Psalms 131:3

Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Israel	יִ֭שְׂרָאֵל Yis.ra.'el	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
hope	יַחֵ֣ל ya.Chel	H3176	to wait · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
LORD	יְהוָ֑ה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
for	וְעַד ve.'ad-	H5704	as far (or long · conjunction + preposition
ever	עוֹלָֽם o.Lam	H5769	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 130:7 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
Psalms 146:5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Jeremiah 17:7-8 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Psalms 115:9-11 O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
Psalms 115:18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 131:1–end

Here are two things which will be comforts to us: - I. Consciousness of our integrity. This was David's rejoicing, that his heart could witness for him that he had walked humbly with his God, notwithstanding the censures he was under and the temptations he was in. 1. He aimed not at a high condition, nor was he desirous of making a figure in the world, but, if God had so ordered, could have been well content to spend all his days, as he did in the beginning of them, in the sheep-folds. His own brother, in a passion, charged him with pride (Sa1 17:28), but the charge was groundless and unjust. God, who searches the heart, knew, (1.) That he had no conceited opinion of himself, or his own mer…

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John Gill on Psalms 131:3

Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever. What he did himself, and found it good for him to do, that he knew was good for others, and therefore exhorts and encourages to it, to hope in the Lord and wait for his salvation; and which should be done constantly, and to the end of life, or till the thing hoped for is enjoyed; see Hebrews 3:6. Perhaps some respect is here had to the people of Israel, especially the friends of David, who were weary of Saul's government, and impatient to have David on the throne; whom he advises to wait patiently, and not take any indirect steps to bring it about, but leave it with God, and hope and trust in him; compare with this 1 Samuel 24:7; See…

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John Calvin on Psalms 131:2–end

Psalm 131:2-3 2. If I have not set and quieted my soul like one that is weaned from his mother, my soul is over me as a weaned child. 3. Israel shall hope in Jehovah from henceforth, and for ever. 2. If I have not set, etc. He here employs a figure which appropriately explains what he meant, and likens himself to a weaned child; by which is intended, that he dismissed all the anxieties which disquiet the man of ambition, and was willing to be satisfied with small things. This assertion, which some might be inclined to disbelieve, he makes with an oath, expressed in that particular form of which I have elsewhere taken notice, in which the imprecation is not directly brought forward, but le…

The Church Fathers

But he does not demand this living bread from heaven for himself alone, he encourages all mankind to hope for it by saying: Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for evermore. He sets no temporal limit to our hope, he bids our faithful expectation stretch out into infinity. We are to hope for ever and ever, winning the hope of future life through the hope of our present life which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen.
— Hilary of Poitiers, Homily on Psalm 131

This Psalm therefore concludes to this purpose: "O Israel, trust in the Lord, from this time forth and even unto eternity" [Psalm 131:3]. But the word seculum does not always mean this world, but sometimes eternity; since eternity is understood in two ways; until eternity, that is, either evermore without end, or until we arrive at eternity. How then is it to be understood here? Until we arrive at eternity, let us trust in the Lord God; because when we have reached eternity, there will be no longer hope, but the thing itself will be ours.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 131

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 131:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 131:1–end

John Gill on Psalms 131:3

John Calvin on Psalms 131:2–end

The Church Fathers

Psalms 131:3

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 131:1–end

John Gill on Psalms 131:3

John Calvin on Psalms 131:2–end

The Church Fathers

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 131:2

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 131:3