Barnes' Notes: Psalms, vol. 3

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

“His piety is not fitful, spasmodic, uncertain; it is steady principle; it is firm and solid; it may always be relied on.” (Page 149)

“Serve the Lord with gladness. That is, In your worship, and in all your acts of obedience. Let there be joy in this service. Let it not be with the fear of slaves; not as a matter of compulsion and force; not with reluctance, moroseness, or gloom. Let it be a cheerful, happy service; let it be freely rendered, let it be an occasion of joy to the soul. The service of God is a source of the highest joy that man knows.” (Page 56)

“The proposition is universal, and is designed to embrace all who are in this condition. It is true of one; it is true of all. The word rendered dwelleth here is a participle from the verb to sit, and here means sitting: literally, ‘sitting in the secret place,’ etc. The idea is that of calm repose; of resting; of sitting down,—as one does in his dwelling.” (Page 11)

“Memory hath he made for his wonderful works.’ They are so made, that man may remember them; the memory of man, also, is so made, that it may retain them. The highest and most appropriate exercise of memory is to retain the lessons which the works of God inculcate; to treasure up for gratitude and for use what he teaches his intelligent creation through those works. Memory can never be better employed than in treasuring up the truths which the Creator teaches in his providential dealings with us, and in his word.” (Page 143)

“And set me in a large place. I was before pressed on every side; sorrows compassed me around; I could not move; I had no liberty. Now he gave me space and freedom on every side, so that I could move without obstruction or pain. This is literally, ‘The Lord’—(not Jehovah here, but Jah)—‘answered me in a large place.’ See Notes on Ps. 4:1; 18:19.” (Page 169)

Product Details

• Title: Barnes' Notes: Psalms, vol. 3
• Authors: Albert Barnes and James Murphy
• Publisher: Blackie & Son
• Publication Date: 1870–1872
• Pages: 410

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.