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A Psalm of Asaph.

1. The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,
And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto
the going down thereof.
2. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined forth.
3. Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence:
A fire devoureth before him,
And it is very tempestuous round about him.
4. He calleth to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5. Gather my saints together unto me,
Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness;
For God is judge himself. [Selah
7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
Israel, and I will testify unto thee;
1 am God, even thy God.
8. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;
And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me.
9. I will take no bullock out of thy house,
Nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10. For every beast of the forest is -mine,
And the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11. I know all the birds of the mountains;
And the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;
For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13. Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats ?
14. Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;
And pay thy vows unto the Most High;
15. And call upon me in the day of trouble:
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
16. But unto the wicked God saith,
What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,
And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,
17. Seeing that thou hatest instruction,
And castest my words behind thee ?
18. When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him,
And hast been partaker with adulterers.
19. Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
And thy tongue frameth deceit.
20. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;
Thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
21. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as
thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before
thine eyes.
22. Now consider this, ye that forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
23. Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth
me;
And to him that ordereth his way aright
Will I show the salvation of God.

 

1. The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,
And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto
the going down thereof.
2. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined forth.
3. Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence:
A fire devoureth before him,
And it is very tempestuous round about him.
4. He calleth to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that he may judge his people:

1. The reason why from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof signifies all, from first to the last, who are in the good of love to the Lord is because all who are in heaven have their habitations according to the quarters, and they who are in the good of love to the Lord dwell from the east to the west, in the east those who are in the clear good of love, and in the west those who are in the obscure good of love. E. 401.

In very many passages the north and south are not mentioned but only the east and west, by which are understood all who are in the good of love to the Lord, and in the good of charity toward the neighbour. These quarters also involve the two others, because all who are in good also are in truths, for good and truth everywhere act as a one. E. 422.

1, 2. See Psalm xl. 8. Coro. 60.

1-5. See Psalm ii. 6-8, 12. R. 612.

These words treat manifestly of judgment upon all from Zion, thus from the Lord by Divine truth. The separation of the good from the evil is understood by calling the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Judgment upon all is signified by crying to the heaven upwards and to the earth to judge the people. The gathering together of the good and their salvation is understood by, gather my saints unto me. The Divine truth in which the Lord is in His glory is understood by out of Zion the perfection of beauty, God shall shine forth. E. 850.

1-6. The Lord will come for judgment to those with whom is the church. P. P.

2-6. Verses quoted. D. P., Page 72.

3. See Psalm xi. 6. R. 343.
See Psalm xi. 6. E. 419.
See Psalm xi. 6. E. 504.

5. Gather my saints together unto me,
Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness;
For God is judge himself. [Selah
7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
Israel, and I will testify unto thee;
I am God, even thy God.

5, 16. The goods which the sons of Israel should enjoy if they kept the precepts and statutes, and afterwards the evils which should come upon them if they did not keep them. The covenant is mentioned and thereby are signified the external rites which the sons of Israel were to observe. E. 701.

8. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;
And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me.
9. I will take no bullock out of thy house,
Nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10. For every beast of the forest is -mine,
And the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11. I know all the birds of the mountains;
And the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;
For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13. Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats ?
14. Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;
And pay thy vows unto the Most High;
15. And call upon me in the day of trouble:
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

 7-13. The Lord does not desire sacrifices and external worship. P. P.

9-14. The reason why wild beasts in the Word signify also the affections of truth and good is, because the expression from which they are so named and called in the original tongue signifies life, for wild beast in that tongue is called "chajah," and chajah signifies life. E. 388.

9, 13, 14. See Psalm xl. 7, 8. A. 2180.

10, 11. Here the wild animals of my field with me or with God stand for the regenerated man, thus for what is living in him. A. 908.

Since by wild beast is signified the false, and the false is of a twofold origin, namely from evil and from honesty, therefore by wild beasts in the Word are also signified the well-disposed nations, which although they are in the
false, are yet in probity of life. In this sense the term wild beast is here used. A. 9335.

In the spiritual world a man's affections appear at a distance like beasts, and beasts viewed in themselves are nothing but forms of natural affections, but men are not only forms of natural affections, but also of spiritual at the same time. R. 567.

These things are indeed said concerning sacrifices, and that the Lord does not delight in them, but in confession of the heart and invocation, but still by the wild beast of the forest and beast in the mountains, and by the bird of the mountains and wild beast of the field are signified the affections, such as appertain to the man of the church. E. 650.

11. See Psalm viii. 7-9. R. 757.

By birds are signified things rational and intellectual, thoughts, ideas and reasonings, thus truths or falses. E. 1 100.

11, 12. The states of the church are described by beasts. Coro. 3.

12. These things are said concerning sacrifices, that the Lord does not delight in them, but in confession and works, for it follows — see verses 13 and 14. If I should be hungry signifies if I should desire sacrifices, but since the Lord desires worship from goods and truths, it is said, for the world is mine and the fulness thereof, fulness signifying goods and truths in their whole complex. This is said indeed concerning the beasts which should be sacrificed, but by them, in the spiritual sense, are signified various kinds of good and truth. E. 741.

14. See Psalm vii. 18. A. 8153.

14, 15. He desires confession of the heart. P. P.

14, 23. The votive sacrifices, which were another kind of peace offering, in the external sense signified recompense, in the internal sense the will that the Lord should provide, and in the supreme sense a state of providence. This is why mention is made of each in the Word throughout. A. 3880.

16-20. External worship is of no avail, so long as evils are committed. P. P.

16. But unto the wicked God saith,
What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,
And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,
17. Seeing that thou hatest instruction,
And castest my words behind thee ?

17-19. Speaking of a wicked person and running with a thief meaning to alienate truth from himself by falsity. A. 535-

18. When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him,
And hast been partaker with adulterers.
19. Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
And thy tongue frameth deceit.
20. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;
Thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
21. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as
thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before
thine eyes.
22. Now consider this, ye that forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
23. Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth
me;
And to him that ordereth his way aright
Will I show the salvation of God.  

The last state of the church is called a thief who will climb up into the houses and enter in at the windows, namely, that it is falsity, which will then take possession of the whole man, both his voluntary and his intellectual, and thus will take away all truth and good. A. 8906.

19. See Psalm v. 7. R. 624.
See Psalm v. 7. E. 866.

22. They do evils and therefore evil befalls them. P. P.

Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)