Barnes' Notes: Psalms, vol. 1

by Albert Barnes

Publisher:

Blackie & Son

, 1870–1872

Overview

Albert Barnes and James Murphy wrote this verse-by-verse commentary on Psalms. Published in the 1800s, it is still well-loved and well-read by evangelicals who appreciate Barnes' pastoral insights into the Scripture. It is not a technical work, but provides informative observations on the text, intended to be helpful to those teaching Sunday School. Today, it is ideally suited to anyone teaching or preaching the Word of God, whether a professional minister or layperson.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The passage cannot be understood as referring to Christ without admitting his existence previous to the incarnation, for all that follows is manifestly the result of the exalted rank which God purposed to give him as his Son, or as the result of the promise made to him then.” (Pages 18–19)

“The reasons for supposing that its authorship is to be traced to David are the following:—(a) It is expressly ascribed to him in Acts 4:25, 26: ‘Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?’” (Page 8)

“It is probable, as we shall see, that he meant to say, God had conferred great honour on men—men so humble and weak that they might be compared to infants—by making them the means of overthrowing his enemies, thus showing the greatness of the Divine condescension.” (Page 67)

“But the more probable interpretation is that which refers it to the state of the heart—the internal ornament—with which we should approach God,—to a holy and pure state of mind—that beauty or appropriateness of the soul which consists in holiness or purity.” (Page 248)

“Our Lord. The word here used—אֲדֹנָי‎, Adonai—means properly master, lord, ruler, owner, and is such a title as is given to an owner of land or of slaves, to kings, or to rulers, and is applied to God as being the ruler or governor of the universe.” (Pages 66–67)

Product Details

• Title: Barnes' Notes: Psalms, vol. 1
• Authors: Albert Barnes and James Murphy
• Publisher: Blackie & Son
• Publication Date: 1870–1872
• Pages: 480

About Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in 1820, and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1823. Barnes was ordained as a Presbyterian minister by the presbytery of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1825, and was the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, New Jersey (1825–1830), and of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia (1830–1867).

He held a prominent place in the New School branch of the Presbyterians during the Old School-New School Controversy, to which he adhered on the division of the denomination in 1837. In 1836, he had been tried (but not convicted) for heresy, mostly due to the views he expressed in Notes on Romans of the imputation of the sin of Adam, original sin and the atonement; the bitterness stirred up by this trial contributed towards widening the breach between the conservative and the progressive elements in the church. He was an eloquent preacher, but his reputation rests chiefly on his expository works, which are said to have had a larger circulation both in Europe and America than any others of their class. Of the well-known Notes on the New Testament, it is said that more than a million volumes had been issued by 1870. The Notes on Job, the Psalms, Isaiah and Daniel were also popularly distributed. The popularity of these works rested on how Barnes simplified Biblical criticism so that new developments in the field were made accessible to the general public.