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Psalm One
Hundred Forty-one
Psalm 141
Chapter Contents
David prays for God's acceptance and assistance. (1-4)
That God would appear for his rescue. (5-10)
Commentary on Psalm 141:1-4
(Read Psalm 141:1-4)
Make haste unto me. Those that know how to value God's
gracious presence
will be the more fervent in their prayers. When presented
through the sacrifice and intercession of the Saviour
they will be as
acceptable to God as the daily sacrifices and burnings of incense were of old.
Prayer is a spiritual sacrifice
it is the offering up the soul and its best
affections. Good men know the evil of tongue sins. When enemies are provoking
we are in danger of speaking unadvisedly. While we live in an evil world
and
have such evil hearts
we have need to pray that we may neither be drawn nor
driven to do any thing sinful. Sinners pretend to find dainties in sin; but
those that consider how soon sin will turn into bitterness
will dread such
dainties
and pray to God to take them out of their sight
and by his grace to
turn their hearts against them. Good men pray against the sweets of sin.
Commentary on Psalm 141:5-10
(Read Psalm 141:5-10)
We should be ready to welcome the rebuke of our heavenly
Father
and also the reproof of our brethren. It shall not break my head
if it
may but help to break my heart: we must show that we take it kindly. Those who
slighted the word of God before
will be glad of it when in affliction
for
that opens the ear to instruction. When the world is bitter
the word is sweet.
Let us lift our prayer unto God. Let us entreat him to rescue us from the
snares of Satan
and of all the workers of iniquity. In language like this
psalm
O Lord
would we entreat that our poor prayers should set forth our only
hope
our only dependence on thee. Grant us thy grace
that we may be prepared
for this employment
being clothed with thy righteousness
and having all the
gifts of thy Spirit planted in our hearts.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 141
Verse 4
[4] Incline not my heart to any evil thing
to practise
wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
Incline not — Suffer it not to be inclined.
Heart — Keep me not only from wicked speeches
but from all
evil motions of my heart.
Dainties — The pleasures or advantages which they gain by their
wickedness.
Verse 5
[5] Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and
let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil
which shall not break my
head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
Smite — By reproofs.
Break — Not hurt
but heal and greatly refresh me.
Calamities — In the calamities of those
righteous persons who reproved him. When they came into such calamities as
those wherein he was involved he would pity them and pray for them.
Verse 6
[6] When their judges are overthrown in stony places
they
shall hear my words; for they are sweet.
Judges — The chief of mine enemies.
Overthrown — Or
cast down headlong by thine
exemplary vengeance.
Hear — Hearken unto my counsels and offers which now they
despise.
Verse 7
[7] Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth
as when
one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
Our bones — Our case is almost as hopeless as
of those who are dead
and whose bones are scattered in several places.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and
Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village
Preacher
TITLE. A Psalm
Of
David. Yes
David under suspicion
half afraid to speak lest he should
speak unadvisedly while trying to clear himself; David slandered and beset by enemies;
David censured even by saints
and taking it kindly; David deploring the
condition of the godly party of whom he was the acknowledged heard: David
waiting upon God with confident expectation. The Psalm is one of a group of
four
and it bears a striking likeness to the other three. Its meaning lies so
deep as to be in places exceedingly obscure
yet even upon its surface it has
dust of gold. In its commencement the psalm is lighted up with the evening glow
as the incense rises to heaven; then comes a night of language whose meaning we
cannot see; and this gives place to morning light in which our eyes are unto
the Lord.
DIVISION. The Psalmist
cries for acceptance in prayer (Ps 141:1-2); Then he begs to be kept as to his
speech
preserved in heart and deed
and delivered from every sort of
fellowship with the ungodly. He prefers to be rebuked by the gracious rather
than to be flattered by the wicked
and consoles himself with the confident
assurance that be will one day be understood by the godly party
and made to be
a comfort to them (Ps 141:3-6). In the last verses the slandered saint
represents the condition of the persecuted church
looks away to God and pleads
for rescue from his cruel enemies
and for the punishment of his oppressors.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. Lord
I cry unto thee. This is my last resort: prayer
never fails me. My prayer is painful and feeble
and worthy only to be called a
cry; but it is a cry unto Jehovah
and this ennobles it. I have cried unto
thee
I still cry to thee
and I always mean to cry to thee. To whom else could
I go? What else can I do? Others trust to themselves
but I cry unto thee. The
weapon of all prayer is one which the believer may always carry with him
and
use in every time of need. Make haste unto me. His case was urgent
and
he pleaded that urgency. God's time is the best time
but when we are sorely
pressed we may with holy importunity quicken the movements of mercy. In many
cases
if help should come late
it would come too late; and we are permitted
to pray against such a calamity. Give ear unto my voice
when I cry unto
thee. See how a second time he talks of crying: prayer had become his
frequent
yea
his constant exercise: twice in a few words he says
"I
cry; I cry." How he longs to be heard
and to be heard at once! There is a
voice to the great Father in every cry
and groan
and tear of his children: he
can understand what they mean when they are quite unable to express it. It
troubles the spirit of the saints when they fear that no favourable car is
turned to their doleful cries: they cannot rest unless their "unto
thee" is answered by an "unto me." When prayer is a man's only
refuge
he is deeply distressed at the bare idea of his failing therein.
"That
were a grief I could not bear
Didst thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer hearing
answering God
Supports me under every load."
Verse
2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. As
incense is carefully prepared
kindled with holy fire
and devoutly presented
unto God
so let my prayer be. We are not to look upon prayer as easy work
requiring no thought. It needs to be "set forth"; what is more
it
must be set forth "before the Lord
"by a sense of his presence and a
holy reverence for his name: neither may we regard all supplication as certain
of divine acceptance
it needs to be set forth before the Lord "as
incense
"concerning the offering of which there were rules to be
observed
otherwise it would be rejected of God. And the lifting up of my
hands as the evening sacrifice. Whatever form his prayer might take his one
desire was that it might be accepted of God. Prayer is sometimes presented
without words by the very motions of our bodies: bent knees and lifted hands
are the tokens of earnest
expectant prayer. Certainly work
or the lifting up
of the hands in labour
is prayer if it be done in dependence upon God and for
his glory: there is a hand prayer as well as a heart prayer
and our desire is
that tiffs may be sweet unto the Lord as the sacrifice of eventide. Holy hope
the lifting up of hands that hang down
is also a kind of worship: may it ever
be acceptable with God. The Psalmist makes a bold request: he would have his
humble cries and prayers to be as much regarded of the Lord as the appointed
morning and evening sacrifices of the holy place. Yet the prayer is by no means
too bold
for
after all
the spiritual is in the Lord's esteem higher than the
ceremonial
and the calves of the lips are a truer sacrifice than the calves of
the stall. So far we have a prayer about prayer: we have a distinct
supplication in the two following verses.
Verse
3. Set a watch
O LORD
before my mouth. That mouth had been
used in prayer
it would be a pity it should ever be defiled with untruth
or
pride
or wrath; yet so it will become unless carefully watched
for these
intruders are ever lurking about the door. David feels that with all his own
watchfulness he may be surprised into sin
and so he begs the Lord himself to
keep him. When Jehovah sets the watch the city is well guarded: when the Lord
becomes the guard of our mouth the whole man is well garrisoned. Keep the
door of my lips. God has made our lips the door of the mouth
but we cannot
keep that door of ourselves
therefore do we entreat the Lord to take the rule
of it. O that the Lord would both open and shut our lips
for we can do neither
the one nor the other aright if left to ourselves. In times of persecution by
ungodly men we are peculiarly liable to speak hastily
or evasively
and
therefore we should be specially anxious to be preserved in that direction from
every form of sin. How condescending is the Lord! We are ennobled by being door
keepers for him
and yet he deigns to be a door keeper for us. Incline not my
heart to any evil thing. It is equivalent to the petition
"Lead us not
into temptation." O that nothing may arise in providence which would
excite our desires in a wrong direction. The Psalmist is here careful of his
heart. He who holds the heart is lord of the man: but if the tongue and the
heart are under God's care all is safe. Let us pray that he may never leave us
to our own inclinations
or we shall soon decline from the right.
To
practise wicked works with men that work iniquity. The way the heart
inclines the life soon tends: evil things desired bring forth wicked things
practised. Unless the fountain of life is kept pure the streams of life will
soon be polluted. Alas
there is great power in company: even good men are apt
to be swayed by association; hence the fear that we may practise wicked works
when we are with wicked workers. We must endeavour not to be with them lest we
sin with them. It is bad when the heart goes the wrong way alone
worse when
the life runs in the evil road alone; but it is apt to increase unto a high
degree of ungodliness when the backslider runs the downward path with a whole
horde of sinners around him. Our practice will be our perdition if it be evil:
it is an aggravation of sin rather than an excuse for it to say that it is our
custom and our habit. It is God's practice to punish all who make a practice of
iniquity. Good men are horrified at the thought of sinning as others do; the
fear of it drives them to their knees. Iniquity
which
being interpreted
is a
want of equity
is a thing to be shunned as we would avoid an infectious
disease. And let me not eat of their dainties. If we work with them we
shall soon eat with them. They will bring out their sweet morsels
and delicate
dishes
in the hope of binding us to their service by the means of our palates.
The trap is baited with delicious meats that we may be captured and become meat
for their malice. If we would not sin with men we had better not sit with them
and if we would not share their wickedness we must not share their wantonness.
Verse
5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness. He
prefers the bitters of gracious company to the dainties of the ungodly. He
would rather be smitten by the righteous than feasted by the wicked. He gives a
permit to faithful admonition
he even invites it—"let the righteous smite
me." When the ungodly smile upon us their flattery is cruel; when the
righteous smite us their faithfulness is kind. Sometimes godly men rap hard;
they do not merely hint at evil
but hammer at it; and even then we are to
receive the blows in love
and be thankful to the hand which smites so heavily.
Fools resent reproof; wise men endeavour to profit by it. And let him
reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil
which shall not break ray head.
Oil breaks no heads
and rebuke does no man any harm; rather
as oil refreshes
and perfumes
so does reproof when fitly taken sweeten and renew the heart. My
friend must love me well if he will tell me of my faults: there is an unction
about him if he is honest enough to point out my errors. Many a man has had his
head broken at the feasts of the wicked
but none at the table of a true
hearted reprover. The oil of flattery is not excellent; the oil so lavishly
used at the banquet of the reveller is not excellent; head breaking and heart
breaking attend the anointings of the riotous; but it is otherwise with the
severest censures of the godly: they are not always sweet
but they are always
excellent; they may for the moment bruise the heart
but they never break
either it or the head. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.
Gracious men never grow wrathful with candid friends so as to harbour an ill
feeling against them; if so
when they saw them in affliction
they would turn
round upon them and taunt them with their rebukes. Far from it; these wisely
grateful souls are greatly concerned to see their instructors in trouble
and
they bring forth their best prayers for their assistance. They do not merely
pray for them
but they so closely and heartily sympathize that their prayers
are "in their calamities
"down in the dungeon with them. So true is
Christian brotherhood that we are with our friends in sickness or persecution
suffering their griefs; so that our heart's prayer is in their sorrows. When we
can give good men nothing more
let us give them our prayers
and let us do
this doubly to those who have given us their rebukes.
Verse
6. This is a verse of which the meaning seems far to seek. Does it
refer to the righteous among the Israelites? We think so. David surely means
that when their leaders fell never to rise again
they would then turn to him
and take delight in listening to his voice. When their judges are overthrown
in stony places
they shall hear my words; for they are sweet. And so they
did: the death of Saul made all the best of the nation look to the son of Jesse
as the Lord's anointed; his words became sweet to them. Many of those good men
who had spoken severely of David's quitting his country
and going over to the
Philistines
were nevertheless dear to his heart for their fidelity
and to them
he returned nothing but good will
loving prayers
and sweet speeches
knowing
that by and by they would overlook his faults
and select him to be their
leader. They smote him when he erred
but they recognized his excellences. He
on his part
bore no resentment
but loved them for their honesty. He would
pray for them when their land lay bleeding at the feet of their foreign
enemies; he would come to their rescue when their former leaders were slain;
and his words of courageous hopefulness would be sweet in their ears. This
seems to me to be a good sense
consistent with the context. At the same time
other and more laboured interpretations have their learned admirers
and to
these we will refer in our notes from other authors.
Verse
7. David's case seemed hopeless: the cause of God in Israel was as a
dead thing
even as a skeleton broken
and rotten
and shovelled out of the
grave
to return as dust to its dust. Our bones are scattered at the grave's
mouth. There seemed to be no life
no cohesion
no form
order
or headship
among the godly party in Israel: Saul had demolished it
and scattered all its
parts
so that it did not exist as an organized whole. David himself was like
one of these dried bones
and the rest of the godly were in much the same condition.
There seemed to be no vitality or union among the holy seed; but their cause
lay at death's door. As when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.
They were like wood divided and thrown apart: not as one piece of timber
nor
even as a bundle
but all cut to pieces
and thoroughly divided. Leaving out
the word "wood"
which is supplied by the translators
the figure
relates to cleaving upon the earth
which probably means ploughing
but may
signify any other form of chopping and splitting
such as felling a forest
tearing up bushes
or otherwise causing confusion and division. How often have
good men thought thus of the cause of God! Wherever they have looked
death
division
and destruction have stared them in the face. Cut and cloven
hopelessly
sundered! Scattered
yea
scattered at the grave's mouth! Split up and split
for the fire! Such the cause of God and truth has seemed to be. "Upon the
earth" the prospect was wretched; the field of the church was ploughed
burrowed
and scarified: it had become like a wood chopper's yard
where
everything was doomed to be broken up. We have seen churches in such a state
and have been heart broken. What a mercy that there is always a place above the
earth to which we can look! There lives One who will give a resurrection to his
cause
and a reunion to his divided people. He will bring up the dead bones
from the grave's mouth
and make the dried faggots live again. Let us imitate
the Psalmist in the next verse
and look up to the living God.
Verse
8. But mine eyes are unto thee
O GOD the Lord. He looked
upward and kept his eyes fixed there. He regarded duty more than circumstances;
he considered the promise rather than the external providence; and he expected
from God rather than from men. He did not shut his eyes in indifference or
despair
neither did he turn them to the creature in vain confidence
but he
gave his eyes to his God
and saw nothing to fear. Jehovah his Lord is also his
hope. Thomas called Jesus Lord and God
and David here speaks of his God and
Lord. Saints delight to dwell upon the divine names when they are adoring or
appealing. In thee is my trust. Not alone in thine attributes or in thy
promises
but in thyself. Others might confide where they chose
but David kept
to his God: in him he trusted always
only
confidently
and unreservedly. Leave
not my soul destitute; as it would be if the Lord did not remember and
fulfil his promise. To be destitute in circumstances is bad
but to be
destitute in soul is far worse; to be left of friends is a calamity
but to be
left of God would be destruction. Destitute of God is destitution with a
vengeance. The comfort is that God hath said
"I will never leave thee nor
forsake thee."
Verse
9. Keep me from
the snares which they have laid for me. He
had before asked
in Ps 141:3
that the door of his mouth might be kept; but
his prayer now grows into "Keep me." He seems more in trouble
about covert temptation than concerning open attacks. Brave men do not dread
battle
but they hate secret plots. We cannot endure to be entrapped like
unsuspecting animals; therefore we cry to the God of wisdom for protection. And
the gins of the workers of iniquity. These evil workers sought to catch
David in his speech or acts. This was in itself a piece of in equity
and so of
a piece with the rest of their conduct. They were bad themselves
and they
wished either to make him like themselves
or to cause him to seem so. If they
could not catch the good man in one way
they would try another; snares and
gins should be multiplied
for anyhow they were determined to work his ruin.
Nobody could preserve David but the Omniscient and Omnipotent One: he also will
preserve us. It is hard to keep out of snares which you cannot see
and to
escape gins which you cannot discover. Well might the much hunted Psalmist cry
"Keep me."
Verse
10. Let the wicked fall into their own nets
whilst that I withal
escape. It may not be a Christian prayer
but it is a very just one
and it
takes a great deal of grace to refrain from crying Amen to it; in fact
grace does not work towards making us wish otherwise concerning the enemies of
holy men. Do we not all wish the innocent to be delivered
and the guilty to
reap the result of their own malice? Of course we do
if we are just men. There
can be no wrong in desiring that to happen in our own case which we wish for
all good men. Yet is there a more excellent way.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole
Psalm. This psalm
like the one before it
is distinguished by a
pregnant brevity and the use of rare expressions
while at the same time it is
full of verbal and real coincidences with the other psalms of David. These
indications are so clear and undeniable
that a sceptical critic of great
eminence (De Wette) pronounces it one of the oldest psalms in the collection.—Joseph
Addison Alexander.
Whole
Psalm. Few psalms in so small a compass crowd together so many gems of
precious and holy truth.—Barton Bouchier.
Whole
Psalm. Many commentators are strongly of opinion that this psalm was
written as a memorial of that very interesting scene in the life of David
recorded in 1Sa 24:1-22
relating to his generous treatment of Saul. Though he
had an opportunity of putting his cruel persecutor to death in the cave of
Engedi
yet he spared his life
only cutting off his skirt
and not suffering
his followers to touch him; and when Saul had gone out of the cave
David
going out after him
remonstrated with him from some distance in the gentlest
and most respectful language in regard to the injustice of his conduct towards
him. It is thought that the sixth verse contains so express a reference to this
very remarkable occurrence in David's history
as to leave little doubt that it
was the occasion on which the psalm was composed.—James Anderson's Note to Calvin
in loc.
Whole
Psalm. The imagery and allusions of the psalm are in keeping; viz.
the
oil which had lately anointed him; and the watch before his mouth
etc.
suggested by the watching at the mouth of the cave
though ultimately referring
to the tabernacle service.—John Jebb.
Verse
1. LORD
I cry unto thee. Misbelief doth seek many ways for
delivery from trouble; but faith hath but one way
—to go to God
to wit
by
prayer
for whatsoever is needful.—David Dickson.
Verse
1. LORD
I cry unto thee. No distress or danger
how great
soever
shall stifle my faith or stop my mouth
but it shall make me more
earnest
and my prayers
like strong streams in narrow straits
shall bear down
all before them.—John Trapp.
Verse
1. Unto thee...unto me. Our prayer and God's mercy are like
two buckets in a well; while the one ascends
the other descends.—Ezekiel
Hopkins.
Verse
1. Note that the difference of tense
"I have cried"
(Heb.
70.
and Vulgate) followed by "when I cry"
signifies
the earnest perseverance of the saint in prayer
never ceasing
so long as
trouble lasts. And trouble does last so long as we are in the world; wherefore
the apostle teaches us to "Pray without ceasing."—Augustine and
Bruno
in Neale and Littledale.
Verses
1-5. That the Psalmist was now in some distress
whereof he was deeply
sensible
is evident from the vehemency of his spirit
which he expresses in
the reiteration of his request or supplication (Ps 141:1); and by his desire
that his "prayer might come before the Lord like incense
and the lifting
up of his hands as the evening sacrifice" (Ps 141:2). The Jewish
expositors guess
not improbably
that in that allusion he had regard unto his
present exclusion from the holy services of the tabernacle
which in other
places he deeply complains of. For the matter of his prayer in the beginning of
the psalm
it respecteth himself
and his deportment under his present
condition
which he desireth may be harmless and holy
becoming himself
and
useful to others. And whereas he was two ways liable to miscarry; first
by too
high an exasperation of spirit against his oppressors and persecutors; and
secondly
by a fraudulent and pusillanimous compliance with them in their
wicked courses;—which are the two extremes which men are apt sinfully to run
into in such conditions: he prays earnestly to be delivered from them both. The
first he hath respect unto in Ps 141:3
"Set a watch
O
LORD
before
my mouth; keep the door of my lips": namely
that he might not
under
those great provocations which were given him
break forth into an unseemly
intemperance of speech against his unjust oppressors
which sometimes fierce
and unreasonable cruelties will wrest from the most sedate and moderate
spirits. But it was the desire of this holy Psalmist
as in like cases it
should be ours
that his heart might be always preserved in such a frame
under
the conduct of the Spirit of God
as not to be surprised into an expression of
distempered passion in any of his words or sayings. The other he regards in his
earnest supplication to be delivered from it
Ps 141:4: "Incline not my
heart to any evil thing
to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity:
and let me not eat of their dainties." There are two parts of his
request unto the purpose intended. 1. That by the power of God's grace
influencing his mind and soul
his heart might not be inclined unto any
communion or society with his wicked adversaries in their wickedness. 2. That
he might be preserved from a liking of
or a longing after those things
which
are the baits and allurements whereby men are apt to be drawn into societies
and conspiracies with the workers of iniquity; "And let me not eat of
their dainties." See Pr 1:10-14. For he here describeth the condition
of men prospering for a season in a course of wickedness; they first jointly
give up themselves unto the practice of iniquity
and then together solace
themselves in those satisfactions of their lusts
with which their power and
interest in the world do furnish them.
These
are the "dainties"
for which an impotent longing and desire
do betray the minds of unstable persons unto a compliance with ways of sin and
folly: for I look on these "dainties" as comprising whatever
the lust of the eyes
the lust of the flesh
or the pride of life can afford.
All these David prays to be delivered from any inclination unto; especially
when they are made the allurements of a course of sin. In the enjoyment of
these "dainties"
it is the common practice of wicked men to
soothe up
and mutually encourage one another in the way and course wherein
they are engaged. And this completes that poor felicity which in this world so
many aspire unto
and whereof alone they are capable. The whole of it is but a
society in perishing sensual enjoyments
without control
and with mutual
applause from one another. This the Psalmist had a special regard unto when
casting his eye towards another communion and society which he longed after (Ps
141:5). He saw there not dainties but rebukes: he discerned that which is most
opposite unto those mutual applause and rejoicing in one another
which is the
salt and cement of all evil societies
for he noticed rebukes and reproofs for
the least miscarriages that shall be observed. Now whereas the dainties which
some enjoy in a course of prosperous wickedness
are that alone which seems to
have anything in it amongst them that is desirable
and on the other side
rebukes and reproofs are those alone which seem to have any sharpness
or
matter of uneasiness and dislike in the society of the godly
David balances
that which seemeth to be sharpest in the one society
against that which seems
to be sweetest in the other
and
without respect unto other advantages
prefers the one above the other. Hence
some read the beginning of the words
"Let
the righteous rather smite me"
meaning
"rather than that I
should eat of the dainties of the ungodly."—John Owen.
Verse
2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee. Margin
directed.
The Hebrew word means to fit; to establish; to make firm. The Psalmist desires
that his prayer should not be like that which is feeble
languishing
easily
dissipated; but that it should be like that which is firm and secure.—Albert
Barnes.
Verse
2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense.
Literally
Let my prayer
incense
be set in order before Thee
—implying that
prayer was in the reality what incense was in the symbol ...Passing to New
Testament Scripture
though still only to that portion which refers to Old
Testament times
we are told of the people without being engaged in player
while Zacharias was offering incense within the Sanctuary (Lu 1:10); they were
in spirit going along with the priestly service. And in the book of Revelation
the prayers of saints are once and again identified with the offering of incense
on the golden altar before the throne. Re 5:8 8:3-4.—Patrick Fairbairn
in
"The Typology of Scripture."
Verse
2. Set forth. Prayer is knowing work
believing work
thinking work
searching work
humbling work
and nothing worth if heart and
hand do not join in it.—Thomas Adam
1701-1784.
Verse
2. Set forth before thee as incense
whose fragrant smoke
still ascends upwards. But many times in the very ascent
whilst it strives up
higher and higher
infimo phantasmate verberatur
saith Gregory
"it is beaten back again by earthly imaginations which intervene"
and then is extenuated by degrees
and vanisheth to nothing. Therefore the
prophet prays ut diriyatur oratio
"that his prayer may be set
before God"
ut stubiliatur;so some render it out of the Hebrew
"that it may be established"
that it may neither evaporate itself
nor be whiffed about with the wind of vain and contrary imaginations
which
come ab extrinseco from without]
and may corrupt it.—Anthony Farindon.
Verse
2. As incense. That in general by incense prayer is
signified
the Scripture expressly testifieth. And there is a fourfold
resemblance between them:
1.
In that it was beaten and pounded before it was used. So doth acceptable
prayer proceed from a broken and contrite heart: Ps 51:17.
2. It
was of no use until fire was put under it
and that taken from the altar.
Nor is that prayer of any virtue or efficacy which is no kindled by the fire
from above
the Holy Spirit of God
which we have from our altar
Christ Jesus.
3. It
naturally ascended upwards towards heaven
as all offerings in the Hebrew
are called twle
"ascensions"
uprisings. And this is the design of
prayer
to ascend unto the throne of God: "I will direct unto thee
and
will look up"; that is
pray: Ps 5:3.
4.
It yielded a sweet savour; which was one end of it in temple services
wherein
there was so much burning of flesh and blood. So doth prayer yield a sweet
savour unto God; a savour of rest
wherein he is well pleased.—John Owen.
Verse
2. As incense...as the evening sacrifice. Though this address
of mine must necessarily want all that solemnity of preparation required in the
service of thy holy Tabernacle
the cloud of incense and perfume
etc.
the
"mincha" or oblation of fine flour
etc.
yet let the purity and fervour
of my heart
and the innocency of my hands
now lifted up to thee in tiffs sad
hour of my distress
be accepted instead of all these
and prevail for
deliverance and a safe retreat to me and my companions.—Charles Peters
(—1777)
in "A Critical Dissertation on the Book of Job
"
1751.
Verse
2. As the evening sacrifice. This should be our daily
service
as a lamb was offered up morning and evening for a sacrifice. But
alas! how dull and dead are our devotions! Like Pharaoh's chariots
they drive
on heavily. Some
like Balaam's ass
scarce ever open their mouths twice.—Thomas
Adams.
Verse
2. My hands. Spreading forth our hands in believing and
fervent prayer is the only way of grasping mercy.—F. E.
in "The Saints
of Ebenezer
" 1667.
Verse
2. In the gorgeous ceremonial worship of the Hebrews
none of the
senses were excluded from taking part in the service...The sense of smell
occupied
perhaps
the most prominent place; for the acceptance of the worship
was always indicated by a symbol borrowed from this sense: "The Lord
smelled a sweet savour." The prayer of the people ascended as incense
and
the lifting up of their hands as the evening sacrifice. The offering of incense
formed the essential part of the religious service. The altar of incense
occupied one of the most conspicuous and honoured positions in the tabernacle
and temple... On this altar a censer full of incense poured forth its fragrant
clouds every morning and evening; and yearly
as the day of atonement came
round
when the high priest entered the holy of holies
he filled a censer with
live coals from the sacred fire on the altar of burnt offerings
and bore it
into the sanctuary
where lie threw upon the burning coals the "sweet
incense beaten small"
which he had brought in his hand. Without this
smoking censer lie was forbidden
on pain of death
to enter into the awful
shrine of Jehovah. Notwithstanding the washing of his flesh
and the linen
garments with which he was clothed
tie dare not enter the holiest of all with
the blood of atonement
unless he could personally shelter himself under a
cloud of incense.
It
has been supposed by some writers that incense was invented for the purpose of
concealing or neutralizing the noxious effluvia caused by the number of beasts
slaughtered every day in the sanctuary. Other writers have attached a mystical
import to it
and believed that it was a symbol of the breath of the world
arising in praise to the Creator
the four ingredients of which it was composed
representing the four elements. While a third class
looking upon the
tabernacle as the palace of God
the theocratic King of Israel
and the ark of
the covenant as his throne
regarded the incense as merely corresponding to the
perfume so lavishly employed about the person and appointments of an Oriental
monarch. It may doubtless have been intended primarily to serve these purposes
and convey these meanings
but it derived its chief importance in connection
with the ceremonial observances of the Mosaic ritual from the fact of its being
the great symbol of prayer. It was offered at the time when the people were in
the posture and act of devotion; and their prayers were supposed to be
presented to God by the priest
and to ascend to him in the smoke and odour of
that fragrant offering. Scripture is full of allusions to it
understood in
this beautiful symbolical sense. Acceptable
prevailing prayer was a sweet
smelling savour to the Lord; and prayer that was unlawful
or hypocritical
or
unprofitable
was rejected with disgust by the organ of smell.
Doubtless
the Jews felt
when they saw the soft white clouds of fragrant smoke rising
slowly from the altar of incense
as if the voice of the priest were silently
but eloquently pleading in that expressive emblem in their behalf. The
association of sound was lost in that of smell
and the two senses were blended
in one. And this symbolical mode of supplication
as Dr. George Wilson has
remarked
has this one advantage over spoken or written prayer
that it
appealed to those who were both blind and deaf
a class that are usually shut
out from social worship by their affliction. Those who could not hear the
prayers of the priest could join in devotional exercises symbolized by incense
through the medium of their sense of smell; and the hallowed impressions shut
out by one avenue were admitted to the mind and heart by another. The altar of
incense stood in the closest connection with the altar of burnt offerings. The
blood of the sin offering was sprinkled on the horns of both on the great day
of annual atonement. Morning and evening
as soon as the sacrifice was offered
the censer poured forth its fragrant contents
so that the perpetual incense
within ascended simultaneously with the perpetual burnt offering outside.
Without the live coals from off the sacrificial altar
the sacred incense could
not be kindled; and without the incense previously filling the holy place
the
blood of atonement from the altar of burnt offering could not be sprinkled on
the mercy seat. Beautiful and expressive type of the perfect sacrifice and the
all prevailing intercession of Jesus—of intercession founded upon atonement
of
atonement preceded and followed by intercession! Beautiful and expressive type
too
of the prayers of believers kindled by the altar fire of Christ's sacrifice
and perfumed by his merits!—Hugh Macmillan
in "The Ministry of
Nature
" 1871.
Verse
3. Set a watch
O LORD
before my mouth
etc.
1.
A man would never use this language without a conviction of the importance
of the subject ...Everything is transacted by speech
in natural
civil
and religious concerns: how much
therefore
depends on the good or evil
management of the tongue! What an ardour of holy love and friendship
or of
anger and malice
may a few words fan into a flame! The tongue is the principal
instrument in the cause of God; and it is the chief engine of the devil; give
him this
and lie asks no more—there is no mischief or misery he will not
accomplish by it. The use
the influence of it
therefore
is inexpressible;
and words are never to be considered only as effects
but as causes
the operation of which can never be fully imagined. Let us suppose a case
a
case
I fear
but too common. You drop
in the thoughtlessness of conversation
or for the sake of argument or wit
some irreligious
sceptical
expression—it
lodges in the memory of a child
or a servant—it takes root in a soil
favourable to such seed—it gradually springs up
and brings forth fruit
in the
profanation of the Sabbath; the neglect of the means of grace; in the reading of
improper books; in the choice of dangerous companions;—who can tell where it
will end? But there is a Being who knows where it began. It will be
acknowledged that some have it in their power
by reason of their office
talents
and influence
to do much more injury than others; but none are so
insignificant as to be harmless.
2.
A man would never use this language without a conviction that he is in
danger of transgression. And if David was conscious of a liableness to err
shall we ever presume on our safety? Our danger arises from the depravity of
our nature. "The heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately
wicked"; and "who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?"
Our danger arises from the contagion of example. There is nothing in which mankind
are more universally culpable than in the disorders of speech. Yet with these
we are constantly surrounded; and to these we have been accustomed from our
impressible infancy. We are in danger from the frequency of speech. "In
the multitude of words there wanteth not sin." We must of necessity speak
often; but we often speak without necessity. Duty calls us to intermingle much
with our fellow creatures; but we are too little in the closet
and too much in
the crowd—and when we are in company we forget the admonition
"Let every
man be swift to hear
and slow to speak."
3.
A man would never use this language without a conviction of inability to
preserve himself. The Bible teaches us this truth
not only doctrinally
but historically. The examples of good men
and men eminent in godliness
confirm it in the very article before us. Moses
the meekest man in the earth
"spake unadvisedly with his lips." You have heard of the patience of
Job
but he "cursed the day of his birth"; and Jeremiah
the prophet
of the Lord
did the same. Peter said
"Though all men should be offended
because of thee
I will never be offended; though I should die with thee
yet
will I not deny thee." But how did he use his tongue a few hours after?
Then "began he to curse and to swear
saying
I know not the man!"
4.
A man would never use this language without a conviction of the wisdom of
applying to God for the assistance he needs. Prayer is the effect of our
weakness
and the expression of our dependence. It confesses the agency of God.
(a)
In the first place—God is equal to our preservation.
(b) His succours are not to be obtained without prayer.
(c) Prayer always brings the assistance it implores.
—Condensed from W. Jay's Sermon on "The Regulation of the Tongue."
Verse
3. Set a watch
O LORD
before my mouth
etc. Watching and
prayer are often joined together. We are best kept when recommended into God's
hand. I do observe here
First
That unadvised and passionate speeches do
easily drop from us in our troubles
especially in our persecution. Secondly
That a godly
conscientious man is very tender of these
as of all evil. He
that would live in communion with God for the present
and hope to appear with
comfort before him hereafter
is sensible of the least thing that tends to God's
displeasure
and God's dishonour: this is the true spirit of one that will be
owned by Christ at the last day. Thirdly
There is no way to prevent being
provoked to impatience and rashness of speech
or any evil
but by keeping a
watch
and renewing our obligations to God. Fourthly
Whoever would keep a
watch must call in the aid and assistance of God's grace; "Lord
set a
watch before my mouth."—Thomas Manton.
Verse
3. Set a watch
O Lord
before my mouth
etc. Thus holy men
have kept the sessions at home
and made their hearts the foremen of the jury
and examined themselves as we examine others. The fear of the Lord stood at the
door of their souls
to examine every thought before it went in
and at the
door of their lips
to examine every word before it went out
whereby they
escaped a thousand sins which we commit
as though we had no other work.—Henry
Smith.
Verse
3. Set a watch
O Lord
before my mouth. Nature having made
my lips to be a door to my words
let grace keep that door
that no word may be
suffered to go out which may any way tend to the dishonour of God
or the hurt
of others.—Matthew Henry.
Verse
3. Set a watch
etc. Let a seal for words not to be spoken
lie on the tongue. A watch over words is better than over wealth.—Lucian.
Verse
3. Keep the door of my lips. That it move not creaking and
complaining
as on rusty hinges
for want of the oil of joy and gladness. David
had somewhat to do with his tongue
as we see (Ps 39:1
3); and when he had
carted the ark
how untowardly he spake
as if the fault were more in God than
himself
that there was such a breach made in Uzzah (1Ch 13:12). It was but
need thus to pray.—John Trapp.
Verse
4. Incline not my heart to any evil thing
etc. The present
pleasure and commodity of sin is in high estimation with the sinner
and much
sweeter to him than what he may lawfully enjoy; the pleasures of sin are his
delicates. No man can keep himself from being taken with the allurements of a
sinful course
except the Lord preserve him: Let me not eat of their
dainties. The holiest men in Scripture have been most sensible of the
impotency of their own free will
and of their inability to resist temptations
or to bring the principles of grace into action; most diffident of themselves
most dependent upon God
most careful to make use of means
and conscientious
in following of ordinances
as their prayers do testify: "Incline not
my heart to any evil thing"
etc.—David Dickson.
Verse
4. Incline not my heart. Heb. Let not be inclined my heart.—John
Jebb.
Verse
4. My heart. That man is like Esau which had an inheritance
which had a heart but now he hath not possession of his own; therefore
give
God thy heart
that he may keep it; and not a piece of thy heart
not a room in
thy heart
but thy heart. The heart divided
dieth. God is not like the mother
which would have the child divided
but like the natural mother
which said
rather than it should be divided
let her take all. Let the devil have all
if
he which gave it be not worthy of it. God hath no cope-mate
therefore he will
have no parting of stakes
but all or none; and therefore he which asks here
thy heart
in the sixth of Deuteronomy and the fifth verse
asketh "all
thy heart
all thy soul
and all thy strength"; thrice he requireth all
lest we should keep a thought behind. Yet it is thy heart
that is
a vain
heart
a barren heart
a sinful heart
until thou give it unto God
and then it
is the spouse of Christ
the temple of the Holy Ghost
and the image of God
so
changed
and formed
and refined
that God calls it a new heart. There is such
strife for the heart as there was for Moses's body. "Give it me"
saith the Lord; "give it me"
saith the tempter; "give it
me"
saith the pope; "give it me"
saith riches; "give it
me"
saith pleasure; as though thou must needs give it to some one. Now
here is the choice
whether thou wilt give it to God or the devil; God's heart
or the devil's heart; whose wilt thou be?—Henry Smith.
Verse
4. Let me not eat of their dainties. Sin is not only meat
but sweet meat
not only bread
but pleasant bread to an evil heart. Daniel for
some weeks ate no pleasant bread; he ate bread to keep life and soul together
but he forbare feasting or good cheer. Sin is a feast to a carnal man
it is
his good cheer
yea
it is "dainties" to him. David
speaking
of wicked men
says
Incline not my heart to any evil thing
to practise
wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
These "dainties" may be expounded either for the prosperity
that comes in by wicked practices (some by wicked ways get not only their
ordinary food but "dainties"); or those "dainties"
are sin itself: they feasted themselves in doing evil: "Lord
let me
not eat of their dainties." If that be their food I had rather starve
than eat with them.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse
4. Their dainties. The enemies of David were sensual and
luxurious; and they would have gladly admitted him to share in their banquets
if his character had resembled their own. He entreats to be preserved from
inducement so to do.—William Walford.
Verse
5. Let the righteous smite me
etc. This verse is so obscure
as to be almost unintelligible. According to the English versions
it expresses
his willingness to be rebuked by good men for his benefit. But this sense is not
only hard to be extracted from the words
but foreign from the context. Of the
many contradictory interpretations which have been proposed the most probable
is that which makes the sentence mean
that the sufferings endured by the good
man
even at the hand of the wicked
are chastisements inflicted by a righteous
God in justice and with mercy
and as such may be likened to a festive
ointment
which the head of the sufferer should not refuse
as he will still
have need of consolation and occasion to invoke God
in the midst of trials and
of mischiefs yet to be experienced.—Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse
5. Let the righteous smite me
The word olh is seldom used in
Scripture but to signify a severe stroke which shakes the subject smitten
and
causeth it to tremble; see Pr 23:35 1Sa 14:16 Ps 74:6; and it is used for the
stroke of the hammer on the anvil in fashioning of the iron (Isa 41:7).
Wherefore the word dox following may be taken adverbially
as a lenitive of
that severity which this word imports: "Let him smite me
but" leniter
benigne
misericorditer
"gently
kindly
friendly
mercifully":
and so some translations read the words
"Let the righteous smite me
friendly
or kindly."—John Owen.
Verse
5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness
etc.
Grace will teach a Christian to take those potions which are wholesome
though
they be not toothsome. Faithful reproof is a token of love
and therefore may
well be esteemed a kindness. Such wounding of a friend is healing
and so David
might well call it an excellent oil. And he did not only say so
which
is easy and ordinary
but acted accordingly. He did not as the papists
who
highly commend holy water
but turn away their faces when it comes to be
sprinkled on them. When he had by sin
and continuance in it
so gangrened his
flesh
and corrupted himself
that he was in danger of death
he suffered his
sores to be thoroughly searched without regret. Nathan was the chirurgeon whom
God employed to search that wound which had divers mouths for festering in his
soul; and truly he did not dally with his patient
though he were a prince
but
thrust his instrument to the bottom; yet whatever pain it put him to
he took
it patiently
and was so far from being angry with the prophet
that he made
him one of his privy council. It is a sign of a polluted nature for a man
like
a serpent
if he be but touched
to gather poison
and vomit it up at the
party. "Rebuke a wise man
and he will love thee": Pr 9:8.—George
Swinnock.
Verse
5. Let the righteous smite me
etc. If the righteous smite us
by reproofs
it must be taken as a kindness
and as a precious balsam
which
doth not break our head
but heal us. Not that we are bound to belie ourselves
in compliance with every man's censorious humour that will accuse us; but we
must be readier to censure ourselves than others
and readier to confess a
fault than to expect a confession from others whom we reprove. Sincerity and
serious repentance will be honourable in that person who is most careful to
avoid sin
and most ready penitently to confess it when he hath been overcome
and truly thankful to those that call him to repentance; as being more desirous
that God and his laws and religion should have the glory of their holiness
than that he himself should have the undue glory of innocency; and escape the
deserved shame of his sin. It is one of the most dangerous diseases of
professors
and one of the greatest scandals of this age
that persons taken
for eminently religious arc more impatient of plain
though just
reproof than
many a drunkard
swearer
or fornicator; and when they have spent hours or days
in the seeming earnest confession of their sin
and lament before God and man
that they cannot do it with more grief and tears
yet they take it for a
heinous injury in another that will say half so much against them
and take him
for a malignant enemy of the godly who will call them as they call themselves.—Richard
Baxter (1615-1691)
in "The Morning Exercises."
Verse
5. Let the righteous smite me. If a righteous or a right wise
man smite and reprove
he will do it
1. Sine felle
without gall
without bitterness. 2. Sine publicatione
without publishing
divulging
or telling it to the world. 3. Sine contumelia
without disgrace—to
reform his friend
not to disgrace him. 4. Sine adulatione
without
flattery. 5. Nonn sine Deo
not without God.—John Gore
in a Sermon
entitled "Unknowne Kindnesse"
1635.
Verse
5. The righteous
etc. The minister cannot be always
preaching; two or three hours
may be
in a week
he spends among his people in
the pulpit
holding the glass of the gospel before their faces; but the lives
of professors
these preach all the week long: if they were but holy and
exemplary
they would be as a repetition of the preacher's sermon to their families
and neighbours among whom they converse
and keep the sound of his doctrine
continually ringing in their ears. This would give Christians an amiable
advantage in doing good to their carnal neighbours by counsel and reproof
which now is seldom done
and when done it proves to little purpose
because
not backed with their own exemplary walking. "It behooves him"
saith
Tertullian
"that would counsel or reprove another
to guard his speech
with the authority of his own conversation
lest
wanting that
what he says
puts himself to the blush." We do not love one that hath a stinking breath
to come very near us; such
therefore
had need have a sweet scented life.
Reproofs are a good physic
but they have an unpleasant reception; it is hard
for men not to throw them back on the face of him that gives them. Now nothing
is more powerful to keep a reproof from thus coming back than the holiness of
the person that reproves. "Let the righteous smite me"
saith
David
"it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an
excellent oil
which shall not break my head." See how well it is
taken from such a hand
from the authority that holiness carries with it. None
but a vile wretch will smite a righteous man with reproach for smiting him with
a reproof
if softly laid on
and like oil fermented
and wrought into him
as
it should
with compassion and love to his soul! Thus we see how influential
the power of holiness would be unto the wicked
neither would it be less upon
our brethren and fellow Christians. Holy David professed he would take it as a
kindness for the righteous man to smite him; yea
as kindly as if he broke a
box of precious oil upon his head
which was amongst the Jews a high expression
of love.—William Gurnall.
Verse
5. It shall be a kindness.
1.
It is a kindness reducere errarvin
to bring back the wandering.
2. Senate cegrotum
to recover the sick.
3. Suscitare letbargum
to awake
to stir up the lethargic
the sleepy.
4. Ligure insanum
to bind a madman.
5. Liberare perditum
to save a lost man
one in imminent danger.
—John Gore.
Verse
5. It shall be an excellent oil
which shall not break my head.
Some persons pride themselves on being blunt
or
as they call it
"honest"; but very blunt people do little good to others
and get
little love to themselves. The Scriptures recommend gentleness and kindness.
Reproof should fall like the dew
and not like the rushing hailstorm. The "oil"
insinuates itself; the stone wounds and then rebounds. Christians should take
heed of getting fond of the work of "rebuking." Such "spiritual
constables" do a great deal of mischief without intending it. They are in
a church what a very witty and sarcastic person is in society
or what a tell
tale is in a school; and approximate very closely to that class which the
apostle terms "busy bodies in other men's matters." Our manner must
be tender and winning. The nail of reproof
says an old writer
must be well
oiled in kindness before it is driven home. Meddling with the faults of others
is like attempting to move a person afflicted with the rheumatic gout: it must
be done slowly and tenderly
nor must we be frightened by an out cry or two.
The great thing is to show the person that you really love him; and if you
manifest this in the sight of God
he will bless your efforts
and give you
favour in the sight of an erring brother.—Christian Treasury.
Verse
5. It shall be an excellent oil. Certain oils are said to
have a most salutary effect on the head; hence in fevers
or any other
complaints which affect the head
the medical men always recommend oil. I have
known people who were deranged
cured in a very short time by nothing more than
the application of a peculiar kind of oil to the head. There are
however
other kinds which are believed
when thus applied
to produce delirium. Thus
the reproofs of the righteous were compared to "excellent oil"
which produced a most salutary effect on the head. So common is this practice
of anointing the head
that all who can afford it do it every week. But
strange as it may appear
the crown of their heads is the place selected for
chastisement; thus owners of slaves
or husbands
or school masters
beat the
heads of the offenders with their knuckles. Should all urchin come late to
school
or forget his lesson
the pedagogue says to some of the other boys
"Go beat his head!" "Begone
fellow! or I will beat thy
head." Should a man be thus chastised by an inferior
he quotes the old
proverb: "If my head is to be beaten
let it be done with the fingers that
have rings on"; meaning a man of rank. "Yes
yes; let a holy man
smite my head! and what of that? it is an excellent oil." "My master
has been beating my head
but it has been good oil for me."—Joseph
Roberts.
Verse
5. Oil
which shall not break my head. When I first took this
text in hand
this seemed unto me a very strange and uncouth expression. If the
Psalmist had said
It shall be a stone that shall not break my head
etc.
we
had easily understood him; but to speak of an oil
or a balm
which we know to
be so soft
so supple
so lithe and gentle an ointment
that he should speak of
breaking his head with oil
it is strange. I confess it troubled me a while
till at length I conceived it might be spoken by contraries; as when a
physician gives a patient some pectoral
or cordial
and saith
Take this
it
will not hurt you; his meaning is
it will help and do him good. So this oil shall
not break my head;that is
it shall heal it
being broken by my own
corruption
by Satan's temptations
and by the evil influence of such as flatter
me in my sins.—John Gore.
Verse
5. If David could say of his enemy that cursed him
"Let him
alone
for God hath bidden him to curse"; much more safely mayest thou say
of thy friend that reproves thee
"Let him alone
for God hath bidden him
to smite." And as the apostle saith of ministers
that God "doth
entreat you by us"; so persuade yourselves that God doth reprove you by
them.—John Gore.
Verse
5. It was the saying of a heat hell
though no heathenish saying
"That he who would be good
must either have a faithful friend to instruct
him
or a watchful enemy to correct him." Should we murder a physician
because he comes to cure us; or like him worse
because he would make us
better? The flaming sword of reprehension is but to keep us from the forbidden
fruit of transgression. "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be
a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil
which shall
not break my head." Let him smite me as with a hammer
for so
the word signifies. A Boanerges is as necessary as a Barnabas.—William
Seeker.
Verse
5. Yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities. That is
if ever they who are my reprovers fall into calamity
though they may think
they provoked me so by reproving me
that they have lost my love
and have cast
themselves out of my prayers
or that I will never speak well of them or for
them again; yet I will pray for them with all my heart
as their matter shall
require. I will pray for them when they have most need of prayer
even "in
their calamities." Some heighten the sense thus
—The more they sharpen
their reproof
the more I think myself bound to pray for them. It shows an
excellent spirit
not to be hindered from doing good to others by anything they
do or speak against us
nor by their sharpest (though perhaps mistaken)
reproofs of us. Thus it was that that good man Job "prayed for his
friends"
who had spoken much against him
and not only reproved him
without cause
but reproached him without charity.—Joseph Caryl.
Verse
6. When their judges are overthrown
etc. When the judgments
in reserve for the leaders of my enemies shall come upon them
they will
perceive too late how reasonable are my words
and wish that they had hearkened
to them sooner.—Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse
6. Overthrown. The verb rendered "overthrown" is
used of Jezebel in 2Ki 9:33; "Throw her down. So they threw her
down."—Speaker's Commentary.
Verse
6. They shall hear my words; for they are sweet. This is
especially true of all the words which David spake by inspiration
or the
Spirit of God spake to him; articulately in his book of Psalms; concerning the
Messiah
the covenant of grace
and the blessings of it; of the rich
experiences of grace he had
and the several doctrines of the gospel declared
by him; which were sweet
delightful
and entertaining to those who have ears
to hear such things; or whose ears are opened to hear them
so as to understand
them and distinguish them
but to others not.—John Gill.
Verse
6. They shall hear my words; for they are sweet. Those that slighted
the word of God before
will relish it and be glad of it when they are in
affliction; for that opens the ear to instruction. When the world is bitter the
word is sweet. Oppressed innocency cannot gain a hearing with those that live
in pomp and pleasure; but when they come to be overthrown themselves
they will
have more compassionate thoughts of the afflicted.—Matthew Henry.
Verse
6. For they are sweet. They shall be pleasant; mild; gentle;
equitable; just. After the hash and severe enactments of Saul
after enduring
his acts of tyranny
the people will be glad to welcome me
and to live under
the laws of a just and equal administration. The passage
therefore
expresses
confidence that Saul and his hosts would be overthrown
and that the people of the
land would gladly hail the accession to the throne of one who had been anointed
to reign over them.—Albert Barnes.
Verses
6-7. The mild and dutiful behaviour of David towards Saul and his
friends are set together by way of contrast
in the strongest light
from the
instances of each sort here produced. The first is
David's humanity towards
Saul
in giving him his life at two several times
when he had it in his power
to destroy him as he pleased. "Their judges have been dismissed in the
rocky places; and have heard my words that they are sweet"; that is
"Their princes have been dismissed in safety
when I had them at an
advantage in those rocky deserts; and only heard me expostulate with them in
the gentlest words." The other is
Saul's barbarity and cruelty towards
David (or his friends
which is much the same) in the horrid massacre of
Ahimelech and the priests
by the hand of Doeg the Edomite
done in such a
savage manner
that he compares it to the chopping and cleaving wood; "Like
as when one cutteth and cleaveth
so have our bones been scattered on the earth
at the command of Saul"; for so I read the Hebrew words
le-pi
Saul
at the mouth
that is
the command of Saul. Should we suppose this
passage to refer to the first time of David's sparing Saul
viz.
when he had
him in his power in the cave of Engedi (here called jede selay)
the sides of the rock
or the rocky places
the speech he made on this occasion
when he called after Saul (and which is recorded in 1Sa 24:8-16.) might well be
called sweet or pleasant words. For they set his own innocence
and the king's unjust behaviour to him in so strong a light
and with all that
gentleness and mildness
and even this hard hearted prince could not forbear
being greatly affected with it for the present; and we are told (1Sa 24:16-17)
that "he lifted up his voice and wept."—Charles Peters.
Verse
7. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth
etc. The
primary reference may be to the slaughter of the priests by the command of
Saul
1Sa 22:16-19. The language
however
may be illustrative of the many
massacres like that on the eve of St. Bartholomew
so numerous as to be
scattered on the face of the earth
marking the passage of pious martyrs from
this world to a better
and testifying where the blood of the slain shall be
disclosed for the judgment of their murderers.—W. Wilson.
Verse
7. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth
etc.
Assuming the very extreme
it is a look of hope into the future: should his
bones and the bones of his followers be even scattered about the mouth of Sheol
(cf. the Syrian picture of Sheol: "the dust upon its threshold
`al-escufteh"
Deutsche Morgenland. Zeit-schrift
20. 513)
their soul below
their bones
above—it would nevertheless be only as when one in ploughing cleaves the earth;
i.e.
they do not lie there in order that they may continue lying
but that
they may rise up anew
as the seed that is sown sprouts up out of the upturned
earth.—Franz Delitzsch.
Verse
7. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth. That is to
say
I and my company are in a dying condition
free among the dead; yea
if
taken we should be put to most cruel deaths
hewn in pieces
or pulled
limbmeal
and left unburied; and our dead bodies mangled by a barbarous
inhumanity
as wood cleavers make the shivers fly hither and thither. This is
the perilous case of me and my partisans.—John Trapp.
Verse
7. Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth. This seems
to be strong eastern painting
and almost figurative language; but that it may
be strictly true
the following extract demonstrates: "At five o'clock we
left Garigana
our journey being still to the eastward of north; and
at a
quarter past six in the evening
arrived at the village of that name
whose
inhabitants had all perished with hunger the year before; their wretched bones
being all unburied
and scattered upon the surface of the ground
where the
village formerly stood. We encamped among the bones of the dead
as no space
could be found free from them; and on the 23rd
at six in the morning
full of
horror at this miserable spectacle
we set out for Teawa."—(James
Bruce's Travels.) To the Jews such a spectacle must have been very
dreadful
as the want of burial was esteemed one of the greatest calamities
which could befall them.—Burder's "Oriental Customs."
Verse
7. Like one ploughing and cleaving in the earth. This clause
may be explained not of cleaving wood but ploughing
to which the first verb is
applied in Arabic. Like (one) ploughing and cleaving (making furrows) in
the earth
not for the sake of mangling its surface
but to make it
fruitful and productive
(so) our bones are scattered at the mouth of
hell as the necessary means of a glorious resurrection.—Joseph Addison
Alexander.
Verse
7. Who can attend the digging of a grave
and view the ruins then
disclosed
without exclaiming
Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth
as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth?—George Horne.
Verse
8. Mine eyes are unto thee
O GOD the Lord. If you would keep
your mind fixed in prayer
keep your eye fixed. Much vanity comes in at the
eye. When the eyes wander in prayer
the heart wanders. To think to keep the
heart fixed in prayer
and yet let the eyes gaze abroad
is as if one should
think to keep his house sate
yet let the windows be open.—Thomas Watson.
Verse
8. Leave not my soul destitute. The literal Hebrew is
Pour
not out my soul
but keep it in thy cup of salvation.—Agellius. Compare Isa
53:12: "He hath poured out his soul unto death."
Verse
8. Leave not my soul destitute
or
"Cast not out my
soul." That is
cast not my life away
as water
which is of no
account
is cast out of a vessel containing it.—Daniel Cresswell.
Verse
8. Leave not my soul destitute. His soul knew what it was to
be "destitute"; he had known the misery of spiritual beggary
and soul poverty. It was not with him as natural poverty is with the rich
a
matter of speculation
a mere matter of theory; but a matter of personal and
painful experience...It is in the margin "Make not my soul bare"
Strip me not of every hope; leave me not completely naked; abandon me not to
nature's beggary and misery; let me not go down into the pit with all my sins
upon my head; leave not my soul destitute of pardon and peace.—Joseph C.
Philpot.
Verses
8-10.
O
pour not out my soul
I pray
From the dark snare preserve my way
The chambers of the blind entangling net
Which by my path the powers of evil set.
Behold them hid
the godless crew
Low in the toils they darkly drew:
The while
with gathering heart and watchful eye
I wait mine hour to pass victorious by.
—John Keble.
Verses
9-10. Snares
Gins
Nets. The usual method of capturing or killing the
lion in Palestine was by pitfalls or nets
to both of which there are many
references in the Scriptures. The mode of hunting the lion with nets was
identical with that which is practised in India at the present time. The
precise locality of the lion's dwelling place having been discovered
a
circular wall of net is arranged round it
or if only a few nets can be
obtained
they are set in a curved form
the concave side being towards the
lion. They then send dogs into the thicket
hurl stones and sticks at the den
shoot arrows into it
fling burning torches at it
and so irritate and alarm
the animal that it rushes against the net
which is so made that it falls down
and envelops the animal in its folds. If the nets be few
the drivers go to the
opposite side of the den
and induce the lion to escape in the direction where
he sees no foes
but where he is sure to run against the treacherous net. Other
large and dangerous animals were also captured by the same means. Another and
more common
because an easier and a cheaper method
was
by digging a deep
pit
covering the mouth with a slight covering of sticks and earth
and driving
the animal upon the treacherous covering. It is an easier method than the net
because after the pit is once dug
the only trouble lies in throwing the
covering over its mouth. But it is not so well adapted for taking beasts alive
as they are likely to be damaged
either by the fall into the pit
or by the
means used in getting them out again. Animals
therefore
that are caught in
pits are generally
though not always
killed before they are taken out. The
net
however
envelops the animal so perfectly
and renders it so helpless
that it can be easily bound and taken away. The hunting net is very expensive
and requires a large staff of men to work it
so that none but a rich man could
use the net in hunting. Besides the net
several other modes of bird catching
were used by the ancient Jews
just as is the case at the present day. Boys
for example
who catch birds for their own consumption
and not for the market
can do so by means of various traps
most of which are made on the principle of
the noose
or snare. Sometimes a great number of hair nooses are set in places
to which the birds are decoyed
so that in hopping about
many of them are sure
to be entangled in the snares. Sometimes the noose is ingeniously suspended in
a narrow passage which the birds are likely to traverse
and sometimes a simple
fall trap is employed.—J. G. Wood.
Verse
10. Into their own nets. The word rendered "nets"
occurs only in this place
as the closely corresponding word in Ps 140:10
which is rendered "deep pits"
occurs there only.—Speaker's
Commentary.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1.
1.
The Perpetuity of Prayer: "I cry. I cry."
2. The Personality: "unto thee"
"unto me."
3. The Practicalness: "Make haste; give ear."
Verse
1. Holy haste.
1.
The saint hasting to God.
2. The saint hastening God.
3. God's sure hastening to his help.—W. B. H.
Verses
1-2.
1.
Prayer put forth:
a)
With urgency: "Make haste unto me."
b) With fervency: "Give ear"
etc.
2.
Prayer set forth: "Let my prayer be set forth"
etc. When hearing is
obtained there is composure and order in prayer. When the fire is kindled the
incense rises.
3.
Prayer held forth: "The lifting up of my hands as the evening
sacrifice"
as constant and accepted.—G. R.
Verse
2. True prayer acceptable as incense and as the evening sacrifice.
It is spiritual
solemn
ordained of God
brings Christ to remembrance.
Verse
3.
1.
The mouth a door.
2. A watchman needed.
3. The Lord fulfilling that office.
Verse
4. Total abstinence from evil desires
practices
and delights.
Verse
4. A prayer
1.
For the repression of every evil tendency in the heart: "Incline not my
heart"
etc.
2.
For the prevention of any association with the wicked in their sinful works:
"To practise"
etc.
3.
For a holy contempt of the temporal pleasure or profit placed in our way
through the sin of others: "Let me not eat"
etc. Note
many who will
not engage in a wicked act do not object to participate in its gains.—J. F.
Verse
4. Deprecation of
1.
Devil's desires.
2. Devil's deeds.
3. Devil's dainties.—W. B. H.
Verse
5. Rebukes of good men.
1.
Invited.
2. Appreciated: "it shall be a kindness."
3. Utilized: "an excellent oil."
4. Cheerfully endured: "not break my head."
5. Repaid
by our prayers for them in time of trouble.
Verse
5. (last clause.) "Intercessory Prayer." See"
Spurgeon's Sermons"
No. 1
049.
Verse
6.
1.
Times of trouble will come to the careless.
2. Then they will be more ready to hear the gospel.
3. Then they will find sweetness in that which they formerly refused.
Verse
6. A Desert Oasis.
1.
The world is a stony place
hard
barren.
2. Often pride and self trust suffer overthrowing there.
3. Then words of God by his sent servant make an oasis in the desert.
—W. B. H.
Verses
7-8. A cemetery scene.
1.
Dry bones of the dead about the grave.
2. Weary bones of the aged and sick around the grave.
3. All bones being from day to day made ready for the grave.
4. Bones finding rest in God: "mine eyes are unto thee
O God"
etc.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》