| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Psalm Twenty-eight
Psalm 28
Chapter Contents
A prayer in distress. (1-5) Thanksgiving for deliverance.
(6-9)
Commentary on Psalm 28:1-5
(Read Psalm 28:1-5)
David is very earnest in prayer. Observe his faith in
prayer; God is my rock
on whom I build my hope. Believers should not rest till
they have received some token that their prayers are heard. He prays that he
may not be numbered with the wicked. Save me from being entangled in the snares
they have laid for me. Save me from being infected with their sins
and from
doing as they do. Lord
never leave me to use such arts of deceit and treachery
for my safety
as they use for my ruin. Believers dread the way of sinners; the
best are sensible of the danger they are in of being drawn aside: we should all
pray earnestly to God for his grace to keep us. Those who are careful not to
partake with sinners in their sins
have reason to hope that they shall not
receive their plagues. He speaks of the just judgments of the Lord on the
workers of iniquity
verse 4. This is not the language of passion or
revenge. It is a prophecy that there will certainly come a day
when God will
punish every man who persists in his evil deeds. Sinners shall be reckoned
with
not only for the mischief they have done
but for the mischief they
designed
and did what they could to effect. Disregard of the works of the
Lord
is the cause of the sin of sinners
and becomes the cause of their ruin.
Commentary on Psalm 28:6-9
(Read Psalm 28:6-9)
Has God heard our supplications? Let us then bless his
name. The Lord is my strength
to support me
and carry me on through all my
services and sufferings. The heart that truly believes
shall in due time greatly
rejoice: we are to expect joy and peace in believing. God shall have the praise
of it: thus must we express our gratitude. The saints rejoice in others'
comfort as well as their own: we have the less benefit from the light of the
sun
nor from the light of God's countenance
for others' sharing therein. The
psalmist concludes with a short
but comprehensive prayer. God's people are his
inheritance
and precious in his eyes. He prays that God would save them; that
he would bless them with all good
especially the plenty of his ordinances
which are food to the soul. And direct their actions and overrule their affairs
for good. Also
lift them up for ever; not only those of that age
but his
people in every age to come; lift them up as high as heaven. There
and there
only
will saints be lifted up for ever
never more to sink
or be depressed.
Save us
Lord Jesus
from our sins; bless us
thou Son of Abraham
with the
blessing of righteousness; feed us
thou good Shepherd of the sheep
and lift
us up for ever from the dust
O thou
who art the Resurrection and the Life.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 28
Verse 2
[2] Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry unto
thee
when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
Towards — Towards the holy of holies
because there the ark was;
from whence God gave oracular answers to his people.
Verse 3
[3] Draw me not away with the wicked
and with the workers
of iniquity
which speak peace to their neighbours
but mischief is in their
hearts.
Draw not — Do not drag me; as thou dost these
to execution and
destruction.
Verse 5
[5] Because they regard not the works of the LORD
nor the
operation of his hands
he shall destroy them
and not build them up.
Regard not — The providential works of God
towards his people.
Verse 7
[7] The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted
in him
and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song
will I praise him.
I am helped — He speaks of it as past
because
God assured him by his spirit
that he had heard and accepted his prayers.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
Other Works
TITLE AND
SUBJECT. Again
the title "A Psalm of David
" is too
general to give us any clue to the occasion on which it was written. Its
position
as following the twenty-seventh
seems to have been designed
for it
is a most suitable pendant and sequel to it. It is another of those "songs
in the night" of which the pen of David was so prolific. The thorn at the
breast of the nightingale was said by the old naturalists to make it sing:
David's griefs made him eloquent in holy psalmody. The main pleading of this
Psalm is that the suppliant may not be confounded with the workers of iniquity
for whom he expresses the utmost abhorrence; it may suit any slandered saint
who being misunderstood by men
and treated by them as an unworthy character
is anxious to stand aright before the bar of God. The Lord Jesus may be seen
here pleading as the representative of his people.
DIVISION. The first and
second verses earnestly entreat audience of the Lord in a time of dire
emergency. From Ps 28:2-5
the portion of the wicked is described and
deprecated. In Ps 28:6-8
praise is given for the Lord's mercy in hearing
prayer
and the Psalm concludes with a general petition for the whole host of
militant believers.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. Unto thee will I cry
O Lord
my rock. A cry is the
natural expression of sorrow
and is a suitable utterance when all other modes
of appeal fail us; but the cry must be alone directed to the Lord
for to cry
to man is to waste our entreaties upon the air. When we consider the readiness
of the Lord to hear
and his ability to aid
we shall see good reason for
directing all our appeals at once to the God of our salvation
and shall use
language of firm resolve like that in the text
"I will cry." The
immutable Jehovah is our rock
the immovable foundation of all our hopes
and our refuge in time of trouble: we are fixed in our determination to flee to
him as our stronghold in every hour of danger. It will be in vain to call to
the rocks in the day of judgment
but our rock attends to our cries. Be not
silent to me. Mere formalists may be content without answers to their
prayers
but genuine suppliants cannot; they are not satisfied with the results
of prayer itself in calming the mind and subduing the will—they must go further
and obtain actual replies from heaven
or they cannot rest; and those replies
they long to receive at once
if possible; they dread even a little of God's
silence. God's voice is often so terrible that it shakes the wilderness; but
his silence is equally full of awe to an eager suppliant. When God seems to
close his ear
we must not therefore close our mouths
but rather cry with more
earnestness; for when our note grows shrill with eagerness and grief
he will
not long deny us a hearing. What a dreadful case should we be in if the Lord
should become for ever silent to our prayers! This thought suggested itself to David
and he turned it into a plea
thus teaching us to argue and reason with God in
our prayers. Lest
if thou be silent to me
I become like them that go down
into the pit. Deprived of the God who answers prayer
we should be in a
more pitiable plight than the dead in the grave
and should soon sink to the
same level as the lost in hell. We must have answers to prayer: ours is
an urgent case of dire necessity; surely the Lord will speak peace to our
agitated minds
for he never can find it in his heart to permit his own elect
to perish.
Verse
2. This is much to the same effect as the first verse
only that it
refers to future as well as present pleadings. Hear me! Hear me! Hear the
voice of my supplications! This is the burden of both verses. We cannot be put
off with a refusal when we are in the spirit of prayer; we labour
use
importunity
and agonize in supplications until a hearing is granted us. The
word "supplications
"in the plural
shows the number
continuance
and variety of a good man's prayers
while the expression "hear the
voice
"seems to hint that there is an inner meaning
or heart voice
about which spiritual men are far more concerned than for their outward and
audible utterances. A silent prayer may have a louder voice than the cries of those
priests who sought to awaken Baal with their shouts. When I lift up my hands
toward thy holy oracle: which holy place was the type of our Lord Jesus;
and if we would gain acceptance
we must turn ourselves evermore to the blood
besprinkled mercy seat of his atonement. Uplifted hands have ever been a form
of devout posture
and are intended to signify a reaching upward towards God
a
readiness
an eagerness to receive the blessing sought after. We stretch out
empty hands
for we are beggars; we lift them up
for we seek heavenly
supplies; we lift them towards the mercy seat of Jesus
for there our
expectation dwells. O that whenever we use devout gestures
we may possess
contrite hearts
and so speed well with God.
Verse
3. Draw me not away with the wicked. They shall be dragged
off to hell like felons of old drawn on a hurdle to Tyburn
like logs drawn to
the fire
like fagots to the oven. David fears lest he should be bound up in
their bundle
drawn to their doom; and the fear is an appropriate one for every
godly man. The best of the wicked are dangerous company in time
and would make
terrible companions for eternity; we must avoid them in their pleasures
if we
would not be confounded with them in their miseries. And with the workers of
iniquity. These are overtly sinful
and their judgment will be sure; Lord
do not make us to drink of their cup. Activity is found with the wicked even if
it be lacking to the righteous. Oh! to be "workers" for the Lord. Which
speak peace to their neighbours
but mischief is in their hearts. They have
learned the manners of the place to which they are going: the doom of liars is
their portion for ever
and lying is their conversation on the road. Soft
words
oily with pretended love
are the deceitful meshes of the infernal net
in which Satan catches the precious life; many of his children are learned in
his abominable craft
and fish with their father's nets
almost as cunningly as
he himself could do it. It is a sure sign of baseness when the tongue and the
heart do not ring to the same note. Deceitful men are more to be dreaded than
wild beasts: it were better to be shut up in a pit with serpents than to be
compelled to live with liars. He who cries "peace" too loudly
means
to sell it if he can get his price. "Good wine need no bush:" if he
were so very peaceful he would not need to say so; he means mischief
make sure
of that.
Verse
4. When we view the wicked simply as such
and not as our fellow
men
our indignation against sin leads us entirely to coincide with the acts of
divine justice which punish evil
and to wish that justice might use her power
to restrain by her terrors the cruel and unjust; but still the desires of the
present verse
as our version renders it
are not readily made consistent with
the spirit of the Christian dispensation
which seeks rather the reformation
than the punishment of sinners. If we view the words before us as prophetic
or
as in the future tense
declaring a fact
we are probably nearer to the true
meaning than that given in our version. Ungodly reader
what will be your lot
when the Lord deals with you according to your desert
and weighs out to you
his wrath
not only in proportion to what you have actually done
but according
to what you would have done if you could. Our endeavours are taken as
facts; God takes the will for the deed
and punishes or rewards accordingly.
Not in this life
but certainly in the next
God will repay his enemies to
their faces
and give them the wages of their sins. Not according to their
fawning words
but after the measure of their mischievous deeds
will the Lord
mete out vengeance to them that know him not.
Verse
5. Because they regard not the works of the Lord
nor the
operation of his hands. God works in creation—nature teems with proofs of
his wisdom and goodness
yet purblind atheists refuse to see him: he works in
providence
ruling and overruling
and his hand is very manifest in human
history
yet the infidel will not discern him: he works in grace—remarkable
conversions are still met with on all hands
yet the ungodly refuse to see the
operations of the Lord. Where angels wonder
carnal men despise. God
condescends to teach
and man refuses to learn. He shall destroy them:
he will make them "behold
and wonder
and perish." If they would not
see the hand of judgment upon others
they shall feel it upon themselves. Both
soul and body shall be overwhelmed with utter destruction for ever and ever. And
not build them up. God's cure is positive and negative; his sword has two
edges
and cuts right and left. Their heritage of evil shall prevent the
ungodly receiving any good; the ephah shall be too full of wrath to contain a
grain of hope. They have become like old
rotten
decayed houses of timber
useless to the owner
and harbouring all manner of evil
and
therefore
the
Great Builder will demolish them utterly. Incorrigible offenders may expect
speedy destruction: they who will not mend
shall be thrown away as worthless.
Let us be very attentive to all the lessons of God's word and work
lest being
found disobedient to the divine will
we be made to suffer the divine wrath.
Verse
6. Blessed be the Lord. Saints are full of benedictions; they
are a blessed people
and a blessing people; but they give their best
blessings
the fat of their sacrifices
to their glorious Lord. Our Psalm was
prayer up to this point
and now it turns to praise. They who pray well
will
soon praise well: prayer and praise are the two lips of the soul; two bells to
ring out sweet and acceptable music in the ears of God; two angels to climb
Jacob's ladder: two altars smoking with incense; two of Solomon's lilies
dropping sweet smelling myrrh; they are two young roes that are twins
feeding
upon the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. Because he hath
heard the voice of my supplications. Real praise is established upon
sufficient and constraining reasons; it is not irrational emotion
but rises
like a pure spring
from the deeps of experience. Answered prayers should be
acknowledged. Do we not often fail in this duty? Would it not greatly encourage
others
and strengthen ourselves
if we faithfully recorded divine goodness
and made a point of extolling it with our tongue? God's mercy is not such an
inconsiderable thing that we may safely venture to receive it without so much
as thanks. We should shun ingratitude
and live daily in the heavenly
atmosphere of thankful love.
Verse
7. Here is David's declaration and confession of faith
coupled with
a testimony from his experience. The Lord is my strength. The Lord employs
his power on our behalf
and moreover
infuses strength into us in our
weakness. The psalmist
by an act of appropriating faith
takes the omnipotence
of Jehovah to be his own. Dependence upon the invisible God gives great
independence of spirit
inspiring us with confidence more than human. And my
shield. Thus David found both sword and shield in his God. The Lord
preserves his people from unnumbered ills; and the Christian warrior
sheltered
behind his God
is far more safe than the hero when covered with his shield of
brass or triple steel. My heart trusted in him
and I am helped. Heart
work is sure work; heart trust is never disappointed. Faith must come before
help
but help will never be long behindhand. Every day the believer may say
"I am helped
"for the divine assistance is vouchsafed us every
moment
or we should go back unto perdition; when more manifest help is needed
we have but to put faith into exercise
and it will be given us. Therefore
my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. The heart
is mentioned twice to show the truth of his faith and his joy. Observe the
adverb "greatly
"we need not be afraid of being too full of
rejoicing at the remembrance of grace received. We serve a great God
let us
greatly rejoice in him. A song is the soul's fittest method of giving vent to
its happiness
it were well if we were more like the singing lark
and less
like the croaking raven. When the heart is glowing
the lips should not be
silent. When God blesses us
we should bless him with all our heart.
Verse
8. The Lord is their strength. The heavenly experience of one
believer is a pattern of the life of all. To all the militant church
without
exception
Jehovah is the same as he was to his servant David
"the least
of them shall be as David." They need the same aid and they shall have it
for they are loved with the same love
written in the same book of life
and
one with the same anointed Head. And he is the saving strength of his
anointed. Here behold king David as the type of our Lord Jesus
our
covenant Head
our anointed Prince
through whom all blessings come to us. He
has achieved full salvation for us
and we desire saving strength from him
and
as we share in the unction which is so largely shed upon him
we expect to
partake of his salvation. Glory be unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ
who has magnified the power of his grace in his only begotten Son
whom
he has anointed to be a Prince and a Saviour unto his people.
Verse
9. This is a prayer for the church militant
written in short words
but full of weighty meaning. We must pray for the whole church
and not for
ourselves alone. Save thy people. Deliver them from their enemies
preserve them from their sins
succour them under their troubles
rescue them
from their temptations
and ward off from them every ill. There is a plea
hidden in the expression
"thy people:" for it may be safely
concluded that God's interest in the church
as his own portion
will lead him
to guard it from destruction. Bless thine inheritance. Grant positive
blessings
peace
plenty
prosperity
happiness; make all thy dearly purchased
and precious heritage to be comforted by thy Spirit. Revive
refresh
enlarge
and sanctify thy church. Feed them also. Be a shepherd to thy flock
let
their bodily and spiritual wants be plentifully supplied. By thy word
and
ordinances
direct
rule
sustain
and satisfy those who are the sheep of thy
hand. And lift them up for ever. Carry them in thine arms on earth
and
then lift them into thy bosom in heaven. Elevate their minds and thoughts
spiritualise their affections
make them heavenly
Christlike
and full of God.
O Lord
answer this our petition
for Jesus' sake.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse
1. Unto thee do I cry. It is of the utmost importance that we
should have a definite object on which to fix our thoughts. Man
at the
best of times
has but little power for realising abstractions; but least of
all in his time of sorrow. Then he is helpless; then he needs every possible
aid; and if his mind wander in vacancy
it will soon weary
and sink down
exhausted. God has graciously taken care that this need not be done. He has so
manifested himself to man in his word
that the afflicted one can fix his
mind's eye on him
as the definite object of his faith
and hope
and prayer.
"Call unto me
and I will answer thee
and shew thee great
and mighty things
which thou knowest not." Jer 33:3. This was what the
psalmist did; and the definiteness of God
as the object of his trust in
prayer
is very clearly marked. And specially great is the privilege of the Christian
in this matter. He can fix his eye on Jesus; he
without any very great stretch
of the imagination
can picture that Holy One looking down upon him; listening
to him; feeling for him; preparing to answer him. Dear reader
in the time of
your trouble
do not roam; do not send out your sighs into vacancy; do not let
your thoughts wander
as though they were looking for some one on whom to fix;
for some one to whom you could tell the story of your heart's need and
desolation. Fix your heart as the psalmist did
and say
"Unto thee
will I cry." ... Oh! happy is that man
who feels and knows that when
trouble comes
he cannot be bewildered and confused by the stroke
no matter
how heavy it may be. Sorrow stricken he will be
but he has his resource
and
he knows it
and will avail himself of it. His is no vague theory of the
general sympathy of God for man; his is a knowledge of God
as a personal and
feeling God; he says with the psalmist
"Unto thee will I
cry." Philip Bennett Power.
Verse
1. My rock. One day a female friend called on the Rev.
William Evans
a pious minister in England
and asked how he felt himself.
"I am weakness itself
"he replied; "but I am on the Rock.
I do not experience those transports which some have expressed in the view of
death; but my dependence is on the mercy of God in Christ. Here my religion
began
and here it must end."
Verse
1. My rock. The Rev
John Rees
of Crownstreet
Soho
London
was visited on his deathbed by the Rev. John Leifchild
who very seriously
asked him to describe the state of his mind. This appeal to the honour of his
religion roused him
and so freshened his dying lamp
that raising himself up
in his bed
he looked his friend in the face
and with great deliberation
energy
and dignity
uttered the following words:—"Christ in his person
Christ in the love of his heart
and Christ in the power of his arm
is the
Rock on which I rest; and now (reclining his head gently on the pillow)
Death
strike!" K. Arvine.
Verse
1. Be not silent to me. Let us next observe what the heart
desires from God. It is that he would speak. Be not silent to me.
Under these circumstances
when we make our prayer
we desire that God would
let us know that he hears us
and that he would appear for us
and that he
would say
he is our Father. And what do we desire God to say? We want him to
let us know that he hears us; we want to hear him speak as distinctly to us
as
we feel that we have spoken to him. We want to know
not only by faith
that we have been heard
but by God's having spoken to us on the very
subject whereupon we have spoken to him. When we feel thus assured that God
has heard us
we can with the deepest confidence leave the whole matter about
which we have been praying
in his hands. Perhaps an answer cannot come for a
long time; perhaps things
meanwhile
seem working in a contrary way; it may
be
that there is no direct appearance at all of God upon the scene; still
faith will hold up and be strong; and there will be comfort in the heart
from
the felt consciousness that God has heard our cry about the matter
and that he
has told us so. We shall say to ourselves
"God knows all about it; God
has in point of fact told me so; therefore I am in peace." And let it be
enough for us that God tells us this
when he will perhaps tell us no more; let
us not want to try and induce him to speak much
when it is his will to speak
but little: the best answer we can have at certain times is simply the
statement that "he hears; "by this answer to our prayer he at once
encourages and exercises our faith. "It is said
"saith Rutherford
speaking of the Saviour's delay in responding to the request of the
Syrophenician woman
"he answered not a word
"but it is not
said
he heard not a word. These two differ much. Christ often heareth
when he doth not answer—his not answering is an answer
and
speaks thus—"pray on
go on and cry
for the Lord holdeth his door fast
bolted
not to keep you out
but that you may knock
and knock
and it shall be
opened." Philip Bennett Power.
Verse
1. Lest...I become like them that go down into the pit. Thou
seest
great God
my sad situation. Nothing to me is great or desirable upon
this earth but the felicity of serving thee
and yet the misery of my destiny
and the duties of my state
bring me into connection with men who regard all
godliness as a thing to be censured and derided. With secret horror I daily
hear them blaspheming the ineffable gifts of thy grace
and ridiculing the
faith and fervour of the godly as mere imbecility of mind. Exposed to such
impiety
all my consolation
O my God
is to make my cries of distress ascend
to the foot of thy throne. Although for the present
these sacrilegious
blasphemies only awaken in my soul emotions of horror and pity
yet I fear that
at last they may enfeeble me and seduce me into a crooked course of policy
unworthy of thy glory
and of the gratitude which I owe to thee. I fear that
insensibly I may become such a coward as to blush at thy name
such a sinner as
to resist the impulses of thy grace
such a traitor as to withhold my testimony
against sin
such a self deceiver as to disguise my criminal timidity by the
name of prudence. Already I feel that this poison is insinuating itself into my
heart
for while I would not have my conduct resemble that of the wicked who
surround me
yet I am too much biased by the fear of giving them offence. I
dare not imitate them
but I am almost as much afraid of irritating them. I
know that it is impossible both to please a corrupt world and a holy God
and
yet I so far lose sight of this truth
that instead of sustaining me in
decision
it only serves to render my vacillation the more inexcusable. What
remains for me but to implore thy help! Strengthen me
O Lord
against these
declensions so injurious to thy glory
so fatal to the fidelity which is due to
thee. Cause me to hear thy strengthening and encouraging voice. If the voice of
thy grace be not lifted up in my spirit
reanimating my feeble faith
I feel
that there is but a step between me and despair. I am on the brink of the
precipice
I am ready to fall into a criminal complicity with those who would
fain drag me down with them into the pit. Jean Baptiste Massillon
1663-1742
freely translated by C.H.S.
Verse
2. I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Called (rybd)
debhir
because there hence God spake and gave answer. Toward this (a type of Christ
the Word essential)
David lifteth up his hands
that it might be as a ladder
whereby his prayer might get up to heaven. John Trapp.
Verse
3. Draw me not away with the wicked...which speak peace to their
neighbours
but mischief is in their hearts. The godly man abhors
dissimulation towards men; his heart goes along with his tongue
he cannot
flatter and hate
commend and censure. "Let love be without
dissimulation." Ro 12:9. Dissembled love is worse than hatred;
counterfeiting of friendship is no better than a lie Ps 78:36
for there is a
pretence of that which is not. Many are like Joab: "He took Amasa by the
beard to kiss him
and smote him with his sword in the fifth rib
that he
died." There is a river in Spain
where the fish seem to be of a golden
colour
but take them out of the water
and they are like other fish. All is not
gold that glitters; there are some pretend much kindness
but they are like
great veins which have little blood; if you lean upon them they are as a leg
out of joint. For my part
I much question his truth towards God
that will
flatter and lie to his friend. "He that hideth hatred with lying lips
and
he that uttereth a slander is a fool." Pr 10:18. Thomas Watson.
Verse
3. Draw me not out with. An allusion
I conceive
to a
shepherd selecting out a certain portion of his flock. "Reckon me not
among." Professor Lee.
Verse
3. Draw me not away. (ynkvmt-la) from (Kvm); that signifies
both to draw and apprehend
will be best rendered here
seize not on me
as he that seizes on any to carry or drag him to execution.
Henry Hammond.
Verse
4. Give them according to their deeds
etc. Here
again
occurs the difficult question about praying for vengeance
which
however
I
shall despatch in a few words. In the first place
then
it is unquestionable
that if the flesh move us to seek revenge
the desire is wicked in the sight of
God. He not only forbids us to imprecate evil upon our enemies in revenge for
private injuries
but it cannot be otherwise than that all those desires which
spring from hatred must be disordered. David's example
therefore
must not be
alleged by those who are driven by their own intemperate passion to seek
vengeance. The holy prophet is not inflamed here by his own private sorrow to
devote his enemies to destruction; but laying aside the desire of the flesh
he
give judgment concerning the matter itself. Before a man can
therefore
denounce vengeance against the wicked
he must first shake himself free from
all improper feelings in his own mind. In the second place
prudence must be
exercised
that the heinousness of the evils which offend us drive us not to
intemperate zeal
which happened even to Christ's disciples
when they desired
that fire might be brought from heaven to consume those who refused to
entertain their Master. Lu 9:54. They pretended
it is true
to act according
to the example of Elias
but Christ severely rebuked them
and told them that
they knew not by what spirit they were actuated. In particular
we must observe
this general rule
that we cordially desire and labour for the welfare of the
whole human race. Thus it will come to pass
that we shall not only give way to
the exercise of God's mercy
but shall also wish the conversion of those who
seem obstinately to rush upon their own destruction. In short
David
being
free from every evil passion
and likewise endued with the spirit of discretion
and judgment
pleads here not so much his own cause as the cause of God. And by
this prayer
he further reminds both himself and the faithful
that although
the wicked may give themselves loose reins in the commission of every species
of vice with impunity for a time
they must at length stand before the judgment
seat of God. John Calvin.
Verse
4. Give them according to their deeds
and according to the
wickedness of their endeavours. Yes
great God
since thou hast from the beginning
been only occupied in saving men
thou wilt surely strike with an eternal
malediction these children of iniquity who appear to have been born only to be
lost themselves
and to destroy others. The very benevolence towards mankind
solicits thy thunders against these corrupters of society. The more thou hast
done for our race
the more surely will the severity of thy justice reveal
itself in destroying the wretches whose only study is to counteract thy
goodness towards mankind. They labour incessantly to put men far away from
thee
O my God
and in return thou wilt put them far away from thee for ever.
They count it great gain to make their fellows thine enemies
and they shall
have the desperate consolation of being such themselves to all eternity. What
more fitting punishment for the wretches who desire to make all hearts rebel
against thine adorable Majesty
than to lie through the baseness of their
nature
under the eternal and frightful necessity of hating thee for ever. Jean
Baptiste Massillon
rendered very freely by C. H. S.
Verse
4. Give them according to their deeds. The Egyptians
killed the Hebrew male children
and God smote the firstborn of Egypt. Sisera
who thought to destroy Israel with his iron chariots
was himself killed with
an iron nail
stuck through his temples. Adonibezek
Jud 1:5-7. Gideon
slew forty elders of Succoth
and his sons were murdered by Abimelech. Abimelech
slew seventy sons of Gideon upon one stone
and his own head was broken by a
piece of millstone thrown by a woman. Samson fell by the "lust of
the eye
"and before death the Philistines put out his eyes. Agag
1Sa 20:33. Saul slew the Gibeonites
and seven of his sons were hung up
before the Lord. 2Sa 21:1-9. Ahab
after coveting Naboth's vineyard
1Ki
21:19
fulfilled 2Ki 9:24-26. Jeroboam
the same hand that was stretched
forth against the altar was withered
1Ki 13:1-6. Joab having killed
Abner
Amasa
and Absalom
was put to death by Solomon. Daniel's accusers
thrown into the lion's den meant for Daniel. Haman hung upon the gallows
designed for Mordecai. Judas purchased the field of blood
and then went
and hanged himself. So in the history of later days
Bajazet was carried
about by Tamerlane in an iron cage
as he intended to have carried Tamerlane. Mazentius
built a bridge to entrap Constantine
and was overthrown himself of that very
spot. Alexander VI. was poisoned by the wine he had prepared for
another. Charles IX. made the streets of Paris to stream with Protestant
blood
and soon after blood streamed from all parts of his body in a bloody
sweat. Cardinal Beaton condemned George Wishart to death
and presently
died a violent death himself. He was murdered in bed
and his body was laid out
in the same window from which he had looked upon Wishart's execution. G. S.
Bowes
in "Illustrative Gatherings."
Verse
4. Render to them their desert. Meditate on God's
righteousness
that it is not only his will
but his nature to punish sin; sin
must damn thee without Christ
there is not only a possibility or probability
that sin may ruin
but without an interest in Christ it must do so; whet much
upon thy heart that must; God cannot but hate sin
because he is holy;
and he cannot but punish sin
because he is righteous. God must not forego his
own nature to gratify our humours. Christopher Fowler
in "Morning
Exercises
" 1676.
Verse
4. He prayeth against his enemies
not out of any private revenge
but being led by the infallible spirit of prophecy
looking through these men
to the enemies of Christ
and of his people in all ages. David Dickson.
Verses
4-5. In these verses
as indeed in most of the imprecatory passages
the imperative and the future are used promiscuously: Give them—render
them—he shall destroy them. If therefore
the verbs
in all such passages
were uniformly rendered in the "future
"every objection against the
Scripture imprecations would vanish at once
and they would appear clearly to
be what they are
namely
prophecies of the divine judgments
which have been
since executed against the Jews
and which will be executed against all the
enemies of Jehovah
and his Christ; whom neither the "works" of
creation
nor those of redemption
can lead to repentance. George Horne.
Verses
4-5. See Psalms on "Ps 28:4" for further information.
In these verses
as indeed in most of the imprecatory passages
the imperative
and the future are used promiscuously: Give them—render them—he shall
destroy them. If therefore
the verbs
in all such passages
were uniformly
rendered in the "future
"every objection against the Scripture
imprecations would vanish at once
and they would appear clearly to be what
they are
namely
prophecies of the divine judgments
which have been since
executed against the Jews
and which will be executed against all the enemies
of Jehovah
and his Christ; whom neither the "works" of creation
nor
those of redemption
can lead to repentance. George Horne.
Verse
6. He hath heard. Prayer is the best remedy in a calamity.
This is indeed a true catholicum
a general remedy for every malady. Not
like the empiric's catholicum
which sometimes may work
but for the
most part fails: but that which upon assured evidence and constant experience
hath its probatum est; being that which the most wise
learned
honest
and skilful Physician that ever was
or can be
hath prescribed—even he that
teacheth us how to bear what is to be borne
or how to heal and help what hath
been borne. William Gouge.
Verse
7. The Lord is my strength. Oh
sweet consolation! If a man
have a burden upon him
yet if he have strength added to him
if the
burden be doubled
yet if his strength be trebled
the burden will not
be heavier
but lighter than it was before to his natural strength; so if our
afflictions be heavy
and we cry out
Oh
we cannot bear them! yet if we cannot
bear them with our own strength
why may we not bear them with the strength of
Jesus Christ? Do we think that Christ could not bear them? or if we dare not
think but that Christ could bear them
why may not we come to bear them? Some
may question
can we have the strength of Christ? Yes; that very strength is
made over to us by faith
for so the Scripture saith frequently
The Lord is
our strength; God is our strength; The Lord Jehovah is our strength; Christ is
our strength Ps 28:7 43:2 Ps 118:14 Isa 12:2 Hab 3:19 Col 1:11; and
therefore
is Christ's strength ours
made over unto us
that we may be able to
bear whatsoever lies upon us. Isaac Ambrose.
Verse
7. The Lord is my strength inwardly
and my shield
outwardly. Faith finds both these in Jehovah
and the one not without the
other
for what is a shield without strength
or strength without a shield? My
heart trusted in him
and I am helped: the idea of the former sentence is
here carried out
that outward help was granted to inward confidence. W.
Wilson
D.D.
Verse
7. My heart trusted in him
and I am helped. Faith
substantiates things not yet seen; it altereth the tense
saith one
and
putteth the future into the present tense as here. John Trapp.
Verse
8. The Lord is their strength: not mine only
but the
strength of every believer. Note—the saints rejoice in their friends' comforts
as well as their own; for as we have not the less benefit by the light of the
sun
so neither by the light of God's countenance
for others sharing therein;
for we are sure there is enough for all
and enough for each. This is our
communion with all saints
that God is their strength and ours; Christ their
Lord and ours. 1Co 1:2. He is their strength
the strength of all Israel
because he is the saving strength of his anointed
i.e.
1. Of David in
the type: God in strengthening him that was their king and fought their
battles
strengthened the whole kingdom. He calls himself God's anointed
because it was the unction he had received that exposed him to the envy of his
enemies
and therefore entitled him to the divine protection. 2. Of Christ
his
Anointed
his Messiah
in the antitype. God was his saving strength
qualified him for his undertaking
and carried him through it. Matthew
Henry.
Verse
9. Lift them up. The word here used may mean sustain
them
or support them; but it more properly means bear
and would
be best expressed by a reference to the fact
that the shepherd carries the
feeble
the young
and the sickly of his flock in his arms
or that he lifts
them up when unable themselves to rise. Albert Barnes.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. (first clause). A sinner's wise resolution in the hour of
despondency.
Verse
1. The saint's fear of becoming like the ungodly.
Verse
1. God's silence—what terror may lie in it.
Verse
1. (last clause). How low a soul may sink when God hides his
face.
Verses
1-2. Prayer. 1. Its nature—a "cry": (a) The utterance
of life
(b) The expression of pain
(c) The pleading of need
(d) The voice of
deep earnestness.
2. Its
object—"O Lord
my rock." God as our Foundation
Refuge
and
immutable Friend.
3. Its
aim—"Hear
""Be not silent." We expect an answer
a
clear and manifest answer
a speedy answer
a suitable answer
an effectual
answer.
4. Its
medium—"Towards thy holy oracle." Our Lord Jesus
the true mercy
seat
etc.
Verse
3. The characters to be avoided
the doom to be dreaded
the grace
to keep us from both.
Verse
4. Measure for measure
or punishment proportioned to desert.
Verse
4. Endeavour the measure of sin rather than mere result. Hence some
are guilty of sins which they were unable to commit.
Verse
5. Culpable negligence constantly persisted in
losing much
blessing
and involving terrible condemnation.
Verse
6. Answered prayers
a retrospect and song.
Verse
7. The heart's possessions
confidence
experience
joy
and music.
Verse
7. Adoring God for his mercies. 1. What God is to the believer.
2.
What should be the disposition of our hearts towards him. —C. Simeon.
Verse
8. All power given to believers because of their union with Jesus.
Verse
9. "A prayer for the church militant." See Exposition and
Spurgeon's Sermons
No. 768.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》