7 My heart is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
My heart is prepared, O God! [1] Some read fixed, or confirmed, and the Hebrew word nkvn, nacon, bears that signification as well as the other. If we adopt it, we must understand David as saying that he had well and duly meditated upon the praises which he was about to offer; that he did not rush into a hurried and perfunctory discharge of this service, as too many are apt to do, but addressed himself to it with steadfast purpose of heart. I prefer, however, the other translation, which bears that he was ready to enter upon the service with all cheerfulness and cordiality. And although, wherever this spirit is really felt, it will lead to steadfastness of religious exercise, it is not without importance that the reader should be apprised of the force of the word which is here employed in the Hebrew. The ready heart is here opposed by David to the mere lip-service of the hypocrite, on the one hand, and to dead or sluggish service, on the other. He addressed himself to this voluntary sacrifice with a sincere fervor of spirit, casting aside sloth, and whatever might prove a hinderance in the duty.
1 - This psalm consists of two parts. The preceding verses, which contain the first part, express deep distress and extreme danger, and are of a plaintive and imploring strain. But here, where the second part commences, there is an elegant transition suddenly made to the language of exultation and triumph, which continues to the close of the psalm.
My heart is fixed, O God - Margin, as in Hebrew, "prepared." Compare the notes at Psalm 51:10. The word "suited" or "prepared" accurately expresses the sense of the Hebrew, and it is so rendered in the Septuagint, (ἑτοίμη hetoimē); in the Vulgate, "paratum;" and by Luther, "bereit." The word is used, however, in the sense of "standing erect," Psalm 9:7; to "establish" or "strengthen," Psalm 89:4; Psalm 10:17; and hence, to be erect; to be firm, steady, constant, fixed. This seems to be the meaning here, as it is expressed in our common version. His heart was firm and decided. He did not waver in his purpose, or lean now to one side and then to the other; he was not "swayed" or "moved" by the events that had occurred. He felt conscious of standing firm in the midst of all his troubles. He confided in God. He did not doubt his justice, his goodness, his mercy; and, even in his trials, he was ready to praise him, and was "resolved" to praise him. The repetition of the word "fixed" gives emphasis and intensity to the expression, and is designed to show in the strongest manner that his heart, his purpose, his confidence in God, did not waver in the slightest degree.
I will sing and give praise - My heart shall confide in thee; my lips shall utter the language of praise. In all his troubles God was his refuge; in all, he found occasion for praise. So it should be the fixed and settled purpose of our hearts that we will at all times confide in God, and that in every situation in life we will render him praise.
My heart is fixed - My heart is prepared to do and suffer thy will. It is fixed - it has made the firmest purpose through his strength by which I can do all things.
My heart is (h) fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: (i) I will sing and give praise.
(h) That is, wholly bent to give you praise for my deliverance.
(i) He shows that both his heart will praise God, and his tongue will confess him, and also he will use other means to provoke himself forward to the same.
My heart is fixed, O God,.... Firm and sure, trusting in the Lord, believing that he should be saved by him out of his troubles; see Psalm 101:1. So, in a spiritual sense, a heart fixed and established, or that is firm and sure, is one that is assured of its salvation by Christ, rooted and grounded in the love of God, firmly built on the foundation, Christ, and has its affections set on him; and is unmoved, from the hope of the Gospel, and the doctrines of it, by whatsoever it meets with in the world. It may be rendered, "my heart is prepared", or "ready" (r); that is, according to some, to receive good or evil, prosperity or adversity, at the hand of God; to which sense is Jarchi's note,
"my heart is faithful with thee in the measure of judgment, and it is faithful with thee in the measure of mercy.''
That is, whether I am chastised with judgments, or followed with mercies, my heart is firm and true to God. The Targum is,
"my heart is prepared for thy law, O Lord; my heart is prepared for thy fear;''
that is, it is prepared for the worship and service of God; it is ready to every good work; it is prepared to pray unto him, and to wait for an answer, which are both from the Lord, Proverbs 16:1; and particularly to sing praise unto him, as follows;
my heart is fixed; this is repeated, to show the vehemency of his spirit, and the certainty of the thing;
I will sing and give praise; for the salvation wrought for him, and which he was sure of; and before he had finished this psalm, or while he had composed it, did enjoy it.
(r) "paratum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c.
By lively faith, David's prayers and complaints are at once turned into praises. His heart is fixed; it is prepared for every event, being stayed upon God. If by the grace of God we are brought into this even, composed frame of mind, we have great reason to be thankful. Nothing is done to purpose, in religion, unless it is done with the heart. The heart must be fixed for the duty, put in frame for it; fixed in the duty by close attention. Our tongue is our glory, and never more so than when praising God; dull and sleepy devotions will never be acceptable to God. Let us awake early in the morning, to begin the day with God; early in the beginning of a mercy. When God comes toward us with his favours, let us go forth to meet him with our praises. David desired to bring others to join in praising God; and in his psalms, he is still praising God among the people, singing to Him among the nations. Let us seek to have our hearts fixed to praise his boundless mercy and unfailing faithfulness; and to glorify him with body, soul, and spirit, which are his. Let us earnestly pray that the blessings of the gospel may be sent through every land.
I will . . . praise--both with voice and instrument.
Fixed - In a stedfast belief of thy promises.
*More commentary available at chapter level.