Oh how great is thy goodness - That is, in view of the divine protection and favor in such cases, or when thus assailed. The psalmist seems to have felt that it was an inexpressible privilege thus to be permitted to appeal to God with the assurance of the divine protection. In few circumstances do people feel more grateful for the opportunity of appealing to God than when they are reviled and calumniated. As there is nothing which we feel more keenly than calumny and reproach, so there can be no circumstances when we more appreciate the privilege of having such a Refuge and Friend as God.
Which thou hast laid up - Which thou hast “treasured” up, for so the Hebrew word means. That is, goodness and mercy had been, as it were, “treasured up” for such an emergency - as a man treasures up food in autumn for the wants of winter, or wealth for the wants of old age. The goodness of God is thus a treasure garnered up for the needs of His people - a treasure always accessible; a treasure that can never be exhausted.
For them that fear thee - Or “reverence” thee - fear or reverence being often used to denote friendship with God, or religion. See the notes at Psalms 5:7.
Which thou hast wrought for them - Which thou hast “made” for them (Hebrew); or, which thou hast secured as if by labor; that is, by plan and arrangement. It was not by chance that that goodness had been provided; God had done it in a manner resembling the act of a man who lays up treasure for his future use by plan and by toil. The idea is, that all this was the “work” of a benevolent God; a God who had carefully anticipated the wants of his people.
For them that trust in thee - who rely upon Thee in trouble, in danger, and in want; who feel that their only reliance is upon Thee, and who do actually trust in Thee.
Before the sons of men - That is, Thou hast performed this in the presence of the sons of men, or in the presence of mankind. God had not only laid it up in secret, making provision for the wants of His people, but he had worked out this deliverance before people, or had shown His goodness to them openly. The acts of benevolence or goodness in the case were - “first,” that he had “treasured up” the resources of His goodness by previous arrangement, or by anticipation, for them; and “second,” that he had “wrought out” deliverance, or had “manifested” his goodness by interposing to save, and by doing it openly that it might be seen by mankind.