56 "Blessed be Yahweh, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according, to all that he promised.... A land of rest, and rest in the land from all enemies; see Deuteronomy 12:9,
there hath not failed one word of all his good promises, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant: so Joshua observed a little before his death, Joshua 23:14 to which Solomon seems to have respect; and who lived to see a greater accomplishment of the gracious promises of God, and his faithfulness therein, both in the times of his father David, and his own.
The praise of Jehovah rests, so far as the first part is concerned, upon the promise in Deuteronomy 12:9-10, and upon its fulfilment in Joshua 21:44-45 and Joshua 23:14; and the second part is founded upon Leviticus 26:3-13 and Deuteronomy 28:1-14, where the "good word, which the Lord spake by Moses," is more precisely described as the blessing which the Lord had promised to His people and had hitherto bestowed upon them. He had already given Israel rest by means of Joshua when the land of Canaan was taken; but since many parts of the land still remained in the hands of the Canaanites, this rest was only fully secured to them by David's victories over all their enemies. This glorious fulfilment warranted the hope that the Lord would also fulfil in the future what He had promised His servant David (2-Samuel 7:10), if the people themselves would only faithfully adhere to their God. Solomon therefore sums up all his wishes for the good of the kingdom in 1-Kings 8:57-61 in the words, "May Jehovah our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us nor forsake us, to incline our heart to Himself, that we may walk in all His ways," etc. - that the evil words predicted by Moses in Leviticus 26:14., Deuteronomy 28:15, may not fall upon us. For 1-Kings 8:57 compare Deuteronomy 31:6, Deuteronomy 31:8, and Joshua 1:5. יטּשׁנוּ אל corresponds to ירפּך אל in these passages. In the Pentateuch נטשׁ is used but once of men who forsake the Lord, viz., Deuteronomy 32:15; in other cases it is only used in the general sense of casting away, letting alone, and other similar meanings. It is first used of God, in the sense of forsaking His people, in Psalm 27:9 in connection with עזב; and it frequently occurs afterwards in Jeremiah.
Blessed, &c. - This discharge he gives in the name of all Israel, to the everlasting honour of the Divine faithfulness, and the everlasting encouragement of all those that build upon the Divine promises.
*More commentary available at chapter level.