properly · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לִפְנֵ֣יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
God
אֱלֹהִ֑ים'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
ever
ע֭וֹלָםo.lom
H5769
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
prepare
מַ֣ןman
H4487
properly · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
mercy
חֶ֥סֶדChe.sed
H2617
kindness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
truth
וֶ֝אֱמֶ֗תve.'e.Met
H571
stability · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
preserve
יִנְצְרֻֽהוּyin.tze.Ru.hu
H5341
to guard · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
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 40:11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.
Genesis 24:27 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the…
Psalms 41:12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.
Psalms 57:3 He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his trut…
Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,…
Luke 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Psalms 43:3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
Proverbs 20:28 Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 61:5–end
In these verses we may observe,
I. With what pleasure David looks back upon what God had done for him formerly (Psa 61:5): Thou, O God! hast heard my vows, that is, 1. "The vows themselves which I made, and with which I bound my soul: thou hast taken notice of them; thou hast accepted them, because made in sincerity, and been well pleased with them; thou hast been mindful of them, and put me in mind of them." God put Jacob in mind of his vows, Gen 31:13; Gen 35:1. note, God is a witness to all our vows, all our good purposes, and all our solemn promises of new obedience. He keeps an account of them, which should be a good reason with us, as it was with David here, why we should perform our v…
abide before God--literally, "sit as a king in God's presence," under His protection.
John Gill on Psalms 61:7
He shall abide before God for ever,.... Or "sit" (b); or "may he sit". Being raised from the dead he was received up to heaven into the presence of God, and sat down at his right hand; where he abides for ever, a Priest upon his throne, having an unchangeable priesthood, Hebrews 7:24;
and prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him; which, if literally understood of David, is a prayer that the Lord would show him favour and kindness, and perform his promises to him, whereby his life would be preserved from the plots and, conspiracies of his enemies, and his kingdom be established; or that he might be exalted to exercise mercy towards his subjects, and administer justice, or execute the…
Psalm 61:5-8
5. For thou, O God! hast heard my vows: thou hast given inheritance to those [405] fearing thy name. 6. Thou shalt add days upon days to the king, and his years as generation upon generation. 7. He shalt abide before the face of God for ever: prepare mercy and truth; let them keep him. 8. So will I sing unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.
5. For thou, O God! hast heard my vows. He here shows the grounds upon which he had spoken of his abiding under the wings of God. The sudden joy which he experienced arose from the circumstance of God's having heard his prayers, and made light to spring out of darkness. By his vows we must understand his prayers, accordi…
The Church Fathers
"He shall abide for everlasting in the sight of God" [Psalm 61:7]; according to what, or because of what? "His mercy and truth who shall seek for Him?" He says also in another place, "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to men seeking His testament and His testimonies." Large is the discourse of truth and mercy, but shortness we have promised. Briefly hear ye what is truth and mercy: because no small thing is that which has been said, "All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth." Mercy is spoken of, because our merits God regarded not, but His own goodness, in order that He might forgive us all our sins, and might promise life everlasting: but truth is spoken of, because He fails not to render those things which He has promised. Let us acknowledge it here, and let us do it; so that, just as to us God has shown forth His mercy and His truth, mercy in forgiving our sins, truth in showing forth His promises; so also, I say, let us execute mercy and truth, mercy concerning the weak, concerning the needy, concerning even our enemies; truth in not sinning, and in not adding sin upon sin....Who is therefore he that does this, save one out of those few, of whom is said, "He that shall have continued unto the end, the same shall be saved"? With reason here also "His mercy and truth who shall seek for Him?" Why is there "for Him"? "Who shall seek," would be sufficient. Why has he added, "for Him," but because many men seek to learn His mercy and truth in His books? And when they have learned, for themselves they live, not for Him; [2 Corinthians 5:15] their own things they seek, not the things which are of Jesus Christ: [Philippians 2:21] they preach mercy and truth, and do not mercy and truth. But by preaching it, they know it: for they would not preach it, unless they knew it. But he that loves God and Christ, in preaching the mercy and truth of the Same, does himself seek her for Him, not for himself: that is, not in order that himself may have by this preaching temporal advantages, but in order that he may do good to His members, that is, His faithful ones, by ministering with truth of that which he knows: in order that he that lives, no longer for himself may live, but for Him that for all men has died. [2 Corinthians 5:15]
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Neginah — In the title of Ps. 61, denotes the music of stringed instruments (1 Sam. 16:16; Isa. 38:20). It is the singular form of Neginoth.
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The second part begins with a confirmation of the gracious purpose of God expressed in Psa 61:5. David believes that he shall experience what he gives expression to in Psa 61:5; for God has already practically shown him that neither his life nor his kingship shall come to an end yet; He has answered the prayers of His chosen one, that, blended with vows, resulted from the lowly, God-resigned spirit which finds expression in Sa2 15:25., and He has given or delivered up to him the land which is his by inheritance, when threatened by the rebels as robbers, - the land to which those who fear the covenant God have a just claim. It is clear enough that the receivers are "those who fear the name of…
you have heard my vows: The psalmist’s vows might also be a part of ceremonial sacrifices (66:13-15; 76:11; 116:14, 18). He praises and thanks God for his rescue. • The inheritance refers to the promise of the land (see Ps 60), the sacredness of the Temple, the joy of God’s presence (119:111), or any similar reward (16:6; 37:9, 11, 18, 22, 29, 34; 127:3).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 61:7
He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
He shall abide before God for ever. Though this is true of David in a modified sense, we prefer to view the Lord Jesus as here intended as the lineal descendant of David, and the representative of his royal race. Jesus is enthroned before God to eternity; here is our safety, dignity, and delight. We reign in him; in him we are made to sit together in the heavens. David's personal claim to sit enthroned for ever is but a foreshadowing of the revealed privilege of all true believers. O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. As men cry, "Long live the king, "so we hail with acclamation our enthrone…
