Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.
The verse is a lament over David's fallen throne, in which God has removed its defenses and ruined its strongholds. It describes the historical collapse of David's kingdom, including the loss of the throne when Zedekiah was captured by Babylon. It expresses the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives during the Babylonian captivity, especially under Belshazzar. Alongside those sorrows it carries encouragement and assurance of divine help and eventual deliverance.
The psalm containing the verse is prophetic of David and of David's greater Son, Jesus Christ. The verse is part of David's prophetic song of deliverance, which is connected with the triumph of Christ's resurrection. The fall it describes shows that the promise of an enduring throne cannot refer to David's earthly dynasty, but to Christ, David's greater descendant, and his kingdom.
The psalm gives a conditional promise of a kingdom to Jacob's descendants under the old covenant, which they forfeited by disobedience. They can regain the kingdom only through an interest in Jesus, who is now Prince and will soon be crowned King. The psalm shows God's covenant stands fast with Christ, proving that the Ten Commandments as God's covenant were not abolished but continue firm. The moral law of which the Sabbath forms a part therefore remains, while what was done away was sacrifice and oblation, and Christ magnified the law and made it honorable by his teaching, life, and death.
The use of the psalm to argue for the return of the Jews, with connected views of the reign of Christ and the inheritance of the saints, is overthrown by the proof that the saints are taken to heaven at the second coming of Christ when the earth is desolated. That proof shows the Lord has no special work to do among the Jews in the Christian dispensation. The verse belongs to a passage that also speaks of the Lord shortening a person's days in wrath, showing that God determines how long a life lasts.
The verse is a lament over David's fallen throne, in which God has removed its defenses and ruined its strongholds. It describes the historical collapse of David's kingdom, including the loss of the throne when Zedekiah was captured by Babylon. It expresses the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives during the Babylonian captivity, especially under Belshazzar. Alongside those sorrows it carries encouragement and assurance of divine help and eventual deliverance.
The psalm containing the verse is prophetic of David and of David's greater Son, Jesus Christ. The verse is part of David's prophetic song of deliverance, which is connected with the triumph of Christ's resurrection. The fall it describes shows that the promise of an enduring throne cannot refer to David's earthly dynasty, but to Christ, David's greater descendant, and his kingdom.
The psalm gives a conditional promise of a kingdom to Jacob's descendants under the old covenant, which they forfeited by disobedience. They can regain the kingdom only through an interest in Jesus, who is now Prince and will soon be crowned King. The psalm shows God's covenant stands fast with Christ, proving that the Ten Commandments as God's covenant were not abolished but continue firm. The moral law of which the Sabbath forms a part therefore remains, while what was done away was sacrifice and oblation, and Christ magnified the law and made it honorable by his teaching, life, and death.
The use of the psalm to argue for the return of the Jews, with connected views of the reign of Christ and the inheritance of the saints, is overthrown by the proof that the saints are taken to heaven at the second coming of Christ when the earth is desolated. That proof shows the Lord has no special work to do among the Jews in the Christian dispensation. The verse belongs to a passage that also speaks of the Lord shortening a person's days in wrath, showing that God determines how long a life lasts.