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Psalm Twelve
Psalm 12
Chapter Contents
The psalmist begs help of God
because there were none
among men whom he durst trust.
This psalm furnishes good thoughts for bad times; a man
may comfort himself with such meditations and prayers. Let us see what makes
the times bad
and when they may be said to be so. Ask the children of this
world
What makes the times bad? they will tell you
Scarcity of money
decay
of trade
and the desolations of war
make the times bad: but the Scripture
lays the badness of the times on causes of another nature
2 Timothy 3:1
& c.: perilous times shall
come
for sin shall abound; and of this David complains. When piety decays
times really are bad. He who made man's mouth will call him to an account for
his proud
profane
dissembling
or even useless words. When the poor and needy
are oppressed
then the times are very bad. God himself takes notice of the
oppression of the poor
and the sighing of the needy. When wickedness abounds
and is countenanced by those in authority
then the times are very bad. See with
what good things we are here furnished for such bad times; and we cannot tell
what times we may be reserved for. 1. We have a God to go to
from whom we may
ask and expect the redress of all our grievances. 2. God will certainly punish
and restrain false and proud men. 3. God will work deliverance for his
oppressed people. His help is given in the fittest time. Though men are false
God is faithful; though they are not to be trusted
God is. The preciousness of
God's word is compared to silver refined to the highest degree. How many proofs
have been given of its power and truth! God will secure his chosen remnant
however bad the times are. As long as the world stands
there will be a
generation of proud and wicked men. But all God's people are put into the hands
of Christ our Saviour; there they are in safety
for none can pluck them
thence; being built on Him
the Rock
they are safe
notwithstanding temptation
or persecution come with ever so much force upon them.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 12
Verse 4
[4] Who have said
With our tongue will we prevail; our lips
are our own: who is lord over us?
Prevail — By raising and spreading evil reports concerning him.
Our own — At our own disposal to speak what we please
who can
control or restrain us?
Verse 5
[5] For the oppression of the poor
for the sighing of the
needy
now will I arise
saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that
puffeth at him.
Puffeth — From him that despises him
and hopes to destroy him
with a puff of breath.
Verse 6
[6] The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in
a furnace of earth
purified seven times.
Pure — Without the least mixture of falsehood; and therefore
shall infallibly be fulfilled.
Verse 7
[7] Thou shalt keep them
O LORD
thou shalt preserve them
from this generation for ever.
Thou shalt keep them — Thy words or
promises: these thou wilt observe and keep
both now
and from this generation
for ever.
Verse 8
[8] The wicked walk on every side
when the vilest men are
exalted.
Walk — They fill all places
and go about boldly and
securely.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Psalm 12
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
Other Work
TITLE. This
Psalm is headed "To the Chief Musician upon Sheminith
a Psalm of
David
" which title is identical with that of the sixth Psalm
except
that Neginoth is here omitted. We have nothing new to add
and therefore refer
the reader to our remarks on the dedication of Psalm VI. As Sheminith signifies
the eighth
the Arabic version says it is concerning the end of the world
which shall be the eighth day
and refers it to the coming of the Messiah:
without accepting so fanciful an interpretation
we may read this song of
complaining faith in the light of His coming who shall break in pieces the
oppressor. The subject will be the better before the mind's eye if we entitle
this Psalm: "GOOD THOUGHTS IN BAD TIMES." It is supposed to
have been written while Saul was persecuting David
and those who favoured his
cause.
DIVISION.
In the first and second verses David spreads his plaint before the Lord
concerning the treachery of his age; verses 3 and 4 denounce judgments upon
proud traitors; in verse 5
Jehovah himself thunders out his wrath against
oppressors; hearing this
the Chief Musician sings sweetly of the faithfulness
of God and his care of his people
in verses 6 and 7; but closes on the old key
of lament in verse 8
as he observes the abounding wickedness of his times.
Those holy souls who dwell in Mesech
and sojourn in the tents of Kedar
may
read and sing these sacred stanzas with hearts in full accord with their
mingled melody of lowly mourning and lofty confidence.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. "Help
Lord." A short but sweet
suggestive
seasonable
and serviceable
prayer; a kind of angel's sword
to be turned every way
and to be used on all
occasions. Ainsworth says the word rendered "help
" is largely used
for all manner of saving
helping
delivering
preserving
etc. Thus it seems
that the prayer is very full and instructive. The Psalmist sees the extreme
danger of his position
for a man had better be among lions than among liars;
he feels his own inability to deal with such sons of Belial
for "he who
shall touch them must be fenced with iron;" he therefore turns himself to his
all-sufficient Helper
the Lord
whose help is never denied to his servants
and whose aid is enough for all their needs. "Help
Lord
" is
a very useful ejaculation which we may dart up to heaven on occasions of
emergency
whether in labour
learning
suffering
fighting
living
or dying.
As small ships can sail into harbours which larger vessels
drawing more water
cannot enter
so our brief cries and short petitions may trade with heaven when
our soul is wind-bound
and business-bound
as to longer exercises of devotion
and when the stream of grace seems at too low an ebb to float a more laborious
supplication. "For the godly man ceaseth;" the death
departure
or decline of godly men should be a trumpet-call for more prayer.
They say that fish smell first at the head
and when godly men decay
the whole
commonwealth will soon go rotten. We must not
however
be rash in our judgment
on this point
for Elijah erred in counting himself the only servant of God
alive
when there were thousands whom the Lord held in reserve. The present
times always appear to be peculiarly dangerous
because they are nearest to our
anxious gaze
and whatever evils are rife are sure to be observed
while the
faults of past ages are further off
and are more easily overlooked. Yet we expect
that in the latter days
"because iniquity shall abound
the love of many
shall wax cold
" and then we must the more thoroughly turn from man
and
address ourselves to the Churches' Lord
by whose help the gates of hell shall
be kept from prevailing against us. "The faithful fail from among the
children of men;" when godliness goes
faithfulness inevitably
follows; without fear of God
men have no love of truth. Common honesty is no
longer common
when common irreligion leads to universal godlessness. David had
his eye on Doeg
and the men of Ziph and Keilah
and perhaps remembered the
murdered priests of Nob
and the many banished ones who consorted with him in
the cave of Adullam
and wondered where the state would drift without the
anchors of its godly and faithful men. David
amid the general misrule
did not
betake himself to seditious plottings
but to solemn petitionings; nor did he
join with the multitude to do evil
but took up the arms of prayer to withstand
their attacks upon virtue.
Verse 2. "They
speak vanity every one with his neighbour." They utter that which is
vain to hear
because of its frivolous
foolish
want of worth; vain to believe
because it was false and lying; vain to trust to
since it was deceitful
and flattering; vain to regard
for it lifted up the hearer
filling him
with proud conceit of himself. It is a sad thing when it is the fashion to talk
vanity. "Ca'me
and I'll ca'thee." is the old Scotch proverb; give me
a high sounding character
and I will give you one. Compliments and fawning
congratulations are hateful to honest men; they know that if they take they
must give them
and they scorn to do either. These accommodation-bills are most
admired by those who are bankrupt in character. Bad are the times when every
man thus cajoles and cozens his neighbour. "With flattering lips and
with a double heart do they speak." He who puffs up another's heart
has nothing better than wind in his own. If a man extols me to my face
he only
shows me one side of his heart
and the other is black with contempt for me
or
foul with intent to cheat me. Flattery is the sign of the tavern where
duplicity is the host. The Chinese consider a man of two hearts to be a very
base man
and we shall be safe in reckoning all flatteries to be such.
Verses 3
4. Total
destruction shall overwhelm the lovers of flattery and pride
but meanwhile how
they hector and fume! Well did the apostle call them "raging waves of the
sea
foaming out their own shame." Free-thinkers are generally very
free-talkers
and they are never more at ease than when railing at God's
dominion
and arrogating to themselves unbounded license. Strange is it that
the easy yoke of the Lord should so gall the shoulders of the proud
while the
iron bands of Satan they bind about themselves as chains of honour: they
boastfully cry unto God
"Who is lord over us?" and hear not the
hollow voice of the evil one
who cries from the infernal lake
"I am your
lord
and right faithfully do ye serve me." Alas
poor fools
their pride
and glory shall be cut off like a fading flower! May God grant that our soul
may not be gathered with them. It is worthy of observation that flattering
lips
and tongues speaking proud things
are classed together: the fitness of
this is clear
for they are guilty of the same vice
the first flatters
another
and the second flatters himself
in both cases a lie is in their right
hands. One generally imagines that flatterers are such mean parasites
so
cringing and fawning
that they cannot be proud; but the wise man will tell you
that while all pride is truly meanness
there is in the very lowest meanness no
small degree of pride. Caesar's horse is even more proud of carrying Caesar
than Caesar is of riding him. The mat on which the emperor wiped his shoes
boasts vaingloriously
crying out
"I cleaned the imperial boots."
None are so detestably domineering as the little creatures who creep into
office by cringing to the great; those are bad times
indeed
in which these
obnoxious beings are numerous and powerful. No wonder that the justice of God
in cutting off such injurious persons is matter for a psalm
for both earth and
heaven are weary of such provoking offenders
whose presence is a very plague
to the people afflicted thereby. Men cannot tame the tongues of such boastful
flatterers; but the Lord's remedy if sharp is sure
and is an unanswerable
answer to their swelling words of vanity.
Verse
5. In due season the Lord will hear his elect ones
who cry day and night unto
him
and though he bear long with their oppressors
yet will he avenge them
speedily. Observe that the mere oppression of saints
however silently they
bear it
is in itself a cry to God: Moses was heard at the Red Sea
though he
said nothing; and Hagar's affliction was heard despite her silence. Jesus feels
with his people
and their smarts are mighty orators with him. By-and-by
however
they begin to sigh and express their misery
and then relief
comes post-haste. Nothing moves a father like the cries of his children; he
bestirs himself
wakes up his manhood
overthrows the enemy
and sets his
beloved in safety. A puff is too much for the child to bear
and the foe
is so haughty
that he laughs the little one to scorn; but the Father comes
and then it is the child's turn to laugh
when he is set above the rage of his
tormentor. What virtue is there in a poor man's sighs
that they should move
the Almighty God to arise from his throne. The needy did not dare to speak
and
could only sigh in secret
but the Lord heard
and could rest no longer
but girded
on his sword for the battle. It is a fair day when our soul brings God into her
quarrel
for when his bare arm is seen
Philistia shall rue the day. The
darkest hours of the Church's night are those which precede the break of day.
Man's extremity is God's opportunity. Jesus will come to deliver just when his
needy ones shall sigh
as if all hope had gone for ever. O Lord
set thy now
near at hand
and rise up speedily to our help. Should the afflicted reader be
able to lay hold upon the promise of this verse
let him gratefully fetch a
fulness of comfort from it. Gurnall says
"As one may draw out the wine of
a whole hogshead at one tap
so may a poor soul derive the comfort of the whole
covenant to himself through one promise
if he be able to apply it." He
who promises to set us in safety
means thereby preservation on earth
and
eternal salvation in heaven.
Verse
6. What a contrast between the vain words of man
and the pure words of
Jehovah. Man's words are yea and nay
but the Lord's promises are yea and amen.
For truth
certainty
holiness
faithfulness
the words of the Lord are pure as
well-refined silver. In the original there is an allusion to the most
severely-purifying process known to the ancients
through which silver was
passed when the greatest possible purity was desired; the dross was all
consumed
and only the bright and precious metal remained; so clear and free
from all alloy of error or unfaithfulness is the book of the words of the Lord.
The Bible has passed through the furnace of persecution
literary criticism
philosophic doubt
and scientific discovery
and has lost nothing but those
human interpretations which clung to it as alloy to precious ore. The
experience of saints has tried it in every conceivable manner
but not a single
doctrine or promise has been consumed in the most excessive heat. What God's
words are
the words of his children should be. If we would be Godlike in
conversation
we must watch our language
and maintain the strictest purity of
integrity and holiness in all our communications.
Verse
7. To fall into the hands of an evil generation
so as to be baited by their
cruelty
or polluted by their influence
is an evil to be dreaded beyond
measure; but it is an evil foreseen and provided for in the text. In life many
a saint has lived a hundred years before his age
as though he had darted his
soul into the brighter future
and escaped the mists of the beclouded present:
he has gone to his grave unreverenced and misunderstood
and lo! as generations
come and go
upon a sudden the hero is unearthed
and lives in the admiration
and love of the excellent of the earth; preserved for ever from the generation
which stigmatised him as a sower of sedition
or burned him as a heretic. It
should be our daily prayer that we may rise above our age as the mountain-tops
above the clouds
and may stand out as heaven-pointing pinnacle high above the
mists of ignorance and sin which roll around us. O Eternal Spirit
fulfil in us
the faithful saying of this verse! Our faith believes those two assuring words
and cries
"Thou shalt
" "thou shalt."
Verse
8. Here we return to the fount of bitterness
which first made the psalmist run
to the wells of salvation
namely
the prevalence of wickedness. When those in
power are vile
their underlings will be no better. As a warm sun brings out
noxious flies
so does a sinner in honour foster vice everywhere. Our turf
would not so swarm with abominables if those who are styled honourables did not
give their countenance to the craft. Would to God that the glory and triumph of
our Lord Jesus would encourage us to walk and work on every side; as like acts
upon like
since an exalted sinner encourages sinners
our exalted Redeemer
must surely excite
cheer
and stimulate his saints. Nerved by a sight of his
reigning power we shall meet the evils of the times in the spirit of holy
resolution
and shall the more hopefully pray
"Help
Lord."
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. "Help
Lord." 'Twas high time to call to heaven for help
when Saul cried
"Go
kill me up the priests of Jehovah" (the occasion as it is
thought of making this Psalm)
and therein committed the sin against the Holy
Ghost
as some grave divines are of opinion. 1 Samuel 22:17. David
after many
sad thoughts about that slaughter
and the occasion of it
Doeg's malicious
information
together with the paucity of his fast friends
and the multitude
of his sworn enemies at court
breaks forth abruptly into these words
"Help
Lord
" help at a dead lift. The Arabic version hath it
Deliver me
by main force
as with weapons of war
for "the Lord is a man of
war." Exodus 15:3. John Trapp.
Verse 1. "The
faithful." "A faithful man
" as a parent
a reprover
an adviser
one "without guile
" "who can find?"
Proverbs 20:6. Look close. View thyself in the glass of the word. Does thy
neighbour or thy friend
find thee faithful to him? What does our daily
intercourse witness? Is not the attempt to speak what is agreeable oft made at
the expense of truth? Are not professions of regard sometimes utterly
inconsistent with our real feelings? In common life
where gross violations are
restrained
a thousand petty offences are allowed
that break down the wall
between sin and duty
and
judged by the divine standard
are indeed guilty steps
upon forbidden ground. Charles Bridges
1850.
Verse 1. A "faithful"
man must be
first of all
faithful to himself; then
he must be faithful to
God; and then
he must be faithful to others
particularly the church of God.
And this
as it regards ministers
is of peculiar importance. Joseph Irons
1840.
Verse 1. Even as a
careful mother
seeing her child in the way when a company of unruly horses run
through the streets in full career
presently whips up her child in her arms
and taketh him home; or as the hen
seeing the ravenous kite over her head
clucks and gathers her chickens under her wings; even so when God hath a
purpose to bring a heavy calamity upon a land
it hath been usual with him to
call and cull out to himself such as are his dearly beloved. He takes his
choice servants from the evil to come. Thus was Augustine removed a little
before Hippo (wherein he dwelt) was taken; Paroeus died before Heidelburg was
sacked; and Luther was taken off before Germany was overrun with war and
bloodshed. Ed. Dunsterville in a Sermon at the Funeral of Sir Sim. Harcourt
1642.
Verse 1. "Help
Lord; for the godly man ceaseth
" etc.:—
Back
then
complainer
loathe thy life no more
Nor deem thyself upon a desert shore
Because the rocks the nearer prospect close.
Yet in fallen Israel are there hearts and eyes
That day by day in prayer like thine arise;
Thou knowest them not
but their Creator known.
Go
to the world return
nor fear to cast
Thy bread upon the waters
sure at last
In joy to find it after many days.
John
Keble
1792-1866.
Verses 1
2
4.
Consider our markets
our fairs
our private contracts and bargains
our shops
our cellars
our weights
our measures
our promises
our protestations
our
politic tricks and villainous Machiavelism
our enhancing of the prices of all
commodities
and tell
whether the twelfth Psalm may not as fitly be applied to
our times as to the days of the man of God; in which the feigning
and lying
and facing
and guile
and subtlety of men provoked the psalmist to cry out
"Help
Lord; for there is not a godly man left: for the faithful are failed from among
the children of men: they speak deceitfully every one with his neighbour
flattering with their lips
and speak with a double heart
which have said
With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own: who is Lord over
us?" R. Wolcombe
1612.
Verse 2. "They
speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a
double heart do they speak." The feigned zeal is just like a waterman
that looks one way and rows another way; for this man pretends one thing
and intends another thing; as Jehu pretended the zeal of God's glory
but his aim was at his master's kingdom; and his zeal to God's service was but
to bring him to the sceptre of the kingdom. So Demetrius professed great love
unto Diana
but his drift was to maintain the honour of his profession; and so
we have too many that make great show of holiness
and yet their hearts aim at
other ends; but they may be sure
though they can deceive the world and destroy
themselves
yet not God
who knoweth the secrets of all hearts. Gr.
Williams
1636.
Verse 2. "They
speak vanity."—
Faithless is
earth
and faithless are the skies!
Justice is fled
and truth is now no more!
Virgil's
Æneid
IV. 373.
Verse 2. "With
a double heart." Man is nothing but insincerity
falsehood
and
hypocrisy
both in regard to himself and in regard to others. He does not wish
that he should be told the truth
he shuns saying it to others; and all these
moods
so inconsistent with justice and reason
have their roots in his heart. Blaise
Pascal.
Verse 2. "With
flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak." There is no
such stuff to make a cloak of as religion; nothing so fashionable
nothing so
profitable: it is a livery wherein a wise man may serve two masters
God and
the world
and make a gainful service by either. I serve both
and in both
myself
by prevaricating with both. Before man none serves his God with more
devotion; for which
among the best of men
I work my own ends
and serve
myself. In private
I serve the world; not with so strict devotion
but with
more delight; where fulfilling of her servants' lusts
I work my end and serve
myself. The house of prayer who more frequents than I? In all Christian duties
who more forward than I? I fast with those who fast
that I may eat with those
that eat. I mourn with those that mourn. No hand more open to the cause than
mine
and in their families none prays longer and with louder zeal. Thus when
the opinion of a holy life hath cried the goodness of my conscience up
my
trade can lack no custom
my wares can want no price
my words can need no
credit
my actions can lack no praise. If I am covetous
it is interpreted
providence; if miserable
it is counted temperance; if melancholy
it is
construed godly sorrow; if merry
it is voted spiritual joy; if I be rich
it
is thought the blessing of a godly life; if poor
supposed the fruit of
conscionable dealing; if I be well spoken of
it is the merit of holy
conversation; if ill
it is the malice of malignants. Thus I sail with every
wind
and have my end in all conditions. This cloak in summer keeps me cool
in
winter warm
and hides the nasty bag of all my secret lusts. Under this cloak I
walk in public fairly with applause
and in private sin securely without
offence
and officiate wisely without discovery. I compass sea and land to make
a proselyte; and no sooner made
but he makes me. At a fast I cry Geneva
and
at a feast I cry Rome. If I be poor
I counterfeit abundance to save my credit;
if rich
I dissemble poverty to save charges. I most frequent schismatical
lectures
which I find most profitable; from thence learning to divulge and
maintain new doctrines; they maintain me in suppers thrice a week. I use the
help of a lie sometimes
as a new stratagem to uphold the gospel; and I colour
oppression with God's judgments executed upon the wicked. Charity I hold an
extraordinary duty
therefore not ordinarily to be performed. What I openly
reprove abroad
for my own profit
that I secretly act at home
for my own
pleasure. But stay
I see a handwriting in my heart which damps my soul. It is
charactered in these sad words
"Woe be to you
hypocrites." Matthew
23:13. Francis Quarle's "Hypocrite's Soliloquy."
Verse 2. "With
flattering lips
" etc. The world indeed says that society could not
exist if there were perfect truthfulness and candour between man and man; and
that the world's propriety would be as much disturbed if every man said what he
pleased
as it was in those days of Israelitish history
when every man did
that which was right in his own eyes. The world is assuredly the best judge of
its own condition and mode of government
and therefore I will not say what a
libel does such a remark contain
but oh
what a picture does it present of the
social edifice
that its walls can be cemented and kept together only by
flattery and falsehood! Barton Bouchier.
Verse 2. "Flattering
lips." The philosopher Bion being asked what animal he though the most
hurtful
replied
"That of wild creatures a tyrant
and of tame ones a
flatterer." The flatterer is the most dangerous enemy we can have.
Raleigh
himself a courtier
and therefore initiated into the whole art of
flattery
who discovered in his own career and fate its dangerous and deceptive
power
its deep artifice and deeper falsehood
says
"A flatterer is said
to be a beast that biteth smiling. But it is hard to know them from
friends—they are so obsequious and full of protestations: for as a wolf
resembles a dog
so doth a flatterer a friend." The Book of Symbols
1844.
Verse 2. "They
speak with a double heart." The original is
"A heart and a
heart:" one for the church
another for the change; one for Sundays
another for working-days; one for the king
another for the pope. A man without
a heart is a wonder
but a man with two hearts is a monster. It is said of
Judas
"There were many hearts in one man;" and we read of the
saints
"There was one heart in many men." Acts 4:32. Dabo illis
cor unum; a special blessing. Thomas Adams.
Verse 2. When men
cease to be faithful to their God
he who expects to find them so to each
other
will be much disappointed. The primitive sincerity will accompany the
primitive piety in her flight from the earth; and then interest will succeed
conscience in the regulation of human conduct
till one man cannot trust
another farther than he holds him by that tie. Hence
by the way
it is
that
though many are infidels themselves
yet few choose to have their families and
dependents such; as judging
and rightly judging
that true Christians are the
only persons to be depended on for the exact discharge of social duties. George
Horne.
Verse 3. "The
Lord shall cut off all flattering lips
" etc. They who take pleasure
in deceiving others
will at the last find themselves most of all deceived
when the Sun of truth
by the brightness of his rising
shall at once detect
and consume hypocrisy. George Horne.
Verse 3. "Cut
off lips and tongues." May there not be here an allusion to those
terrible but suggestive punishments which Oriental monarchs were wont to
execute on criminals? Lips were cut off and tongues torn out when offenders
were convicted of lying or treason. So terrible and infinitely more so are the
punishments of sin. C. H. S.
Verses 3
4. It need
not now seem strange to tell you that the Lord is the owner of our bodies
that
he has so much propriety therein that they are more his than ours. The apostle
tells us as much. 1 Corinthians 6:20. "Glorify God in your bodies which
are his." Our bodies
and every member thereof
are his; for if the whole
be so
no part is exempted. And therefore they speak proud things
and
presumptuously usurped the propriety of God
who said
"Our lips are
our own;" as though their lips had not been his who is Lord and Owner
of all
but they had been lords thereof
and might have used them as they list.
This provoked God to show what right he had to dispose of such lips and
tongues
by cutting them off. David Clarkson.
Verse 4. "Who
have said
With our tongues will we prevail; who is Lord over us?" So
it was: twelve poor and unlearned men on the one side
all the eloquence of
Greece and Rome arrayed on the other. From the time of Tertullus to that of
Julian the apostate
every species of oratory
learning
wit
was lavished
against the church of God; and the result
like the well-known story of that
dispute between the Christian peasant and the heathen philosopher
when the
latter
having challenged the assembled fathers of a synod to silence him
was
put to shame by the simple faith of the former "In the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ
I command thee to be dumb." "Who is lord over
us?" "Who is the Lord
that I should obey his voice to let Israel
go?" Exodus 5:2. "What is the Almighty
that we should serve
him?" Job 21:15. "Who is that God that shall deliver you?"
Daniel 3:15. Michael Ayguan
in J. M. Neale's Commentary.
Verse 4. "Our
lips are our own." If we have to do with God
we must quit claim to
ourselves and look on God as our owner; but this is fixed in the hearts of men
We will be our own; we will not consent to the claim which God makes to us: "Our
lips are our own." Wicked men might as well say the same thing of
their whole selves; our bodies
strength
time
parts
etc.
are our own
and
who is Lord over us? John Howe.
Verse 4. From the
faults of the wicked we must learn three contrary lessons; to wit: 1. That
nothing which we have is our own. But
2. Whatsoever is given to us of God is
for service to be done to him. 3. That whatsoever we do or say
we have a Lord
over us to whom we must be answerable when he calleth us to account. David
Dickson.
Verse 5. "For
the oppression of the poor
" etc. When oppressors and persecutors do
snuff and puff at the people of God
when they defy them
and scorn them
and
think that they can with a blast of their breath blow them away
then God will
arise to judgment
as the Chaldee has it; at that very nick of time when all
seems to be lost
and when the poor
oppressed
and afflicted people of God can
do nothing but sigh and weep
and weep and sigh
then the Lord will arise and
ease them of their oppressions
and make their day of extremity a glorious
opportunity to work for his own glory
and his people's good. Matthew 22:6
7.
"And the remnant took his servants
and entreated them spitefully
and
slew them. But when the king heard thereof
he was wroth: and he sent forth his
armies and destroyed those murderers
and burned up their city." Thomas
Brooks.
Verse 5. Fear ye
whosoever ye be
that do wrong the poor; you have power and wealth
and the
favour of the judges
but they have the strongest weapons of all
sighings and
groanings
which fetch help from heaven for them. These weapons dig down
houses
throw up foundations
overthrow whole nations. Chrysostom.
Verse 5. "For
the sighings of the needy
now will I arise
saith the Lord." God is
pleased to take notice of every grace
even the least and lowest
and
every gracious inclination in any of his servants. To fear his name is
no great matter
yet these have a promise. To think on his name less
yet set down in a "book of remembrance." God sets down how many good thoughts
a poor soul hath had. As evil thoughts in wicked men are taken notice of—they
are the first fruits of the evil heart (Matthew 15:19)—so good thoughts are they
which lie uppermost
and best discover a good heart. A desire is a small
matter
especially of the poor man
yet God regards the desire of the poor
and
calls a good desire the greatest kindness; "The desire of a man is his
kindness." A tear makes no great noise
yet hath a voice
"God
hath heard the voice of my weeping." It is no pleasant water
yet God
bottles it up. A groan is a poor thing
yet is the best part of a prayer
sometimes (Romans 8:26); a sigh is less
yet God is awakened and
raised up by it. Psalm 12:5. A look is less than all these
yet this
is regarded (Jonah 2:4); breathing is less
yet (Lamentations 3:56)
the
church could speak of no more; panting is less than breathing
when one
is spent for lack of breath
yet this is all the godly can sometimes boast of.
Psalm 42:1. The description of a godly man is ofttimes made from his least quod
sic. Blessed are the poor
the meek
they that mourn
and they who hunger and thirst. Never did Hannah pray better than
when she could get out never a word
but cried
"Hard
hard heart."
Nor did the publican
than when he smote his breast and cried
"Lord
be
merciful to me a sinner." Nor Mary Magdalene
than when she came behind
Christ
sat down
wept
but kept silence. How sweet is music upon the waters!
How fruitful are the lowest valleys! Mourning hearts are most musical
lowest
most fruitful. The good shepherd ever takes most care of his weak lambs and
feeble sheep. The father makes most of the least
and the mother looks most
after the sick child. How comfortable is that of our Saviour
"It is not
the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should
perish!" And that heaven is not to be entered but by such as are like the
little child. John Sheffield
1654.
Verse 5. "The
oppression of the poor." Insolent and cruel oppressing of the poor is
a sin that brings desolating and destroying judgments upon a people. God sent
ten wasting judgments one after another upon Pharaoh
his people
and land
to
revenge the cruel oppression of his poor people. "Rob not the poor
because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: for the Lord
will plead their cause." Proverbs 22:22
23. To rob and oppress the rich
is a great sin; but to rob and oppress the poor is a greater; but to rob and
oppress the poor because he is poor
and wants money to buy justice
is the top
of all inhumanity and impiety. To oppress anyone is sin; but to oppress the
oppressed is the height of sin. Poverty
and want
and misery
should be
motives to pity; but oppressors make them the whetstone of their cruelty and
severity
and therefore the Lord will plead the cause of his poor oppressed
people against their oppressors without fee or fear; yea
he will plead their
cause with pestilence
blood
and fire. Gog was a great oppressor of the poor
(Ezekiel 38:8-14)
and God pleads against him with pestilence
blood
and fire
(verse 22); "and I will plead against him
with pestilence and with blood;
and I will rain upon him
and upon his bands
and upon the many people that are
with him
an overflowing rain
and great hailstones
fire
and brimstone. Thomas
Brooks.
Verse 6. "The
words of the Lord are pure words
" etc. How beautifully is this verse
introduced
by way of contrast to what was said before concerning! Do sinners
talk of vanity? let saints then speak of Jesus and his gospel. Do they talk
impure words? then let the faithful use the pure words of God
which like
silver
the more used
the more melted in the fire
the more precious will they
be. It is true
indeed
despisers will esteem both God and his word as
trifling; but oh
what an unknown treasure doth the word
the promises
the
covenant relation of the divine things of Jesus contain! They are more to be
desired than gold
yea
than pure gold; sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb. Robert Hawker.
Verse 6. "The
words of the Lord are pure words
" etc. They that purify silver to the
purpose
use to put it in the fire again and again
that it may be thoroughly
tried. So is the truth of God; there is scarce any truth but hath been tried
over and over again
and still if any dross happens to mingle with it
then God
calls it in question again. If in former times there have been Scriptures
alleged that have not been pertinent to prove it
that truth shall into the
fire again
that what is dross may be burnt up; the Holy Ghost is so curious
so delicate
so exact
he cannot bear that falsehood should be mingled with the
truths of the gospel. This is the reason
therefore
why that God doth still
age after age
call former things in question
because that there is still some
dross one way or other mingled with them; either in the stating the opinions
themselves
or else in the Scriptures that are brought and alleged for them
that have passed for current
for he will never leave till he have purified
them. The doctrine of God's free grace hath been tried over and over
and over
again. Pelagius begins
and he mingles his dross with it: he saith
grace is
nothing but nature in man. Well
his doctrine was purified
and a great deal of
dross purged out. Then come the semi-Pelagians
and they part stakes; they say
nature can do nothing without grace
but they make nature to concur with grace
and to have an influence as well as grace; and the dross of that was burnt up.
The Papists
they take up the same quarrel
but will neither be Pelagians nor
semi-Pelagians
yet still mingle dross. The Arminians
they come
and they
refine popery in that point anew; still they mingle dross. God will have this
truth tried seven times in the fire
til he hath brought it forth as pure as
pure may be. And I say it is because that truth is thus precious. Thomas
Goodwin.
Verse 6. The
Scripture is the sun; the church is the clock. The sun we know to be sure
and
regularly constant in his motions; the clock
as it may fall out
may go too
fast or too slow. As then
we should condemn him of folly that should profess
to trust the clock rather than the sun
so we cannot but justly tax the
credulity of those who would rather trust to the church than to the Scripture. Bishop
Hall.
Verse 6. "The
words of the Lord are pure words." Men may inspect detached portions
of the Book
and please themselves with some things
which at first view
have
the semblance of conniving at what is wrong. But let them read it
let them
read the whole of it; let them carry along in their minds the character of the
persons to which the different portions of it were addressed; the age of the
world
and the circumstances under which the different parts of it were written
and the particular objects which even those portions of it have in view
which
to an infidel mind appear the most exceptionable; and they may be rationally
convinced that
instead of originating in the bosom of an impostor
it owes its
origin to men who wrote "as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Let
them scrutinise it with as much severity as they please; only let their
scrutiny be well informed
wisely directed
and with a fair and ingenuous mind
and we have no fears for the issue. There are portions of it on which ignorance
and folly have put constructions that are forced and unnatural
and which
impure minds have viewed in shadows reflected from their own impurity.
Montesquieu said of Voltaire
Lorsque Voltaire lit un livre
il le fait
puis il ècrit contre ce qu'il a fait: "When Voltaire reads a book
he
makes it what he pleases
and then writes against what he has made." It is
no difficult matter to besmear and blot its pages and then impute the foul
stains that men of corrupt minds have cast upon it
to its stainless Author.
But if we honestly look at it as it is
we shall find that like its Author
it
is without blemish and without spot. Gardiner Spring
D.D.
Verse 6. "The
words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth
purified
seven times." The expression may import two things: first
the
infallible certainty of the word; and
secondly
the exact purity. First
the
infallible certainty of the word
as gold endureth in the fire when the dross
is consumed. Vain conceits comfort us not in a time of trouble: but the word of
God
the more it is tried
the more you will find the excellency of it—the
promise is tried
as well as we are tried
in deep afflictions; but when it is
so
it will be found to be most pure. "The word of the Lord is tried; he
is a buckler to all those who trust in him" (Proverbs 30:5); as pure gold
suffers no loss by the fire
so the promises suffer no loss when they are
tried
but stand to us in our greatest troubles. Secondly
it notes the exact
perfection of the word: there is no dross in silver and gold that hath been
often refined; so there is no defect in the word of God. Thomas Manton.
Verse 6. Fry thus
translates this verse:—
The words of
Jehovah are pure words—
Silver refined in the crucible—
Gold
seven times washed from the earth.
(Heb.)
though sometimes applied to express the purity of silver
is more strictly an
epithet of gold
from the peculiar method made use of in separating it from the
soil by repeated washings and decantations. John Fry
in loc.
Verse 6. "Seven
times." I cannot but admit that there may be a mystic meaning in the
expression "seven times
" in allusion to the seven periods of the
church
or to that perfection
implied in the figure seven
to which it is to
be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This will be more readily allowed
by those who admit of the prophetic interpretation of the seven epistles of the
Book of Revelation. W. Wilson
D. D.
in loc.
Verse 8. "When
the vilest men are exalted:" Hebrew
vilities
outidanoi the
abstract for the concrete
quisquiliae
outidanoi. Oft
empty vessels
swim aloft
rotten posts are gilt with adulterate gold
the worst weeds spring
up bravest. Chaff will get to the top of the fan
when good corn
as it lieth
at the bottom of the heap
so it falls low at the feet of the fanner. The
reason why wicked men "walk" on every side
are so brisk
so
busy (and who but they?) is given to be this
because losels and rioters were
exalted. See Proverbs 28:12
18 and 29:2. As rheums and catarrhs fall from the
head to the lungs
and cause a consumption of the whole body
so it is in the
body politic. As a fish putrefies first in the head and then in all the parts
so here. Some render the text thus
"When they (that is
the
wicked) are exalted
" it is a "shame for the sons of
men
" that other men who better deserve preferment
are not only slighted
but vilely handled by such worthless ambitionists
who yet the higher they
climb
as apes
the more they discover their deformities." John Trapp.
Verse 8. Good thus
translates this verse:—
Should the
wicked advance on every side;
Should the dregs of the earth be uppermost?
The
original is given literally. (Heb.) means "foeces
foeculences
dregs.
(Heb.) is here an adverb
and imports uppermost
rather than exalted.
J. Mason Good
in loc.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. "Help
Lord."
I.
The Prayer itself
short
suggestive
seasonable
rightly directed
vehement.
II.
Occasions for its use.
III.
Modes of its answer.
IV.
Reasons for expecting gracious reply.
Verse 1. First
two clauses. Text for funeral of an eminent believer.
Verse 1. Whole
verse.
I.
The fact bewailed—describe godly and faithful
and show how they fail.
II.
The feeling excited. Mourning the loss
fears for church
personal need
of such companions
appeal to God.
III.
The forebodings aroused. Failure of the cause
judgments impending
etc.
IV.
The faith remaining: "Help
Lord."
Verse 1. Intimate
connection between yielding honour to God and honesty to man
since they
decline together.
Verse 2. (first
clause). A discourse upon the prevalence and perniciousness of vain talk.
Verse 2. The
whole verse. Connection between flattery and treachery.
Verse 2. "A
double heart." Right and wrong kinds of hearts
and the disease of
duplicity.
Verse 3. God's
hatred of those twin sins of the lips—Flattery and Pride (which is self
flattery). Why he hates them. How he shows his hatred. In whom he hates them
most. How to be cleansed from them.
Verses 3
4.
I.
The revolt of the tongue. Its claim of power
self-possession
and
liberty. Contrast this and the believer's confession
"we are not our
own."
II.
The method of its rebellion— "flattery
and speaking proud
things."
III.
The end of its treason—"cut off."
Verse 5. The Lord
aroused—How! Why! What to do! When!
Verse 5. Last
clause. Peculiar danger of believers from those who despise them and their
special safety. Good practical topic.
Verse 6. The purity
trial
and permanency of the words of the Lord.
Seven
crucibles in which believers try the word. A little thought will suggest these.
Verse 7.
Preservation from one's generation in this life and for ever. A very suggestive
theme.
Verse 8. Sin in
high places specially infectious. Call to the rich and prominent to
remember their responsibility. Thankfulness for honourable rulers.
Discrimination to be used in choice of our representatives
or civic
magistrates.
WORK UPON THE
TWELFTH PSALM
In "A
Godly Meditation upon XX select Psalms . . . . . . . . By Sir ANTHONY COPE
Knight
1547
" a thin black letter 4to.
is an Exposition
or rather Meditation
on this Psalm. Reprinted 1848.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》