angela hormberg

Tag: Matthew Henry’s Commentary

  • Psalm 86

    Psalm 86

    Commonplace –

    “Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy” (Psalm 86:1).

    God is amazing! Currently, I am working through a church wide prayer guide. Today is about seeking the Lord. Psalm 86 just ‘happened’ to be the next psalm on my list. So, for this specific day, when I am going through a guide, which I had nothing to do with creating, the devotional is about prayer. And, for this specific day, when I am just continuing through the psalms in order, I have a psalm all about prayer. It’s easy to consider this convergence between what the guide is suggesting and what the psalm is providing as coincidence. But God, friends. But God! He is pointing me to making prayer my first response in all situations, and He has provided a prayer, which Matthew Henry calls a prayer for use “especially in a day of affliction” (Henry 460).

    Per Matthew Henry,

    “This psalm was published under the title of a prayer of David; not as if David sung all his prayers, but into some of his songs he inserted prayers; for a psalm will admit the expressions of any pious and devout affections. But it is observable how very plain the language of this psalm is, and how little there is in it of poetic flights or figures, in comparison with some other psalms; for the flourishes of wit are not the proper ornaments of prayer” (Henry 460-461).

    How aptly Henry notes that ‘flourishes of wit are not the proper ornaments of prayer’. This plain language is seen from the very outset of the psalm. The psalmist asks the Lord to lend his ear, because he, the psalmist, is poor and needy.

    It reminds me very much of the Lord’s prayer and the counsel, which Jesus offered to the disciples in regard to prayer in Matthew 6.

    “But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking, Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knowest what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8).

    After this counsel, Jesus gives the Lord’s prayer. It is a simple prayer without ‘flourishes of wit’.

    Praising God for this timely counsel in my own prayer life.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 86.” 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 79

    Psalm 79

    Commonplace –

    “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake” (Psalm 79:9).

    Our church is in a time of prayer and fasting. This verse was timely as today is about personal confession. If we desire deliverance, we must first confess our sins and repent of them. In Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, he gives the following definition of repentance, as it specifically relates to repentance in theological terms.

    “In theology, to sorrow or be pained for sin, as a violation of God’s holy law, a dishonor to his character and government, and the foulest ingratitude to a Being of infinite benevolence” (Webster).

    Matthew Henry notes the following in regard to Psalm 79,

    “In times of the church’s peace and prosperity this psalm may, in the singing of it, give us occasion to bless God that we are not thus trampled on and insulted. But it is especially seasonable in the day of treading down and perplexity, for the exciting of our desires towards God and the encouragement of our faith in him as the church’s patron.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 79.” 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.

    Webster, Noah. “Repent”. An American Dictionary of the English Language. Facsimile Edition, R. R. Donnelley, Ohio, 1995.

    © 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 77

    Psalm 77

    Commonplace –

    “I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice” (Psalm 77:1a).

    Yesterday was a particularly difficult day for me, so reading these words is an encouragement. Like the psalmist, I cried unto God. I looked for comfort from Him, and the words that came to me as comfort were from Psalms 57:7: “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” In my hour of need, the encouragement I received in my prayers was to remain focused on God and not my circumstances. So, when I remark that Psalm 77:1 is an encouragement, it is because I understand what it is like to cry out to God. And, even more so, I understand what the Psalmist means, when he says,

    “and he gave ear unto me” (Psalm 77:1b).

    I cried, God heard, and He responded. He gave ear to me and sent me encouragement by reminding me of the words of Psalm 57:7. In the rawness of the pain I felt, I said those words aloud to God in the company of Christian friends. Praise God that He is always faithful.

    In Psalm 77, the Psalmist cries out to God for a few verses,

    “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

    I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah” (Psalm 77:2-3).

    After a few verses of expressing his trouble, the Psalmist teaches us what to do, when we are in need:

    “I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

    I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

    Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will He be favourable no more?

    The Psalmist acknowledged his own struggle, and, instead of wallowing in it, he searched for a solution. He started asking questions and moved to answers.

    “And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

    I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

    I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings” (Psalm 77:10-12).

    The Psalmist shifted His focus from His circumstances to God. The Psalmist answered his own question of whether God was still present in his life by telling himself to remember what God has done. When he began to do this, he recalled

    “Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people” (Psalm 77:14).

    Then, the Psalmist recounted specific instances where God brought victory out of what appeared to be defeat; he recalled God leading the Israelites safely and successfully out of Egypt against what seemed like insurmountable circumstances, including the problem of how they were going to get to the other side of the Red Sea, which was blocking their path. The Psalmist reminds us that even nature is subject to God.

    “The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled” (Psalm 77:16).

    The Psalmist ends with the comfort that God led the Israelites, therefore, He will be faithful and lead me in my time of trouble, too.

    “Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalm 77:20).

    Matthew Henry sums it up beautifully.

    “This psalm, according to the method of many other psalms, begins with sorrowful complaints but ends with comfortable encouragements” (Henry 430).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 77.” 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 76

    Psalm 76

    Commonplace –

    “In Judah is God known: his name is great in Israel” (Psalm 76:1).

    Matthew Henry notes,

    “The psalmist, in the church’s name, triumphs here in God, the centre of all our triumphs.

    1. In the revelation God had made of himself to them, v.1. It is the honour and privilege of Judah and Israel that among them God is known, and where he is known his name will be great. God is known as he is pleased to make himself known; and those are happy to whom he discovers himself – happy people that have their land filled with the knowledge of God, happy persons that have their hearts filled with that knowledge. In Judah God was known as he was not known in other nations, which made the favour the greater, inasmuch as it was distinguishing, Ps. 147:19, 20.

    This comment by Matthew Henry gets to the heart of why I thoroughly enjoy reading his commentary. He takes a verse, which I would simply gloss over, and delves deep into the meaning. In doing so, he highlights the importance of pondering each verse.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 76.” 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 74

    Psalm 74

    Commonplace –

    “For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth” (Psalm 74:12).

    According to Matthew Henry,

    “[t]his psalm is entitled Maschil – a psalm to give instruction, for it was penned in a day of affliction, which is intended for instruction; and this instruction in general it gives us, That when we are, upon any account, in distress, it is our wisdom and duty to apply to God by faithful and fervent prayer, and we shall not find it in vain to do so” (423).

    In times of affliction, it is good to remember who God is.

    “The lamenting church fastens upon something here which she calls to mind, and therefore hath she hope (as Lam. 3:21), with which she encourages herself and silences her own complaints. Two things quiet the minds of those that are here sorrowing for the solemn assembly; –

    I. That God is the God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people (v. 12): God is my King of old. This comes in both as a plea in prayer to God (Psalm 44:4, thou art my King, O God!) and as a prop to their own faith and hope, to encourage themselves to expect deliverance, considering the days of old, Ps. 77:5….

    II. That the God of Israel is the God of nature, v. 16, 17. It is He that orders the regular successions and revolutions, 1. Of day and night. He is the Lord of all time…2. Of summer and winter…

    Day and night, summer and winter, being counter-changed in the course of nature, throughout all the borders of the earth, we can expect no other than that trouble and peace, prosperity and adversity, should be, in like manner, counterchanged in all the borders of the church. We have as much reason to expect affliction as we expect night and winter. But we have then no more reason to despair of the return of comfort than we have to despair of day and summer” (Henry 425-426).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 74.” 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 73

    Psalm 73

    Commonplace –

    “Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart” (Psalm 73:1).

    In this psalm, the writer, Asaph, begins confessing he was “envious of the foolish” (Psalm 73:3). He recognized his sin and declared,

    “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee” (Psalm 73:22).

    In the very next verse, the psalmist offers guidance on the way out of sin.

    “Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand” (Psalm 73:23).

    The remedy is to turn back to God and be fixed on Him, walking with Him continually. If our heart is fixed on Him, it will not have time to wander around envying others. A heart fixed on Him is a contented heart.

    Matthew Henry notes,

    “This is a psalm of great use; it gives us the account of the conflict which the psalmist had with a strong temptation to envy the prosperity of wicked people. He begins his account with a sacred principle [verse 73:1], which he held fast, and by the help of which he kept his ground and carried his point” (Henry 416).

    Further, Henry notes,

    “If, in singing this psalm, we fortify ourselves against the life temptation, we do not use it in vain. The experiences of other should be our instructions” (Henry 416).

    The psalmist ends with the following counsel:

    “It is good from me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works” (Psalm 73:28).

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 73.” 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 71

    Psalm 71

    Commonplace –

    “O God, thou has taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come” (Psalm 71:17-18).

    In his summary, Matthew Henry observed that this psalm was written by David

    “for the general use of God’s people in their afflictions, especially those they meet with in their declining years; for this psalm above any other, is fitted from the use of the old disciples of Jesus Christ” (409).

    Further on in his comments, Henry noted,

    “Those that have been taught of God from their youth, and have made it the business of their lives to honour him, may be sure that he will not leave them when they are old and gray-headed, will not leave them helpless and comfortless, but will make the evil days of old age their best days, and such as they shall have occasioned to say they have pleasure in.

    And thus will the old believer of one generation magnify God’s glory to the next generation.

    Works Cited

    Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 71.” 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