Introduction
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
This psalm and the preceding are parts of one whole. The blessings desired and asked (Psalms 20:0) are herein acknowledged. The “day of straits” there pressing him (Psalms 21:1) no longer exists. The mature wisdom and experience which mark the psalm belong to David’s riper years, and seem to point to the taking of Rabbah, which terminated the second Syrian war. 2 Samuel 12:26-31. Many Jewish and Christian writers have considered the psalm Messianic, and such it is as to its spirit and strain. Bishop Horsley calls it “a thanksgiving of the Church on Messiah’s victory.” “The Targum renders melek ( king) by king Messiah; and Rashi observes, ‘Our old doctors interpreted this psalm of King Messiah, but, in order to meet the schismatics, (that is, the Christians,) it is better to understand it of David himself.’” Dr. Perowne.
The psalm divides into two parts: Psalms 21:1-7 contain an acknowledgment of the divine favours, with confession of the king’s trust in God; 8-12, an address to the king, giving him assurance of future success against all his enemies; 13, doxology.
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