God hath spoken in his holiness
Or "in his holy place" {q}; in heaven, the habitation of his holiness and of his glory; or "in the house of the sanctuary", as the Targum: in the tabernacle, in the holy place by Urim and Thummim; and in the most holy place by his sacred oracle, from between the mercy seat: or "by his Holy Ones", as the Arabic version; by his holy prophets, Samuel and Nathan, by whom he spoke to David concerning the kingdom; and by his Holy Spirit dictating this psalm, and the rest unto him; and by his Son, his Holy One, by whom he has spoken in these last times unto his people, to which this psalm has reference: or it may be understood of the perfection of his holiness in which he has spoken, and by which he has swore; not only to David literally, concerning the extent of his dominion, the perpetuity and stability of it; but to David's son and antitype, the Messiah, concerning his seed, possession, and inheritance, ( Psalms 89:19 Psalms 89:20 Psalms 89:35 Psalms 89:36 ) ( Psalms 2:8 Psalms 2:9 ) ;
I will rejoice;
at the holiness of the Lord, which is matter of joy to the saints, especially as the is displayed and glorified in salvation by Christ, ( Psalms 97:12 ) ; and at what he said in his holiness to David, concerning his temporal kingdom, and the duration of it; because he knew that what he said he would perform; and at what was spoken to him by the Messiah, in council and covenant, concerning his seeing his seed, and prolonging his days; which was the joy set before him, which carried him through his sorrows and sufferings, ( Hebrews 12:2 ) ; wherefore he believed his kingdom should be enlarged, both among Jews and Gentiles, as follows;
I will divide Shechem;
a city in Mount Ephraim, ( Joshua 20:7 ) ; and so was in the hands of Ishbosheth the son of Saul; as the valley of Succoth, Gilead, Ephraim, and Manasseh, after mentioned, and all the tribes of Israel, were, but Judah, ( 2 Samuel 2:4 2 Samuel 2:9 ) ; but, because of God's promise, David believed that they would be all in his possession; signified by dividing, as a land is divided for an inheritance when conquered, ( Joshua 13:7 ) ; or this is said in allusion to the dividing of spoils in a conquered place; and so the Targum,
``I will divide the prey with the children of Joseph, that dwell in Shechem;''and as Shechem was the same with Sychar, near to which our Lord met with the Samaritan woman, and converted her, and many others of that place, then might he be said to divide the spoils there, ( John 4:5 John 4:29 John 4:41 John 4:42 ) ;
and mete out the valley of Succoth;
with a measuring line, so taking possession of it, ( 2 Samuel 8:2 ) ( Zechariah 2:1-4 ) ; Succoth was near to Shechem, ( Genesis 33:17 Genesis 33:18 ) ; and was in the tribe of Gad, and in a valley, ( Joshua 13:27 ) ; there was a Succoth in the plain of Jordan, ( 1 Kings 7:46 ) ; it signifies booths, tents, or tabernacles, and may mystically signify the churches of Christ, wherein he dwells and exercises his dominion.