9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore will I give praise to you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name."
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
The Gentiles also, [1] etc. This is the second point, on proving which he dwells longer, because it was not so evident. The first testimony he quotes is taken from Psalm 18; which psalm is recorded also in 2 Samuel 22, where no doubt a prophecy is mentioned concerning the kingdom of Christ; and from it Paul proves the calling of the Gentiles, because it is there promised, that a confession to the glory of God should be made among the Gentiles; for we cannot really make God known, except among those who hear his praises while they are sung by us. Hence that God's name may be known among the Gentiles, they must be favored with the knowledge of him, and come into communion with his people: for you may observe this everywhere in Scripture, that God's praises cannot be declared, except in the assembly of the faithful, who have ears capable of hearing his praise.
1 - The construction of this first sentence is differently viewed. Grotius and Stuart connect it with "I say" at the beginning of the former verse; but Beza and Pareus connect it with the last clause, and consider eis to as being here understood: and this seems to be the best construction. Christ became the minister of the circumcision, a minister under the Abrahamic economy, for two objects, -- that he might confirm the promises made to the Fathers, -- and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. Mercy was destined to come to the Gentiles through the covenant made with Abraham, of which circumcision was the sign and seal. The promise, "In thee shall the nations of the earth be blessed," was made to Abraham, and not to the Gentiles. Hence it is called "mercy" to them, there being the previous promise made distinctly to them, while the same mercy as to the Jews is called "truth," because it was the fulfillment of a promise. A remarkable instance of this difference, noticed by Haldane, is found in Micah 7:20. What is said to be "mercy" to Abraham, to whom the promise was first made, is said to be "truth" to Jacob, to whom it was confirmed. It may also, by the way, be observed, that this verse in Micah affords an example of what we often find in Paul's style; for in mentioning two or more things, he often reverses the regular order. What Micah mentions first is "truth" to Jacob, and then he goes back to God's "mercy" to Abraham. The quotation from Psalm 18:49, is verbatim from the Septuagint. The Hebrew verb with its postfix, 'vdk, in our version, "I will give thanks to thee," may more properly be rendered, "I will confess thee." -- Ed.
And that the Gentiles - The benefits of the gospel were not to be confined to "the Jews;" and as God "designed" that those benefits should be extended to the "Gentiles," so the Jewish converts ought to be willing to admit them and treat them as brethren. That God "did" design this, the apostle proceeds to show.
Might glorify God - Might "praise," or give thanks to God. This implies that the favor shown to them was a "great" favor.
For his mercy - Greek, On account of the mercy shown to them.
As it is written - Psalm 18:49. The expression there is one of David's. He says that he will praise God for his mercies "among" the pagan, or when surrounded "by" the pagan; or that he would confess and acknowledge the mercies of God to him, as we should say, "to all the world." The apostle, however, uses it in this sense, that the "Gentiles" would "participate" with the Jew in offering praise to God, or that they would be united. This does not appear to have been the original design of David in the psalm, but the "words" express the idea of the apostle.
And sing - Celebrate thy praise. This supposes that "benefits" would be conferred on them, for which they would celebrate his goodness.
And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy - As the Jews were to glorify God for his truth, so the Gentiles were to glorify God for his mercy. The Jews received the blessings of the Gospel by right of promise, which promise God had most punctually and circumstantially fulfilled. The Gentiles had received the same Gospel as an effect of God's mere mercy, having no right in consequence of any promise or engagement made with any of their ancestors, though they were originally included in the covenant made with Abraham; and the prophets had repeatedly declared that they should be made equal partakers of those blessings with the Jews themselves; as the apostle proceeds to prove.
I will confess to thee among the Gentiles - This quotation is taken from Psalm 18:49, and shows that the Gentiles had a right to glorify God for his mercy to them; and we shall see the strength of this saying farther, when we consider a maxim of the Jews delivered in Megillah, fol. 14: "From the time that the children of Israel entered into the promised land, no Gentile had any right to sing a hymn of praise to God. But after that the Israelites were led into captivity, then the Gentiles began to have a right to glorify God." Thus the Jews themselves confess that the Gentiles have a right to glorify God; and this on account of being made partakers of his grace and mercy. And if, says Schoettgen, we have a right to glorify God, then it follows that our worship must be pleasing to him; and if it be pleasing to him, then it follows that this worship must be good, otherwise God could not be pleased with it.
Dr. Taylor gives a good paraphrase of this and the three following verses: As you Jews glorify God for his truth, so the Gentiles have a right to join with you in glorifying God for his mercy. And you have Scripture authority for admitting them to such fellowship; for instance, David says, Psalm 18:49, Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises unto thy name. And again, Moses himself says, Deuteronomy 32:43, Rejoice, O ye Gentiles, with his people. And again, it is evident, from Psalm 117:1, Psalm 117:2, that praise to God is not to be confined to the Jews only, but that all people, as they all share in his goodness, should also join in thanks to their common benefactor: O praise the Lord, all ye nations, (Gentiles), praise him all ye people; for his merciful kindness is great towards us; and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Again the Prophet Isaiah expressly and clearly declares, Isaiah 11:10, There shall be a root of Jesse, (that is, the Messiah), and he shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, and in him shall the Gentiles hope: ελπιουσιν· And thus the apostle proves, both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, who were probably unwilling to join with each other in religious fellowship, that they had both an equal right to glorify God, being equally interested in his mercy, goodness, and truth; and that, from the evidence of the above scriptures, the Gentiles had as much right to hope in Christ, for the full enjoyment of his kingdom, as the Jews had: and, taking occasion from the last word hope, ελπιουσιν, which we improperly translate trust, he pours out his heart in the following affectionate prayer.
(6) And that the Gentiles might glorify God for [his] mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will (h) confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.
(6) An applying of the same to the Gentiles, whom also the Lord by his incomprehensible goodness had regard for, so that they are not to be condemned by the Jews as strangers.
(h) I will openly confess and set forth your name.
And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy,.... In choosing them in Christ as vessels of mercy, and in redeeming them by Christ as well as the Jews, and in regenerating and calling them by his abundant grace; and which as they clearly show that Christ has received them, and therefore are not to be censured and judged as irreligious persons, because of the use of their Christian liberty; so these things lay them under obligations to glorify God, to show forth his praise both by lip and life, since what they enjoy is not by promise, as the Jews, but of mere mercy; not but that promises arise from grace and mercy, though the accomplishment of them is owing to truth and faithfulness; but the Gentiles had no promises made to them, and yet obtained mercy, though there were many promises made concerning them, and many oracles and predictions in favour of them stood on divine record; some of which the apostle here produces to prove what he had asserted, that Christ had received them, and they were bound to glorify God on that account:
as it is written, in Psalm 18:49;
for this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name; which words are not spoken unto God by David, literally, considered, but as representing the Messiah; for David when he penned this Psalm, was in the decline of life; the next account after this is of his last dying words, 2-Samuel 23:1; nor could he hope to praise God among the Gentiles, nor did he in person, but in his Son the Messiah. These words are the words of Christ unto his Father, who in the title of the psalm is called "the servant of God", he being the Mediator eminently; he is represented as encompassed with the sorrows and snares of death and the grave, which agree with Jesus when in the garden, and on the cross. God is all along in it spoken as his helper and deliverer, as he was to Christ in his human nature, having promised to be so, and on which he depended; and the person, the subject of the psalm, is a victorious person, one that has got the conquest over all enemies, which is in the fullest sense true of the Messiah, who has overcome the world, made an end of sin, destroyed Satan, spoiled principalities and powers, and abolished death; and particularly is said to be the head of the Heathen, and they to be voluntary subjects to him, Psalm 18:43, which is expressed in much the same language as the like things are in Isaiah 55:4; which is so manifest a prophecy of the Messiah; add to all which, that the Lord's anointed, the King Messiah, and who is called David, is expressly mentioned in the words following these that are cited, and which are applied by the Jews (x) themselves to the Messiah; as is Psalm 18:32 paraphrased of him, by the Targumist upon it: what is here said by the Messiah to God, is that he would "confess to him among the Gentiles"; which is to be understood not of confession of sin, or of a confession of faith in him; but of praise and thanksgiving, a celebration of his perfections, particularly his, race, mercy, and goodness; ascribing honour and glory to him, either for the conversion of the Gentiles, as he did in the believing Jews, Acts 11:18, or by the mouth of the Gentiles, for what God had done in bringing the Gospel to them, Acts 13:48, or among them, by his apostles and ministers of the Gospel being made very successful among them, and made to triumph in Christ, whilst they diffused the savour of his knowledge in every place. The word "Lord" is omitted in this citation, though it appears in the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions, and in the Complutensian edition, and two of Stephens's copies: "and sing unto thy name"; psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to the glory of his grace, as in all the churches of the Gentiles, to which they are directed by the Spirit of Christ, Ephesians 5:19.
(x) Echa Rabbati, fol. 50. 2. Midrash Tillim in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 47. 3.
that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy--A number of quotations from the Old Testament here follow, to show that God's plan of mercy embraced, from the first, the Gentiles along with the Jews.
as it is written-- (Psalm 18:49).
I will confess to--that is, glorify
thee among the Gentiles.
As it is written - In the eighteenth psalm, here the gentiles and Jews are spoken of as joining in the worship of the God of Israel. Psalm 18:49
*More commentary available at chapter level.