| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
Psalm Thirty-one
Psalm 31
Chapter Contents
Confidence in God. (1-8) Prayer in trouble. (9-18) Praise
for God's goodness. (19-24)
Commentary on Psalm 31:1-8
(Read Psalm 31:1-8)
Faith and prayer must go together
for the prayer of
faith is the prevailing prayer. David gave up his soul in a special manner to
God. And with the words
ver. 5
our Lord Jesus yielded up his last breath on
the cross
and made his soul a free-will offering for sin
laying down his life
as a ransom. But David is here as a man in distress and trouble. And his great
care is about his soul
his spirit
his better part. Many think that while
perplexed about their worldly affairs
and their cares multiply
they may be
excused if they neglect their souls; but we are the more concerned to look to
our souls
that
though the outward man perish
the inward man may suffer no
damage. The redemption of the soul is so precious
that it must have ceased for
ever
if Christ had not undertaken it. Having relied on God's mercy
he will be
glad and rejoice in it. God looks upon our souls
when we are in trouble
to
see whether they are humbled for sin
and made better by the affliction. Every
believer will meet with such dangers and deliverances
until he is delivered
from death
his last enemy.
Commentary on Psalm 31:9-18
(Read Psalm 31:9-18)
David's troubles made him a man of sorrows. Herein he was
a type of Christ
who was acquainted with grief. David acknowledged that his
afflictions were merited by his own sins
but Christ suffered for ours. David's
friends durst not give him any assistance. Let us not think it strange if thus
deserted
but make sure of a Friend in heaven who will not fail. God will be
sure to order and dispose all for the best
to all those who commit their
spirits also into his hand. The time of life is in God's hands
to lengthen or
shorten
make bitter or sweet
according to the counsel of his will. The way of
man is not in himself
nor in our friend's hands
nor in our enemies' hands
but in God's. In this faith and confidence he prays that the Lord would save
him for his mercies's sake
and not for any merit of his own. He prophesies the
silencing of those that reproach and speak evil of the people of God. There is
a day coming
when the Lord will execute judgment upon them. In the mean time
we should engage ourselves by well-doing
if possible
to silence the ignorance
of foolish men.
Commentary on Psalm 31:19-24
(Read Psalm 31:19-24)
Instead of yielding to impatience or despondency under
our troubles
we should turn our thoughts to the goodness of the Lord towards
those who fear and trust in Him. All comes to sinners through the wondrous gift
of the only-begotten Son of God
to be the atonement for their sins. Let not
any yield to unbelief
or think
under discouraging circumstances
that they
are cut off from before the eyes of the Lord
and left to the pride of men.
Lord
pardon our complaints and fears; increase our faith
patience
love
and
gratitude; teach us to rejoice in tribulation and in hope. The deliverance of
Christ
with the destruction of his enemies
ought to strengthen and comfort
the hearts of believers under all their afflictions here below
that having
suffered courageously with their Master
they may triumphantly enter into his
joy and glory.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 31
Verse 1
[1] In
thee
O LORD
do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy
righteousness.
Ashamed — Of
my confidence in thy promise.
Deliver me —
According to thy faithfulness and goodness.
Verse 5
[5] Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me
O LORD God of
truth.
My spirit — My
soul or life; to preserve it from the malice of mine enemies.
For —
Thou hast delivered me formerly
and therefore I commit myself to thee for the
future.
O Lord
… —
Who hast shewed thyself so
in making good thy promise.
Verse 6
[6] I
have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
Vanities —
Idols
which are often called Vanities
as Deuteronomy 32:21. Or
curious arts
and all
sorts of divinations.
Verse 7
[7] I
will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble;
thou hast known my soul in adversities;
Known —
Loved me
and cared for me.
Verse 8
[8] And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet
in a large room.
Room —
Made way for me to escape
when I was encompassed by them.
Verse 9
[9] Have
mercy upon me
O LORD
for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief
yea
my soul and my belly.
Grief —
With continual weeping.
Verse 10
[10] For
my life is spent with grief
and my years with sighing: my strength faileth
because of mine iniquity
and my bones are consumed.
Iniquity —
For the punishment of mine iniquity.
Consumed —
The juice and marrow of them bring almost dried up with grief.
Verse 11
[11] I
was a reproach among all mine enemies
but especially among my neighbours
and
a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
A fear —
They were afraid to give me any countenance or assistance.
Fled — To
prevent their own danger and ruin.
Verse 12
[12] I am
forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
A broken vessel —
Which is irreparable
and useless
and therefore despised by all.
Verse 13
[13] For
I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took
counsel together against me
they devised to take away my life.
Fear —
Just cause of fear.
Verse 15
[15] My
times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies
and from them
that persecute me.
My times —
All the affairs and events of my life
are wholly in thy power.
Verse 19
[19] Oh
how great is thy goodness
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee;
which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
Laid up —
His favour is not always manifested
to them
but it is laid up for them in his
treasure
whence it shall be drawn forth when they need it
and he sees it fit.
Before —
Publickly and in the view of the world.
Verse 20
[20] Thou
shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt
keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
The secret —
Or
as in the secret of thy presence: either
1. As if they were in thy
presence chamber
where thine own eye and hand girdeth them
from all the
assaults of their enemies; called his secret
partly
because the greatest part
of the world are strangers to God and his presence: and partly
because it is a
safe and secure place
such as secret and unknown places are. Or
2. As if they
were in the secret of God's tabernacle
as it is called
Psalms 27:5
the place of God's special
presence
where none might enter save the high-priest. With thy secret favour
and providence
which saves them by hidden and unknown methods.
From —
From their vain-glorious boasting and threats
and from their bad and insolent
attempts.
Pavilion —
Or
tabernacle.
Strife —
From contentious and slandering tongues.
Verse 21
[21]
Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong
city.
City — In
Keilah: where God wonderfully preserved me.
Verse 22
[22] For
I said in my haste
I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou
heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
Haste —
When my passion took away my consideration
and weakened my faith.
Cut off —
Cast out of thy sight
and out of the care of thy gracious providence.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. To the Chief
Musician—a Psalm of David. The dedication to the chief musician proves that
this song of mingled measures and alternate strains of grief and woe was
intended for public singing
and thus a deathblow is given to the notion that
nothing but praise should be sung. Perhaps the Psalms
thus marked
might have
been set aside as too mournful for temple worship
if special care had not been
taken by the Holy Spirit to indicate them as being designed for the public
edification of the Lord's people. May there not also be in Psalms thus
designated a peculiar distinct reference to the Lord Jesus? He certainly
manifests himself very clearly in the twenty-second
which bears this title;
and in the one before us we plainly hear his dying voice in the fifth verse. Jesus
is chief everywhere
and in all the holy songs of his saints he is the chief
musician. The surmises that Jeremiah penned this Psalm need no other answer
than the fact that it is "a Psalm of David."
SUBJECT. The psalmist
in dire affliction appeals to his God for help with much confidence and holy
importunity
and ere long finds his mind so strengthened that he magnifies the
Lord for his great goodness. Some have thought that the occasion in his
troubled life which led to this Psalm
was the treachery of the men of Keilah
and we have felt much inclined to this conjecture; but after reflection it
seems to us that its very mournful tone
and its allusion to his iniquity
demand a later date
and it may be more satisfactory to illustrate it by the
period when Absalom had rebelled
and his courtiers were fled from him
while
lying lips spread a thousand malicious rumours against him. It is perhaps quite
as well that we have no settled season mentioned
or we might have been so busy
in applying it to David's case as to forget its suitability to our own.
DIVISION. There are no
great lines of demarcation; throughout the strain undulates
falling into
valleys of mourning
and rising with hills of confidence. However
we may for
convenience arrange it thus: David testifying his confidence in God pleads for
help
Ps 31:1-6; expresses gratitude for mercies received
Ps 31:7-8;
particularly describes his case
Ps 31:9-13; vehemently pleads for deliverance
Ps 31:14-18; confidently and thankfully expects a blessing
Ps 31:19-22; and
closes by showing the bearing of his case upon all the people of God.
Verse
1. In thee
O Lord
do I put my trust. Nowhere else do I fly
for shelter
let the tempest howl as it may. The psalmist has one refuge
and
that the best one. He casts out the great sheet anchor of his faith in the time
of storm. Let other things be doubtful
yet the fact that he relies on Jehovah
David lays down most positively; and he begins with it
lest by stress of trial
he should afterwards forget it. This avowal of faith is the fulcrum by means of
which he labours to uplift and remove his trouble; he dwells upon it as a
comfort to himself and a plea with God. No mention is made of merit
but faith
relies upon divine favour and faithfulness
and upon that alone. Let me
never be ashamed. How can the Lord permit the man to be ultimately put to
shame who depends alone upon him? This would not be dealing like a God of truth
and grace. It would bring dishonour upon God himself if faith were not in the
end rewarded. It will be an ill day indeed for religion when trust in God
brings no consolation and no assistance. Deliver me in thy righteousness.
Thou are not unjust to desert a trustful soul
or to break thy promises; thou
wilt vindicate the righteousness of thy mysterious providence
and give me
joyful deliverance. Faith dares to look even to the sword of justice for
protection: while God is righteous
faith will not be left to be proved futile
and fanatical. How sweetly the declaration of faith in this first verse sounds
if we read it at the foot of the cross
beholding the promise of the Father as
yea and amen through the Son; viewing God with faith's eye as he stands
revealed in Jesus crucified.
Verse
2. Bow down thine ear to me. Condescend to my low estate;
listen to me attentively as one who would hear every word. Heaven with its
transcendent glories of harmony might well engross the divine ear
but yet the
Lord has an hourly regard to the weakest moanings of his poorest people. Deliver
me speedily. We must not set times or seasons
yet in submission we may ask
for swift as well as sure mercy. God's mercies are often enhanced in value by
the timely haste which he uses in their bestowal; if they came late they might
be too late—but he rides upon a cherub
and flies upon the wings of the wind
when he intends the good of his beloved. Be thou my strong rock. Be my
Engedi
my Adullam; my immutable
immovable
impregnable
sublime
resort. For
an house of defence to save me
wherein I may dwell in safety
not
merely running to thee for temporary shelter
but abiding in thee for eternal
salvation. How very simply does the good man pray
and yet with what weight of
meaning! he uses no ornamental flourishes
he is too deeply in earnest to be
otherwise than plain: it were well if all who engage in public prayer would
observe the same rule.
Verse
3. For thou art my rock and my fortress. Here the tried soul
avows yet again its full confidence in God. Faith's repetitions are not vain.
The avowal of our reliance upon God in times of adversity is a principle method
of glorifying him. Active service is good
but the passive confidence of faith
is not one jot less esteemed in the sight of God. The words before us appear to
embrace and fasten upon the Lord with a fiducial grip which is not to be
relaxed. The two personal pronouns
like sure nails
lay hold upon the
faithfulness of the Lord. O for grace to have our heart fixed in firm
unstaggering belief in God! The figure of a rock and a fortress may be
illustrated to us in these times by the vast fortress of Gibraltar
often
besieged by our enemies
but never wrested from us: ancient strongholds
though
far from impregnable by our modes of warfare
were equally important in those
remoter ages—when in the mountain fastnesses
feeble bands felt themselves to
be secure. Note the singular fact that David asked the Lord to be his rock Ps
31:2 because he was his rock; and learn from it that we may pray to enjoy in
experience what we grasp by faith. Faith is the foundation of prayer. Therefore
for thy name's sake lead me
and guide me. The psalmist argues like a
logician with his fors and therefores. Since I do sincerely trust thee
saith
he
O my God
be my director. To lead and to guide are two things very like
each other
but patient thought will detect different shades of meaning
especially as the last may mean provide for me. The double word
indicates an urgent need—we require double direction
for we are fools
and the
way is rough. Lead me as a soldier
guide me as a traveller! lead me as a babe
guide me as a man; lead me when thou art with me
but guide me even if thou be
absent; lead me by thy hand
guide me by thy word. The argument used is one
which is fetched from the armoury of free grace: not for my own sake
but for
thy name's sake guide me. Our appeal is not to any fancied virtue in our
own names
but to the glorious goodness and graciousness which shines
resplendent in the character of Israel's God. It is not possible that the Lord
should suffer his own honour to be tarnished
but this would certainly be the
case if those who trusted him should perish. This was Moses' plea
"What
wilt thou do unto thy great name?"
Verse
4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me.
The enemies of David were cunning as well as mighty; if they could not conquer
him by power
they would capture him by craft. Our own spiritual foes are of
the same order—they are of the serpent's brood
and seek to ensnare us by their
guile. The prayer before us supposes the possibility of the believer being
caught like a bird; and
indeed
we are so foolish that this often happens. So
deftly does the fowler do his work that simple ones are soon surrounded by it.
The text asks that even out of the meshes of the net the captive one may be delivered;
and this is a proper petition
and one which can be granted; from between the
jaws of the lion and out of the belly of hell can eternal love rescue the
saint. It may need a sharp pull to save a soul from the net of
temptation
and a mighty pull to extricate a man from the snares of malicious
cunning
but the Lord is equal to every emergency
and the most skilfully
placed nets of the hunter shall never be able to hold his chosen ones. Woe unto
those who are so clever at net laying: they who tempt others shall be destroyed
themselves. Villains who lay traps in secret shall be punished in public. For
thou art my strength. What an inexpressible sweetness is to be found in
these few words! How joyfully may we enter upon labours
and how cheerfully may
we endure sufferings when we can lay hold upon celestial power. Divine power
will rend asunder all the toils of the foe
confound their politics and
frustrate their knavish tricks; he is a happy man who has such matchless might
engaged upon his side. Our own strength would be of little service when
embarrassed in the nets of base cunning
but the Lord's strength is ever
available; we have but to invoke it
and we shall find it near at hand. If by
faith we are depending alone upon the strength of the strong God of Israel
we
may use our holy reliance as a plea in supplication.
Verse
5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. These living words of
David were our Lord's dying words
and have been frequently used by holy men in
their hour of departure. Be assured that they are good
choice
wise
and
solemn words; we may use them now and in the last tremendous hour. Observe
the
object of the good man's solicitude in life and death is not his body or his
estate
but his spirit; this is his jewel
his secret treasure; if this be
safe
all is well. See what he does with his pearl! He commits it to the hand
of his God; it came from him
it is his own
he has aforetime sustained it
he
is able to keep it
and it is most fit that he should receive it. All things
are safe in Jehovah's hands; what we entrust to the Lord will be secure
both
now and in that day of days towards which we are hastening. Without reservation
the good man yields himself to his heavenly Father's hand; it is enough for him
to be there; it is peaceful living and glorious dying to repose in the care of
heaven. At all times we should commit and continue to commit our all to Jesus'
sacred care
then
though life may hang on a thread
and adversities may
multiply as the sands of the sea
our soul shall dwell at ease
and delight
itself in quiet resting places. Thou hast redeemed me
O Lord God of truth.
Redemption is a solid base for confidence. David had not known Calvary as we
have done
but temporal redemption cheered him; and shall not eternal
redemption yet more sweetly console us? Past deliverances are strong pleas for
present assistance. What the Lord has done he will do again
for he changes
not. He is a God of veracity
faithful to his promises
and gracious to his
saints; he will not turn away from his people.
Verse
6. I have hated them that regard lying vanities. Those who
will not lean upon the true arm of strength
are sure to make to themselves
vain confidences. Man must have a god
and if he will not adore the only living
and true God
he makes a fool of himself
and pays superstitious regard to a
lie
and waits with anxious hope upon a base delusion. Those who did this were
none of David's friends; he had a constant dislike to them: the verb includes
the present as well as the past tense. He hated them for hating God; he would
not endure the presence of idolaters; his heart was set against them for their
stupidity and wickedness. He had no patience with their superstitious
observances
and calls their idols vanities of emptiness
nothings of nonentity.
Small courtesy is more than Romanists and Puseyists deserve for their
fooleries. Men who make gods of their riches
their persons
their wits
or
anything else
are to be shunned by those whose faith rests upon God in Christ
Jesus; and so far from being envied
they are to be pitied as depending upon
utter vanities. But I trust in the Lord. This might be very
unfashionable
but the psalmist dared to be singular. Bad example should not
make us less decided for the truth
but the rather in the midst of general
defection we should grow the more bold. This adherence to his trust in Jehovah
is the great plea employed all along: the troubled one flies into the arms of
his God
and ventures everything upon the divine faithfulness.
Verse
7. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. For mercy past he
is grateful
and for mercy future
which he believingly anticipates
he is
joyful. In our most importunate intercessions
we must find breathing time to
bless the Lord: praise is never a hindrance to prayer
but rather a lively
refreshment therein. It is delightful at intervals to hear the notes of the
high sounding cymbals when the dolorous sackbut rules the hour. Those two
words
glad and rejoice
are an instructive reduplication
we
need not stint ourselves in our holy triumph; this wine we may drink in bowls
without fear of excess. For thou hast considered my trouble. Thou hast
seen it
weighed it
directed it
fixed a bound to it
and in all ways made it
a matter of tender consideration. A man's consideration means the full exercise
of his mind; what must God's consideration be? Thou hast known my soul in
adversities. God owns his saints when others are ashamed to acknowledge
them; he never refuses to know his friends. He thinks not the worse of them for
their rags and tatters. He does not misjudge them and cast them off when their
faces are lean with sickness
or their hearts heavy with despondency. Moreover
the Lord Jesus knows us in our pangs in a peculiar sense
by having a deep
sympathy towards us in them all; when no others can enter into our griefs
from
want of understanding them experimentally
Jesus dives into the lowest depths
with us
comprehending the direst of our woes
because he has felt the same.
Jesus is a physician who knows every case; nothing is new to him. When we are
so bewildered as not to know our own state
he knows us altogether. He has
known us and will know us: O for grace to know more of him! "Man
know
thyself
"is a good philosophic precept
but "Man
thou art known of
God
"is a superlative consolation. Adversities in the
plural—"Many are the afflictions of the righteous."
Verse
8. And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. To be
shut up in one's hand is to be delivered over absolutely to his power; now
the
believer is not in the hand of death or the devil
much less is he in the power
of man. The enemy may get a temporary advantage over us
but we are like men in
prison with the door open; God will not let us be shut up
he always provides a
way of escape. Thou hast set my feet in a large room. Blessed be God for
liberty: civil liberty is valuable
religious liberty is precious
spiritual
liberty is priceless. In all troubles we may praise God if these are left. Many
saints have had their greatest enlargements of soul when their affairs have
been in the greatest straits. Their souls have been in a large room when their
bodies have been lying in Bonner's coal hole
or in some other narrow dungeon.
Grace has been equal to every emergency; and more than this
it has made the emergency
an opportunity for displaying itself.
Verse
9. Have mercy upon me
O Lord
for I am in trouble. Now
the
man of God comes to a particular and minute description of his sorrowful case.
He unbosoms his heart
lays bare his wounds
and expresses his inward
desolation. This first sentence pithily comprehends all that follows
it is the
text for his lamenting discourse. Misery moves mercy—no more reasoning is
needed. "Have mercy" is the prayer; the argument is as prevalent as
it is plain and personal
"I am in trouble." Mine eye is consumed
with grief. Dim and sunken eyes are plain indicators of failing health.
Tears draw their salt from our strength
and floods of them are very apt to
consume the source from which they spring. God would have us tell him the
symptoms of our disease
not for his information
but to show our sense of
need. Yea
my soul and my belly (or body). Soul and body are so
intimately united
that one cannot decline without the other feeling it. We
in
these days
are not strangers to the double sinking which David describes; we
have been faint with physical suffering
and distracted with mental distress:
when two such seas meet
it is well for us that the Pilot at the helm is at
home in the midst of the water floods
and makes storms to become the triumph
of his art.
Verse
10. For my life is spent with grief
and my years with sighing.
It had become his daily occupation to mourn; he spent all his days in the
dungeon of distress. The sap and essence of his existence was being consumed
as
a candle is wasted while it burns. His adversities were shortening his days
and digging for him an early grave. Grief is a sad market to spend all our
wealth of life in
but a far more profitable trade may be driven there than in
Vanity Fair; it is better to go to the house of mourning than the house of
feasting. Black is good wear. The salt of tears is a healthy medicine. Better
spend our years in sighing than in sinning. The two members of the sentence
before us convey the same idea; but there are no idle words in Scripture
the
reduplication is the fitting expression of fervency and importunity. My
strength faileth because of mine iniquity. David sees to the bottom of his
sorrow
and detects sin lurking there. It is profitable trouble which leads us
to trouble ourselves about our iniquity. Was this the psalmist's foulest crime
which now gnawed at his heart
and devoured his strength? Very probably it was
so. Sinful morsels
though sweet in the mouth
turn out to be poison in the
bowels: if we wantonly give a portion of our strength to sin
it will by and by
take the remainder from us. We lose both physical
mental
moral
and spiritual
vigour by iniquity. And my bones are consumed. Weakness penetrated the
innermost parts of his system
the firmest parts of his frame felt the general
decrepitude. A man is in a piteous plight when he comes to this.
Verse
11. I was a reproach among all mine enemies. They were pleased
to have something to throw at me; my mournful estate was music to them
because
they maliciously interpreted it to be a judgment from heaven upon me. Reproach
is little thought of by those who are not called to endure it
but he who
passes under its lash knows how deep it wounds. The best of men may have the
bitterest foes
and be subject to the most cruel taunts. But especially
among my neighbours. Those who are nearest can stab the sharpest. We feel
most the slights of those who should have shown us sympathy. Perhaps David's
friends feared to be identified with his declining fortunes
and therefore
turned against him in order to win the mercy if not the favour of his
opponents. Self interest rules the most of men: ties the most sacred are soon
snapped by its influence
and actions of the utmost meanness are perpetrated
without scruple. And a fear to mine acquaintance. The more intimate
before
the more distant did they become. Our Lord was denied by Peter
betrayed by Judas
and forsaken by all in the hour of his utmost need. All the
herd turn against a wounded deer. The milk of human kindness curdles when a
despised believer is the victim of slanderous accusations. They that did see
me without fled from me. Afraid to be seen in the company of a man so
thoroughly despised
those who once courted his society hastened from him as
though he had been infected with the plague. How villainous a thing is slander
which can thus make an eminent saint
once the admiration of his people
to
become the general butt
the universal aversion of mankind! To what extremities
of dishonour may innocence be reduced!
Verse
12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind. All David's
youthful prowess was now gone from remembrance; he had been the saviour of his
country
but his services were buried in oblivion. Men soon forget the deepest
obligations; popularity is evanescent to the last degree: he who is in every
one's mouth today may be forgotten by all tomorrow. A man had better be dead
than be smothered in slander. Of the dead we say nothing but good
but in the
psalmist's case they said nothing but evil. We must not look for the reward of
philanthropy this side of heaven
for men pay their best servants but sorry
wages
and turn them out of doors when no more is to be got out of them. I
am like a broken vessel
a thing useless
done for
worthless
cast aside
forgotten. Sad condition for a king! Let us see herein the portrait of the King
of kings in his humiliation
when he made himself of no reputation
and took
upon him the form of a servant.
Verse
13. For I have heard the slander of many. One slanderous viper
is death to all comfort—what must be the venom of a whole brood? What the ear
does not hear the heart does not rue; but in David's case the accusing voices
were loud enough to break in upon his quiet—foul mouths had grown so bold
that
they poured forth their falsehoods in the presence of their victim. Shimei was
but one of a class
and his cry of "Go up
thou bloody man
"was but
the common speech of thousands of the sons of Belial. All Beelzebub's pack of
hounds may be in full cry against a man
and yet he may be the Lord's anointed.
Fear was on every side. He was encircled with fearful suggestions
threatenings
remembrances
and forebodings; no quarter was clear from
incessant attack. While they took counsel together against me
they devised
to take away my life. The ungodly act in concert in their onslaughts upon
the excellent of the earth: it is to be wondered at that sinners should often
be better agreed than saints
and generally set about their wicked work with
much more care and foresight than the righteous exhibit in holy enterprises.
Observe the cruelty of a good man's foes! they will be content with nothing
less than his blood—for this they plot and scheme. Better fall into the power
of a lion than under the will of malicious persecutors
for the beast may spare
its prey if it be fed to the full
but malice is unrelenting and cruel as a
wolf. Of all fiends the most cruel is envy. How sorely was the psalmist bestead
when the poisoned arrows of a thousand bows were all aimed at his life! Yet in
all this his faith did not fail him
nor did his God forsake him. Here is
encouragement for us.
Verses
14-18. In this section of the Psalm he renews his prayers
urging the
same pleas as at first: earnest wrestlers attempt over and over again the same
means of gaining their point.
Verse
14. But I trusted in thee
O Lord. Notwithstanding all
afflicting circumstances
David's faith maintained its hold
and was not turned
aside from its object. What a blessed saving clause is this! So long as our
faith
which is our shield
is safe
the battle may go hard
but its ultimate
result is no matter of question; if that could be torn from us
we should be as
surely slain as were Saul and Jonathan upon the high places of the field. I
said
Thou art my God. He proclaimed aloud his determined allegiance to
Jehovah. He was no fair weather believer
he could hold to his faith in a sharp
frost
and wrap it about him as a garment fitted to keep out all the ills of
time. He who can say what David did need not envy Cicero his eloquence:
"Thou art my God
"has more sweetness in it than any other utterance
which human speech can frame. Note that this adhesive faith is here mentioned
as an argument with God to honour his own promise by sending a speedy
deliverance.
Verse
15. My times are in thy hand. The sovereign arbiter of destiny
holds in his own power all the issues of our life; we are not waifs and strays
upon the ocean of fate
but are steered by infinite wisdom towards our desired
haven. Providence is a soft pillow for anxious heads
an anodyne for care
a
grave for despair. Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies
and from them
that persecute me. It is lawful to desire escape from persecution if it be
the Lord's will; and when this may not be granted us in the form which we
desire
sustaining grace will give us deliverance in another form
by enabling
us to laugh to scorn all the fury of the foe.
Verse
16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Give me the
sunshine of heaven in my soul
and I will defy the tempests of earth. Permit me
to enjoy a sense of thy favour
O Lord
and a consciousness that thou art
pleased with my manner of life
and all men may frown and slander as they will.
It is always enough for a servant if he pleases his master; others may be
dissatisfied
but he is not their servant
they do not pay him his wages
and
their opinions have no weight with him. Save me for thy mercies' sake.
The good man knows no plea but mercy; whoever might urge legal pleas David
never dreamed of it.
Verse
17. Let me not be ashamed
O Lord; for I have called upon thee.
Put not my prayers to the blush! Do not fill profane mouths with jeers at my
confidence in my God. Let the wicked be ashamed
and let them be silent in
the grave. Cause them to their amazement to see my wrongs righted and their
own pride horribly confounded. A milder spirit rules our prayers under the
gentle reign of the Prince of Peace
and
therefore
we can only use such words
as these in their prophetic sense
knowing as we do full well
that shame and
the silence of death are the best portion that ungodly sinners can expect. That
which they desired for despised believers shall come upon themselves by a
decree of retributive justice
at which they cannot cavil—"As he loved
mischief
so let it come upon him."
Verse
18. Let the lying lips be put to silence. A right good and
Christian prayer; who but a bad man would give liars more license than need be?
May God silence them either by leading them to repentance
by putting them to
thorough shame
or by placing them in positions where what they may say will
stand for nothing. Which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously
against the righteous. The sin of slanderers lies partly in the matter of
their speech; "they speak grievous things; "things cutting deep into
the feelings of good men
and wounding them sorely in that tender place—their
reputations. The sin is further enhanced by the manner of their speech; they
speak proudly and contemptuously; they talk as if they themselves were the
cream of society
and the righteous the mere scum of vulgarity. Proud thoughts
of self are generally attended by debasing estimates of others. The more room
we take up ourselves
the less we can afford our neighbours. What wickedness it
is that unworthy characters should always be the loudest in railing at good
men! They have no power to appreciate moral worth of which they are utterly
destitute
and yet they have the effrontery to mount the judgment seat
and
judge the men compared with whom they are as so much chaff. Holy indignation
may well prompt us to desire anything which may rid the world of such
unbearable impertinence and detestable arrogance.
Verses
19-22. Being full of faith
the psalmist gives glory to God for the
mercy which he is assured will be his position.
Verse
19. Oh how great is thy goodness. Is it not singular to find
such a joyful sentence in connection with so much sorrow? Truly the life of
faith is a miracle. When faith led David to his God
she set him singing at
once. He does not tell us how great was God's goodness
for he could not; there
are no measures which can set forth the immeasurable goodness of Jehovah
who
is goodness itself. Holy amazement uses interjections where adjectives utterly
fail. Notes of exclamation suit us when words of explanation are of no avail.
If we cannot measure we can marvel; and though we may not calculate with
accuracy
we can adore with fervency. Which thou hast laid up for them that
fear thee. The psalmist in contemplation divides goodness into two parts
that which is in store and that which is wrought out. The Lord has laid up in
reserve for his people supplies beyond all count. In the treasury of the
covenant
in the field of redemption
in the caskets of the promises
in the
granaries of providence
the Lord has provided for all the needs which can
possibly occur to his chosen. We ought often to consider the laid up goodness
of God which has not yet been distributed to the chosen
but is already
provided for them: if we are much in such contemplations
we shall be led to feel
devout gratitude
such as glowed in the heart of David. Which thou hast
wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men. Heavenly mercy
is not all hidden in the storehouse; in a thousand ways it has already revealed
itself on behalf of those who are bold to avow their confidence in God; before
their fellow men this goodness of the Lord has been displayed
that a faithless
generation might stand rebuked. Overwhelming are the proofs of the Lord's
favour to believers
history teems with amazing instances
and our own lives
are full of prodigies of grace. We serve a good Master. Faith receives a large
reward even now
but looks for her full inheritance in the future. Who would
not desire to take his lot with the servants of a Master whose boundless love
fills all holy minds with astonishment?
Verse
20. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the
pride of man. Pride is a barbed weapon: the proud man's contumely is iron
which entereth into the soul; but those who trust in God
are safely housed in
the Holy of holies
the innermost court
into which no man may dare intrude;
here in the secret dwelling place of God the mind of the saint rests in peace
which the foot of pride cannot disturb. Dwellers at the foot of the cross of
Christ grow callous to the sneers of the haughty. The wounds of Jesus distil a
balsam which heals all the scars which the jagged weapons of contempt can
inflict upon us; in fact
when armed with the same mind which was in Christ
Jesus
the heart is invulnerable to all the darts of pride. Thou shalt keep
them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Tongues are more to
be dreaded than beasts of prey—and when they strive
it is as though a whole
pack of wolves were let loose; but the believer is secure even in this peril
for the royal pavilion of the King of kings shall afford him quiet shelter and
serene security. The secret tabernacle of sacrifice
and the royal pavilion of
sovereignty afford a double security to the Lord's people in their worst
distresses. Observe the immediate action of God
"Thou shalt hide
""Thou shalt keep
"the Lord himself is personally
present for the rescue of his afflicted.
Verse
21. Blessed be the Lord. When the Lord blesses us we cannot do
less than bless him in return. For he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness
in a strong city. Was this in Mahanaim
where the Lord gave him victory
over the hosts of Absalom? Or did he refer to Rabbath of Ammon
where he gained
signal triumphs? Or
best of all
was Jerusalem the strong city where he most
experienced the astonishing kindness of his God? Gratitude is never short of
subjects; her Ebenezers stand so close together as to wall up her path to
heaven on both sides. Whether in cities or in hamlets our blessed Lord has
revealed himself to us
we shall never forget the hallowed spots: the lonely
mount of Hermon
or the village of Emmaus
or the rock of Patmos
or the
wilderness of Horeb
are all alike renowned when God manifests himself to us in
robes of love.
Verse
22. Confession of faults is always proper; and when we reflect upon
the goodness of God
we ought to be reminded of our own errors and offences. For
I said in my haste. We generally speak amiss when we are in a hurry. Hasty
words are but for a moment on the tongue
but they often lie for years on the
conscience. I am cut off from before thine eyes. This was an unworthy
speech; but unbelief will have a corner in the heart of the firmest believer
and out of that corner it will vent many spiteful things against the Lord if
the course of providence be not quite so smooth as nature might desire. No
saint ever was
or ever could be
cut off from before the eyes of God
and yet
no doubt many have thought so
and more than one has said so. For ever be such
dark suspicions banished from our minds. Nevertheless thou heardest the
voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. What a mercy that if we
believe not
yet God abideth faithful
hearing prayer even when we are
labouring under doubts which dishonour his name. If we consider the hindrances
in the way of our prayers
and the poor way in which we present them
it is a
wonder of wonders that they ever prevail with heaven.
Verse
23. O love the Lord
all ye his saints. A most affecting
exhortation
showing clearly the deep love of the writer to his God: there is
the more beauty in the expression
because it reveals love toward a smiting
God
love which many waters could not quench. To bless him who gives is easy
but to cling to him who takes away is a work of grace. All the saints are
benefited by the sanctified miseries of one
if they are led by earnest
exhortations to love their Lord the better. If saints do not love the Lord
who
will? Love is the universal debt of all the saved family: who would wish to be
exonerated from its payment? Reasons for love are given
for believing love is
not blind. For the Lord preserveth the faithful. They have to bide their
time
but the recompense comes at last
and meanwhile all the cruel malice of
their enemies cannot destroy them. And plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
This also is cause for gratitude: pride is so detestable in its acts that he
who shall mete out to it its righteous due
deserves the love of all holy
minds.
Verse
24. Be of good courage. Keep up your spirit
let no craven
thoughts blanch your cheek. Fear weakens
courage strengthens. Victory waits
upon the banners of the brave. And he shall strengthen your heart. Power
from on high shall be given in the most effectual manner by administering force
to the fountain of vitality. So far from leaving us
the Lord will draw very
near to us in our adversity
and put his own power into us. All ye that hope
in the Lord. Every one of you
lift up your heads and sing for joy of
heart. God is faithful
and does not fail even his little children who do but hope
wherefore then should we be afraid?
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse
1. In thee
O Lord
do I put my trust. Let us therefore shun
mistrust; doubt is death
trust alone is life. Let us make sure that we trust
the Lord
and never take our trust on trust. Let me never be ashamed. If
David prays against being ashamed
let us strive against it. Lovers of Jesus
should be ashamed of being ashamed. C. H. S.
Verse
1. Deliver me in thy righteousness. For supporting thy faith
mark well whereon it may safely rest; even upon God's righteousness
as
well as upon his mercy. On this ground did the apostle in faith expect the
crown of righteousness 2Ti 4:7-8
because the Lord from whom he expected it is
a righteous judge; and the psalmist is bold to appeal to the righteousness of
God. Ps 35:24. For we may be well assured that what God's goodness
grace
and
mercy moved him to promise
his truth
his faithfulness
and righteousness will
move him to perform. William Gouge.
Verses
1-3.
Shadows
are faithless
and the rocks are false;
No trust in brass
no trust in marble walls;
Poor cots are even as safe as princes' halls.
Great God! there is no safety here below;
Thou art my fortress
thou that seemest my foe
It is thou that strik'st the stroke
must guard the blow.
Thou art my God
by thee I fall or stand;
Thy grace hath given me courage to withstand
All tortures
but my conscience and thy hand.
I know thy justice is thyself; I know
Just God
thy very self is mercy too;
If not to thee
where
whither shall I go?
—Francis Quarles.
Verse
2. Bow down thy ear. Listen to my complaint. Put thy ear to
my lips
that thou mayest hear all that my feebleness is capable of
uttering. We generally put our ear near to the lips of the sick and dying that we
may hear what they say. To this the text appears to allude. Adam Clarke.
Verse
2. Deliver me speedily. In praying that he might be delivered
speedily there is shown the greatness of his danger
as if he had said
All will soon be over with my life
unless God makes haste to help me. John
Calvin. Verses 2-3. Be thou my strong rock
etc. What the Lord is
engaged to be unto us by covenant
we may pray and expect to find him in
effect. "Be thou my strong rock
" saith he
"for thou
art my rock." David Dickson.
Verse
3. For thy name's sake. If merely a creature's honour
the
credit of ministers
or the glory of angels were involved
man's salvation
would indeed be uncertain. But every step involves the honour of God. We plead
for his name's sake. If God should begin and not continue
or if he
should carry on but not complete the work
all would admit that it was for some
reason that must bring reproach on the Almighty. This can never be. God was
self moved to undertake man's salvation. His glorious name makes it certain the
top stone shall be laid in glory. William S. Plumer.
Verse
3. For thy name's sake. On account of the fame of thy power
thy goodness
thy truth
&c. Lead me. As a shepherd an erring sheep
as a leader military bands
or as one leads another ignorant of the way. See Ge
24:27 Ne 9:12-13 Ps 23:3 73:24. Govern my counsels
my affections
and my
thoughts. Martin Geier
1614-1681.
Verse
4. Pull me out of the net: that noted net
as the
Hebrew hath it. John Trapp.
Verse
4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me.
By these words
he intimates that his enemies did not only by open force come
against him
but by cunning and policy attempted to circumvent him
as when
they put him on
as Saul instructed them
to be the king's son-in-law
and to
this end set him on to get two hundred foreskins of the Philistines for a
dowry
under a pretence of goodwill
seeking his ruin; and when wait also was
laid for him to kill him in his house. But he trusted in God
and prayed to be
delivered
if there should be any the like enterprise against him hereafter. John
Mayer.
Verse
4. For thou art my strength. Omnipotence cuts the net which
policy weaves. When we poor puny things are in the net
God is not. In the old
fable the mouse set free the lion
here the lion liberates the mouse. C. H.
S.
Verse
5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. These were the last
words of Polycarp
of Bernard
of Huss
of Jerome of Prague
of Luther
of
Melancthon
and many others. "Blessed are they
"says Luther
"who die not only for the Lord
as martyrs
not only in the
Lord
as all believers
but likewise with the Lord
as breathing forth
their lives in these words
'Into thine hand I commit my spirit.'" J.
J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. These words
as they
stand in the Vulgate
were in the highest credit among our ancestors; by
whom they were used on all dangers
difficulties
and in the article of death. In
manus tuas
Domine
commendo spiritum meum
was used by the sick when about
to expire
if they were sensible; and if not
the priest said it in their
behalf. In forms of prayer for sick and dying persons
these words were
frequently inserted in Latin
though all the rest of the prayer was English;
for it was supposed there was something sovereign in the language
itself. But let not the abuse of such words hinder their usefulness. For an
ejaculation nothing can be better; and when the pious or the tempted with
confidence use them
nothing can exceed their effect. Adam Clarke.
Verse
5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit
etc. For what are the
saints to commit their spirits into the hands of God by Jesus Christ? 1. That
they may be safe; i.e.
preserved in their passage to heaven
from all
the enemies and dangers that may stand in the way. When saints die
the powers
of darkness would
doubtless
if possible
hinder the ascending of their souls
to God. As they are cast out of heaven
they are filled with rage to see any
out of our world going thither. One thing
therefore
which the saint means in
committing his spirit into the hands of God
is
that the precious depositum
may be kept from all that wish or would attempt its ruin. And they are sure
that almighty power belongs to God: and if this is engaged for their
preservation
none can pluck them out of his hand. The Redeemer hath spoiled
principalities and powers
and proved it by his triumphant ascension to glory;
and hath all his and the believer's enemies in a chain
so that they shall be
more than conquerors in and through him. Angels
for order's sake
are sent
forth to minister to them and be their guard
who will faithfully attend them
their charge
till they are brought to the presence of the common Lord of both.
"I know
"saith the apostle
"whom I have believed; and I am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day."
2.
They commit their soul into the hands of God
that they may be admitted to
dwell with him
even in that presence of his where there is fulness of joy
and
where there are pleasures for evermore: where all evil is excluded
and all
good present
to fill their desires
and find them matter of praise to all
eternity.
3.
They commit their departing spirits into the hands of God
that their bodies
may be at length raised and reunited to them
and that so they may enter at
last into the blessedness prepared for them that love him...The grounds on
which they may do this with comfort
i.e.
with lively hopes of being
happy for ever
are many. To mention only two:
(a)
God's interest in them
and upon the most endearing foundation
that of
redemption. Into thine hand I commit my spirit; for thou hast redeemed me.
Redeemed me from hell and the wrath to come
by giving thy Son to die for me.
Lord
I am not only thy creature
but thy redeemed creature
bought with a
price
saith the saint. Redeemed me from the power of my inward corruption
and
from love to it
and delight in it; and with my consent hast drawn me to be
thine
and thine for ever. Lord
I am thine
save me unchangeably.
(b)
His known faithfulness. Into thine hand I commit my spirit
O Lord God of
truth. Into thine hand I commit my spirit
who hast been a God of truth
in performing thy promises to all thy people that are gone before me out of
this world; and has been so to me hitherto
and
I cannot doubt
wilt continue
so to the end. Daniel Wilcox.
Verse
5. Into thine hand. When those hands fail me
then I am
indeed abandoned and miserable! When they sustain and keep me
then am I safe
exalted
strong
and filled with good. Receive me then
O Eternal Father
for
the sake of our Lord's merits and words; for he
by his obedience and his
death
hath now merited from thee everything which I do not merit of myself.
Into thy hands
my Father and my God
I commend my spirit
my soul
my body
my
powers
my desires. I offer up to thy hands
all; to them I commit all that I
have hitherto been
that thou mayest forgive and restore all; my wounds
that
thou mayest heal them; my blindness
that thou mayest enlighten it; my coldness
that thou mayest inflame it; my wicked and erring way
that thou mayest set me
forth in the right path; and all my evils
that thou mayest uproot them all
from my soul. I commend and offer up into thy most sacred hands
O my God
what
I am
which thou knowest far better than I can know
weak
wretched
wounded
fickle
blind
deaf
dumb
poor
bare of every good
nothing
yea
less than
nothing
on account of my many sins
and more miserable than I can either know
or express. Do thou
Lord God
receive me and make me to become what he
the
divine Lamb
would have me to be. I commend
I offer up
I deliver over into
thy divine hands
all my affairs
my cares
my affections
my success
my
comforts
my labours
and everything which thou knowest to be coming upon me.
Direct all to thy honour and glory; teach me in all to do thy will
and in all
to recognise the work of thy divine hands; to seek nothing else
and with this
reflection alone to find rest and comfort in everything.
O
hands of the Eternal God
who made and still preserve the heavens and earth for
my sake
and who made me for yourselves
suffer me not ever to stray from you.
In those hands I possess my Lamb
and all I love; in them therefore must I be
also
together with him. Together with him
in these loving hands shall I sleep
and rest in peace
since he in dying left me hope in them and in their infinite
mercies
placed me within them
as my only and my special refuge. Since by
these hands I live and am what I am
make me continually to live through them
and in them to die; in them to live in the love of our Lord
and from them only
to desire and look for every good; that from them I may at last
together with
the Lord
receive the crown. Fra Thome de Jesu.
Verse
5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. No shadowy form of a
dark destiny stands before him at the end of his career
although he must die
on the cross
the countenance of his Father shines before him. He does not
behold his life melting away into the gloomy floods of mortality. He commends
it into the hands of his Father. It is not alone in the general spirit of
humanity
that he will continue to live. He will live on in the definite
personality of his own spirit
embraced by the special protection and
faithfulness of his Father. Thus he does not surrender his life despondingly to
death for destruction
but with triumphant consciousness to the Father for
resurrection. It was the very centre of his testament: assurance of life;
surrender of his life into the hand of a living Father. With loud voice he
exclaimed it to the world
which will for ever and ever sink into the
heathenish consciousness of death
of the fear of death
of despair of
immortality and resurrection
because it for ever and ever allows the
consciousness of the personality of God
and of personal union with him
to be
obscured and shaken. With the heart of a lion
the dying Christ once more
testified of life with an expression which was connected with the word of the
Old Testament Psalm
and testified that the Spirit of eternal life was already
operative
in prophetic anticipation
in the old covenant. Thus living as ever
he surrendered his life
through death
to the eternally living One. His death
was the last and highest fact
the crown of his holy life. J.P. Lange
D.D.
in "The Life of the Lord Jesus Christ." 1864.
Verse
5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. David committed his
spirit to God that he might not die
but Christ and all Christians after him
commit their spirit to God
that they may live for ever by death
and after
death. This Psalm is thus connected with the twenty-second Psalm. Both of these
Psalms were used by Christ on the cross. From the twenty-second he derived
those bitter words of anguish
"Eloi
Eloi
lama sabachthani?" From
the present Psalm he derived those last words of love and trust which he
uttered just before his death. The Psalter was the hymn book and prayer book of
Christ. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
6. I have hated. Holy men have strong passions
and are not
so mincing and charitable towards evil doers as smooth tongued latitudinarians
would have them. He who does not hate evil does not love good. There is such a
thing as a good hater. C. H. S
Verse
6. They that regard lying vanities. The Romanists feign
miracles of the saints to make them
as they suppose
the more glorious. They
say that the house wherein the Virgin Mary was when the angel Gabriel came unto
her was
many hundred years after
translated
first
out of Galilee into
Dalmatia
above 2
000 miles
and thence over the sea into Italy
where also it
removed from one place to another
till at length it found a place where to
abide
and many most miraculous cures
they say
were wrought by it
and that
the very trees when it came
did bow unto it. Infinite stories they have of this
nature
especially in the Legend of Saints
which they call "The Golden
Legend
"a book so full of gross stuff that Ludovicus Vives
a Papist
but
learned and ingenuous
with great indignations cried out
"What can be
more abominable than that book?" and he wondered why they should call it
"golden
"when as he that wrote it was a man "of an iron mouth
and of a leaden heart." And Melchior Canus
a Romish bishop
passed the
same censure upon that book
and complains (as Vives also had done before him)
that Laertius wrote the lives of philosophers
and Suetonius the lives of the
Caesars
more sincerely than some did the lives of the saints and martyrs. They
are most vain and superstitious in the honour which they give to the relics of
the saints; as their dead bodies
or some parts of them; their bones
flesh
hair; yea
their clothes that they wore
or the like. "You may now
everywhere
"saith Erasmus
"see held out for gain
"Mary's
milk
which they honour almost as much as Christ's consecrated body; prodigious
oil; so many pieces of the cross
that if they were all gathered together a
great ship would scarce carry them. Here Francis's hood set forth to view;
there the innermost garment of the Virgin Mary; in one place
Anna's comb; in
another place
Joseph's stocking; in another place
Thomas of Canterbury's
shoe; in another place
Christ's foreskin
which
though it be a thing
uncertain
they worship more religiously than Christ's whole person. Neither do
they bring forth these things as things that may be tolerated
and to please
the common people
but all religion almost is placed in them. (Erasmus
on Mt
23:5). Christopher Cartwright.
Verse
6. The sense lies thus
that heathen men
when any danger or
difficulty approacheth them
are solemnly wont to apply themselves to auguries
and divinations
and so to false gods
to receive advice and direction from
them: but doing so and observing their responses most superstitiously
they yet
gain nothing at all by it. These David detests
and keeps close to God
hoping
for no aid but from him. H. Hammond
D.D.
Verse
7. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. In the midst of
trouble faith will furnish matter of joy
and promise to itself gladness
especially from the memory of by past experiences of God's mercy; as here
I
will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. ...The ground of our gladness
when
we have found a proof of God's kindness to us should not be in the benefit so
much as in the fountain of the benefit; for this giveth us hope to drink again
of the like experience from the fountain which did send forth that benefit.
Therefore David says
I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. David
Dickson.
Verse
7. Thou hast considered my trouble:
Man's
plea to man
is
that he never more
Will beg
and that he never begged before:
Man's plea to God
is
that he did obtain
A former suit
and
therefore sues again.
How good a God we serve
that when we sue
Makes his old gifts the examples of his new!
—Francis Quarles.
Verse
7. Thou hast known my soul in adversities. One day a person
who
by the calamities of war
sickness
and other affliction
had been reduced
from a state of affluence to penury
came to Gotthold in great distress. He
complained that he had just met one of his former acquaintances
who was even
not distantly related to him
but that he had not condescended to bow
far less
to speak to him
and he had turned his eyes away
and passed him as if he had
been a stranger. O sir
he exclaimed with a sigh
how it pained me! I felt as
if a dagger had pierced my heart! Gotthold replied
Do not think it strange at
all. It is the way of the world to look high
and to pass unnoticed that which
is humble and lowly. I know
however
of One who
though he dwelleth on
high
humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth
Ps 113:5-6
and of whom the royal prophet testifies: Thou hast known my soul
in adversities. Yes; though we have lost our rich attire
and come to him
in rags; though our forms be wasted because of grief
and waxed old (Ps 6:7
Luther's
Version); though sickness and sorrow have consumed our beauty like a moth Ps
39:11; though blushes
and tears
and dust
overspread our face Ps 69:7
he
still recognises
and is not ashamed to own us. Comfort yourself with this
for
what harm will it do you at last
though men disown
if God the Lord have not
forgotten you? Christian Scriver.
Verse
8. He openeth and no man shutteth. Let us bless the Lord for an open
door which neither men nor devils can close. We are not in man's hands yet
because we are in the hands of God; else had our feet been in the stocks and
not in the large room of liberty. Our enemies
if they were as able as they are
willing
would long ago have treated us as fowlers do the little birds when
they enclose them in their hand. C. H. S.
Verse
9. Mine eye is consumed with grief. This expression seems to
suggest that the eye really suffers under the influence of grief. There was an
old idea
which still prevails amongst the uninstructed
that the eye
under
extreme grief
and with a constant profuse flow of tears
might sink away and
perish under the ordeal. There is no solid foundation for this idea
but there
is a very serious form of disease of the eyes
well known to oculists by the
title of Glaucoma
which seems to be very much influenced by mental emotions of
a depressing nature. I have know many striking instances of cases in which
there has been a constitutional proneness to Glaucoma
and in which some sudden
grief has brought on a violent access of the disease and induced blindness of
an incurable nature. In such instances the explanation seems to be somewhat as
follows. It is essential to the healthy performance of the functions of the
eye
that it should possess a given amount of elasticity
which again results
from an exact balance between the amount of fluid within the eye
and the
external fibrous case or bag that contains or encloses it. If this is
disturbed
if the fluid increases unduly in quantity
and the eye becomes too
hard
pain and inflammation may be suddenly induced in the interior of the eye
and sight may become rapidly extinguished. There are a special set of nerves
that preside over this peculiar physical condition
and keep the eye in a
proper state of elasticity; and it is a remarkable fact
that through a long
life
as a rule
we find that the eye preserves this elastic state. If
however
the function of these nerves is impaired
as it may readily be under
the influence of extreme grief
or any depressing agent
the eye may become
suddenly hard. Until a comparatively recent date
acute Glaucoma
or sudden
hardening of the eye
attended with intense pain and inflammation
caused
complete and hopeless blindness; but in the present day it is capable of relief
by means of an operation. The effect of grief in causing this form of blindness
seems to be an explanation of the text
Mine eye is consumed with grief.
On application for information to the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital
as to
the effect of grief upon the eye
we received the above
with much other
valuable information
from GEORGE CRITCHETT
Esq.
the senior medical officer.
The courtesy of this gentleman
and of the secretary of that noble institution
deserves special mention.
Verses
9-10.
If
thou wouldst learn
not knowing how to pray
Add
but a faith
and say as beggars say: Master
I am poor
and blind
in great
distress
Hungry
and lame
and cold
and comfortless; O succour him that's
gravelled on the shelf Of pain
and want
and cannot help himself Cast down
thine eye upon a wretch
and take Some pity on me for sweet Jesus' sake: But
hold! take heed this clause be not put in
I never begged before
nor will
again.—Francis Quarles.
Verse
10. Mine iniquity. Italian version
"my pains; "because
that death and all miseries are come into the world by reason of sin
the
Scripture doth often confound the names of the cause and of the effects. John
Diodati.
Verse
10.. I find that when the saints are under trial and well humbled
little sins raise great cries in the conscience; but in prosperity
conscience
is a pope that gives dispensations and great latitude to our hearts. The cross
is therefore as needful as the crown is glorious. Samuel Rutherford.
Verse
11. I was a reproach among all mine enemies. If anyone strives
after patience and humility
he is a hypocrite. If he allows himself in the
pleasures of this world
he is a glutton. If he seeks justice
he is impatient;
if he seeks it not
he is a fool. If he would be prudent
he is stingy; if he
would make others happy
he is dissolute. If he gives himself up to prayer
he
is vainglorious. And this is the great loss of the church
that by means like
these many are held back from goodness! which the psalmist lamenting says
I
became a reproof among all mine enemies. Chrysostom
quoted by J.M. Neale.
Verse
11. They that did see me without fled from me. I once heard
the following relation from an old man of the world
and it occurs to me
as
illustrative of what we are now considering. He was at a public assembly
and
saw there an individual withdrawing herself from the crowd
and going into a
corner of the room. He went up to her
she was an old and intimate friend of
his; he addressed himself to her—she
with a sigh
said
"Oh
I have seen
many days of trouble since we last met." What does the man of the world
do? Immediately he withdrew himself from his sorrow stricken friend and hid
himself in the crowd. Such is the sympathy of the world with Christ or his
servants. Hamilton Verschoyle.
Verse
12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind. A striking
instance of how the greatest princes are forgotten in death is found in the
deathbed of Louis XIV. "The Louis that was
lies forsaken
a mass of
abhorred clay; abandoned `to some poor persons
and priests of the Chapelle
Ardente
'who make haste to put him `in two lead coffins
pouring in
abundant spirits of wine.' The new Louis with his court is rolling towards
Choisy
through the summer afternoon: the royal tears still flow; but a word
mispronounced by Monseigneur d'Artois sets them all laughing
and they weep no
more." Thomas Carlyle in "The French Revolution."
Verse
12. I am forgotten
etc. As a dying man with curtains drawn
whom friends have no hope of
and therefore look off from; or rather like a
dead man laid aside out of sight and out of mind altogether
and buried more in
oblivion than in his grave; when the news is
"she is dead
trouble not
the Master." Lu 8:49. Anthony Tuckney
D.D.
1599-1670.
Verse
12. I am like a broken vessel. As a vessel
how profitable
soever it hath been to the owner
and how necessary for his turn
yet
when it
is broken is thrown away
and regarded no longer: even so such is the state of
a man forsaken of those whose friend he hath been so long as he was able to
stand them in stead to be of advantage to them. Robert Cawdray.
Verse
13. I have heard the slander of many. From my very childhood
when I was first sensible of the concerns of men's souls
I was possessed with
some admiration to find that everywhere the religious
godly sort of people
who did but exercise a serious care of their own and other men's salvation
were made the wonder and obloquy of the world
especially of the most vicious
and flagitious men; so that they that professed the same articles of faith
the
same commandments of God to be their law
and the same petitions of the Lord's
prayer to be their desire
and so professed the same religion
did everywhere
revile those that endeavoured to live in good earnest in what they said. I
thought this was impudent hypocrisy in the ungodly
worldly sort of men—to take
those for the most intolerable persons in the land who are but serious in their
own religion
and do but endeavour to perform what all their enemies also vow
and promise. If religion be bad
and our faith be not true
why do these men
profess it? If it be true
and good
why do they hate and revile them that
would live in the serious practise of it
if they will not practise it
themselves? But we must not expect reason when sin and sensuality have made men
unreasonable. But I must profess that since I observed the course of the world
and the concord of the word and providence of God
I took it for a notable
proof of man's fall
and of the truth of the Scripture
and of the supernatural
original of true sanctification
to find such a universal enmity between the
holy and the serpentine seed
and to find Cain and Able's case so ordinarily
exemplified
and he that is born after the flesh persecuting him that is born
after the Spirit. And I think to this day it is a great and visible help for the
confirmation of our Christian faith. Richard Baxter.
Verse
13. Slander. Be thou as chaste as ice
as pure a snow
thou
shalt not escape calumny. William Shakespeare.
Verse
13. They took counsel together against me
etc. While they
mangled his reputation
they did it in such a manner as that they covered their
wickedness under the appearance of grave and considerate procedure
in
consulting among themselves to destroy him as a man who no longer ought to be
tolerated on the earth. It is not to be wondered at
therefore
that his mind
was wounded by so many and so sharp temptations. John Calvin.
Verse
14. But I trusted in thee
O Lord. The rendering properly is
And
I have trusted in thee
but the Hebrew copulative particle (K)
vau
and
is used here instead of the adversative particle yet
or nevertheless.
David
setting the steadfastness of his faith in opposition to the assaults of
the temptations of which he has made mention
denies that he had ever fainted
but rather maintains
on the contrary
that he stood firm in his hope of
deliverance from God. Nor does this imply that he boasted of being so
magnanimous and courageous that he could not be overthrown through the
infirmity of the flesh. However contrary to one another they appear
yet these
things are often joined together
as they ought to be
in the same person
namely
that while he pines away with grief
and is deprived of all strength
he is nevertheless supported by so strong a hope that he ceases not to call
upon God. David
therefore
was not so overwhelmed in deep sorrow
and other
direful sufferings
as that the hidden light of faith could not shine inwardly
in his heart; nor did he groan so much under the weighty load of his
temptations
as to be prevented from arousing himself to call upon God. He
struggled through many obstacles to be able to make the confession which he
here makes. He next defines the manner of his faith
namely
that he reflected
with himself thus—that God would never fail him nor forsake him. Let us mark
his manner of speech: I have said
Thou art my God. In these words he
intimates that he was so entirely persuaded of this truth
that God was his
God
that he would not admit even a suggestion to the contrary. And until this
persuasion prevails so as to take possession of our minds
we shall always
waver in uncertainty. It is
however
to be observed
that this declaration is
not only inward and secret—made rather in the heart than with the tongue—but
that it is directed to God himself
as to him who is the alone witness of it.
Nothing is more difficult
when we see our faith derided by the whole world
than to direct our speech to God only
and to rest satisfied with this
testimony which our conscience gives us
that he is our God. And
certainly it is an undoubted proof of genuine faith
when
however fierce the
waves are which beat against us
and however sore the assaults by which we are
shaken
we hold fast this as a fixed principle
that we are constantly under
the protection of God
and can say to him freely
Thou art our God. John
Calvin.
Verse
14. Thou art my God. How much it is more worth than ten
thousand mines of gold
to be able to say
God is mine! God's servant is
apprehensive of it
and he seeth no defect
but this may be complete happiness
to him
and therefore he delights in it
and comforts himself with it. As he
did sometime who was a great courtier in King Cyrus's court
and one in favour
with him; he was to bestow his daughter in marriage to a very great man
and of
himself he had no great means; and therefore one said to him
O Sir
where will
you have means to bestow a dowry upon your daughter proportionable to her
degree? Where are your riches? He answered
What need I care
opou Kuros moi
filos Cyrus is my friend. But may not we say much more
opou Kurios moi
filos
where the Lord is our friend
that hath those excellent and glorious
attributes that cannot come short in any wants
or to make us happy
especially
we being capable of it
and made proportionable. John Stoughton's
"Righteous Man's Plea to True Happiness
" 1640.
Verse
15. My times are in thy hand. It is observable that when
of
late years
men grow weary of the long and tedious compass in their voyages to
the East Indies
and would needs try a more compendious way by the North west
passage
it ever proved unsuccessful. Thus it is that we must not use any
compendious way; we may not neglect our body
nor shipwreck our health
nor
anything to hasten death
because we shall gain by it. He that maketh haste
(even this way) to be rich shall not be innocent; for our times are in God's
hands
and therefore to his holy providence we must leave them. We have a great
deal of work to do
and must not
therefore
be so greedy of our Sabbath day
our rest
as not to be contented with our working day
our labour. Hence it is
that a composed frame of mind
like that of the apostle's Php 1:21
wherein
either to stay and work
or to go and rest
is the best temper of all. Edward
Reynolds
in J. Spencer's "Things New and Old."
Verse
15. My times. He does not use the plural number
in my
opinion
without reason; but rather to mark the variety of casualties by which
the life of man is usually harassed. John Calvin.
Verse
15. In thy hand. The watch hangs ticking against the wall
when every tick of the watch is a sigh
and a consciousness
alas! Poor watch!
I called once to see a friend
the physician and the secretary of one of the
most noble and admirable of the asylums for the insane in this country. A poor
creature
with a clear
bright intelligence
only that some of its chords had
become unstrung
who had usually occupied itself innocently by making or
unmaking watches
had just before I called
exhibited some new
alarming
symptoms
dashing one and then another upon the stone floor
and shivering
them. Removed into a more safe room
I visited him with the secretary.
"How came you to destroy your favourite watches
so much as you loved
them
and so quiet as you are?" said my friend; and the poor patient
replied
in a tone of piercing agony
"I could not bear the tick
tick
ticking
and so I dashed it on the pavement." But when the watch is able
to surrender itself to the maker
to the hand holding the watch
and measuring
out the moments
it becomes a sight affecting indeed
but very beautiful
very
sublime. We transfer our thoughts from the watch to the hand that holds
the watch. My times
Thy hand; the watch and the hour have a purpose
and so are not in vain. God gives man permission to behold two things. Man can
see the whole work
the plan's completeness
also the minutest work
the first
step towards the plan's completeness. Nothing is more certain
nothing are men
more indisposed to perceive than this. We have to
"Wait
for some transcendent life
Reserved by God to follow this."
—Robert Browning.
To
this end God's real way is made up of all the ways of our life. His hand holds
all our times. My times; ""Thy hand." Some lives
greatly differ from others. This we know; but see
some lives fulfil life's
course
gain life's crown—life in their degree. This
on the contrary
others
quite miss. Yet
for even human strength there must be a love meted out to rule
it. It is said
there is a moon to control the tides of every sea; is there not
a master power for souls? It may not always be so
apparently
in the more
earthly lives
but it is so in the heavenly; not more surely does the moon sway
tides
than God sways souls. It does not seem sometimes as if man found no
adequate external power
and stands forth ordained to be a law to his own
sphere; but even then his times are in the hands of God
as the pathway of a
star is in the limitations of its system—as the movements of a satellite are in
the forces of its planet. But while I would not pause on morbid words or views
of life
so neither do I desire you to receive or charge me with giving only a
moody
morbid view of the world
and an imperfect theology; but far other. My
times are in thy hand—the hand of my Saviour."
"I
report as a man may of God's work—all's love
but all's law. In the Godhead I
seek and I find it
and so it shall be
A face like my face that receives thee
a Man like to me Thou shalt love and be
loved by for ever
a hand like this hand Shall throw open the gates of new life
to thee: See the Christ stand!"—Robert Browning.
And
now he is "the restorer of paths to dwell in." The hand of Jesus is
the hand which rules our times. He regulates our life clock. Christ for and
Christ in us. My times in his hand. My life can be no more in
vain than was my Saviour's life in vain. E. Paxton Hood
in "Dark Sayings
on a Harp
" 1865.
Verse
15. When David had Saul at his mercy in the cave
those about him
said
This is the time in which God will deliver thee. 1Sa 24:4. No
saith David
the time is not come for my deliverance till it can be wrought
without sin
and I will wait for that time; for it is God's time
and that is
the best time. Matthew Henry.
Verse
16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. When the cloud of
trouble hideth the Lord's favour
faith knoweth it may shine again
and
therefore prayeth through the cloud for the dissolving of it. Make thy face
to shine upon thy servant. David Dickson.
Verse
18. Lying lips...which speak grievous things proudly and
contemptuously against the righteous. The primitive persecutors slighted
the Christians for a company of bad
illiterate fellows
and therefore they
used to paint the God of the Christians with an ass's head and a book in his
hand
saith Tertullian; to signify
that though they pretended learning
yet
they were silly and ignorant people. Bishop Jewel
in his sermon upon Lu 11:15
cites this out of Tertullian and applies it to his times. Do not our
adversaries the like
saith he
against all that profess the gospel? Oh! say
they
who are those that favour this way? None but shoemakers
tailors
weavers
and such as never were at the University. These are the bishop's own words.
Bishop White said in open court
that the Puritans were all a company of
blockheads. Charles Bradbury.
Verse
18. Lying lips...which speak grievous things proudly and
contemptuously against the righteous. In that venerable and original
monument of the Vaudois Church
entitled "The Golden Lesson
" of the
date 1100
we meet with a verse
which has been thus translated:—
"If
there be anyone who loves and fears Jesus Christ
Who will not curse
nor swear
nor lie
Nor be unchaste
nor kill
nor take what is another's.
Nor take vengeance on his enemies;
They say that he is a Vaudes
and worthy of punishment."
—Antoine Monastier
in "A History of Vaudois Church
" 1859.
Verse
19. Oh how great is thy goodness
which thou hast laid up for them
that fear thee. As a provident man will regulate his liberality towards all
men in such a manner as not to defraud his children or family
nor impoverish
his own house
by spending his substance prodigally on others; so God
in like
manner
in exercising his beneficence to aliens from his family
knows well how
to reserve for his own children that which belongs to them
as it were by
hereditary right; that is to say
because of their adoption. John Calvin.
Verse
19. Oh how great is thy goodness
which thou hast laid up for them
that fear thee. Mark the phrase "Laid up for them; "his mercy and
goodness it is intended for them
as a father that lays by such a sum of money
and writes on the bag
"This is a portion for such a child." But how
comes the Christian to have this right to God
and all that vast and untold
treasure of happiness which is in him? This indeed is greatly to be heeded; it
is faith that gives him a good title to all this. That which maketh him a
child
makes him an heir. Now
faith makes him a child of God. Joh 1:12
"But as many as received him
to them gave he power to become the sons of
God
even to them that believed on his name." As therefore if you would
not call your birthright into question
and bring your interest in Christ and
those glorious privileges that come along with him
under a sad dispute in your
soul
look to your faith. William Gurnall.
Verse
19. How great is thy goodness
which thou hast laid up for them
that fear thee. When I reflect upon the words of thy prophet
it seems to
me that he means to depict God as a father who
no doubt
keeps his children
under discipline
and subjects them to the rod; but who
with all his labours
and pains
still aims at nothing but to lay up for them a store which may
contribute to their comfort when they have grown to maturity
and learned the
prudent use of it. My Father
in this world thou hidest from thy children thy
great goodness
as if it did not pertain to them. But being thy children
we
may be well assured that the celestial treasure will be bestowed upon none
else. For this reason
I will bear my lot with patience. But
oh! from time to
time
waft to me a breath of air from the heavenly land
to refresh my
sorrowful heart; I will then wait more calmly for its full fruition. Christian
Scriver.
Verse
19. Oh how great is thy goodness. Let me
to set the crown on
the head of the duty of meditation
add one thing over and above—let
meditation be carried up to admiration: not only should we be affected
but transported
rapt up and ravished with the beauties and transcendencies of
heavenly things; act meditation to admiration
endeavour the highest pitch
coming the nearest to the highest patterns
the patterns of saints and angels
in heaven
whose actings are the purest
highest ecstasies and admirations.
Thus were these so excellent artists in meditation
David
an high actor of
admiration in meditation
as often we see it in the psalms; so in Ps 8:1
9
31:19; "Oh how great is thy goodness
"etc.: Ps 104:24 "O
Lord
how manifold are thy works
"etc; and in other places David's
meditation and admiration were as his harp
well tuned
and excellently played
on
in rarest airs and highest strains; as the precious gold
and the curious
burnishing; or the richest stone
and the most exquisite polishing and setting
of it. So blessed Paul
who was a great artist in musing
acted high in
admiration
his soul was very warm and flaming up in it: it was as a bird with
a strong and long wing that soars and towers up aloft
and gets out of sight. Nathanael
Ranew.
Verse
19. Before the sons of men
i.e.
openly. The psalmist
here perhaps refers to temporal blessings conferred on the pious
and evident
to all. Some
however
have supposed the reference to be to the reward of the
righteous
bestowed with the utmost publicity on the day of judgment; which
better agrees with our interpretation of the former part of the verse. Daniel
Cresswell
D.D.
F.R.S. (1776-1844)
in loc.
Verse
19. Believe it
Sirs
you cannot conceive what a friend you shall
have of God
would you be but persuaded to enter into covenant with him
to be
his
wholly his. I tell you
many that sometimes thought and did as you do now
that is
set light by Christ and hate God
and see no loveliness in him
are
now quite of another mind; they would not for ten thousand worlds quit their
interest in him. Oh
who dare say that he is a hard Master? Who that knows him
will say that he is an unkind friend? Oh
what do poor creatures all
that they
do entertain such harsh sour thoughts of God? What
do they think that there is
nothing in that scripture
Oh how great is thy goodness
which thou hast
laid up for them that fear thee! Doth the psalmist speak too largely? Doth
he say more than he and others could prove? Ask him
and he will tell you in
verse 21
that he blesseth God. These were things he could speak to
from his
own personal experience; and many thousands as well as he
to whom the Lord had
showed his marvellous kindness
and therefore he doth very passionately plead
with the people of God to love him
and more highly to express their sense of
his goodness
that the world might be encouraged also to have good thoughts of
him. James Janeway.
Verse
19. Very observable is that expression of the psalmist
Oh how
great is thy goodness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which
thou hast wrought before the sons of men for them that trust in thee. In
the former clause
God's goodness is said to be laid up; in the latter
to be wrought. Goodness is laid up in the promise
wrought in the
performance; and that goodness which is laid up is wrought for them that trust
in God; and thus
as God's faithfulness engages us to believe
so our faith
as
it were
engages God's faithfulness to perform the promise. Nathanael Hardy.
Verse
20. Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of
tongues. This our beloved God does secretly
so that no human eyes may or
can see
and the ungodly do not know that a believer is
in God
and in the
presence of God
so well protected
that no reproach or contempt
and no
quarrelsome tongue can do him harm. Arndt
quoted by W. Wilson
D.D.
Verse
22. I said in my haste
I am cut off from before thine eyes:
nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications. Who would have
thought those prayers should ever have had any prevalence in God's ears which
were mixed with so much infidelity in the petitioner's heart! William
Secker.
Verse
22. I said in my haste
I am cut off from before thine eyes.
No
no
Christian; a prayer sent up in faith
according to the will of God
cannot be lost
though it be delayed. We may say of it
as David said of Saul's
sword and Jonathan's bow
that they never return empty. So David adds
Nevertheless
thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. John
Flavel.
Verse
22. I said in my haste
I am cut off from before thine eyes
etc. Let us with whom it was once night
improve that morning joy that now
shines upon us. Let us be continual admirers of God's grace and mercy to us. He
has prevented us with his goodness
when he saw nothing in us but impatience
and unbelief
when we were like Jonas in the belly of hell
his bowels yearned
over us
and his power brought us safe to land. What did we to hasten his
deliverance
or to obtain his mercy? If he had never come to our relief till he
saw something in us to invite him
we had not yet been relieved. No more did we
contribute to our restoration than we do to the rising of the sun
or the
approach of day. We were like dry bones without motion
and without strength.
Eze 37:1-11. And we also said
that `we were cut off for our parts
and our
hope was gone
and he caused breath to enter into us
and we live.' Who is a
God like to our God that pardoneth iniquity
transgression
and sin? that
retains not his anger for ever? that is slow to wrath and delights in mercy?
that has been displeased with us for a moment
but gives us hope of his
everlasting kindness? Oh! what love is due from us to Christ
that has pleaded
for us when we ourselves had nothing to say! That has brought us out of a den
of lions
and from the jaws of the roaring lion! To say
as Mrs. Sarah Wright
did
"I have obtained mercy
that thought my time of mercy past for ever;
I have hope of heaven
that thought I was already damned by unbelief; I said
many a time
there is no hope in mine end
and I thought I saw it; I was so
desperate
I cared not what became of me. Oft was I at the very brink of death
and hell
even at the very gates of both
and then Christ shut them. I was as
Daniel in the lion's den
and he stopped the mouth of those lions
and
delivered me. The goodness of God is unsearchable; how great is the excellency
of his majesty
that yet he would look upon such a one as I; that he has given
me peace that was full of terror
and walked continually as amidst fire and
brimstone." Timothy Rogers.
Verse
22. I said in my haste
I am cut off from before thine eyes:—i.e.
Thou hast quite forsaken me
and I must not expect to be looked upon or
regarded by thee any more. I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul
and so
be cut off from before thine eyes
be ruined while thou lookest on 1Sa 27:1.
This he said in his flight (so some read it)
which notes the distress of his
affairs: Saul was just at his back
and ready to seize him
which made the
temptation strong; in his haste (so we read it)
which notes the
disturbance and discomposure of his mind
which made the temptation surprising
so that it found him off his guard. Note
it is a common thing to speak amiss
when we speak in haste and without consideration; but what we speak amiss in
haste
we must repent of at leisure
particularly that which we have spoken
distrustfully of God. Matthew Henry.
Verse
22. I said in my haste. Sometimes a sudden passion arises
and
out it goes in angry and froward words
setting all in an uproar and
combustion: by and by our hearts recur upon us
and then we wish
"O that
I had bit my tongue
and not given it such an unbridled liberty." Sometimes
we break out into rash censures of those that it may be are better than
ourselves
whereupon when we reflect
we are ashamed that the fools' bolt was
so soon shot
and wish we had been judging ourselves when we were censuring our
brethren. Richard Alleine.
Verse
22. Nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when
I cried unto thee. As if he had said
when I prayed with so little faith
that I
as it were
unprayed my own prayer
by concluding my case in a manner
desperate; yet God pardoned my hasty spirit
and gave me that mercy which I had
hardly any faith to expect; and what use doth he make of this experience
but
to raise every saint's hope in time of need? "Be of good courage and he
shall strengthen your heart
all ye that hope in the Lord." William
Gurnall.
Verse
22. He confesseth the great distress he was in
and how weak his
faith was under the temptation; this he doth to his own shame acknowledge also
that he may give the greater glory to God. Whence learn
1.—The faith of the
godly may be slackened
and the strongest faith may sometimes show its
infirmity. I said in my haste
I am cut off from before thine eyes.
2.—Though faith be shaken
yet it is fixed in the root
as a tree beaten by the
wind keeping strong grips of good ground. Though faith seem to yield
yet it
faileth not
and even when it is at the weakest
it is uttering itself in some
act
as a wrestler
for here the expression of David's infirmity in faith
is
directed to God
and his earnest prayer joined with it
I am cut off from
before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications.
3.—Praying faith
how weak soever
shall not be misregarded of God; for nevertheless
saith he
thou heardest the voice of my supplications. 4.—There may be
in a soul at one time
both grief oppressing
and hope upholding; both darkness
of trouble
and the light of faith; both desperately doubting
and strong
gripping of God's truth and goodness; both a fainting and a fighting; a seeming
yielding in the fight
and yet a striving of faith against all opposition; both
a foolish haste
and a settled staidness of faith; as here
I said in my
haste
etc. David Dickson.
Verse
22. David vents his astonishment at the Lord's condescension in
hearing his prayer. How do we wonder at the goodness of a petty man in granting
our desires! How much more should we at the humility and goodness of the most
sovereign Majesty of heaven and earth! Stephen Charnock.
Verse
23. O love the Lord
all ye his saints. The holy psalmist in
the words does
with all the warmth of an affectionate zeal
incite us to the
love of God
which is the incomparably noblest passion of a reasonable mind
its brightest glory and most exquisite felicity; and it is
as appears evident
from the nature of the thing
and the whole train of divine revelation
the
comprehensive sum of that duty which we owe to our Maker
and the very soul
which animates a religious life
that we "love the Lord with all our
heart
and strength
and mind." William Dunlap. A.M.
1692-1720.
Verse
23. O love the Lord
all ye his saints
etc. Some few words
are to be attended in the clearing of the sense. Saints here in the text
is or may be read
ye that feel mercies. "Faithful
"
the word is sometimes taken for persons
sometimes things; and so
the Lord is said to preserve true men
and truths
faithful men
and
faithfulnesses. He plenteously rewardeth the proud doer; or
the Lord
rewardeth plenteously; the Lord
who doth wonderful things. Plenteously
is either in cumulum
abunde
or in nepotes
as some would have
it; but I would rather commend
than go about to amend
translations: though I could wish some of my learned brethren's quarrelling
hours were spent rather upon clearing the originals
and so conveying over pure
Scripture to posterity
than in scratching others with their sharpened pens
and making cockpits of pulpits. Hugh Peter's "Sermon preached
before both Houses of Parliament
"the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City
of London
and the Assembly of Divines
at the last Thanksgiving Day
April 2.
For the recovering of the West
and disbanding of 5
000 of the King's Horse
etc.
1645.
Verse
23. And plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. The next query
is
how God rewardeth the proud doer? in which
though the Lord's
proceedings be diverse
and many times his paths in the clouds
and his
judgments in the deep
and the uttermost farthing shall be paid the proud doer
at the great day; yet so much of his mind he hath left unto us
that even in
this life he gives out something to the proud which he calls "the day of
recompense
"which he commonly manifests in these particulars:
1.
By way of retaliation—for Adonibezek that would be cutting off
thumbs
had his thumbs cut off. Jud 1:7. So the poor Jews that cried so loud
"Crucify him
crucify him
"were so many of them crucified
that if
you believe Josephus
there was not wood enough to make crosses
nor in the
usual place room enough to set up the crosses when they were made. Snares are
made and pits are digged by the proud for themselves commonly
to which
the Scripture throughout gives abundant testimony.
2.
By shameful disappointments
seldom reaping what they sow
nor eating
what they catch in hunting
which is most clear in the Jewish State when Christ
was amongst them. Judas betrays him to get money
and hardly lived long
enough to spend it. Pilate
to please Caesar
withstands all counsels
against it
and gives way to that murder
by which he ruined both himself and
Caesar. The Jewish priests
to maintain that domination and honour (which they
thought the son of Joseph and Mary stole from them) cried loud for his death
which proved a sepulchre to them and their glory. And the poor people that
crucified him (through fear of the Romans taking their city) by his
death had their gates opened to the Romans—yea
Caesar himself
fearing a great change in his government by Christ living near him (which today
sets all the king craft in the world to work) met such a change that shortly he
had neither crown nor sceptre to boast of
if you read the story of Titus and
Vespasian
all which dealings of God with the proud is most elegantly set forth
unto us by the psalmist. "Behold
he travaileth with iniquity
and hath
conceived mischief
and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit
and digged it
and is fallen into the ditch which he made." Hugh Peters.
Verse
24. Be of good courage. Christian courage may thus be
described. It is the undaunted audacity of a sanctified heart in adventuring
upon difficulties and undergoing hardships for a good cause upon the call of God.
The genus
the common nature of it is an undaunted audacity. This
animosity
as some phrase it
is common both unto men and to some brutes. The
lion is said to be the strongest among beasts
that turneth not away from any.
Pr 30:30. And there is an elegant description of the war horse in regard of
boldness. Job 39:19
etc. And this boldness that is in brutes is spoken of as a
piece of this same courage that God is pleased to give to men. Eze 3:9.
This is the Lord's promise—"As an adamant harder than flint have I made
thy forehead." The word "harder" is the same in the Hebrew that
is here in my text—fortiorem petra—the rock that is not afraid of any
weather
summer or winter
sun and showers
heat and cold
frost and snow; it
blushes not
shrinks not
it changes not its complexion
it is still the same.
Such a like thing is courage
in the common nature of it. Secondly
consider the subject
it is the heart
the castle where courage commands
and exerciseth military discipline; (shall I so say) it's within the bosom
it
is the soul of a valiant soldier. Some conceive our English word courage
to be derived from cordis actio
the very acting of the heart. A valiant
man is described 2Sa 17:10 for to be a man whose heart is as the heart of a
lion. And sometimes the original translated courageous
as Am 2:16
may
most properly be rendered a man of heart. Beloved
valour doth not
consist in a piercing eye
in a terrible look
in big words; but it consists in
the mettle
the vigour that is within the bosom. Sometimes a coward may dwell
at the sign of a roaring voice and of a stern countenance; whereas true
fortitude may be found within his breast whose outward deportment promises
little or nothing in that kind. Thirdly
note the qualification of this same
subject; I said a sanctified heart; for I am not now speaking of fortitude as a
moral virtue
whereof heathens that have not God are capable
and for which
many among them that are not Christians
have been worthily commended. But I am
now discoursing of courage as a virtue theological
as a gracious
qualification
put upon the people of God by special covenant. And there are
three things that do characterize it
and which do distinguish it from the
moral virtue of fortitude. (1) The root
whence it ariseth; (2) the rule
whereby it is directed; (3) the end
to which it is referred. The root
whence it ariseth
is love to God: all the saints of God that love the
Lord be of good courage. The love of Christ constraineth me to make these bold
and brave adventures
saith the apostle. 2Co 5:14. The rule
whereby it
is directed
is the word of God—what the Lord hath pleased to leave on
record for a Christian's guidance in holy pages. 1Ch 22:12-13. "Only the
Lord give thee wisdom and understanding
and give thee charge concerning
Israel
that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God. Then shalt thou
prosper
if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the
Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong
and of good courage;
dread not
nor be dismayed." Be a man of mettle
but let thy mettle be
according to my mind
according to this rule. And the end
to which it
refers
is God. For every sanctified man being a self denying and a God
advancing man
his God is his centre
wherein his actings
his undertakings
rest; and his soul is not
yea
it cannot be satisfied but in God. Simeon
Ash's "Sermon preached before the Commanders of the Military Forces of the
renowned Citie of London
1642."
Verse
24. Be of good courage. Shall I hint some of the weighty services
that are charged upon all our consciences? The work of mortification
to pick
out our eyes
to chop off our hands
to cut off our feet; do you think that a
milksop
a man that is not a man of a stout spirit
will do this? Now to
massacre fleshly lusts
is (as it were) for a man to mangle and dismember his
own body; it is a work painful and grievous
as for a man to cut off his own
feet
to chop off his own hands
and to pick out his own eyes
as Christ and
the apostle Paul do express it. Besides this
there are in Christian's bosoms
strongholds to be battered
fortifications to be demolished; there are high
hills and mountains that must be levelled with the ground; there are trenches
to be made
valleys to be filled. O beloved
I may not mention the hills that
lie before us in heaven way
which we must climb up
and craggy rocks that we
must get over; and without courage certainly the work put upon our hands will
not be discharged. There are also the walls of Jerusalem to be repaired
and
the temple to be edified again. If Nehemiah had not been a man of a brave
spirit he would never have gone through stitch with that church work
those
weighty services which he did undertake. How this is applicable to us for the
present time
the time of our begun reformation
I speak not
but rather do
refer it to your considerations. I beseech you to read Ne 4:17-18
"They
which builded on the wall
and they that bare burdens
with those that laded
every one with one of his hands wrought in the work
and with the other hand
held a weapon. For the builders
every one had his sword girded by his side
and so builded
and he that sounded the trumpet was by me." While they
were at work
they were all ready for war. Simeon Ash.
Verse
24. And he shall strengthen your heart. Put thou thyself forth
in a way of bold adventure for him
and his providence shall be sweetly
exercised for thy good. A worthy commander
how careful he is of a brave blade
a man that will fight at a cannon's mouth! Doth he hear from him that a bone is
broken? Send for the bone setter. Is he like to bleed to death? Call for the
surgeon; let him post away to prevent that peril. Doth he grow weaker and
weaker? Is there anything in the camp that may restore his spirit? withhold
nothing; nothing is too good
too costly; would he eat gold he should have it.
Thus it is with God. Oh
what letters of commendation doth he give in
manifestation of his own love to them in Pergamos upon this very ground.
"Thou
saith the Lord
thou hast held forth my name
and not denied it
even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr
who was slain among
you
where Satan dwelleth!" thou didst fight for Christ in the cave where
the devil commanded; thou didst stand and appear for him when other men did
lose heart and courage. Here is a man that God will own; such a one shall have
God's heart and hand to do him honour
to yield him comfort. And therefore I
appeal to your consciences
is not this courage worth the having? worth the
seeking? Simeon Ash.
Verse
1. Faith expressed
confusion deprecated
deliverance sought.
Verse
1. (first clause). Open avowal of faith. 1. Duties
which precede it
self examination
etc.
2.
Modes of making the confession.
3.
Conduct incumbent on those who have made the profession.
Verse
1. (last clause). How far the righteousness of God is
involved in the salvation of a believer.
Verse
2. (first clause). God's hearing prayer a great
condescension.
Verse
2 (second clause). How far we may be urgent with God as to
time.
Verses
2-3 (last and first clauses). That which we have we may yet
seek for.
Verses
2-3. (last and first clauses). That which we have we may yet
seek for.
Verse
3. Work out the metaphor of God as a rocky fastness of the soul.
Verse
3. (last clause). 1. A blessing needed
lead me.
2.
A blessing obtainable.
3.
An argument for its being granted
for thy name's sake.
Verse
4. The rescue of the ensnared.
1.
The fowlers.
2. The laying of the net.
3. The capture of the bird.
4. The cry of the captive.
5. The rescue.
Verse
4. (last clause). The weak one girt with omnipotence.
Verse
5. 1. Dying
in a saint's account
is a difficult work.
2.
The children of God
when considering themselves as dying
are chiefly
concerned for their departing immortal spirits.
3.
Such having chosen God for their God
have abundant encouragement when dying
to commit their departing spirits into his hand
with hopes of their being safe
and happy for ever with him. —Daniel Wilcox.
Verse
5. The believer's requiem. Redemption the foundation of our repose
in God.
1.
What we do—commit ourselves to God.
2.
What God has done—redeemed us.
Verse
6. Holy detestation
as a virtue discriminated from bigotry: or
the
good hater.
Verse
7. 1. An endearing attribute rejoiced in.
2.
An interesting experience related.
3.
A directly personal favour from God delighted in.
Verse
7. (centre clause). Consider the measure
the effects
the time
the tempering
the ending
and the recompense.
Verse
7. (last clause). The Lord's familiarity with his afflicted.
Verse
8. Christian liberty
a theme for gladness.
Verse
9. The mourner's lament.
Verse
9. (last clause). Excessive sorrow
its injurious effects on
the body
the understanding
and the spiritual nature. Sin of it
cure of it.
Verses
9-10. The sick man's moan
a reminder to those who enjoy good health.
Verses
9-10. The sick man's moan
a reminder to those who enjoy good health.
Verse
10. My strength faileth because of mine iniquity. The
weakening influence of sin.
Verse
11.. The good man evil spoken of.
Verses
12-15.
Forgot
as those who in the grave abide
And as a broken vessel past repair
Slandered by many
fear on every side.
Who counsel take and would my life ensnare.
But
Lord
my hopes on thee are fixed: I said
Thou art my God
my days are in thy hand;
Against my furious foes oppose thy aid
And those who persecute my soul withstand.
—George Sandys.
Verse
12. The world's treatment of its best friends.
Verse
14. Faith peculiarly glorious in season of great trial.
Verse
15. The believer the peculiar care of providence.
Verse
15. (first clause). 1. The character of the earthly experience
of the saints
"My times
"that is
the changes I shall pass through
etc.
2.
The advantage of this variety.
(a)
Changes reveal the various aspects of the Christian character.
(b)
Changes strengthen the Christian character.
(c)
Changes lead us to admire an unchanging God.
3.
Comfort for all seasons.
(a)
This implies the changes of life are subject to the divine control.
(b)
That God will support his people under them.
(c)
And
consequently
they shall result in our being abundantly profited.
4.
The deportment which should characterise us. Courageous devotion to God in
times of persecution; resignation and contentment in times of poverty and
suffering; zeal and hope in times of labour. —From Stems and Twigs
or
Sermon Framework.
Verse
16. A sense of divine favour.
1.
Its value.
2. How to lose it.
3. How to obtain a renewal of it.
4. How to retain it.
The
heavenly servant's best reward.
Verse
16. (last clause). A prayer for saints in all stages. Note its
object
save me; and its plea
Thy mercies' sake. Suitable to the
penitent
the sick
the doubting
the tried
the advanced believer
the dying
saint.
Verse
17. The shame and silence of the wicked in eternity. The silence of
the grave
its grave eloquence.
Verse
19. See "Spurgeon's Sermons
" No. 773." David's Holy
Wonder at the Lord's Great Goodness."
Verse
20. The believer preserved from the sneers of arrogance by a sense of
the divine presence
and kept from the bitterness of slander by the glory of
the King whom he serves.
Verse
21. Marvellous kindness. Marvellous that it should come to me
in such a way
at such a time
in such a measure
for so long.
Verse
21. Memorable events in life to be observed
recorded
meditated on
repeated
made the subject of gratitude
and the ground of confidence.
Verse
22. Unbelief confessed and faithfulness adored. The mischief of hasty
speeches.
Verse
23. An exhortation to love the Lord. 1. The matter of it
love the
Lord.
2.
To whom addressed
all ye his saints.
3.
By whom spoken.
4.
With what arguments supported
for the Lord preserveth
etc.
Verse
24. Holy courage. Its excellences
difficulties
encouragements
and
triumphs.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》