I have been as a prodigy to the great ones. He now makes a transition to the language of complaint, declaring that he was held in almost universal abhorrence by reason of the great calamities with which he was afflicted. There is an apparent, although only an apparent, discrepancy between these two statements; first, that he had always been crowned with the benefits of God; and, secondly, that he was accounted as a prodigy on account of his great afflictions; but we may draw from thence the very profitable doctrine, that he was not so overwhelmed by his calamities, heavy though they were, as to be insensible to the goodness of God which he had experienced. Although, therefore, he saw that he was an object of detestation, yet the remembrance of the blessings which God had conferred upon him, could not be extinguished by the deepest shades of darkness which surrounded him, but served as a lamp in his heart to direct his faith. By the term prodigy [1] is expressed no ordinary calamity. Had he not been afflicted in a strange and unusual manner, those to whom the miserable condition of mankind was not unknown would not have shrunk from him with such horror, and regarded him as so repulsive a spectacle. It was, therefore, a higher and more commendable proof of his constancy, that his spirit was neither broken nor enfeebled with sham but reposed in God with the stronger confidence, the more he was cast off by the world. The sentence is to be explained adversatively, implying that, although men abhorred him as a monster, yet, by leaning upon God, he continued in despite of all this unmoved. If it should be thought preferable to translate the word rvym, rabbim, which I have rendered great ones, by the word many, the sense will be, That David's afflictions were generally known, and had acquired great notoriety, as if he had been brought forth upon a stage and exposed to the view of the whole people. But in my opinion it will be more suitable to understand the word of great men, or the nobles. There is no heart so strong and impervious to outward influences as not to be deeply pierced when those who are considered to excel in wisdom and judgment, and who are invested with authority, treat a suffering and an afflicted man with such indignity, that they shrink with horror from him, as if he were a monster. In the next verse, as if he had obtained the desire of his heart, he expresses it to be his resolution to yield a grateful acknowledgement to God. To encourage himself to hope with the greater confidence for a happy issue to his present troubles, he promises loudly to celebrate the praises of God, and to do this not only on one occasion, but to persevere in the exercise without intermission.

Footnotes

1 - Green reads, "I am become a gazing-stock to the multitude." Horsley, "I am become a prodigious sight to the many.' A prodigious sight, a sign which shall be spoken against,' Luke 2:34." "I am become, as it were, a portentous sign unto many.' Many are willing to persuade themselves that my trials proceed directly from God's wrath, and are intended to warn them against pursuing a like course of conduct." -- French and Skinner "A monster, i e., the supposed object of God's signal displeasure. Comp. Isaiah 20:3; Ezekiel 12:6; 24:24, 27." -- Cresswell But others suppose that kmvpht, hemopheth, as a prodigy, implies that the great and many dangers to which he had been exposed, and the extraordinary deliverances from them which he had experienced, marked him out as an object of wonder, so that men looked upon him as if he were exempted from the common lot of mankind, as if he possessed a charmed life, and were invulnerable to all assaults; and the second member of the verse has been viewed as the reason why he was so regarded: "for thou art my strong refuge."

I am as a wonder unto many - The word here rendered "wonder" - מופת môphêth - means properly a miracle, a prodigy; then things that are suited to excite wonder or admiration; then, a sign, a token. See the notes at Isaiah 8:18. The meaning here is, that the course of things in regard to him - the divine dealings toward him - had been such as to excite attention; to strike the mind as something unusual, and out of the common course, in the same way that miracles do. This might be either from the number and the character of the calamities which had come upon him; or from the narrow escapes which he had had from death; or from the frequency of the divine intervention in his behalf; or from the abundant mercies which had been manifested toward him. The connection makes it probable that he refers to the unusual number of afflictions which had come upon him, and the frequency of the divine interpositions in his behalf when there was no other refuge, and no other hope.
But thou art my strong refuge - See the notes at Psalm 18:2. That is, God had been his Protector, his hiding-place.

I am as a wonder unto many - I am כמופת kemopheth "as a portent," or "type:" I am a typical person; and many of the things that happen to me are to be considered in reference to him of whom I am a type. But he may mean I am a continual prodigy. My low estate, my slaying the lion and the bear, conquering the Philistine, escaping the fury of Saul, and being raised to the throne of Israel, are all so many wonders of thy providence, and effects of thy power and grace.

I am as a (f) wonder unto many; but thou [art] my strong refuge.
(f) All the world wonders at me because of my miseries: both those in authority and the common people, yet being assured of your favour, I remain steadfast.

I am as a wonder unto many,.... To the multitude, to the populace, or "to the great" (u) and mighty; and indeed to both: which respects not his wonderful preservation from the womb, he had before observed; nor his being in a wonderful manner raised to the throne of Israel; nor the wonderful things and amazing exploits done by him, and victories he obtained; nor the wonderful instances of divine grace and goodness to him; but rather the forlorn and distressed state and condition he was now in, being obliged to quit his palace, and flee from the face of his son, accompanied only with a few of his servants; and so was a shocking sight, a spectacle, as the apostle says of himself, to others, to the world, to angels, and to men, 1-Corinthians 4:9; so the Messiah and his children are said to be set for signs and wonders, Isaiah 8:18; and Joshua and his fellows to be men wondered at, Zac 3:8; as the saints are by themselves, that they should partake of such favours; and by the angels, that they should be the objects of electing, redeeming, calling, adopting, justifying, and pardoning grace; and by the world, that they should choose to suffer affliction and reproach for Christ, bear it with so much patience, and be supported, and thrive under it; see 2-Corinthians 6:8;
but thou art my strong refuge; or "my refuge of strength" (w); his refuge and strength, as in Psalm 46:1; his refuge, to which he betook himself, when refuge failed him, and no man cared for him, and which he found to be a strong one, and in it safety.
(u) "multis vel magnis", Piscator; so Ainsworth. (w) "refugium meum roboris", Gejerus.

Brought safely through dangers of every kind, he is become כּמופת, as a wonder, a miracle (Arabic aft from afata, cognate afaka, הפך, to bend, distort: a turning round, that which is turned round or wrenched, i.e., that which is contrary to what is usual and looked for) to many, who gaze upon him as such with astonishment (Psalm 40:4). It is his God, however, to whom, as hitherto so also in time to come, he will look to be thus wonderfully preserved: מחסי־עז, as in 2-Samuel 22:33. עז is a genitive, and the suffix is thrown back (vid., supra, p 171) in order that what God is to, and does for, the poet may be brought forward more clearly and independently [lit. unalloyed]. Psalm 71:8 tells us what it is that he firmly expects on the ground of what he possesses in God. And on this very ground arises the prayer of Psalm 71:9 also: Cast me not away (viz., from Thy presence, Psalm 51:13; Jeremiah 7:15, and frequently) in the time (לעת, as in Genesis 8:11) of old age - he is therefore already an old man (זקן), though only just at the beginning of the זקנה. He supplicates favour for the present and for the time still to come: now that my vital powers are failing, forsake me not! Thus he prays because he, who has been often wondrously delivered, is even now threatened by foes. Psalm 71:11, introduced by means of Psalm 71:10, tells us what their thoughts of him are, and what they purpose doing. לי, Psalm 71:10, does not belong to אויבי, as it dies not in Psalm 27:2 also, and elsewhere. The ל is that of relation or of reference, as in Psalm 41:6. The unnecessary לאמר betrays a poet of the later period; cf. Psalm 105:11; Psalm 119:82 (where it was less superfluous), and on the contrary, Psalm 83:5. The later poet also reveals himself in Psalm 71:12, which is an echo of very similar prayers of David in Psalm 22:12, Psalm 22:20 (Psalm 40:14, cf. Psalm 70:2), Psalm 35:22; Psalm 38:22. The Davidic style is to be discerned here throughout in other points also. In place of הישׁה the Ker substitutes חוּשׁה, which is the form exclusively found elsewhere.

A wonder - For my many and sore calamities.