Passage Research
Psalm 61 — Sermon Preparation
David prays from the ends of the earth for God to lead him to the rock that is higher than he, and asks for the king's life to be lengthened. Below is a research summary for Psalm 61, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 9
- verses
- 68 / 55
- Hebrew words / lemmas
- 6
- classic sermon excerpts
- 4
- preachers & commentators
Psalm 61 in the Hebrew
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Hebrew | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | Glosses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֶדֶר | neder | H5088 | 2 | promise, thing promised |
| דּוֹר | dôwr | H1755 | 2 | revolution, age |
| עוֹלָם | ʻôwlâm | H5769 | 2 | concealed, vanishing |
| שֵׁם | shêm | H8034 | 2 | appellation, honor |
| שָׁמַע | shâmaʻ | H8085 | 2 | hear, tell |
| יְרֻשָּׁה | yᵉrushshâh | H3425 | 1 | occupied, conquest |
| נְגִינָה | nᵉgîynâh | H5058 | 1 | instrumental music, stringed instrument |
How preachers through history handled this text
6 public-domain excerpts on Psalm 61, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“David, in this psalm, as in many others, begins with a sad heart, but concludes with an air of pleasantness--begins with prayers and tears, but ends with songs of praise. Thus the soul, by being lifted up to God, returns to the enjoyment of itself. It should seem David was driven out and banished when he penned this psalm, whether by Saul or Absalom is uncertain: some think by Absalom, because he calls himself "the king" (ver. 6), but that refers to the King Messiah. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol. 3 (Job to Song of Solomon), on Psalm 61:1–30 (Public Domain)
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