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Psalm Twenty-nine
Psalm 29
Chapter Contents
Exhortation to give glory to God.
The mighty and honourable of the earth are especially
bound to honour and worship him; but
alas
few attempt to worship him in the
beauty of holiness. When we come before him as the Redeemer of sinners
in
repentance faith
and love
he will accept our defective services
pardon the
sin that cleaves to them
and approve of that measure of holiness which the
Holy Spirit enables us to exercise. We have here the nature of religious
worship; it is giving to the Lord the glory due to his name. We must be holy in
all our religious services
devoted to God
and to his will and glory. There is
a beauty in holiness
and that puts beauty upon all acts of worship. The
psalmist here sets forth God's dominion in the kingdom of nature. In the
thunder
and lightning
and storm
we may see and hear his glory. Let our
hearts be thereby filled with great
and high
and honourable thoughts of God
in the holy adoring of whom
the power of godliness so much consists. O Lord
our God
thou art very great! The power of the lightning equals the terror of
the thunder. The fear caused by these effects of the Divine power
should
remind us of the mighty power of God
of man's weakness
and of the defenceless
and desperate condition of the wicked in the day of judgment. But the effects
of the Divine word upon the souls of men
under the power of the Holy Spirit
are far greater than those of thunder storms in the nature world. Thereby the
stoutest are made to tremble
the proudest are cast down
the secrets of the
heart are brought to light
sinners are converted
the savage
sensual
and
unclean
become harmless
gentle
and pure. If we have heard God's voice
and
have fled for refuge to the hope set before us
let us remember that children
need not fear their Father's voice
when he speaks in anger to his enemies.
While those tremble who are without shelter
let those who abide in his
appointed refuge bless him for their security
looking forward to the day of
judgment without dismay
safe as Noah in the ark.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 29
Verse 1
[1] Give
unto the LORD
O ye mighty
give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Ye — Ye potentates and
rulers of the earth.
Glory — By
an humble and thankful acknowledgment of it.
Verse 2
[2] Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the
beauty of holiness.
Give
… —
The honour which he deserves: own him as the Almighty
and the only true God.
Holiness —
Or
in his holy and beautiful house.
Verse 3
[3] The
voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is
upon many waters.
The waters —
Above in the clouds
which are called waters
Genesis 1:7; Psalms 18:11. The Divine power displays itself
in those high places
which are far above the reach of all earthly potentates.
Many —
Upon the clouds
in which there are vast treasures of water
and upon which God
is said to sit or ride
Psalms 18:10
11; 104:3.
Verse 5
[5] The
voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea
the LORD breaketh the cedars of
Lebanon.
Lebanon — A
place famous for strong and lofty cedars.
Verse 6
[6] He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young
unicorn.
Them —
The cedars; which being broken by the thunder
the parts of them are suddenly
and violently hurled hither and thither.
Sirion — An
high mountain beyond Jordan joining to Lebanon. Lebanon and Sirion are said to
skip or leap
both here
and Psalms 114:4
by a poetical hyperbole.
Verse 7
[7] The
voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire.
The flames —
The lightnings.
Verse 8
[8] The
voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of
Kadesh.
Kadesh — An
eminent wilderness
vast and terrible
and well known to the Israelites
and
wherein possibly they had seen
and observed some such effects of thunder.
Verse 9
[9] The
voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve
and discovereth the forests: and
in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.
To calve —
Through the terror it causes
which hastens the birth. He names the hinds
because they bring forth their young with difficulty
Job 39:1
2.
Discovereth —
Heb. maketh bare
of its trees
which it breaks or strips of their leaves.
Glory —
Having shewed the terrible effects of God's power in other places
he now shews
the blessed privilege of God's people
that are praising God in his temple
when the rest of the world are trembling under the tokens of his displeasure.
Verse 10
[10] The
LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea
the LORD sitteth King for ever.
The flood —
The most violent waters
which sometimes fall from the clouds upon the earth.
These are fitly mentioned
as being many times the companions of great
thunders. And this may be alleged as another reason
why God's people praised
him in his temple
because as he sends terrible tempests and thunders
so he
also restrains and over-rules them.
Sitteth — He
doth sit
and will sit as king for ever
sending such tempests when it pleaseth
him.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
TITLE. A Psalm of
David. The title affords us no information beyond the fact that David is the
author of this sublime song.
SUBJECT. It seems to be
the general opinion of modern annotators
that this Psalm is meant to express
the glory of God as heard in the pealing thunder
and seen in the equinoctial
tornado. Just as the eighth Psalm is to be read by moonlight
when the stars
are bright
as the nineteenth needs the rays of the rising sun to bring out its
beauty
so this can be best rehearsed beneath the black wing of tempest
by the
glare of the lightning
or amid that dubious dusk which heralds the war of
elements. The verses march to the tune of thunderbolts. God is everywhere
conspicuous
and all the earth is hushed by the majesty of his presence. The
word of God in the law and gospel is here also depicted in its majesty of
power. True ministers are sons of thunder
and the voice of God in Christ Jesus
is full of majesty. Thus we have God's works and God's word joined together:
let no man put them asunder by a false idea that theology and science can by
any possibility oppose each other. We may
perhaps
by a prophetic glance
behold in this Psalm the dread tempests of the latter days
and the security of
the elect people.
DIVISION. The first two
verses are a call to adoration. From Ps 29:3-10 the path of the tempest is
traced
the attributes of God's word are rehearsed
and God magnified in all
the terrible grandeur of his power; and the last verse sweetly closes the scene
with the assurance that the omnipotent Jehovah will give both strength and
peace to his people. Let heaven and earth pass away
the Lord will surely bless
his people.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Give
i.e.
ascribe. Neither men nor angels can confer
anything upon Jehovah
but they should recognise his glory and might
and
ascribe it to him in their songs and in their hearts. Unto the Lord
and
unto him alone
must honour be given. Natural causes
as men call them
are God
in action
and we must not ascribe power to them
but to the infinite Invisible
who is the true source of all. O ye mighty. Ye great ones of earth and
of heaven
kings and angels
join in rendering worship to the blessed and only
Potentate; ye lords among men need thus to be reminded
for ye often fail where
humbler men are ardent; but fail no longer
bow your heads at once
and loyally
do homage to the King of kings. How frequently do grandees and potentates think
it beneath them to fear the Lord; but
when they have been led to extol
Jehovah
their piety has been the greatest jewel in their crowns. Give unto
the Lord glory and strength
both of which men are too apt to claim for
themselves
although they are the exclusive prerogatives of the self existent
God. Let crowns and swords acknowledge their dependence upon God. Not to your
arms
O kings
give ye the glory
nor look for strength to your hosts of
warriors
for all your pomp is but as a fading flower
and your might is as a
shadow which declineth. When shall the day arrive when kings and princes shall
count it their delight to glorify their God? "All worship be to God only
"let this be emblazoned on every coat of arms.
Verse
2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. A third time
the admonition is given
for men are backward in glorifying God
and especially
great men
who are often too much swollen with their own glory to spare time to
give God his rightful praise
although nothing more is asked of them than is
most just and right. Surely men should not need so much pressing to give what
is due
especially when the payment is so pleasant. Unbelief and distrust
complaining and murmuring
rob God of his honour; in this respect
even the
saints fail to give due glory to their King. Worship the Lord
bow
before him with devout homage and sacred awe
and let your worship be such as
he appoints. Of old
worship was cumbered with ceremonial
and men gathered
around one dedicated building
whose solemn pomp was emblematic of the beauty
of holiness; but now our worship is spiritual
and the architecture of the
house and the garments of the worshippers are matters of no importance; the
spiritual beauty of inward purity and outward holiness being far more precious
in the eyes of our thrice holy God. O for grace ever to worship with holy
motives and in a holy manner
as becometh saints! The call to worship in these
two verses chimes in with the loud pealing thunder
which is the church bell of
the universe ringing kings and angels
and all the sons of earth to their
devotions.
Verse
3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The thunder is
not only poetically but instructively called "the voice of God
"since it peals from on high; it surpasses all other sounds
it inspires
awe
it is entirely independent of man
and has been used on some occasions as
the grand accompaniment of God's speech to Adam's sons. There is a peculiar
terror in a tempest at sea
when deep calleth unto deep
and the raging sea
echoes to the angry sky. No sight more alarming than the flash of lightning
around the mast of the ship; and no sound more calculated to inspire reverent
awe than the roar of the storm. The children of heaven have often enjoyed the
tumult with humble joy peculiar to the saints
and even those who know not God
have been forced into unwilling reverence while the storm has lasted. The
glory of God thundereth. Thunder is in truth no mere electric phenomenon
but is caused by the interposition of God himself. Even the old heathen spake
of Jupiter Tonans; but our modern wise men will have us believe in laws and
forces
and anything or nothing so they may be rid of God. Electricity of
itself can do nothing
it must be called and sent upon its errand; and until
the almighty Lord commissions it
its bolt of fire is inert and powerless. As
well might a rock of granite
or a bar of iron fly in the midst of heaven
as
the lightning go without being sent by the great First Cause. The Lord is
upon many waters. Still the Psalmist's ear hears no voice but that of
Jehovah
resounding from the multitudinous and dark waters of the upper ocean
of clouds
and echoing from the innumerable billows of the storm tossed sea
below. The waters above and beneath the firmament are astonished at the eternal
voice. When the Holy Spirit makes the divine promise to be heard above the many
waters of our soul's trouble
then is God as glorious in the spiritual world as
in the universe of matter. Above us and beneath us all is the peace of God when
he gives us quiet.
Verse
4. The voice of the Lord is powerful. An irresistible power
attends the lightning of which the thunder is the report. In an instant
when
the Lord wills it
the force of electricity produces amazing results. A writer
upon this subject
speaks of these results as including a light of the
intensity of the sun in his strength
a heat capable of fusing the most compact
metals
a force in a moment paralysing the muscles of the most powerful
animals; a power suspending the all pervading gravity of the earth
and an
energy capable of decomposing and recomposing the closest affinities of the
most intimate combinations. Well does Thompson speak of "the unconquerable
lightning
"for it is the chief of the ways of God in physical forces
and
none can measure its power. As the voice of God in nature is so powerful
so is
it in grace; the reader will do well to draw a parallel
and he will find much
in the gospel which may be illustrated by the thunder of the Lord in the
tempest. His voice
whether in nature or revelation
shakes both earth and
heaven; see that ye refuse not him that speaketh. If his voice be thus mighty
what must his hand be! beware lest ye provoke a blow. The voice of the Lord
is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The King of kings
speaks like a king. As when a lion roareth
all the beasts of the forest are
still
so is the earth hushed and mute while Jehovah thundereth marvellously.
"It
is listening fear and dumb amazement all."
As
for the written word of God
its majesty is apparent both in its style
its
matter
and its power over the human mind; blessed be God
it is the majesty of
mercy wielding a silver sceptre; of such majesty the word of our salvation is full
to overflowing.
Verse
5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars.
"Black
from the stroke above
the smouldering pine
Stands a sad shattered trunk."
Noble
trees fall prostrate beneath the mysterious bolt
or stand in desolation as
mementoes of its power. Lebanon itself is not secure
high as it stands
and
ancient as are its venerable woods: Yea
the Lord breaketh the cedars of
Lebanon. The greatest and most venerable of trees or men
may not reckon
upon immunity when the Lord is abroad in his wrath. The gospel of Jesus has a
like dominion over the most inaccessible of mortals; and when the Lord sends
the word
it breaks hearts far stouter than the cedars.
Verse
6. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion
like a young unicorn. Not only the trees
but the mountains themselves move
as though they frisked and leaped like young bulls or antelopes. As our own
poets would mention hills and valleys known to them
so the Psalmist hears the
crash and roar among the ranges of Libanus
and depicts the tumult in graphic
terms. Thus sings one of our own countrymen:—"Amid Carnavon's mountains
rages loud
The repercussive roar: with mighty crash
Into the flashing deep
from the rude rocks
Of Penmaen Mawr
heaped hideous to the sky
Tumble the smitten cliffs; and Snowdon's peak
Dissolving
instant yields his wintry load.
Far seen
the heights of heathy Cheviot blaze
And Thule bellows through her utmost isles."
The
glorious gospel of the blessed God has more than equal power over the rocky
obduracy and mountainous pride of man. The voice of our dying Lord rent the
rocks and opened the graves: his living voice still works the like wonders.
Glory be to his name
the hills of our sins leap into his grave
and are buried
in the red sea of his blood
when the voice of his intercession is heard.
Verse
7. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire. As when
sparks fly from the anvil by blows of a ponderous hammer
so the lightning
attends the thundering strokes of Jehovah. "At first heard solemn over the
verge of heaven
The tempest growls; but as it nearer comes
And rolls its awful burden on the wind
The lightnings flash a larger curve
and more
The noise astounds: till overhead a sheet
Of livid flame discloses wide; then shuts
And opens wider; shuts and opens still
Expansive
wrapping ether in a blaze."
The
thunder seems to divide one flash from another
interposing its deepening roar
between the flash which precedes it and the next. That the flashes are truly
flames of fire is witnessed by their frequently falling upon houses
churches
etc.
and wrapping them in a blaze. How easily could the Lord destroy his
rebellious creatures with his hot thunderbolts! how gracious is the hand which
spares such great offenders
when to crush them would be so easy! Flames of
fire attend the voice of God in the gospel
illuminating and melting the hearts
of men: by those he consumes our lusts and kindles in us a holy flame of ever
aspiring love and holiness. Pentecost is a suggestive commentary upon this
verse.
Verse
8. As the storm travelled
it burst over the desert. The voice of
the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
God courts not the applause of men—his grandest deeds are wrought where man's
inquisitive glance is all unknown. Where no sound of man was heard
the voice
of God was terribly distinct. The vast and silent plains trembled with
affright. Silence did homage to the Almighty voice. Low lying plains must hear
the voice of God as well as lofty mountains; the poor as well as the mighty
must acknowledge the glory of the Lord. Solitary and barren places are to be
gladdened by the gospel's heavenly sound. What a shaking and overturning power
there is in the word of God! even the conservative desert quivers into progress
when God decrees it.
Verse
9. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve
those timid
creatures
in deadly fear of the tempest
drop their burdens in an untimely
manner. Perhaps a better reading is
"the oaks to tremble
"especially as this agrees with the next sentence
and discovereth the
forests. The dense shades of the forest are lit up with the lurid glare of
the lightning
and even the darkest recesses are for a moment laid bare.
"The
gloomy woods
Start at the flash
and from their deep recesses
Wide flaming out
their trembling inmates shake."
Our
first parents sought a refuge among the trees
but the voice of the Lord soon
found them out
and made their hearts to tremble. There is no concealment from
the fire glance of the Almighty—one flash of his angry eye turns midnight into
noon. The gospel has a like revealing power in dark hearts
in a moment it
lights up every dark recess of the heart's ungodliness
and bids the soul
tremble before the Lord. In his temple doth everyone speak of his glory. Those
who were worshipping in the temple
were led to speak of the greatness of Jehovah
as they heard the repeated thunder claps. The whole world is also a temple for
God
and when he rides abroad upon the wings of the wind
all things are vocal
in his praise. We too
the redeemed of the Lord
who are living temples for his
Spirit
as we see the wonders of his power in creation
and feel them in grace
unite to magnify his name. No tongue may be dumb in God's temple when his glory
is the theme. The original appears to have the force of "every one crieth
Glory
"as though all things were moved by a sense of God's majesty to
shout in ecstasy
"Glory
glory." Here is a good precedent for our
Methodist friends and for the Gogoniants of the zealous Welsh.
Verse
10. The Lord sitteth upon the flood. Flood follows tempest
but Jehovah is ready for the emergency. No deluge can undermine the foundation
of his throne. He is calm and unmoved
however much the deep may roar and be
troubled: his government rules the most unstable and boisterous of created
things. Far out on the wild waste of waters
Jehovah "plants his footsteps
in the sea
and rides upon the storm
"Yea
the Lord sitteth King for
ever. Jesus has the government upon his shoulders eternally: our interests
in the most stormy times are safe in his hands. Satan is not a king
but
Jehovah Jesus is; therefore let us worship him
and rejoice evermore.
Verse
11. Power was displayed in the hurricane whose course this Psalm so
grandly pictures; and now
in the cool calm after the storm
that power is
promised to be the strength of the chosen. He who wings the unerring bolt
will
give to his redeemed the wings of eagles; he who shakes the earth with his
voice
will terrify the enemies of his saints
and give his children peace. Why
are we weak when we have divine strength to flee to? Why are we troubled when
the Lord's own peace is ours? Jesus the mighty God is our peace—what a blessing
is this today! What a blessing it will be to us in that day of the Lord which
will be in darkness and not light to the ungodly! Dear reader
is not this a
noble Psalm to be sung in stormy weather? Can you sing amid the thunder? Will
you be able to sing when the last thunders are let loose
and Jesus judges
quick and dead? If you are a believer
the last verse is your heritage
and
surely that will set you singing.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. In this Psalm
the strength of Jehovah is celebrated; and the
exemplification of it is evidently taken from a thunderstorm in Lebanon. The
Psalm seems to be addressed to the angels. See Ps 89:7. It thus begins:—
"Render
unto Jehovah
ye sons of the mighty
Render unto Jehovah glory and strength;
Render to Jehovah the glory of his name;
Bow down to Jehovah in the majesty of holiness!"
Immediately
follows the description of the thunderstorm
in which it does not seem fanciful
to observe the historical progression which is usual on such occasions. The
first lines seem to describe only the noise of the thunder
the description
growing more intense as the rumbling draws nearer.
"The
voice of Jehovah is above the waters;
The God of glory thundereth
Jehovah is louder than many waters
The voice of Jehovah in strength
The voice of Jehovah in majesty!"
But now the effects become visible; the storm has descended on the mountains
and forests:—
"The voice of Jehovah shivers the cedars
Even shivers Jehovah the cedars of Lebanon;
And makes them to skip
like a calf;
Lebanon and Sirion
like a young buffalo
The voice of Jehovah forks the lightning's flash!"
From
the mountains the storm sweeps down into the plains
where
however
it effects
are not so fearful as on the mountains—
"The
voice of Jehovah causeth the desert to tremble—
The voice of Jehovah causeth to tremble the desert of Kadesh—
The voice of Jehovah causeth the oaks to tremble
And lays bare the forests!
Therefore
in his temple every one speaks of his glory."
The
description of the swollen torrents closes the scene—
"Jehovah
upon the rain torrent sitteth.
Yea
sitteth Jehovah a king for ever."
And
the moral of application of the whole is—
"Jehovah
to his people will give strength
Jehovah will bless his people with peace."
—Robert Murray Macheyne
1813-1843.
Whole
Psalm. There is no phenomenon in nature so awful as a thunderstorm
and
almost every poet from Homer and Virgil down to Dante and Milton
or rather
down to Grahame and Pollok
has described it. In the Bible
too
we have a
thunderstorm
the twenty-ninth Psalm—the description of a tempest
which
rising from the Mediterranean
and travelling by Lebanon and along the inland
mountains
reaches Jerusalem
and sends the people into the temple porticoes
for refuge; and; besides those touches of terror in which the geographical
progress of the tornado is described
it derives a sacred vitality and power
from the presence of Jehovah in each successive peal. James Hamilton
D.D.
in "The Literary Attractions of the Bible
" 1849.
Whole
Psalm. A glorious Psalm of praise sung during a tempest
the majesty of
which shakes universal nature
so much so that the greatness of the power of
the Lord is felt by all in heaven and on earth. This Lord is the God of his
people
who blesses them with strength and peace. To rightly appreciate the
feelings of the bard
one ought to realise an Oriental storm
especially in the
mountainous regions of Palestine
which
accompanied by the terrific echoes of
the encircling mountains
by torrents of rain like waterspouts
often scatters
terror on man and beast
destruction on cities and fields. Wilson
the
traveller
describes such a tempest in the neighbourhood of Baalbek: "I was
overtaken by a storm
as if the floodgates of heaven had burst; it came on in a
moment
and raged with a power which suggested the end of the world. Solemn
darkness covered the earth: the rain descended in torrents
and sweeping down
the mountain side
became by the fearful power of the storm transmuted into
thick clouds of fog." Compare also our Lord's parable
taken from life
in
Mt 7:27. Augustus F. Tholuck
in loc.
Verse
1. Give unto the Lord. Give
give
give. This showeth how
unwilling such are usually to give God his right
or to suffer a word of
exhortation to this purpose. John Trapp.
Verse
1. O ye mighty. The Septuagint renders it
O ye sons of
rams! These bell wethers should not cast their noses into the air
and
carry their crest the higher
because the shepherd hath bestowed a bell upon
them
more than upon the rest of the flock. John Trapp.
Verses
1-2. There are three gives in these two verses:—Give unto
the Lord
give unto the Lord
give unto the Lord the glory that is due unto his
name. Glory is God's right
and he stands upon his right; and this the
sincere Christian knows
and therefore he gives him his right
he gives him the
honour and the glory that is due unto his name. But pray do not mistake me. I
do not say that such as are really sincere do actually eye the glory of Christ
in all their actions. Oh
no! This is a happiness desirable on earth
but shall
never be attained till we come to heaven. Bye and base ends and aims will be
still ready to creep into the best hearts
but all sincere hearts sigh and
groan under them. They complain to God of them
and they cry out for justice
justice upon them; and it is the earnest desire and daily endeavours of their
souls to be rid of them; and therefore they shall not be imputed to them
nor keep
good things from them. But now take a sincere Christian in his ordinary
usual
and habitual course
and you shall find that his aims and ends in all his
actions and undertakings are to glorify God
to exalt God
and to lift up God
in the world. If the hypocrite did in good earnest aim at the glory of God in
what he does
then the glory of God would swallow up his bye aims and carnal
ends
as Aaron's rod swallowed up the magician's rods. Ex 7:10-12. Look
as the
sun puts out the light of the fire
so the glory of God
where it is aimed at
will put out and consume all bye and base ends. This is most certain
that
which is a man's great end
that will work out all other ends. He that sets up
the glory of God as his chief end
will find that his chief end will by degrees
eat out all low and base ends. Look
as Pharaoh's lean kine ate up the fat Ge
31:4
so the glory of God will eat up all those fat and worldly ends that crowd
in upon the soul in religious work. Where the glory of God is kept up as a man's
greatest end
there all bye and base ends will be kept at an under. Thomas
Brooks.
Verse
2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name. Which yet
you cannot do
for his name is above all praise! Ps 148:13; but you must aim at
it. The Rabbins observe that God's holy name is mentioned eighteen several
times in this Psalm; that great men especially may give him the honour of his
name
that they may stand in awe and not sin
that they may bring presents to
him who ought to be feared
and those also the very best of the best
since he
is a great king
and standeth much upon his seniority. Mal 1:14. John Trapp.
Verse
2. Worship the Lord. If any should ask
Why is the Lord to be
worshipped? Why must he have such high honours from those that are high? What
doth he in the world that calls for such adoration? David answereth
meteorologically as well as theologically
he answers from the clouds Ps
29:3-4
"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory
thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty; "as if he had said
Although the
Lord Jesus Christ will not set up an outward
pompous
political kingdom
such
as that of Cyrus
Alexander
etc.
yet by the ministry of the gospel he will
erect a spiritual kingdom
and gather to himself a church that shall abide for
ever
out of all the nations of the earth; for the gospel shall be carried and
preached
to not only the people of Israel
the Jews
but to the Gentiles
all
the world over
that the minds of men may be enlightened
awakened
and moved
with that unheard of doctrine of salvation by Christ
which had been hid from
ages and generations. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory
thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters. Yes
great God
these torrents of
tears which flow down from my eyes announce thy divine presence in my soul.
This heart hitherto so dry
so arid
so hard; this rock which thou hast struck
a second time
will not resist thee any longer
for out of it there now gushes
healthful waters in abundance. The selfsame voice of God which overturns the
mountains
thunders
lightens
and divides the heaven above the sinner
now
commands the clouds to pour forth showers of blessings
changing the desert of
his soul into a field producing a hundredfold; that voice I hear. J. B.
Massillon.
Verses
3-10. The Lord
etc. All things which we commonly say are the effects
of the natural powers of matter and laws of motion
are
indeed (if we will speak
strictly and properly)
the effects of God's acting upon matter continually and
at every moment
either immediately by himself
or mediately by some created
intelligent being. Consequently there is no such thing as the cause of nature
or the power of nature. Samuel Clarke
1675-1729. "The friend and
disciple of Newton."
Verses
3-10.
The
voice of the Lord on the ocean is known
The God of eternity thundereth abroad;
The voice of the Lord from the depth of his throne
Is terror and power;—all nature is awed.
The voice of the Lord through the calm of the wood
Awakens its echoes
strikes light through its caves;
The Lord sitteth King on the turbulent flood
The winds are his servants
his servants the waves.
—James Montgomery
1771-1854.
Ver.
3-11—
Messiah's
voice is in the cloud
The God of glory thunders loud.
Messiah rides along the floods
He treads upon the flying clouds.
Messiah's voice is full of power
His lightnings play when tempests lower.
Messiah's voice the cedars breaks
While Lebanon's foundation quakes.
Messiah's voice removes the hills
And all the plains with rivers fills.
The voice of their expiring God
Shall make the rocks to start abroad;
Mount Zion and Mount Sirion
Shall bound along with Lebanon:
The flames of fire shall round him wreathe
When he shall on the ether breathe.
Messiah's voice shall shake the earth
And
lo! the graves shall groan in birth
Ten thousand thousand living sons
Shall be the issue of their groans.
The peace of God the gospel sounds;
The peace of God
the earth rebounds
The gospel everlasting shines
A light from God that never declines.
This is the light Jehovah sends
To bless the world's remotest ends.
—Barclay's Paraphrase.
Verse
4. The voice of the Lord. These vehement repetitions resemble
a series of thunderclaps; one seems to hear the dread artillery of heaven
firing volley after volley
while peal on peal the echo follows the sound. C.
H. S.
Verse
4. The voice of the Lord is powerful. I would render unto God
the glory due unto his name
for the admirable change which he has wrought in
my heart. There was nothing to be found in me but an impious hardness and
inveterate disorder. From this helpless state he changed me into a new man and
made resplendent the glory of his name and the power of his grace. He alone can
work such prodigies. Unbelievers who refuse to acknowledge the hand of God in
creation must surely in this case admit that "this is the finger of
God." Yes
great God
chaos knows not how to resist thee
it hears thy
voice obediently
but the obdurate heart repels thee
and thy mighty voice too
often calls to it in vain. Thou art not so great and wonderful in creating
worlds out of nothing as thou art when thou dost command a rebel heart to arise
from its abyss of sin
and to run in the ways of thy commandments. To disperse
a chaos of crime and ignorance by the majesty of thy word
to shed light on the
direst darkness
and by the Holy Ghost to establish harmonious order where all
was confusion
manifests in far greater measure thine omnipotence than the
calling forth of heavenly laws and celestial suns from the first chaos. J.
B. Massillon.
Verse
4. O may the evangelical "Boanerges" so cause the glorious
sound of the gospel to be heard under the whole heaven
that the world may
again be made sensible thereof; before that voice of the Son of Man
which hath
so often called sinners to repentance
shall call them to judgment. George
Horne.
Verse
4. Where the word of a king is
there is power
but what imperial
voice shall be likened unto the majestic thunder of the Lord? C. H. S.
Verse
5. The voice of Jehovah. Philosophers think not that they
have reasoned skilfully enough about inferior causes
unless they separate God
very far from his works. It is a diabolical science
however
which fixes our contemplations
on the works of nature
and turns them away from God. If any one who wished to
know a man
should take no notice of his face
but should fix his eyes only on
the points of his nails
his folly might justly be derided. But far greater is
the folly of those philosophers
who
out of mediate and proximate causes
weave themselves vails lest they should be compelled to acknowledge the hand of
God
which manifestly displays itself in his works. John Calvin.
Verse
5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars
etc. Like as
tempests when they arise
and lightnings
quickly and in a trice
hurl down and
overturn mountains and the highest trees; even so doth the Lord bring down with
a break neck fall
the proud
haughty
arrogant
and insolent
who set themselves
against God
and seek the spoil of those that be quiet and godly. Robert
Cawdray.
Verse
5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars. The ancient
expositors remind us that the breaking of the cedar trees by the
wind
is a figure of the laying low of the lofty and proud things of this
world
by the rushing mighty wind of the Holy Spirit
given on that day. Confringit
cedros Deus
hoc est humiliat superbos. (S. Jerome
and so S. Basil.) Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse
5. The Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. What a shame is it then
that our hard hearts break not
yield not
though thunder struck with the
dreadful menaces of God's mouth! John Trapp.
Verse
5. "Breaketh the cedars of Lebanon:"—
When
high in the air the pine ascends
To every ruder blast it bends.
The palace falls with heavier weight
When tumbling from its airy height;
And when from heaven the lightning flies
It blasts the hills that proudest rise.
—Horace
translated by Philip Francis
D.D.
1765.
Verse
5. The cedars of Lebanon. These mighty trees of God
which
for ages have stood the force of the tempest
rearing their evergreen colossal
boughs in the region of everlasting snow
are the first objects of the fury of
the lightning
which is well known to visit first the highest objects. Robert
Murray Macheyne.
Verse
6. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion
like a young unicorn; that is
the Lord by his thundering
powerful voice
first
will make them skip
as frightened with fear; and secondly
as revived
with joy. Yet more Ps 29:7
"The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of
fire; "that is
will send and divide to every one as they need 1Co 12:11
the Holy Spirit
who is compared to and called fire Mt 3:11
and who
came as with a thunderstorm of a rushing mighty wind
and with the
appearance of cloven tongues
like as of fire
and sat upon each one of
the apostles. Ac 2:2-3. Nor did this voice of thunder
accompanied with divided
flames of fire reach Jerusalem only; for
as it follows Ps 29:8
"The
voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the wilderness of
Kadesh; "that is
the Lord by the voice of the gospel shall go forth with
power to those Gentiles
who are like a wilderness
barren of goodness
and not
fertilized in spirituals
though they dwell in well governed cities
and are
well furnished with morals. It shall go forth also to those Gentiles who
inhabit waste wildernesses
and are not so much as reduced to civility. These
wildernesses
the thundering voice of the Lord hath shaken heretofore
and doth
shake at this day
and will yet further shake
that the fulness of the Gentiles
may come in. Many of these wildernesses hath the Lord turned into fruitful
fields
and pleasant lands
by the voice of the gospel sounding among them. For
in these wildernesses (as it followeth
Ps 29:9)
"The voice of the Lord
maketh the hinds to calve; "that is
they that were as wild
as untaught
and untamed as the hind
or any beast in the forest
he brings to the
sorrows of their new birth
to repentance and gospel humiliation
and in doing
this
"he (as the psalmist goes on)
discovereth the forests;
" that is
opens the hearts of men
which are as thick set and full
grown with vanity
pride
hypocrisy
self love
and self sufficiency
as also
with wantonness and sensuality
as any forest is overgrown with thickets of
trees and bushes
which deny all passage through till cleared away with burning
down or cutting up. Such an opening
such a discovery
doth the Lord make in
the forests of men's hearts
by the sword and fire
that is
by the word and
spirit of the gospel; and when this is done
the forest becomes a temple
and as that verse concludes
"In his temple doth every one speak of his
glory." And if the floods of ungodliness rise up against the people
whom the thunder and lightning of the gospel have subdued to Christ
and framed
into a holy temple
then the psalmist assures us Ps 29:10
"The Lord
sitteth upon the flood
"that is
it is under his power
he rules and
overrules it; "Yea
the Lord sitteth King for ever; "and Ps
29:11
"The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will
bless his people with peace." Thus the Lord "thundereth
marvellously" Job 37:5
and these are glorious marvels which he
thundereth; he converts sinners. Thus
though I like not their way who are
given to allegorize the Scriptures
yet I doubt not but we may make a
profitable use of this and many other Scriptures by way of allegory. This being
an undeniable truth
which is the ground of it—that the Lord puts forth
as it
were
the power of thunder and lightning in the preaching of his Word; these
two things are to be marked. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
6. He maketh them also to skip like a calf. That is to say
he hath made the splinters and broken pieces of trees that have been struck
with lightning
to fly up into the air
or when they have been shaken by the
wind
storms
or by earthquakes. John Diodati.
Verse
6. The original is—
"And
makes them skip like a calf
Lebanon and Sirion
like a young buffalo."
At
first sight it might appear that the cedars were still meant
and that Lebanon
and Sirion were used by metonymy for the cedars which grew upon them. But
1.
We never hear of cedars growing upon Sirion
or Shenir
or Hermon
for it has
all these names; and
2. There is a parallel passage where this interpretation
will hardly answer in Psalm 114. Describing the exodus of Israel
it says—
"The
mountains skipped like rams
And the little hills like lambs."
The
same verb occurs here
the verb which means "to skip
to dance
"
used in Na 3:2
to signify the jolting of chariots
and also in Joe 2:5. In
both these instances
rough motion
accompanied with noise
seems intended.
Now
though this may very well be understood as a highly figurative
description
as it undoubtedly is
of the usual effect of a thunderstorm; yet
it is interesting to compare it with the following passage of Volney
which
described certain phenomena as frequent in Mount Lebanon
which may give a new
meaning to the "skipping of the mountains:"—"When the traveller
"say he
"penetrates the interior of these mountains
the ruggedness
of the roads
the steepness of the declivities
the depth of the precipices
have at first a terrific effect; but the sagacity of the mules which bear him
soon inspires him with confidence
and enables him to examine at his ease the
picturesque scenes which succeed one another
so as almost to bewilder
him." There
as in the Alps
he sometimes travels whole days to arrive at
a spot which was in sight when he set out. He turns
he descends
he winds
round
he climbs; and under the perpetual change of position
one is ready to
think that a magical power is varying at every step the beauties of the
landscapes. Sometimes villages are seen
ready as it were to slide down the
deep declivities
and so disposed that the roofs of the one row of houses serve
as a street to the row above. At another time
you see a convent seated on an
isolated cone
like Marshaia in the valley of Tigre. Here a rock is pierced by
a torrent
forming a natural cascade
as at Nahr el Leban; there another
rock assumes the appearance of a natural wall! Often on the sides
ledges of
stones
washed down and left by the waters
resemble ruins disposed by art. In
some places
the waters meeting with inclined beds
have undermined the
intermediate earth
and have formed caverns
as at Nahr el Kelb
near Antoura.
In other places
they have worn for themselves subterranean channels
through
which flow little rivulets during part of the year
as at Mar Hama. Sometimes these
picturesque circumstances have become tragical ones. Rocks loosened or thrown
off their equilibrium by thaw or earthquake
have been known to precipitate
themselves on the adjacent dwellings
and crush the inhabitants. An accident of
this kind
about twenty years ago
buried a whole village near Mar Djordos
so
as to leave no trace of its existence. More recently
and near the same spot
the soil of a hill planted with mulberry trees and vines detached itself by a
sudden thaw
and
sliding over the surface of the rock which it had covered
like a vessel launched from the stocks
established itself in the valley below.
Robert Murray Macheyne.
Verse
7. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire. By the
power of God
the "flames of fire" are "divided"
and sent abroad from the clouds upon the earth
in the terrible form of
lightning
that sharp and glittering sword of the Almighty
which no substance
can withstand. The same power of God goeth forth by his word
"quick and
powerful
and sharper than any two edged sword." penetrating
melting
enlightening
and inflaming the hearts of men
Ac 2:3 Heb 4:12. George
Horne.
Verse
7. The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire. The
voice of the Lord is here said to divide the flames; literally
to
hew out flames
(latomein flav). The Septuagint has (diakoptei floga
puroz). In the words of Gensenius
"The voice of Jehovah cutteth out
flames of fire
"i.e.
"sendeth out divided flames of
fire." This is (as Theodoret has observed) very descriptive of the divine
action at Pentecost
sending forth divided flames
like "tela
trisulca
"in the tongues of fire which were divided off from one
heavenly source or fountain of flame
and sat upon the heads of the apostles
and which filled them with the fire of holy zeal and love. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse
7. Divideth the flames of fire. Margin
cutteth out.
The Hebrew word (bux) khatzab means properly to cut
to hew
to hew
out; as for example
stones. The allusion here is undoubtedly to lightning;
and the image is either that it seems to be cut out
or cut into tongues and
streaks—or
more probably
that the clouds seem to be cut or hewed
so
as to make openings or paths for the lightning. The eye is evidently fixed on
the clouds
and on the sudden flash of lightning
as if the clouds has been cleaved
or opened for the passage of it. The idea of the psalmist is
that the "voice
of the Lord
"or the thunder
seems to cleave or open the clouds for
the flames of fire to play amidst the tempest. Albert Barnes.
Verse
8. The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. That Kadesh
Naphtali is meant
the geographical position of Lebanon would make us believe
though this is not necessary. And
although Syria is much exposed to
earthquakes—as
for example
that of Aleppo
in 1822
which was sensibly felt
at Damascus—yet it does not seem necessary to imagine anything farther than the
usual affects of a thunderstorm. The oaks and forests of Ps 29:9
suit
well with the description given of the lower limbs of Lebanon
which abound in
"thickets of myrtle
woods of fir
walnut trees
carob trees
and Turkish
oaks." And the rain torrent of Ps 29:10 is admirably descriptive of
the sudden swell of the thousand streams which flow from Lebanon. According to
modern travellers
the number of water courses descending from Lebanon is
immense; and the suddenness of the rise of these streams may be gathered from
the contradictions in their accounts. The Nahr el Sazib is described by one as
"a rivulet
though crossed by a bridge of six arches; "by another it
is called "a large river." The Damour (the ancient Tamyras)
which
flows immediately from Lebanon
is "a river
"says Mandrell
"apt to swell much upon sudden rains; in which case
precipitating itself
from the mountains with great rapidity
it has been fatal to many a
passenger." He mentions a French gentleman
M. Spon
who
a few years
before
in attempting to ford it
was hurried down by the stream
and perished
in the sea. This is one instance of very many in the mountains of Lebanon
where
the brook
which is usually nearly dry
become all at once an impassable
torrent. When Volney looked upon the rivers of Syria in summer
he doubted
whether they could be called rivers. But had he ventured to cross them after a
thunderstorm
his scepticism would no longer have had room or time to exercise
itself
and he would have felt the propriety of the psalmist's painting
where
he says—
"Jehovah
sitteth on the rain torrents
Jehovah sitteth a King for ever."
Robert Murray Macheyne.
Verse
8. The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness. Great God
I
have laboured to escape thee! I sought refuge for my remorse in a retreat where
nothing might recall me to my God. Far away from the succours of religion
remote from all the channels which bring to me the waters of grace
apart from
all whose reproving witness might restrain me from iniquity; yet even there
Great God
where I believed that I had found an asylum inaccessible to thine
eternal mercy
wherein I could sin with impunity
even there
in that wilderness
thy voice arrested me and laid me at thy feet. J. B. Massillon.
Verse
9. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve. With
respect to the sense conveyed by the common reading
it may be observed
that
hinds bring forth their young with great difficulty and pain
"bowing
themselves
bruising their young ones
and casting out their sorrows" Job
39:4
6; and it therefore heightens the description given of the terrific
character of the thunderstorm
when the thunder which is here called "the
voice of God
"is represented as causing
through the terror which it
inspires
the hinds in their pregnant state prematurely to drop their young;
although
according to our ideas of poetical imagery
this may not accord so
well with the other images in the passage
nor appear so beautiful and sublime
as the image of the oaks trembling at the voice of Jehovah. John Calvin.
Verse
9. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve. The care
and tenderness of God toward beasts turns to his praise
as well as the care which
he hath of
and the tenderness which he shows to believers. As it doth
exceedingly advance the glory of God
that he takes care of wild beasts
so it
may exceedingly strengthen the faith of man that he will take care of him. Doth
the Lord take care of hinds? then certainly he takes care of those who
particularly belong to him. There is a special providence of God towards these
and such like creatures for the production of their young. He—if I may so speak
with reverence—shows his midwifery in helping these savage beasts when their
pains come upon them. As the Lord takes man
in an eminent manner
"out of
the womb" Ps 22:9
so in a manner he takes beasts out of the womb too.
"The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness; the Lord shaketh the
wilderness of Kadesh; "so we translate it; but the word which we render "shaketh"
is the same with that in Job 39:2
which signifieth to bring forth; and
hence
some very learned in the Hebrew tongue do not render as we
"The
voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness
"but "The voice of the Lord
maketh the wilderness to bring forth; the Lord maketh the wilderness of
Kadesh to bring forth; "which is not to be understood of the
vegetative creatures (that's a truth
the Lord makes the trees of the forest to
bring forth both leaves and fruit)
but it is meant of animals or living
creatures there. And then when he saith
"The voice of the Lord maketh the
wilderness to bring forth
" the meaning is
the Lord makes the wild beast
of the wilderness to bring forth; which seems to be the clear sense of the
place by that which followeth: for the psalmist having said this in general at
the eighth verse
"The voice of the Lord maketh the wilderness to bring
forth
"he in the ninth verse gives the special instance of the hind:
"The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve." Joseph Caryl.
Verse
9. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve. It is
with great propriety
says one of the ancients that Jehovah demands
"The
birth of the hinds dost thou guard"? Job 39:1
for since this animal is
always in flight
and with fear and terror always leaping and skipping about
she could never bring her young to maturity without such a special protection.
The providence of God
therefore
is equally conspicuous in the preservation of
the mother and the fawn; both are the objects of his compassion and tender
care; and
consequently
that afflicted man has no reason to charge his Maker
with unkindness
who condescended to watch over the goats and the hinds. It
seems to be generally admitted
that the hind brings forth her young with great
difficulty; and so much appears to be suggested in the verse
"They bow
themselves
they bring forth their young ones
they cast out their
sorrows." But if Pliny and other naturalists are worthy of credit
divine
providence has been graciously pleased to provide certain herbs
which greatly
facilitate the birth; and by instinct
he directs the hind to feed upon them
when the time of gestation draws towards a close. Whatever truth there may be
in this assertion
we know from higher authority
that providence promotes the
parturition of the hind
by awakening her fears
and agitating her frame by the
rolling thunder:—"The voice of Jehovah (a common Hebrew phrase
denoting thunder) maketh the hinds to calve." Nor ought we to
wonder
that so timorous a creature as the hind
should be so much affected by
that awful atmospheric convulsion
when some of the proudest men that ever
existed
have been known to tremble. Augustus
the Roman emperor
according to
Suetonius
was so terrified when it thundered
that he wrapped a seal skin
round his body
with the view of defending it from the lightning
and concealed
himself in some secret corner till the tempest ceased. The tyrant Caligula
who
sometimes affected to threaten Jupiter himself
covered his head
or hid
himself under a bed; and Horace confesses he was reclaimed from atheism by the
terror of thunder and lightning
the effects of which he describes with his
usual felicity. (Odes
b. 1 34.) George Paxton's "Illustrations of
Scripture."
Verse
9. The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve. "Cervi
sunt predicatores
"says S. Jerome
who bring forth souls to Christ by
the gospel which is God's voice; and the stripping of the leaves of the
forest by the voice of the Lord
represents their work in humbling the strong
oaks and lofty cedars of the world by the power of the gospel
and in stripping
the souls of the worldly minded of their manifold disguises (S. Basil). Others
apply it to act of the preachers of God's word
disclosing the dark thickets of
divine mysteries in the holy Scriptures by evangelical light set forth by the
Holy Ghost (S. Jerome). Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
9. (first clause). "The voice of Jehovah makes havoc
of the oaks
and strips bare the forests." Samuel Horsley.
Verse
9. In his temple. Some conceive that this Psalm was appointed
by David to be sung in the temple in time of thunder
which is not unlikely.
There are writers who make God to be the nominative case to the verb speaketh;
and render it thus
in his temple doth he utter all his glory. As much
as to say
much of his glory God uttereth in his thunder
but all in his
temple
for whatsoever there he speaketh with his mouth he fulfils it with his
hand. John Trapp.
Verse
9. (last clause). David speaking in the former part of the
Psalm of the effects of natural thunder only
towards the close of the Psalm
applies it to the Word of God
while he saith
And in his temple doth every
one speak of his glory; that is
the word and ordinances of God
ministered
in his church or temple
will put every one to acknowledge and speak of the
glorious power of God
even much more than the mighty thunder which sounds in
our ears
or the subtle lightning which flashes in our eyes. There is far more
royal power in the thunder of the Word
than in the word of thunder. This
terrifies only to conviction
but that terrifies to salvation; for after God
speaks terror there in his threatenings
he speaks comfort in the promises; and
when he hath affrighted us with a sense of our sins and of his wrath due to us
for our sins
as with an horrible tempest
he presently refresheth us with the
gentle gales of revealed grace
and with the pleasant amiable sunshine of his
favour by Jesus Christ. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
11. The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will
bless his people with peace; i.e.
he is in war their strength
and their
felicity in peace; in war he is the Author of all that power wherewith they are
enabled to oppose and overcome potent enemies; and in peace
he is their truly
felicitating good
and makes them
by his own vouchsafed presence
a truly
blessed people. John Howe.
Verse
11. The Lord will bless his people with peace. Though some
precious souls that have closed with Christ
and embraced the gospel
be not at
present brought to rest in their own consciences
but continue for awhile under
some dissatisfaction and trouble in their own spirits
yet even then they have peace
of conscience in a threefold respect; in pretio
in promisso
in semine.
First
every true believer hath peace of conscience in pretio; the
gospel puts that price into his hand
which will assuredly purchase it
and
that is the blood of Christ. We say that is gold which is worth gold
which we
may anywhere exchange for gold; such is the blood of Christ; it is peace of
conscience
because the soul that hath this may exchange it for this. God
himself cannot deny the poor creature that prays on these terms: Lord
give me
peace of conscience; here is Christ's blood
the price of it. That which could
pay the debt
surely can procure the receipt. Peace of conscience is but a
discharge under God's hand
that the debt due to divine justice is fully paid.
The blood of Christ hath done that the greater for the believer
it shall therefore
do this the less. If there were such a rare potion that did infallibly procure
health to every one that takes it
we might safely say
as soon as the sick man
hath drunk it down
that he hath drunk his health
it is in him
though at
present he doth not feel himself to have it: in time it will appear. Secondly
In
promisso. Every true believer hath peace of conscience in the promise
and
that we count as good as ready money in the purse
which we have sure bond for.
The Lord will bless his people with peace. He is resolved on it
and
then who shall hinder it? It is worth your reading the whole Psalm
to see what
weight the Lord gives to this sweet promise
for the encouragement of our faith
in expecting the performance thereof. Nothing more hard to enter into the heart
of a poor creature (when all is in an uproar in his bosom
and his conscience
threatening nothing but fire and sword
wrath
vengeance
from God for his
sins)
than thoughts or hopes of peace and comfort. Now the psalm is spent in
showing what great things God can do
and that with no more trouble to himself
than a word speaking
"The voice of the Lord is full of majesty"
Ps 29:4
"It breaks the cedars
it divides the flames
it shakes the
wilderness
it makes the hinds to calve." This God that does all this
promises to bless his people with peace
outward and inward; for without
this inward peace
though he might give them peace
yet could he never bless
them with peace as he there undertakes. A sad peace
were it not
to have quiet
streets
but cutting of throats in our houses? yet infinitely more sad to have
peace both in our streets and houses
but war and blood in our guilty
consciences. What peace can a poor creature taste or relish while the sword of
God's wrath lies at the throat of conscience? not peace with God himself.
Therefore Christ purchased peace of pardon
to obtain peace of conscience for
his pardoned ones
and accordingly hath bequeathed it in the promise to them
"Peace I leave with you
my peace I give unto you." Joh 14:27. Where
you see he is both the testator to leave
and the executor of his own will
to
give out with his own hands what his love hath left believers; so that there is
no fear but his will shall be performed to the full
seeing himself lives to
see it done. Thirdly
In semine. Every believer hath this untoward peace
in the seed. "Light is sown for the righteous
and gladness for the
upright in heart." Ps 97:11. Where sown
but in the believer's own bosom
when principles of grace and holiness were cast into it by the Spirit of God?
Hence it is called "the peaceable fruit of righteousness." Heb 12:11.
It shoots as naturally from holiness
as any fruit in its kind doth from the
seed proper to it. It is
indeed
most true
that the seed runs and ripens into
this fruit sooner in some than it doth in others. This spiritual harvest comes
not alike soon to all
no more than the other that is outward doth; but here is
the comfort—whoever hath a seed time of grace pass over his soul
shall have
his harvest time also of joy. William Gurnall.
Verse
11. Peace. There is a threefold "peace
"externa
interna
aeterna; temporal
spiritual
celestial peace. There is outward
peace
the blessing; inward peace
the grace; and everlasting
peace
of glory. And as in a stately palace there is a lodge or court
that leads into the inmost goodly rooms
so external peace is the entrance or
introduction to the inward lodgings of the sweet peace of conscience and of
that external rest in which our peace in heaven shall be happy
inasmuch as
external peace affords us many accommodations and helps to the gaining and
obtaining both the one and the other. Ephraim Udall
1642.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. The duty of ascribing our strength and the honour of it to God;
the penalty of neglecting to do so; the pleasure of so doing.
Verse
1. National glorying should be in the Lord.
Verse
2. (first clause). Royal dues
the royal treasury
loyal
subjects paying their dues
the king receiving them. Smugglers and preventive
men.
Verse
2. (second clause). Inspired ritualism. What to do? Worship.
Whom? The Lord. How? In the beauty of holiness. Absence of all
allusions to place
time
order
words
form
vestments
etc.
Verse
3. God's voice heard in trouble and above trouble
or in great personal
and national calamities.
Verse
4. Power and majesty of the gospel. Illustrate by succeeding verses.
Verse
4. (last clause). "The majestic voice." See
Spurgeon's Sermons
No. 87.
Verse
5. The breaking power of the gospel.
Verse
6. The unsettling power of the gospel.
Verse
7. The fire which goes with the word. This is a wide subject.
Verse
8. The arousing and alarming of godless places by the preaching of
the word.
Verse
9. The revealing power of the word of God in the secrets of man's
heart
and its regenerating force.
Verse
9 (last clause). 1. Matchless temple.
2. Unanimous worship.
3. Forcible motive.
4. General enthusiasm
"glory."
Verse
10. The ever present and undisturbed government of God.
Verse
11. The twin blessings from the same source; their connection
and
their consummation.
Verse
11. The two wills
the two blessings
the one people
the one Lord.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》