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Psalm One
Hundred and Three
Psalm 103
Chapter Contents
An exhortation to bless God for his mercy. (1-5) And to
the church and to all men. (6-14) For the constancy of his mercy. (15-18) For
the government of the world. (19-22)
Commentary on Psalm 103:1-5
(Read Psalm 103:1-5)
By the pardon of sin
that is taken away which kept good
things from us
and we are restored to the favor of God
who bestows good
things on us. Think of the provocation; it was sin
and yet pardoned: how many
the provocations
yet all pardoned! God is still forgiving
as we are still
sinning and repenting. The body finds the melancholy consequences of Adam's
offence
it is subject to many infirmities
and the soul also. Christ alone
forgives all our sins; it is he alone who heals all our infirmities. And the
person who finds his sin cured
has a well-grounded assurance that it is
forgiven. When God
by the graces and comforts of his Spirit
recovers his
people from their decays
and fills them with new life and joy
which is to
them an earnest of eternal life and joy
they may then be said to return to the
days of their youth
Job 33:25.
Commentary on Psalm 103:6-14
(Read Psalm 103:6-14)
Truly God is good to all: he is in a special manner good
to Israel. He has revealed himself and his grace to them. By his ways we may
understand his precepts
the ways he requires us to walk in; and his promises
and purposes. He always has been full of compassion. How unlike are those to God
who take every occasion to chide
and never know when to cease! What would
become of us
if God should deal so with us? The Scripture says a great deal of
the mercy of God
and we all have experienced it. The father pities his
children that are weak in knowledge
and teaches them; pities them when they
are froward
and bears with them; pities them when they are sick
and comforts
them; pities them when they are fallen
and helps them to rise; pities them
when they have offended
and
upon their submission
forgives them; pities them
when wronged
and rights them: thus the Lord pities those that fear him. See
why he pities. He considers the frailty of our bodies
and the folly of our
souls
how little we can do
how little we can bear; in all which his compassion
appears.
Commentary on Psalm 103:15-18
(Read Psalm 103:15-18)
How short is man's life
and uncertain! The flower of the
garden is commonly more choice
and will last the longer
for being sheltered
by the garden-wall
and the gardener's care; but the flower of the field
to
which life is here compared
is not only withering in itself
but exposed to
the cold blasts
and liable to be cropt and trod on by the beasts of the field.
Such is man. God considers this
and pities him; let him consider it himself.
God's mercy is better than life
for it will outlive it. His righteousness
the
truth of his promise
shall be unto children's children
who tread in the
footsteps of their forefathers' piety. Then shall mercy be preserved to them.
Commentary on Psalm 103:19-22
(Read Psalm 103:19-22)
He who made all
rules all
and both by a word of power.
He disposes all persons and things to his own glory. There is a world of holy
angels who are ever praising him. Let all his works praise him. Such would have
been our constant delight
if we had not been fallen creatures. Such it will in
a measure become
if we are born of God. Such it will be for ever in heaven;
nor can we be perfectly happy till we can take unwearied pleasure in perfect
obedience to the will of our God. And let the feeling of each redeemed heart
be
Bless the Lord
O my soul.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 103
Verse 5
[5] Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy
youth is renewed like the eagle's.
The eagles — Which lives long in great
strength and vigour.
Verse 11
[11] For as the heaven is high above the earth
so great is
his mercy toward them that fear him.
So great — So much above their deserts and expectations.
Verse 14
[14] For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are
dust.
Knoweth — The weakness and mortality of our natures
and the
frailty of our condition
so that if he should let loose his hand upon us
we
should be irrecoverably destroyed.
Verse 21
[21] Bless ye the LORD
all ye his hosts; ye ministers of
his
that do his pleasure.
His hosts — A title often given to the angels
in regard of their vast numbers
mighty power
unanimous concurrence
and
exquisite order.
Ministers — This Hebrew word is commonly used
of the highest and most honourable sort of servants
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Psalm 103:12
There is a definite point
that is “north” and another that is “south
” the North and South Poles. But
there are no such points for “east” and “west.” It doesn’t matter how far you
go to the east; you will never arrive where west begins because by definition west is the opposite of east.
The two never meet. They never will meet and never could meet because they are
defined as opposites. To remove our sins “as far as the east is from the west”
is by definition to put them where no one can ever find them. That is the
forgiveness God has granted us.
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
Other Works
TITLE. A Psalm of
David.—Doubtless by David; it is in his own style when at its best
and we should
attribute it to his later years when he had a higher sense of the preciousness
of pardon
because a keener sense of sin
than in his younger days. His clear
sense of the frailty of life indicates his weaker years
as also does the very
fainess of his praiseful gratitude. As in the lofty Alps some peaks rise above
all others so among even the inspired Psalms there are heights of song which
overtop the rest. This one hundred and third Psalm has ever seemed to us to be
the Monte Rosa of the divine chain of mountains of praise
glowing with a
ruddier light than any of the rest. It is as the apple tree among the trees of
the wood
and its golden fruit has a flavour such as no fruit ever bears unless
it has been ripened in the full suushine of mercy. It is man's reply to the
benedictions of his God
his Song on the Mount answering to his Redeemer's
Sermon on the Mount. Nebuchadnezzar adored his idol with flute
harp
sacbut
psaltery
dulcimer and all kinds of music; and David
in far nobler style
awakens all the melodies of heaven and earth in honour of the one only living
and true God. Our attempt at exposition is commenced under an impressive sense
of the utter impossibility of doing justice to so sublime a composition; we
call upon our soul and all that is within us to aid in the pleasurable task;
but
alas
our soul is finite
and our all of mental faculty far too little for
the enterprize. There is too much in the Psalm
for a thousand pens to write
it is one of those all-comprehending Scriptures which is a Bible in itself
and
it might alone almost suffice for the hymn-book of the church.
DIVISION. First the
Psalmist sings of personal mercies which he had himself received Ps 103:1-5;
then he magnifies the attributes of Jehovah as displayed in his dealings with
his people
Ps 103:6-19; and he closes by calling upon all the creatures in the
universe to adore the Lord and join with himself in blessing Jehovah
the ever
gracious.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. Bless the Lord O my soul. Soul music is the very soul of
music. The Psalmist strikes the best keymote when he begins with stirring up
his inmost self to magnify the Lord. He soliloquizes
holds self-communion and
exhorts himself
as though he felt that dulness would all too soon steal over
his faculties
as
indeed
it will over us all
unless we are diligently on the
watch. Jehovah is worthy to be praised by us in that highest style of adoration
which is intended by the term bless—"All thy works praise thee
O
God
but thy saints shall bless thee." Our very life and essential self
should be engrossed with this delightful service
and each one of us should
arouse his own heart to the engagement. Let others forbear if they can:
"Bless the Lord
O MY soul." Let others murmur
but do thou bless.
Let others bless themselves and their idols
but do thou bless the LORD.
Let others use only their tongues
but as for me I will cry
"Bless the
Lord
O my soul." And all that is within me
bless his holy name.
Many are our faculties
emotions
and capacities
but God has given them all to
us
and they ought all to join in chorus to his praise. Half-hearted
ill-conceived
unintelligent praises are not such as we should render to our
loving Lord. If the law of justice demanded all our heart and soul and mind for
the Creator
much more may the law of gratitude put in a comprehensive claim
for the homage of our whole being to the God of grace. It is instructive to
note how the Psalmist dwells upon the holy name of God
as if his
holiness were dearest to him; or
perhaps
because the holiness or wholeness of
God was to his mind the grandest motive for rendering to him the homage of his
nature in its wholeness. Babes may praise the divine goodness
but fathers in
grace magnify his holiness. By the name we understand the revealed character
of God
and assuredly those songs which are suggested
not by our fallible
reasoning and imperfect observation
but by unerring inspiration
should more
than any others arouse all our consecrated powers.
Verse
2. Bless the LORD
O my soul. He is in real earnest
and
again calls upon himself to arise. Had he been very sleepy before? Or was he
now doubly sensible of the importance
the imperative necessity of adoration?
Certainly
he uses no vain repetitions
for the Holy Spirit guides his pen; and
thus he shews us that we have need
again and again
to bestir ourselves when
we are about to worship God
for it would be shameful to offer him anything
less than the utmost our souls can render. These first verses are a tuning of
the harp
a screwing up of the loosened strings that not a note may fail in the
sacred harmony. And forget not all his benefits. Not so much as one of the
divine dealings should be forgotten
they are all really beneficial to us
all
worthy of himself
and all subjects for praise. Memory is very treacherous
about the best things; by a strange perversity
engendered by the fall
it
treasures up the refuse of the past and permits priceless treasures to lie
neglected
it is tenacious of grievances and holds benefits all too loosely. It
needs spurring to its duty
though that duty ought to be its delight. Observe
that he calls all that is within him to remember all the Lord's benefits. For
our task our energies should be suitably called out. God's all cannot be
praised with less than our all. Reader
have we not cause enough at this time
to bless him who blesses us? Come
let us read our diaries and see if there be
not choice favours recorded there for which we have rendered no grateful
return. Remember how the Persian king
when he conld not sleep
read the
chronicles of the empire
and discovered that one who had saved his life had
never been rewarded. How quickly did he do him honour! The Lord has saved us
with a great salvation
shall we render no recompense? The name of ingrate
is one of the most shameful that a man can wear; surely we cannot be content to
run the risk of such a brand. Let us awake then
and with intense enthusiasm
bless Jehovah.
Verse
3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Here David begins his
list of blessings received
which he rehearses as themes and arguments for
praise. He selects a few of the choicest pearls from the casket of divine love
threads them on the string of memory
and hangs them about the neck of
gratitude. Pardoned sin is
in our experience
one of the choicest boons of
grace
one of the earliest gifts of mercy
—in fact
the needful preparation for
enjoying all that follows it. Till iniquity is forgiven
healing
redemption
and satisfaction are unknown blessings. Forgiveness is first in the order of
our spiritual experience
and in some respects first in value. The pardon
granted is a present one—forgiveth;it is continual
for he still forgiveth;it
is divine
for God gives it; it is far reaching
for it removes all our sins;
it takes in omissions as well as commissions
for both these are in-equities;and
it is most effectual
for it is as real as the healing
and the rest of the
mercies with which it is placed. Who healeth all thy diseases. When the cause
is gone
namely
iniquity
the effect ceases. Sicknesses of body and soul came
into the world by sin
and as sin is eradicated
diseases bodily
mental
and
spiritual will vanish
till "the inhabitant shall no more say
I am
sick." Many-sided is the character of our heavenly Father
for
having forgiven
as a judge
he then cures as a physician. He is all things to us
as our needs
call for him
and our infirmities do but reveal him in new characters.
"In
him is only good
In me is only ill
My ill but draws his goodness forth
And me he loveth still."
God
gives efficacy to medicine for the body
and his grace sanctifies the soul.
Spiritually we are daily under his care
and he visits us
as the surgeon does
his patient; healing still (for that is the exact word) each malady as
it arises. No disease of our soul baffles his skill
he goes on healing all
and he will do so till the last trace of taint has gone from our nature. The
two alls of this verse are further reasons for all that is within
us praising the Lord. The two blessings of this verse the Psalmist was
personally enjoying
he sang not of others but of himself
or rather of his
Lord
who was daily forgiving and healing him. He must have known that it was
so
or he could not have sung of it. He had no doubt about it
he felt in his
soul that it was so
and
therefore
he bade his pardoned and restored soul
bless the Lord with all its might.
Verse
4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. By purchase and
by power the Lord redeems us from the spiritual death into which we had fallen
and from the eternal death which would have been its consequence. Had not the
death penalty of sin been removed
our forgiveness and healing would have been
incomplete portions of salvation
fragments only
and but of small value
but
the removal of the guilt and power of sin is fitly attended by the reversal of
the sentence of death which had been passed upon us. Glory be to our great
Substitute
who delivered us from going down into the pit
by giving himself to
be our ransom. Redemption will ever constitute one of the sweetest notes in the
believer's grateful song. Who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender
mercies. Our Lord does nothing by halves
he will not stay his hand till he has
gone to the uttermost with his people. Cleansing
healing
redemption
are not
enough
he must needs make them kings and crown them
and the crown must be far
more precious than if it were made of corruptible things
such as silver and
gold; it is studded with gems of grace and lined with the velvet of
lovingkindness; it is decked with the jewels of mercy
but made soft for the
head to wear by a lining of tenderness. Who is like unto thee
O Lord! God
himself crowns the princes of his family
for their best things come from him
directly and distinctly; they do not earn the crown
for it is of mercy
not of merit; they feel their own unworthiness of it
therefore he deals with tenderness;but
lie is resolved to bless them
and
therefore
he is ever crowning them
always surrounding their brows with coronets of mercy and compassion. He always
crowns the edifice which he commences
and where he gives pardon he gives
acceptance too. "Since thou wast precious in my sight thou hast been
honourable
and I have loved thee." Our sin deprived us of all our
honours
a bill of attainder was issued against us as traitors; but he who
removed the sentence of death by redeeming us from destruction
restores to us
more than all our former honours by crowning us anew. Shall God crown us and
shall not we crown him? Up
my soul
and cast thy crown at his feet
and in
lowliest reverence worship him
who has so greatly exalted thee
as to lift
thee from the dunghill and set thee among princes.
Verse
5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things
or rather
"filling with good thy soul." No man is ever filled to satisfaction
but a believer
and only God himself can satisfy even him. Many a worldling is
satiated
but not one is satisfied. God satisfies the very soul of man
his
noblest part
his ornament and glory; and of consequence he satisfies his mouth
however hungry and craving it might otherwise be. Soul-satisfaction loudly
calls for soul-praise
and when the mouth is filled with good it is bound to
speak good of him who filled it. Our good Lord bestows really good things
not vain toys and idle pleasures; and these he is always giving
so that from
moment to moment he is satisfying our soul with good: shall we not be
still praising him? If we never cease to bless him till he ceases to bless us
our employment will be eternal. So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Renewal of strength
amounting to a grant of a new lease of life
was granted
to the Psalmist; he was so restored to his former self that he grew young
again
and looked as vigorous as an eagle
whose eye can gaze upon the sun
and
whose wing can mount above the storm. Our version refers to the annual moulting
of the eagle
after which it looks fresh and young; but the original does not
appear to allude to any such fact of natural history
but simply to describe
the diseased one as so healed and strengthened
that he became as full of
energy as the bird which is strongest of the feathered race
most fearless
most majestic
and most soaring. He who sat moping with the owl in the last
Psalm
here flies on high with the eagle: the Lord works marvellous changes in
us
and we learn by such experiences to bless his holy name. To grow from a
sparrow to an eagle
and leave the wilderness of the pelican to mount among the
stars is enough to make any man cry
"Bless the Lord
O my soul."
Thus
is the endless chain of grace complete. Sins forgiven
its power subdued
and its penalty averted
then we are honoured
supplied
and our very nature
renovated
till we are as new-born children in the household of God. O Lord we
must bless thee
and we will; as thou dost withhold nothing from us so we would
not keep back from thy praise one solitary power of our nature
but with all
our heart
and soul
and strength praise thy holy name.
Verse
6. The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
of oppressed. Our own personal obligations must not absorb our song; we
must also magnify the Lord for his goodness to others. He does not leave the
poor and needy to perish at the hands of their enemies
but interposes on their
behalf
for he is the executor of the poor and the executioner of the cruel.
When his people were in Egypt he heard their groanings and brought them forth
but he overthrew Pharaoh in the Red Sea. Man's injustice shall receive
retribution at the hand of God. Mercy to his saints demands vengeance on their
persecutors
and he will repay it. No blood of martyrs shall be shed in vain;
no groans of confessors in prison shall be left without inquisition being made
concerning them. All wrongs shall be righted
all the oppressed
shall be avenged. Justice may at times leave the courts of man
but it abides
upon the tribunal of God. For this every right-minded person will bless God.
Were he careless of his creature's good
did he neglect the administration of
justice
did he suffer high-handed oppressors finally to escape
we should have
greater reason for trembling than rejoicing; it is not so
however
for our God
is a God of justice
and by him actions are weighed; he will mete out his
portion to the proud and make the tyrant bite the dust
—yea
often he visits
the haughty persecutor even in this life
so that "the Lord is known by
the judgments which he executeth."
Verse
7. He made known his ways unto Moses. Moses was made to see
the manner in which the Lord deals with men; he saw this at each of the three
periods of his life
in the court
in retirement
and at the head of the tribes
of Israel. To him the Lord gave specially clear manifestations of his
dispensations and modes of ruling among mankind
granting to him to see more of
God than had before been seen by mortal man
while he cornmaned with him upon
the mount. His acts unto the children of Israel. They saw less than Moses
for
they beheld the deeds of God without understanding his method therein
yet this
was much
very much
and might have been more if they had not been so perverse;
the stint was not in the revelation
but in the hardness of their hearts. It is
a great act of sovereign grace and condescending love when the Lord reveals
himself to any people
and they ought to appreciate the distinguished favour
shown to them. We
as believers in Jesus
know the Lord's ways of
covenant grace
and we have by experience been made to see his acts of
mercy towards us; how heartily ought we to praise our divine teacher
the Holy
Spirit
who has made these things known to us
for had it not been for him we
should have continued in darkness unto this day
"Lord
how is it that
thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world?" Why hast thou
made us "of the election who have obtained it" while the rest are
blinded? Observe how prominent is the personality of God in all this gracious
teaching—"He made known." He did not leave Moses to discover
truth for himself
but became his instructor. What should we ever know if he
did not make it known? God alone can reveal himself. If Moses needed the Lord
to make him know
how much more do we who are so much inferior to the great
law-giver?
Verse
8. The Lord is merciful and gracious. Those with whom he
deals are sinners. However much he favours them they are guilty and need mercy
at his hands
nor is he slow to compassionate their lost estate
or reluctant
by his grace to lift them out of it. Mercy pardons sin
grace bestows favour:
in both the Lord abounds. This is that way of his which he made known to Moses
(Ex 34:6)
and in that way he will abide as long as the age of grace shall
last
and men are yet in this life. He who "executeth righteousness and
judgment
" yet delighteth in mercy. Slow to anger. He can be angry
and
can deal out righteous indignation upon the guilty
but it is his strange work;
he lingers long
with loving pauses
tarrying by the way to give space for
repentance and opportunity for accepting his mercy. Thus deals he with the
greatest sinners
and with his own children much more so: towards them his
anger is shortlived and never reaches into eternity
and when it is shown in
fatherly chastisements he does not afflict willingly
and soon pities their
sorrows. From this we should learn to be ourselves slow to anger; if the Lord
is longsuffering under our great provocations how much more ought we to endure
the errors of our brethren! And plenteous in mercy. Rich in it
quick in it
overflowing with it; and so had he need to be or we should soon be consumed. He
is God
and not man
or our sins would soon drown his love; yet above the
mountains of our sins the floods of his mercy rise.
"Plenteous
grace with thee is found
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound
Make and keep me pure within."
All
the world tastes of his sparing mercy
those who hear the gospel partake of his
inviting mercy
the saints live by his saving mercy
are preserved by his
upholding mercy
are cheered by his consoling mercy
and will enter heaven
through his infinite and everlasting mercy. Let grace abounding be our hourly
song in the house of our pilgrimage. Let those who feel that they live upon it
glorify the plenteous fountain from which it so spontaneously flows.
Verse
9. He will not always chide. He will sometimes
for he cannot
endure that his people should harbour sin in their hearts
but not for ever
will he chasten them; as soon as they turn to him and forsake their evil ways
he will end the quarrel. He might find constant cause for striving with us
for
we have always something in us which is contrary to his holy mind
but he
refrains himself lest our spirits should fail before him. It will be profitable
for any one of us who may be at this time out of conscious fellowship with the
Lord
to inquire at his hands the reason for his anger
saying
"Shew me
wherefore thou contendest with me?" For he is easily entreated of
and
soon ceaseth from his wrath. When his children turn from their sins he soon
turns from his chidings. Neither will he keep his anger for ever. He bears no
grudges. The Lord would not have his people harbour resentments
and in his own
course of action he sets them a grand example. When the Lord has chastened his
child he has done with his anger: he is not punishing as a judge
else might
his wrath burn on
but he is acting as a father
and
therefore
after a few
blows he ends the matter
and presses his beloved one to his bosom as if
nothing had happened; or if the offence lies too deep in the offender's nature
to be thus overcome
he continues to correct
but he never ceases to love
and
he does not suffer his anger with his people to pass into the next world
but
receives his erring child into his glory.
Verse
10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities. Else had Israel perished outright
and we also
had long ago been consigned to the lowest hell. We ought to praise the Lord for
what he has not done as well as for what he has wrought for us; even the
negative side deserves our adoring gratitude. Up to this moment
at our very
worst estate
we have never suffered as we deserved to suffer; our daily lot
has not been apportioned upon the rule of what we merited
but on the far
different measure of undeserved kindness. Shall we not bless the Lord? Every
power of our being might have been rent with anguish
instead of which we are
all in the enjoyment of comparative happiness
and many of us are exceedingly
favoured with inward joy; let then every faculty
yea
all that is within us
bless his holy name.
Verse
11. For as the heaven is high above the earth
so great is his
mercy toward them that fear him. Boundless in extent towards his chosen is
the mercy of the Lord; it is no more to be measured than the height of heaven
or the heaven of heavens. "Like the height of the heavens" is
the original language
which implies other points of comparison besides extent
and suggests sublimity
grandeur
and glory. As the lofty heavens canopy the
earth
water it with dews and rains
enlighten it with sun
moon
and stars
and look down upon it with unceasing watchfulness
even so the Lord's mercy
from above covers all his chosen
enriches them
embraces them
and stands for
ever as their dwellingplace. The idea of our version is a very noble one
for
who shall tell how exceeding great is the height of heaven? Who can reach the
first of the fixed stars
and who can measure the utmost bounds of the starry
universe? Yet so great is his mercy! Oh
that great little word so! All this
mercy is for "them that fear him; "there must be a humble
hearty
reverence of his authority
or we cannot taste of his grace. Godly fear is one
of the first products of the divine life in us
it is the beginning of wisdom
yet it fully ensures to its possessor all the benefits of divine mercy
and is
indeed
here and elsewhere
employed to set forth the whole of true religion.
Many a true child of God is full of filial fear
and yet at the same time
stands trembling as to his acceptance with God; this trembling is groundless
but it is infinitely to be preferred to that baseborn presumption
which
incites men to boast of their adoption and consequent security
when all the
while they are in the gall of bitterness. Those who are presuming upon the
infinite extent of divine mercy
should here be led to consider that although
it is wide as the horizon and high as the stars
yet it is only meant for them
that fear the Lord
and as for obstinate rebels
they shall have justice
without mercy measured out to them.
Verse
12. As far as the east is from the west
so far hath he removed
our transgressions from us. O glorious verse
no word even upon the
inspired page can excel it! Sin is removed from us by a miracle of love! What a
load to move
and yet is it removed so far that the distance is incalculable.
Fly as far as the wing of imagination can bear you
and if you journey through
space eastward
you are further from the west at every beat of your wing. If
sin be removed so far
then we may be sure that the scent
the trace
the very
memory of it must be entirely gone. If this be the distance of its removal
there is no shade of fear of its ever being brought back again; even Satan
himself could not achieve such a task. Our sins are gone
Jesus has borne them
away. Far as the place of sunrise is removed from yonder west
where the sun
sinks when his day's journey is done
so far were our sins carried by our
scapegoat nineteen centuries ago
and now if they be sought for
they shall not
be found
yea
they shall not be
saith the Lord. Come
my soul
awaken thyself
thoroughly and glorify the Lord for this richest of blessings. Hallelujah. The
Lord alone could remove sin at all
and he has done it in a godlike fashion
making a final sweep of all our transgressions.
Verse
13. Like as a father pitieth his children
so the Lord pitieth
them that fear him. To those who truly reverence his holy name
the Lord is
a father and acts as such. These he pities
for in the very best of men the
Lord sees much to pity
and when they are at their best state they still need
his compassion. This should check every propensity to pride
though at the same
time it should yield us the richest comfort. Fathers feel for their children
especially when they are in pain
they would like to suffer in their stead
their sighs and groans cut them to the quick: thus sensitive towards us is our
heavenly Father. We do not adore a god of stone
but the living God
who is
tenderness itself. He is at this moment compassionating us
for the word is in
the present tense; his pity never fails to flow
and we never cease to need it.
Verse
14. For he knoweth our frame. He knows how we are made
for he
made us. Our make and build
our constitution and temperament
our prevailing
infirmity and most besetting temptation he well perceives
for he searches our
inmost nature. He remembereth that we are dust. Made of dust
dust still
and
ready to return to dust. We have sometimes heard of "the Iron Duke
"
and of iron constitutions
but the words are soon belied
for the Iron Duke is
dissolved
and other men of like rigour are following to the grave
where
"dust to dust" is an appropriate requiem. We too often forget that we
are dust
and try our minds and bodies unduly by excessive mental and bodily
exertion
we are also too little mindful of the infirmities of others
and impose
upon them burdens grievous to be borne; but our heavenly Father never overloads
us
and never fails to give us strength equal to our day
because he always
takes our frailty into account when he is apportioning to us our lot. Blessed
be his holy name for this gentleness towards his frail creatures.
Verse
15. As for man
his days are as grass. He lives on the grass
and lives like the grass. Corn is but educated grass
and man
who feeds on it
partakes of its nature. The grass lives
grows
flowers
falls beneath the
scythe
dries up
and is removed from the field: read this sentence over again
and you will find it the history of man. If he lives out his little day
he is
cut down at last
and it is far more likely that he will wither before he comes
to maturity
or be plucked away on a sudden
long before he has fulfilled his
time. As a flower of the field
so he flourisheth. He has a beauty and a
comeliness even as the meadows have when they are yellow with the king-cups
but
alas
how short-lived! No sooner come than gone
a flash of loveliness and
no more! Man is not even like a flower in the conservatory or in the sheltered
garden border
he grows best according to nature
as the field-flower does
and
like the unprotected beautifier of the pasture
he runs a thousand risks of
coming to a speedy end. A large congregation
in many-coloured attire
always
reminds us of a meadow bright with many hues; and the comparison becomes sadly
true when we reflect
that as the grass and its goodliness soon pass away
even
so will those we gaze upon
and all their visible beauty. Thus
too
must it be
with all that comes of the flesh
even its greatest excellencies and natural
virtues
for "that which is born of the flesh is flesh
"and
therefore is but as grass which withers if but a breath of wind assails it.
Happy are they who
born from above
have in them an incorruptible seed which
liveth and abideth for ever.
Verse
16. For the wind passeth over it
and it is gone. Only a
little wind is needed
not even a scythe is demanded
a breath can do it
for
the flower is so frail.
"If
one sharp wind sweep over the field
It withers in an hour."
How
small a portion of deleterious gas suffices to create a deadly fever
which no
art of man can stay. No need of sword or bullet
a puff of foul air is deadlier
far
and fails not to lay low the healthiest and most stalwart son of man. And
the place thereof shall know it no more. The flower blooms no more. It may have
a successor
but as for itself its leaves are scattered
and its perfume will
never again sweeten the evening air. Man also dies and is gone
gone from his
old haunts
his dear home
and his daily labours
never to return. As far as
this world is concerned
he is as though he never had been; the sun rises
the
moon increases or wanes
summer and winter run their round
the rivers flow
and all things continue in their courses as though they missed him not
so
little a figure does he make in the affairs of nature. Perhaps a friend will
note that he is gone
and say
"One
morn. I missed him on the accustomed hill
Along the heath
and near his favourite tree;
Another came
nor yet beside the rill
Nor up the lawn
nor at the wood was he."
But
when the "dirges due" are silent
beyond a mound of earth
and perhaps
a crumbling stone
how small will be the memorial of our existence upon this
busy scene! True there are more enduring memories
and an existence of another
kind coeval with eternity
but these belong
not to our flesh
which is but
grass
but to a higher life
in which we rise to close fellowship with the
Eternal.
Verse
17. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him. Blessed but! How vast the contrast between
the fading flower and the everlasting God! How wonderful that his mercy should
link our frailty with his eternity
and make us everlasting too! From old
eternity the Lord viewed his people as objects of mercy
and as such chose them
to become partakers of his grace; the doctrine of eternal election is most delightful
to those who have light to see it and love wherewith to accept it. It is a
theme for deepest thought and highest joy. The "to everlasting"
is equally precious. Jehovah changes not
he has mercy without end as well as
without beginning. Never will those who fear him find that either their sins or
their needs have exhausted the great deep of his grace. The main question is
"Do we fear him?" If we are lifting up to heaven the eye of
filial fear
the gaze of paternal love is never removed from us
and it never
will be
world without end. And his righteousness unto children's children.
Mercy to those with whom the Lord makes a covenant is guaranteed by righteousness;it
is because he is just that he never revokes a promise
or fails to fulfil it.
Our believing sons and their seed for ever will find the word of the Lord the
same: to them will he display his grace and bless them even as he has blessed
us. Let us sing
then
for posterity. The past commands our praise and the
future invites it. For our descendants let us sing as well as pray. If Abraham
rejoiced concerning his seed
so also may the godly
for "instead of the
fathers shall be the children
"and as the last Psalm told us in its
concluding verse
"the children of thy servants shall continue
and their
seed shall be established before thee."
Verse
18. Children of the righteous are not
however
promised the Lord's
mercy without stipulation
and this verse completes the statement of the last
by adding: To such as keep his covenant
and to those that remember his
commandments to do them. The parents must be obedient and the children too.
We are here bidden to abide by the covenant
and those who run off to any other
confidence than the finished work of Jesus are not among those who obey this
precept; those with whom the covenant is really made stand firm to it
and
having begun in the Spirit
they do not seek to be made perfect in the flesh.
The truly godly keep the Lord's commands carefully—they "remember";
they observe them practically—"to do them": moreover they do
not pick and choose
but remember "his commandments" as such
without exalting one above another as their own pleasure or convenience may
dictate. May our offspring be a thoughtful
careful
observant race
eager to
know the will of the Lord
and prompt to follow it fully
then will his mercy
enrich and honour them from generation to generation. This verse also suggests
praise
for who would wish the Lord to smile on those who will not regard his
ways? That were to encourage vice. From the manner in which some men
unguardedly preach the covenant
one might infer that God would bless a certain
set of men however they might live
and however they might neglect his laws.
But the word teaches not so. The covenant is not legal
but it is holy. It is
all of grace from first to last
yet it is no panderer to sin; on the contrary
one of its greatest promises is
"I will put my laws in their hearts and
in their minds will I write them"; its general aim is the sanctifying of a
people unto God
zealous for good works
and all its gifts and operations work
in that direction. Faith keeps the covenant by looking alone to Jesus
while at
the same time by earnest obedience it remembers the Lord's commandments to do
them.
Verse
19. The LORD has prepared his throne in the heavens. Here is a
grand burst of song produced by a view of the boundless power
and glorious
sovereignty of Jehovah. His throne is fixed
for that is the word; it is
estabhshed
settled
immovable.
"He
sits on no precarious throne
Nor borrows leave to be."
About
his government there is no alarm
no disorder
no perturbation
no hurrying to
and fro in expedients
no surprises to be met or unexpected catastrophes to be
warded off;—all is prepared and fixed
and he himself has prepared and fixed
it. He is no delegated sovereign for whom a throne is set up by another; he is
an autocrat
and his dominion arises from himself and is sustained by his own
innate power. This matchless sovereignty is the pledge of our security
the
pillar upon which our confidence may safely lean. And his kingdom ruleth over
all. Over the whole universe he stretches his sceptre. He now reigns
universally
he always has done so
and he always will. To us the world may
seem rent with anarchy
but he brings order out of confusion. The warring
elements are marching beneath his banner when they most wildly rush onward in
furious tempest. Great and small
intelligent and material
willing and
unwilling
fierce or gentle
—all
all are under his sway. His is the only universal
monarchy
he is the blessed and only Potentate
King of kings and Lord of
lords. A clear view of his ever active
and everywhere supreme providence
is
one of the most delightful of spiritual gifts; he who has it cannot do
otherwise than bless the Lord with all his soul. Thus has the sweet singer
hymned the varied attributes of the Lord as seen in nature
grace
and
providence
and now he gathers up all his energies for one final outburst of
adoration
in which he would have all unite
since all are subjects of the
Great King.
Verse
20. Bess the Lord
ye his angels
that excel in strength.
Finding his work of praise growing upon his hands
he calls upon "the
firstborn sons of light" to speak the praises of the Lord
as well they
may
for as Milton says
they best can tell. Dwelling nearer to that prepared
throne than we as yet have leave to climb
they see in nearer vision the glory
which we would adore. To them is given an exceeding might of intellect
and
voice
and force which they delight to use in sacred services for him; let them
now turn all their strength into that solemn song which we would send up to the
third heaven. To him who gave angelic strength let all angelic strength be
given. They are his angels
and therefore they are not loath to ring out his
praises. That do his commandments
hearkening unto the voice of his word. We
are bidden to do these commandntents
and alas we fail; let those unfallen
spirits
whose bliss it is never to have transgressed
give to the Lord the
glory of their holiness. They hearken for yet more commands
obeying as much by
reverent listening as by energetic action
and in this they teach us how the
heavenly will should evermore be done; yet even for this surpassing excellence
let them take no praise
but render all to him who has made and kept them what
they are. O that we could hear them chant the high praises of God
as did the
shepherds on that greatest of all birth nights—
"When
such music sweet
Their hearts and ears did greet
As never was by mortal finger struck;
Divinely-warbled voice
Answering the stringed noise
As well their souls in blissful rapture took:
The air
such pleasure loth to lose
With thousand echoes still prolongs each heavenly close."
Our
glad heart anticipates the hour when we shall hear them "harping in loud
and solemn guise
" and all to the sole praise of God.
Verse
21. Bless ye the Lord
all ye his hosts; to whatever race of
creatures ye may belong
for ye are all his troops
and he is the
Generallissimo of all your armies. The fowl of the air and the fish of the sea
and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea
should all unite in
praising their Creator
after the best of their ability. Ye ministers of his
that do his pleasure; in whatever way ye serve him
bless him as ye serve. The
Psalmist would have every servant in the Lord's palace unite with him
and all
at once sing out the praises of the Lord. We have attached a new sense to the
word "ministers" in these latter days
and so narrowed it down to
those who serve in word and doctrine. Yet no true minister would wish to alter
it
for we are above all men bound to be the Lord's servants
and we would
beyond all other ministering intelligences or forces
desire to bless the
glorious Lord.
Verse
22. Bless the Lord
all his works in all places of his dominion.
Here is a trinity of blessing for the thrice blessed God
and each one of the
three blessings is an enlargement upon that which went before. This is the most
comprehensive of all
for what can be a wider call than to all in all places?
See how finite man can awaken unbounded praise! Man is but little
yet
placing
his hands upon the keys of the great organ of the universe
he wakes it to
thunders of adoration! Redeemed man is the voice of nature
the priest in the
temple of creation
the precentor in the worship of the universe. O that all
the Lord's works on earth were delivered from the vanity to which they were
made subject
and brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God: the
time is hastening on and will most surely come; then will all the Lord's works
bless him indeed. The immutable promise is ripening
the sure mercy is on its
way. Hasten
ye winged hours! Bless the Lord
O my soul. He closes on his
key-note. He cannot be content to call on others without taking his own part;
nor because others sing more loudly and perfectly
will he be content to be set
aside. O my soul
come home to thyself and to thy God
and let the little world
within thee keep time and tune to the spheres which are ringing out Jehovah's praise.
O infinitely blessed Lord
favour us with this highest blessing of being for
ever and ever wholly engrossed in blessing Thee.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. A Psalm of
David
which he wrote when carried out of himself as far as heaven
saith Beza.
John Trapp.
Whole
Psalm. How often have saints in Scotland sung this Psalm in days when
they celebrated the Lord's Supper! It is thereby specially known in our
land. It is connected also with a remarkable case in the days of John Knox. Elizabeth
Adamson
a woman who attended on his preaching
"because he more fully
opened the fountain of God's mercies than others did
"was led to Christ
and to rest
on hearing this Psalm
after enduring such agony of soul that she
said
concerning racking pains of body
"A thousand years of this torment
and ten times more joined"
are not to be compared to a quarter of an hour
of my soul's trouble. She asked for this Psalm again before departing: "It
was in receiving it that my troubled soul first tasted God's mercy
which is
now sweeter to me than if all the kingdoms of the earth were given me to
possess." Andrew A. Bonar.
Whole
Psalm. The number of verses in this Psalm is that of the letters of the
Hebrew alphabet; and the completeness of the whole is further testified by its
return at the close to the words with which it started
"Bless the Lord
O
my soul." J. F. Thrupp.
Whole
Psalm. The Psalm
in regard to number
is an alphabetical one
harmonized in such a way as that the concluding turns back into the
introductory verse
the whole being in this manner finished and rounded off. In
like manner
the name Jehovah occurs eleven times. The Psalm is divided into
two strophes
the first of ten and the second of twelve verses. The ten is
divided by the five
and the twelve falls into three divisions
each of four
verses. Jehovah occurs in the first strophe four
and in the second seven
times. The Psalm bears the character of quiet tenderness. It is a still clear
brook of the praise of God. In accordance with this
we find that the verses
are of equal length as to structure
and consist regularly of two members. It
is only at the conclusion
where the tone rises
that the verses become longer:
the vessel is too small for the feeling. The testimony which the title
bears on behalf of the composition of the Psalm by David
is confirmed by the
fact that the Psalm in passages
the independence of which cannot be mistaken
bears a striking resemblance to the other Psalms of David
and by the
connection with Psalm 102 David here teaches his posterity to render thanks
as in the previous Psalm he had taught them to pray: the deliverance
from deep distress which formed there the subject of prayer
forms here the
subject of thanks. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Whole
Psalm. It is observable that no petition occurs throughout the entire
compass of these twenty-two verses. Not a single word of supplication is in the
whole Psalm addressed to the Most High. Prayer
fervent
heartfelt prayer
had
doubtless been previously offered on the part of the Psalmist
and answered by
his God. Innumerable blessings had been showered down from above in
acknowledgment of David's supplications; and
therefore
an overflowing
gratitude now bursts forth from their joyful recipient. He touches every chord of
his harp and of his heart together
and pours forth a spontaneous melody of
sweetest sound and purest praise. John Stevenson
in "Gratitude: an
Exposition of the Hundred and Third Psalm
"1856.
Verse
1. Bless the LORD
O my soul. O how well they are fitted! for
what work so fit for my soul as this? Who so fit for this work as my soul? My
body
God knows
is gross and heavy
and very unfit for so sublime a work. No
my soul
it is thou must do it; and indeed what hast thou else to do? it is the
very work for which thou were made
and O that thou wert as fit to do the work
as the work is fit for thee to do! But
alas
thou art become in a manner
earthy
at least hast lost a great part of thy abilities
and will never be
able to go through with this great work thyself alone. If to bless the Lord
were no more but to say
Lord
Lord
like to them that cried
"The temple
of the Lord
the temple of the Lord; "then my tongue alone would be
sufficient for it
and I should not need to trouble any other about it; but to
bless the Lord is an eminent work
and requires not only many but very able
agents to perform it; and therefore
my soul
when thou goest about it
go not
alone; but
take with thee "all that is within thee; "all the
forces in my whole magazine
whether it be my heart
or my spirits; whether my
will
or my affections; whether my understanding
or my memory; take them all
with thee
and bless the Lord. Sir R. Baker.
Verse
1. All that is within me. The literal translation of the form
here used is my insides or inner parts
the strong and
comprehensive meaning of the plural being further enhanced by the addition of
all
as if to preclude exception and reserve
and comprehend within the scope
of the address all the powers and affections. J. A. Alexander.
Verse
1. All that is within me
etc. Let your conscience
"bless the Lord
"by unvarying fidelity. Let your judgment
bless Him
by decisions in accordance with his word. Let your imagination
bless him
by pure and holy musings. Let your affections praise him
by
loving whatsoever he loves. Let your desires bless him
by seeking only
his glory. Let your memory bless him
by not forgetting any of his
benefits. Let your thoughts bless him
by meditating on his
excellencies. Let your hope praise him
by longing and looking for the
glory that is to be revealed. Let your every sense bless him by its
fealty
your every word by its truth
and your every act by its
integrity. John Stevenson.
Verse
1. Bless the LORD
O my soul. You have often heard
that when
God is said to bless men
and they on the other hand are excited to bless him
the word is taken in two very different senses. God is the only fountain of
being and happiness
from which all good ever flows; and hence he is said to
bless his creatures when he bestows mercies and favours upon them
gives them
any endowments of body and mind
delivers them from evils
and is the source of
their present comforts and future hopes. But in this sense
you will see there
is no possibility of any creature's blessing God; for as his infinite and
unblemished perfection renders him incapable of receiving any higher
excellency
or improvement in happiness; so
could we put the supposition that
this immense ocean of good might be increased
it is plain that we
who receive
our very being and everything that we have or are from him
could in no case
contribute thereto. To bless God
then
is
with an ardent affection
humbly to acknowledge those divine excellencies
which render him the best and
greatest of beings
the only object worthy of the highest adoration: it is to
give him the praise of all those glorious attributes which adorn his nature
and are so conspicuously manifested in his works and ways. To bless God
is to
embrace every proper opportunity of owning our veneration and esteem of his
excellent greatness
and to declare to all about us
as loudly as we can
the
goodness and grace of his conduct towards men
and our infinite obligations for
all our enjoyments to him
in whom we live
move
and have our being.
And a right blessing of God must take its rise from a heart that is full
of esteem and gratitude
which puts life into the songs of praise. And then
of
all others
the most lively and acceptable method of blessing God
is a holy
conversation and earnest endeavor to be purified from all iniquity; for
blessing of God consists
as I told you
in adoring his excellencies
and
expressing our esteem and veneration of them: but what can be so effectual a
way of doing this
as the influence that the views of them have upon our lives?
That person best exalts the glory of the divine power
who fears God above all
and trembles at the apprehensions of his wrath; and of his justice
who flees
from sin
which exposes him to the inexorable severity thereof; and of his
love
who is softened thereby into grateful returns of obedience; and then we
celebrate his holiness
when we endcavour to imitate it in our lives
and
abandon everything that is an abomination to the eyes of his purity. William
Dunlop
1692-1720.
Verse
1. O my soul. God's eye is chiefly upon the soul: bring a
hundred dishes to table
he will carve of none but this; this is the savoury
meat he loves. He who is best
will be served with the best; when we give him
the soul in a duty
then we give him the flower and the cream; by a holy
chemistry we still out the spirits. A soul inflamed in service is the cup of
"spiced wine of the juice of the pomegranate" (So 8:2) which the
spouse makes Christ to drink of. Thomas Watson.
Verse
1. Bless his holy name. The name of God frequently
signifies his nature and attributes
in Scripture. Now
holiness is the
glory of this name; the purity of God is that which beautifies all his
perfections
and renders them worthy to be praised. His eternity
and
knowledge
and power
without justice
and goodness
and truth
might indeed
frighten and confound us; but could not inflame our love
or engage us to
hearty blessing. But when infinite mightiness
and unerring wisdom
and eternal
dominion
are mixed with unchangeable love
and inviolable veracity and
goodness
which exalts itself above all his works; when thus it becomes a holy
name
then the divine perfections are rendered truly amiable
and suitable
objects of our hope and confidence and loudest songs; so that you see how
elegantly the Psalmist upon this occasion mentions the purity of God: "Bless
his holy name." And besides this
there is indeed nothing that more
exalts the glory of divine grace and of redeeming love towards a soul
than the
consideration of God's holiness;for if your Maker were not of purer
eyes than man is
yea
if his hatred to sin
and love to righteousness
were not greater than that of the noblest angel
his pardoning of sin
and
patience towards transgressors would not be such a wonderful condescension; but
is his name infinitely holy so that "the heavens are not clean in his
sight?" Is the smallest iniquity the abhorrence of his soul
and what
he hates with a perfect hatred? Surely
then
his grace and love must be
incomparably greater than our thoughts. William Dunlop.
Verses
1-2. The well is seldom so full that water will at first pumping flow
forth; neither is the heart commonly so spiritual
after our best care in our
worldly converse (much less when we somewhat overdo therein) as to pour itself
into God's bosom freely
without something to raise and elevate it; yea
often
the springs of grace lie so low
that pumping only will not fetch the heart up
to a praying frame
but arguments must be poured into the soul before the
affections rise. Hence are those soliloquies and discourses which we find holy
men use with their own hearts to bring them into a gracious temper
suitable
for communion with God in ordinances. It seems by these verses] David either
found or feared his heart would not be in so good a frame as he desired;
consequently he redoubles his charge: he found his heart somewhat drowsy
which
made him thus rouse himself. William Guruall.
Verses
1-3. The Psalmist's gratitude here has four attributes.
The
first is personal. Bless the Lord
my soul. He has the self-same
application in the close of the Psalm
after he has called on others to do this
work. Our religion must be social as well as personal: but while it must not
end at home
it must begin at home; and relative religion
without personal
will always be found wanting in excitement
in energy
in extent
in
continuance
and very commonly in success.
Secondly
It is fervent. And all that is within me
bless his holy name—all
my thoughts
my feelings
my understanding
my will
my memory
my conscience
my affections
my passions.
"If
there be passions in my soul
(And passions
Lord
there be);
Let them be all at thy control
My gracious Lord
for thee."
Thirdly
it is rational
and demanded by the facts of his past life. Therefore
"forget not all his benefits." Nothing can properly affect or
influence us when it is out of our recollection. "Out of sight out of
mind; "and out of mind
out of motive. Whence arose the ingratitude of the
Jews of old? Bad memories. "Of the rock that begat thee thou art
unmindful
and hast forgotten the God that formed thee." "The ox
knoweth his owner
and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know
my
people doth not consider." It should therefore be your concern
not only
to recall your mercies
but to reckon them.
Lastly
it is specific:Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all
thy diseases. When all the words in a discourse are emphatic
nothing is
emphatic
when we dwell on everything
we dwell on nothing effectively. We are
more struck
in a landscape
with a selected point of vision for inspection
than by the general prospect. David was a poet
and understood poetry well; and
poetry differs from philosophy. The one seeks to rise from particular facts and
instances
to establish general principles and rules: the other is always for
descending from generalization to particularization; and much of its beauty and
force arises from individualities. William Jay
1849.
Verse
2. Bless the Lord
O my soul. David found some dulness and
drowsiness; hence he so often puts the thorn to his breast; hence he so
impetuously instigateth his soul
as one here phraseth it. John Trapp.
Verse
2. Forget not. This touches the secret spring of so much
ingratitude—forgetfulness
the want of re-collection
or gathering together
again of all the varied threads of mercy. Compare De 6:12; De 8:11
14. "Si
oblivisceris
tacebis" (If thou forgettest
thou wilt be silent). J.
J. S. Perowne.
Verse
2. Forget not all his benefits. That is
forget not any of
his benefits
as the form of speech in the original doth import. David
Dickson.
Verse
2. Benefits. The word rendered "benefits"—lwmg gemul
means properly an act
work
doing
whether good or evil
Ps 137:8; and then
desert
or what a man deserves for his act; recompense. It is rendered deserving
in Jud 9:16; benefit
as here
in 2Ch 32:25; desert
Ps 28:4; reward
Ps 94:2 Isa 3:11 Ob 1:15; recompense
Pr 12:14 Isa 35:4 59:18 66:6 Jer
51:6 La 3:64 Joe 3:4
7. The proper reference here is to the Divine dealings
to what God had done
as a reason for blessing his name. His dealings
with the Psalmist had been such as to call for praise and gratitude. What those
dealings particularly were he specifies in the following verses. Albert
Barnes.
Verse
3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Thine iniquities are
more than can be numbered; and they are an intolerable burden
so that thy soul
under them "can in no wise lift up herself." He forgiveth them all.
He relieveth thee of all. He taketh the dreadful burden from thy back
the galling yoke from thy neck
and makes thee free... Thine iniquities are
in-equities. There is nothing just or right in thee. Thy very nature is an
inequity bringing forth nothing but in-equities. Inequities towards thy God
in-equities towards thy neighbour
and in-equities towards thyself
make up the
whole of thy life. Thou art a bad tree
and a bad tree cannot bring forth good
fruit. John Pulsford
in. "Quiet Hours
" 1857.
Verse
3. All thine iniqities. In this lovely and well-known Psalm
we have great fulness of expression
in reference to the vital subject of
redemption. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. It is not "some"
or "many of thine iniquities." This would never do. If so much
as the very smallest iniquity
in thought
word
or act
were left unforgiven
we should be just as badly off
just as far from God
just as unfit for heaven
just as exposed to hell
as though the whole weight of our sins were yet upon
us. Let the reader ponder this deeply. It does not say
"Who forgiveth
thine iniquities previous to conversion." There is no such notion as this
in Scripture. When God forgives
he forgives like himself. The source
the
channel
the power
and the standard of forgiveness are all divine. When God
cancels a man's sins
he does so according to the measure in which Christ bore
those sins. Now
Christ not only bore some or many of the
believer's sins
he bore them "all
"and
therefore
God forgives "all."
God's forgiveness stretches to the length of Christ's atonement; and Christ's
atonement stretches to the length of every one of the believer's sins
past
present
and future. "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all
sin." 1Jo 1:9. "Things New and Old
"1858.
Verse
3. Who healeth all thy diseases. In one of the prisons of a
certain country
was a man who had committed high treason: for this crime he
was in due time tried
and
being found guilty
was condemned to die. But more
than this; he was afflicted with an inward disease
which generally proves
mortal. Now we may truly say
that this man is doubly dead; that his
life is forfeited twice over: the laws of his country have pronounced him
guilty of death
and therefore his life is forfeited once to the laws of
his country
and
if he had not died in this way
he must die of his
disease; he is
therefore
"twice dead." Now suppose that the
sovereign of that country had made up his mind to wish to save that prisoner's
life
could he save it? He could indeed take off the penalty of the law;
he could give him a free pardon
and so restore the life
as sure as it is
forfeited by the just sentence of the law; but
unless he could also send a
physician
who could cure the man of his disease
he would die by that
and his pardon would only lengthen out for a few weeks or months a miserable
existence. And if this disease were not only a mortal disease
but an infectious
one
likely to spread itself by the breath of the patient
and a contagious
one
likely to spread by the touch of the patient's body or clothes
then it would be dangerous to others to come near that man; and unless he were
cured
and thoroughly and entirely cured
the man
though pardoned
would still
be a fit inmate only for the pest-house
and could not be received into the
houses of the healthy. You have seen such a case as this
brethren; you
are at this very moment
perhaps
sitting close by a person in this case yes
and perhaps you are in this very case yourself! Perhaps
do I say? I should
say
you ARE in this very case
unless you are really and truly a Christian
a
believer in Christ Jesus. W. Weldon Champneys
1842.
Verse
3. All thy diseases. The body experienceth the melancholy
consequences of Adam's offence
and is subject to many infirmities; but the
soul is subject to as many. What is pride
but lunacy; what is anger
but a
fever; what is avarice
but a dropsy; what is lust
but a leprosy; what is
sloth
but a dead palsy? Perhaps there are spiritual maladies similar to all
corporeal ones. George Horne.
Verse
3. All thy diseases. O my soul
consider the multitude of infirmities
to which thou art subject; thou hast many suggestions of the flesh; and thou
art apt to yield unto them
and strivest not against them by earnest prayer and
holy meditations; this is an infirmity. In thy prayers to God
thy thoughts are
often wandering
and thou thinkest of other matters
far unworthy of that great
Majesty to whom thou prayest: or if not so
yet thou art quickly weary
thy
spirits are drowsy in it
and thou hadst rather be doing of something else;
this is an infirmity. And indeed thou hast infirmities in all thy senses. In
thy seeing
thou canst see a mote in thy brother's eye
and canst not see a
beam in thine own eye. In thy smelling
thou thinkest suavis odor lucri ex
re qualibet
that the savour of gain is sweet
from whence soever it rise.
In thy hearing
thou art gladder to hear the profane and idle discourses
than
such as be serious and holy; these are thy infirmities: and
O my soul
if I
should cut thee up into as many parts as an anatomist
and examine the
infirmities of every part
should I not have cause
just cause
to cry out with
Saint Paul
O wretch that I am
who shall deliver me from this body of sin? Who
shall heal me of all these infirmities? for whether we call them sins
and then
God forgives them; or call them infirmities
and then he heals them; they are
to us
all one benefit; in God
all one kindness; that as either of them is
well worth remembering; so for both of them
we have just cause to bless him
and to praise his name. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
3. All thy diseases. Our understandings are so bad
that they understand not their own badness; our wills
which are the
queens of our souls
become the vassals of sin; our memory
like jet
good only to draw straws and treasure up trifles of no moment; our consciences
through errors in our own understanding
sometimes accusing us when we are
innocent
sometimes acquitting us when we are guilty; our affections all
disaffected and out of order. Must not that needs be a monstrous face
wherein
the blueness which should be in the veins is in the lips
the redness which
should be in the cheeks
in the nose; the hair that should grow on the head
on
the face? and must not our souls needs seem ugly in the sight of God
who have
grief growing there where joy should
and joy where grief should? We love what
we should hate and hate where we should love; we fear where no fear is
and
fear not where we ought to fear; and all our affections either mistake their
object
or exceed their due measure. Thomas Fuller.
Verse
4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction. From his earliest
days the Psalmist was the child of Providence. Many were the hairbreadth
escapes and the wonderful deliverances
which he experienced. Dangers of
various kinds presented themselves as his years advanced. The jaw of the lion
and the paw of the bear
at various times threatened to terminate his
existence
and at others the ruthless hand of man. The same God who delivered
him from the sword of Goliath
rescued his life from the javelin of Saul. The
Almighty Friend who had covered his head in the day of battle
delivered him
at one moment
from the lords of the Philistines
saved him at another out of
the hands of the men of Keilah; and again preserved to him his life and throne
from the unnatural rebellion of his own son. Well
therefore
might the
Psalmist stir up his soul
and all that was within him
to bless the Lord with
most fervent gratitude
who
by so many signal deliverances
had "redeemed
his life from destruction." John Stevenson.
Verse
4. Who redeemeth. Preservation from destruction
lawgh haggoel
properly
redemption of life by the kinsman;possibly looking forward
in
the spirit of prophecy
to him who became partaker of our flesh and blood
that
he might have the right to redeem our souls from death by dying in our stead. Adam
Clarke.
Verse
4. From the pit
including death
the grave
Hades. The
Targum renders "from Gehenna." J. J. S. Perowne.
Verse
4. Tender mercies. I do not know that I can do better than
tell you a little incident that took place in my native town of Stirling.
Workmen were blasting the castle rock
near where it abuts upon a walk that
lies open to the street. The train was laid and lit
and an explosion was
momentarily expected. Suddenly trotting round the great wall of the cliff
came
a little child going straight to where the match burned. The men shouted—(it
was mercy)—and by their very terror in shouting
alarmed and bewildered
the poor little thing. By this time the mother also had come round: in a moment
saw the danger; opened wide her arms
and cried from her very heart
"Come
to me
my darling
"—(that was tender mercy)—and instantly
with eager pattering feet
and little arms opened to her arms
and tear-filled
eyes answering to her eyes—the little thing ran back and away
and stopped not
until she was clasped in her mother's bosom—wealth of sunny hair loosened on
it
and lips coral red pressed to mother's pallid lip of fear—as the motherly
heart gave way to tears
in the thought of so imperilled an escape: for it was
barely by a second
as the roar of the shattered rock told. Alexander B.
Grosart
in "The Pastor and Helper of Joy
"1865.
Verse
5. Who satisfieth thy mouth. The word rendered "mouth
" is Kyre
which is rendered ornaments in our version in all
other passages—eleven in number—where it occurs
except here and in Ps 32:9
where it is rendered "mouth; "and even there it ought properly
be translated ornament
and here the sense seems to be thy ornament
tbat which is thy glory
thy spirit
Ps 16:9 62:8. It is true that the soul
yvpg is here addressed (Ps 103:1); but the spirit may be called the ornament
or glory of the soul. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse
5. Satisfieth thy mouth. Kimchi understands the phrase as
expressing David's recovery from sickness. In sickness the soul abhorreth
bread
and even dainty meat
Job 33:20. The physician
too
limits the diet of
the patient
and prescribes things which are nauseous to the palate. The
commentator
therefore
supposes that David here describes the blessing of health
by his mouth being filled with good things. Editorial Note to Calvin
in loc.
Verse
5. Satisfieth. God can so satisfy the soul
that each chink
and cranny therein shall be filled with spiritual joy. Thomas Fuller.
Verse
5. With good things. Mark
what does the Lord satisfy with? "good
things." Not rich things
not many things
not everything
I ask for
but "good things." All my need fully
supplied
and everything "good." Goodness is God expressed.
All his blessings partake of his own nature. They are holy blessings
holy
mercies. Everything that satisfies must have the nature of God in it.
Nothing else will ever "satisfy." The heart was made for God
and
only God can meet it. Frederick Whitfield
1874.
Verse
5. Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. It is an ancient
fable that the eagle is able to renew his youth when very old
and poetical
allusion is made to it in this Psalm; but this idea is doubtless founded in
reality on the great longevity of the bird
and its power
in common with other
birds
of moulting its plumage periodically
and so increasing its strength and
activity. Hugh Mac Millan. {1}
{1}
We might have filled much of our space with the fables from the rabbis and the
fathers in reference to eagles; but they are too absurd
and ought never to be
repeated. We hope
therefore
that the reader will excuse if not commend the
omission.
Verse
5. Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.—The Scripture knows
nothing of the idea that the eagle when old renews its youth. That there is
nothing of this kind contained in Isa 40:31
which is commonly appealed to
but
that it is rather the powerful flight of the eagle that is there referred to
"they mount up on wings like the eagle
they run and are not weary
"is evident from the parallel
fly
run
march. E.W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
5. Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Thy activity will renew
itself like the eagle. That is to say
From day to day he will receive and
increase his strength and rigour
so that he may thrive and flourish like the
eagle. The comparison with the eagle is not drawn in point of renovation
but in point of vigour and activity continually renewing itself; as Isa
40:31
says
"They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength
they shall mount up with wings as eagles." Venema.
Verse
5. Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. This renovation of
his youth may be understood three ways. First
as to his natural state
or
bodily strength. Secondly
as to his civil state
or worldly successes
as to
his honour and kingly-renown. Thirdly
as to his spiritual state
or the
heightening of his gifts
graces
and comforts. It is probable David had found
a declension in all these
and at last
through the goodness of God and his
blessing upon him
the renewing of them all from that oldness to a youthfulness
again
like that of eagles. Joseph Garyl.
Verse
5. Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. However bold it may
sound
we say not too much when we speak of an eternal youth
as the
glorious privilege of the devout servant of the Lord
but of him alone. All
that with reason charms and captivates in the appearance of youth
is seen in
heightened measure where the spiritual life develops itself undisturbed in
fellowship with God. Does the innocence of youth attract you? In the
natural life it is but too frequently a misleading appearance; but in the life
of the soul it returns to a certain extent when the heart is purified through
the power of the Holy Ghost
and the life is renewed in conformity with that of
Christ the Lord. Does the enjoyment of youth surpass in your estimation
that of any other here below? Be it so; yet all too speedily it is driven away
by the cares of later years
whilst enjoyment free from care even in the dark
days may dwell in the heart whereon has descended the peace of God through
faith. The strength of youth
seems it to you desirable? Ah! day by day
stamps truth upon the words: "Youth shall faint and be weary; "but
even when the natural strength has already long attained its zenith
the
Christian often feels himself elevated through a power from on high
which
lifts him above physical weakness; and what no strength of sinew or muscle
could accomplish is attained through the power of implicit faith. Yea
even the
beautiful developement which the period of youth shows you
ye would not
seek in vain in that man who
leaning on God's hand
forgetting the things that
are behind
stretches forward from light to light
from strength to strength
from bliss to bliss. How
finally
can hope
that makes the youthful
heart beat high with throbs of joy
be lacking to him? The fairest part of life
the sensual man sees soon behind him
the spiritual man always in prospect; and
like the eagle
this last can often from the low atmosphere round him soar to
the pure
clear ether
whence already from afar the image
nay
the ineffable
reality
shows him a more than earthly joy.
Eternal
youth: it may
yet much more than for David
now be the portion of every
Christian
but for these alone. Without faith and hope in the heart
even the
bravest determination to remain young always
or at least as long as possible
must give away before the first great storm of life. Yet even when faith and
hope are not strangers to us
whence is it that in our spiritual life there is
frequently so little of the "eagle" spoken of here
and so
much of the "sparrow alone upon the housetop
"referred to in Ps
102:7 Can it be that we allow ourselves too little to be satisfied with the
good things of which David had spoken immediately before; that is to say
that
we live so little on the best things which God has to bestow
—his word
his
Spirit
his grace? Only through these do we attain that lasting second birth
of which the eagle is the emblem
and an unfading youth of heart the
inestimable fruit. Ye who are young in years
seek this undying youth above all
the joys of early life! Recover it
ye middle-aged
in living fellowship with
him who maketh all things new within! Preserve it
old friends of God and of
his Christ
as your fairest crown here on earth
and the earnest of your bliss
in heaven. And thou
Christian
who sittest down disconsolate
bethink thyself;
the eagle lets his wings hang down
only thereafter to soar with stronger
flight! J.J. Van Oosterzee
in "The Year of Salvation
" 1874.
Verse
6. The LORD executeth rghteousness
&c. Rising from
personal blessings to general
the comprehensive fact
evermore to the glory of
God
is his sympathy with the suffering and oppressed
and his ready and
effective interposition in their ease. Who will not praise him that he careth
so kindly and so gloriously for those who suffer cruel wrongs from wicked
oppressors? Henry Cowles.
Verse
7. He made known his ways unto Moses. When Moses went up to
Mount Sinai and tarried there with God the space of forty days
we may well
think that God in that time
revealed many secrets to him; and particularly "made
known his ways; "(Ex 33:19); not only his ways in which he would have
us to walk
but his ways in which he walks himself
and the course he holds in
the government of worldly affairs; why he suffers the wicked to prosper
and
why the godly to be oppressed. These "ways" of his he made
known to Moses; to the children of Israel
only "his acts." He showed
them his wonderful favours to themselves in the wilderness
and that was his
righteousness; but he showed them not his ways
and the course he held in them:
they saw only the events of things
they saw not the reasons of them
as Moses
did. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse
8. Merciful and gracious
slow to stager and plenteous in mercy.
O my soul
bere are four properties spoken of to be in God
and are all so
necessary
that we could not miss one of them. If he were not "merciful"
we could hope for no pardon; and if he were no more but merciful we could hope
for no more but pardon; but when besides his being merciful he is also "gracious
"this gives us a further hope
a hope of a donative; and then it will
not be what we are worthy to receive
but what it is fit for him to give. If he
were not "slow to anger" we could expect no patience; but when
besides his slowness to anger he is also "full of compassion;
"this makes us expect he will be the good Samaritan
and not only bind up
our wounds
but take care also for our further curing. What though he chide and
be angry for a time; it is but our being patient a while with him
as he a long
time hath been patient with us. Sir R. Baker.
Verse
8. Slow to anger. In Scripture we find that slowness to
anger
and hastiness to be angry
are expressed by the different frame of the
nostrils; as
namely
when the Lord is said to be "slow to anger
" the Hebrew is
long of nostrils. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
8. Plenteous in mercy. dmxykw
"great mighty in mercy
" placing his chief glory in this attribute
and hereby teaching us how to
estimate true greatness. George Horne.
Verse
8. Plenteous in mercy. It is a thing marvellously
satisfactory and pleasing to the heart of a man to be still taking from a great
heap; and upon this ground are those proverbial sayings
There is no fishing
like to fishing in the sea
no service like the service of a king: because in
one there is the greatest plenty and abundance of that kind of pleasure that
fishers look after; and for them that serve
and must live by their service
there is none like that of princes
because they have abundance of reward and
of opportunity whereby to recompense the services of those that do wait and
attend upon them... And upon the same ground it is that the Scriptures
in
several places do not only assert and testify that God is "merciful"
and "gracious
"but abundant in mercy and full of grace; and
not simply that there is redemption in him
but plenteousness of redemption
Ps
86:5 130:7; Isa 55:7
"Let the wicked forsake his way
"etc.;
"Let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him; and to our
God
for he will abundantly pardon." The commodity which we stand in need
of is mercy and the pardon of our sins
because we have been unholy and ungodly
creatures; this commodity is abundantly in God. There it is treasured up as waters
are in the store-house of the sea; there is no end of the treasures of his
grace
mercy
pardon
and compassion. There is no man
being in want
but had
rather go to a rich man's door to be relieved
than to the door of a poor man
if he kuoweth the rich man to be as liberal and as bountifully disposed as the
poor man can be. John Goodwin
on
"Being filled with the Spirit."
Verse
9. He will not always chide. Certainly it is as unpleasing to
God to chide
as it is to us to be chidden; and so little he likes of anger
that he rids his hands of it as fast as th can: he is not so slow in coming to
it
but he is as quick in getting from it; for chiding is a bar to mercy
and
anger an impediment to compassion; nothing is so distasteful to God as that any
block should lie in the way of his mcrcy
or that the liberty of his compassion
should have any cause of restraint: and then we may be sure he will not himself
lay a block in the way with chiding
nor be a cause to restrain his compassion
by keeping his anger. Sir R. Baker.
Verse
9. (Second Clause). To keep anger for ever
corresponds with the French phrase
Je lui garde
Il me la garde
(*"I am watching him
as he has watched to do a bad turn to me")
which we use when the man
who cannot forgive the injuries he has received
cherishes secret revenge in his heart
and waits for an opportunity of
retaliation. Now David denies that God
after the manner of men
keeps anger on
account of injuries done to him
since he condescends to be reconciled. Calvin.
Verse
10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins. Might we not
have expected
with such conduct
that God would have withdrawn from us the
blessing of his providence
withheld from us the communication of his Spirit
permitted us to find the means of grace profitless
left our temptations to
multiply
and suffered us to sink into a state of fixed backsliding?—and then
with our hearts at last sinking into too natural depression
might we not have
seemed to hear him saying to us this day
"Thine own wickedness shall
correct thee
and thy backslidings shall reprove thee; know
therefore
and see
that it is an evil thing and bitter
that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God
and that my fear is not in thee
saith the Lord God of Hosts." Baptist
W. Noel
1798-1873.
Verse
10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins. Why is it that
God hath not dealt with us after our sins? Is it not because he hath dealt with
another after our sins? Another who look our sins upon him; of whom it is said
that "God chastened him in his fierce wrath"? and why did he chasten
him
but for our sins? O gracious God
thou art too just to take revenge twice
for the same faults; and therefore
having turned thy fierce wrath upon him
thou wilt not turn it upon us too; but having rewarded him according to our
iniquities
thou wilt now reward us according to his merits. Sir R. Baker.
Verse
10. Work out the terrible supposition
show the reasons why it has
not yet been actually so; then suggest that it may yet become a terrible fact
and exhort the guilty to seek mercy.
Verse
11. Our mind cannot find a comparison too large for expressing the
superabundant mercy of the Lord toward his people. David Dickson.
Verse
12. As far as the east is from the west. The expression taken
from the distance of the east from west is pitched upon
saith Kimchi
because those two quarters of the world are of greatest extent
being all known
and inhabited. From whence it is that geographies reckon that way their
longitudes
as from north to south their latitudes. Henry Hammond.
Verse
12. When sin is pardoned
it is never charged again; the guilt of it
can no more return than east can become west
or west become east. Stephen
Charnock.
Verse
13. Like as a father pitieth his children
etc. A chaplain to
seamen
at an American port
visited a sailor who appeared to be near death. He
spoke kindly to the man upon the state of his soul
and directed him to cast
himself on Jesus. With an oath
the sick man bade him begone. The chaplain then
told him that he must be faithful to him
for if he died impenitent he would be
lost for ever. The man was sullen and silent
and pretentted to fall asleep.
The visit was repeated more than once
with similar ill success. At length the
chaplain
suspecting that the sailor was a Scotchman
repeated a verse of the
old version of the Psalms:
"Such
pity as a father hath
Unto his children dear.
Like pity shows the Lord to such
As worship him in fear."
Tears
started into the sailor's eyes as he listened to these words. The chaplain
asked him if he had not had a pious mother. The man broke into tears. Yes
his
mother had
in years gone by
taught him these words
and had also prayed to
God for him. Since then he had been a wanderer by sea and land; but the memory
of her faith and love moved his heart. The appeals made to him were blessed by
the Spirit of God. His life was spared
and proved the reality of his
conversion.
Verse
13. Like as a father. It is to be observed in this verse
what
kind of mercy the prophet attributes to God. He says not
As man pities man
as
the rich the poor man
as the strong the feeble
as the freeman the captive
but he makes mention of that pity which a father shows to his son
which is the
greatest of all. The word Mxr itself supports this view
as it properly signifies
viscarum commotis. An example of this we have in 1Ki 3:23-27 in the case
of the woman who could not bear the slaughter of her child... And afterwards in
the case of the father of the prodigal. Lu 15:11-32. Musculus.
Verse
13. As a father pitieth his children. The father pitieth his
children that are weak in knowledge
and instructs them; pities them when they
are froward
and bears with them; pities them when they are sick
and comforts
them; when they are fallen
and helps them up again; when they have offended
and upon their submission
forgives them; when they are wronged
and rights
them. Thus "the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Matthew Henry.
Verse
13. So the Lord pitieth
&c. So and ten thousand times
more than so. For he is the "Father of all mercies
"and the Father
of all the fatherhoods in heaven and earth. Eph 3:15. John Trapp.
Verse
13. The Load pitieth. Though it be commonly said
"It is
better to be envied
than pitied; "yet here it is not so: but it is a far
happier thing to be pitied of God
than to be envied of men. Sir R. Baker.
Verse
13. Them that fear him. The fear of God is that deference to
God which leads you to subordinate your will to his; makes you intent on
pleasing him; penitent in view of past wilfulness; happy in his present smile;
transported by his love; hopeful of his glory. George Bowen.
Verse
13. Them that fear him. It may be understood of those who have
not yet "received the spirit of adoption
"but are yet
"trembling at his word
"those he "pities." Matthew Henry.
Verses
13-14. The good father doth not turn off the child for being weak and
sickly; but is so much the more indulgent as his necessity requires succour. If
his stomach refuse meat
or cannot answer it with digestion
will he put him
out of doors? No; when the Shunamite's son complains of his head
she lays him
in her bosom. A mother is good to all the fruit of her womb
most kind to the
sick infant: when it lies with its eyes fixed on her
not able to declare its
grief
or to call for what it desires
this doubles her compassion: "So
the Lord doth pity us
remembering our frame
considering that we are but
dust"; that our soul works by a lame instrument; and therefore he requires
not that of an elemental composition
which he doth of angelical spirits. The
son is commanded to write out such a copy fairly; he doth his best
far short
of the original; yet the father doth not chide
but encourage him. Or he gives
him a bow and arrows
bids him shoot to such a mark; he draws his utmost
strength
lets go cheerfully: the arrow drops far short
yet the son is
praised
the father pleased. Temptation assaults us
lust buffets us
secular
business diverts us
manifold is our weakness
but not beyond our Father's
forgiveness: "He will spare us
as a man spareth his own son that serveth
him
" Mal 3:17. Thomas Adams.
Verse
14. He knoweth our frame. "Our formation; "the manner
in which we are constructed
and the materials of which we are made. Adam
Clarke.
Verse
14. He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. Not
like some unskilled empiric
who hath but one receipt for all
strong or weak
young or old; but as a wise physician considers his patient
and then writes
his bill. Men and devils are but God's apothecaries
they make not our physic
but give what God prescribes. Balaam loved Balak's fee well enough
but could
not go a hair's breadth beyond God's commission. William Gumall.
Verse
14. He remembereth that we are dust. As if the very matter out
of which man was first made
though without sin
were a disadvantage to him
in
the resisting of sin. It was a disadvantage before man had any sin in him
how
much more is it now when most men have nothing at all in them but sin
and the
best have very much. "That which is born of the flesh
"saith
Christ
"is flesh." Corrupt nature can produce none but
corrupt acts. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
14. We are dust.
O
how in this Thy quire of souls I stand
—Propt by Thy hand—
A heap of sand!
Which busie thoughts—like winds—would scatter quite
And put to flight
But for Thy might;
Thy hand alone doth tame
Those blasts
and knit my frame. Henry Vaughan.
Verses
14
16. We are dust. I never see one of those spiral pillars of dust
which
like a mimic simoon
rush along the road upon a windy day
with- ont
thinking
"There is an image of life." Dust and a breath! Observe how
the apparent "pillar" is but a condition
an active condition
of the
particles of dust
and those particles continually changing. The form depends
upon the incessant movement. The heavy sand floats on the impalpable air while
it partakes its motion; let that cease and it fails
So the dull clods of the
field
smitten by force
take wings and soar in life
partake for a time its
rapid course
and then
the force exhausted
fall back into their former state.
A whirl
a flux
maintained by forces without
and ceasing when they are
withdrawn; that is our life. James Hinton
in "Thoughts on
Health and
some of its Conditions
" 1871.
Verse
15. As for man. The insignificance of man is especially
brought out by the use of ENOSH here. Robert Baker Girdlestone.
Verse
15. Man comes forth
says Job
like a flower
and is cut down;
he is sent into the world the fairest and noblest part of God's works
fashioned after the image of his Creator
with respect to reason and the great
faculties of the mind; he cometh forth glorious as the flower of the field; as
it surpasses the vegetable world in beauty
so does he the animal world in the
glory and excellence of his nature. The one
if no untimely accident oppress
it
soon arrives at the full period of its perfection
—is suffered to triumph
for a few moments
and is plucked up by the roots in the very pride and gayest
stage of its being;—or if it happens to escape the hands of violence
in a few
days it necessarily sickens of itself and dies away. Man likewise
though his
progress is slower
and his duration somewhat longer
yet the periods of his
growth and declension are nearly the same
both in the nature and manner of
them. If he escapes the dangers which threaten his tenderer years
he is soon
got into the full maturity and strength of life; and if he is so fortunate as
not to be hurried out of it then by accidents
by his own folly and
intemperance—if he escapes these
he naturally decays of himself
—a period
comes fast upon him
beyond which he was not made to last. Like flowers or
fruits which may be plucked up by force before the time of their maturity
yet
cannot be made to outgrow the period when they are to fade and drop of
themselves; when that comes
the hand of nature then plucks them both off
and
no art of the botanist can uphold the one
or skill of the physician preserve
the other
beyond the periods to which their original frames and constitutions
were made to extend. As God has appointed and determined the several growths
and decays of the vegetable race
so he seems as evidently to have prescribed
the same laws to man
as well as all living creatures
in the first rudiments
of which there are contained the specific powers of their growth
duration and
extinction; and when the evolutions of those animal powers are exhausted and
run down
the creature expires and dies of itself
as ripe fruit falls from the
tree
or a flower preserved beyond its bloom
drops and perishes upon the
stalk. Lawrence Sterne
1713-1768.
Verse
15. The Psalmist saith of man
as a flower of the field
so he
flourisheth. It is not a flower of the garden
but of the "field."
This latter is more subject to decay than the former
because it lies more open
to the nipping air and violent winds
and to the browsing mouth of the beast
and is more liable to be trampled upon: by all these ways it decayeth as well
as by the scorching sun
and its own fading temper. John Edwards
in
"Theologia Reformata."
Verse
15. As flower of the field.
What
is life! like a flower
with the bane in its bosom
Today full of promise—tomorrow it dies!—
And health—like the dew-drop that hangs in its blossom
Survives but a night
and exhales to the skies!
How oft beneath the bud that is brightest and fairest
The seeds of the canker in embryo lurk!
How oft at the root of the flower that is rarest—
Secure in its ambush the worm is at work?
—James Beattie
1735-1803.
Verse
16. The wind passeth over it
and it is gone
etc. A breath of
air
a gentle wind (xwr) passes over him and he is gone. It would not be so
strange if a tempest
a whirlwind
passing over should sweep him away. The
Psalmist means much more than this. The gentlest touch
the whispering breeze
bears him off. He soon becomes a stranger
no more known in the little space he
once filled
going out and coming in. Henry Cowles.
Verse
16. The wind passeth over it
and it is gone. It is well known
that a hot wind in the east destroys at once every green thing. Nor is this to
be wondered at
if
as Dr. Russell says
the winds sometimes "bring with
them a degree and kind of heat
which one would imagine came out of an oven
and which
when it blows hard
will affect metals within the houses
such as
locks of room doors
nearly as much as if they had been exposed to the rays of
the sun." The blasting effect which seems to be here alluded to
of
certain pestilential winds upon the animal frame
is by no means exaggerated by
the comparison to the sudden fading of a flower. Maillet describes hundreds of
persons in a caravan as stifled on the spot by the fire and dust
of which the
deadly wind
that sometimes prevails in the eastern deserts
seems to be
composed. And Sir John Chardin describes this wind "as making a great
hissing noise
"and says that "it appears red and fiery
and kills
those whom it strikes by a kind of stifling them
especially when it happens in
the day time." Richard Mant.
Verse
16. The place thereof shall know him no more
&c. Man
once turned to dust
is blown about by every wind
from place to place; and
what knows the place
when dust falls upon it; whether it be the dust of a
prince
or of a peasant; whether of a man
or of a beast? And must not man then
needs be very miserable
when time and place
the two best helps of life
do
both forsake him? for what help can he have of time
when his days are but as
grass? What help of place
when his place denies him
and will not know him? Sir
R. Baker.
Verse
17. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.
No human benevolence is perpetually the same; but by expelfence we see that
those who are kind today
may be changed into tyrants tomorrow. Examples of
this we have in the life of Nero
and many other rulers. Therefore lest we
should suspect the goodness of God to bear any similar character
it is said
with inconceivable consolation
that it shall never cease
but is prepared for
ever for all those who fear and serve God. Musculus.
Verse
17. From everlasting to everlasting. From everlasting
by
predestination; to everlasting
by glorification: the one without beginning
the other without end. Bernard.
Verse
18. To do them. Commands are to be remembered in order to
practice; a vain speculation is not the intent of the publication of them. Stephen
Charnock.
Verse
19. The Lord hath prepared his Throne. The word signifies establisthed
as well as prepared
and might be so rendered. Due preparation is the natural
way to the establishment of a thing; hasty resolves break and moulder. This
notes
1.
The peculiarity of his authority. He prepares it
and none else for him. It is
a dominion that originally resides in his nature
not derived from any by birth
or commission; he alone prepared it. He is the sole cause of his own kingdom;
his authority therefore is unbounded
as infinite as his nature. None can set
laws to him
because none but himself prepared his throne for him. As he will
not impair his own happiness
so he will not abridge himself of his own
authority.
2.
Readiness to exercise it upon due occasions. He hath prepared his throne
he is
not at a loss
he needs not stay for a commission or instructions from any how
to act. He hath all things ready for the assistance of his people
he hath
rewards and punishments; his treasures trod axes
the great mark of authority
lying by him
the one for the good
the other for the wicked. His mercy he
keeps by him for thousands
Ex 34:7; his arrows he hath prepared by him for
rebels
Ps 7:13.
3.
Wise management of it. It is prepared: preparations imply prudence; the
government of God is not a rash and heady authority. A prince upon his throne
a judge upon the bench
manages things with the greatest discretion
or should
be supposed so to do.
4.
Successfulness and duration of it. He hath prepared or established it. It is
fixed
not tottering; it is an unmovable dominion; all the strugglings of men
and devils cannot overturn it
nor so much as shake it. It is established above
the reach of obstinate rebels; he cannot be deposed from it
he cannot be mated
in it. His dominion
as himself abides for ever. And as his counsel
so his
authority
shall stand; and "he will do all his pleasure
" Isa
46:10. Stephen Charnock.
Verse
19. His throne in the heavens
denotes:
1.
The glory of his dominion. The heavens are the most stately and comely pieces
of the creation; his majesty is there most visible
his glory most splendid
Ps
19:1. In heaven his dominion is more acknowledged by the angels: his dominion
is not disputed there by the angels that attend him
as it is on earth by the
rebels that arm themselves against him.
2.
The supremacy of his empire. The heavens are the loftiest part of the creation
and the only fit palace for him.
3.
Peculiarity of this dominion. He rules in the heavens alone. His authority is
not delegated to any creature
he rules the blessed spirits by himself; but he
rules men that are on his footstool by others of the same kind
men of their
own nature.
4.
The vastness of his empire. The earth is but a spot to the heavens. What is
England in a map to the whole earth
but a spot you may cover with your finger;
much less must the whole earth be to the extended heavens. You cannot conceive
the many millions of little particles that are in the earth; and if all put
together be but one point: to that place where the throne of God is seated
how
vast must his empire be! He rules there ovcr the angels
which excel in
strength
those hosts of his which do his pleasure
in comparison of whom all
the men in the world
and the power of the greatest potentates
is no more than
the strength of an ant or fly. And since his throne is in the heavens
it will
follow that all things under the heaven are part of his dominion; the inferior
things of earth cannot but be subject to him; and it necessarily includes his
influence on all things below
because the heavens arc the cause of all the
motion in the world. See Ho 2:21-22.
5.
The easiness of managing this government. His throne being placed on high
he
cannot but behold all things that are done below; the height of a place gives
advantage to a clear eye to behold things below it. "The LORD looked
down from heaven upon the children of men
to see if there were any that did
understand
"Ps 14:2. He looks not down from heaven as if his presence
were confined there
but he looks down majestically
and by way of authority.
6.
Duration of it. The heavens are incorruptible
his throne is placed there in an
incorruptible state. The throne of God outlives the dissolution of the world. Condensed
from Charnock.
Verse
19. His kingdom ruleth over all. His Lordship is universal.
First
over all time:other lords die
but he is eternal. Eternity is properly
the duration of an uncreated Ens. It is improperly taken
either for things
that have both beginning and end
as everlasting mountains; divers such phrases
in Scripture; or for things that have a beginning but shall have no end; so are
angels and men's souls eternal; so
eternal life
eternal fire. But God calls
himself
"I AM
"Ex 3:14: I am what I have been
I have been what I
am
what I am and have been I shall be. This attribute is incommunicable: all
other things had a non esse preceding their esse;and they have a
mutation tending to nothing. "They that war against thee shall be as
nothing
"Isa 41:12: all come to nothing unless they be upheld by the
manutency of God: but "Thou art the same
and thy years shall have no end
"Ps 102:27. Thou turnest man to destruction
and again sayest
Return:
"even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God
"Ps 90:2; the
sole umpire and measurer of beginning and ending.
Secondly
over all places
heaven
earth
hell
Ps 135:6. Kings are limited
and
cannot do many things they desire: they cannot command the sun to stand still
nor the wind to blow which way they would: in the lofty air
in the depths of
the sea no king reigns. They fondly flatter the pope with his long arms that
they reach to purgatory; (but indeed both power and place are alike
imaginary;)it is Christ alone that hath the keys of all places.
Thirdly
over all creatures;binding the influences of Pleiades
and loosing the
bands of Orion
Job 38:31; commanding the fire against the nature of it
to
descend
2Ki 1:12; creating and ruling the stars
Am 5:8; overruling the lions
Da 6:22
sending the meteors
Ps 148:8
hedging in the sea
lapping it up like
a child in swaddling-clothes
Job 38:8
dividing
diverting
filling it. In
both fire and water
those two raging elements that have no mercy
he shows
mercy; delivers us from both in both. He calls the fowls
and they come; the
beasts
and they hear: the trees
and they spring to obey him. He hath a raven
for Elijah
a gourd for Jonah
a dog for Lazarus. Makes the leviathan
the
hugest living creature
preserve his prophet. That a terrible lion should be
killed
as was by Samson; or not kill
as they forbore Daniel; or kill and not
eat
as that prophet
1Ki 13:1-29: here was the Lord. Over metals; he makes
iron to swim
stones to cleave asunder. Over the devils; they must obey him
though unwillingly. But they continually rebel against him
and break his will?
They do indeed against his complacency
not against his permission. There is
then no time
not the hour of death; no place
not the sorest torment; no
creature
not the devil; but the Lord can deliver us from them. Therefore at
all times
in all places
and against all creatures
let us trust in him for
deliverance. Thomas Adams.
Verse
19. His kingdom ruleth over all. When Melancthon was extremely
solicitous about the affairs of the church in his days
Luther would have him
admonished in these terms
Monendus est Philippus ut desinat esse rector
mundi:Let not Philip make himself any longer governor of the world. David
Clarkson.
Verse
20. Bless the Lord
ye his angels
etc. The weight of offering
praise unto God is too heavy for men to lift; and as for angels
it will take
up all their strength and their best abilities to go about it. David
Dickson.
Verse
20. Angels
that excel it
strength
that do his commandments.
The chief excellence of the angels
the main cause of their strength and power
and of their immense superiority to mankind
is that which is set forth in the
following words of the text. After the Psalmist has described the angels as
excelling in strength
he adds that they do God's commandments
hearkening
to the voice of his word. For this is the only living source of lasting
strength and power. They who do the will of God faithfully and obediently
have
God for them; and then what can be against them? Then work itself strengthens
them
and is like a tide bearing them onward; because it is his work.
They on the other hand who run counter to the will of God
have God against
them; and then what can be for them? Can a man push back the sea? can he lay
hold on the sun
and drag him out of his course? Then may he hope to be strong
when he is fighting against the will of God. . . . Hence we see the falsehood
of that maxim
so common on the lips of those who plume themselves upon their
mastery in the wisdom of this world—that Might is Right
—a maxim which exactly
inverts the truth
and whereby the Prince of darkness is ever setting himself
up against the Lord of heaven. The true principle
which is inverted and
perverted in this falsehood
—the principle which ought to be written up in the
councilchambers of princes and on the walls of senate-houses
—the principle
which explains the secret of the strength of the angels
and indeed of all true
strength
that is in accordance with the will of God
—may be stated in the
selfsame words
if we only invert their order
Right is Might. Julius
Charles Hare
1849.
Verse
20. His angels that do his commandments
etc. They hearken to
the voice of his word
they look upon God as the great General
and if he give
out the word
they give out their strength
and go about the work willingly.
They are very attentive to his commands; if he says
Go smite Herod for his
pride
Balaam for his covetousness
David for his vainglory
Sennacherib for
his blasphemy
and Sodom for its uncleanness
presently they go. William
Greenhill.
Verse
20. Commandments. Davar (rkd)
to speak
is rendered
"command"
twenty times... direct personal communion between the Lord and his messengers
seems to be implied. R. B. Girdlestone.
Verse
20. Hearkenling into the voice of his word. Not only
mightily
executing the word when heard; but
ever intently listening
ready to catch
the intimation of his will. William Kay.
Verse
20. Hearkening unto the voice of his word. Angels are vigilant
creatures
and wait for opportunities
and when they come they will not lose
them. They neither slumber nor sleep
but hearken constantly what the Lord will
say
what opportunity there will be for action; so
in Eze 1:11
they are
described with their wings stretched upward
manifesting their watchfulness and
readiness for service. When Christ was born
a multitude of them appeared and
celebrated his nativity
Lu 2:13: when Christ was taken by Judas and his train
Peter drew his sword in his Master's defence; but what saith Christ? "Put
up thy sword
it is not a time now to fight
but to suffer: thinkest thou that
I cannot now pray to my Father
and he shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels? It is not a time now to pray for help
I must die
and the
Scripture must be fulfilled; but if I would
my Father would bid the angels to
aid me
and they presently would come
whole legions of them
yea
all the
angels in heaven." Let us learn of angels to watch for opportunities
and
take them. There are nicks of time wherein to do the work of Christ. William
Greenhill.
Verse
21. Bless ye the LORD
all ye his hosts... that do his pleasure.
The sun
moon
stars
and planets do "his pleasure" (Ps 19:1)
unconsciously; the "angels" consciously and with instinctive love
"hearken unto the voice of his word" (Ps 103:20). Both together
constitute the Lord's hosts. A. R. Fausset.
Verse
22. Bless the LORD
O my soul. That is to say
"Let thy
vocation be that of the seraphim
O my soul
and enter on the life of
heaven!" Why should I praise him? Can my praise be of any advantage to
him? No; nor that of all the heavenly hosts. It is infinite condescension in
him to bearken unto the praises of his most exalted creatures. Let me bless the
Lord
because no function will be more rich in blessings to my soul than this.
The admiring contemplation of his excellence is in reality the appropriation
thereof: the heart cannot delight in God
without becoming like God. Let me do
it
because it is the peculiar privilege of man on this earth to bless the
Lord. When he would find any to join him in this
he has to ascend the skies.
Let me do it
because the earth is fully furnished with the materials of
praise. The sands
the seas
the flowers
the insects; animals
birds
fields
mountains
rivers
trees
clouds
sun
moon
stars
—all wait for me to
translate their attribues and distinctions into praise. But
above all
the new
creation. Let me do it
because of him
through him
and to him
are all the
things that pertain to my existence
health
comfort
knowledge
dignity
safety
progress
power
and usefulness. A thousand of his ministers in earth
sea
and sky
are concerned in the production and preparation of every mouthful
that I eat. The breath that I am commanded and enabled to modulate in praise
neither comes nor goes without a most surprising exhibition of the
condescension
kindness
wisdom
power
and presence of him whom I am to
praise. Is it not dastardly to be receiving benefits
without even mentioning
the name
or describing the goodness of the giver? Let candidates for heaven
bless the Lord. There is no place there for such as have not learned this art.
How shall I praise him? Not with fine words. No poetic talent is here
necessary: Any language that expresses heart-felt admiration will be accepted.
Praise him so far as you know him; and he will make known to you more of his
glory. George Bowen
1873.
Verse
22. The last specification is completely comprehensive; all his
works in all places of his wide dominions—all that he has made
whether
intelligent or not intelligent; "in all places"—above
beneath
around: in heaven
earth
or hell: let them all fall into this
universal chorus of praise and blessing
extolling Jehovah
the One supremely
great
supremely good! Nor will he exempt himself; for his personal
responsibilities as to his own heart
are his highest. Therefore he closes as
he began
"Bless the LORD
O my soul." Henry Cowles.
Verse
22. Bless the LORD
O my soul. Inasmuch as the poet thus comes
back to his own soul
his Psalm also turns back into itself and assumes the
form of a converging circle. Franz Delitzsch.
Verse
22. Bless the LORD
all his works in all places of his dominion:
bless the LORD
O my soul. We are very much struck by this sudden
transition from "all God's works
in all places of his dominion
"to
himself
a solitary individual. Of course he had already included himself;
himself had been summoned when he summoned all God's works in all places of his
dominion; but it seems as if a sudden fear had seized the Psalmist
the fear of
by any possibility omitting himself; or
if not a fear
yet a consciousness
that his very activity in summoning others to praise
might make him forgetful
that he was bound to praise God himself
or sluggish in the duty
or ready to
take for granted that he could not himself be neglecting what he was so
strenuous in pressing on all orders of being. We have a great subject of
discourse here. Solomon has said
"They made me keeper of the vineyards
but mine own vineyard have I not kept." Alas! how possible
how easy
to
take pains for others
and to be neglectful of one's self: nay
to make the
pains we take for others the reason by which we persuade ourselves that we
cannot be neglecting ourselves. How important
then
that
if with the Psalmist
we call on all God's works in all places of his dominions to bless the Lord;
how important
I say
that we add
like persons bent on self-examination
and
fearful of self-deceit
"Bless the LORD
O my soul." Henry
Melvill.
Verses
1-2
22. Bless the Lord
O my soul... Bless the Lord
O my soul
with the Bless the Lord all his works in all places of his dominion: bless
the Lord
O my soul
Ps 103:22; these two form the thrice-repeated blessing
from the Lord to the soul in the Mosaic formula
Nu 6:24-26. A. R. Fausset.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. "The Saints blessing the Lord." See "Spurgeon's
Sermons
" No. 1
078.
Verse
1.
1.
We should bless the Most High himself. It is possible to fail to bless him
while we praise his gifts
his word
his works
his ways.
2.
We should bless him individually: "My soul." Not merely the
family through the father
nor the people through the pastor; nor the
congregation through the choir; but personally.
3.
We should bless him spiritually: "soul." Not only with organ
voice
offering
works
&c.
4.
We should bless him unreservedly: "All that is within me."
5.
We should bless him resolutely. David preached self-communion
self-encouragement
and self-command. W. Jackson.
Verse
1. Here is
1.
Self-converse: "Oh my soul." Many talk freely enough to others
but
never talk to themselves. They are strangers to themselves—not on speaking
terms with themselves—take no interest in their own souls—are dull and
melancholy when alone.
2.
Self-exhortation: "Bless the Lord
O my soul." Thy Creator
thy
Benefactor
thy Redeemer.
3.
Self-encouragement: "All that is within me"—every faculty of my
mental
moral and spiritual being: with ten strings—every chord in motion. No
need for one faculty of the soul to say to another
"know the Lord
for
all shall know him from the least even unto the greatest." G. R.
Verse
1 (First clause
and Ps 103:22
last clause).
Personal worship the Alpha and Omega of religion. C. Davis.
Verse
2. Inquire into the causes of our frequent forgetfulness of the
Lord's mercies
show the evil of it
and advise remedies.
Verse
3.
1.
Forgiveness is in God: "There is forgiveness with thee." It is
his nature to forgive as well as to punish sin.
2.
It is from God. None can forgive sin but God. None can reveal
forgiveness but God.
3.
It is like God
full
free
and everlasting—"all thine iniquities." G.
R.
Verse
3. Who healeth all thy diseases.
1.
Why is sin called a disease? (a) As it destroys the moral beauty of the
creature. (b) As it excites pain. (c) As it disables from duty. (d) As it leads
to death.
2.
The variety of sinful diseases to which we are subject. Mr 7:21-23; Gal 5:19
&c.
3.
The remedy by which God heals these diseases. (a) His pardoning mercy through
the redemption of Christ. (b) The sanctifying influences of grace. (c) The
means of grace. (d) The resurrection of the body. From "The Study
"1873.
Verse
3 (last clause).—Our diseases by nature
our great
Physician
the perfect soundness which he works in us
results of that
soundness.
Verses
3-5. Mercy's Hexapla.
1.
Three curses removed. (a) Guilt put away. (b) Corruption cured. (c) Destruction
averted.
2.
Three blessings
bestowed. (a) Favours that can gratify. (b) Pleasures that can
satisfy. (c) Life that can never die.
Or
1.
Pardon. (Ps 103:3)
2. Purification. (Ps 103:4)
3. Redemption.
4. Coronation. (Ps 103:5)
5. Plenty bestowed.
6. Power renewed. W. Durban.
Verse
4. (first clause). The Redemption of David's life from
destruction.
1.
His shepherd life.
2. His military life.
3. His persecuted life.
4. His regal life.
5. His spiritual life. W. J.
Verse
4. What is redeemed
and from what? Who are redeemed
and by whom?
Verse
5.
1.
A singular condition—satisfaction.
2. A singular provision—good things.
3. A singular result—youth renewed.
Verse
5.—"Rejuvenescence." See Macmillan's "Ministry of
Nature
" pp. 321-347.
Verse
7.
1.
God would have men know him.
2. He is his own revealer.
3. There are degrees in the revelation.
4. We may pray for increased knowledge of him.
Verse
8.
1.
Mercy specified: "Merciful and gracious."
2.
Mercy qualified: "Slow to anger." Mercy itself may be angered
and
then how terrible is the anger.
3.
Mercy amplified: "Plenteous in mercy." "He will abundantly
pardon; "and he only knows what abundant pardon means. G. R.
Verse
9.
1.
What God will do to his people. He will sometimes chide—contend with them. (a)
Providentially
by outward trials. (b) Experimentally
by inward conflicts.
2.
What he will not do to them. (a) Not chide continually in this life. (b) Not
chide in the least hereafter. (c) "The days of their mourning shall be ended."
G. R.
Verses
11-13. The height
length and depth of divine love.
Verse
12. "Plenary Absolution." See "Spurgeon's Sermons
" No. 1
108.
Verse
12.
1.
The union implied. Between man and his transgressions.
(a)
Legally.
(b) Actually.
(c) Experimentally.
(d) Eternally
in themselves considered.
2.
The separation effected.
(a)
By whom? "He hath
"etc.
(b)
How? By his own Son coming between the sinner and his sins.
3.
The Re-union prevented. "As far
"etc. When east and west meet
then
and not till then
will the reunion take place. As the two extremities of a
straight line can never meet
and cannot be lengthened without receding further
from each other
so it will ever be with a pardoned sinner and his sins. G.
R.
Verses
13-14. "The Tender Pity of the Lord." See "Spurgeon's
Sermons
"No. 941.
Verses
13-14.
1.
Whom God pities; "them that fear him."
2.
How he pities "as a father pitieth his children."
3.
Why he pities; "for he knoweth our frame." He hath reason to know out
frame
for he framed us
and having himself made man of the dust
"he
remembers that we are dust." Matthew Henry.
Verse
14.
1.
Man's Constitution.
2. God's Consideration. W. D.
Verse
15. Man's earthly career. His rise
progress
glory
fall
and
oblivion.
Verses
15-18.
1.
What man is when left to himself. "As for man
"etc. (a) What here?
His days are as grass
his glory as the flower of grass. (b) What hereafter?
swept away by a blighting wind
by a blast of divine anger—known no more on the
earth
known only in perdition.
2.
What the mercy of God does for him. (a) Makes a covenant of grace on his behalf
flora everlasting. (b) Makes a covenant of peace with hint in this life. (c)
Makes a covenant of promise to him for an eternity to come.
3.
Who are the objects of this mercy? (a) Those who fear God. (b) Who walk in the
footsteps of pious ancestors. (c) Who rely upon covenant mercy. (d) Who are
faithful to their covenant engagements. G. R.
Verse
18. The covenant
in what respects we can keep it
in what frame of
mind it must be kept
and what is the practical proof of so doing.
Verse
19. "A Discourse upon God's Dominion." See Charnock's Works
Nicol's Edition
Vol. II.
pp. 400-499.
Verse
19.
1.
The nature of the throne.
2. The extent of the dominion.
3. The character of the monarch.
4. The consequent joy of the subjects: "Bless the Lord."
Verse
20. The angels' service instructive to us.
1.
Their personal strength is excellent. As servants of God we also should see to
our own spiritual health and rigour.
2.
They are practical in their obedience
not theorists.
3.
They are attentive while at work
ready to learn more
and holding fellowship
with God
who speaks personally to them.
4.
They do all in the spirit of joyful praise
blessing the Lord.
Verses
20-21.
1.
The centre of praise: "Bless the Lord." All praise centres in him.
2.
The concert of praise. (a) Angels. (b) The hosts of the redeemed. (c) Ministers
in particular. (d) The surrounding creation.
3.
The climax of praise: "Bless the Lord
O my soul." This has the
highest claim upon me for gratitude and praise. Vast as the chorus may be
it
will not be perfect without my note of praise. This is the culminating note:
"Bless the Lord
O my soul." G.R.
Verse
21. Who are God's ministers? What is their business? To do his
pleasure. What is their delight? To bless the Lord.
Verses
21-22. Henry Melvill has a notable sermon upon "The Peril of the
Spiritual Guide." The drift of it may be gathered from the extract which
wc have placed as a note upon the passage.
Verse
22.
1.
The Chorus.
2. The Echo. W.D.
WORKS UPON THE
HUNDRED AND THIRD PSALM
Meditations
and Disquisitions
upon Seven Consolatarie Psalmes of David . . . by Sir
RICHARD BAKER
Knight
1640. pg 143-172.
Gratitude:
an Exposition of the Hundred and Third Psalm. By the Rev. JOHN
STEVENSON
Vicar of Patrixbourne-with-Bridge
Canterbury. 1856.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》