And now shall mine head - Now shall I be exalted. So we say that in affliction a person bows down his head; in prosperity he lifts it up. This verse expresses the confident expectation that he would be enabled to triumph over all his foes, and a firm purpose on his part, as the result of this, to offer sacrifices of praise to his great Deliverer.

Above mine enemies round about me - All my enemies, though they seem even to encompass me on every side.

Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle - In His tent, His dwelling-place: referring here, undoubtedly, to "the tabernacle" as a place where God was worshipped.

Sacrifices of joy - Margin, as in the Hebrew, of "shouting." That is, he would offer sacrifices accompanied with loud sounds of praise and thanksgiving. There is nothing wrong in shouting for joy when a person is delivered from imminent danger, nothing wrong in doing so when he feels that he is rescued from the peril of eternal ruin.

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord - This language is that which comes from a full heart. He is not contented with saying merely that he would "sing." He repeats the idea; he dwells upon it. With a heart overflowing with gratitude he would go and give utterance to his joy. He would repeat, and dwell upon, the language of thanksgiving.

Now shall mine head be lifted up - We shall most assuredly be redeemed from this captivity, and restored to our own land, and to the worship of our God in his own temple. There shall we offer sacrifices of joy; we will sing praises unto the Lord, and acknowledge that it is by his might and mercy alone that we have been delivered.

And now shall mine head be lifted up,.... That is, when brought into the house of the Lord, hid in the secret of his tabernacle, and set upon the rock Christ; by this phrase he means, either that he should be then restored to his former happy and comfortable condition, as it is used in Genesis 40:13; or that he should overcome all his enemies, and triumph over them, being exalted, as he adds,

above mine enemies round about me; so that not only they should not be able to come at him, but should be subdued under him;

therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy: attended with shouting and sounding of trumpets: in allusion to the blowing of trumpets at the time of sacrifice, Numbers 10:10; Sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, with a joyful heart, for mercies received, offered up publicly in the house of the Lord, are here intended;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord; for whom praise waits in Zion, to whom it is due; he being the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, and the author and giver of all blessings, temporal and spiritual.

With ועתּה the poet predicts inferentially (cf. Psalm 2:10) the fulfilment of what he fervently desires, the guarantee of which lies in his very longing itself. זבחי תּרוּעה do not mean sacrifices in connection with which the trumpets are blown by the priests; for this was only the case in connection with the sacrifices of the whole congregation (Numbers 10:10), not with those of individuals. תּרוּעה is a synonym of תּודה, Psalm 26:7; and זבחי תּרוּעה is a stronger form of expression for זבחי תודה (Psalm 107:22), i.e., (cf. זבחי צדק, Psalm 4:6; Psalm 51:21) sacrifices of jubilant thanksgiving: he will offer sacrifices in which his gratitude plays a prominent part, and will sing songs of thanksgiving, accompanied by the playing of stringed instruments, to his Deliverer, who has again and so gloriously verified His promises.

{d} And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.

(d) David assured himself by the Spirit of prophecy that he should overcome his enemies and serve God in his tabernacle.

joy: Heb. shouting

6. head be lifted up-I shall be placed beyond the reach of my enemies. Hence he avows his purpose of rendering joyful thank offerings.

27:1-6 The Lord, who is the believer's light, is the strength of his life; not only by whom, but in whom he lives and moves. In God let us strengthen ourselves. The gracious presence of God, his power, his promise, his readiness to hear prayer, the witness of his Spirit in the hearts of his people; these are the secret of his tabernacle, and in these the saints find cause for that holy security and peace of mind in which they dwell at ease. The psalmist prays for constant communion with God in holy ordinances. All God's children desire to dwell in their Father's house. Not to sojourn there as a wayfaring man, to tarry but for a night; or to dwell there for a time only, as the servant that abides not in the house for ever; but to dwell there all the days of their life, as children with a father. Do we hope that the praising of God will be the blessedness of our eternity? Surely then we ought to make it the business of our time. This he had at heart more than any thing. Whatever the Christian is as to this life, he considers the favour and service of God as the one thing needful. This he desires, prays for and seeks after, and in it he rejoices.