to cross over · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
way
דָ֑רֶךְDa.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
spoil
שַׁ֭סֻּהוּsu.hu
H8155
to plunder · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
reproach
חֶ֝רְפָּ֗הcher.Pah
H2781
contumely · noun, common feminine singular absolute
neighbours
לִשְׁכֵנָֽיוlish.khe.Nav
H7934
a resident · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + 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 79:4 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.
Deuteronomy 28:37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
Nehemiah 5:9 Also I said, It is not good that ye do: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies?
Psalms 44:10-14 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
Psalms 74:10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
Psalms 80:13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
Isaiah 10:6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take…
Jeremiah 24:9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 89:38–end
In these verses we have,
I. A very melancholy complaint of the present deplorable state of David's family, which the psalmist thinks hard to be reconciled to the covenant God made with David. "Thou saidst thou wouldst not take away thy lovingkindness, but thou hast cast off." Sometimes, it is no easy thing to reconcile God's providences with his promises, and yet we are sure they are reconcilable; for God's works fulfil his word and never contradict it. 1. David's house seemed to have lost its interest in God, which was the greatest strength and beauty of it. God had been pleased with his anointed, but now he was wroth with him (Psa 89:38), had entered into covenant with the family, but now,…
All that pass by the way spoil him,.... His church, his members, which are himself, when made havoc of by their persecutors, and they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, Hebrews 10:34, so the church of Christ may be spoiled, however, attempted to be spoiled, by false teachers, who are the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; crafty seducers, who spoil Christians of their peace and comfort, through philosophy and vain deceit, Sol 2:15. Christ himself may be said to be spoiled, when he was stripped of his clothes by the Roman soldiers, who also parted his garments, casting lots on his vesture; when they that passed by his cross, as he hung upon it, reviled him, and robbed him…
Psalm 89:38-45
38. But thou hast abhorred and rejected him; thou hast been angry against thy anointed. 39. Thou hast made the covenant of thy servant to cease; [553] thou hast profaned his crown to the earth. 40. Thou hast broken down all his walls; thou hast made his fortresses a ruin. 41. All who pass by the way have spoiled him: he has been a reproach to his neighbors. 42. Thou hast exalted the right hand of his oppressors; thou hast caused all his enemies to rejoice. 43. Thou hast also blunted the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in battle. 44. Thou hast effaced his splendor, and cast his throne to the ground. 45. Thou hast shortened the days of his youth; thou hast cov…
The Church Fathers
Even David himself knew this. Consider his words; "You have rejected and brought him down to nothing." Where then is Your promise? "You have put off Your Anointed." This expression cheers us, among much that is sorrowful: for the promise of God is still valid; for You have put off Your Anointed, not taken Him away. See then what was the fate of that David, in whom the ignorant hoped for the fulfilment of the promises of God, in order that those promises might be more firmly relied upon for their fulfilment in another. "You have put off Your Anointed: You have overthrown the testament of Your servant." For where is the Old Testament of the Jews? Where that land of promise, in which they sinned while they dwelt in it, on the overthrow of which they wandered afar? Ask you for the kingdom of the Jews; it exists not: you ask for the altar of the Jews; it is not: you ask for the sacrifice of the Jews; it is not: you ask for the priesthood of the Jews; it is not. "You have overthrown the testament of Your servant, and profaned his holiness on the earth." You have shown that what they thought holy, was earthly. "You have broken down all his hedges," with which You have entrenched him: for how could he have been spoiled unless his hedges had been broken down? "You have made his strongholds a terror." Why terror? That it should be said to the sinners, "For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not you." [Romans 11:21] "All they that go by the way have spoiled him:" that is, all the heathen that go by the way, meaning, all who pass through this life, have spoiled Israel, have spoiled David. First of all, see his fragments in all nations: for it is of the Jews that it is said, "They shall be a portion for foxes." For the Scripture calls wicked, crafty, and cowardly kings, whom another's virtue terrifies, foxes. Thus when our Lord Himself was speaking of the threatening Herod, He said, "Go, and tell that fox." [Luke 13:32] The king who fears no man, is not a fox: like that Lion of Judah, of whom it is said, "Stooping down You rose up, and slept as a lion." [Genesis 49:9] At Your will You stooped down, at Your will rose; because You would, You slept. And thus in another Psalm he says, "I slept." Was not the sentence complete, "I slept, and took rest, and rose up again, because the Lord shall uphold Me"? Why is the word ego added? And thus…
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
Ezrahite — A title given to Ethan (1 Kings 4:31; Ps. 89, title) and Heman (Ps. 88, title). They were both sons of Zerah (1 Chr. 2:6).
Hermon — A peak, the eastern prolongation of the Anti-Lebanon range, reaching to the height of about 9,200 feet above the Mediterranean. It marks the north boundary of Palestine (Deut. 3:8, 4:48; Josh. 11:3,…
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).
Now after the poet has turned his thoughts towards the beginnings of the house of David which were so rich in promise, in order that he might find comfort under the sorrowful present, the contrast of the two periods is become all the more sensible to him. With ואתּה in Psa 89:39 (And Thou - the same who hast promised and affirmed this with an oath) his Psalm takes a new turn, for which reason it might even have been ועתּה. זנח is used just as absolutely here as in Psa 44:24; Psa 74:1; Psa 77:8, so that it does not require any object to be supplied out of Psa 89:39. נארתּה in Psa 89:40 the lxx renders kate'strepsas; it is better rendered in Lam 2:7 ἀπετίναξε; for נאר is synonymous with נער,…
broken down the walls: The Lord’s people are completely vulnerable.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 89:41
All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.
All that pass by the way spoil him. Idle passers by, who have nothing else to do, must needs have a pluck at this vine, and they do it without difficulty, since the hedges are gone. Woe is the day when every petty reasoner has an argument against religion, and men in their cups are fluent with objections against the gospel of Jesus. Although Jesus on the cross is nothing to them, and they pass him by without inquiring into what he has done for them, yet they can loiter as long as you will, if there be but the hope of driving another nail into his hands and helping to crucify the Lord afresh. They will not touch him with…
