As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
David sang this as part of his song of thanksgiving for deliverance from the hand of Saul, recorded also in 2 Samuel 22 with slight differences in wording, the one giving its history and the other its place among his writings. In its plain sense it tells how foreign peoples, hearing of the king's fame and victories, quickly yielded to his rule and brought tribute from afar, yet their submission was feigned, an outward bowing from fear rather than from love. It looks beyond David to Christ, great David's greater Son, whose struggles, death and resurrection and victory over sin and spiritual foes draw peoples beyond the Jews to yield to Him. God thus convinces men before He judges, so that those who now deny His truth and power will hear and confess before His righteous judgments fall upon the living wicked at Christ's coming, while many in the last days will only nominally embrace Christianity from a sense of its superiority and remain unconverted. The song is therefore a triumph of trust in God's might and goodness over human strength, giving assurance that all wickedness will be overthrown and all good will triumph, and laying down moral principles for God's people in both the Jewish and the Christian dispensations.
Historical Setting and Meaning
The song is David's thanksgiving for deliverance from the hand of Saul. It is also found in 2 Samuel 22, though the wording differs in places and is not exactly alike. The Samuel record gives its historical connection, while the psalm record gives it as part of the collection of David's writings.
It describes foreign peoples submitting to David when they hear of him. It sheds light on David's motives and experiences in the victories over the Ammonites and Syrians, when conquered nations yielded to Israel's rule. When the king's fame reaches foreign peoples, they quickly obey him and submit to his rule. They bring tribute from distant lands.
The submission described is an outward yielding from fear. The obedience rendered upon hearing is feigned and not genuine.
Christ and Final Fulfillment
The psalm opens a view into the inner life of Christ, great David's greater Son. It belongs among those psalms that prophetically disclose His inner experience. Its life-and-death struggles make known how He suffered while meeting temptation. It is numbered among His resurrection psalms. David's subduing of his enemies foreshadows Christ's victory over sin and spiritual foes, so that the hearing and yielding of foreign peoples foreshadows Christ's triumph. That yielding reaches beyond the Jews to peoples of other nations coming under Christ.
God first convinces men and then executes judgment, so that those who now deny His truth and power will upon hearing of Him obey Him and confess that truth and power, with strangers submitting themselves to Him, before His righteous judgments are executed upon the living wicked at His coming. Part of that submission is only outward and from fear, and so it will be also at the coming of Christ. The obedience rendered on hearing is feigned rather than genuine. In the last days nations will in a civil way nominally embrace and exalt Christianity because its superiority has been demonstrated, while themselves remaining unconverted.
Trust and Moral Teaching
The verse stands in a song of triumph whose lesson is trust and confidence in God. It displays mistrust of human strength set against exaltation of divine power. Its confidence rests in God's might and goodness. It is instructive, devout, helpful, elevating and worshipful, giving wonderful lessons of trust and confidence in God.
The same song gives assurance of the final overthrow of all wickedness and the triumph of all good. The psalm holds principles of morality given to God's people in the Jewish dispensation that also concern God's people in the Christian dispensation. Like the whole Bible, it is God's revelation to a fallen race for learning the plan of redemption and consequent duty. Its moral teaching is not addressed and confined to one people as a nationality.
David sang this as part of his song of thanksgiving for deliverance from the hand of Saul, recorded also in 2 Samuel 22 with slight differences in wording, the one giving its history and the other its place among his writings. In its plain sense it tells how foreign peoples, hearing of the king's fame and victories, quickly yielded to his rule and brought tribute from afar, yet their submission was feigned, an outward bowing from fear rather than from love. It looks beyond David to Christ, great David's greater Son, whose struggles, death and resurrection and victory over sin and spiritual foes draw peoples beyond the Jews to yield to Him. God thus convinces men before He judges, so that those who now deny His truth and power will hear and confess before His righteous judgments fall upon the living wicked at Christ's coming, while many in the last days will only nominally embrace Christianity from a sense of its superiority and remain unconverted. The song is therefore a triumph of trust in God's might and goodness over human strength, giving assurance that all wickedness will be overthrown and all good will triumph, and laying down moral principles for God's people in both the Jewish and the Christian dispensations.
Historical Setting and Meaning
The song is David's thanksgiving for deliverance from the hand of Saul. It is also found in 2 Samuel 22, though the wording differs in places and is not exactly alike. The Samuel record gives its historical connection, while the psalm record gives it as part of the collection of David's writings.
It describes foreign peoples submitting to David when they hear of him. It sheds light on David's motives and experiences in the victories over the Ammonites and Syrians, when conquered nations yielded to Israel's rule. When the king's fame reaches foreign peoples, they quickly obey him and submit to his rule. They bring tribute from distant lands.
The submission described is an outward yielding from fear. The obedience rendered upon hearing is feigned and not genuine.
Christ and Final Fulfillment
The psalm opens a view into the inner life of Christ, great David's greater Son. It belongs among those psalms that prophetically disclose His inner experience. Its life-and-death struggles make known how He suffered while meeting temptation. It is numbered among His resurrection psalms. David's subduing of his enemies foreshadows Christ's victory over sin and spiritual foes, so that the hearing and yielding of foreign peoples foreshadows Christ's triumph. That yielding reaches beyond the Jews to peoples of other nations coming under Christ.
God first convinces men and then executes judgment, so that those who now deny His truth and power will upon hearing of Him obey Him and confess that truth and power, with strangers submitting themselves to Him, before His righteous judgments are executed upon the living wicked at His coming. Part of that submission is only outward and from fear, and so it will be also at the coming of Christ. The obedience rendered on hearing is feigned rather than genuine. In the last days nations will in a civil way nominally embrace and exalt Christianity because its superiority has been demonstrated, while themselves remaining unconverted.
Trust and Moral Teaching
The verse stands in a song of triumph whose lesson is trust and confidence in God. It displays mistrust of human strength set against exaltation of divine power. Its confidence rests in God's might and goodness. It is instructive, devout, helpful, elevating and worshipful, giving wonderful lessons of trust and confidence in God.
The same song gives assurance of the final overthrow of all wickedness and the triumph of all good. The psalm holds principles of morality given to God's people in the Jewish dispensation that also concern God's people in the Christian dispensation. Like the whole Bible, it is God's revelation to a fallen race for learning the plan of redemption and consequent duty. Its moral teaching is not addressed and confined to one people as a nationality.