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Psalm Eleven
Psalm 11
Chapter Contents
David's struggle with
and triumph over a strong
temptation to distrust God
and betake himself to indirect means for his own
safety
in a time of danger.
Those that truly fear God and serve him
are welcome to
put their trust in him. The psalmist
before he gives an account of his
temptation to distrust God
records his resolution to trust in Him
as that by
which he was resolved to live and die. The believer
though not terrified by
his enemies
may be tempted
by the fears of his friends
to desert his post
or neglect his work. They perceive his danger
but not his security; they give
him counsel that savours of worldly policy
rather than of heavenly wisdom. The
principles of religion are the foundations on which the faith and hope of the
righteous are built. We are concerned to hold these fast against all
temptations to unbelief; for believers would be undone
if they had not God to
go to
God to trust in
and future bliss to hope for. The prosperity of wicked
people in their wicked
evil ways
and the straits and distresses which the
best men are sometimes brought into
tried David's faith. We need not say
Who
shall go up to heaven
to fetch us thence a God to trust in? The word is nigh
us
and God in the word; his Spirit is in his saints
those living temples
and
the Lord is that Spirit. This God governs the world. We may know what men seem
to be
but God knows what they are
as the refiner knows the value of gold when
he has tried it. God is said to try with his eyes
because he cannot err
or be
imposed upon. If he afflicts good people
it is for their trial
therefore for
their good. However persecutors and oppressors may prosper awhile
they will
for ever perish. God is a holy God
and therefore hates them. He is a righteous
Judge
and will therefore punish them. In what a horrible tempest are the
wicked hurried away at death! Every man has the portion of his cup assigned
him. Impenitent sinner
mark your doom! The last call to repentance is about to
be addressed to you
judgement is at hand; through the gloomy shade of death
you pass into the region of eternal wrath. Hasten then
O sinner
to the cross
of Christ. How stands the case between God and our souls? Is Christ our hope
our consolation
our security? Then
not otherwise
will the soul be carried
through all its difficulties and conflicts.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 11
Verse 1
[1] In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul
Flee
as a bird to your mountain?
Ye — Mine enemies.
Verse 2
[2] For
lo
the wicked bend their bow
they make ready
their arrow upon the string
that they may privily shoot at the upright in
heart.
For lo — David having directed his speech to his enemies
now
turns it to God
and pours out before him his complaints.
Ready — They lay designs for my destruction and make all
things ready to execute them.
Verse 3
[3] If the foundations be destroyed
what can the righteous
do?
Foundations — Piety
justice
fidelity
and
mercy
which are the pillars or foundations of a state or kingdom.
What — The condition of all righteous men will be desperate.
Verse 4
[4] The LORD is in his holy temple
the LORD's throne is in
heaven: his eyes behold
his eyelids try
the children of men.
Temple — In heaven; which is mentioned as an evidence of his
glorious majesty
of his sovereign power and dominion over all men and things
and of his accurate inspection into all men and their actions.
Throne — Where he sits to examine all causes
and to give
righteous sentence according to every man's works.
Try — He throughly discerns all men
their most inward and
secret actions: and therefore he sees and will reward my innocency
notwithstanding all the calumnies of mine enemies; and withal he sees all their
secret designs
and will discover and defeat them.
Verse 5
[5] The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him
that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Trieth — He chastens even righteous persons
yet still he loves
them
and therefore will in due time deliver them. But as for the wicked
God
hates them
and will severely punish them.
Verse 6
[6] Upon the wicked he shall rain snares
fire and
brimstone
and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
Rain — Send them plentifully
swiftly
and suddenly
as rain
commonly falls from heaven.
Snares — Grievous plagues or judgments
which are called snares
because wicked men are often surprized with them when they least expect them.
And because they cannot escape them
or get out of them; but are held fast and
destroyed by them.
Horrible tempests — Dreadful judgments so
called
in allusion to the destruction of Sodom by these means. But this he
seems to speak not so much of present calamities
as of eternal punishments.
This — Is their portion
and as it were the meat and drink
appointed them by God.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Psalm 11
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
SUBJECT. Charles
Simeon gives an excellent summary of this Psalm in the following
sentences:—"The Psalms are a rich repository of experimental knowledge.
David
at the different periods of his life
was placed in almost every
situation in which a believer
whether rich or poor
can be placed; in these
heavenly compositions he delineates all the workings of the heart. He
introduces
too
the sentiments and conduct of the various persons who were
accessory either to his troubles or his joys; and thus sets before us a
compendium of all that is passing in the hearts of men throughout the world.
When he penned this Psalm he was under persecution from Saul
who sought his
life
and hunted him 'as a partridge upon the mountains.' His timid friends
were alarmed for his safety
and recommended him to flee to some mountain where
he had a hiding-place
and thus to conceal himself from the rage of Saul. But
David
being strong in faith
spurned the idea of resorting to any such
pusillanimous expedients
and determined confidently to repose his trust in
God."
To
assist us to remember this short
but sweet Psalm
we will give it the name of
"THE SONG OF THE STEADFAST."
DIVISION.
From 1 to 3
David describes the temptation with which he was assailed
and
from 4 to 7
the arguments by which his courage was sustained.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. These
verses contain an account of a temptation to distrust God
with which David
was
upon some unmentioned occasion
greatly exercised. It may be
that in the
days when he was in Saul's court
he was advised to flee at a time when this
flight would have been charged against him as a breach of duty to the king
or
a proof of personal cowardice. His case was like that of Nehemiah
when his
enemies
under the garb of friendship
hoped to entrap him by advising him to
escape for his life. Had he done so
they could then have found a ground of
accusation. Nehemiah bravely replied
"Shall such a man as I flee?"
and David
in a like spirit
refuses to retreat
exclaiming
"In the
Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul
Flee as a bird to your
mountain?" When Satan cannot overthrow us by presumption
how craftily
will he seek to ruin us by distrust! He will employ our dearest friends to
argue us out of our confidence
and he will use such plausible logic
that
unless we once for all assert our immovable trust in Jehovah
he will make us
like the timid bird which flies to the mountain whenever danger presents
itself.
Verse
2. How forcibly the case is put! The bow is bent
the arrow is fitted to the
string: "Flee
flee
thou defenceless bird
thy safety lies in flight;
begone
for thine enemies will send their shafts into thy heart; haste
haste
for soon wilt thou be destroyed!" David seems to have felt the force of
the advice
for it came home to his soul; but yet he would not yield
but would rather dare the danger than exhibit a distrust in the Lord his God.
Doubtless the perils which encompassed David were great and imminent; it was
quite true that his enemies were ready to shoot privily at him.
Verse
3. It was equally correct that the very foundations of law and justice
were destroyed under Saul's unrighteous government: but what were all
these things to the man whose trust was in God alone? He could brave the
dangers
could escape the enemies
and defy the injustice which surrounded him.
His answer to the question
"What can the righteous do?" would be the
counter-question
"What cannot they do?" When prayer engages God on
our side
and when faith secures the fulfillment of the promise
what cause can
there be for flight
however cruel and mighty our enemies? With a sling and a
stone
David had smitten a giant before whom the whole hosts of Israel were
trembling
and the Lord
who delivered him from the uncircumcised Philistine
could surely deliver him from King Saul and his myrmidons. There is no such
word as "impossibility" in the language of faith; that martial grace
knows how to fight and conquer
but she knows not how to flee.
Verse
4. David here declares the great source of his unflinching courage. He borrows
his light from heaven—from the great central orb of deity. The God of the
believer is never far from him; he is not merely the God of the mountain
fastnesses
but of the dangerous valleys and battle plains.
"Jehovah
is in his holy temple." The heavens are above our heads in all regions
of the earth
and so is the Lord ever near to us in every state and condition.
This is a very strong reason why we should not adopt the vile suggestions of
distrust. There is one who pleads his precious blood in our behalf in the
temple above
and there is one upon the throne who is never deaf to the
intercession of his Son. Why
then
should we fear? What plots can men devise
which Jesus will not discover? Satan has doubtless desired to have us
that he
may sift us as wheat
but Jesus is in the temple praying for us
and how can
our faith fail? What attempts can the wicked make which Jehovah shall not
behold? And since he is in his holy temple
delighting in the sacrifice of his
Son
will he not defeat every device
and send us a sure deliverance?
"Jehovah's
throne is in the heavens;" he reigns supreme. Nothing can be done in
heaven
or earth
or hell
which he doth not ordain and over-rule. He is the
world's great Emperor. Wherefore
then
should we flee? If we trust this King
of kings
is not this enough? Cannot he deliver us without our cowardly
retreat? Yes
blessed be the Lord our God
we can salute him as Jehovah-nissi;
in his name we set up our banners
and instead of flight
we once more raise
the shout of war.
"His
eyes behold." The eternal Watcher never slumbers; his eyes never know
a sleep. "His eyelids try the children of men:" he narrowly inspects
their actions
words
and thoughts. As men
when intently and narrowly
inspecting some very minute object
almost close their eyelids to exclude every
other object
so will the Lord look all men through and through. God sees each
man as much and as perfectly as if there were no other creature in the
universe. He sees us always; he never removes his eye from us; he sees us
entirely
reading the recesses of the soul as readily as the glancings of the
eye. Is not this a sufficient ground of confidence
and an abundant answer to
the solicitations of despondency? My danger is not hid from him; he knows my
extremity
and I may rest assured that he will not suffer me to perish while I
rely alone on him. Wherefore
then
should I take wings of a timid bird
and
flee from the dangers which beset me?
Verse
5. "The Lord trieth the righteous:" he doth not hate them
but
only tries them. They are precious to him
and therefore he refines them with
afflictions. None of the Lord's children may hope to escape from trial
nor
indeed
in our right minds
would any of us desire to do so
for trial is the
channel of many blessings.
"Tis my
happiness below
Not to live without the cross;
But the Saviour's power to know
Sanctifying every loss.
* *
* * * * * *
Trials
make the promise sweet;
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to his feet—
Lay me low
and keep me there.
Did
I meet no trials here—
No chastisement by the way—
Might I not
with reason
fear
I should prove a cast-away?
Bastards
may escape the rod
Sunk in earthly vain delight;
But the true-born child of God
Must not—would not
if he might."
William
Cowper.
Is
not this a very cogent reason why we should not distrustfully endeavour to shun
a trial?—for in so doing we are seeking to avoid a blessing.
Verse
6. "But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth:"
why
then
shall I flee from these wicked men? If God hateth them
I will not
fear them. Haman was very great in the palace until he lost favour
but when
the king abhorred him
how bold were the meanest attendants to suggest the
gallows for the man at whom they had often trembled! Look at the black mark
upon the faces of our persecutors
and we shall not run away from them. If God
is in the quarrel as well as ourselves
it would be foolish to question the
result
or avoid the conflict. Sodom and Gomorrah perished by a fiery hail
and
by a brimstone shower from heaven; so shall all the ungodly. They may gather
together like Gog and Magog to battle
but the Lord will rain upon them "an
overflowing rain
and great hailstones
fire
and brimstone:" Ezekiel
38:22. Some expositors think that in the term "horrible tempest
"
there is in the Hebrew an allusion to that burning
suffocating wind
which
blows across the Arabian deserts
and is known by the name of Simoom. "A
burning storm
" Lowth calls it
while another great commentator reads it
"wrathwind;" in either version the language is full of terrors. What
a tempest will that be which shall overwhelm the despisers of God! Oh! what a
shower will that be which shall pour out itself for ever upon the defenceless
heads of impenitent sinners in hell! Repent
ye rebels
or this fiery deluge
shall soon surround you. Hell's horrors shall be your inheritance
your
entailed estate
"the portion of your cup." The dregs of that cup you
shall wring out
and drink for ever. A drop of hell is terrible
but what must
a full cup of torment be? Think of it—a cup of misery
but not a drop of mercy.
O people of God
how foolish is it to fear the faces of men who shall soon be
faggots in the fire of hell! Think of their end
their fearful end
and all
fear of them must be changed into contempt of their threatenings
and pity for
their miserable estate.
Verse
7. The delightful contrast of the last verse is well worthy of our observation
and it affords another overwhelming reason why we should be stedfast
unmoveable
not carried away with fear
or led to adopt carnal expedients in
order to avoid trial. "For the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness." It is not only his office to defend it
but his nature
to love it. He would deny himself if he did not defend the just. It is
essential to the very being of God that he should be just; fear not
then
the
end of all your trials
but "be just
and fear not." God approves
and
if men oppose
what matters it? "His countenance doth behold the
upright." We need never be out of countenance
for God countenances
us. He observes
he approves
he delights in the upright. He sees his own image
in them
an image of his own fashioning
and therefore with complacency he
regards them. Shall we dare to put forth our hand unto iniquity in order to
escape affliction? Let us have done with by-ways and short turnings
and let us
keep to that fair path of right along which Jehovah's smile shall light us. Are
we tempted to put our light under a bushel
to conceal our religion from our
neighbours? Is it suggested to us that there are ways of avoiding the cross
and shunning the reproach of Christ? Let us not hearken to the voice of the
charmer
but seek an increase of faith
that we may wrestle with principalities
and powers
and follow the Lord
fully going without the camp
bearing his
reproach. Mammon
the flesh
the devil
will all whisper in our ear
"Flee
as a bird to your mountain;" but let us come forth and defy them all.
"Resist the devil
and he will flee from you." There is no room or
reason for retreat. Advance! Let the vanguard push on! To the front! all ye
powers and passions of our soul. On! on! in God's name
on! for "the Lord
of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge."
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. The most
probable account of the occasion of this Psalm is that given by Amyraldus. He
thinks it was composed by David while he was in the court of Saul
at a time
when the hostility of the king was beginning to show itself
and before it had
broken out into open persecution. David's friends
or those professing to be
so
advised him to flee to his native mountains for a time
and remain in
retirement
till the king should show himself more favourable. David does not
at that time accept the counsel
though afterwards he seems to have followed
it. This Psalm applies itself to the establishment of the church against the
calumnies of the world and the compromising counsel of man
in that confidence
which is to be placed in God the Judge of all. W. Wilson
D.D.
in loc.
1860.
Whole
Psalm. If one may offer to make a modest conjecture
it is not
improbable this Psalm might be composed on the sad murder of the priests by
Saul (1 Samuel 22:19)
when after the slaughter of Abimelech
the high priest
Doeg
the Edomite
by command from Saul
"slew in one day fourscore and
five persons which wore a linen ephod." I am not so carnal as to build the
spiritual church of the Jews on the material walls of the priests' city at Nob
(which then by Doeg was smitten with the edge of the sword)
but this is most
true
that "knowledge must preserve the people;" and (Malachi 2:7)
"The priests' lips shall preserve knowledge;" and then it is easy to
conclude
what an earthquake this massacre might make in the foundations of
religion. Thomas Fuller.
Whole
Psalm. Notice how remarkably the whole Psalm corresponds with the
deliverance of Lot from Sodom. This verse
with the angel's exhortation
"Escape to the mountains
lest thou be consumed
" and Lot's reply
"I cannot escape to the mountains
lest some evil take me and I die."
Genesis 19:17-19. And again
"The Lord's seat is in heaven
and upon
the ungodly he shall rain snares
fire
brimstone
storm and tempest
"
with "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire out
of heaven:" and again "His countenance will behold the thing that
is just
" with "Delivered just Lot . . . for that righteous man
vexed his righteous soul with their ungodly deeds." 2 Peter 2: 7
8. Cassidorus
(A.D.
560) in John Mason Neal's "Commentary on the Psalms
from
Primitive and Mediaeval Writers
" 1860.
Whole
Psalm. The combatants at the Lake Thrasymene are said to have been so
engrossed with the conflict that neither party perceived the convulsions of
nature that shook the ground—
"An
earthquake reeled unheedingly away
None felt stern nature rocking at his feet."
From
a nobler cause
it is thus with the soldiers of the Lamb. They believe
and
therefore
make no haste; nay
they can scarcely be said to feel earth's
convulsions as other men
because their eager hope presses forward to the issue
at the advent of the Lord. Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 1. "I
trust in the Lord: how do ye say to my soul
Swerve on to your mountain like a
bird?" (others
"O thou bird.") Saul and his
adherents mocked and jeered David with such taunting speeches
as conceiving
that he knew no other shift or refuge
but so betaking himself unto wandering
and lurking on the mountains; hopping
as it were
from one place to another
like a silly bird; but they thought to ensnare and take him well enough for all
that
not considering God who was David's comfort
rest and refuge. Theodore
Haak's "Translation of the Dutch Annotations
as ordered by the Synod of
Dort
in 1618." London
1657.
Verse 1. "With
Jehovah I have taken shelter; how say ye to my soul
Flee
sparrows
to your
hill?" "Your hill
" that hill from which you say your
help cometh: a sneer. Repair to that boasted hill
which may indeed give you
the help which it gives the sparrow: a shelter against the inclemencies of a
stormy sky
no defence against our power. Samuel Horsley
in loc.
Verse 1. "In
the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul
Flee as a bird to your
mountain?" The holy confidence of the saints in the hour of great
trial is beautifully illustrated by the following ballad which Anne Askew
who
was burned at Smithfield in 1546
made and sang when she was in Newgate:—
Like as the
armed knight
Appointed to the field
With this world will I fight
And Christ shall be my shield.
Faith
is that weapon strong
Which will not fail at need:
My foes
therefore
among
Therewith will I proceed.
As
it is had in strength
And force of Christe's way
It will prevail at length
Though all the devils say nay.
Faith
in the fathers old
Obtained righteousness;
Which makes me very bold
To fear no world's distress.
I
now rejoice in heart
And hope bids me do so;
For Christ will take my part
And ease me of my woe.
Thou
say'st Lord
whoso knock
To them wilt thou attend:
Undo therefore the lock
And thy strong power send.
More
enemies now I have
Than hairs upon my head:
Let them not me deprave
But fight thou in my stead.
On
thee my care I cast
For all their cruel spite:
I set not by their haste;
For thou art my delight.
I
am not she that list
My anchor to let fall
For every drizzling mist
My ship substantial.
Not
oft use I to write
In prose
nor yet in rhyme;
Yet will I shew one sight
That I saw in my time.
I
saw a royal throne
Where justice should have sit
But in her stead was one
Of moody
cruel wit.
Absorbed
was righteousness
As of the raging flood:
Satan
in his excess
Sucked up the guiltless blood.
Then
thought I
Jesus Lord
When thou shall judge us all
Hard it is to record
On these men what will fall.
Yet
Lord
I thee desire
For that they do to me
Let them not taste the hire
Of their iniquity.
Verse 1. "How
say ye to my soul
Flee as a bird to your mountain?" We may observe
that David is much pleased with the metaphor in frequently comparing himself to
a bird
and that of several sorts: first
to an eagle (Psalm 103:5)
"My
youth is renewed like the eagle's;" sometimes to an owl (Psalm 102:6)
"I am like an owl in the desert;" sometimes to a pelican
in the same
verse
"Like a pelican in the wilderness;" sometimes to a sparrow
(Psalm 102:7)
"I watch
and am as a sparrow;" sometimes to a
partridge
"As when one doth hunt a partridge." I cannot say that he
doth compare himself to a dove
but he would compare himself (Psalm 55:6)
"O that I had the wings of a dove
for then I would flee away and be at
rest." Some will say
How is it possible that birds of so different a
feather should all so fly together as to meet in the character of David? To
whom we answer
That no two men can more differ one from another
that the same
servant of God at several times differeth from himself. David in prosperity
when commanding
was like an eagle; in adversity
when contemned
like
an owl; in devotion
when retired
like a pelican; in
solitariness
when having no company
(of Saul)
like a partridge.
This general metaphor of a bird
which David so often used on himself
his enemies in the first verse of this Psalm used on him
though not
particularising the kind thereof: "Flee as a bird to your
mountain;" that is
speedily betake thyself to thy God
in whom thou
hopest for succour and security.
Seeing
this counsel was both good in itself
and good at this time
why doth David
seem so angry and displeased thereat? Those his words
"Why say you to
my soul
Flee as a bird to your mountain?" import some passion
at
leastwise
a disgust of the advice. It is answered
David was not offended with
the counsel
but with the manner of the propounding thereof. His enemies did it
ironically in a gibing
jeering way
as if his flying thither were to no
purpose
and he unlikely to find there the safety he sought for. However
David
was not hereby put out of conceit with the counsel
beginning this Psalm with
this his firm resolution
"In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye then
to my soul
" etc. Learn we from hence
when men give us good counsel
in a jeering way
let us take the counsel
and practice it; and leave them the
jeer to be punished for it. Indeed
corporal cordials may be envenomed by being
wrapped up in poisoned papers; not so good spiritual advice where the good
matter receives no infection from the ill manner of the delivery thereof. Thus
when the chief priests mocked our Saviour (Matthew 27:43)
"He trusted in
God
let him deliver him now if he will have him." Christ trusted in God
never a whit the less for the fleere and flout which their profaneness was
pleased to bestow upon him. Otherwise
if men's mocks should make us to
undervalue good counsel
we might in this age be mocked out of our God
and
Christ
and Scripture
and heaven; the apostle Jude
verse 18
having foretold
that in the last times there should be mockers
walking after their own lusts. Thomas
Fuller.
Verse 1. It is as
great an offence to make a new
as to deny the true God. "In the Lord
put I my trust;" how then "say ye unto my soul" (ye
seducers of souls)
"that she should fly unto the mountains as a
bird;" to seek unnecessary and foreign helps
as if the Lord alone
were not sufficient? "The Lord is my rock
and my fortress
and he that
delivereth me
my God
and my strength; in him will I trust: my shield
the
horn of my salvation
and my refuge. I will call upon the Lord
who is worthy
to be praised
so shall I be safe from mine enemies." "Whom have I in
heaven but thee
" amongst those thousands of angels and saints
what
Michael or Gabriel
what Moses or Samuel
what Peter
what Paul? "and
there is none in earth that I desire in comparison of thee." John King
1608.
Verse 1. In
temptations of inward trouble and terror
it is not convenient to dispute the
matter with Satan. David in Psalm 42:11
seems to correct himself for his
mistake; his soul was cast down within him
and for the cure of that
temptation
he had prepared himself by arguments for a dispute; but perceiving
himself in a wrong course
he calls off his soul from disquiet to an immediate
application to God and the promises
"Trust still in God
for I shall yet
praise him;" but here he is more aforehand with his work; for while his
enemies were acted by Satan to discourage him
he rejects the temptation at
first
before it settled upon his thoughts
and chaseth it away as a thing that
he would not give ear to. "In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my
soul
Flee as a bird to your mountain?" And there are weighty reasons
that should dissuade us from entering the lists with Satan in temptation of
inward trouble. Richard Gilpin.
Verse 1. The shadow
will not cool except in it. What good to have the shadow though of a mighty
rock
when we sit in the open sun? To have almighty power engaged for us
and
we to throw ourselves out of it
by bold sallies in the mouth of temptation!
The saints' falls have been when they have run out of their trench and
stronghold; for
like the conies
they are a weak people in themselves
and
their strength lies in the rock of God's almightiness
which is their
habitation. William Gurnall.
Verse 1. The saints
of old would not accept deliverances on base terms. They scorned to fly away
for the enjoyment of rest except it were with the wings of a dove
covered with
silver innocence. As willing were many of the martyrs to die as to dine. The
tormentors were tired in torturing Blandina. "We are ashamed
O Emperor!
The Christians laugh at your cruelty
and grow the more resolute
" said
one of Julian's nobles. This the heathen counted obstinacy; but they knew not
the power of the Spirit
nor the secret armour of proof
which saints wear about
their hearts. John Trapp.
Verse 2. "For
lo
the wicked bend their bow
" etc. This verse presents an unequal
combat betwixt armed power
advantaged with policy
on the one side; and
naked innocence on the other. First
armed power: "They bend
their bows
and make ready their arrows
" being all the artillery of
that age; secondly
advantaged with policy: "that they may privily
shoot
" to surprise them with an ambush unawares
probably pretending
amity and friendship unto them; thirdly
naked innocence: if innocence
may be termed naked
which is its own armour; "at the upright in
heart." Thomas Fuller.
Verse 2. "For
lo
the ungodly bend their bow
and make ready their arrows within the quiver:
that they may privily shoot at them which are true of heart." The
plottings of the chief priests and Pharisees that they might take Jesus by
subtlety and kill him. They bent their bow
when they hired Judas Iscariot for
the betrayal of his Master; they made ready their arrows within the quiver when
they sought "false witnesses against Jesus to put him to death."
Matthew 26:59. "Them which are true of heart." Not alone the
Lord himself
the only true and righteous
but his apostles
and the long line
of those who should faithfully cleave to him from that time to this. And as
with the Master
so with the servants: witness the calumnies and the revilings
that from the time of Joseph's accusation by his mistress till the present day
have been the lot of God's people. Michael Ayguan
1416
in J. M.
Neale's Commentary.
Verse 2. "That
they may secretly shoot at them which are upright in heart." They bear
not their bows and arrows as scarecrows in a garden of cucumbers
to fray
but to
shoot
not at stakes
but men; their arrows are jacula mortifera
(Psalm 7)
deadly arrows
and lest they should fail to hit
they take advantage
of the dark
of privacy and secrecy; they shoot privily. Now this is the
covenant of hell itself. For what created power in the earth is able to
dissolve that work which cruelty and subtlety
like Simeon and
Levi
brothers in evil
are combined and confederate to bring to pass? Where
subtlety is ingenious
insidious to invent
cruelty barbarous to execute
subtlety giveth counsel
cruelty giveth the stroke. Subtlety ordereth the time
the place
the means
accomodateth
concinnateth circumstances; cruelty
undertaketh the act: subtlety hideth the knife
cruelty cutteth the throat:
subtlety with a cunning head layeth the ambush
plotteth the train
the
stratagem; and cruelty with as savage a heart
sticketh not at the
dreadfullest
direfullest objects
ready to wade up to the ankles
the neck
in
a whole red sea of human
yea
country blood: how fearful is their plight that
are thus assaulted! John King.
Verse 3. "If
the foundations be destroyed
what can the righteous do?" But now we
are met with a giant objection
which with Goliath must be removed
or else it
will obstruct our present proceedings. Is it possible that the foundations
of religion should be destroyed? Can God be in so long a sleep
yea
so long
a lethargy
as patiently to permit the ruins thereof? If he looks on
and yet
doth not see these foundations when destroyed
where then is his omnisciency?
If he seeth it
and cannot help it
where then is his omnipotency? If he
seeth it
can help it
and will not
where then is his goodness and mercy?
Martha said to Jesus (John 11:21)
"Lord
if thou hadst been here
my
brother had not died." But many will say
Were God effectually present in
the world with his aforesaid attributes
surely the foundations had not died
had not been destroyed. We answer negatively
that it is impossible that
the foundations of religion should ever be totally and finally
destroyed
either in relation to the church in general
or in reference to
every true and lively member thereof. For the first
we have an express promise
of Christ. Matthew 16:18. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against
it." Fundamenta tamen stant inconcussa Sionis. And as for every
particular Christian (2 Timothy 2:19)
"Nevertheless
the foundation of
God standeth sure
having this seal
the Lord knoweth them that are his."
However
though for the reasons aforementioned in the objections (the
inconsistency thereof with the attributes of God's omnipotency
omnisciency
and goodness)
the foundations can never totally and finally
yet may
they partially be destroyed
quoad gradum
in a fourfold degree
as
followeth. First
in the desires and utmost endeavours of wicked men
They
bring their—
1. Hoc
velle
2. Hoc agere
3. Totum posse.
If
they destroy not the foundations
it is no thanks to them
seeing all
the world will bear them witness they have done their best (that is
their
worst)
what their might and malice could perform. Secondly
in their
own vainglorious imaginations: they may not only vainly boast
but also
verily believe that they have destroyed the foundations. Applicable to
this purpose
is that high rant of the Roman emperor (Luke 2:1): "And it
came to pass in those days
that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be taxed." All the world! whereas he had
though
much
not all in Europe
little in Asia
less in Africa
none in America
which
was so far from being conquered
it was not so much as known to the Romans. But
hyperbole is not a figure
but the ordinary language of pride; because
indeed Augustus had very much he proclaimeth himself to have all the world. . .
. Thirdly
the foundations may be destroyed as to all outward visible
illustrious apparition. The church in persecution is like unto a ship in a
tempest; down go all their masts
yea
sometimes for the more speed they are
forced to cut them down: not a piece of canvas to play with the winds
no sails
to be seen; they lie close knotted to the very keel
that the tempest may have
the less power upon them
though when the storm is over
they can hoist up
their sails as high
and spread their canvas as broad as ever before. So the
church in the time of persecution feared
but especially felt
loseth all gayness and gallantry which may attract and allure the eyes of
beholders
and contenteth itself with its own secrecy. In a word
on the
work-days of affliction she weareth her worst clothes
whilst her best are laid
up in her wardrobe
in sure and certain hope that God will give her a holy
and happy day
when with joy she shall wear her best garments. Lastly
they may be destroyed in the jealous apprehensions of the best
saints and servants of God
especially in their melancholy fits. I will
instance in no puny
but in a star of the first magnitude and greatest
eminency
even Elijah himself complaining (1 Kings 19:10): "And I
even I
only
am left; and they seek my life
to take it away." Thomas Fuller.
Verse 3. "If."
It is the only word of comfort in the text
that what is said is not positive
but suppositive; not thetical
but hypothetical. And yet this comfort which
is but a spark (at which we would willingly kindle our hopes)
is quickly
sadded with a double consideration. First
impossible suppositions produce
impossible consequences
"As is the mother
so is the daughter."
Therefore
surely God's Holy Spirit would not suppose such a thing but what was
feasible and possible
but what either had
did
or might come to pass.
Secondly
the Hebrew word is not the conditional im
si
si forte
but chi
quia
quoniam
because
and (although here it be favourably rendered if)
seemeth to import
more therein
that the sad case had already happened in
David's days. I see
therefore
that this if
our only hope in the text
is likely to prove with Job's friends
but a miserable comforter. Well
it is
good to know the worst of things
that we may provide ourselves accordingly;
and therefore let us behold this doleful case
not as doubtful
but as done;
not as feared
but felt; not as suspected
but at this time really come to
pass. Thomas Fuller.
Verse 3. "If
the foundations
" etc. My text is an answer to a tacit objection which
some may raise; namely
that the righteous are wanting to themselves
and by
their own easiness and inactivity (not daring and doing so much as they might
and ought)
betray themselves to that bad condition. In whose defence David
shows
that if God in his wise will and pleasure seeth it fitting
for reasons
best known to himself
to suffer religion to be reduced to terms of extremity
it is not placed in the power of the best man alive to remedy and redress the
same. "If the foundations be destroyed
what can the righteous
do?" My text is hung about with mourning
as for a funeral
sermon
and contains: First
a sad case supposed
"If the foundations
be destroyed." Secondly
a sad question propounded
"What can
the righteous do?" Thirdly
a sad answer implied
namely
that they
can do just nothing
as to that point of re-establishing the destroyed
foundation. Thomas Fuller.
Verse 3. "If
the foundations be destroyed
" etc. The civil foundation of a nation
or people
is their laws and constitutions. The order and power that's among
them
that's the foundation of a people; and when once this foundation is
destroyed
"What can the righteous do?" What can the best
the
wisest in the world
do in such a case? What can any man do
if there be not a
foundation of government left among men? There is no help nor answer in such a
case but that which follows in the fourth verse of the Psalm
"The Lord
is in his holy temple
the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold
his
eyelids try
the children of men;" as if he had said
in the midst of
these confusions
when as it is said (Psalm 82:5)
"All the foundations of
the earth are out of course;" yet God keeps his course still
he is where
he was and as he was
without variableness or shadow of turning. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 3. "The
righteous." The righteous indefinitely
equivalent to the righteous
universally; not only the righteous as a single arrow
but in the whole sheaf;
not only the righteous in their personal
but in their diffusive capacity. Were
they all collected into one body
were all the righteous living in the same age
wherein the foundations are destroyed
summoned up and modelled into one
corporation
all their joint endeavours would prove ineffectual to the
re-establishing of the fallen foundations
as not being man's work
but
only God's work to perform. Thomas Fuller.
Verse 3. "The
foundations." Positions
the things formerly fixed
placed
and
settled. It is not said
if the roof be ruinous
or if the side walls be
shattered
but if the foundations.
Verse 3. "Foundations
be destroyed." In the plural. Here I will not warrant my skill in
architecture
but conceive this may pass for an undoubted truth: it is possible
that a building settled on several entire foundations (suppose them pillars)
close one to another
if one of them fall
yet the structure may still stand
or rather hang (at the least for a short time) by virtue of the complicative
which it receiveth from such foundations which still stand secure. But in case
there be a total rout
and an utter ruin of all the foundations
none
can fancy to themselves a possibility of that building's subsistence. Thomas
Fuller.
Verse 3. "What
CAN the righteous?" The can of the righteous is a limited can
confined to the rule of God's word; they can do nothing but what they can
lawfully do. 2 Corinthians 13:8. "For we can do nothing against the
truth
but for the truth:" Illud possumus
quod jure possumus.
Wicked men can do anything; their conscience
which is so wide that it is none
at all
will bear them out to act anything how unlawful soever
to stab
poison
massacre
by any means
at any time
in any place
whosoever standeth
betwixt them and the effecting of their desires. Not so the righteous; they
have a rule whereby to walk
which they will not
they must not
they dare not
cross. If therefore a righteous man were assured
that by the breach of one of
God's commandments he might restore decayed religion
and re-settle it statu
quo prius
his hands
head
and heart are tied up
he can do
nothing
because their damnation is just who say (Romans 3:8)
"Let
us do evil that good may come thereof."
Verse 3. "Do."
It is not said
What can they think? It is a great blessing which God
hath allowed injured people
that though otherwise oppressed and straitened
they may freely enlarge themselves in their thoughts. Thomas Fuller.
Verse 3. Sinning
times have ever been the saints' praying times: this sent Ezra with a heavy
heart to confess the sin of his people
and to bewail their abominations before
the Lord. Ezra 9. And Jeremiah tells the wicked of his degenerate age
that
"his soul should weep in secret places for their pride." Jeremiah 13:17.
Indeed
sometimes sin comes to such a height
that this is almost all the godly
can do
to get into a corner
and bewail the general pollutions of the age. "If
the foundations be destroyed
what can the righteous do?" Such dismal
days of national confusion our eyes have seen
when foundations of government
were destroyed
and all hurled into military confusion. When it is thus with a
people
"What can the righteous do?" Yes
this they may
and
should do
"fast and pray." There is yet a God in heaven to be sought
to
when a people's deliverance is thrown beyond the help of human policy or
power. Now is the fit time to make their appeal to God
as the words following
hint: "The Lord is in his holy temple
the Lord's throne is in
heaven;" in which words God is presented sitting in heaven as a
temple
for their encouragement
I conceive
in such a desperate state of
affairs
to direct their prayers thither for deliverance. And certainly this
hath been the engine that hath been instrumental
above any
to restore this
poor nation again
and set it upon the foundation of that lawful government
from which it had so dangerously departed. William Gurnall.
Verse 4. The
infinite understanding of God doth exactly know the sins of men; he knows so as
to consider. He doth not only know them
but intently behold them: "His
eyelids try the children of men
" a metaphor taken from men
that
contract the eyelids when they would wistly and accurately behold a thing: it
is not a transient and careless look. Stephen Charnock.
Verse 4. "His
eyes behold
" etc. God searcheth not as man searcheth
by enquiring
into that which before was hid from him; his searching is no more but his
beholding; he seeth the heart
he beholdeth the reins; God's very sight is
searching. Hebrews 4:13. "All things are naked
and opened unto his
eyes
" tetrachlidmena
dissected or anatomised. He hath at once as
exact a view of the most hidden things
the very entrails of the soul
as if
they had been with never so great curiosity anatomised before him. Richard
Alleine
1611-1681.
Verse 4. "His
eyes behold
" etc. Consider that God not only sees into all you do
but he sees it to that very end that he may examine and search into it. He doth
not only behold you with a common and indifferent look
but with a searching
watchful
and inquisitive eye: he pries into the reasons
the motives
the ends
of all your actions. "The Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold
his eyelids try
the children of men." Revelation 1:14
where Christ
is described
it is said
his eyes are as a flame of fire: you know the
property of fire is to search and make trial of those things which are exposed
unto it
and to separate the dross from the pure metal: so
God's eye is like
fire
to try and examine the actions of men: he knows and discerns how much
your very purest duties have in them of mixture
and base ends of formality
hypocrisy
distractedness
and deadness: he sees through all your specious
pretenses
that which you cast as a mist before the eyes of men when yet thou art
but a juggler in religion: all your tricks and sleights of outward profession
all those things that you use to cozen and delude men withal
cannot possibly
impose upon him: he is a God that can look through all those fig-leaves of
outward profession
and discern the nakedness of your duties through them. Ezekiel
Hopkins
D.D.
Verse 4. "His
eyes behold
" etc. Take God into thy counsel. Heaven overlooks hell.
God at any time can tell thee what plots are hatching there against thee. William
Gurnall.
Verse 4. "His
eyes behold
his eyelids try
the children of men." When an offender
or one accused for any offence
is brought before a judge
and stands at the
bar to be arraigned
the judge looks upon him
eyes him
sets his eye upon him
and he bids the offender look up in his face: "Look upon me
" saith
the judge
"and speak up:" guiltiness usually clouds the forehead and
clothes the brow; the weight of guilt holds down the head! the evil doer
hath an ill look
or dares not look up; how glad is he if the judge looks
off him. We have such an expression here
speaking of the Lord
the great Judge
of heaven and earth: "His eyelids try the children of men
" as
a judge tries a guilty person with his eye
and reads the characters of his
wickedness printed in his face. Hence we have a common speech in our language
such a one looks suspiciously
or
he hath a guilty look. At that
great gaol-delivery described in Revelation 6:16
All the prisoners cry out to
be hid from the face of him that sat upon the throne. They could not look
upon Christ
and they could not endure Christ should look upon them; the
eyelids of Christ try the children of men. . . . Wickedness cannot endure to be
under the observation of any eye much less of the eye of justice. Hence the
actors of it say
"Who seeth us?" It is very hard not to show
the guilt of the heart in the face
and it is as hard to have it seen there. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 5. "The
Lord trieth the righteous." Except our sins
there is not such plenty
of anything in all the world as there is of troubles which come from sin
as
one heavy messenger came to Job after another. Since we are not in paradise
but in the wilderness
we must look for one trouble after another. As a bear
came to David after a lion
and a giant after a bear
and a king after a giant
and Philistines after a king
so
when believers have fought with poverty. they
shall fight with envy; when they have fought with envy
they shall fight with
infamy; when the have fought with infamy
they shall fight with sickness; they
shall be like a labourer who is never out of work. Henry Smith.
Verse 5. "The
Lord trieth the righteous." Times of affliction and persecution will
distinguish the precious from the vile
it will difference the counterfeit
professor from the true. Persecution is a Christian's touchstone
it is a lapis
lydius that will try what metal men are made of
whether they be silver or
tin
gold or dross
wheat or chaff
shadow or substance
carnal or spiritual
sincere or hypocritical. Nothing speaks out more soundness and uprightness than
a pursuing after holiness
even then when holiness is most afflicted
pursued
and persecuted in the world: to stand fast in fiery trials argues much
integrity within. Thomas Brooks.
Verse 5. Note the
singular opposition of the two sentences. God hates the wicked
and therefore
in contrast he loves the righteous; but it is here said that he tries them:
therefore it follows that to try and to love are with God the same thing. C.
H. S.
Verse 6. "Upon
the wicked he shall rain snares." Snares to hold them; then if they be
not delivered
follow fire and brimstone
and they cannot escape. This is the
case of a sinner if he repent not; if God pardon not
he is in the snare of
Satan's temptation
he is in the snare of divine vengeance; let him therefore
cry aloud for his deliverance
that he may have his feet in a large room. The
wicked lay snares for the righteous
but God either preventeth them that their
souls ever escape them
or else he subverteth them: "The snares are broken
and we are delivered." No snares hold us so fast as those of our own sins;
they keep down our heads
and stoop us that we cannot look up: a very little
ease they are to him that hath not a seared conscience. Samuel Page
1646.
Verse 6. "He
shall rain snares." As in hunting with the lasso
the huntsman casts a
snare from above upon his prey to entangle its head or feet
so shall the Lord
from above with many twistings of the line of terror
surround
bind
and take
captive the haters of his law. C. H. S.
Verse 6. "He
shall rain snares
" etc. He shall rain upon them when they least think
of it
even in the midst of their jollity
as rain falls on a fair day. Or
he
shall rain down the vengeance when he sees good
for it rains not always.
Though he defers it
yet it will rain. William Nicholson
Bishop of
Gloucester
in "David's Harp Strung and Tuned
" 1662.
Verse 6. "Upon
the wicked he shall rain snares
fire and brimstone
and an horrible
tempest." The strange dispensation of affairs in this world is an
argument which doth convincingly prove that there shall be such a day wherein
all the involucra and entanglements of providence shall be clearly
unfolded. Then shall the riddle be dissolved
why God hath given this and that
profane wretch so much wealth
and so much power to do mischief: is it not that
they might be destroyed for ever? Then shall they be called to a strict
account for all that plenty and prosperity for which they are now envied; and
the more they have abused
the more dreadful will their condemnation be. Then
it will be seen that God gave them not as mercies
but as "snares."
It is said that God "will rain on the wicked snares
fire and
brimstone
and an horrible tempest:" when he scatters abroad the
desirable things of this world
riches
honours
pleasures
etc.
then he rains
"snares" upon them; and when he shall call them to an account
for these things
then he will rain upon them "fire and brimstone
and
an horrible tempest" of his wrath and fury. Dives
who caroused on
earth
yet
in hell could not obtain so much as one poor drop of water to cool
his scorched and flaming tongue: had not his excess and intemperance been so
great in his life
his fiery thirst had not been so tormenting after death; and
therefore
in that sad item that Abraham gives him (Luke 16:25)
he bids him "remember
that thou
in thy lifetime
receivedst thy good things
and likewise Lazarus
evil things; but now he is comforted
and thou art tormented." I look
upon this as a most bitter and a most deserved sarcasm; upbraiding him for his
gross folly
in making the trifles of this life his good things. Thou hast
received thy good things
but now thou art tormented. Oh
never call Dive's
purple and delicious fare good things
if they thus end in torments! Was
it good for him to be wrapped in purple who is now wrapped in flames? Was it
good for him to fare deliciously who was only thereby fatted up against the day
of slaughter? Ezekiel Hopkins.
Verse 6. "Snares
fire and brimstone
storm and tempest: this shall be the portion of their
cup." After the judgment follows the condemnation: pre-figured as we
have seen
by the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Snares:"
because the allurements of Satan in this life will be their worst punishments
in the next; the fire of anger
the brimstone of impurity
the tempest of
pride
the lust of the flesh
the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life. "This
shall be their portion;" compare it with the psalmist's own saying
"The Lord himself is the portion of my inheritance and my cup." Psalm
16:5. Cassidorus
in J. M. Neale's Commentary.
Verse 6. "The
portion of their cup." Hebrew
the allotment of their cup. The
expression has reference to the custom of distributing to each guest his mess
of meat. William French and George Skinner
1842.
Verse 7. That God
may give grace without glory is intelligible; but to admit a man to communion
with him in glory without grace
is not intelligible. It is not agreeable to
God's holiness to make any inhabitant of heaven
and converse freely with him
in a way of intimate love
without such a qualification of grace: "The
righteous Lord loveth righteousness;" his countenance doth behold the
upright;" he looks upon him with a smiling eye
and therefore he
cannot favourably look upon an unrighteous person; so that this necessity is
not founded only in the command of God that we should be renewed
but in the
very nature of the thing
because God
in regard to his holiness
cannot
converse with an impure creature. God must change his nature
or the sinner's
nature must be changed. There can be no friendly communion between two of
different natures without the change of one of them into the likeness of the
other. Wolves and sheep
darkness and light
can never agree. God cannot love a
sinner as a sinner
because he hates impurity by a necessity of nature as well
as a choice of will. It is as impossible for him to love it as to cease to be
holy. Stephen Charnock.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. Faith's
bold avowal
and brave refusal.
Verse 1. Teacheth us
to trust in God
how great soever our dangers be; also that we shall be many
times assaulted to make us put far from us this trust
but yet that we must
cleave unto it
as the anchor of our souls
sure and steadfast. Thomas
Wilcocks.
Verse 1. The advice
of cowardice
and the jeer of insolence
both answered by faith. Lesson—Attempt
no other answer.
Verse 2. The
craftiness of our spiritual enemies.
Verse 3. This may
furnish a double discourse.
I.
If God's oath and promise could remove
what could we do? Here the
answer is easy.
II.
If all earthly things fail
and the very State fall to pieces
what can we
do? We can suffer joyfully
hope cheerfully
wait patiently
pray earnestly
believe confidently
and triumph finally.
Verse 3. Necessity
of holding and preaching foundation truths.
Verse 4. The
elevation
mystery
supremacy
purity
everlastingness
invisibility
etc.
of
the throne of God.
Verses 4
5. In these
verses mark the fact that the children of men
as well as the righteous
are
tried; work out the contrast between the two trials in their designs and
results
etc.
Verse 5. "The
Lord trieth the righteous."
I.
Who are tried?
II.
What in them is tried?—Faith
love
etc.
III.
In what manner?—Trials of every sort.
IV.
How long?
V.
For what purpose?
Verse 5. "His
soul hateth." The thoroughness of God's hatred of sin. Illustrate by
providential judgments
threatenings
sufferings of the Surety
and the terrors
of hell.
Verse 5. The trying
of the gold
and the sweeping out of the refuse.
Verse 6. "He
shall rain." Gracious rain and destroying rain.
Verse 6. The portion
of the impenitent.
Verse 7. The Lord
possesses righteousness as a personal attribute
loves it in the abstract
and
blesses those who practise it.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》