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Psalm Seventy-seven
Psalm 77
Chapter Contents
The psalmist's troubles and temptation. (1-10) He
encourages himself by the remembrance of God's help of his people. (11-20)
Commentary on Psalm 77:1-10
(Read Psalm 77:1-10)
Days of trouble must be days of prayer; when God seems to
have withdrawn from us
we must seek him till we find him. In the day of his
trouble the psalmist did not seek for the diversion of business or amusement
but he sought God
and his favor and grace. Those that are under trouble of
mind
must pray it away. He pored upon the trouble; the methods that should
have relieved him did but increase his grief. When he remembered God
it was
only the Divine justice and wrath. His spirit was overwhelmed
and sank under
the load. But let not the remembrance of the comforts we have lost
make us
unthankful for those that are left. Particularly he called to remembrance the
comforts with which he supported himself in former sorrows. Here is the
language of a sorrowful
deserted soul
walking in darkness; a common case even
among those that fear the Lord
Isaiah 50:10. Nothing wounds and pierces like
the thought of God's being angry. God's own people
in a cloudy and dark day
may be tempted to make wrong conclusions about their spiritual state
and that
of God's kingdom in the world. But we must not give way to such fears. Let
faith answer them from the Scripture. The troubled fountain will work itself
clear again; and the recollection of former times of joyful experience often raises
a hope
tending to relief. Doubts and fears proceed from the want and weakness
of faith. Despondency and distrust under affliction
are too often the
infirmities of believers
and
as such
are to be thought upon by us with
sorrow and shame. When
unbelief is working in us
we must thus suppress its
risings.
Commentary on Psalm 77:11-20
(Read Psalm 77:11-20)
The remembrance of the works of God
will be a powerful
remedy against distrust of his promise and goodness; for he is God
and changes
not. God's way is in the sanctuary. We are sure that God is holy in all his
works. God's ways are like the deep waters
which cannot be fathomed; like the
way of a ship
which cannot be tracked. God brought Israel out of Egypt. This
was typical of the great redemption to be wrought out in the fulness of time
both by price and power. If we have harboured doubtful thoughts
we should
without delay
turn our minds to meditate on that God
who spared not his own
Son
but delivered him up for us all
that with him
he might freely give us
all things.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 77
Verse 2
[2] In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran
in the night
and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
Night — Which to others was a time of rest and quietness.
Verse 3
[3] I remembered God
and was troubled: I complained
and my
spirit was overwhelmed. /*Selah*/.
Troubled — Yea
the thoughts of God were now a matter of trouble
because he was angry with me.
Overwhelmed — So far was I from finding relief.
Verse 4
[4] Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I
cannot speak.
Waking — By continual grief.
Verse 5
[5] I have considered the days of old
the years of ancient
times.
The days — The mighty works of God in former times.
Verse 6
[6] I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune
with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.
My song — The mercies of God vouchsafed to me
and to his
people
which have obliged me to sing his praises
not only in the day
but
also by night.
Verse 7
[7] Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be
favourable no more?
Cut off — His peculiar people.
Verse 10
[10] And I said
This is my infirmity: but I will remember
the years of the right hand of the most High.
I said — These suspicions of God's faithfulness proceed from
the weakness of my faith.
The years — The years wherein God hath done
great and glorious works
which are often ascribed to God's right-hand.
Verse 13
[13] Thy way
O God
is in the sanctuary: who is so great a
God as our God?
In holiness — God is holy and just
and true in
all his works.
Verse 16
[16] The waters saw thee
O God
the waters saw thee; they
were afraid: the depths also were troubled.
Afraid — And stood still
as men astonished
do.
Verse 17
[17] The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound:
thine arrows also went abroad.
Poured — When the Israelites passed over the sea.
Arrows — Hail-stones or lightnings.
Verse 19
[19] Thy way is in the sea
and thy path in the great waters
and thy footsteps are not known.
Not known — Because the water returned and
covered them.
Verse 20
[20] Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of
Moses and Aaron.
Leddest — First through the sea
and afterwards through the
wilderness
with singular care and tenderness
as a shepherd doth his sheep.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. To the
Chief Musician
to Jeduthun. It was meet that another leader of the
psalmody should take his turn. No harp should be silent in the courts of the
Lord's house. A Psalm of Asaph. Asaph was a man of exercised mind
and
often touched the minor key; he was thoughtful
contemplative
believing
but
withal there was a dash of sadness about him
and this imparted a tonic flavour
to his songs. To follow him with understanding
it is needful to have done
business on the great waters
and weathered many an Atlantic gale.
DIVISION. If we follow
the poetical arrangement
and divide at the Selahs
we shall find the troubled
man of God pleading in Ps 77:1-3
and then we shall hear him lamenting and
arguing within himself
Ps 77:4-9. From Ps 77:10-15 his meditations run toward
God
and in the close he seems as in a vision to behold the wonders of the Red
Sea and the wilderness. At this point
as if lost in an ecstasy
he hurriedly
closes the Psalm with an abruptness
the effect of which is quite startling.
The Spirit of God knows when to cease speaking
which is more than those do
who
for the sake of making a methodical conclusion
prolong their words even
to weariness. Perhaps this Psalm was meant to be a prelude to the next
and
if
so
its sudden close is accounted for. The hymn now before us is for
experienced saints only
but to them it will be of rare value as a transcript
of their own inner conflicts.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. I cried unto God with my voice. This Psalm has much
sadness in it
but we may be sure it will end well
for it begins with prayer
and prayer never has an ill issue. Asaph did not run to man but to the Lord
and to him he went
not with studied
stately
stilted words
but with a cry
the natural
unaffected
unfeigned expression of pain. He used his voice also
for though vocal utterance is not necessary to the life of prayer
it often
seems forced upon us by the energy of our desires. Sometimes the soul feels
compelled to use the voice
for thus it finds a freer vent for its agony. It is
a comfort to hear the alarm bell ringing when the house is invaded by thieves.
Even unto God with my voice. He returned to his pleading. If once sufficed not
he cried again. He needed an answer
he expected one
he was eager to have it
soon
therefore he cried again and again
and with his voice too
for the sound
helped his earnestness. And he gave ear unto me. Importunity prevailed. The
gate opened to the steady knock. It shall be so with us in our hour of trial
the God of grace will hear us in due season.
Verse
2. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. All day long
his distress drove him to his God
so that when night came he continued still
in the same search. God had hidden his face from his servant
therefore the
first care of the troubled saint was to seek his Lord again. This was going to
the root of the matter and removing the main impediment first. Diseases and
tribulations are easily enough endured when God is found of us
but without him
they crush us to the earth. My sore ran in the night
and ceased not. As by day
so by night his trouble was on him and his prayer continued. Some of us know
what it is
both physically and spiritually
to be compelled to use these
words: no respite has been afforded us by the silence of the night
our bed has
been a rack to us
our body has been in torment
and our spirit in anguish. It
appears that this sentence is wrongly translated
and should be
"my hand
was stretched out all night
"this shows that his prayer ceased not
but
with uplifted hand he continued to seek succour of his God. My soul refused to
be comforted. He refused some comforts as too weak for his case
others as
untrue
others as unhallowed; but chiefly because of distraction
he declined
even those grounds of consolation which ought to have been effectual with him.
As a sick man turns away even from the most nourishing food
so did he. It is
impossible to comfort those who refuse to be comforted. You may bring them to
the waters of the promise
but who shall make them drink if they will not do
so? Many a daughter of despondency has pushed aside the cup of gladness
and
many a son of sorrow has hugged his chains. There are times when we are
suspicious of good news
and are not to be persuaded into peace
though the
happy truth should be as plain before us as the King's highway.
Verse
3. I remembered God
and was troubled. He who is the
wellspring of delight to faith becomes an object of dread to the psalmist's
distracted heart. The justice
holiness
power
and truth of God have all a
dark side
and indeed all the attributed may be made to look black upon us if
our eye be evil; even the brightness of divine love blinds us
and fills us
with a horrible suspicion that we have neither part nor lot in it. He is
wretched indeed whose memories of the Ever Blessed prove distressing to him;
yet the best of men know the depth of this abyss. I complained
and my spirit
was overwhelmed. He mused and mused but only sank the deeper. His inward
disquietudes did not fall asleep as soon as they were expressed
but rather
they returned upon him
and leaped over him like raging billows of an angry
sea. It was not his body alone which smarted
but his noblest nature writhed in
pain
his life itself seemed crushed into the earth. It is in such a case that
death is coveted as a relief
for life becomes an intolerable burden. With no
spirit left in us to sustain our infirmity
our case becomes forlorn; like man
in a tangle of briars who is stripped of his clothes
every hook of the thorns
becomes a lancet
and we bleed with ten thousand wounds. Alas
my God
the
writer of this exposition well knows what thy servant Asaph meant
for his soul
is familiar with the way of grief. Deep glens and lonely caves of soul
depressions
my spirit knows full well your awful glooms! Selah. Let the song
go softly; this is no merry dance for the swift feet of the daughters of music
pause ye awhile
and let sorrow take breath between her sighs.
Verse
4. Thou holdest mine eyes waking. The fears which thy strokes
excite in me forbid my eyelids to fall
my eyes continue to watch as sentinels
forbidden to rest. Sleep is a great comforter
but it forsakes the sorrowful
and then their sorrow deepens and eats into the soul. If God holds the eyes
waking
what anodyne shall give us rest? How much we owe to him who giveth his
beloved sleep! I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Great griefs are dumb.
Deep streams brawl not among the pebbles like the shallow brooklets which live
on passing showers. Words fail the man whose heart fails him. He had cried to
God but he could not speak to man
what a mercy it is that if we can do the
first
we need not despair though the second should be quite out of our power.
Sleepless and speechless Asaph was reduced to great extremities
and yet he
rallied
and even so shall we.
Verse
5. I have considered the days of old
the years of ancient times.
If no good was in the present
memory ransacked the past to find consolation.
She fain would borrow a light from the altars of yesterday to light the gloom
of today. It is our duty to search for comfort
and not in sullen indolence
yield to despair; in quiet contemplation topics may occur to us which will
prove the means of raising our spirits
and there is scarcely any theme more
likely to prove consolatory than that which deals with the days of yore
the
years of the olden time
when the Lord's faithfulness was tried and proven by
hosts of his people. Yet it seems that even this consideration created
depression rather than delight in the good man's soul
for he contrasted his
own mournful condition with all that was bright in the venerable experiences of
ancient saints
and so complained the more. Ah
sad calamity of a jaundiced
mind
to see nothing as it should be seen
but everything as through a veil of
mist.
Verse
6. I call to remembrance my song in the night. At other times
his spirit had a song for the darkest hour
but now he could only recall the
strain as a departed memory. Where is the harp which once thrilled
sympathetically to the touch of those joyful fingers? My tongue
hast thou
forgotten to praise? Hast thou no skill except in mournful ditties? Ah me
how
sadly fallen am I! How lamentable that I
who like the nightingale could charm
the night
am now fit comrade for the hooting owl. I commune with mine own
heart. He did not cease from introspection
for he was resolved to find the
bottom of his sorrow
and trace it to its fountain head. He made sure work of
it by talking not with his mind only
but with his inmost heart; it was heart
work with him. He was no idler
no melancholy trifler; he was up and at it
resolutely resolved that he would not tamely die of despair
but would fight
for his hope to the last moment of life. And my spirit made diligent search. He
ransacked his experience
his memory
his intellect
his whole nature
his
entire self
either to find comfort or to discover the reason why it was denied
him. That man will not die by the hand of the enemy who has enough force of
soul remaining to struggle in this fashion.
Verse
7. Wilt the Lord cast off forever? This was one of the
matters he enquired into. He painfully knew that the Lord might leave his
people for a season
but his fear was that the time might be prolonged and have
no close; eagerly
therefore
he asked
will the Lord utterly and finally
reject those who are his own
and suffer them to be the objects of his
contemptuous reprobation
his everlasting cast offs? This he was persuaded
could not be. No instance in the years of ancient times led him to fear that
such could be the case. And will he be favourable no more? Favourable he had
been; would that goodwill never again show itself? Was the sun set never to
rise again? Would spring never follow the long and dreary winter? The questions
are suggested by fear
but they are also the cure for fear. It is a blessed
thing to have grace enough to look such questions in the face
for their answer
is self evident and eminently fitted to cheer the heart.
Verse
8. Is his mercy clean gone for ever? If he has no love for
his elect
has he not still his mercy left? Has that dried up? Has he no pity
for the sorrowful? Doth his promise fail for evermore? His word is pledged to
those who plead with him; is that become of none effect? Shall it be said that
from one generation to another the Lord's word has fallen to the ground;
whereas aforetime he kept his covenant to all generations of them that fear
him? It is a wise thing thus to put unbelief through the catechism. Each one of
the questions is a dart aimed at the very heart of despair. Thus have we also
in our days of darkness done battle for life itself.
Verse
9. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Has El
the Mighty One
become great in everything but grace? Does he know how to afflict
but not how
to uphold? Can he forget anything? Above all
can he forget to exercise that
attribute which lies nearest to his essence
for he is love? Hath he in anger
shut up his tender mercies? Are the pipes of goodness choked up so that love
can no more flow through them? Do the bowels of Jehovah no longer yearn towards
his own beloved children? Thus with cord after cord unbelief is smitten and
driven out of the soul; it raises questions and we will meet it with questions:
it makes us think and act ridiculously
and we will heap scorn upon it. The
argument of this passage assumes very much the form of a reductio ad
absurdam. Strip it naked
and mistrust is a monstrous piece of folly.
Selah. Here rest awhile
for the battle of questions needs a lull.
Verse
10. And I said
This is my infirmity. He has won the day
he
talks reasonably now
and surveys the field with a cooler mind. He confesses that
unbelief is an infirmity
a weakness
a folly
a sin. He may also be understood
to mean
"this is my appointed sorrow
"I will bear it without
complaint. When we perceive that our affliction is meted out by the Lord
and
is the ordained portion of our cup
we become reconciled to it
and no longer
rebel against the inevitable. Why should we not be content if it be the Lord's
will? What he arranges it is not for us to cavil at. But I will remember the
years of the right hand of the most High. Here a good deal is supplied by our
translators
and they make the sense to be that the psalmist would console
himself by remembering the goodness of God to himself and others of his people
in times gone by: but the original seems to consist only of the words
"the
years of the right hand of the most High
"and to express the idea that
his long continued affliction
reaching through several years
was allotted to
him by the Sovereign Lord of all. It is well when a consideration of the divine
goodness and greatness silences all complaining
and creates a childlike
acquiescence.
Verse
11. I will remember the works of the Lord. Fly back my soul
away from present turmoil
to the grandeurs of history
the sublime deeds of
Jehovah
the Lord of Hosts; for he is the same and is ready even now to defend
his servants as in days of yore. Surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
Whatever else may glide into oblivion
the marvellous works of the Lord in the
ancient days must not be suffered to be forgotten. Memory is a fit handmaid for
faith. When faith has its seven years of famine
memory like Joseph in Egypt
opens her granaries.
Verse
12. I will meditate also of all thy work. Sweet work to enter
into Jehovah's work of grace
and there to lie down and ruminate
every thought
being absorbed in the one precious subject. And talk of thy doings. It is well
that the overflow of the mouth should indicate the good matter which fills the
heart. Meditation makes rich talking; it is to be lamented that so much of the
conversation of professors is utterly barren
because they take no time for
contemplation. A meditative man should be a talker
otherwise he is a mental
miser
a mill which grinds corn only for the miller. The subject of our
meditation should be choice
and then our task will be edifying; if we meditate
on folly and affect to speak wisdom
our double mindedness will soon be known
unto all men. Holy talk following upon meditation has a consoling power in it
for ourselves as well as for those who listen
hence its value in the connection
in which we find it in this passage.
Verse
13. Thy way
O God
is in the sanctuary
or in holiness.
In the holy place we understand our God
and rest assured that all his ways are
just and right. When we cannot trace his way
because it is "in the sea
"it is a rich consolation that we can trust it
for it is in holiness. We
must have fellowship with holiness if we would understand "the ways of God
to man." He who would be wise must worship. The pure in heart shall see
God
and pure worship is the way to the philosophy of providence. Who is so
great a God as our God? In him the good and the great are blended. He surpasses
in both. None can for a moment be compared with the mighty One of Israel.
Verse
14. Thou art the God that doest wonders. Thou alone art
Almighty. The false gods are surrounded with the pretence of wonders
but you
really work them. It is thy peculiar prerogative to work marvels; it is no new
or strange thing with thee
it is according to thy wont and use. Herein is
renewed reason for holy confidence. It would be a great wonder if we did not
trust the wonder working God. Thou hast declared thy strength among the people.
Not only Israel
but Egypt
Bashan
Edom
Philistia
and all the nations have
seen Jehovah's power. It was no secret in the olden time and to this day it is
published abroad. God's providence and grace are both full of displays of his
power; he is in the latter peculiarly conspicuous as "mighty to
save." Who will not be strong in faith when there is so strong an arm to
lean upon? Shall our trust be doubtful when his power is beyond all question?
My soul see to it that these considerations banish thy mistrusts.
Verse
15. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people
the sons of
Jacob and Joseph. All Israel
the two tribes of Joseph as well as those
which sprang from the other sons of Jacob
were brought out of Egypt by a
display of divine power
which is here ascribed not to the hand but to the arm
of the Lord
because it was the fulness of his might. Ancient believers were in
the constant habit of referring to the wonders of the Red Sea
and we also can
unite with them
taking care to add the song of the Lamb to that of Moses
the
servant of God. The comfort derivable from such a meditation is obvious and
abundant
for he who brought up his people from the house of bondage will
continue to redeem and deliver till we come into the promised rest. Selah. Here
we have another pause preparatory to a final burst of song.
Verse
16. The waters saw thee
O God
the waters saw thee; they were
afraid. As if conscious of its Maker's presence
the sea was ready to flee
from before his face. The conception is highly poetical
the psalmist has the
scene before his mind's eye
and describes it gloriously. The water saw its
God
but man refuses to discern him; it was afraid
but proud sinners are
rebellious and fear not the Lord. The depths also were troubled. To their heart
the floods were made afraid. Quiet caves of the sea
far down in the abyss
were moved with fear; and the lowest channels were left bare
as the water
rushed away from its place
in terror of the God of Israel.
Verse
17. The clouds poured out water. Obedient to the Lord
the
lower region of the atmosphere yielded its aid to overthrow the Egyptian host.
The cloudy chariots of heaven hurried forward to discharge their floods. The
skies sent out a sound. From the loftier aerial regions thundered the dread
artillery of the Lord of Hosts. Peal on peal the skies sounded over the heads
of the routed enemies
confusing their minds and adding to their horror. Thine
arrows also went abroad. Lightnings flew like bolts from the bow of God.
Swiftly
hither and thither
went the red tongues of flame
on helm and shield
they gleamed; anon with blue bale fires revealing the innermost caverns of the
hungry sea which waited to swallow up the pride of Mizraim. Behold
how all the
creatures wait upon their God
and show themselves strong to overthrow his
enemies.
Verse
18. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven
or in the
whirlwind. Rushing on with terrific swiftness and bearing all before it
the storm was as a chariot driven furiously
and a voice was heard (even thy
voice
O Lord!) out of the fiery car
even as when a mighty man in battle urges
forward his charger
and shouts to it aloud. All heaven resounded with the
voice of the Lord. The lightnings lightened the world. The entire globe shone
in the blaze of Jehovah's lightnings. No need for other light amid the battle
of that terrible night
every wave gleamed in the fire flashes
and the shore
was lit up with the blaze. How pale were men's faces in that hour
when all
around the fire leaped from sea to shore
from crag to hill
from mountain to
star
till the whole universe was illuminated in honour of Jehovah's triumph.
The earth trembled and shook. It quaked and quaked again. Sympathetic with the
sea
the solid shore forgot its quiescence and heaved in dread. How dreadful
art thou
O God
when thou comest forth in thy majesty to humble thine arrogant
adversaries.
Verse
19. Thy way is in the sea. Far down in secret channels of the
deep is thy roadway; when thou wilt thou canst make a sea a highway for thy
glorious march. And thy path in the great waters. There
where the billows
surge and swell
thou still dost walk; Lord of each crested wave. And thy
footsteps are not known. None can follow thy tracks by foot or eye. Thou art
alone in thy glory
and thy ways are hidden from mortal ken. Thy purposes thou
wilt accomplish
but the means are often concealed
yea
they need no concealing
they are in themselves too vast and mysterious for human understanding. Glory
be to thee
O Jehovah.
Verse
20. Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and
Aaron. What a transition from tempest to peace
from wrath to love. Quietly
as a flock Israel was guided on
by human agency which veiled the excessive
glory of the divine presence. The smiter of Egypt was the shepherd of Israel.
He drove his foes before him
but went before his people. Heaven and earth
fought on his side against the sons of Ham
but they were equally subservient
to the interests of the sons of Jacob. Therefore
with devout joy and full of
consolation
we close this Psalm; the song of one who forgot how to speak and
yet learned to sing far more sweetly than his fellows.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. Whenever
and by whomsoever
the Psalm may have been written
it
clearly is individual
not national. It utterly destroys all the beauty
all
the tenderness and depth of feeling in the opening portion
if we suppose that
the people are introduced speaking in the first person. The allusions to the
national history may indeed show that the season was a season of national
distress
and that the sweet singer was himself bowed down by the burden of the
time
and oppressed by woes which he had no power to alleviate; but it is his
own sorrow
not the sorrow of others under which he sighs
and of which he has
left the pathetic record. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
1. In the beginning of the Psalm
before speaking of his sorrows
he
hastens to show the necessary and most efficacious remedy for allaying sorrow.
He says that he did not
as many do
out of their impatience of grief or
murmuring
either accuse God of cruelty or tyranny
or utter blasphemous words
by which dishonour might fall upon God
or by indulging in sorrow and distrust
hasten his own destruction
or fill the air with vain complaining
but fled
straight to God and to him unburdened his sorrow
and sought that he would not
shut him out from that grace which he bountifully offers to all. This is the
only and sure sovereign remedy which most effectually heals his griefs. Mollerus.
Verse
1. I cried. To the Orientals the word qeu presented the idea
of a crash
as of the heavens sending out thunders and lightnings.
Whence beyond other things he metaphorically says
he cried for sorrow;
...shaken with a tempest of thoughts he burst out into an open and loud
sounding complaint. Hermann Venema.
Verse
1. Even unto God with my voice. The repetition here is
emphatic. The idea is that it was an earnest or fervent cry. Albert Barnes.
Verse
1. (last clause). At the second knock
the door of grace flew
open: the Lord heard me. John Collings.
Whole
Psalm. See Psalms on "Ps 77:1" for further information.
Verse
2. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord. Days of
trouble must be days of prayer; in days of inward trouble
especially when God
seems to have withdrawn from us
we must seek him
and seek till we find him.
In the day of his trouble he did not seek for the diversions of business or
recreation
to shake off his trouble that way
but he sought God
and his
favour and grace. Those that are under trouble of mind
must not think to drink
it away
or laugh it away
but pray it away. Matthew Henry.
Verse
2. My sore ran in the night. Hebrew: My hand was poured
out; that is
stretched out in prayer; or wet with continual weeping. Non
fuit remissa
nec retracta in lectum. John Trapp.
Verse
2. My sore ran in the night
and ceased not
etc. There is no
healing of this wound
no easing of this sore
no cleansing of the conscience
no quieting of a man's spirit: till God whom the soul seeketh show himself as
the Physician
the evil continueth still and groweth. David Dickson.
Verse
2. My soul refused to be comforted. God has provided suitable
and sufficient comfort for his people. He sends them comforters just as their
circumstances require. But they at times refuse to hear the voice of the
charmer. The Lord has perhaps taken away an idol—or he withholds his sensible
presence
that they may learn to live by faith—or he has blighted their worldly
prospects—or he has written vanity and emptiness upon all their gourds
cisterns
and delights. They give way to passion
as did Jonah—or they sink
into sullen gloom—or allow unhumbled pride to rule the spirit—or yield to
extreme sorrow
as Rachel did—or fall under the power of temptation—or imbibe
the notion that they have no right to comfort. This is wrong
all wrong
decidedly wrong. Look at what is left you
at what the gospel presents to you
at what heaven will be to you. But the psalmist was recovered from this state.
He was convinced that it was wrong. He was sorry for his sin. He was reformed
in his spirit and conduct. He wrote this Psalm to instruct
caution
and warn
us. Observe
they who are entitled to all comfort
often through their own
folly
enjoy the least. The Lord's people are often their own tormentors
they
put away the cup of comfort from them
and say they are unworthy of it
O
Thou source of every blessing
Chase my sorrows
cheer my heart
Till in heaven
thy smiles possessing
Life
and joy
and peace impart. James Smith.
Verse
2. My soul refused to be comforted. Poor I
that am but of
yesterday
have known some that have been so deeply plunged in the gulf of
despair
that they would throw all the spiritual cordials that have been
tendered to them against the walls. They were strong in reasoning against their
own souls
and resolved against everything that might be a comfort and support
unto them. They have been much set against all ordinances and religious
services; they have cast off holy duties themselves
and peremptorily refused
to join with others in them; yea
they have
out of a sense of sin and wrath
which hath laid hard upon them
refused the necessary comforts of this life
even to the overthrow of natural life
and yet out of this horrible pit
this
hell upon earth
hath God delivered their souls
and given them such
manifestations of his grace and favour
that they would not exchange them for a
thousand worlds. O despairing souls
you see that others
whose conditions have
been as bad if not worse than yours
have obtained mercy. God hath turned their
hell into a heaven; he hath remembered them in their low estate; he hath
pacified their raging consciences
and quieted their distracted souls; he hath
wiped all tears from their eyes; and he hath been a well spring of life unto
their hearts. Therefore be not discouraged
O despairing souls
but look up to
the mercyseat. Thomas Brooks.
Verse
3. I remembered God
and was troubled. If our hearts or
consciences condemn us
it is impossible to remember him without being
troubled. It will then be painful to remember that he is our Creator and
Redeemer
for the remembrance will be attended with a consciousness of base
ingratitude. It will be painful to think of him as Lawgiver; for such thoughts
will remind us that we have broken his law. It will be painful to think of his
holiness; for if he is holy
he must hate our sins
and be angry with us as sinners:—of
his justice and truth
for these perfections make it necessary that he should
fulfil his threatenings and punish us for our sins. It will be painful to think
of his omniscience—for this perfection makes him acquainted with our most
secret offences
and renders it impossible for conceal them from his view; of
his omnipresence—for the constant presence of an invisible witness must be
disagreeable to those who wish to indulge their sinful propensities. It will be
painful to think of his power—for it enables him to restrain or destroy
as he
pleases: of his sovereignty
for sinners always hate to see themselves in the
hands of a sovereign God: of his eternity and immutability—for from his
possessing these perfections it follows that he will never alter the
threatening which he has denounced against sinners
and that he will always
live to execute them. It will be painful to think of him as judge; for we shall
feel
that as sinners
we have no reason to expect a favourable sentence from
his lips. It will even be painful to think of the perfect goodness and
excellence of his character; for his goodness leaves us without excuse in
rebelling against him
and makes our sins appear exceedingly sinful. Edward
Payson.
Verse
3. I remembered God
and was troubled. All had not been well
between God and him; and whereas formerly
in his remembrance of God
his
thoughts were chiefly exercised about his love and kindness
now they were
wholly possessed with his own sin and unkindness. This causeth his trouble.
Herein lies a share of the entanglements occasioned by sin. Saith such a soul
in itself
"Foolish creature
hast thou thus requited the Lord?" Is
this the return that thou hast made unto him for all his love
his kindness
his consolations
mercies? Is this thy kindness for him
thy love to him? Is
this thy kindness to thy friend? Is this thy boasting of him
that thou hadst
found so much goodness and excellence in him and his love
that though all men
should forsake him
thou never would do so? Are all thy promises all thy
engagements which thou madest unto God
in times of distress upon prevailing
obligations
and mighty impressions of his good Spirit upon thy soul
now come
to this
that thou shouldest so foolishly forget
neglect
despise
cast him
off? Well! now he is gone; he is withdrawn from thee; and what wilt thou do?
Art thou not even ashamed to desire him to return? They were thoughts of this
nature that cut Peter to the heart upon his fall. The soul finds them cruel as
death
and strong as the grave. It is bound in the chains of them
and cannot
be comforted
Ps 38:3-6. John Owen.
Verse
3. There are moments in the life of all believers when God and his
ways become unintelligible to them. They get lost in profound meditation
and
nothing is left them but a desponding sigh. But we know from Paul the apostle
that the Holy Spirit intercedes for believers with God
when they cannot utter
their sighs. Ro 8:26. Augustus F. Tholuck.
Verse
3. Selah. In the end of this verse is put the word Selah.
And it doth note unto the reader or hearer what a miserable and comfortless
thing man is in trouble
if God be not present with him to help him. It is also
put as a spur and prick for every Christian man and woman to remember and call
upon God in the days of their troubles. For as the Jews say
wheresoever this
word Selah is
it doth admonish and stir up the reader or hearer to mark
what was said before it; for it is a word always put after very notable
sentences. John Hooper.
Verse
4. Thou holdest mine eyes waking. Thou art afflicted with
want of sleep:—A complaint incident to distempered bodies and thoughtful minds.
Oh
how wearisome a thing it is to spend the long night in tossing up and down
in a restless bed
in the chase of sleep; which the more eagerly it is followed
flies so much the farther from us! Couldest thou obtain of thyself to forbear
the desire of it
perhaps it would come alone: now that thou suest for it
like
to some froward piece
it is coy and overly
and punishes thee with thy
longing. Lo
he that could command a hundred and seven and twenty provinces
yet could not command rest. `On that night his sleep departed from him
'Es
6:1
neither could be forced or entreated to his bed. And the great Babylonian
monarch
though he had laid some hand on sleep
yet he could not hold it; for
"his sleep brake from him
"Da 2:1. And
for great and wise Solomon
it would not so much as come within his view. "Neither day nor night seeth
he sleep with his eyes." Ec 8:16. Surely
as there is no earthly thing
more comfortable to nature than bodily rest (Jer 31:26); so
there is nothing
more grievous and disheartening... Instead of closing thy lids to wait for
sleep
lift up thy stiff eyes to him that "giveth his beloved rest
"Ps 127:2. Whatever be the means
he it is that holdeth mine eyes
waking. He that made thine eyes
keeps off sleep from thy body
for the
good of thy soul: let not thine eyes wake
without thy heart. The spouse of
Christ can say
"I sleep
but my heart waketh
"So 5:2. How much more
should she say
"Mine eyes wake
and my heart waketh also!" When thou
canst not sleep with thine eyes
labour to see him that is invisible: one
glimpse of that sight is more worth than all the sleep that thine eyes can be
capable of. Give thyself up into his hands
to be disposed of at his will. What
is this sweet acquiescence but the rest of the soul? which if thou canst find
in thyself
thou shalt quietly digest the want of thy bodily sleep. Joseph
Hall
in his "Balm of Gilead."
Verse
4. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. He adds that he was
so cut down and lifeless that he could not speak. Little griefs
as it is often
said
are uttered
great ones strike us dumb. In great troubles and fears the
spirit fails the exterior members
and flows back to its fountain; the limbs
stand motionless
the whole body trembles
the eyes remain fixed
and the
tongue forgets its office. Hence it is that Niobe was represented by the poets
as turned into a stone. The history of Psammentius also
in Herodotus
is well
known
how over the misfortunes of his children he sat silent and overwhelmed
but when he saw his friend's calamities he bewailed them with bitter tears. Mollerus.
Verse
4. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Sometimes our grief
is so violent that it finds no vent
it strangles us
and we are overcome. It
is with us in our desertions as with a man that gets a slight hurt; at first he
walks up and down
but not looking betimes to prevent a growing mischief
the
neglected wound begins to fester
or to gangrene
and brings him to greater
pain and loss. So it is with us many times in our spiritual sadness; when we
are first troubled
we pray and pour out our souls before the Lord; but
afterwards the waters of our grief drown our cries and we are so overwhelmed
that if we might have all the world we cannot pray
or at least we can find no
enlargement
no life
no pleasure in our prayers; and God himself seems to take
no delight in them
and that makes us more sad
Ps 22:1. Timothy Rogers
(1660-1729)
in "A Discourse on Trouble of Mind
and the Disease of
Melancholy."
Verse
4. Troubled. Or
bruised: the Hebrew word probably
signifieth an astonishment caused by some great blow received. John Diodati.
Verse
4. I cannot speak. Words are but the body
the garment
the
outside of prayer; sighs are nearer the heart work. A dumb beggar getteth an
alms at Christ's gates
even by making signs
when his tongue cannot plead for
him; and the rather
because he is dumb. Objection. I have not so much
as a voice to utter to God; and Christ saith
"Cause me to hear thy
voice" (Canticles 2:14). Answer. Yea
but some other thing hath a
voice beside the tongue: "The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping"
(Ps 6:8). Tears have a tongue
and grammar
and language
that our Father
knoweth. Babes have no prayer for the breast
but weeping: the mother can read
hunger in weeping. Samuel Rutherford.
Verse
4. If through all thy discouragements thy condition prove worse and
worse
so that thou canst not pray
but are struck dumb when thou comest into
his presence
as David
then fall making signs when thou canst not speak;
groan
sigh
sob
"chatter
"as Hezekiah did; bemoan thyself for
thine unworthiness
and desire Christ to speak thy requests for thee
and God
to hear him for thee. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse
5. The days of old. Doubtless to our first parents the
darkness of the first night was somewhat strange; persons who had never seen
anything but the light of the day
when the shadows of the night first did
encompass them
could not be without some apprehension: yet when at the back of
a number of nights they had seen the day spring of the morning lights
constantly to arise; the darkness of the blackest nights was passed over
without fear
and in as great security
as the light of the fairest days. To
men who have always lived upon land
when first they set to sea
the winds
waves
and storms are exceeding terrible; but when they are a little beaten
with the experience of tempests
their fears do change into resolution and
courage. It is of no small use to remember that those things which vex most our
spirit
are not new
but have already been in times before our days. Robert
Baylie's Sermon before the House of Commons. 1643.
Verse
6. I call to remembrance my song in the night. Either (1)
"I will now
in the present night of affliction
remember my former
songs." "Though this is a time of distress
and my present
circumstances are gloomy
yet I have known brighter days. He that lifted me up
has cast me down
and he can raise me up again." Sometimes this reflection
indeed
adds a poignancy to our distress
as it did to David's trouble
Ps
42:4. Yet it will bear a better improvement
which he seems to make of it; Ps
77:11
and so Job
(Job 2:10.) "Shall we receive good at the hand of
God
and shall we not receive evil?" And his case shows that after the
most sweeping calamities the Lord can again give things a turn in favour of
them that hope in him. Therefore
present troubles should not make us forget
former comforts
especially as the former so much exceeded our deserts
and the
present afflictions fall so short of our demerits. Or (2) the text may mean
"I will remember how I have been enabled to sing in the former nights of
affliction." And surely it is especially seasonable to remember supports and
consolations granted under preceding distresses. Elihu complained (Job 35:10)
"There is none that saith
Where is God my maker
who giveth songs on the
night." David comforted himself with the thought
"Though deep
calleth unto deep
yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime
and in the night his song shall be with me." Ps 42:8. And the Lord
promised by Isaiah (Isa 30:29)
"Ye shall have a song
as in the night
when a holy solemnity is kept." No doubt Paul and Silas remembered their
song in the night
when imprisoned at Philippi; and it afforded them
encouragement under subsequent trials. And cannot many of you
my brethren
in
like manner
remember the supports and consolations you have enjoyed in former
difficulties
and how the Lord turned the shadow of death into morning? And
ought you not to trust to him that hath delivered
that he will yet deliver? He
that hath delivered in six troubles
will not forsake you in seven. The
"clouds may return after the rain
"but not a drop can fail without
the leave of him
who rides on the heavens for your help
and in his excellency
on the sky. Did you not forbode at first a very different termination of the
former troubles? and did the Lord disappoint your fears
and put a new song
into your mouth; and will you not now begin to trust him
and triumph in him?
Surely you have found that the Lord can clear the darkest skies. "Light is
sown for the righteous
"and ere long you shall see an eternal day. If
such songs are given to the pilgrims of the night
how shall they sing in that
world where the sun shall set no more! There will be no night there. John
Ryland. 1753-1825.
Verse
6. I call to remembrance: being glad in this scarcity of
comfort
to live upon the old store
as bees do in winter. John Trapp.
Verse
6. My song in the night. The "songs of the night"
is as favourite a word of the Old Testament as "glory in tribulation"
is of the New
and it is one of those which prove that both Testaments have the
self same root and spirit. John Kerr.
Verse
6. My spirit made diligent search. He falls upon self
examination
and searcheth his spirit
to consider why the hand of God was so
against him
and why the face of God was so hid from him. Some read it
"I
digged into my spirit; "as Ezekiel digged into the wall
to search for and
find out the abomination
that made the Lord thus leave him in the dark
and
hide his face from him. He searcheth the wound of his spirit; that was another
way to cure it. It is a notable way to cure the wounds of the soul
for the
soul to search them. John Collings.
Verse
6. My spirit made diligent search. The verb vbx
chaphas
signifies such an investigation as a man makes who is obliged to strip
himself in order to do it; or to lift up coverings
to search fold
by fold
or in our own phrase
to leave no stone unturned. Adam Clarke.
Verse
6. My spirit made diligent search. As Ahasuerus
when he
could not sleep
called for the records and chronicles of his kingdom
so the
doubting soul betakes himself to the records of heaven
the word of God in the
Scriptures
and one while he is reading there
another while looking into his
heart
if he can find there anything that answers the characters of Scripture
faith
as the face in the glass doth the face of man. David
when he was at a
loss what to think of himself
and many doubts did clog his faith
insomuch
that the thinking of God increased his trouble
he did not sit down and let the
ship drive
as we say
not regarding whether God loved him or no
but communes
with his own heart
and his spirit makes diligent search. Thus it is with
every sincere soul under doubting: he dares no more sit down contented in that
unresolved condition
than one who thinks he smells fire in his house dares
settle himself to sleep till he hath looked in every room and corner
and
satisfied himself that all is safe
lest he should be waked with the fire about
his ears in the night: and the poor doubting soul is much more afraid
lest it
should wake with hell fire about it: whereas a soul in a state and under the
power of unbelief is secure and careless. William Gurnall.
Verse
6. Diligent search. Thus duty requires diligence. External
acts of religion are facile; to lift up the eye to heaven
to bow the knee
to
read a prayer
this requires no more labour than for a papist to tell over his
beads; but to examine a man's self
to take the heart all in pieces as a watch
and see what is defective
this is not easy. Reflective acts are hardest. The
eye can see everything but itself. It is easy to spy the faults of others
but
hard to find out our own. Thomas Watson.
Verse
8. Doth his promise fail for evermore? Let no appearing
impossibilities make you question God's accomplishment of any of his gracious
words. Though you cannot see how the thing can be done
it is enough
if God
has said that he will do it. There can be no obstructions to promised
salvation
which we need to fear. He who is the God of this salvation
and the
Author of the promise
will prepare his own way for the doing of his own work
so that "every valley shall be filled
and every mountain and hill brought
low." Lu 3:5. Though the valleys be so deep that we cannot see the bottom
and the mountains so high that we cannot see the tops of them
yet God knows
how to raise the one and level the other; Isa 53:1: "I that speak in
righteousness (or faithfulness) am mighty to save." If anything would keep
back the kingdom of Christ
it would be our infidelity; but he will come
though he should find no faith on the earth. See Ro 3:3. Cast not away your confidence
because God defers his performances. Though providence run cross
though they
move backwards and forwards
you have a sure and faithful word to rely upon.
Promises
though they be for a time seemingly delayed
cannot be finally
frustrated. Dare not to harbour such a thought within yourselves. The being of
God may as well fail as the promise of God. That which does not come in your
time
will be hastened in his time
which is always the more convenient season.
Timothy Cruso.
Verse
9. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? In what pangs couldest
thou be
O Asaph
that so woeful a word should fall from thee: Hath God
forgotten to be gracious? Surely
the temptation went so high
that the
next step had been blasphemy. Had not that good God
whom thy bold weakness questions
for forgetfulness
in great mercies remembered thee
and brought thee speedily
to remember thyself and him; that
which you confess to have been infirmity
had proved a sinful despair. I dare say for thee
that word washed thy cheeks
with many a tear
and was worthy of more; for
O God
what can be so dear to
thee
as the glory of thy mercy? There is none of thy blessed attributes
which
thou desirest to set forth so much unto the sons of men
and so much abhorrest
to be disparaged by our detraction
as thy mercy. Thou canst
O Lord
forget
thy displeasure against thy people; thou canst forget our iniquities
and cast
our sins out of thy remembrance
Mic 7:18-19; but thou canst no more forget to
be gracious
than thou canst cease to be thyself. O my God
I sin against thy
justice hourly
and thy mercy interposes for my remission: but
oh
keep me
from sinning against thy mercy. What plea can I hope for
when I have made my
advocate my enemy? Joseph Hall.
Verse
9. Hath God forgotten to be gracious? The poor child crieth
after the mother. What shall I do for my mother! Oh
my mother
my mother
what
shall I do for my mother! And it may be the mother stands behind the back of
the child
only she hides herself
to try the affection of the child: so the poor
soul cries after God
and complains
Oh my Father! my Father! Where is my
heavenly Father? Hath he forgotten to be gracious? Hath he shut up his
lovingkindness in displeasure? when
(all the while)
God is nearer than they
think for
shining upon them in "a spirit of grace and supplications
"with sighs and "groans that cannot be uttered." Thus the
gracious woman
weeps: My dear Saviour
my dear Lord and Master
he is
"taken out of the sepulchre
and I know not where they have laid
him!" Thus she complains to the disciples
and thus she complains to the
angels
when Christ stood at her very back and overheard all: nay
when she
turned her about and saw him
yet at first she did not know him; nay
when he
spoke to her and she to him
yet she knew him not
but thought he had been the
gardener
Joh 20:15. Thus it is with many a gracious soul; though God speaks
home to their hearts in his Word
and they speak to him by prayer
and they
cannot say but the Spirit "helps their infirmities; "yet they
complain for want of his presence
as if there were nothing of God in them. Matthew
Lawrence.
Verse
9. Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? The metaphor
here is taken from a spring
the mouth of which is closed
so that its
waters can no longer run in the same channel; but
being confined
break out
and take some other course. Wilt thou take thy mercy from the Israelites and
give it to some other people? Adam Clarke.
Verse
9. Selah. Thus was he going on with his dark and dismal
apprehensions
when on a sudden he first checked himself with that word
Selah;
stop there; go no further; let us hear no more of these unbelieving surmises;
and then he chid himself
Ps 77:10: This is mine infirmity. Matthew Henry.
Verse
10. This is my infirmity. Literally
this is my disease
—which
appears to mean
This is my lot and I must bear it; lo! it is a partial evil
for which the equity of God's government should not be questioned. The
authorised version
This is my infirmity
suggests
perhaps advisedly
another signification
viz.
These thoughts are but hallucinations of my
agony
—but to this gloss I should scruple to commit myself. C. B. Cayley.
Verse
10. It is the infirmity of a believer to be thinking of
himself
and drawing false inferences (for all such inferences are necessarily
erroneous)
from what he sees or feels
as to the light in which he is beheld
and estimated on the part of God. It is his strength
on the other hand
to remember the right hand of the Most High—to meditate upon the changeless
truth and mercy of that God who has committed himself in holiness to the
believing sinner's sure salvation
by causing the Son of his love to suffer in
our stead the dread reality of penal death. Arthur Pridham.
Verse
10. Infirmity. An infirmity is this
—some sickness or indisposition
of the soul
that arises from the weakness of grace. Or an infirmity is
this
—when the purpose and inclination of the heart is upright
but a man wants
strength to perform that purpose; when "the spirit is willing
but the
flesh is weak" (Mt 26:41); when a man can say with the apostle
"To
will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not
"Ro 7:18. When the bent and inclination of the soul is right
but either
through some violence of corruption or strength of temptation
a man is
diverted and turned out of the way. As the needle in the seaman's compass
you
know if it be right it will stand always northwards
the bent of it will be
toward the North Pole
but being jogged and troubled
it may sometimes be put
out of frame and order
yet the bent and inclination of it is still northward;
this is an infirmity. James Nalton. 1664.
Verse
10. It is unnecessary to state all the renderings which the learned
have given of this verse. It is unquestionably ambiguous
as the word ytwlh may
be derived from different roots
which have different significations. I derive
it from lwx or llx which signifies to be in pain as a woman in labour
and as it is in the infinitive
I render it
"the time of my sorrow
or pain." The next term
twgv
I derive from hgv to change
as the Chaldee does
Ainsworth
Hammond
and others; and I render it
potentially. I consider the whole as a beautiful metaphor. The author considers
himself as in distress
like a woman in travail; and like her
hopes soon to
have his sorrow turned to joy. He confides in God's power to effect such a
change; and hence naturally recollects the past instances of God's favour to
his people. Benjamin Boothroyd.
Verse
10. I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
Not the moments
nor the hours
nor days of a few short afflictions
that his
left hand hath dealt to me: but the years of his right hand; those long
large
and boundless mercies wherewith he hath comforted me. Thomas Adams.
Verse
10. I will remember the years
etc. The words in the Hebrew
text are shenoth jemin gneljon
which I find to be variously rendered
and translated by interpreters. I shall not trouble you with them all at this
present time
but only take notice of two of them
which I conceive are the
principal and most comprehensive; the one is our oldest English translation
and the other of our last and newest; the former reads the words thus: The
right hand of the Most High can change all this. The latter reads the words
thus
as we have it now before us
I will remember the years
etc. The
main ground of this variation is the different exposition of the Hebrew word shenoth
which may be translated either to change
from the verb in the infinitive
mood
or else may be translated years
from the noun in the plural
number. This hath given the occasion to this difference and variety of
translation
but the sense is very good and agreeable which way soever we take
it—First
take it according to the former translation
as it does
exhibit to us the power of God. The right hand of the Lord can change all
this. This was that whereby David did support himself in his present
affliction; that the Lord was able to change and alter this his
condition to him
and that for the better... For the second sense here
before us
that's this: I will remember the years of the right hand of the
Most High; where the word remember is borrowed from the next
following verse
to supply the sense of this
as otherwise being not in the
text. Now here the prophet David fetches a ground of comfort from God's practice
as before he did from his power; there
from what God could do;
here
from what he has done already in former time
and ages
and generations. Thomas
Horton.
Verse
11. I will remember
etc. Remember and commemorate
as the Hebrew (by a double reading) imports. John Trapp.
Verse
11. I will remember. Faith is a considering grace: he that
believes will not make haste; no
not to think or speak of God. Faith hath a
good memory
and can tell the Christian many stories of ancient mercies; and
when his present meal falls short
it can entertain the soul with a cold dish
and not complain that God keeps a bad house. Thus David recovered himself
when
he was even tumbling down the hill of temptation: This is my infirmity; but
I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember
thy wonders of old. Therefore
Christian
when thou art in the depths of
affliction
and Satan tempts thee to asperse God
as if he were forgetful of
thee
stop his mouth with this: No
Satan
God hath not forgot to do for me
but I have forgot what he hath done for me
or else I could not question his
fatherly care at present over me. Go
Christian
play over thy own lessons
praise God for past mercies
and it will not be long before thou hast a new
song put into thy mouth for a present mercy. . . .
Sometimes
a little writing is found in a man's study that helps to save his estate
for
want of which he had gone to prison; and some one experience remembered keeps
the soul from despair
a prison which the devil longs to have the Christian in.
"This I recall to my mind
therefore have I hope
"La 3:21. David was
famous for his hope
and not less eminent for his care to observe and preserve
the experiences he had of God's goodness. He was able to recount the dealings
of God with him; they were so often the subject of his meditation and matter of
his discourse
that he had made them familiar to him. When his hope is at a
loss
he doth but exercise his memory a little
and he recovers himself
presently
and chides himself for his weakness. I said
this is my
infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
The hound
when he hath lost his scent
hunts backwards and so recovers it
and
pursues his game with louder cry than ever. Thus
Christian
when thy hope is
at a loss
and you question your salvation in another world
then look backward
and see what God hath already done for thee. Some promises have their day of
payment here
and others we must stay to receive in heaven. Now the payment
which God makes of some promises here
is an earnest given to our faith that
the others also shall be faithfully discharged when their date expires; as
every judgment inflicted here on the wicked is sent as a pledge of that wrath
the full sum whereof God will make up in hell. William Gurnall.
Verse
11. The works of the Lord... Thy wonders. The psalmist does
not mean to draw a distinction between the works and the wonders
of God; but
rather
to state that all God's works are wonders... All
whether
in providence or grace—all God's works are wonderful. If we take the individual
experience of the Christian
of what is that experience made up? Of wonders.
The work of his conversion
wonderful!—arrested in a course of thoughtlessness
and impiety; graciously sought and gently compelled to be at peace with God
whose wrath he had provoked. The communication of knowledge
wonderful!—Deity
and eternity gradually piled up; the Bible taken page by page
and each page
made a volume which no searching can exhaust. The assistance in warfare
wonderful!—himself a child of corruption
yet enabled to grapple with the
world
the flesh
and the devil
and often to trample them under foot. The
solaces in affliction
wonderful!—sorrow sanctified so as to minister to joy
and a harvest of gladness reaped from a field which has been watered with
tears. The foretastes of heaven
wonderful!—angels bringing down the clusters
of the land
and the spirit walking with lightsome tread the crystal river and the
streets of gold. All wonderful! Wonderful that the Spirit should strive with
man; wonderful that God should bear with his backslidings; wonderful that God
should love him notwithstanding his pollution; wonderful that God should
persist in saving him
in spite
as it were
of himself. Oh! those amongst you
who know anything
experimentally
of salvation through Christ
well know that
the work is wonderful in its commencement
wonderful in its continuance
and
they will need no argument to vindicate the transition from works to wonders.
It will be the transition of your own thoughts and your own feelings
and you
will never give in the record of God's dealings with yourselves without
passing
as the psalmist passed
from mentioning to ascription. Ye may set
yourselves to commemorate God's works
ye will find yourselves extolling
God's wonders. Ye may begin with saying
I will remember the works of
the Lord; but ye will conclude by exclaiming
Surely I will remember thy
wonders of old. Henry Melvill.
Verse
11. Thy wonders. The word is in the singular here
and also in
Ps 77:14. So also in the next verse
Thy work
because the one great
wonder
the one great work in which all others were included
is before his
thoughts. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
11. Thy wonders. He had before spoken to others
but here he
turns to God. It is good for a soul in a hard exercise
to raise itself from
thinking of God and of his works
unto speaking unto God directly: no ease or
relief will be found till address be made unto himself
till we turn our face
toward him and direct our speech unto him
as here the psalmist doth
from the
midst of the eleventh verse to the end of the psalm. David Dickson.
Verse
13. Thy way
O God
is in the sanctuary. The word sanctuary
is to be taken either for heaven or for the temple. I am rather inclined to
refer it to heaven
conceiving the meaning to be
that the ways of God rise
high above the world
so that if we are truly desirous to know them
we must
ascend above all heavens. Although the works of God are in part manifest to us
yet all our knowledge of them comes far short of their immeasurable height.
Besides
it is to be observed
that none enjoy the least taste of his works but
those who by faith rise up to heaven. And yet
the utmost point to which we can
ever attain is
to contemplate with admiration and reverence the hidden wisdom
and power of God
which
while they shine forth in his works
yet far surpass
the limited powers of our understanding. John Calvin.
Verse
13. Thy way is in the sanctuary. That is
every one of the
elect may and ought to learn in thy church the conduct and proceedings of thy
providence towards those that were thine. John Diodati.
Verse
13
19. In the sanctuary and In the sea. His way is in
the sanctuary
and His wayis in the sea. Now there is a great
difference between these two things. First of all
God's way is in the sanctuary
where all is light
all is clear. There is no mistake there.
There is nothing
in the least degree
that is a harass to the spirit. On the
contrary
it is when the poor
troubled one enters into the sanctuary
and
views things there in the light of God
that he sees the end of all
else—everything that is entangled
the end of which he cannot find on the
earth. But not only is God's way in the sanctuary (and when we are there
all
is bright and happy); but God's way is in the "sea." He walks where
we cannot always trace his footsteps. God moves mysteriously by times
as
we all know. There are ways of God which are purposely to try us. I need not
say that it is not at all as if God had pleasure in our perplexities. Nor is it
as if we had no sanctuary to draw near to
where we can rise above it. But
still
there is a great deal in the ways of God that must be left entirely in
his own hands. The way of God is thus not only in the sanctuary
but also in
the sea. And yet
what we find even in connection with his footsteps being in
the sea is
"Thou leddest thy people like a flock
by the hand of Moses
and Aaron." That was through the sea; afterwards
it was through the
wilderness. But it had been through the sea. The beginnings of the ways of God
with his people were there; because
from first to last
God must be the
confidence of the saint. It may be an early lesson of his soul
but it never
ceases to be the thing to learn. How happy to know that
while the sanctuary is
open to us
yet God himself is nearer still—and to him we are brought now. As
it is said (1 Peter 3)
"Christ also hath once suffered for sins
the just
for the unjust
to bring us to God." This is a most precious thing;
because there we are in the sanctuary at once
and brought to God himself. And
I am bold to say
that heaven itself would be but a small matter if it were not
to God that we are brought. It is better than any freedom from trial—better
than any blessing
to be in the presence of the One we belong to; who is
himself the source of all blessing and joy. That we are brought to him now is
infinitely precious. There we are in the sanctuary brought to God. But
still
there
are other ways of God outside the sanctuary—In the sea. And there we
often find ourselves at a loss. If we are occupied with the sea itself
and
with trying to scan God's footsteps there
then they are not known. But
confidence in God himself is always the strength of faith. May the Lord grant
us increasing simplicity and quietness in the midst of all that we pass
through
for his name's sake. From "Things New and Old." 1865.
Verse
14. The God that doest wonders. If he said
Thou art the
God that hast done wonders
it would be plain that he spake only of those
ancient miracles which were wrought in former days: but now that he saith
Thou
art the God that doest wonders
he evidently refers to those wonderful
works
which he is doing now
and shall not cease to do even to the end of the
world. Gerhohus.
Verse
15. The sons of Jacob and Joseph. The distinction between the
sons of Jacob and Joseph is not meaningless. For by the sons of Jacob or Israel
the believing Jews are properly intended
those that trace their descent to him
not only according to the flesh but according to faith. Of whom although Joseph
was one
yet since he was sold by his brethren and after many sufferings among
foreign tribes raised to high rank
it is highly congruous to distinguish him
from the sons of Jacob
and he is fitly regarded as a prince of the
Gentiles apart from Jacob's sons
who sold him. Gerhohus.
Verse
15. The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Was it Joseph or was it
Jacob that begat the children of Israel? Certainly Jacob begat
but as Joseph
nourished them
they are called by his name also. Talmud.
Verse
16. The waters saw thee
O God
etc. "The waters of the
Red Sea
"says Bishop Horne
"are here beautifully represented as
endued with sensibility; as seeing
feeling
and being confounded
even to the
lowest depths
at the presence and power of their great Creator
when he
commanded them to open a way
and to form a wall on each side of it
until his
people were passed over." This in fact is true poetry; and in this attributing
of life
spirit
feeling
action
and suffering to inanimate objects
there are
no poets who can vie with those of the Hebrew nation. Richard Mant.
Verse
16. The depths also were troubled. The depths are
mentioned in addition to the waters
to show that the dominion and power
of God reach not only to the surface of the waters
but penetrate to the most
profound abysses
and agitate and restrain the waters from their lowest bottom.
Mollerus.
Verses
16-18. The waters saw thee
but men do not see thee. The depths were
troubled
but men say in their heart
There is no God. The clouds poured out
water
but men pour not out cries and tears unto God. The skies send out a
sound
but men say not
Where is God my Maker? Thine arrows also went abroad
but no arrows of contrition and supplication are sent back by men in return.
The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven
but men hear not the louder
thunders of the law. The lightnings lightened the world
but the light of truth
shines in darkness and the darkness comprehends it not. The earth trembled and
shook
but human hearts remain unmoved.
"My
heart it shakes not at the wrath
And terrors of a God." George Rogers.
Verse
16-19. As soon as ever the whole Egyptian army was within it
the sea
flowed to its own place
and came down with a torrent raised by storms of wind
and encompassed the Egyptians. Showers of rain also came down from the sky
and
dreadful thunders and lightning
with flashes of fire. Thunderbolts also were
darted upon them; nor was there anything which used to be sent by God upon men
as indications of his wrath
which did not happen at this time; for a dark and
dismal might oppressed them. And thus did all these men perish
so that there
was not one man left to be a messenger of this calamity to the rest of the
Egyptians. Josephus.
Verse
19. Thy way is in the sea
and thy path in the great waters
etc. Until lately
not much was known of oceanic currents
nor of their
influences on the condition of particular localities and the intercourse of man
with man. They are now seen to be the way or path of the Creator in
the great waters. Numerous agencies tend to the production of these
currents. Amongst them we may reckon the propagation of the tide wave in its
progress over the globe
the duration and strength of certain winds
the
variations in density which seawater undergoes in different latitudes
and at
different depths
by change of temperature
and the quantity of salt it
contains
and by the hourly alterations of atmospheric pressure which take
place within the tropics. The oceanic currents are nearly constant in breadth
crossing the sea in many directions. Long bands of seaweed carried by the
currents shew at once their velocity
and the line of demarcation between the
waters at rest and the waters in motion. Between the tropics there is a general
movement of the sea from east to west
called the equatorial current
supposed
to be due to the trade winds
and the progress of the tide wave. There are
narrower currents carrying warm water to higher and cold water to lower
latitudes. Edwin Sidney
in "Conversations on the Bible and
Science." 1860.
Verse
19. Thy way is in the sea
where no man can wade
except God
be before him
but where any man may walk if God take him by the hand and lead
him through. David Dickson.
Verse
19. Thy footsteps are not known. He often goeth so much out of
our sight
that we are unable to give an account of what he doeth
or what he
is about to do. Frequently the pillar of divine providence is dark throughout
to Israelites as well as Egyptians; so that his own people understand not the
riddles
till he is pleased to be his own interpreter
and to lead them into
his secrets. Samuel Slater(-1704)
in "The Morning Exercises."
Verse
19. Thy footsteps are not known. That is
they are not always
known; or
they are not known in all things; yea
they are not altogether known
in anything. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
19. Thy footsteps are not known. Upon some affair of great
consequence which had occurred in some providential dispensation
Luther was
very importunate at the throne of grace to know the mind of God in it; and it
seemed to him as if he heard God speak to his heart thus: "I am not to be
traced." Referring to this incident
one adds
"If he is not to be
traced
he may be trusted; "and that religion is of little value which
will not enable a man to trust God where he can neither trace nor see him. But
there is a time for everything beneath the sun
and the Almighty has his `times
and seasons.' It has been frequently with my hopes and desires
in regard to
providence
as with my watch and the sun
which has often been ahead of true
time; I have gone faster than providence
and have been forced to stand still
and wait
or I have been set back painfully. That was a fine sentiment of
Flavel
"Some providence
like Hebrew letters
must be read
backwards." Quoted in "Christian Treasury
"1849. Author not
mentioned.
Verse
20. Thou leddest thy people like a flock
etc. From this verse
the afflicted may learn many consolations. First
that the best people that be
are no better able to resist temptation
than the simple sheep is able to
withstand the brier that catcheth him. The next
that man is of no more ability
to beware of temptations
than the poor sheep is to avoid the brier
being
preserved only by the diligence of the shepherd. The third
that as the
shepherd is careful of his entangled and briard sheep
so is God of his
afflicted faithful. And the fourth is
that the people of Israel could take no
harm of the water
because they entered the sea at God's commandment. Whereof
we learn
that no danger can hurt when God doth command us to enter into it;
and all dangers overcome us if we choose them ourselves
besides God's
commandment; as Peter
when he went at God's commandment upon the water
took
no hurt; but when he entered into the bishop's house upon his own presumption
was overcome and denied Christ. The Israelites
when they fought at God's
commandment
the peril was nothing; but when they would do it of their own
heads
they perished: so that we are bound to attend upon God's commandment
and then no danger shall destroy us
though it pain us. The other doctrine is
in this
that God used the ministry of Moses and Aaron in the deliverance of
his people
who did command them to do nothing but that the Lord did first bid.
Whereof we learn that such as be ministers appointed of God
and do nothing but
as God commandeth
are to be followed; as Paul saith
"Follow me
as I
follow Christ." John Hooper.
Verse
20. Thou leddest thy people like a flock. Observe
the good
shepherd leads his followers like sheep: First
with great solicitude
and care
to protect them from wolves. Secondly
with consideration and
kindness
for the sheep is a harmless animal. Thirdly
with a wise strictness
for sheep easily wander
and they are of all animals the most stupid. Thomas
Le Blanc.
Verse
20. Leddest thy people. Our guiding must be mild and gentle
else it is not duxisti
but traxisti; drawing and driving
and no
leading. Leni spiritu non dure manu
rather by an inward sweet influence
to be led
than by an outward extreme violence to be forced forward. So did God
lead his people here. Not the greatest pace
I wist
for they were a year
marching that they might have posted in eleven days
as Moses saith. (De 1:2.)
No nor yet the nearest way neither
as Moses telleth us. (Ex 8:18.) For he
fetched a compass divers times
as all wise governors by his example must do
that desire rather safely to lead
than hastily to drive forward. "The
Spirit of God leadeth this people
"saith Isaiah (Isa 63:14) "as an
horse is ridden down the hill into a valley; " which must not be at a
gallop
lest horse and ruler both come down one over another; but warily and
easily. Lancelot Andrewes.
Verse
20. By the hand of Moses and Aaron. He says not
Moses and
Aaron led the people of Israel; but
Thou leddest the people
and that thy
people
by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Great was the power of these two men;
nevertheless neither of them was the shepherd of the sheep
but each was a
servant to the one and only true shepherd
to whom the sheep exclusively
belonged. Nor yet was either the leader of the sheep
but the shepherd himself
was present and led his own flock
to whom these two acted as servants. There
are therefore three things to be learned from this passage. First
the sheep do
not belong to the servants
but to the true shepherd. Secondly
the true
shepherd is the leader of his own sheep. Thirdly
the offices of Moses and
Aaron was to attend to this duty
that the Lord's sheep should be properly led
and pastured. So Christ himself leads the sheep
his own sheep
and for this
work he employs the ministry of his servants. Musculus.
Verse
20. The psalmist has reached the climax of his strain
he has found
relief from his sorrow by forcing his thoughts into another channel
by
dwelling on all God's mightiest wonders of old; but there he must end: in his
present intensity of passion he cannot trust himself to draw forth in detail
any mere lessons of comfort. There are seasons when even the holiest
faith cannot bear to listen to words of reasoning; though it can still find a
support whereon to rest
in the simple contemplation
in all their native
grandeur
of the deeds that God hath wrought. Joseph Francis Thrupp.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. The benefit of using the voice in private prayer.
Verses
1
3
5
10. Note the wise man's progress out of his soul trouble.
1.
I cried.
2. I remembered.
3. I considered.
4. I said.
Verse
2. See "Spurgeon's Sermons
"No. 853. "A Sermon for
the Most Miserable of Men."
Verse
2.
1.
Special prayer: In the days
etc.
2.
Persevering prayer: hands lifted up to God by night as well as by day.
3.
Agonizing prayer: my soul refused to be comforted
until the answer came.
"Being in an agony
he prayed
"etc.
Verse
2. (last clause). When this is wise
and when it is
censurable.
Verse
4.
1.
A good man cannot rest on his bed until his soul rests on God.
2.
He cannot speak freely to others until God speaks peace to his soul. G. R.
Verse
4. Occupation for the sleepless
and consolation for the speechless.
Verses
5-6. There are four rules for obtaining comfort in affliction.
1.
The consideration of God's goodness to his people of old.
2.
Remembrance of our own past experience.
3. Self
examination.
4.
The diligent study of the word. G. R.
Verse
6. Remembrance. A good memory is very helpful and useful.
1.
It is a great means of knowledge: for what signifies your reading or
hearing
if you remember nothing?
2.
It is a means of faith: 1Co 15:2.
3.
It is a means of comfort. If a poor Christian in distress could remember
God's promises they would inspire him with new life; but when they are
forgotten
his spirits sink.
4.
It is a means of thankfulness.
5.
It is a means of hope; for "experience worketh hope" (Ro 5:4)
and the memory is the storehouse of experience.
6.
It is a means of repentance; for
how can we repent or mourn for that
which we have forgotten?
7.
It is a means of usefulness. When one spark of grace is truly kindled in
the heart
it will quickly endeavour to heat others also. R. Steele.
Verse
7. (first clause). To place the question in a strong light
let us consider
1.
Of whom is the question raised? the Lord.
2.
What course of action is in question? cast off for ever.
3.
Towards whom would the action be performed?
Verse
8. These questions
1.
Suppose a change in the immutable Jehovah in two glorious attributes.
2.
Are contrary to all past evidence.
3.
Can only arise from the flesh and Satan; and
therefore
4.
Are to be met in the power of the Spirit
with strong faith in the Eternal God.
Verse
10. A confession applicable to many other matters. Such as
fear of
death
fear of desertion
dread of public service
sensitiveness of neglect
etc.
Verse
10. My infirmity. Different meanings of this word. These would
furnish a good subject. Some infirmities are to be patiently endured
others
gloried in
others taken in prayer to God for his Spirit's help
and others
lamented and repented of.
Verses
10-12. Remember
meditate
talk.
Verses
11-12.
1.
Consolation derived from the remembrance of the past.
2.
Consolation increased by meditation.
3.
Consolation strengthened by communication: "and talk
" etc. G. R.
Verses
11-12.
1.
Consolation derived from the remembrance of the past.
2.
Consolation increased by meditation.
3.
Consolation strengthened by communication: "and talk
" etc. G. R.
Verse
12. Themes for thought and topics for conversation. Creation
Providence
Redemption
etc.
Verses
13
19. In the sea
in the sanctuary. God's way incomprehensible
though undoubtedly right: in his holiness lies the answer to its enigmas.
Verse
14. Thaumaturgeis
or the Great Wonder worker.
Verse
15. And Joseph. The honour of nourishing those who have been
begotten of God by other men's labours.
Verse
15. Redemption thy power
the consequence
evidence
and necessary
attendant of redemption by price.
Verse
15.
1.
The redeemed: thy people; the sons of
etc.
(a)
In captivity though they are his people.
(b)
His people though they are in captivity.
2.
The redemption: from Egyptian bondage.
3.
The Redeemer: Thou
with thine arm
etc. God by Christ
his arm: Mine
own arm brought
etc. To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? G. R.
Verses
16-18.
1.
The homage of nature to the God of grace.
2.
Its subserviency to his designs. G. R.
Verse
19.
1.
The ways of God to men are peculiar: In the sea: thy path
etc.
2.
They are uniform
they lie in regular footsteps.
3.
They are inscrutable: like the path of the ship upon the waters
not of the
ploughshare on the land.
Verse
19. God's way is in the sea. In things changeable
ungovernable
vast
unfathomable
terrible
overwhelming
the Lord has the ruling power.
Verse
20.
1.
The subjects of divine guidance: thy people.
2.
The manner of their guidance: like a flock—separated
united
dependent.
3.
The agents employed: by the hand; the Great Shepherd leads by the hand
of under shepherds. "May every under shepherd keep his eye intent on
Thee."
Verse
20. Church history.
1.
The church a flock.
2. God seen as leading it on.
3. Instrumentality always used.
WORK
UPON THE SEVENTY-SEVENTH PSALM
"An
Exposition upon the Seventy-seventh Psalm
made by the constant Martyr of
Christ
Master John Hooper
Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester." In
the "Later Writings of Bishop Hooper." (In Parker Society's
Publications
and also in the "British Reformer's" series of the
Religious Tract Society.)
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》