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Psalm Forty-nine
Psalm 49
Chapter Contents
A call for attention. (1-5) Folly of worldlings. (6-14)
Against fear of death. (15-20)
Commentary on Psalm 49:1-5
(Read Psalm 49:1-5)
We seldom meet with a more solemn introduction: there is
no truth of greater importance. Let all hear this with application to
ourselves. The poor are in danger from undue desire toward the wealth of the
world
as rich people from undue delight in it. The psalmist begins with
applying it to himself
and that is the right method in which to treat of
Divine things. Before he sets down the folly of carnal security
he lays down
from his own experience
the benefit and comfort of a holy
gracious security
which they enjoy who trust in God
and not in their worldly wealth. In the day
of judgment
the iniquity of our heels
or of our steps
our past sins
will
compass us. In those days
worldly
wicked people will be afraid; but wherefore
should a man fear death who has God with him?
Commentary on Psalm 49:6-14
(Read Psalm 49:6-14)
Here is a description of the spirit and way of worldly
people. A man may have wealth
and may have his heart enlarged in love
thankfulness
and obedience
and may do good with it. Therefore it is not men's
having riches that proves them to be worldly
but their setting their hearts
upon them as the best things. Worldly men have only some floating thoughts of
the things of God
while their fixed thoughts
their inward thoughts
are about
the world; that lies nearest the heart. But with all their wealth they cannot
save the life of the dearest friend they have. This looks further
to the
eternal redemption to be wrought out by the Messiah. The redemption of the soul
shall cost very dear; but
being once wrought
it shall never need to be repeated.
And he
the Redeemer
shall rise again before he sees corruption
and then
shall live for evermore
Revelation 1:18. This likewise shows the folly
of worldly people
who sell their souls for that which will never buy them.
With all their wealth they cannot secure themselves from the stroke of death.
Yet one generation after another applaud their maxims; and the character of a
fool
as drawn by heavenly Wisdom itself
Luke 12:16-21
continues to be followed even
among professed Christians. Death will ask the proud sinner
Where is thy
wealth
thy pomp? And in the morning of the resurrection
when all that sleep
in the dust shall awake
the upright shall be advanced to the highest honour
when the wicked shall be filled with everlasting shame and contempt
Daniel 12:2. Let us now judge of things as they
will appear in that day. The beauty of holiness is that alone which the grave
cannot touch
or damage.
Commentary on Psalm 49:15-20
(Read Psalm 49:15-20)
Believers should not fear death. The distinction of men's
outward conditions
how great soever in life
makes none at death; but the
difference of men's spiritual states
though in this life it may seem of small
account
yet at and after death is very great. The soul is often put for the
life. The God of life
who was its Creator at first
can and will be its
Redeemer at last. It includes the salvation of the soul from eternal ruin.
Believers will be under strong temptation to envy the prosperity of sinners.
Men will praise thee
and cry thee up
as having done well for thyself in
raising an estate and family. But what will it avail to be approved of men
if
God condemn us? Those that are rich in the graces and comforts of the Spirit
have something of which death cannot strip them
nay
which death will improve;
but as for worldly possessions
as we brought nothing into the world
so it is
certain that we shall carry nothing out; we must leave all to others. The sum
of the whole matter is
that it can profit a man nothing to gain the whole
world
to become possessed of all its wealth and all its power
if he lose his
own soul
and is cast away for want of that holy and heavenly wisdom which
distinguishes man from the brutes
in his life and at his death. And are there
men who can prefer the lot of the rich sinner to that of poor Lazarus
in life
and death
and to eternity? Assuredly there are. What need then we have of the
teaching of the Holy Ghost; when
with all our boasted powers
we are prone to
such folly in the most important of all concerns!
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 49
Verse 4
[4] I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my
dark saying upon the harp.
I will — I will hearken what God by his Spirit speaks to me
and that will I now speak to you.
A parable — Which properly is an allegorical
speech
but is often taken for an important
and withal
dark doctrine or
sentence.
Open — I will not smother it in my own breast
but publish it
to the world.
Dark — So he calls the following discourse
because the thing
in question ever hath been thought hard to be understood.
Verse 5
[5] Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil
when the
iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
In the days — In times of great distress and
calamity
when wicked men flourish
and good men are oppressed.
Supplanters — This character fitly agrees to
David's enemies
who were not only malicious
but deceitful and treacherous.
Verse 6
[6] They that trust in their wealth
and boast themselves in
the multitude of their riches;
Trust — As that which will secure them from calamities. Having
said that good men had no cause of fear
from their present sufferings from
ungodly men
now he proceeds to shew
that the ungodly had no reason to be
secure because of their riches.
Verse 7
[7] None of them can by any means redeem his brother
nor
give to God a ransom for him:
Redeem — Neither from the first death
nor from the second.
Brother — Whom he would do his utmost to preserve.
Verse 8
[8] (For the redemption of their soul is precious
and it ceaseth
for ever:)
Soul — Of their life.
Precious — Hard to be obtained.
Ceaseth — It is never to be accomplished
by any mere man
for
himself or for his brother.
Verse 10
[10] For he seeth that wise men die
likewise the fool and
the brutish person perish
and leave their wealth to others.
He seeth — Every man sees that all men die
the wise and the
foolish; the evil and the good.
To others — He saith not to sons or kindred;
but to others
because he is wholly uncertain to whom he shall leave them
to
friends
or strangers
or enemies; which he mentions as a great vanity in
riches. They neither can save them from death
nor will accompany him in and
after death; and after his death will be disposed
he knows not how
nor to
whom.
Verse 11
[11] Their inward thought is
that their houses shall
continue for ever
and their dwelling places to all generations; they call
their lands after their own names.
Thought — Tho' they are ashamed to express
yet it is their
secret hope.
Houses — Either their posterity
often called mens houses: or
their mansion-houses
as it is explained in the next clause.
For ever — To them and theirs in succeeding generations.
Call — Fondly dreaming by this means to immortalize their
memories.
Verse 12
[12] Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like
the beasts that perish.
Man — Living in all splendor and glory.
Abideth not — All his dreams of perpetuating
his name and estate
shall be confuted by experience.
Verse 13
[13] This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve
their sayings. /*Selah*/.
Way — Their contrivance to immortalize themselves.
Verse 14
[14] Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed
on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and
their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
Sheep — Which for a season are in sweet pastures
but at the
owner's pleasure are led away to the slaughter.
Death — The first death shall consume their bodies
and the
second death shall devour their souls.
The upright — Good men whom they abused at
their pleasure.
Morning — In the day of the general judgment
and the
resurrection of the dead.
Beauty — All their glory and felicity.
Dwelling — They shall be hurried from their large and stately
mansions
into a close and dark grave.
Verse 15
[15] But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave:
for he shall receive me. /*Selah*/.
God — Tho' no man can find out a ransom to redeem himself
yet God can and will redeem me.
The grave — The grave shall not have power to
retain me
but shall be forced to give me up into my father's hands.
Receive — Into heaven.
Verse 16
[16] Be not thou afraid when one is made rich
when the glory
of his house is increased;
Afraid — Discouraged.
Verse 18
[18] Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will
praise thee
when thou doest well to thyself.
Blessed — He applauded himself as an happy man.
Men — And as he flatters himself
so parasites flatter him
for their own advantage.
When — When thou dost indulge thyself
and advance thy worldly
interest.
Verse 19
[19] He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall
never see light.
He — Now he returns to the third person: such changes are
frequent in this book.
Go — To the grave and hell
where he shall meet with his
wicked parents
who by their counsel and example
led him into his evil
courses.
See — Neither the light of this life
to which they shall
never return: nor of the next life
to which they shall never be admitted.
Verse 20
[20] Man that is in honour
and understandeth not
is like
the beasts that perish.
Understandeth not — Hath not true wisdom.
The beasts — Though he hath the outward shape
of a man
yet in truth he is a beast
a stupid
and unreasonable creature.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
TITLE. To the Chief
Musician
a Psalm for the sons of Korah. This is precisely the same as on
former occasions
and no remark is needed.
DIVISION. The poet
musician sings
to the accompaniment of his harp
the despicable character of
those who trust in their wealth
and so he consoles the oppressed believer. The
first four verses are a preface; from Ps 49:5-12 all fear of great oppressors
is removed by the remembrance of their end and their folly; Ps 49:13 contains
an expression of wonder at the perpetuity of folly; Ps 49:14-15 contrast the
ungodly and the righteous in their future; and from Ps 49:16-20 the lesson from
the whole is given in an admonitory form. Note the chorus in Ps 49:2
20
and
also the two Selahs.
EXPOSITION
Verses
1-4. In these four verses the poet prophet calls universal humanity to
listen to his didactic hymn.
Verse
1. Hear this
all ye people. All men are concerned in the
subject
it is of them
and therefore to them that the psalmist
would speak. It is not a topic which men delight to consider
and therefore he
who would instruct them must press them to give ear. Where
as in this case
the theme claims to be wisdom and understanding
attention is very properly
demanded; and when the style combines the sententiousness of the proverb with
the sweetness of poesy
interest is readily excited. Give ear
all ye
inhabitants of the world. "He that hath ears to hear let him
hear." Men dwelling in all climes are equally concerned in the subject
for the laws of providence are the same in all lands. It is wise for each one
to feel I am a man
and therefore everything which concerns mortals has a
personal interest to me. We must all appear before the judgment seat
and
therefore we all should give earnest heed to holy admonition which may help us
to prepare for that dread event. He who refuses to receive instruction by the
ear
will not be able to escape receiving destruction by it when the Judge
shall say
"Depart
ye cursed."
Verse
2. Both low and high
rich and poor
together. Sons of great
men
and children of mean men
men of large estate
and ye who pine in poverty
ye are all bidden to hear the inspired minstrel as he touches his harp to a
mournful but instructive lay. The low will be encouraged
the high will be
warned
the rich will be sobered
the poor consoled
there will be a useful
lesson for each if they are willing to learn it. Our preaching ought to have a
voice for all classes
and all should have an ear for it. To suit our word to
the rich alone is wicked sycophancy
and to aim only at pleasing the poor is to
act the part of a demagogue. Truth may be so spoken as to command the ear of
all
and wise men seek to learn that acceptable style. Rich and poor must soon
meet together in the grave
they may well be content to meet together now. In
the congregation of the dead all differences of rank will be obliterated
they
ought not now to be obstructions to united instructions.
Verse
3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom. Inspired and therefore
lifted beyond himself
the prophet is not praising his own attainments
but
extolling the divine Spirit which spoke in him. He knew that the Spirit of
truth and wisdom spoke through him. He who is not sure that his matter is good
has no right to ask a hearing. And the meditation of my heart shall be of
understanding. The same Spirit who made the ancient seers eloquent
also
made them thoughtful. The help of the Holy Ghost was never meant to supersede
the use of our own mental powers. The Holy Spirit does not make us speak as
Balaam's ass
which merely uttered sounds
but never meditated; but he first
leads us to consider and reflect
and then he gives us the tongue of fire to
speak with power.
Verse
4. I will incline mine ear to a parable. He who would have
others hear
begins by hearing himself. As the minstrel leans his ear to his
harp
so must the preacher give his whole soul to his ministry. The truth came
to the psalmist as a parable
and he endeavoured to unriddle it for popular
use; he would not leave the truth in obscurity
but he listened to its voice
till he so well understood it as to be able to interpret and translate it into
the common language of the multitude. Still of necessity it would remain a
problem
and a dark saying to the unenlightened many
but this would not be the
songster's fault
for
saith he
I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
The writer was no mystic
delighting in deep and cloudy things
yet he was not
afraid of the most profound topics; he tried to open the treasures of darkness
and to uplift pearls from the deep. To win attention he cast his proverbial
philosophy into the form of song
and tuned his harp to the solemn tone of his
subject. Let us gather round the minstrel of the King of kings
and hear the
Psalm which first was led by the chief musician
as the chorus of the sons of
Korah lifted up their voices in the temple.
Verse
5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil
when the iniquity
of my heels shall compass me about? The man of God looks calmly forward to
dark times when those evils which have dogged his heels shall gain a temporary
advantage over him. Iniquitous men
here called in the abstract iniquity
lie in wait for the righteous
as serpents that aim at the heels of travellers:
the iniquity of our heels is that evil which aims to trip us up or impede us.
It was an old prophecy that the serpent should wound the heel of the woman's
seed
and the enemy of our souls is diligent to fulfil that premonition. In
some dreary part of our road it may be that evil will wax stronger and bolder
and gaining upon us will openly assail us; those who followed at our heels like
a pack of wolves
may perhaps overtake us
and compass us about. What then?
Shall we yield to cowardice? Shall we be a prey to their teeth? God forbid.
Nay
we will not even fear
for what are these foes? What indeed
but mortal
men who shall perish and pass away? There can be no real ground of alarm to the
faithful. Their enemies are too insignificant to be worthy of one thrill of
fear. Doth not the Lord say to us
"I
even I
am he that comforteth thee;
who art thou
that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die
and of the
son of man which shall be made as grass?" Scholars have given other
renderings of this verse
but we prefer to keep to the authorised version when
we can
and in this case we find in it precisely the same meaning which those
would give to it who translate my heels
by the words "my
supplanters."
Verse
6. What if the good man's foes be among the great ones of the earth!
yet he need not fear them. They that trust in their wealth. Poor fools
to be content with such a rotten confidence. When we set our rock in contrast
with theirs
it would be folly to be afraid of them. Even though they are loud
in their brags
we can afford to smile. What if they glory and boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches? yet while we glory in our God
we are not dismayed by their proud threatenings. Great strength
position
and
estate
make wicked men very lofty in their own esteem
and tyrannical towards
others; but the heir of heaven is not overawed by their dignity
nor cowed by
their haughtiness. He sees the small value of riches
and the helplessness of
their owners in the hour of death
and therefore he is not so mean as to be
afraid of an ephemera
a moth
a bubble.
Verse
7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother. With all
their riches
the whole of them put together could not rescue a comrade from
the chill grasp of death. They boast of what they will do with us
let them see
to themselves. Let them weigh their gold in the scales of death
and see how
much they can buy therewith from the worm and the grave. The poor are their
equals in this respect; let them love their friend ever so dearly
they cannot give
to God a ransom for him. A king's ransom would be of no avail
a Monte Rosa
of rubies
an America of silver
a world of gold
a sun of diamonds
would all
be utterly contemned. O ye boasters
think not to terrify us with your worthless
wealth
go ye and intimidate death before ye threaten men in whom is
immortality and life.
Verse
8. For the redemption of their soul is precious
and it ceaseth
for ever. Too great is the price
the purchase is hopeless. For ever must
the attempt to redeem a soul with money remain a failure. Death comes and
wealth cannot bribe him; hell follows and no golden key can unlock its dungeon.
Vain
then
are your threatenings
ye possessors of the yellow clay; your
childish toys are despised by men who estimate the value of possessions by the
shekel of the sanctuary.
Verse
9. No price could secure for any man that he should still live
for ever
and not see corruption. Mad are men now after gold
what would
they be if it could buy the elixir of immortality? Gold is lavished out of the
bag to cheat the worm of the poor body by embalming it
or enshrining it in a
coffin of lead
but it is a miserable business
a very burlesque and comedy. As
for the soul
it is too subtle a thing to be detained when it hears the divine
command to soar through tracks unknown. Never
therefore
will we fear those
base nibblers at our heels
whose boasted treasure proves to be so powerless to
save.
Verse
10. For he seeth that wise men die. Every one sees this. The
proud persecuting rich man cannot help seeing it. He cannot shut his eyes to
the fact that wiser men than he are dying
and that he also
with all his
craft
must die. Likewise the fool and the brutish person perish. Folly
has no immunity from death. Off goes the jester's cap
as well as the student's
gown. Jollity cannot laugh off the dying hour; death who visits the university
does not spare the tavern. Thoughtlessness and brutishness meet their end as
surely as much care and wasting study. In fact
while the truly wise
so far as
this world is concerned
die
the fool has a worse lot
for he perishes
is blotted out of remembrance
bewailed by none
remembered no more. And
leave their wealth to others. Not a farthing can they carry with them.
Whether heirs male of their own body
lawfully begotten
inherit their estates
or they remain unclaimed
it matters not
their hoardings are no longer theirs;
friends may quarrel over their property
or strangers divide it as spoil
they
cannot interfere. Ye boasters
hold ye your own
before ye dream of despoiling
the sons of the living God. Keep shoes to your own feet in death's dark
pilgrimage
ere ye seek to bite our heels.
Verse
11. Their inward thought is
their houses shall continue for ever
and their dwelling places to all generations. He is very foolish who is
more a fool in his inmost thought than he dare to be in his speech. Such rotten
fruit
rotten at the core
are worldlings. Down deep in their hearts
though
they dare not say so
they fancy that earthly goods are real and enduring.
Foolish dreamers! The frequent dilapidation of their castles and manor houses
should teach them better
but still they cherish the delusion. They cannot tell
the mirage from the true streams of water; they fancy rainbows to be stable
and
clouds to be the everlasting hills. They call their lands after their own
names. Common enough is this practice. His grounds are made to bear the
groundling's name
he might as well write it on the water. Men have even called
countries by their own names
but what are they the better for the idle
compliment
even if men perpetuate their nomenclature?
Verse
12. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not. He is but a
lodger for the hour
and does not stay a night: even when he dwells in marble
halls his notice to quit is written out. Eminence is evermore in imminence of
peril. The hero of the hour lasts but for an hour. Sceptres fall from the
paralysed hands which once grasped them
and coronets slip away from skulls
when the life is departed. He is like the beasts that perish. He is not
like the sheep which are preserved of the Great Shepherd
but like the hunted
beast which is doomed to die. He lives a brutish life and dies a brutish death.
Wallowing in riches
surfeited with pleasure
he is fatted for the slaughter
and dies like the ox in the shambles. Alas! that so noble a creature should use
his life so unworthily
and end it so disgracefully. So far as this world is
concerned
wherein does the death of many men differ from the death of a dog?
They go down—
"To
the vile dust from whence they sprung
Unwept
unhonoured
and unsung."
What
room is there
then
for fear to the godly when such natural brute beasts
assail them? Should they not in patience possess their souls? We make a break
here
because this stanza appears to be the refrain of the song
and as such is
repeated in Ps 49:20.
Verse
13. Their vain confidences are not casual aberrations from the path
of wisdom
but their way
their usual and regular course; their whole
life is regulated by such principles. Their life path is essential folly.
They are fools ingrain. From first to last brutishness is their characteristic
grovelling stupidity the leading trait of their conduct. Yet their posterity
approve their sayings. Those who follow them in descent follow them in
folly
quote their worldly maxims
and accept their mad career as the most
prudent mode of life. Why do they not see by their father's failure their
father's folly? No
the race transmits its weakness. Grace is not hereditary
but sordid worldliness goes from generation to generation. The race of fools
never dies out. No need of missionaries to teach men to be earthworms
they
crawl naturally to the dust. Selah. Well may the minstrel pause
and bid
us muse upon the deep seated madness of the sons of Adam. Take occasion
reader
to reflect upon thine own.
Verse
14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave. As dumb driven
cattle
they are hurried to their doom
and are penned in within the gates of
destruction. As sheep that go whither they are driven
and follow their leader
without thought
so these men who have chosen to make this world their all
are
urged on by their passions
till they find themselves at their journey's end
that end the depths of Hades. Or if we keep to our own translation
we have the
idea of their dying peaceably
and being buried in quiet
only that they may
wake up to be ashamed at the last great day. Death shall feed on them.
Death like a grim shepherd leads them on
and conducts them to the place of
their eternal pasturage
where all is barrenness and misery. The righteous are
led by the Good Shepherd
but the ungodly have death for their shepherd
and he
drives them onward to hell. As the power of death rules them in this world
for
they have not passed from death unto life
so the terrors of death shall devour
them in the world to come. As grim giants
in old stories
are said to feed on
men whom they entice to their caves
so death
the monster
feeds on the flesh
and blood of the mighty. The upright shall have dominion over them in the
morning. The poor saints were once the tail
but at the day break they
shall be the head. Sinners rule till night fall; their honours wither in the
evening
and in the morning they find their position utterly reversed. The
sweetest reflection to the upright is that "the morning" here
intended begins an endless
changeless
day. What a vexation of spirit to the
proud worldling
when the Judge of all the earth holds his morning session
to
see the man whom he despised
exalted high in heaven
while he himself is cast
away! And their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
Whatever of glory the ungodly had shall disappear in the tomb. Form and
comeliness shall vanish from them
the worm shall make sad havoc of all their beauty.
Even their last dwelling place
the grave
shall not be able to protect the
relics committed to it; their bodies shall dissolve
no trace shall remain of
all their strong limbs and lofty heads
no vestige of remaining beauty shall be
discoverable. The beauty of the righteous is not yet revealed
it waits its
manifestations; but all the beauty the wicked will ever have is in full bloom
in this life; it will wither
fade
decay
rot
and utterly pass away. Who
then
would envy or fear the proud sinner?
Verse
15. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave.
Forth from that temporary resting place we shall come in due time
quickened by
divine energy. Like our risen Head we cannot be holden by the bands of the
grave; redemption has emancipated us from the slavery of death. No redemption
could man find in riches
but God has found it in the blood of his dear Son.
Our Elder Brother has given to God a ransom
and we are the redeemed of the
Lord: because of this redemption by price we shall assuredly be redeemed by
power out of the hand of the last enemy. For he shall receive me. He
shall take me out of the tomb
take me up to heaven. If it is not said of me as
of Enoch
"He was not
for God took him
"yet shall I reach the same
glorious state. My spirit God will receive
and my body shall sleep in Jesus
till
being raised in his image
it shall also be received into glory. How
infinitely superior is such a hope to anything which our oppressors can boast!
Here is something which will bear meditation
and therefore again let us pause
at the bidding of the musician
who inserts a Selah.
Verse
16. In these last verses the psalmist becomes a preacher
and gives
admonitory lessons which he has himself gathered from experience. Be not
thou afraid when one is made rich. Let it not give thee any concern to see
the godless prosper. Raise no questions as to divine justice; suffer no
foreboding to cloud thy mind. Temporal prosperity is too small a matter to be
worth fretting about; let the dogs have their bones
and the swine their draff.
When the glory of his house is increased. Though the sinner and his
family are in great esteem
and stand exceedingly high
never mind; all things
will be righted in due time. Only those whose judgment is worthless will esteem
men the more because their lands are broader; those who are highly estimated
for such unreasonable reasons will find their level ere long
when truth and
righteousness come to the fore.
Verse
17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away. He has but
a leasehold of his acres
and death ends his tenure. Through the river of death
man must pass naked. Not a rag of all his raiment
not a coin of all his
treasure
not a joy of all his honour
can the dying worldling carry with him.
Why then fret ourselves about so fleeting a prosperity? His glory shall not
descend after him. As he goes down
down
down for ever
none of his
honours or possessions will follow him. Patents of nobility are invalid in the
sepulchre. His worship
his honour
his lordship
and his grace
will alike
find their titles ridiculous in the tomb. Hell knows no aristocracy. Your
dainty and delicate sinners shall find that eternal burnings have no respect
for their affectations and refinements.
Verse
18. Though while he lived he blessed his soul. He pronounced
himself happy. He had his good things in this life. His chief end and aim were
to bless himself. He was charmed with the adulation of flatterers. Men will
praise thee
when thou doest well to thyself. The generality of men worship
success
however it may be gained. The colour of the winning horse is no
matter; it is the winner
and that is enough. "Take care of Number One
"is the world's proverbial philosophy
and he who gives good heed to it is
"a clever fellow
""a fine man of business
""a shrewd
common sense tradesman
""a man with his head put on the right
way." Get money
and you will be "respectable
""a
substantial man
"and your house will be "an eminent firm in the
city
"or "one of the best county families." To do good wins
fame in heaven
but to do good to yourself is the prudent thing among
men of the world. Yet not a whisper of worldly congratulation can follow the
departing millionaire; they say he died worth a mint of money
but what charm
has that fact to the dull cold ear of death? The banker rots as fast as the
shoeblack
and the peer becomes as putrid as the pauper. Alas! poor wealth
thou art but the rainbow colouring of the bubble
the tint which yellows the
morning mist
but adds not substance to it.
Verse
19. He shall go to the generation of his fathers. Where the
former generations lie
the present shall also slumber. The sires beckon to
their sons to come to the same land of forgetfulness. Mortal fathers beget not
immortal children. As our ancestors have departed
so also must we. They
shall never see light. To this upper region the dead worldling shall never
return again to possess his estates
and enjoy his dignities. Among the dead he
must lie in the thick darkness
where no joy or hope can come to him. Of all
his treasures there remains not enough to furnish him one poor candle; the
blaze of his glory is out for ever
and not a spark remains to cheer him. How
then can we look with fear or envy upon a wretch doomed to such unhappiness?
Verse
20. The song ends with the refrain
Man that is in honour
and
understandeth not
is like the beasts that perish. Understanding
differences men from animals
but if they will not follow the highest wisdom
and like beasts find their all in this life
then their end shall be as mean
and dishonourable as that of beasts slain in the chase
or killed in the
shambles. From the loftiest elevation of worldly honour to the uttermost depths
of death is but a step. Saddest of all is the reflection
that though men are
like beasts in all the degradation of perishing
yet not in the rest which
animal perishing secures
for
alas! it is written
"These shall go away
into everlasting punishment." So ends the minstrel's lay. Comforting as
the theme is to the righteous
it is full of warning to the worldly. Hear ye
it
O ye rich and poor. Give ear to it
ye nations of the earth.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. Strange it is that two Psalms so near together
as this and the
forty-fifth should
and should alone imitate
or be the forerunners of
two
works of David's son; this—Ecclesiastes
the former—the Canticles. J. M.
Neale.
Verse
2. In this Psalm David
as it were
summons and divides mankind. In
the first verse he summons: "Hear this
all ye people; give ear
all ye
inhabitants of the world." In the second verse he divides: Both low
and high
rich and poor
together. The word in the Hebrew for high
is (vya ynb)
bene ish
sons of Ish
and the word for low is (Mda
ynb) bene Adam
sons of Adam. If we should translate the text directly
according to the letter
the words must run
sons of men and sons of men;
for
sons of Adam and sons of Ish are both translated sons of
men. Yet when they are set together in a way of opposition
the one
signifieth low and the other high; and so our translators render
it according to the sense
not sons of men and sons of men
but low and high.
Junius translates to this sense
though in more words
as well they who are
born of mean men
as they who are born of the honourable. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
4. I will incline mine ear to a parable
i.e
I will
diligently attend
that I may not sing anything ungracefully; a metaphor taken
from musicians who bring their ear close to the harp
that they may ascertain
the harmony of the sound. Victorinus Bythner.
Verse
5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil
when the iniquity
of my heels shall compass me about? Those that are full of years are
approaching the nearer to their happiness. They have finished their voyage
and
now are in sight of the haven. Nature's provision is spent
her stock is
exhausted
and now the good man doth not so much descend as fall into the
grave
and from thence he rises to heaven and eternal bliss. And shall he be
disturbed at this? shall he be afraid to be made happy? If I mistake not
this
is the meaning of the psalmist's words. They are generally interpreted
concerning his ways in general
but they seem to me to refer
particularly to the calamity which his old age was incident to: for the days
of evil are old age
and are so called by the wise man Ec 12:1; and as the heel
is the extreme part of the body
so it is here applied to the last part of
man's life
his declining age; and iniquity (as the word is sometimes
used among the Hebrews) signifies here penal evil
and denotes the infirmities
and decays of the concluding part of a man's life. So that the true meaning of
the psalmist's words is this—I will not now in my last days be dejected with
fear and trouble of mind
for I am coming towards my happiness
my declining years
shall deliver me up to death
and that shall consign me to everlasting life.
This certainly is matter of joy rather than of fear. For this reason I account
my last days to be the most eligible part of my whole life. John Edwards
D.D. (1637-1716)
in "The Theologia Reformata."
Verse
5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil
when the iniquity
of my heels shall compass me about? That is
when my sins or failings in
what I have done
come to my remembrance
or are chastened upon me. Every man's
heels hath some iniquity: as we shall have some dirt cleaving to our heels
while we walk in a dirty world
so there is some dirt
some defilement
upon
all our actions
which we may call
the iniquity of our heel. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
5. When the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? With
Bishop Lowth
the celebrated Michaelis
Bishop Hare
and a host of other
critics
I decidedly incline to the idea
that (ybqe)
rendered "my
heels" is to be regarded as the present participle of the verb (bqe)
to
supplant
to act deceitfully
to deceive
to hold one by the heel
etc.
etc. If this be correct
then the proper translation will be:—
Wherefore
should I fear in the days of adversity
The iniquity of my supplanters who surround me?
The Syriac and Arabic read
as does also Dr. Kennicott:
Why should I fear in the evil day
When the iniquity of my enemies compasses me about? John Morison.
Verses
5-9.
Why
should I fear the evil hour
When ruthless foes in ambush lie
Who revel in their pride of power
And on their hoarded wealth rely?
A brother's ransom who can pay
Or alter God's eternal doom?
What hand can wrest from death his prey
Its banquet from the rotten tomb?
From
"The Psalter
or Psalms of David
in English verse. By a member of the
University of Cambridge." (Benjamin Hall Kennedy
D.D.) 1860.
Verse
6. They that trust in their wealth
and boast themselves in the
multitude of their riches. Here we have the rich man trusting and boasting;
surely this is a very confident trusting which issues itself into boasting!
That man is ascended to the highest step of faith in God
who makes his boast
of God; such faith have they in fine gold who boast in it. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
6. They that trust in their wealth. "THE COVETOUS MAN'S
SOLILOQUY." Believe me
the times are hard and dangerous; charity is grown
cold
and friends uncomfortable; an empty purse is full of sorrow
and hollow
bags make a heavy heart. Poverty is a civil pestilence
which frights away both
friends and kindred
and leaves us to a "Lord
have mercy upon us."
It is a sickness very catching and infectious
and more commonly abhorred than
cured. The best antidote against it is Angelica and providence
and the best
cordial is aurum potabile. Gold taking fasting is an approved sovereign.
Debts are ill humours
and turn at last to dangerous obstructions. Lending is
mere consumption of the radical humour
which
if consumed
brings a patient to
nothing. Let others trust to courtiers' promises
to friends' performances
to
princes' favours; give me a toy called gold
give me a thing called money. O
blessed Mammon
how extremely sweet is thy all commanding presence to my
thriving soul! In banishment thou art my dear companion; in captivity thou art
my precious ransom; in trouble and vexation thou art my dainty rest; in
sickness thou art my health; in grief my only joy; in all extremity my only
trust. Virtue must veil to thee; nay
grace itself
not relished with thy
sweetness
would even displease the righteous palates of the sons of men. Come
then
my soul
advise
contrive
project; go
compass sea and land; leave no
exploit untried
no path untrod
no time unspent; afford thine eyes no sleep
thy head no rest; neglect thy ravenous belly
unclothe thy back; deceive
betray
swear
and forswear
to compass such a friend. If thou be base in
birth
it will make thee honourable; if weak in power
it will make thee
formidable. Are thy friends few? It will make them numerous. Is thy cause bad?
It will gain thee advocates. True
wisdom is an excellent help
in case it bend
this way; and learning is a genteel ornament
if not too chargeable; yet
by
your leave
they are but estates for the term of life: but everlasting gold
if
well advantaged
will not only bless thy days
but thy surviving children from
generation to generation. Come
come
let others fill their brains with dear
bought wit
turn their pence into expensive charity
and store their bosoms
with unprofitable piety; let them lose all to save their imaginary consciences
and beggar themselves at home to be thought honest abroad: fill thou thy bags
and barns
and lay up for many years
and take thy rest. Francis Quarles
in
"The Covetous Man's Care."
Verse
6. The form of money agreeth well with the condition of it; for it
is stamped round
because it is so apt to run from a man. Fire
thieves
waters
and infinite causes there are of consuming riches
and impoverishing
their possessors
though they have even millions and mountains of gold; but
suppose that contrary to their nature they stay by a man
yet cannot he
stay by them
but must leave them in spite of his teeth
as the psalmist saith
Ps 49:17
"The rich man shall take away nothing when he dieth
neither
shall his pomp follow after him." Thus death makes a violent divorce
between the rich man and his goods
when it is said unto him
"Thou fool
this night shall they take away thy soul." The rich man sleeps (saith Job
very elegantly)
and when he openeth his eyes there is nothing. It fares with a
rich man at his death
as it doth with a sleeping man when he wakes out of his
dream. A man that dreams of the finding or fruition of some rich bounty is
wonderful glad
yet when he awaketh he findeth nothing
but seeth it was only a
dream
and he is sorry; so the rich man seemed in the time of his life
to have
somewhat
but in the days of his death all vanisheth like the idea of a dream
and it vexes him. J. D.
in "The Threefold Resolution
" 1608.
Verse
6. Who knocks more boldly at heaven gate to be let in than they whom
Christ will reject as workers of iniquity? Oh
what delusion is this! Caligula
never made himself more ridiculous than when he would be honoured as a God
while he lived more like a devil. Before you would have others take you for
Christians
for God's sake prove yourselves men and not beasts
as you do by
your brutish lives. Talk not of your hopes of salvation so long as the marks of
damnation are seen upon your flagitious lives. If the way to heaven were thus
easy
I promise you the saints in all ages have been much overseen
to take so
great pains in mortifying their lusts
in denying to satisfy their sensual
appetite. To what purpose did they make so much waste of their sweat in their
zealous serving God? and of their tears that they could serve him no better
if
they might have gone to heaven as these men hope to do? That friar was far more
sound in his judgment in this point
who
preaching at Rome one Lent
when some
cardinals and many other great ones were present
began his sermon thus
abruptly and ironically
Saint Peter was a fool
Saint Paul was a fool
and all
the primitive Christians were fools; for they thought the way to heaven was by
prayers and tears
watchings and fastings
severities of mortification
and
denying the pomp and glory of this world; whereas you here in Rome spend your
time in balls and masks
live in pomp and pride
lust and luxury
and yet count
yourselves good Christians
and hope to be saved; but at last you will prove
the fools
and they will be found to have been the wise men. William
Gurnall's Funeral Sermon for Lady Mary Vere
1671.
Verses
6-10. David speaks of some that trust in their wealth
and boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches. Rich men can do great things
but here is a thing that they cannot do: None of them can by any means
redeem his brother
nor give to God a ransom for him. From what cannot a
rich man redeem his brother? It is true of spiritual redemption; yea
that is
furthest out of the rich man's reach
money will not do it: "We are not
redeemed with corrupt things
such as silver and gold
but with the precious
blood of the Son of God." 1Pe 1:18-19. But the psalmist speaks of a lower
redemption
to which all the riches of man cannot reach: None of them can by
any means redeem his brother
nor give to God a ransom for him: for the
redemption of their soul (that is
of their person from the grave)
is
precious
and it ceaseth for ever. And that he speaks of their redemption
from the grave
is more clearly expressed in Ps 49:9: That he should still
live for ever
and not see corruption. Jesus Christ did not redeem us that
we should live for ever
and not see corruption. It was the privilege of Jesus
Christ the Redeemer not to see corruption; but Jesus Christ hath not redeemed
us that we should not see corruption. He hath redeemed us that we should live
for ever in heaven
but he hath not redeemed us from corruption
that we should
live for ever on earth
or not see corruption in the grave; for
as it is said
in Ps 49:10 of the Psalm
we see that wise men die
likewise the fool and
the brutish person perish
and leave their wealth to others; as if he had
said
Neither the one nor the other sort of men could make this use or
improvement of their wealth
to deliver themselves from going to the grave
for
if they could they would have laid all out on that purchase; but they could not
do it
therefore
they leave their wealth to others. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
7. None of them can by any means redeem his brother
etc.
Some animals devoted to God could be redeemed at a price
but no price could be
assigned to the ransom of a soul. That such a ransom was to be provided
the
faith of the church had always anticipated: "He shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities." Ps 130:8. W. Wilson
D.D.
Verse
8. For the redemption of their soul is precious
and it ceaseth
for ever. In this judgment tears will not prevail
prayers will not be
heard
promises will not be admitted
repentance will be too late
and as for
riches
honourable titles
sceptres
and diadems
these will profit much less
and the inquisition shall be so curious and diligent
that not one light
thought
not one idle word (not repented of in thy life past) shall be
forgotten
for truth itself hath said
not in jest
but in earnest
of every
idle word which men have spoken
they shall give an account in the day of
judgment. Oh
how many which now sin with great delight
yea
even with
greediness (as if we served a god of wood or of stone which seeth nothing nor
can do nothing) will be then astonished
ashamed
and silent. Then shall the
days of thy mirth be ended
and thou shalt be overwhelmed with everlasting
darkness
and instead of thy pleasures thou shalt have everlasting torments. Thomas
Tymme.
Verse
8. For it cost more to redeem their souls: so that he must let
that alone forever. Prayer book Version.
Verse
8. It ceaseth for ever. That is
wealth for ever comes short
of the power necessary to accomplish this. It has always been insufficient; it
always will be. There is no hope that it ever will be sufficient
that by any increase in the amount
or by any change in the conditions of the
bargain
property or riches can avail for this. The whole matter is perfectly hopeless
as to the power of wealth is saving one human being from the grave. It must
always fail in saving a man from death. The word rendered ceaseth—(ldx)
khadal
means to leave off
to desist
to fail. Ge 11:8 Ex 9:34
Isa 2:22. Albert Barnes.
Verse
11. Their inward thought is
that their houses shall continue for
ever. This is the interpretation of our actions
when we do not make God
our portion
but trust in the abundance of our riches; this is our inward
thought
the saying of our heart
Ye are my god. We do in effect say
Thou
art my confidence
my hope
and my joy
and will stand by me when all things
cease and fail
and wilt not suffer me to want
or to be wrong
as long as you
last: these are the secret speeches of our hearts. Christians! many may (orator
like)
declaim against the vanity of the creature
and speak as basely of money
as others do
and say
We know it is but a little refined earth; but their
hearts close with it
they are loathe to part with it for God's sake
or upon
God's declared will. As he that speaketh good words of God
is not said to
trust in God; so speaking bad words of worldly riches doth not exempt us from
trusting them. There is a difference between declaiming as an orator
and
acting like a Christian. Thomas Manton.
Verse
11. Their inward thought. If good thoughts be thy deep
thoughts
if
as we say
the best be at the bottom
thy thoughts are then
right
and thou art righteous; for as the deep thoughts of worldlings are
worldly thoughts
and the deep thoughts of wicked men are wicked thoughts
so
the deep thoughts of good men are good thoughts. It is a notable observation of
the Holy Ghost's concerning worldly men
that their inward thought is that
their houses shall continue for ever
etc. Why? is there any thought that
is not an inward thought? No
but the meaning is
though they have some
floating thoughts of their mortality
and the vanity and transitoriness of all
worldly things
swimming
as it were
on the top; yet they do not suffer such
thoughts to sink into their hearts
or to go to the bottom; but the
thoughts that lodge there are such as his
who is said by our Saviour to have
thought within himself
"Soul
thou hast much goods laid up for many
years; take thine ease
eat
drink
and be merry." Lu 12:19. Note the
phrase
"he thought within himself." There are other kinds of
thoughts that sometimes knock at the door of the worldling's heart
nay
sometimes look in at his windows
as Paul's sermon began to press in upon Felix
his heart
and to set him trembling; but there are other thoughts within
which if they cannot keep good thoughts quite out
they will keep them off from
making any due or deep impression upon the heart. Now
these thoughts that
nestle themselves as it were at the very heart roots
to keep others out from
reaching thither
these deep thoughts are they which the Scriptures call
the inward thoughts
according to that of the psalmist Ps 64:6
"The inward thought of every one of them and the heart
is deep." Faithful
Teat in "Right Thoughts the Righteous man's Evidence
" 1666.
Verse
11. They call their lands after their own names. God makes
fools of them
for how few have you that go beyond the third generation? How
few houses have you that the child or the grandchild can say
"This was my
grandfather's and my great grandfather's"? How few houses have you that
those that are now in them can say
"My ancestor dwelt here
and these
were his lands"? Go over a whole country
few can say so. Men when they
build
together with building in the earth they build castles in the air; they
have conceits. Now I build for my child
and for my child's child. God crosses
them. Either they have no posterity
or by a thousand things that fall out in
the world
it falls out otherwise. The time is short
and the fashion of this
world passeth away; that is
the buildings pass away
the owning passeth away
all things here pass away; and
therefore
buy as if you possessed not
buy
so
as we neglect not the best possession in heaven
and so possess these things
as being not possessed and commanded of them. Richard Sibbes.
Verse
11. Mr. A was a wealthy farmer in Massachusetts
about sixty years of
age
and it had been his ruling
and almost only passion in life to acquire
property. His neighbour B owned a small farm
which came too near the centre of
A's extended domain
was quite a blot in his prospect
destroyed the regularity
of his lands
and on the whole it was really necessary
in his opinion
that he
should add it to his other property. B became embarrassed
and was sued;
judgments were obtained
and executions issued. A now thought he should obtain
the land
but one execution after another was arranged
and finally the debt
was paid off without selling the land. When A heard of the payment of the last
execution
which put an end to his hopes of obtaining the land
he exclaimed
"Well
B is an old man
and cannot live long
and when he dies I can buy
the lot." B was fifty-eight
A was sixty! Reader
do you ever expect to
die? K. Arvine's Cyclopaedia of Moral and Religious Anecdotes.
Verse
11. I have purchased
saith one
such lands
and I have got so good a
title to them
that certainly they will remain mine and my heirs for ever;
never considering how all things here below are subject to ebbings and
flowings
to turns and vicissitudes every day. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
11. The fleeting nature of all earthly possessions is well
illustrated in the life of William Beckford
and the unenduring character of
gorgeous fabrics in the ruin of his famous Babel
Fonthill Abbey. Byron sang of
Beckford's palace in Spain
in language most applicable to Fonthill:
"There
too
thou Vathek! England's wealthiest son—
Once formed thy Paradise
as not aware
When wanton wealth her mightiest deeds hath done
Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.
Here didst thou dwell; here schemes of pleasure plan
Beneath yon mountain's ever beauteous brow.
But now
as if a thing unblessed by man
Thy fairy dwelling is as lone as thou!
Here giant weeds a passage scarce allow
To halls deserted
portals gaping wide;
Fresh lessons to the thinking bosom
how
Vain are the pleasures on earth supplied
Swept into wrecks anon by Time's ungentle tide!" C. H. S.
Verses
11-12. "They call their GROUNDS after their names. But
the GROUNDLING
in the midst of splendour
endureth not." In Ps
49:11
we have (twmra)
"grounds." In Ps 49:12
it is (Mra)
"groundling
"with a designed iteration and play upon the word; for want of an
attention to which the passage has not been fully understood. John Mason
Good.
Verse
12. Man being in honour abideth not. The Rabbins read it thus:
"Adam being in honour
lodged not one night." The Hebrew word
for abide signifies "to stay or lodge all night." Adam
then
it seems
did not take up one night's lodging in Paradise. Thomas Watson's
Body of Divinity.
Verse
13. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve
their sayings. Master Baxter speaks very well of this in his "Saints
Everlasting Rest
"which is a very choice book. The gentry teach their
children to follow pleasure
and the commonalty their children to follow
profit
and young ones are ready to follow old ones. This their way is their
folly. The very heathens condemn this
and yet Christians mind it not.
Crates the philosopher said
that if possible he might
he would willingly
mount to the highest place of the city
and there cry aloud in this manner
"What mean you
my masters
and whither run you headlong? carking and
caring all that ever you can
to gather goods and make riches as you do
whiles
in the meantime you make little or no reckoning at all of your children
unto
whom you are to leave all your riches? Do not most care more for the wealth of
their children's outward man
than for the health of their inward man?" J.
Votier's Survey of Effectual Calling
1652.
Verse
13. This their way is their folly. The folly of man seldom
appears more than in being very busy about nothing
in making a great cry where
there is little wool; like that empty fellow that showed himself to
Alexander—having spent much time
and taken much pains at it beforehand—and
boasted that he could throw a pea through a little hole
expecting a great
reward; but the king gave him only a bushel of peas
for a recompense suitable
to his diligent negligence
or his busy idleness. Things that are vain and
empty are unworthy of our care and industry. The man that by hard labour and
hazard of his life did climb up to the top of the steeple to set an egg on end
was deservedly the object of pity and laughter. We shall think him little
better than mad that should make as great a fire for the roasting of an egg as
for the roasting of an ox. George Swinnock.
Verse
13. Their folly: yet their posterity approve. Dr. Leifchild
in his "Remarkable Facts
"records the following incident
of
a person of property
who had been accustomed regularly to attend his ministry
but who had always manifested a covetous disposition: "I was sent for to
offer to him the consolation of religion as he lay upon his dying bed. What was
my surprise
after having conversed and prayed with him
to find that he was
unwilling to take my hand
muttering that he knew that he had not done what was
right in reference to the support and furtherance of religion
but intended to
amend in that respect. He then requested me to say what I thought would become
of him. How could I reply
but by exhorting him to repent
and relinquishing
all further thoughts of a worldly nature
to betake himself to the sacrifice
and mediation of the Son of God for pardon
safety
and salvation in that world
which he was to all appearance soon about to enter. He gazed at me with a look
of disappointment. Upon a hint being given me to inquire into his thought at
that moment
I questioned him very pointedly
and to my astonishment and
horror
he reluctantly disclosed to me the fact that while thus seemingly about
to breathe his last
his hands were under the bed clothes grasping the keys of
his cabinet and treasures
lest they should be taken from him! Soon after he
departed this life
and there was
alas! reason to fear that
together with his
property
he had transmitted somewhat of his fatal passion to those who
survived him. It was distressing to me to reflect that a hearer of mine should
quit this world with his fingers stiffened in death around the keys of his
treasures. How strong
how terrible
was the ruling passion in the death of
this man!"
Verse
14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on
them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their
beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling
or as we put in the
margin
The grave being an habitation to every one of them
shall consume
their beauty. Some may object
Is not this true of godly men too? are not
they thus handled by death and the grave? doth not death feed on them? and doth
not the grave consume their beauty? I answer
Though it doth
yet it hath not
to feed upon
nor consume them
as it feeds upon and consumes wicked men. For
the psalmist speaks here of death as it were triumphing over the wicked
whereas the godly triumph over death. For
first
he saith
The wicked are laid
in the grave like sheep: they lived like wolves or lions
but
they are laid in the grave like sheep. If it be asked
Why like
sheep? I answer
not for the innocency of their lives
but for their
impotency in death; as if it had been said
when once death took them in hand
to lay them in the grave
they could make no more resistance than a sheep can
against a lion or a wolf. And when death hath thus laid them in the grave
then
secondly
saith the psalmist
Death shall feed on them
as a lion doth
upon a sheep
or any wild beast upon his prey
which is a further degree of
death's triumph over the wicked. And
thirdly
Their beauty shall consume in
the grave
that is
all their bodily and natural beauty (and this is all
the beauty which they have) shall consume in the grave
whereas the godly have
a beauty (and they count it their only beauty) which the grave cannot consume
and that is the beauty of their graces
the beauty of holiness
the spiritual
beauty of the inner man
yea
and the spiritual beauty of their outward holy
actings shall not consume in the grave; for
"Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea
saith the Spirit
that they may rest from
their labours; and their works do follow them." Re 19:13. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
14. Death shall feed on them: rather
Death shall be their
shepherd. (Sept.) At the end of the foregoing Psalm
the psalmist
had said in the name of his people
that
"God is our God
for ever and
ever; he will lead us as a shepherd over death
"and here he takes up the
same pastoral figure
and contrasts with their case the case of the proud and
prosperous worldly men
who trust in their earthly riches and power. They
will not be led in safety
under the pastoral care of God
over
death. No; death itself will be their Shepherd
and the grave
will be their sheepfold; where they will be laid together like sheep in a pen.
As Augustine says
"Death is the shepherd of the infidel. Life (i.e.
Christ) is the Shepherd of the faithful." "In inferno sunt oves
quibus pastor Mors est; in caelo sunt oves quibus pastor Vita est."
And so Keble
Even
as a flock arrayed are they
For the dark grave; Death guides their way
Death is their Shepherd now.
—Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
14. In the morning
that is
saith Dathe
in the time of
judgment. He thinks there is here an allusion to the usual time of holding
courts of justice
which was in the morning. See Ps 73:14 101:8 Jer 21:12. Editorial
note to Calvin in loc.
Verse
14. Their beauty shall consume in the grave
And now if we do
but consider a little of the tombs and sepulchres of princes and noblemen
whose glory and majesty we have seen when they lived here on earth
and do
behold the horrible forms and shapes which they now have
shall we not cry out
as men amazed
Is this that glory? Is this that highness and excellency?
Whither now are the degrees of their waiting servants gone? Where are their
ornaments and jewels? Where is their pomp
their delicacy and niceness? All
these things are vanished away like the smoke
and there is now nothing left
but dust
horror
and stink. The soul being dissolved
there lieth upon the
ground not a human body
but a dead carcase without life
without sense
without strength
and so fearful to look upon
that the sight thereof may
hardly be endures. To be sure
it is a little better (as touching the
substance) than the body of a horse
or a dog
which lieth dead in the fields
and all that pass by stop their noses and make haste away
that they be not
annoyed with the sight and stink thereof. Such is man's body now become; yea
and though it were the body of a monarch
emperor
or a king. Where is that
majesty
that excellency
that authority which he had aforetime when all men
trembled to behold it
and might not come in presence thereof without all
reverence and obeisance? what are all those things become? were they a dream or
shadow? After those things the funeral is prepared
the which is all that men
can carry with them
of all their riches and kingdom
and this also they should
not have
if in their lifetime they did not appoint it for their dignity and
honour. For the prophet David saith truly Ps 49:16
"Be not thou afraid
though one be made rich
or
if the glory of his house be increased; for
when he dieth he shall carry nothing away with him
neither shall his pomp
follow him." Thomas Tymme.
Verse
14. When we look to a charnel-house
and take a view of the grave
what amazing and dismal scenes present themselves! How many great and important
images appear! Distracting horrors strike our imagination
and hideous sounds
of diseases
destruction
and death
with all their woeful and black train
terrify us. Ah! the melancholy confused heap of the ruins of mankind
what a
terrible carnage is made of the human race! and what a solemn and awful theatre
of mortality
covered with the disordered remains of out fellow creatures
presents itself to our minds! There lie the bones of a proud monarch
who
fancied himself a little god
mingled with the ashes of his poorest subjects!
Death seized him in the height of his vanity
he was just returning from a
conquest
and his haughty mind was swelled with his power and greatness
when
one of these fatal arrows pierced his heart
and at once finished all his
perishing thoughts and contrivances
then the dream of glory vanished
and all
his empire was confined to the grave. Look how pale that victorious general
appears
how dead
and cold
and lifeless these arms that were once accustomed
to war; see if you can discern any difference betwixt his dust and that of the
most despicable slave. Yonder
a numerous army
once fierce and resolute
whose
conquests were rapid as lightning
and made all the nations to shake for fear
of them
are now so weak that they lie a prey
exposed to the meanest animals
the loathsome worms
who crawl in triumph over them
and insult their decayed
ruins. There is a body that was so much doted on
and solicitously cared for
and the beauty and shape whereof were so foolishly admired
now noisome and
rotten
nothing but vermin are now fond of it
so affecting a change hath death
made upon it. Look
next to this
upon the inglorious ashes of a rich
covetous
wretch
whose soul was glued to this world
and hugged itself in its treasures;
with what mighty throes and convulsions did death tear him from this earth! How
did his hands cling to his gold! with what vehement desires did he fasten on
his silver
all of them weak and fruitless! Look now if riches saved him in
that day
if you can perceive any of his useless treasures lying beside him in
the grave
or if the glory of his house have descended after him! Yonder
an
ambitious statesman
his rotten bones are scarce to be discerned: how did he
applaud his artful schemes! how securely did he think them laid
and flattered
himself with the hopes of an established greatness! but death stepped in
blew
them all up at once; this grave is the whole result of his counsels. And lo
there
what horrid and suffocating stink ascends from these many hellish
sacrifices of lust and impurity
who wasted their strength in debauch
and
carried down with them nothing but the shame of beastly pleasures to the grave.
But there is no end to the corpses
nor can we survey this terrible field of
death's conquests. William Dunlop.
Verse
15. (last clause). For he shall take me. This short
half verse is
as Bottcher remarks
the more weighty
from its very shortness.
The same expression occurs again
Ps 73:24
"Thou shalt take me
"the
original of both being Ge 5:24
where it is used of the translation of Enoch
"He was not
for God took him." J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away. The form of
money agrees well with the condition of it; it is stamped round
because it is
so apt to run away. Could we be rich so long as we live
yet that were
uncertain enough for life itself is but a dream
a shadow
but a dream of a
shadow. (Augustine.) Rich men are but like hailstones; they make a noise in the
world
as the other rattle on the tiles of a house; down they fall
lie still
and melt away. So that if riches could stay by a man
yet he cannot stay by
them. Spite of his teeth
he shall carry away nothing when he dies. Life
and goods are both is a vessel
both cast away at once; yea
of the two
life
hath the more likelihood of continuance. Let it fly never so fast away
riches
have eagles' wings
and will outfly it. There be thieves in the highways
that
will take our moneys and spare our lives. In our penal laws
there be not so
many ways to forfeit our lives as our goods. Rich Job lived to see himself poor
to a proverb. How many in this city reputed rich
yet have broken for
thousands! There are innumerable ways to be poor; a fire
a thief
a false
servant
suretyship
trusting of bad customers
an unfaithful factor
a pirate
an unskilful pilot
hath brought rich men to poverty. One gale of wind is able
to make merchants rich or beggars. Man's life is like the banks of a river
his
temporal estate is the stream: time will moulder away the banks
but the stream
stays not for that
it glides away continually. Life is the tree
riches are
the fruit
or rather the leaves; the leaves will fall
the fruit is plucked
and yet the tree stands. Some write of the pine tree
that if the bark be
pulled off
it lasts long; being on it rots. If the worldling's bark were
stripped off
he might perhaps live the longer
there is great hope he would
live the better. Thomas Adams.
Verse
17. He shall carry nothing away. It is with us in this world
as it was in the Jewish fields and vineyards: pluck and eat they might
what they would while they were there; but they might not pocket or put up
ought to carry with them. De 23:24. Thomas Gataker.
Verse
17. He shall carry nothing away. "He hath swallowed down
riches
and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his
belly." Job 20:15.
Verse
17. Descend. Death takes the sinner by the throat
and
"hauls him down stairs to the grave." The indulgence in any sinful
propensity has this downward
deathly tendency. Every lust
whether for riches
or honours
for gambling
wine or women
leads the deluded wretched votary step
by step to the chambers of death. There is no hope in the dread prospect;
trouble and anguish possess the spirit. Hast thou escaped
O my soul
from the
net of the infernal fowler? Never forget that it is as a brand snatched
from the burning. Oh
to grace how great a debtor! George Offor's note in
"The Works of John Bunyan."
Verse
17. You will carry none of your riches
fool
to the waters of
Acheron. You will be ferried over quite naked in the infernal boat. —Propertius.
Verse
18. How foolish is it to account thyself a better man than another
only because thy dunghill is a little bigger than his! These things are not at
all to be reckoned into the value and worth of a man; they are all without
thee
and concern thee no more than fine clothes do the health or strength of
the body. It is wealth
indeed
that makes all the noise and bustle in the
world
and challengeth all the respect and honour to itself; and the ignorant
vulgar
whose eyes are dazzled with pomp and bravery
pay it with a stupid and
astonished reverence. Yet know
that it is but thy silks and velvet
thy lands
or thy retinue and servants
they venerate
not thee: and if thou thinkest
otherwise
thou art as justly ridiculous as that ass in the apologue
that grew
very gravely proud
and took state
when the people fell prostrate before him
adoring
not him
but to the idol he carried. Ezekiel Hopkins.
Verse
20. Like the beasts that perish. My lords
it is no wonder at
all
if men that affect beastly pleasures
and dote upon perishing honours
become like the beasts that perish. It is no miracle if he that lives
like a beast dies like a beast. Take a man that hath lived like the fool in the
gospel
and tell me
what hath this man done for his immortal soul more than a
beast doth for its perishing soul? Soul
soul
cease from care
eat
drink
and
take thine ease; this is the constant ditty of most men in honour: they have
studied clothes and victuals
titles and offices
ways of gain and pleasure. Am
I not yet at highest? They have
it may be
studied the black art of flattery
and treachery; they understand the humour of the times
the compliances and
dependences of this and other statesman
the projects of divers princes abroad
and the main design here at home. Is this all? Why
then be it known unto you
that the men of this strain have made no better provision for their precious
souls
than if they had the soul
the vanishing soul of a beast within them;
and certainly
if we were to judge of the substance of men's souls by their
unworthy and sensual conversation
we might easily fall into that heresy
that
dangerous dream of some who conceive that their souls are mortal. Francis
Cheynell
in a Sermon entitled
"The Man of Honour
"... preached
before the Lords of Parliament
1645.
Verse
20. Like the beasts that perish. Sin is both formaliter
and effective vile. As it is so in itself
so it has made man vile. No
creature so debased as man
being in this respect become viler than any
creature. There is no such depravation in the nature of any creature
except in
the diabolical nature. No creature ever razed God's image out of its nature
but only man. There is no aversions to the will of God
no inclination to what
offends him
in any creature on earth but man. Man
then
who was once the
glory of the creation
is become the vilest of all creatures
for that is
vilest which is most contrary to the infinite glory
but so is our nature
"Man being in honour
abideth not
"is now like the beast that
perish; nay
worse than they
if the greatest evil can make him worse. Man
was made a little lower than the angels
crowned with glory
advanced to be
lord and governor of all the works of his hands; and all creatures in this
world were put under his feet. Ps 8:5-6. But by this natural corruption he that
was but a little lower than the angels is now something below the beasts. He
was to have dominion
but is made baser than those over whom he rules. They
were put under his feet
but now he is as low as they. This is the sad issue of
natural corruption. David Clarkson.
Verse
20. Like the beasts. Man is so much a beast
that he cannot
know himself to be one till God teach him. And we never learn to be men till we
have learned that we were beasts...It is not said he is like this or that
beast
but he is like the beasts that perish. Take any beast
or all
beasts
the worst of beasts
he is the picture of them all
and he daily
exemplifies the vilest of their qualities in his own. Joseph Caryl.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
2.
1.
The common needs of rich and poor men.
2. The common privileges of rich and poor saints.
3. Their common service.
4. Their common heaven.
Verse
3. The deep things of God are intended
1.
To exercise our minds to understand them.
2.
To try our faith by believing them—"incline" implies a submissive
mind.
3.
To excite our joy as we grasp them—"upon the harp."
4.
To employ our faculties in explaining them to others.
Verse
5.
1.
The effects of our sin remain—(a) In ourselves
(b) In others.
2.
In a time of conviction they compass us about: better to do so in this
life
than to haunt us as ghosts for ever.
3.
When they are pardoned we have nothing to fear. G.R.
Verse
7.
1. Implied.
The soul needs redeeming.
2. Denied. Wealth
power
learning
none can redeem.
3. Supplied—a ransom by Jesus.
4. Applied—by the Spirit to our actual deliverance.
Verse
12. (last clause). Wherein the ungodly are like beasts
and
wherein different.
Verse
12. Here is a twofold thwarting or crossing of the purposes of the
ungodly worldling.
1.
The first is
he shall not be that which he ever wished to be: he shall
not continue in honour.
2.
The other is this
he shall be that which he never desired to be: he
shall be like the beasts that die. He shall miss of that which he sought for
and he shall have that which he looked not for. —S. Hieron.
Verse
13.
1.
In secular things men imitate the wisdom of others.
2.
In spiritual things they imitate their folly. G. R.
Verse
14.
1.
In proportion to the prosperity of the ungodly here
will be their misery
hereafter: as sheep from the fat pasture led to the slaughterhouse.
2.
In proportion to the luxury here
will be their corruption hereafter—Death
shall feed on them: they have become well fed for death to feed on them.
3.
In proportion to their dignity here
will be their degradation hereafter—The
upright shall have
etc. Oh
what a contrast between the rich man and
Lazarus then!
4.
In proportion to their beauty here
will be their deformity hereafter.
"Art thou become like one of us?" G. R.
Verse
14. Sheep
how far they image the wicked.
Verse
14. In the morning. See the various Biblical prophecies of
what will happen "in the morning."
Verse
15.
1. Return
to the dust I shall.
2. Redeem from the dust he will.
3. Receive into heaven he will.
4. Rejoice for ever I shall.
Verse
17. The loaded and unloaded sinner.
Verse
20.
1.
Men of spiritual understanding without worldly honour are higher than the
angels of God in heaven.
2.
Men in worldly honour without the true wisdom are worse than the beasts that
perish. G. R.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》