Psalm 71:23

My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(23) My lips shall . . .—Rather, my lips shall sing while I play to thee, i.e., a hymn should accompany the harp. There is, therefore, no thought of the union of the bodily and spiritual powers in praise of God, though it is natural the verse should have suggested such an interpretation to the Fathers; and indeed the thought of the poet, if we read the whole psalm, with its retrospect of life, is a wish—

“That mind and soul according well,

May make one music as before,

But vaster.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

71:14-24 The psalmist declares that the righteousness of Christ, and the great salvation obtained thereby, shall be the chosen subject of his discourse. Not on a sabbath only, but on every day of the week, of the year, of his life. Not merely at stated returns of solemn devotion, but on every occasion, all the day long. Why will he always dwell on this? Because he knew not the numbers thereof. It is impossible to measure the value or the fulness of these blessings. The righteousness is unspeakable, the salvation everlasting. God will not cast off his grey-headed servants when no longer capable of labouring as they have done. The Lord often strengthens his people in their souls, when nature is sinking into decay. And it is a debt which the old disciples of Christ owe to succeeding generations, to leave behind them a solemn testimony to the advantage of religion, and the truth of God's promises; and especially to the everlasting righteousness of the Redeemer. Assured of deliverance and victory, let us spend our days, while waiting the approach of death, in praising the Holy One of Israel with all our powers. And while speaking of his righteousness, and singing his praises, we shall rise above fears and infirmities, and have earnests of the joys of heaven. The work of redemption ought, above all God's works, to be spoken of by us in our praises. The Lamb that was slain, and has redeemed us to God, is worthy of all blessing and praise.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

My lips shall greatly rejoice ... - My lips will seem to be happy in the privilege of celebrating the praises of God.

And my soul, which thou hast redeemed - Compare Psalm 34:22. The word soul here seems to be employed to denote "the soul" properly, as we understand the word - the immortal part. The usual meaning of the word, in the Psalms, however, is "life," and it is possible that the psalmist meant merely to say here that the "life" which had been spared should find pleasure in celebrating the praises of God; but there is no impropriety in supposing that he has reference to his higher - his immortal - nature.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22-24. To the occasion of praise he now adds the promise to render it.

will … praise—literally, "will thank."

even thy truth—as to Thy truth or faithfulness.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee,.... Both with vocal and instrumental music; this is praising the Lord with joyful lips, Psalm 63:5;

and my soul, which thou hast redeemed; signifying that it would not be lip labour, or bodily service, only that he should perform; but that his heart would go along with his lips in praise; and that under a sense of redeeming love, than which nothing can more strongly engage in such work, Psalm 103:1. For the redemption of the soul is exceeding precious; being the contrivance of infinite wisdom, the fruit of divine grace, and owing to the blood and sacrifice of Christ.

Geneva Study Bible

My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my {r} soul, which thou hast redeemed.

(r) For there is no true praising of God, unless it comes from the heart: and therefore he promises to delight in nothing, except that in which God is glorified.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

23. My lips shall sing aloud when I make melody unto thee. P.B.V. ‘my lips shall be fain,’ i.e. glad: Vulg. exultabunt.

my soul] His whole self and personality, delivered from danger, will join in the glad thanksgiving. Cp. Psalm 34:22; Psalm 55:18.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 23. - My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. Not my mouth only, but my heart and spirit, will "rejoice," or "sing out thy praise" (Cheyne), when the time comes, and my "redemption," or deliverance, has been accomplished. Psalm 71:23

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The thought of this proclamation so thoroughly absorbs the poet that he even now enters upon the tone of it; and since to his faith the deliverance is already a thing of the past, the tender song with its uncomplaining prayer dies away into a loud song of praise, in which he pictures it all to himself. Without Psalm 71:19-21 being subordinate to עד־אגיד in Psalm 71:18, וצדקתך is coupled by close connection with בגורתך. Psalm 71:19 is an independent clause; and עד־מרום takes the place of the predicate: the righteousness of God exceeds all bounds, is infinite (Psalm 36:6., Psalm 57:11). The cry כמוך מי, as in Psalm 35:10; Psalm 69:9, Jeremiah 10:6, refers back to Exodus 15:11. According to the Chethb, the range of the poet's vision widens in Psalm 71:20 from the proofs of the strength and righteousness of God which he has experienced in his own case to those which he has experienced in common with others in the history of his own nation. The Ker (cf. on the other hand Psalm 60:5; Psalm 85:7; Deuteronomy 31:17) rests upon a failing to discern how the experiences of the writer are interwoven with those of the nation. תּשׁוּב in both instances supplies the corresponding adverbial notion to the principal verb, as in Psalm 85:7 (cf. Psalm 51:4). תּהום, prop. a rumbling, commonly used of a deep heaving of waters, here signifies an abyss. "The abysses of the earth" (lxx ἐκ τῶν ἀβύσσων τῆς γῆς, just as the old Syriac version renders the New Testament ἄβυσσος, e.g., in Luke 8:31, by Syr. tehūmā') are, like the gates of death (Psalm 9:14), a figure of extreme perils and dangers, in the midst of which one is as it were half hidden in the abyss of Hades. The past and future are clearly distinguished in the sequence of the tenses. When God shall again raise His people out of the depth of the present catastrophe, then will He also magnify the גּדלּה of the poet, i.e., in the dignity of his office, by most brilliantly vindicating him in the face of his foes, and will once more (תּסּוב, fut. Niph. like תּשׁוּב ekil .h above) comfort him. He on his part will also (cf. Job 40:14) be grateful for this national restoration and this personal vindication: he will praise God, will praise His truth, i.e., His fidelity to His promises. בּכלי נבל instead of בּנבל sounds more circumstantial than in the old poetry. The divine name "The Holy One of Israel" occurs here for the third time in the Psalter; the other passages are Psalm 78:41; Psalm 89:19, which are older in time, and older also than Isaiah, who uses it thirty times, and Habakkuk, who uses it once. Jeremiah has it twice (Jeremiah 50:29; Jeremiah 51:5), and that after the example of Isaiah. In Psalm 71:23, Psalm 71:24 the poet means to say that lips and tongue, song and speech, shall act in concert in the praise of God. תּרנּנּה with Dagesh also in the second Nun, after the form תּקוננּה, תּשׁכּנּה, side by side with which we also find the reading תּרנּנּה, and the reading תּרנּנה, which is in itself admissible, after the form תּאמנה, תּעגנה, but is here unattested.

(Note: Heidenheim reads תּרנּנּה with Segol, following the statement of Ibn-Bil'am in his טעמי המקרא and of Mose ha-Nakdan in his דרכי הנקוד, that Segol always precedes the ending נּה, with the exception only of הנּה and האזנּה. Baer, on the other hand, reads תונּנּה, following Aben-Ezra and Kimchi (Michlol 66b).)

The cohortative after כּי (lxx ὅταν) is intended to convey this meaning: when I feel myself impelled to harp unto Thee. In the perfects in the closing line that which is hoped for stands before his soul as though it had already taken place. כי is repeated with triumphant emphasis.