Psalm 118:27

Verse 27. Bind the sacrifice with cords, etc. The sacrifice we are to offer to God, in gratitude for redeeming love, is ourselves, not to be slain upon the altar, but "living sacrifices" ( Romans 12:1 ) to be bound to the altar; spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise, in which our hearts must be fixed and engaged, as the sacrifice was bound "with cords to the horns of the altar." Matthew Henry.

Verse 27. Bind the sacrifice, etc. It is a saying among the Hebrews, that the beasts that were offered in sacrifice, they were the most struggling beasts of all the rest; such is the nature of us unthankful beasts, when we should love God again, we are readier to run away from him; we must be tied to the altar with cords, to draw from us love or fear. Abraham Wright.

Verse 27. With cords. This word is sometimes used for thick twisted cords, Judges 15:13 ; sometimes for thick branches of trees, used at some feasts, Ezekiel 19:11 Leviticus 23:40 . Hereupon this sentence may two ways be read; bind the feast with thick branches, or, bind the sacrifice with cords; both mean one thing, that men should keep the festivity with joy and thanks to God, as Israel did at their solemnities. Henry Ainsworth.

Verse 27. Even unto the horns of the altar. Before these words must be understood, lead it: for the victims were bound to rings fixed in the floor. "The horns" were architectural ornaments, a kind of capitals, made of iron or of brass, somewhat in the form of the curved horns of an animal, projecting from the four angles of the altar. The officiating priest, when he prayed, placed his hands on them, and sometimes sprinkled them with the blood of the sacrifice: compare Exodus 30:3 Leviticus 4:7 Leviticus 4:18 . At the end of this verse the word saying must be supplied. Daniel Cresswell.

Verse 27. Unto the horns. That is, all the court over, until you come even to the horns of the altar, intending hereby many sacrifices or boughs. Henry Ainsworth.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 27. -- Bind the sacrifice, etc. Devotion is the mother, and she hath four daughters.

Verse 27. -- Bind the sacrifice with cords, etc.