Psalms 81:14

14 For not in hap I had made low their enemies; and I had sent mine hand on men doing tribulation to them. (then I would bring down their enemies; and I would send forth my hand against those who give them trouble.)

Psalms 81:14 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 81:14

I should soon have subdued their enemies
The Canaanites, and others: this he would have done in a very little time, or at once, and that easily, and without any trouble; he would quickly have humbled them, and brought them on their knees, as the word F7 signifies, to terms of peace; for when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes his enemies to be at peace with him, ( Proverbs 16:7 ) so those that hearken to the voice of Christ, and walk in his ways, he subdues their iniquities, and will bruise Satan under their feet shortly, and make them more than conquerors: through himself, over the world; the men and things of it he has overcome:

and turned my hand against their adversaries;
that troubled, distressed, and oppressed them; and it is a righteous thing with God to render tribulation to them that trouble his people; he turns his chastising hand off of them, which sometimes is heavy upon them, and presses them sore, and turns it in a way of wrath and vindictive justice against their adversaries; and so the Targum,

``and turned the stroke of my power against their adversaries;''

this is the lighting down of his arm with the indignation of his anger, which is intolerable, ( Isaiah 30:30 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F7 (eynka) "flecterem", Cocceius.

Psalms 81:14 In-Context

12 And I let go them after the desires of their heart; they shall go in their findings. (So I let them go after the desires of their hearts; and they went forth in their own ways.)
13 If my people had heard me; if Israel had gone in my ways. (If my people would but listen to me; if Israel would just follow my ways,)
14 For not in hap I had made low their enemies; and I had sent mine hand on men doing tribulation to them. (then I would bring down their enemies; and I would send forth my hand against those who give them trouble.)
15 The enemies of the Lord lied (down) to him; and their time shall be into worlds. (And then the Lord's enemies would fall down before me; and their punishment would last forever.)
16 And he fed them with the fatness of wheat; and he [ful]filled them with honey of the stone. (And I would feed you with the fatness of the wheat; and fulfill you with honey from the rocks, that is, with wild honey.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.