Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 21:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 21:3. Thou preventest him — To prevent, from praevenio, literally signifies to go before. Hence that prayer in the communion service of our public Liturgy, "Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most gracious favour!" That is, "Go before us in thy mercy, make our way plain, and enable us to perform what is right in thy sight!" And this sense of prevent is a literal version of the original word תקדמנו tekademennu. "For thou shalt go before him with the blessings of goodness."

Our ancestors used God before in this sense. So in Henry V.'s speech to the French herald previously to the battle of Agincourt: -

"Go therefore; tell thy master, here I am.

My ransom is this frail and worthless trunk;

My army, but a weak and sickly guard:

Yet, God before, tell him we will come on,

Though France himself, and such another neighbour,

Stand in our way."

A crown of pure gold — Probably alluding to the crown of the king of Rabbah, which, on the taking of the city, David took and put on his own head. See the history, 2 Samuel 12:26-30.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 20-21 Before and after battle

These two psalms belong together as a pair. The former is a prayer for the king before he leads the people in battle; the latter, a thanksgiving after victory.
Addressing the king, the people call down God’s power and protection upon him (20:1-2). They pray that God will remember the king’s faithfulness and give him victory (3-5). The king replies that victory is certain, because he has God’s help. God’s power is greater than military might (6-8). In response, the people offer a further plea, brief and urgent, for God’s help (9).

The people join in thanksgiving to God that he has answered their prayer of the previous psalms (see Psalms 20:4). God has given the king his heart’s desire, enabling him to lead his people to victory (21:1-4). Although the king receives glory because of his victory, the glory is not self-centred. It is glory given him by God, in whom he trusts (5-7). Having offered thanks to God, the people turn and address the king. They assure him that through God’s power he will continue to have victory over all his enemies (8-12). King and people then unite in praise to God (13).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“For thou meetest him with the blessings of goodness: Thou settest a crown of fine gold on his head. He asked life of thee, thou gavest it him, Even length of days forever and ever.”

“A crown of fine gold” (Psalms 21:3). This indeed applies to David; but such a crown merely symbolized the golden crown of Revelation 14:14 and the many crowns of Revelation 19:12.

“Even length of days forever and ever” (Psalms 21:4). As Barnes noted, David had merely asked for life, but God gave him far more than he requested. “It is by no means an uncommon thing that God gives us more than we ask in our prayers.”Barnes’ Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), p. 1841.

“Forever and ever” (Psalms 21:4). It is distressing to us that even some of our brethren are willing to view these words merely as the equivalent of a common expression in that period of time, such as “O, King live forever.” “There is considerable probability that the words from this Psalm, as well as in Proverbs 12:28, mean eternal life.”Mitchell Dahood in The Anchor Bible, p. 132. Furthermore, although Maclaren freely admitted such expressions as, “O King live forever,” are in a sense parallel to what is said here, “The great emphasis of expression here and its repetition in Psalms 21:6 (immediately following) can scarcely be disposed of as mere hyperbole.” Also, as both Maclaren and Dahood pointed out Divine attributes are also ascribed to “the King” of this passage in Psalms 21:6, thus clearly distinguishing the earthly king David from the glorious “Son of David” introduced in the first verse of the New Testament.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

For thou preventest him - Thou goest before him; thou dost anticipate him. See Psalms 17:13, margin. Our word “prevent” is now most commonly used in the sense of “hinder, stop, or intercept.” This is not the original meaning of the English word; and the word is never used in this sense in the Bible. The English word, when our translation was made, meant to “go before,” to “anticipate,” and this is the uniform meaning of it in our English version, as it is the meaning of the original. See the notes at Job 3:12. Compare Psalms 59:10; Psalms 79:8; Psalms 88:13; Psalms 95:2; Psalms 119:147-148; Amos 9:10; see the notes at 1 Thessalonians 4:15. The meaning here is, that God had “anticipated” him, or his desires. He had gone before him. He had designed the blessing even before it was asked.

With the blessings of goodness - Blessings “indicating” goodness on his part; blessings adapted to promote the “good” or the welfare of him on whom they were bestowed. Perhaps the meaning here is, not only that they were “good,” but they “seemed” to be good; they were not “blessings in disguise,” or blessings as the result of previous calamity and trial, but blessings where there was no trial - no shadow - no appearance of disappointment.

Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head - This does not refer to the time of his coronation, or the period when he was crowned a king, but it refers to the victory which he had achieved, and by which he had been made truly a king. He was crowned with triumph; he was shown to be a king; the victory was like making him a king, or setting a crown of pure gold upon his head. He was now a conqueror, and was indeed a king.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

3.For thou wilt prevent him. The change of the tense in the verbs does not break the connection of the discourse; and, therefore, I have, without hesitation, translated this sentence into the future tense, as we know that the changing of one tense into another is quite common in Hebrew. Those who limit this psalm to the last victory which David gained over foreign nations, and who suppose that the crown of which mention is here made was the crown of the king of the Ammonites, of which we have an account in sacred history, give, in my judgment, too low a view of what the Holy Spirit has here dictated concerning the perpetual prosperity of this kingdom. David, I have no doubt, comprehended his successors even to Christ, and intended to celebrate the continual course of the grace of God in maintaining his kingdom through successive ages. It was not of one man that it had been said,

“I will be his father, and he shall be my son,”
(2 Samuel 7:14;)

but this was a prophecy which ought to be extended from Solomon to Christ, as is fully established by the testimony of Isaiah, (Isaiah 9:6,) who informs us that it was fulfilled when the Son was given or manifested. When it is said, Thou wilt prevent him, the meaning is, that such will be the liberality and promptitude of God, in spontaneously bestowing blessings, that he will not only grant what is asked from him, but, anticipating the requests of the king, will load him with every kind of good things far beyond what he had ever expected. By blessings we are to understand abundance or plenteousness. Some translate the Hebrew word טוב, tob, goodness; ⁽⁴⁸¹⁾ but with this I cannot agree. It is to be taken rather for the beneficence orthe free gifts of God. Thus the meaning will be, The king shall want nothing which is requisite to make his life in every respect happy, since God of his own good pleasure will anticipate his wishes, and enrich him with an abundance of all good things. The Psalmist makes express mention of the crown, because it was the emblem and ensign of royalty; and he intimates by this that God would be the guardian of the king, whom he himself had created. But as the prophet testifies, that the royal diadem, after lying long dishonored in the dust, shall again be put upon the head of Christ, we come to the conclusion, that by this song the minds of the godly were elevated to the hope of the eternal kingdom, of which a shadow only, or an obscure image, was set forth in the person of the successors of David. The doctrine of the everlasting duration of the kingdom of Christ is, therefore, here established, seeing he was not placed upon the throne by the favor or suffrages of men, but by God, who, from heaven, set the royal crown upon his head with his own hand.

(481) Reading “blessings of goodness;” that is, the best or most excellent blessings.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 21:1-13

Again, to the chief musician, the psalm of David.

The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and you have not withheld the requests of his lips ( Psalms 21:1-2 ).

Now the Selah indicates, really, sort of a change of thought. It sort of introduces a new idea. It is just sort of a rest, and then introducing of a new idea, new thought pattern.

For you prevent him with the blessings of goodness: you set a crown of pure gold on his head. He asks for life from thee, and you gave it to him, even the length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in thy salvation ( Psalms 21:3-5 ):

He is talking about the king's delight in the Lord, and how he was just so gracious for what God has done.

For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. For the king trusts in the LORD, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. Your hand shall find out all your enemies: your right hand shall find out those that hate thee. You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit will you destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against thee: they imagined mischievous devices, that they are not able to perform. Therefore thou shalt make them to turn their back, when thou shalt make ready your arrows upon thy strings against the face of them. Be thou exalted, LORD, in your own strength: so will we sing of thy praise and thy power ( Psalms 21:5-13 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Speaking of himself in the third person, King David gave thanks to God for giving him victory over another king and his kingdom. He acknowledged that it was the Lord’s strength, not his own, that had brought him salvation in the battle. God had given David victory as a gift. The crown (Psalms 21:3) may refer to the literal crown of his enemy that victorious kings appropriated for themselves in David’s time. Metaphorically it could refer to a fresh coronation that David believed he had received from the Lord by granting him this victory. David’s life was safe, and much glory and joy had come to him as a result of the victory.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Joy in God’s strength 21:1-7

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 21

This royal psalm of thanksgiving is a companion to the preceding one in that it records David’s thanksgiving for the victory that he anticipated in Psalms 20.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness,.... Not temporal, but spiritual blessings, which spring from the grace and goodness of God, and consist of it; and relate to the spiritual and eternal welfare of those for whose sake he receives them, and who are blessed with them in him: his being "prevented" with them denotes the freeness of the donation of them; that before he could well ask for them, or before he had done requesting them, they were given him; and also the earliness of the gift of them, they were put into his hands before his incarnation, before he was manifest in the flesh, even from the foundation of the world, and before the world began, Ephesians 1:3 2 Timothy 1:9, and likewise the order in which they were given; first to Christ, and then to his people in him, as the passages referred to show;

thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head; which is expressive of his victory over all enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, death and hell; and of his being possessed of his throne and kingdom; and has respect to his exaltation at the right hand of God, where he is crowned with glory and honour: and this crown being of "pure gold" denotes the purity, glory, solidity, and perpetuity of his kingdom; this is a crown, not which believers put upon him by believing in him, and ascribing the glory of their salvation to him, or what the church, called his mother, has crowned him with, Song of Solomon 3:11, but which his father put upon him, who has set him King over his holy hill of Zion, Psalms 2:6; compare with this Revelation 14:14. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions read "a crown of a precious stone"; and so Apollinarius; and seem to refer to the crown set on David's head, which had precious stones in it, 2 Samuel 12:30; Josephus x says it had a sardonyx. Fortunatus Scacchus y fancies the topaz is meant, and that the Hebrew text should be read "a crown of topaz"; mistaking the sense of the word "phaz", which never signifies a topaz, but the best gold, pure solid gold.

x Antiqu. l. 7. c. 7. s. 5. y Elaeochrism. Sacr. l. 3. c. 40. p. 1003.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician. A psalm of David.

      1 The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!   2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.   3 For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.   4 He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.   5 His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.   6 For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

      David here speaks for himself in the first place, professing that his joy was in God's strength and in his salvation, and not in the strength or success of his armies. He also directs his subjects herein to rejoice with him, and to give God all the glory of the victories he had obtained; and all with an eye to Christ, of whose triumphs over the powers of darkness David's victories were but shadows. 1. They here congratulate the king on his joys and concur with him in them (Psalms 21:1; Psalms 21:1): "The king rejoices, he uses to rejoice in thy strength, and so do we; what pleases the king pleases us," 2 Samuel 3:36. Happy the people the character of whose king it is that he makes God's strength his confidence and God's salvation his joy, that is pleased with all the advancements of God's kingdom and trusts God to bear him out in all he does for the service of it. Our Lord Jesus, in his great undertaking, relied upon help from heaven, and pleased himself with the prospect of that great salvation which he was thereby to work out. 2. They gave God all the praise of those things which were the matter of their king's rejoicing. (1.) That God had heard his prayers (Psalms 21:2; Psalms 21:2): Thou hast given him his heart's desire (and there is no prayer accepted but what is the heart's desire), the very thing they begged of God for him, Psalms 20:4. Note, God's gracious returns of prayer do, in a special manner, require our humble returns of praise. When God gives to Christ the heathen for his inheritance, gives him to see his seed, and accepts his intercession for all believers, he give him his heart's desire. (2.) That God had surprised him with favours, and much outdone his expectations (Psalms 21:3; Psalms 21:3): Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness. All our blessings are blessings of goodness, and are owing, not at all to any merit of ours, but purely and only to God's goodness. But the psalmist here reckons it in a special manner obliging that these blessings were given in a preventing way; this fixed his eye, enlarged his soul, and endeared his God, as one expresses it. When God's blessings come sooner and prove richer than we imagine, when they are given before we prayed for them, before we were ready for them, nay, when we feared the contrary, then it may be truly said that he prevented us with them. Nothing indeed prevented Christ, but to mankind never was any favour more preventing than our redemption by Christ and all the blessed fruits of his mediation. (3.) That God had advanced him to the highest honour and the most extensive power: "Thou hast set a crown of pure gold upon his head and kept it there, when his enemies attempted to throw it off." Note, Crowns are at God's disposal; no head wears them but God sets them there, whether in judgment to his land or for mercy the event will show. On the head of Christ God never set a crown of gold, but of thorns first, and then of glory. (4.) That God had assured him of the perpetuity of his kingdom, and therein had done more for him than he was able either to ask or think (Psalms 21:4; Psalms 21:4): "When he went forth upon a perilous expedition he asked his life of thee, which he then put into his hand, and thou not only gavest him that, but withal gavest him length of days for ever and ever, didst not only prolong his life far beyond his expectation, but didst assure him of a blessed immortality in a future state and of the continuance of his kingdom in the Messiah that should come of his loins." See how God's grants often exceed our petitions and hopes, and infer thence how rich he is in mercy to those that call upon him. See also and rejoice in the length of the days of Christ's kingdom. He was dead, indeed, that we might live through him; but he is alive, and lives for evermore, and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end; and because he thus lives we shall thus live also. (5.) That God had advanced him to the highest honour and dignity (Psalms 21:5; Psalms 21:5): "His glory is great, far transcending that of all the neighbouring princes, in the salvation thou hast wrought for him and by him." The glory which every good man is ambitious of is to see the salvation of the Lord. Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him, as a burden which he must bear, as a charge which he must account for. Jesus Christ received from God the Father honour and glory (2 Peter 1:17), the glory which he had with him before the worlds were, John 17:5. And on him is laid the charge of universal government and to him all power in heaven and earth is committed. (6.) That God had given him the satisfaction of being the channel of all bliss to mankind (Psalms 21:6; Psalms 21:6): "Thou hast set him to be blessings for ever" (so the margin reads it), "thou hast made him to be a universal blessing to the world, in whom the families of the earth are, and shall be blessed; and so thou hast made him exceedingly glad with the countenance thou hast given to his undertaking and to him in the prosecution of it." See how the spirit of prophecy gradually rises here to that which is peculiar to Christ, for none besides is blessed for ever, much less a blessing for ever to that eminency that the expression denotes: and of him it is said that God made him full of joy with his countenance.

      In singing this we should rejoice in his joy and triumph in his exaltation.