Psalm 4:7

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) Thou hast.—Either “Thou hast put a gladness in my heart more than when their corn and new wine are much,” or, “More than when one has much corn,” &c. The expression is one of pregnant brevity for, “A gladness greater than that when corn and wine are plentiful.”

Benson Commentary

Psalm 4:7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart — Whatsoever thou shalt do with me for the future, as to my outward distresses and concerns, I have, at present, unspeakable pleasure and full satisfaction in the manifestations and testimonies of thy love to and in my soul. Hereby thou hast, many a time, put gladness into my heart; not only supported and refreshed me, but filled me with joy unspeakable, and therefore this it is which I will still pursue, and which I will seek after, all the days of my life. Observe, reader, when God puts grace into the heart, he puts gladness into it; nor is any joy comparable to that which gracious souls have in the communications of the divine favour, no, not the joy of harvest, even of a plentiful harvest, when the corn and wine greatly increase. This is gladness in the heart, inward, solid, substantial joy; but the mirth of carnal and worldly people is only a flash, a shadow, for even in laughter their hearts are sorrowful, Proverbs 14:13.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

4:6-8 Wordly people inquire for good, not for the chief good; all they want is outward good, present good, partial good, good meat, good drink, a good trade, and a good estate; but what are all these worth? Any good will serve the turn of most men, but a gracious soul will not be put off so. Lord, let us have thy favour, and let us know that we have it, we desire no more; let us be satisfied of thy loving-kindness, and will be satisfied with it. Many inquire after happiness, but David had found it. When God puts grace in the heart, he puts gladness in the heart. Thus comforted, he pitied, but neither envied nor feared the most prosperous sinner. He commits all his affairs to God, and is prepared to welcome his holy will. But salvation is in Christ alone; where will those appear who despise him as their Mediator, and revile him in his disciples? May they stand in awe, and no longer sin against the only remedy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou hast put gladness in my heart - Thou hast made me happy, to wit, in the manner specified in Psalm 4:6. Many had sought happiness in other things; he had sought it in the favor of the Lord, and the Lord had given him a degree of happiness which they had never found in the most prosperous worldly condition. This happiness had its seat in the "heart," and not in any external circumstances. All true happiness must have its seat there, for if the heart is sad, of what avail are the most prosperous external circumstances?

More than in the time - More than they have had in the time referred to; or, more than I should have in such circumstances.

That their corn and their wine increased - When they were most successful and prosperous in worldly things. This shows that when, in Psalm 4:6, he says that many inquired who would show them any "good," what they aspired after was worldly prosperity, here expressed by an increase of grain and wine. The word rendered "corn" means grain in general; the word rendered "wine" - תירושׁ tı̂yrôsh - means properly "must, new wine," Isaiah 65:8. The reference here is probably to the joy of harvest, when the fruits of the earth were gathered in, an occasion among the Hebrews, as it is among most people, of joy and rejoicing.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7. corn and wine—literally, "new corn and wine."

increased—an abundant harvest giving great joy (Isa 9:3).

The Treasury of David

7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

"It is better," said one, "to feel God's favour one hour in our repenting souls, than to sit whole ages under the warmest sunshine that this world affordeth." Christ in the heart is better than corn in the barn, or wine in the vat. Corn and wine are but fruits of the world, but the light of God's countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven. "Thou art with me," is a far more blessed cry than "Harvest home." Let my granary be empty, I am yet full of blessings if Jesus Christ smiles upon me; but if I have all the world, I am poor without Him.

We should not fail to remark that this verse is the saying of the righteous man, in opposition to the saying of the many. How quickly doth the tongue betray the character! "Speak, that I may see thee!" said Socrates to a fair boy. The metal of a bell is best known by its sound. Birds reveal their nature by their song. Owls cannot sing the carol of the lark, nor can the nightingale hoot like the owl. Let us, then, weigh and watch our words, lest our speech should prove us to be foreigners, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Whatsoever thou shalt do with me for the future, as to my outward distresses and concernments, I have at present unspeakable pleasure and full satisfaction in the impressions and testimonies of thy love in and to my soul; whereby also I am encouraged with confidence to expect good success to my righteous cause.

Than in the time that their corn and their wine increased; than worldly persons have in the time of a plentiful harvest, which is a time of great rejoicing, Judges 9:27 Isaiah 9:3 Jeremiah 48:33.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thou hast put gladness in my heart,.... The Ethiopic version reads it "into our heart"; in granting the above request; for, nothing so rejoices the hearts of God's people as the light of his countenance, or the enjoyment of his gracious presence: this was matter of exceeding joy to Christ himself, Psalm 21:6; and so it is to all his members; this causes inward gladness, gladness of heart, and is opposed to the external rejoicings of wicked men and of hypocrites: and this is of God's putting into the heart; and indeed none can put gladness either into a wounded conscience, into the heart of a sensible sinner, or into the soul of one that is panting after the presence of God, and communion with him, but God himself;

more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased: meaning the time of harvest and of vintage; when there is a good harvest, and a good vintage, there is joy among men, and the contrary when it is otherwise, Isaiah 9:3; these things being of general use, spread an universal joy among people; there is scarce any earthly thing that occasions more joy than these do: and yet the joy on such occasions is not to be compared with spiritual joy, that is a joy unspeakable and full of glory. Some take the to be not comparative, but causal, and render the words (s), "thou hast put gladness in ray heart from the time that their corn", &c. as do the Chaldee paraphrase and Syriac versions; and the Arabic version renders it, "because of the multitude of fruits", &c. and then the sense is, as if David should say concerning his enemies,

"I never envied their prosperity, I always rejoiced when they had a good harvest, or vintage, and still do; and yet they have rose up and rebelled against me, and requited me evil for good.''

And this sense is given into by the Jewish commentators (t), and shows of what an admirable spirit, and in what a sweet disposition of mind, the psalmist was; that while his enemies were seeking his life he was rejoicing in their prosperity; and is a sad aggravation of their wickedness: and this may also be understood of the rejoicing of David, and even of the Messiah, and likewise of all good men, at the spiritual prosperity of the saints, at any increase of grace, spiritual knowledge, and joy, signified by these outward things, as in Jeremiah 31:12; the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, add "oil" to corn and wine.

(s) "a vel ex tempore quo frumentum eorum", &c. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Cocceius. (t) Jarchi, Aben Ezra, & Kimchi in loc.

Geneva Study Bible

Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. more than &c.] Lit. more than (the joy of) the time of their corn and wine when they were increased: i.e. more than their rejoicings for harvest and vintage even when they were most abundant: well expressed in R.V., more than they have when their corn and their wine are increased. The persons referred to may be either the malcontents, or men in general. The boisterous mirth of harvest and vintage rejoicings (Isaiah 9:3; Jeremiah 48:33) is the highest form of joy which they know whose desires are limited to earthly things; but deeper far is that inward joy which is the gift of God, for it is one of the fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:11; cp. Romans 14:17.

The words gain fresh point when it is remembered that David was reduced to straits for the bare necessaries of life till he reached his hospitable friends at Mahanaim (2 Samuel 17:27-29).

7, 8. A joy and peace which are independent of outward circumstances.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 7. - Thou hast put gladness in my heart. David is an example to the de-spending ones. Notwithstanding his sufferings and calamities, God has looked on him, and so "put gladness in his heart" - a gladness which far exceeds that of his adversaries. Though they are in prosperity, and have their corn and wine increased, and enjoy all the "outward material blessings promised to Israel - the wheat and the grape - for a supply of which he is indebted to the generosity of friends" (Kay), yet he would not change places with them. The spiritual joy which fills his own heart is preferable to any amount of material comforts and pleasures. Psalm 4:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 4:7-8) Looking into his own small camp David is conscious of a disheartened feeling which is gaining power over him. The words: who will make us see, i.e., (as in Psalm 34:13) experience any good? can be taken as expressive of a wish according to 2 Samuel 23:15; Isaiah 42:23; but the situation gives it the character of a despondent question arising from a disheartened view of the future. The gloom has now, lasted so long with David's companions in tribulation that their faith is turned to fear, their hope to despair. David therefore prays as he looks upon them: Oh lift upon us (נסה־עלינוּ)

(Note: The Metheg which stands in the second syllable before the tone stands by the Sheb, in the metrical books, if this syllable is the first in a word marked with a greater distinctive without any conjunctive preceding it, and beginning with Sheb; it is, therefore, not נסה־עלינוּ but נסה־עלינוּ, cf. Psalm 51:2 בּבוא־, Psalm 69:28 תּנה־, Psalm 81:3 שׂאו־, Psalm 116:17 לך־, Psalm 119:175 תּחי־. The reason and object are the same as stated in note p. *84 supra.)

the light of Thy countenance. The form of the petition reminds one of the priestly benediction in Numbers 6. There it is: פּניו יאר ה in the second portion, in the third פּניו ישּׂא ה, here these two wishes are blended into one prayer; and moreover in נסה there is an allusion to neec a banner, for the imper. of נשׂא, the regular form of which is שׂא, will also admit of the form נשׂא (Psalm 10:12), but the mode of writing נסה (without example elsewhere, for נסּה Job 4:2 signifies "to be attempted") is only explained by the mingling of the verbs נשׂא and נסס, Arab. nṣṣ, extollere (Psalm 60:6); נסּי ה (cf. Psalm 60:6) is, moreover, a primeval word of the Tra (Exodus 17:15). If we may suppose that this mingling is not merely a mingling of forms in writing, but also a mingling of the ideas in those forms, then we have three thoughts in this prayer which are brought before the eye and ear in the briefest possible expression: may Jahve cause His face to shine upon them; may He lift upon them the light of His countenance so that they may have it above them like the sun in the sky, and may that light be a banner promising them the victory, around which they shall rally.

David, however, despite the hopelessness of the present, is even now at peace in His God. The joy which Jahve has put into his heart in the midst of outward trial and adversity is מעת דּגנם ותירושׁם רבּוּ. The expression is as concise as possible: (1) gaudium prae equivalent to gaudium magnum prae -majus quam; then (2) מעת after the analogy of the comparatio decurtata (e.g., Psalm 18:34 my feet are like hinds, i.e., like the feet of hinds) is equivalent to משּׂמחת עת; (3) אשׁר is omitted after עת according to Ges. 123, 3, for עת is the construct state, and what follows is the second member of the genitival relation, dependent upon it (cf. Psalm 90:15; Isaiah 29:1); the plurality of things: corn and new wine, inasmuch as it is the stores of both that are specially meant, is exceptionally joined with the plur. instead of the sing., and the chief word raabbu stands at the end by way of emphasis. The suff. does not refer to the people of the land in general (as in Psalm 65:10), but, in accordance with the contrast, to the Absolomites, to those of the nation who have fallen away from David. When David came to Mahanaim, while the rebels were encamped in Gilead, the country round about him was hostile, so that he had to receive provisions by stealth, 2 Samuel 17:26-29. Perhaps it was at the time of the feast of tabernacles. The harvest and the vintage were over. A rich harvest of corn and new wine was garnered. The followers of Absolom had, in these rich stores which were at their disposal, a powerful reserve upon which to fall back. David and his host were like a band of beggars or marauders. But the king brought down from the sceptre of the beggar's staff is nevertheless happier than they, the rebels against him. What he possesses in his heart is a richer treasure than all that they have in their barns and cellars.