Church is not always easy; it’s full of people. People sin, and they sin against one another, even in church. Yet Matthew Henry makes an important point about church,

    “glorious things are spoken of the gospel-church. It is the spouse of Christ, the purchase of his blood; it is a peculiar people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Let us not be ashamed of the church of Christ in its meanest condition, nor of any that belong to it, nor disown our relation to it, though it be turned ever so much to our reproach, since such glorious things are spoken of it, and not one iota or tittle of what is said shall fall to the ground” (Henry 464).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 87.” 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 78

    Psalm 78

    Commonplace –

    “Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation: a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God” (Psalm 78:1-8).

    Matthew Henry notes the following related to Psalm 78,

    “This psalm is historical; it is a narrative of the great mercies God had bestowed upon Israel, the great sins wherewith they had provoked him, and the many tokens of his displeasure they had been under for their sins” (Henry 433).

    Further on, Henry notes,

    “These verses, which contain the preface to this history, show that the psalm answers the title; it is indeed Maschil – a psalm to give instruction; if we receive not the instruction it gives, it is our own fault” (Henry 434).

    Praise God for the psalmist, who inspired by God, passed down this important instruction.

    In this history of Israel, the psalmist records the response of the people to God’s loving care and protection of them:

    “For all this they sinned still, and believed not his wondrous works.

    Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble” (Psalm 78:32-33).”

    So, God, left them to their sin. But not forever!

    “Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach” (Psalm 78:65-66).

    And out of His tender mercy, God did the following: 1) He “chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved” (Psalm 78:68), 2) He “built His sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever” (Psalm 78:69), and, most importantly, 3) “He chose David also His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: From following the ewes great with young He brought [David] to feed Jacob His People, and Israel His inheritance” (Psalm 78:70-71). God chose a shepherd for his people.

    How much does this testimony of Israel mirror the testimony of Christian life? David was a picture of the Good Shepherd He would send later. He sent an eternal Savior, Jesus, to save us from our sins. I love how the song ends.

    “So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of His hands” (Psalm 78:72).

    Praise God for His provision!

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 78.” 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 75

    Psalm 75

    Commonplace –

    “But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another” (Psalm 75:7).

    Matthew Henry suggests that this psalm “does so exactly agree with David’s circumstances, at his coming to the crown after the death of Saul, that most interpreters apply it to that juncture” (426).

    Henry suggests the following in relation to this psalm,

    “In singing this psalm we must give to God the glory of all the revolutions of states and kingdoms, believing that they are all according to his counsel and that he will make them all to work for the good of his church” (Henry 426).

    Specifically, Henry notes,

    “In these verses we have two great doctrines laid down and two good inferences drawn from them, for the confirmaiton of what he had before said,

    I. Here are two great truths laid down concerning God’s government of the world, which we ought to mix faith with, both pertinent to the occasion: –

    1. That from God alone kings receive their power (v. 6,7) and therefore to God alone David would give praise of his advancement; having his power from God he would use it for him…
    2. That from God alone all must receive their doom (v.8): In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, which he puts into the hands of the children of men, a cup of providence, mixed up (as he thinks fit) of many ingredients, a cup of afflictions. The sufferings of Christ are called a cup, Matt 20:22; John 18:11.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 75.” 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 72

    Psalm 72

    Commonplace –

    “A psalm for Solomon” (Psalm 72).

    The first thing to notice about this Psalm is the subtitle, “A Psalm for Solomon”. This was a psalm written by King David for his son, Solomon.

    “Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son” (Psalm 72:1).

    Matthew Henry noted,

    “This verse is a prayer for the king, even the king’s son.

    I. We may apply it to Solomon: Give him thy judgments, O God! and thy righteousness; make him a man, a king; make him a good man, a good king. (Henry 413).

    While David’s words were for Solomon, Henry also notes that the verse applies even to the coming king, King Jesus.

    “It is an expression of the satisfaction which all true believers take in the authority which the Lord Jesus has received from the Father: “Let him have all the power both in heaven and earth, and be the Lord our righteousness; let him be the great trustee of divine grace for all that are his; give it to him, that he may give it to us.”

    Henry also notes that we can come before God with this same prayer for our own children.

    “The best thing we can ask of God for our children is that God will give them wisdom and grace to know and do their duty; that is better than gold” (Henry 413).

    “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended” (Psalm 72:20).

    Of this verse, Matthew Henry wrote,

    “This was the last psalm that [David] ever penned, though not last in this collection; he penned it when he lay on his death-bed, and with this he breathes his last:

    “Let God be glorified, let the kingdom of the Messiah be set up, and kept up, in the world, and I have enough, I desire no more. With this let the prayers of David the son of Jesse be ended. Even so, come, Lord Jesus, come quickly” (Henry 416).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 72.” 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 69

    Psalm 69

    Commonplace –

    In regards to Psalm 69, Matthew Henry notes,

    “…in this, David was a type of Christ, and divers passages in this psalm are applied to Christ in the New Testament and are said to have their accomplishment in him” (402).

    Specifically, Henry notes verses 4, 9, 21 and 22:

    “They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away” (Psalm 69:4).

    “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me” (Psalm 69:9).

    “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:21).

    “Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap” (Psalm 69:22).

    In his summary of Psalm 69, Matthew Henry wrote that David begins with listing his afflictions, pleads for God’s help and judgment, and ends with praise. (402).

    Henry ends his summary with the following:

    “In singing [Psalm 69] we must have an eye to the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that followed, not forgetting the sufferings of Christians too, and the glory that follow them; for it may lead us to think of the ruin reserved for the persecutors and the rest reserved for the persecuted” (402.)

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 69.” 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