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Psalm Thirty-nine
Psalm 39
Chapter Contents
David meditates on man's frailty. (1-6) He applies for
pardon and deliverance. (7-13)
Commentary on Psalm 39:1-6
(Read Psalm 39:1-6)
If an evil thought should arise in the mind
suppress it.
Watchfulness in the habit
is the bridle upon the head; watchfulness in acts
is the hand upon the bridle. When not able to separate from wicked men
we
should remember they will watch our words
and turn them
if they can
to our
disadvantage. Sometimes it may be necessary to keep silence
even from good
words; but in general we are wrong when backward to engage in edifying
discourse. Impatience is a sin that has its cause within ourselves
and that
is
musing; and its ill effects upon ourselves
and that is no less than
burning. In our greatest health and prosperity
every man is altogether vanity
he cannot live long; he may die soon. This is an undoubted truth
but we are
very unwilling to believe it. Therefore let us pray that God would enlighten
our minds by his Holy Spirit
and fill our hearts with his grace
that we may
be ready for death every day and hour.
Commentary on Psalm 39:7-13
(Read Psalm 39:7-13)
There is no solid satisfaction to be had in the creature;
but it is to be found in the Lord
and in communion with him; to him we should
be driven by our disappointments. If the world be nothing but vanity
may God
deliver us from having or seeking our portion in it. When creature-confidences
fail
it is our comfort that we have a God to go to
a God to trust in. We may
see a good God doing all
and ordering all events concerning us; and a good
man
for that reason
says nothing against it. He desires the pardoning of his
sin
and the preventing of his shame. We must both watch and pray against sin.
When under the correcting hand of the Lord
we must look to God himself for
relief
not to any other. Our ways and our doings bring us into trouble
and we
are beaten with a rod of our own making. What a poor thing is beauty! and what
fools are those that are proud of it
when it will certainly
and may quickly
be consumed! The body of man is as a garment to the soul. In this garment sin
has lodged a moth
which wears away
first the beauty
then the strength
and
finally the substance of its parts. Whoever has watched the progress of a
lingering distemper
or the work of time alone
in the human frame
will feel
at once the force of this comparison
and that
surely every man is vanity.
Afflictions are sent to stir up prayer. If they have that effect
we may hope
that God will hear our prayer. The believer expects weariness and ill treatment
on his way to heaven; but he shall not stay here long : walking with God by
faith
he goes forward on his journey
not diverted from his course
nor cast
down by the difficulties he meets. How blessed it is to sit loose from things
here below
that while going home to our Father's house
we may use the world
as not abusing it! May we always look for that city
whose Builder and Maker is
God.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 39
Verse 1
[1] I
said
I will take heed to my ways
that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep
my mouth with a bridle
while the wicked is before me.
I said — I
fully resolved.
Take heed — To
order all my actions right
and particularly to govern my tongue.
Verse 2
[2] I was dumb with silence
I held my peace
even from good; and my sorrow
was stirred.
Dumb —
Two words put together
expressing the same thing
to aggravate or increase it.
I held — I
forbear to speak
what I justly might
lest I should break forth into some
indecent expressions.
Stirred — My
silence did not assuage my grief
but increase it.
Verse 4
[4]
LORD
make me to know mine end
and the measure of my days
what it is; that I
may know how frail I am.
My end —
Make me sensible of the shortness and uncertainly of life
and the near
approach of death.
Verse 5
[5]
Behold
thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing
before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. /*Selah*/.
Before thee — If
compared with thee
and with thy everlasting duration.
Verse 6
[6] Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in
vain: he heapeth up riches
and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Vain shew —
Heb. in a shadow or image; in an imaginary rather than a real life: in the
pursuit of vain imaginations
in which there is nothing solid or satisfactory:
man in and his life
and all his happiness in this world
are rather
appearances and dreams
than truths and realities.
Disquieted —
Heb. They make a noise
bustling
or tumult
with unwearied industry seeking
for riches
and troubling and vexing both themselves and others in the pursuit
of them.
Verse 7
[7] And
now
Lord
what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
Mow Lord —
Seeing this life and all its enjoyments are so vain and short.
My hope — I
will seek for happiness no where but in God.
Verse 10
[10]
Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
Remove —
Take off the judgment which thou hast inflicted upon me.
I am —
Help me before I am utterly lost.
Verse 11
[11] When
thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity
thou makest his beauty to
consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. /*Selah*/.
Beauty —
His comeliness and all his excellencies or felicities.
Moth — As
a moth consumeth a garment
to which God compares himself and his judgments
secretly and insensibly consuming a people
Isaiah 51:8.
Verse 12
[12] Hear
my prayer
O LORD
and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears:
for I am a stranger with thee
and a sojourner
as all my fathers were.
A stranger — I
am only in my journey or passage to my real home
which is in the other world.
Verse 13
[13] O
spare me
that I may recover strength
before I go hence
and be no more.
No more —
Among the living
or in this world.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. To the Chief
Musician
even to Jeduthun. Jeduthun's name
which signifies praising or
celebrating
was a most appropriate one for a leader in sacred psalmody. He was
one of those ordained by the King's order "for song in the house of the
Lord with cymbals
psalteries
and harps" 1Ch 15:6
and his children after
him appear to have remained in the same hallowed service
even so late as the
days of Nehemiah. To have a name and a place in Zion is no small honour
and to
hold this place by a long entail of grace is an unspeakable blessing. O that
our household may never lack a man to stand before the Lord God of Israel to do
him service. David left this somewhat sorrowful ode in Jeduthun's hands because
he thought him most fit to set it to music
or because he would distribute the
sacred honour of song among all the musicians who in their turn presided in the
choir. A Psalm of David. Such as his chequered life would be sure to produce;
fit effusions for a man so tempted
so strong in his passions
and yet so firm
in faith.
DIVISION. The psalmist
bowed down with sickness and sorrow
is burdened with unbelieving thoughts
which he resolves to stifle
lest any evil should come from their expression
Ps 39:1-2. But silence creates an insupportable grief
which at last demands
utterance
and obtains it in the prayer of Ps 39:3-6
which is almost a
complaint and a sigh for death
or at best a very desponding picture of human
life. From Ps 39:7-13 the tone is more submissive
and the recognition of the
divine hand more distinct; the cloud has evidently passed
and the mourner's
heart is relieved.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. I said. I steadily resolved and registered a
determination. In his great perplexity his greatest fear was lest he should
sin; and
therefore
he cast about for the most likely method for avoiding it
and he determined to be silent. It is right excellent when a man can strengthen
himself in a good course by the remembrance of a well and wisely formed
resolve. "What I have written I have written
"or what I have spoken
I will perform
may prove a good strengthener to a man in a fixed course of
right. I will take heed to my ways. To avoid sin one had need be very
circumspect
and keep one's actions as with a guard or garrison. Unguarded ways
are generally unholy ones. Heedless is another word for graceless. In times of
sickness or other trouble we must watch against the sins peculiar to such
trials
especially against murmuring and repining. That I sin not with my tongue.
Tongue sins are great sins; like sparks of fire ill words spread
and do great
damage. If believers utter hard words of God in times of depression
the
ungodly will take them up and use them as a justification for their sinful
courses. If a man's own children rail at him
no wonder if his enemies' mouths
are full of abuse. Our tongue always wants watching
for it is restive as an
ill broken horse; but especially must we hold it in when the sharp cuts of the
Lord's rod excite it to rebel. I will keep my mouth with a bridle
or
more accurately
with a muzzle. The original does not so much mean a bridle to
check the tongue as a muzzle to stop it altogether. David was not quite so wise
as our translation would make him; if he had resolved to be very guarded in his
speech
it would have been altogether commendable; but when he went so far as
to condemn himself to entire silence
"even from good
"there must
have been at least a little sullenness in his soul. In trying to avoid one
fault
he fell into another. To use the tongue against God is a sin of
commission
but not to use it at all involves an evident sin of omission.
Commendable virtues may be followed so eagerly that we may fall into vices; to
avoid Scylla we run into Charybdis. While the wicked is before me. This
qualifies the silence
and almost screens it from criticism
for bad men are so
sure to misuse even our holiest speech
that it is as well not to cast any of
our pearls before such swine; but what if the psalmist meant
"I was
silent while I had the prosperity of the wicked in my thoughts
"then we
see the discontent and questioning of his mind
and the muzzled mouth indicates
much that is not to be commended. Yet
if we blame we must also praise
for the
highest wisdom suggests that when good men are bewildered with sceptical
thoughts
they should not hasten to repeat them
but should fight out their
inward battle upon its own battlefield. The firmest believers are exercised
with unbelief
and it would be doing the devil's work with a vengeance if they
were to publish abroad all their questionings and suspicions. If I have the
fever myself
there is no reason why I should communicate it to my neighbours.
If any on board the vessel of my soul are diseased
I will put my heart in
quarantine
and allow none to go on shore in the boat of speech till I have a
clean bill of health.
Verse
2. I was dumb with silence. He was as strictly speechless as
if he had been tongueless—not a word escaped him. He was as silent as the dumb.
I held my peace
even from good. Neither bad nor good escaped his lips.
Perhaps he feared that if he began to talk at all
he would be sure to speak
amiss
and
therefore
he totally abstained. It was an easy
safe
and
effectual way of avoiding sin
if it did not involve a neglect of the duty
which he owed to God to speak well of his name. Our divine Lord was silent
before the wicked
but not altogether so
for before Pontius Pilate he
witnessed a good confession
and asserted his kingdom. A sound course of action
may be pushed to the extreme
and become a fault. And my sorrow was stirred.
Inward grief was made to work and ferment by want of vent. The pent up floods
are swollen and agitated. Utterance is the natural outlet for the heart's
anguish
and silence is
therefore
both an aggravation of the evil and a
barrier against its cure. In such a case the resolve to hold one's peace needs
powerful backing
and even this is most likely to give way when grief rushes
upon the soul. Before a flood gathering in force and foaming for outlet the
strongest banks are likely to be swept away. Nature may do her best to silence
the expression of discontent
but unless grace comes to her rescue
she will be
sure to succumb.
Verse
3. My heart was hot within me. The friction of inward
thoughts produced an intense mental heat. The door of his heart was shut
and
with the fire of sorrow burning within
the chamber of his soul soon grew
unbearable with heat. Silence is an awful thing for a sufferer
it is the
surest method to produce madness. Mourner
tell your sorrow; do it first and
most fully to God
but even to pour it out before some wise and godly friend is
far from being wasted breath. While I was musing the fire burned. As he
thought upon the ease of the wicked and his own daily affliction
he could not
unravel the mystery of providence
and therefore he became greatly agitated.
While his heart was musing it was fusing
for the subject was confusing. It
became harder every moment to be quiet; his volcanic soul was tossed with an
inward ocean of fire
and heaved to and fro with a mental earthquake; and
eruption was imminent
the burning lava must pour forth in a fiery stream. Then
spake I with my tongue. The original is grandly laconic. I spake.
The muzzled tongue burst all its bonds. The gag was hurled away. Misery
like
murder
will out. You can silence praise
but anguish is clamorous. Resolve or
no resolve
heed or no heed
sin or no sin
the impetuous torrent forced for
itself a channel and swept away every restraint.
Verse
4. Lord. It is well that the vent of his soul was toward God
and not towards man. Oh! if my swelling heart must speak
Lord let it speak
with thee; even if there be too much of natural heat in what I say
thou wilt
be more patient with me than man
and upon thy purity it can cast no stain;
whereas if I speak to my fellows
they may harshly rebuke me or else learn evil
from my petulance. Make me to know mine end. Did he mean the same as
Elias in his agony
"Let me die
I am no better than my father"?
Perhaps so. At any rate
he rashly and petulantly desired to know the end of
his wretched life
that he might begin to reckon the days till death should put
a finish to his woe. Impatience would pry between the folded leaves. As if
there were no other comfort to be had
unbelief would fain hide itself in the
grave and sleep itself into oblivion. David was neither the first nor the last
who have spoken unadvisedly in prayer. Yet
there is a better meaning: the
psalmist would know more of the shortness of life
that he might better bear
its transient ills
and herein we may safely kneel with him
uttering the same
petition. That there is no end to its misery is the hell of hell; that there is
an end to life's sorrow is the hope of all who have a hope beyond the grave.
God is the best teacher of the divine philosophy which looks for an expected
end. They who see death through the Lord's glass
see a fair sight
which makes
them forget the evil of life in foreseeing the end of life. And the measure
of my days. David would fain be assured that his days would be soon over
and his trials with them; he would be taught anew that life is measured out to
us by wisdom
and is not a matter of chance. As the trader measures his cloth
by inches
and ells
and yards
so with scrupulous accuracy is life measured
out to man. That I may know how frail I am
or when I shall cease to be.
Alas! poor human nature
dear as life is
man quarrels with God at such a rate
that he would sooner cease to be than bear the Lord's appointment. Such
pettishness in a saint! Let us wait till we are in a like position
and we
shall do no better. The ship on the stocks wonders that the barque springs a
leak
but when it has tried the high seas
it marvels that its timbers hold
together in such storms. David's case is not recorded for our imitation
but
for our learning.
Verse
5. Behold
thou hast made my days as an handbreadth. Upon
consideration
the psalmist finds little room to bewail the length of life
but
rather to bemoan its shortness. What changeful creatures we are! One moment we
cry to be rid of existence
and the next instant beg to have it prolonged! A
handbreadth is one of the shortest natural measures
being the breadth of four
fingers; such is the brevity of life
by divine appointment; God hath made it
so
fixing the period in wisdom. The behold calls us to attention; to
some the thoughts of life's hastiness will bring the most acute pain
to others
the most solemn earnestness. How well should those live who are to live so
little! Is my earthly pilgrimage so brief? then let me watch every step of it
that in the little of time there may be much of grace. And mine age is as
nothing before thee. So short as not to amount to an entity. Think of
eternity
and an angel is as a newborn babe
the world a fresh blown bubble
the sun a spark just fallen from the fire
and man a nullity. Before the
Eternal
all the age of frail man is less than one ticking of a clock. Verily
every man at his best state is altogether vanity. This is the surest truth
that nothing about man is either sure or true. Take man at his best
he is but
a man
and a man is a mere breath
unsubstantial as the wind. Man is settled
as the margin has it
and by divine decree it is settled that he shall not be
settled. He is constant only in inconstancy. His vanity is his only verity; his
best
of which he is vain
is but vain; and this is verily true of every man
that everything about him is every way fleeting. This is sad news for those
whose treasures are beneath the moon; those whose glorying is in themselves may
well hang the flag half mast; but those whose best estate is settled upon them
in Christ Jesus in the land of unfading flowers
may rejoice that it is no vain
thing in which they trust.
Verse
6. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew. Life is but a
passing pageant. This alone is sure
that nothing is sure. All around us
shadows mock us; we walk among them
and too many live for them as if the
mocking images were substantial; acting their borrowed parts with zeal fit only
to be spent on realities
and lost upon the phantoms of this passing scene.
Worldly men walk like travellers in a mirage
deluded
duped
deceived
soon to
be filled with disappointment and despair. Surely they are disquieted in
vain. Men fret
and fume
and worry
and all for mere nothing. They are
shadows pursuing shadows
while death pursues them. He who toils and contrives
and wearies himself for gold
for fame
for rank
even if he wins his desire
finds at the end of his labour lost; for like the treasure of the miser's
dream
it all vanishes when the man awakes in the world of reality. Read well
this text
and then listen to the clamour of the market
the hum of the
exchange
the din of the city streets
and remember that all this noise
(for so the word means)
this breach of quiet
is made about unsubstantial
fleeting vanities. Broken rest
anxious fear
over worked brain
failing mind
lunacy
these are the steps in the process of disquieting with many
and all to
be rich
or
in other words
to load one's self with the thick clay; clay
too
which a man must leave so soon. He heapeth up riches
and knoweth not who
shall gather them. He misses often the result of his ventures
for there
are many slips between the cup and the lips. His wheat is sheaved
but an
interloping robber bears it away—as often happens with the poor Eastern
husbandman; or
the wheat is even stored
but the invader feasts thereon. Many
work for others all unknown to them. Especially does this verse refer to those
all gathering muckrakes
who in due time are succeeded by all scattering forks
which scatter riches as profusely as their sires gathered them parsimoniously.
We know not our heirs
for our children die
and strangers fill the old
ancestral halls; estates change hands
and entail
though riveted with a
thousand bonds
yields to the corroding power of time. Men rise up early and
sit up late to build a house
and then the stranger tramps along its passages
laughs in its chambers
and forgetful of its first builder
calls it all his
own. Here is one of the evils under the sun for which no remedy can be
prescribed.
Verse
7. And now
Lord
what wait I for? What is there in these
phantoms to enchant me? Why should I linger where the prospect is so
uninviting
and the present so trying? It were worse than vanity to linger in
the abodes of sorrow to gain a heritage of emptiness. The psalmist
therefore
turns to his God
in disgust of all things else; he has thought on the world
and all things in it
and is relieved by knowing that such vain things are all
passing away; he has cut all cords which bound him to earth
and is ready to
sound "Boot and saddle
up and away." My hope is in thee. The
Lord is self existent and true
and therefore worthy of the confidence of men;
he will live when all the creatures die
and his fulness will abide when all
second causes are exhausted; to him
therefore
let us direct our expectation
and on him let us rest our confidence. Away from sand to rock let all wise
builders turn themselves
for if not today
yet surely ere long
a storm will
rise before which nothing will be able to stand but that which has the lasting
element of faith in God to cement it. David had but one hope
and that hope
entered within the veil
hence he brought his vessel to safe anchorage
and after
a little drifting all was peace.
Verse
8. Deliver me from all my transgressions. How fair a sign it
is when the psalmist no longer harps upon his sorrows
but begs freedom from
his sins! What is sorrow when compared with sin! Let but the poison of sin be
gone from the cup
and we need not fear its gall
for the bitter will act
medicinally. None can deliver a man from his transgression but the blessed One
who is called Jesus
because he saves his people from their sins; and when he
once works this great deliverance for a man from the cause
the consequences
are sure to disappear too. The thorough cleansing desired is well worthy of
note: to be saved from some transgressions would be of small benefit; total and
perfect deliverance is needed. Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
The wicked are the foolish here meant: such are always on the watch for the
faults of saints
and at once make them the theme of ridicule. It is a wretched
thing for a man to be suffered to make himself the butt of unholy scorn by
apostasy from the right way. Alas
how many have thus exposed themselves to
well deserved reproach! Sin and shame go together
and from both David would
fain be preserved.
Verse
9. I was dumb
I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
This had been far clearer if it had been rendered
"I am silenced
I will
not open my mouth." Here we have a nobler silence
purged of all
sullenness
and sweetened with submission. Nature failed to muzzle the mouth
but grace achieved the work in the worthiest manner. How like in appearance may
two very different things appear! silence is ever silence
but it may be sinful
in one case and saintly in another. What a reason for hushing every murmuring
thought is the reflection
"because thou didst it."! It is his right to
do as he wills
and he always wills to do that which is wisest and kindest; why
should I then arraign his dealings? Nay
if it be indeed the Lord
let him do
what seemeth him good.
Verse
10. Remove thy stroke away from me. Silence from all repining
did not prevent the voice of prayer
which must never cease. In all probability
the Lord would grant the psalmist's petition
for he usually removes affliction
when we are resigned to it; if we kiss the rod
our Father always burns it.
When we are still
the rod is soon still. It is quite consistent with
resignation to pray for the removal of a trial. David was fully acquiescent in
the divine will
and yet found it in his heart to pray for deliverance; indeed
it was while he was rebellious that he was prayerless about his trial
and only
when he became submissive did he plead for mercy. I am consumed by the blow
of thine hand. Good pleas may be found in our weakness and distress. It is
well to show our Father the bruises which his scourge has made
for peradventure
his fatherly pity will bind his hands
and move him to comfort us in his bosom.
It is not to consume us
but to consume our sins
that the Lord aims at in his
chastisements.
Verse
11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity. God
does not trifle with his rod; he uses it because of sin
and with a view to
whip us from it; hence he means his strokes to be felt
and felt they are. Thou
makest his beauty to consume away like a moth. As the moth frets the
substance of the fabric
mars all its beauty
and leaves it worn out and
worthless
so do the chastisements of God discover to us our folly
weakness
and nothingness
and make us feel ourselves to be as worn out vestures
worthless and useless. Beauty must be a poor thing when a moth can consume it
and a rebuke can mar it. All our desires and delights are wretched moth eaten
things when the Lord visits us in his anger. Surely every man is vanity.
He is as Trapp wittily says "a curious picture of nothing." He is
unsubstantial as his own breath
a vapour which appeareth for a little while
and then vanisheth away. Selah. Well may this truth bring us to a pause
like the dead body of Amasa
which
lying in the way
stopped the hosts of
Joab.
Verse
12. Hear my prayer
O Lord. Drown not my pleadings with the
sound of thy strokes. Thou hast heard the clamour of my sins
Lord; hear the
laments of my prayers. And give ear unto my cry. Here is an advance in
intensity: a cry is more vehement
pathetic
and impassioned
than a prayer.
The main thing was to have the Lord's ear and heart. Hold not thy peace at
my tears. This is a yet higher degree of importunate pleading. Who can
withstand tears
which are the irresistible weapons of weakness? How often
women
children
beggars
and sinners
have betaken themselves to tears as
their last resort
and therewith have won the desire of their
hearts!—"This shower
blown up by tempest of the soul
"falls not in
vain. Tears speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues; they act as keys
upon the wards of tender hearts
and mercy denies them nothing
if through them
the weeper looks to richer drops
even to the blood of Jesus. When our sorrows
pull up the sluices of our eyes
God will ere long interpose and turn our
mourning into joy. Long may he be quiet as though he regarded not
but the hour
of deliverance will come
and come like the morning when the dewdrops are
plentiful. For I am a stranger with thee. Not to thee
but with
thee. Like thee
my Lord
a stranger among the sons of men
an alien from my
mother's children. God made the world
sustains it
and owns it
and yet men
treat him as though he were a foreign intruder; and as they treat the Master
so do they deal with the servants. "It is no surprising thing that we
should be unknown." These words may also mean
"I share the
hospitality of God
"like a stranger entertained by a generous host.
Israel was bidden to deal tenderly with the stranger
and the God of Israel has
in much compassion treated us poor aliens with unbounded liberality. And a
sojourner
as all my fathers were. They knew that this was not their rest;
they passed through life in pilgrim guise
they used the world as travellers
use an inn
and even so do I. Why should we dream of rest on earth when our
fathers' sepulchres are before our eyes? If they had been immortal
their sons
would have had an abiding city this side the tomb; but as the sires were
mortal
so must their offspring pass away. All of our lineage
without
exception
were passing pilgrims
and such are we. David uses the fleeting nature
of our life as an argument for the Lord's mercy
and it is such a one as God
will regard. We show pity to poor pilgrims
and so will the Lord.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE.—"To
Jeduthun." A Levite of the family of Merari
and one of the great
masters of the temple music. The department superintended by Jeduthun and his
colleagues in the temple service was that of the "instruments of the song
of God
"by which are intended the nebel or psaltery
the kinnor or harp
and the metsiltaim or cymbals. In 2Ch 35:15
Jeduthun is called "the
king's seer
" which would seem to indicate that he was the medium of
divine guidance to David. The name occurs in the title of Psalms 39
62
77;
where some have thought that it indicates some special kind of composition
and
others some instrument of music
but without reason. William Lindsay
Alexander
in Kitto's Cyclopaedia.
Whole
Psalm. The most beautiful of all the elegies in the psalter. H.
Ewald.
Verse
1. I said. It was to himself that he said it; and it is
impossible for any other to prove a good or a wise man
without much of this
kind of speech to himself. It is one of the most excellent and distinguishing
faculties of a reasonable creature; much beyond vocal speech
for in that
some
birds may imitate us; but neither bird nor beast has anything of this kind of
language
of reflecting or discoursing with itself. It is a wonderful brutality
in the greatest part of men
who are so little conversant in this kind of
speech
being framed and disposed for it
and which is not only of itself
excellent
but of continual use and advantage; but it is a common evil among
men to go abroad
and out of themselves
which is a madness
and a true
distraction. It is true
a man hath need of a well set mind
when he speaks to
himself; for otherwise
he may be worse company to himself than if he were with
others. But he ought to endeavour to have a better with him
to call in God to
his heart to dwell with him. If thus we did
we should find how sweet this were
to speak to ourselves
by now and then intermixing our speech with discourses
unto God. For want of this
the most part not only lose their time in vanity
in their converse abroad with others
but do carry in heaps of that vanity to
the stock which is in their own hearts
and do converse with them in secret
which is the greatest and deepest folly in the world. Robert Leighton.
Verse
1. No lesson so hard to be learned of us here
as the wise and
discreet government of the tongue. David promised a singular care of this
I
said
I will take heed
etc. Socrates reports of one Pambo
an honest
well
meaning man
who came to his friend
desiring him to teach him one of David's
Psalms
he read to him this verse. He answered: this one verse is enough
if I
learn it well. Nineteen years after
he said
in all that time
he had hardly
learned that one verse. Samuel Page.
Verse
1. That I sin not with my tongue. Man's mouth
though it be
but a little hole
will hold a world full of sin. For there is not any sin
forbidden in the law or gospel which is not spoken by the tongue
as well as
thought in the heart
or done in the life. Is it not then almost as difficult
to rule the tongue as to rule the world? Edward Reyner.
Verse
1. I will keep a muzzle on my mouth
whilst a wicked man is
before me. New Translation
by Charles Carter
Verse
1. While the wicked is before me. It is a vexation to be tied
to hear so much impertinent babbling in the world
but profitable to discern
and abhor it. A wonder that men can cast out so much wind
and the more they
have to utter
the more they are prodigal of their own breath and of the
patience of others
and careless of their own reckoning. If they believe to
give account of every idle word
they would be more sparing of foolish
speaking. I like either to be silent
or to speak that that may edify. At
tables or meetings
I cannot stop the mouth of others
yet may I close mine own
ears
and by a heavenly soul speech with God divert my mind from fruitless
talking. Though I be among them I shall as little partake their prattling as
they do my meditation. William Struther.
Verse
2. I was dumb with silence
etc. That is
for a while I did
what I resolved; I was so long wholly silent
that I seemed in a manner to be
dumb
and not able to speak. I held my peace
even from good; that is
I
forbore to speak what I might well and lawfully enough have spoken
as from
alleging anything that I might have said in mine own defence
from making my
complaint to God
and desiring justice at his hands
and such like; to wit
lest by degrees I should have been brought to utter anything that was evil
and
whilst I intended only to speak that which was good
some unseemly word might
suddenly slip from me; or lest mine enemies should misconstrue anything I
spake. Arthur Jackson.
Verse
2. I was dumb with silence. We shall enquire what kind of dumbness
or silence this of the psalmist was
which he is commended for
and
which would so well beseem us when we smart under the rod of God
and then the
doctrine will be
in a great measure
evident by its own light. We shall
proceed to our inquiry
1. Negatively
to prevent mistakes. 2. Positively
and
show you what it doth import.
First
negatively. 1. This dumbness doth not import any such thing
as if the prophet
had been brought to that pass that he had nothing to say to God by way of
prayer and supplication. He was not so dumb
but that he could pray and cry
too. Ps 39:8
10-11. 2. Nor was he so dumb
as that he could not frame to
the confession and bewailing of his sins. 3. Nor was it a dumbness of stupidity
and senselessness. It doth not imply any such thing
as if by degrees he grew
to that pass
he cared not for
or made no matter of his affliction
but set
as the proverb is
an hard heart against his hard hap. No
he did make his moan
to God
and as he smarted
so he did lament under the sense of his afflicting
hand. 4. Neither was he so dumb as not to answer God's voice in the rod that
was upon him. 5. Much less was he dumb
and kept silence in any such sort as
they did of whom Amos speaks Am 6:10
that in their misery they took up a
resolution to mention the name of God no more
in whom they had gloried
formerly.
Secondly
affirmatively. 1. He was dumb so as neither to complain of
nor quarrel with
God's providence
nor to entertain any hard thoughts against him. Complain to
God he did; but against him he durst not. 2. He neither did nor durst
quarrel
or fall out with the ways of holiness for all his sufferings
a thing
we are naturally prone unto. 3. He was dumb
so as not to defend himself
or
justify his own ways before God
as if they were righteous
and he had not
deserved what he suffered. 4. He was dumb
so as to hearken to the voice of the
rod. "I will (saith he in another place) hear what God the Lord will speak."
Ps 85:8. Now a man cannot listen to another while he will have all the talk and
discourse to himself. 5. Lastly
the prophet was dumb
that is
he did
acquiesce
and rest satisfied with God's dispensation; and that not only as
good
but as best. Condensed from a Funeral Sermon by Thomas Burroughes
B.D.
entitled
"A Sovereign Remedy for all kinds of Grief
"
1657.
Verse
2. I held my peace. A Christian being asked what fruit he had
by Christ: Is not this fruit
said he
not to be moved at your reproaches? In
cases of this nature
we must refer all to God; si tu tacueris
Deus
loquitur; if thou hold thy peace
God speaks for thee; and if God speaks
for us
it is better than we can speak for yourselves. David saith
Obmutui
quia tu fecisti. I held my peace
for it was thy doing. Christopher Sutton
B.D.
—1629
in Disce Vicere.
Verses
2-9. An invalid who had been ordered a couple of pills
took them very
absurdly
for
in place of swallowing them at once
he rolled them about in his
mouth
ground them to pieces
and so tasted their full bitterness. Gotthold was
present
and thus mused. The insults and calumnies of a slanderer and adversary
are bitter pills
and all do not understand the art of swallowing without
chewing them. To the Christian
however
they are wholesome in many ways. They
remind him of his guilt
they try his meekness and patience
they show him what
he needs to guard against
and at last they redound to his honour and glory in
the sight of him for whose sake they were endured. In respect of the pills of
slander
however
as well as the others
it is advisable not to roll them about
continually in our minds
or judge of them according to the flesh
and the
world's opinion. This will only increase their bitterness
spread the savour of
it to the tongue
and fill the heart with proportional enmity. The true way is
to swallow
keep silence
and forget. We must inwardly devour our grief
and say
I will be dumb
and not open my mouth
because thou didst it.
The best antidotes to the bitterness of slander
are the sweet promises and
consolations of Scripture
of which not the least is this
"Blessed are
ye
when men shall revile you
and persecute you
and shall say all manner of
evil against you falsely
for my sake. Rejoice
and be exceeding glad: for
great is your reward in heaven." Mt 5:11-12. Alas
my God! how hard it is
to swallow the pills of obloquy
to bless them that curse me
to do good to
them that hate me
and to pray for them that despitefully use me! But
Lord
as thou wilt have it so
give it as thou wilt have it
for it is a matter
in which
without thy grace
I can do nothing! Christian Scriver.
Verse
9. I was dumb
I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
See David's carriage here; it was a patience not constrained
but from
satisfaction of spirit: he saw love in his affliction
and that sweetened his
soul. Joseph Symonds.
Verse
9. I was dumb
I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
God is training up his children here. This is the true character of his
dealings with them. The education of his saints is the object he has in view.
It is training for the kingdom; it is education for eternity...It is the
discipline of love. Every step of it is kindness. There is no wrath nor
vengeance in any part of the process. The discipline of the school may be harsh
and stern; but that of the family is love. We are sure of this; and the
consolation which it affords is unutterable. Love will not wrong us. There will
be no needless suffering. Were this but kept in mind there would be fewer hard
thoughts of God amongst men
even when his strokes are most severe. I know not
a better illustration of what the feelings of a saint should be
in the hour of
bitterness
than the case of Richard Cameron's father. The aged saint was in
prison "for the Word of God
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."
The bleeding head of his martyred son was brought to him by his unfeeling
persecutors
and he was asked derisively if he knew it. "I know it
I know
it
"—said the father
as he kissed the mangled forehead of his fair
haired son—"it is my son's
my own dear son's! It is the Lord! good is the
will of the Lord
who cannot wrong me or mine
but who hath made goodness and
mercy to follow us all our days." Horatius Bonar
in "The Night of
Weeping
"1847.
Verse
9. Because thou didst it. This holy man had a breach made
both at his body and spirit at this time; he was sick and sad; yet he remembers
from whose hand the blow came. Thou
Lord
didst it; thou
whom I love dearly
and so can take it kindly; thou whom I have offended
and so take it patiently;
yea
thou
who mightest have cast me into a bed of flames
instead of my bed of
sickness
and therefore I accept thy correction thankfully. Thus he catches at
the blow without retorting it back upon God by any quarrelling discontented
language. William Gurnall.
Verse
9. Because thou didst it. We digest not a blow from our
equals
but a blow from our king we can well digest. If the King of kings lays
his hand on our backs
let us
beloved
lay our hands on our mouths. I am sure
this stopped David's mouth from venting fretful speeches. "I held my
tongue and said nothing." Why didst thou so
David? Because thou
Lord
didst it; and God gives this testimony of such an one; that he is a prudent
man that keeps silence at an evil time. Am 5:13. Nicholas Estwick
B.D.
1644.
Verse
9. Perkins
in his "Salve for a Sick Man
"gives
the "last words" of many holy men
among others of Calvin:—"I
held my tongue
because thou
Lord
hast done it—I mourned as a dove—Lord
you ground
me to powder
but it suffices me because it is thy hand."
Verse
9. I wondered once at providence
and called white providence black
and unjust
that I should be smothered in a town where no soul will take Christ
off my hand. But providence hath another lustre (shining; appearance) with God
than with my bleared eyes. I proclaim myself a blind body
who knoweth not
black and white
in the unco (strange) course of God's providence. Suppose that
Christ should set hell where heaven is
and devils up in glory beside the elect
angels (which yet cannot be)
I would I had a heart to acquiesce in his way
without further dispute. I see that infinite wisdom is the mother of his
judgments
and that his ways pass finding out. I cannot learn
but I desire to
learn
to bring my thoughts
will
and lusts in under (close under) Christ's
feet
that he may trample upon them. But
alas! I am still upon Christ's wrong
side. Samuel Rutherford.
Verse
9. A little girl
in the providence of God
was born deaf and dumb.
She was received
and instructed
at an institution established for these
afflicted ones. A visitor was one day requested to examine the children thus
sadly laid aside from childhood's common joys. Several questions were asked
and quickly answered by means of a slate and pencil. At length the gentleman
wrote
Why were you born deaf and dumb? A look of anguish clouded for
the moment the expressive face of the little girl; but it quickly passed
as
she took her slate
and wrote
"Even so
Father; for so it seemeth good
in thy sight." Mrs. Rogers
in "The Shepherd King."
Verse
10. Remove thy plague away from me: thy plague and mine; thine
by affliction
mine by passion; thine because thou didst send it
mine because
I endure it; thine because it comes from thy justice
mine because it answers
my injustice; remit what I have done
and remove what thou hast done. But
whosoever laid it on
the Lord will take it off. Thomas Adams.
Verse
10. Remove
etc. Having first prayed off his sin
he would now
pray off his pain
though it less troubled him; and for ease he repairs to Jehovah
that healeth
as well as woundeth. Ho 6:1. John Trapp.
Verse
11. Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth. The
meaning may be
As the moth crumbles into dust under the slightest pressure
or
the gentlest touch
so man dissolves with equal ease
and vanishes into
darkness
under the finger of the Almighty. Paxton's Illustrations of
Scripture.
Verse
11. Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth. Moths
I must not omit naming. I once saw some knives
the black bone hafts of which
were said to have been half consumed by them. I also saw the remains of a hair
seated sofa which had been devoured. It is no uncommon thing to find dresses
consumed in a single night. In Isa 51:6
"wax old" probably refers to
a garment that is moth eaten. So in Ps 6:7 31:9
consumed means moth
eaten; and again in Ps 39:11. John Gadsby.
Verse
11. Like a moth. The moths of the East are very large and
beautiful
but short lived. After a few showers these splendid insects may be
seen fluttering in every breeze
but the dry weather
and their numerous
enemies
soon consign them to the common lot. Thus the beauty of man consumes
away like that of this gay rover
dressed in his robes of purple
and scarlet
and green. John Kitto.
Verse
11. The body of man is as a "garment" to the soul: in this
garment sin hath lodged a "moth
"which
by degrees
fretteth and
weareth away
first
the beauty
then the strength
and finally
the contexture
of its parts. Whoever has watched the progress of a consumption
or any other
lingering distemper
nay
the slow and silent devastations of time alone
in
the human frame
will need no farther illustration of this just and affecting
similitude; but will discern at once the propriety of the reflection which
follows upon it. Surely every man is vanity. George Horne.
Verse
11. Surely every man is vanity. What is greatness? Can we
predicate it of man
independently of his qualities as an immortal being? or of
his actions
independently of principles and motives? Then the glitter of
nobility is not superior to the plumage of the peacock; nor the valour of
Alexander to the fury of a tiger; nor the sensual delights of Epicurus to those
of any animal that roams the forest. Ebenezer Porter
D.D.
in Lectures on
Homiletics
1834.
Verse
12. Hear my prayer
O Lord
etc. Now
in this prayer of David
we find three things
which are the chief qualifications of all acceptable
prayers. The first is humility. He humbly confesses his sins
and his own
weakness and worthlessness. We are not to put on a stoical
flinty kind of
spirit under our affliction
that so we may seem to shun womanish repinings and
complaints
lest we run into the other evil
of despising the hand of God
but we are to humble our proud hearts
and break our unruly passions...The
second qualification of this prayer is
fervency and importunity
which appears in the elegant gradation of the words
Hear my prayer
my
words; if not that
yet
Give ear to my cry
which is louder; and if
that prevail not
yet
Hold not thy peace at my tears
which is the
loudest of all; so David
elsewhere
calls it the voice of weeping.
...The third qualification is faith. "He who comes to God must
believe that he is
and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
Heb 11:6. And
certainly
as he that comes to God must believe this
so he that
believes this
cannot but come to God; and if he be not presently answered
"he that believes makes no haste
"he resolves patiently to wait for
the Lord
and go to no other. Condensed from Robert Leighton.
Verse
12. Hold not thy peace at my tears. We may
in all humility
plead our heart breakings and weepings in sense of want of mercies which we
crave
and our pantings and faintings after the same. Thomas Cobbett.
Verse
12. For I am a stranger with thee
and a sojourner
as all my
fathers were. Both in thy judgment expressed Le 25:23
and in their own
opinion Heb 11:13. Upon which account thou didst take a special care of them
and therefore do so to me also. Matthew Poole.
Verse
12. I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner. How settled
soever their condition be
yet this is the temper of the saints upon earth—to
count themselves but strangers. All men indeed are strangers and sojourners
but the saints do best discern it
and most freely acknowledge it. Wicked men
have no firm dwelling upon earth
but that is against their intentions; their
inward thought and desire is that they may abide for ever; they are strangers
against their wills
their abode is uncertain in the world
and they cannot
help it. And pray mark
there are two distinct words used in this case
strangers
and sojourners. A stranger is one that hath his abode in a foreign
country
that is not a native and a denizen of the place
though he liveth
there
and in opposition to the natives he is called a stranger: as if a
Frenchman should live in England
he is a stranger. But a sojourner is
one that intends not to settle
but only passes through a place
and is in
motion travelling homeward. So the children of God in relation to a country of
their own in another place
namely
heaven
they are denizens there
but
strangers in the world; and they are sojourners and pilgrims in regard of their
motion and journey towards their country. Thomas Manton.
Verse
12. A Stranger. 1. A stranger is one that is absent from his
country
and from his father's house: so are we
heaven is our country
God is
there
and Christ is there. 2. A stranger in a foreign country is not known
nor valued according to his birth and breeding: so the saints walk up and down
in the world like princes in disguise. 3. Strangers are liable to
inconveniences: so are godly men in the world. Religion
saith Tertullian
is
like a strange plant brought from a foreign country
and doth not agree with
the nature of the soil
it thrives not in the world. 4. A stranger is patient
standeth not for ill usage
and is contented with pilgrim's fare and lodging.
We are now abroad and must expect hardship. 5. A stranger is wary
that he may
not give offence
and incur the hatred and displeasure of the natives. 6. A
stranger is thankful for the least favour; so we must be thankfully contented
with the things God hath bestowed upon us: anything in a strange country is
much. 7. A stranger
that hath a journey to go
would pass over it as soon as
he can
and so we
who have a journey to heaven desire to be dissolved. 8. A
stranger buyeth not such things as he cannot carry with him; he doth not buy
trees
house
household stuff
but jewels and pearls
and such things as are
portable. Our greatest care should be to get the jewels of the covenant
the
graces of God's Spirit
those things that will abide with us. 9. A stranger's
heart is in his country; so is a saint's. 10. A stranger is inquisitive after the
way
fearing lest he should go amiss
so is a Christian. 11. A stranger
provides for his return
as a merchant
that he may return richly laden. So we
must appear before God in Sion. What manner of persons ought we to be? Let us
return from our travel well provided. Condensed from Thomas Manton.
Verse
13. O spare me
that I may recover strength
before I go hence
and be no more. Man in his corrupt state is like Nebuchadnezzar
he hath a
beast's heart
that craves no more than the satisfaction of his sensual
appetite; but when renewed by grace
then his understanding returns to him
by
which he is enabled in praying for temporals to elevate his desires to a nobler
end. Doth David pray that some farther time may be added to his temporal life?
It is not out of a fond love for this world
but to prepare himself the better
for another. Is he comforted with hopes of a longer stay here? It is not this
world's carnal pleasures that kindle this joy in his holy breast
but the
advantage that thereby he shall have for praising God in the land of the
living...O spare me
that I may recover strength. David was not yet
recovered out of that sin which had brought him exceeding low as you may
perceive
Ps 39:10-11. And the good man cannot think of dying with any
willingness till his heart be in a holier frame: and for the peace of the
gospel
serenity of conscience
and inward joy; alas! all unholiness is to it
as poison is to the spirits which drink them up. William Gurnall.
Verse
13. O spare me
etc. Attachment to life
the feeling cherished
by the psalmist
when he thus appealed to the Sovereign of the universe
varies
in its character with the occasions and the sentiments by which it is elicited
and confirmed. Take one view of it
and you pronounce it criminal; take
another
and you pronounce it innocent; take a third
and you pronounce
it laudable.
1.
Life may inspire a criminal attachment
warranting our censure. The most
obvious and aggravated case is that in which the attachment has its foundations
in the opportunities which life affords
of procuring "the wages of
unrighteousness
"and "the pleasures of sin."
2.
Life may inspire an innocent attachment
awakening our sympathy...Life
is a scene in which we often descry a verdant and luxuriant spot
teeming with
health
and ease
and harmony
and joy. We have beheld the husbands and the
wives whose interwoven regards have
from year to year
alleviated all their
afflictions
and heightened all their privileges. We have beheld the parents
and the children whose fellowship has yielded them
through the shifting
seasons
a daily feast. There are indulgent masters
and faithful servants;
some neighbourhoods are undisturbed; some Christian societies are exquisitely
attractive; here and there we have intercourse with those individuals in whom
are seen the beauties of high character irradiated by the beans of general
prosperity. You would pronounce no censure on a man thus happily connected
were he
when beginning to languish
as one "going the way of all the
earth
to cry
"O spare me
that I may recover strength
before I go
hence
and be no more.
3.
The last view which it has been proposed to take of human life
shows that it
may inspire a laudable attachment
at once challenging our approbation
and urging us to bring our minds under its influence. The language before us
admits of being illustrated as the prayer of a penitent
a saint
and a philanthropist.
(a).
Commend him who pleads for life as a penitent. Was it recently that the
Holy Spirit first wounded him with the arrows of conviction? Perhaps
he doubts
the source
the quality
and the result
of his powerful feelings. He knows
that we may be solemnly impressed
without being converted. There are many
considerations which entitle to favourable opinion those who
not having
arrived at a view of their moral state
at once evident and encouraging
wish
earnestly to live till grace shall have carried them from victory to victory
and enabled them "to make" their "calling and election
sure." Even they may fall from their steadfastness; and these words
"O spare me
that I may recover strength
"may proceed from the lips
of a backslider
once more blushing
trembling
and petitioning to be restored.
(b).
Commend him
in the next place
who pleads for life
as a saint. ...The
distinguishing office of pleading
acting
and suffering
for the advancement
of the divine honour among the profane
the sensual
the formal
and the
worldly is delegated
exclusively
to "the saints which are upon the
earth." Yet
surely he whose attachment to life is strongly enhanced by a
commission which dooms him to the contradiction of sinners
and defers
"the fulness of joy
"a saint so magnanimous and devoted
puts forth
the expressions of a piety which the very angels are compelled to revere.
(c).
Commend him
finally
who pleads for life as a philanthropist. I refer
to the generous patron
a man intent on doing good. I would also refer
to a fond parent. I would now refer to "a preacher of
righteousness
""a good minister of Jesus Christ."
Outline
of a Sermon entitled "Attachment to Life
"preached by Joseph
Hughes
M.A.
as a Funeral Sermon for Rev. John Owen
M.A.
1822.
Verse
13. May not the very elect and faithful themselves fear the day of
judgment
and be far from fetching comfort at it? I answer
he may. First
at
his first conversion and soon after
before he have gotten a full persuasion of
the remission of his sins. And again
in some spiritual desertion
when the
Lord seems to leave a man to himself
as he did David and others
he may fear
to think of the same. And lastly
when he hath fallen into some great sin after
he is a strong man in Christ
he may fear death and judgment
and be
constrained to pray with Job and David
O spare me
that I may recover
strength
before I go hence
and be no more. John Barlow's Sermon
1618.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verses
1-2. I was dumb
etc.
1.
There is a time to be silent. He had been enabled to do this when reproached
and unjustly accused by others. He did it for good; others might attribute it
to sullenness
or pride
or timidity
or conscious guilt; but he did it for
good. Breathe upon a polished mirror and it will evaporate and leave it
brighter than before; endeavour to wipe it off
and the mark will remain.
2.
There is a time to meditate in silence. The greater the silence without
often
the greater commotion within. "His heart was hot." The more he
thought
the warmer he grew. The fire of pity and compassion
the fire of love
the fire of holy zeal burned within him.
3.
There is a time to speak. "Then spake I." The time to speak is
when the truth is clear and strong in the mind
and the feeling of the truth is
burning in the heart. The emotions burst forth as from a volcano. Jer 20:8-9.
The language should always be a faithful representation of the mind and the
heart. G. Rogers
Tutor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle College.
Verse
2. There is a sevenfold silence.
1.
A stoical silence.
2. A politic silence.
3. A foolish silence.
4. A sullen silence.
5. A forced silence.
6. A despairing silence.
7. A prudent
a holy
a gracious silence.
—Thomas Brooks' "Mute Christian."
Verse
4. Make me to know mine end.
1. What
we may desire to know about our end. Not its date
place
circumstances
but
(a).
Its nature. Will it be the end of saint or sinner?
(b).
Its certainty.
(c).
Its nearness.
(d).
Its issues.
(e).
Its requirements. In the shape of attention
preparation
passport.
2. Why
ask God to make us know it? Because the knowledge is important
difficult to acquire
and can be effectually imparted by the Lord only. W.
Jackson.
Verse
4. David prays
1.
That he may be enabled continually to keep in view the end of life: all things
should be judged by their end. "Then understood I their end."
Life may be honourable
and cheerful
and virtuous here; but the end!
What will it be?
2.
That he may be diligent in the performance of all the duties of this life. The
measure of his days
how short
how much to be done
how little time to do it
in!
3.
He prays that he may gain much instruction and benefit from the frailties of
life. That I may know
etc. My frailties may make me more humble
more
diligent
while I am able for active service; more dependent upon divine
strength
more patient and submissive to the divine will
more ripe for heaven.
—G. Rogers.
Verse
5. (last clause). Man is vanity
i.e.
he is mortal
he is mutable. Observe how emphatically this truth is expressed here.
1. Every
man is vanity
without exception
high and low
rich and poor.
2.
He is so at his best estate; when he is young
and strong
and
healthful
in wealth and honour
etc.
3.
He is altogether vanity
as vain as you can imagine.
4. Verily
he is so.
5. Selah
is annexed
as a note commanding observation. —Matthew Henry.
Verse
6. The vanity of man
as mortal
is here instanced in three things
and the vanity of each shown.
1.
The vanity of our joys and honours: Surely every man walketh in a vain show.
2.
The vanity of our griefs and fears: Surely they are disquieted in vain.
3.
The vanity of our cares and toils: He heapeth up riches
and knoweth not who
shall gather them. —Matthew Henry.
Verse
6. The world's trinity consists
1. In fruitless honours: what
appears to them to be substantial honours are but a vain show. 2. In
needless cares. They are disquieted in vain. Imaginary cares are
substituted for real ones. 3. In useless riches; such as yield no lasting
satisfaction to themselves
or in their descent to others. G. Rogers.
Verse
7. What wait I for? 1. For what salvation as a sinner?
Of works or grace—from Sinai or Calvary? 2. For what consolation as a
sufferer? Earthly or heavenly? 3. For what supply as a suppliant?
Meagre or bountiful? Present or future? 4. For what communication as a
servant? Miraculous or ordinary? Pleasing or unacceptable? 5. For what
instruction as a pupil? Mental or spiritual? Elating or humbling?
Ornamental or useful? 6. For what inheritance as an heir? Sublunary or
celestial? W. Jackson.
Verse
7.
1.
An urgent occasion. And now Lord
etc. There are seasons that should
lead us specially to look up to God
and say
Now
Lord. "Father
the hour is come."
2.
A devout exclamation
Now
Lord
what wait I for? Where is my
expectation? where my confidence? To whom shall I look? I am nothing
the world
is nothing
all earthly sources of confidence and consolation fail: What
wait I for? In life
in death
in a dying world
in a coming judgment
in
an eternity at hand; what is it that I need? —G. Rogers.
Verse
8.
1.
Prayer should be general:Deliver me from all my transgressions.
We often need anew to say
"God be merciful to me a sinner."
Afflictions should remind us of our sins. If we pray to be delivered from all
transgressions
we are sure to be delivered from the one for which affliction
was sent.
2.
Prayer should be particular:Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
Suffer me not so to speak or show impatience in affliction as to give occasion
even to the foolish to blaspheme. The thought that many watch for our halting
should be a preservative from sin. —G. Rogers.
Verse
9.
1.
The occasion referred to. I was dumb
etc. We are not told what
the particular trial was
that each one may apply it to his own affliction
and
because all are to be viewed in the same light.
2.
The conduct of the psalmist upon that particular occasion: I opened
not my mouth. (a) Not in anger and rebellion against God in murmurs or
complaints. (b) Not in impatience
or complaining
or angry feelings against
men. (c) The reason he assigns for this conduct: Because thou didst
it. G. Rogers.
Verse
10.
1. Afflictions
are sent by God. Thy strokes. They are strokes of his hand
not of the rod of the law
but of the shepherd's rod. Every affliction is his
stroke.
2. Afflictions
are removed by God. Remove. He asks not for miracles
but that God
in his own way
in the use of natural means
would interpose for his
deliverance. We should seek his blessing upon the means employed for our
deliverance both by ourselves and others. "Cause to remove
"etc.
3. Afflictions
have their end from God. I am consumed by the conflict
etc. God hath a
controversy with his people. It is a conflict between his will and their wills.
The psalmist owns himself conquered and subdued in the struggle. We should be
more anxious that this end should be accomplished than that the affliction should
be removed
and when this is accomplished the affliction will be removed. G.
Rogers.
Verse
10.
1.
The cause of our trials: "for iniquity." Oh
this trial
is come to take away my comforts
my peace of mind
and the divine smile! No
this is all the fruit to take away their sin—the dross
none of the gold—sin
nothing but sin.
2.
The effect of our trials. All that he counted desirable in this life
but not for his real good
is consumed. His robes which are beautiful in
men's esteem are moth eaten
but the robe of righteousness upon his soul cannot
decay.
3.
The design of our trials. They are not penal inflictions
but friendly rebukes
and fatherly corrections. On Christ our Surety the penal consequences
were laid
upon us their paternal chastisements only.
4.
The reasonableness of our trials. "Surely every man is
vanity." How in a world like this could any expect to be exempt from
trials! The world is the same to the Christian as before
and his body is the
same. He has a converted soul in an unconverted body
and how can he escape the
external ills of life? G. Rogers.
Verse
12. David pleads the good impressions made upon him by his
affliction.
1.
It had set him a weeping.
2. It had set him a praying.
3. It had helped to wean him from the world.
—Matthew Henry.
Verse
12. (last clause). Am I a stranger and a sojourner with God?
Let me realise
let me exemplify the condition.
1.
Let me look for the treatment such characters commonly meet with.
2.
And surely if any of my own nation be near me
I shall be intimate with
them.
3.
Let me not be entangled in the affairs of this life.
4.
Let my affection be set on things that are above
and my conversation be
always in heaven.
5.
Let me be not impatient for home; but prizing it. —W. Jay.
Verse
13.
1.
The subject of his petition—not that he may escape death and live always
in this life
because he knows that he must go hence; but 1. That he may be
recovered from his afflictions; and
2. That he may continue longer in this
life. Such a prayer is lawful when offered in submission to the will of God.
2.
The reasons for this petition. 1. That he may remove by his future life
the calumnies that had been heaped upon him. 2. That he may have brighter
evidences of his interest in the divine favour. 3. That he may become a
blessing to others
his family and nation. 4. That he might have greater peace
and comfort in death; and
5. That he might "have an entrance ministered
more abundantly
"etc. —G. Rogers.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》