The Chaff Driven Away October 23rd, 1859 by C. H. (1834-1892) "The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away."— Psalms 1:4 . And who are the ungodly? Are they open and wilful sinners—men who take God's name in vain, and curse, and blaspheme—men who break the laws of man, the laws of the state—men who are scarcely to be trusted with liberty? Certainly these are included, but these are not mainly intended. While such men come under the category of "sinners" and "scorners," there is another class expressly aimed at by the term "ungodly." And who are the ungodly? Are they the men who deny God's existence, who neglect the outward forms of religion, who scoff at everything that is sacred, and make a ribald jest of things at which angels tremble? These are included, most certainly, but neither are these the men specially aimed at. They are the scornful, the pestilent: these are the men whose iniquities have gone beforehand to judgment against them, and whose sins are clammering before the throne for justice. Another class of men is intended under the term "ungodly." And who are they? Surely, my brethren, the answer may well strike you with awe. I do trust there are not many in this hall who may be called scorners; and, perhaps, not very many who would come under the denomination of open profligates and rebels; but how large a proportion of all those who attend our places of worship may justly be ranked under the character of the ungodly! What does this exactly mean? Let me just show its differences once again, and then more precisely define it. We sometimes call men irreligious; and, surely, to be irreligious is bad enough; but to be religious is not good enough. A man may be religious, but yet he may not be godly. There are many who are religious; as touching the law outwardly they are blameless; Hebrews of the Hebrews, Pharisees of the straitest sect. They neglect no rubric, they break no law of their church, they are exceedingly precise in their religion; yet, notwithstanding this, they may rank under the class of the ungodly; for to be religious is one thing. and to be godly is quite another. To be godly, then,—to come at once to the mark—to be godly is to have a constant eye to God, to recognize him in all things' to trust him, to love him, to serve him. And the ungodly man is one who does not have an eye to God in his daily business, who lives in this world as if there were no God; while he attends to all the outward ceremonies of religion, he never goes to their core, never enters into their secret heart and their deep mysteries. He sees the sacraments, but he sees not God therein; he hears the preaching, he comes up to the house of prayer, into the midst of the great congregation, he bows his head, but there is no present Deity to him, there is no manifest God. There is no hearing of his voice, there is no bowing before his throne. Doubtless, there is a large number here who must confess that they are not trusting in the blood of Christ, they are not influenced by the Holy Ghost, they do not love God; they cannot say that the bent and tenour of their fires is towards him. Why you have been the last six days about your business, occupying all your time,—and quite right is it to be diligent in business—but how many of you have forgotten God all the while? You have been trading for yourselves, not for God. The righteous man does everything in the name of God: at least, this is his constant desire. Whether he eats or drinks, or whatsoever he does, he desires to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. But you have not recognized God in your shop. You have not acknowledged him in your dealings with your fellow-men. You have acted towards them as if there had been no God whatever. And, perhaps, even this day you must confess that your heart does not love the Lord. You have never gone into his company. You do not seek retirement. You do not relish private prayer. Now God's children cannot be happy without sometimes talking to their Father. The sons of God must have frequent interviews with Jehovah. They love to cling to him. They feel that he is their life, their love, their all. Their daily cry is, "Lord, draw me to thyself; come thou to me, or draw me up to thee." They pant to know more of God; they long to reflect more of his image, they seek to keep his law; and it is their desire that they may be saturated with his Spirit. But such are not your desires. You hare no such longings as these. It is true you are not addicted to strong drink, you do not swear, you are no thief, you are no harlot. In all these things you are blameless; but yet are you ungodly, without God in the world. He is not your friend, he is not your helper. You do not cleave to him with purpose of heart. You are not his child. You have not "the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." You could do as well without a God as with one. In fact you feel that the thought of God, if you think of it solemnly, strikes you with terror, and excites in your breasts, no emotions of delight. You are ungodly. Well then, mark, whatever I have to say this morning, belongs to you. Don't be looking round you and saying, I wonder how this will suit my neighbor. Do not I beseech you be thinking of some thriftless loon who has spent his estate in extravagance and debauchery, but be thinking of yourself. If you are not born again, if you are not a partaker of the Spirit, if you are not reconciled to God, if your sins be not forgiven, if you are not this day a living member of the living church of Christ, all the curses that are written in this book belong to you, and that part of them in particular which it will be my solemn business to thunder out this morning. I pray God that this part may be applied to your soul, that you may be made to tremble before the Most High, and seek him who will certainly be found of you, if you seek him with all your hearts. You will readily perceive that my text may be divided into three parts. You have, first, a fearful negative—"The ungodly are not so." You have in the next place a terrible comparison—"they are like the chaff. Then you have, thirdly, an awful prophesy—"They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away." I. First, then, you have here A FEARFUL . The vulgate Latin version, the Arabic and Septuagint, read this first sentence thus:—"Not so the ungodly, not so;" for according to their version there is a double negative here—"Not so the ungodly, not so." Now in order to understand what is meant by this negative you must read the third verse. The righteous man is said to be "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper;"—"Not so the ungodly, not so." To explore the negative, we must take each clause of this sentence. The ungodly are not like a tree planted. If they may be compared to a tree at all, they are as trees "twice dead plucked up by the roots;" or if they are to be compared to anything that hath life, then are they like the tree in the desert which is planted there by a chance hand, which hath nought to nourish it. It is the peculiar characteristic of the Christian man, that he is like "a tree planted." That is to say, there is a special providence exercised in his position and in his culture. You all know the difference between a tree that is planted and a tree that is self-sown. The tree that is planted in the garden is visited by the husbandman. He digs about it; he dungs it; he trims it, prunes it, and looks for its fruit. It is an object of property and of special care. The wild tree in the forest, the tree which is self-sown upon the plain, no one owns, no one watches over it; no heart will sigh if the lightning flash shall shiver it; no tear will be wept if the blast should light upon it and all its leaves should wither. It is no man's property. It shelters no man's roof. No man careth for it. Let it die, why doth it stand there to suck nourishment from the soil and yield none again. The ungodly are, it is true, the subjects of a universal providence, even as everything is ordered of God; but the righteous have a special providence over them. They are trees planted. Everything which takes place works together for their good. The Lord their God is their guardian. He watches the earth that it should bring forth for them its fruit. The precious things of the heavens, the dew, and the deep that coucheth beneath, and the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and the precious things put forth by the moon—these are their heritage. He watcheth everything round about them. If pestilence stalk through the land, he permitteth not one of its shafts to hit, unless he seeth it is for good. If war ariseth, behold he stretches his aegis over his children; and if famine comes, they shall be fed, and in the days of scarcity they shall be satisfied. Is it not a glorious thing for the Christian to know that the very hairs of his head are all numbered, that the angels of God keep watch and ward over him; that the Lord is his shepherd, and therefore, he shall not want? I know this is a doctrine that often comforts me. Let what will happen, if I can but fall back upon the thought that there is a providence in everything, what do I need? A providence in the great and in the little there assuredly is to every child of God. It may be said of every tree of the Lord's right hand planting—"I the Lord do keep it, and will water it every moment; lest any hurt it I will watch it night and day." Upon the righteous there are not only ten eyes, but there are all the eyes of the Omniscient ever fixed both by night and day. The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous. They are like the planted tree. Not so, ye that are ungodly, not so ye; there is no special providence for you. To whom will ye carry your troubles? Where is your shelter in the day of wrath? Where is your shield in the hour of battle? Who shall be your sun when darkness shall gather about you? Who shall comfort you when your troubles shall encompass you round? You have no eternal arm to lean upon. You have no compassionate heart to beat for you. You have no loving eye to watch you. You are left alone! alone! alone! like the heath in the desert, or like the forest tree which no man regardeth, until the time comes when the sharpened axe shall be lifted up, and the tree must fall. "Not so," then "the ungodly, not so." 'Tis a fearful negative the ungodly man is not the object of the special providence of God. But we must proceed. The righteous man is like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Now, a tree that is planted by the rivers of water sends out its roots, and they soon draw sufficient nourishment. The tree that is planted far away upon the arid desert hath its times of drought, it depends upon the casual thunder-cloud that sweeps over it, and distils the scanty drops of rain. But this tree planted by rivers of water hath a perennial supply. It knows no drought, no time of scarcity. Its roots have but to suck up the nourishment which pours itself lavishly there. "Not so the ungodly, not so." They have no such rivers from which to suck their joy, their comfort, and their life. As for the believer, come what may, he can any—if earth shall fail him, then will he look to heaven. If man forsake him, then he looks to the divine man Christ Jesus. If the world should shake, his inheritance is on high. If everything should pass away, he hath a portion that can never be dissolved. He is planted not by brooks that may be dried up, far less in a desert, which only hath a scanty share, but by the rivers of water. Oh, my beloved brethren, you and I know something about what this means. We know what it is to suck up the promises, to drink of the rivers of Christ's fullness. We know what it is to partake and satisfy ourselves as with marrow and fatness. Well may we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, for our storehouse is inexhaustible, our riches can never be spent. We have wealth that cannot be counted a treasury that never can be drained. This is our glory, that we have a something to rely upon which can never fail us. We are trees planted by the rivers of water. Ah! but not so you that are ungodly, not so. Your days of drought shall come. You may rejoice now, but what will you do upon the bed of sickness, when fever shall make you toss from side-to-side, when head and heart shall be racked with anguish, when death shall stare upon you, and shall glaze your eyes? What will ye do when ye come into the swellings of Jordan? You have joys to-day, but where will be your joys then? You have wells now, but what will you do when these are all stopped up, when these shall all fail, when your skin-bottles are dried when your broken cisterns have emptied themselves of their last drop—what will ye do then, ye ungodly? Surely, this negative is full of awful threatenings to you. You may have a little mirth and merriment now, you may enjoy a little excitement at present, but what will ye do when the hot wind comes upon you—the wind of tribulation? And above all, what will you do when the chilling blast of death shall freeze your blood? Ah, where, oh, where will you then look? You will look no longer to friends, nor to the comforts of home. You cannot find in the hour of death consolation on the bosom of the most loving wife, you will be quite unable then to find peace in all your riches or your treasures. As for your past life, however good it may seem, if you are ungodly, you will find no comfort in the retrospect; and as for the future, you will find no comfort in the prospect, for there will be for you nothing but "a fearful looking for of judgment and of fiery indignation." Oh, my ungodly friends, I beseech you, think upon this matter, for if there were nothing worse, the first sentence of my text sounds like the trumpets of doom, and hath in it bitterness like the vials of the Revelation. Again we must go forward. It is said of the righteous man, that he "bringeth forth his fruit in his season." "Not so the ungodly, not so,"—they bring forth no fruit; or if there be here and there a shrivelled grape upon the vine, it is brought forth in the wrong season when the genial heat of the sun cannot ripen it, and therefore it is sear and worthless. Many people imagine that if they do not commit positive sin they are all right. Now let me give you a little sermon in the midst of my sermon. Here is the text: "Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." First, what has Meroz done? Nothing. Secondly, is Meroz cursed? Yes; cursed bitterly. What for?—for doing nothing. Yes, for doing nothing. "Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof," for what they did not do, "because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." Did Meroz fight against God? No. Did Meroz put on a buckler and lay bold on shield and spear and go forth against the Most High? No. What did Meroz do? Nothing. And is it cursed? Yes, cursed bitterly, with the inhabitants thereof "because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." Preach that sermon to yourselves when you get home. Draw it out at length, and perhaps while you are sitting down you will say, "Meroz! why that is myself. I don't fight against God, I am no enemy to Christ, I do not persecute his people, in fact I even love his ministers, I love to go up and hear the Word preached. I should not be happy if I spent my Sunday anywhere but in God's house. But still that must mean me, for I do not go up 'to the help of the Lord against the mighty.' I do nothing. I am an idle do-nothing. I am a fruitless tree." Ah, then remember you are cursed, and cursed bitterly too. Not for what you do, but for what you don't do. So here it is one of the sad curses of the ungodly—that they bring forth no fruit in their season. Why look at many of you. What is the good of you in this world? With regard to your families, you are their main-stay and prop. God bless you in your work, and may you train up your children well. But as to the church, what good are you? You occupy a seat, you have had it these years; how do you know but that you have been occupying a seat which might have been the place where some other sinner would have been converted had he been there? It is true you sit and hear the sermon; yes but what of that, if that sermon shall add to your condemnation? It is true that you make one among many, but what if you should be a black sheep In the midst of the flock! What are you doing for Christ? Of what value are you? Have you added one stone to his spiritual temple? Have you done as much as the poor woman who broke the alabaster box upon his head? You have done nothing for him. He has nourished you and brought you up, and you have done nothing for him. "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib," but you do not know, you do not consider. Behold, the Lord hath a controversy with you this day, not for what you have done, but for what you have not done. He has sent you the ministry; you are invited every Sabbath-day. With the tears running down my cheeks have l warned you and invited you. You are hearing the Word continually; you are enjoying privileges. God is feeding you in his providence, clothing you in his compassion, and you are doing nothing for him. You are a cumberer of the ground, bringing forth no fruit at all. O my dear hearer, I beseech thee lay this to heart, for this is a curse as well as a sign to you. It is not only a bad trait in thy character, but it is a curse from God. Thou art ungodly, and therefore fruitless. Thou lovest him not, therefore thou art useless. Thou trustest not in Christ, and therefore thou art not like the tree which "bringeth forth his fruit in his season." Pass on to the description. His leaf also shall not wither. Not so the ungodly, not so." The ungodly man's leaf shall wither. I see before me this day many proofs that God's promise is verified to his people. Look round, and behold what a large number of gray-headed men assemble every Lord's day to hear the Word. There are many of them who loved Christ in their youth. Then they had "a joy unspeakable and full of glory" in making a profession of his dear name; and now they have come into what men call the sear and yellow leaf of life, but they do not find it so, for they still bring forth fruit in old age, they are still fat and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright. Their leaf has not withered, they are just as active in the cause of Christ as ever they were, and perhaps ten times more happy. Instead of bringing forth no fruit, they bring forth richer and more luscious clusters than ever they did before. Walking in the midst of the younger ones they shine as lights in the midst of the world; or to return to the simile, they are like trees whose branches hang down by reason of the abundance of their fruit, even as their heads bow down by reason of the abundance of their years. What a mercy it is, dear brethren, to have Christ for your portion in youth, and such a Christ too as will last us all our life long. To see good old Rowland Hill preaching when he was tottering on the borders of the grave and talking of the faithfulness of Christ—what a glorious sight! There was a proof! That leaf did not wither. Was there ever a tree like this that would maintain its greenness eighty years and yet not wither? Was there ever a religion like this that would make the old men youthful and make their tottering feet leap for joy? And yet this is the religion of Christ. Our leaf withers not. But oh, "Not so the ungodly, not so." Your leaf shall wither; at least when they that look out of the windows are darkened, when the grinders fail because they are few, when your days of old age shall come upon you, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, if not before, shall your leaf wither. But how many there are whose leaves do wither! There comes a blight from God and the tree which looked once green becomes brown and dead, and at last it blackens and has to be removed. We have seen such in our lives. Men that seemed to be getting on in this world, rich and happy, and respected by almost everybody, but they had no solid background, they had no rock to stand on, no God to trust to. I have seen them spreading themselves like a green bay tree, and I have often envied them as the Psalmist did, but "I looked and lo they were not," I passed by and lo there was not so much as a stump of them left, God had cursed their habitation; as a dream when one awaketh, their image had been despised, as the wax before the fire, they had melted away; like the fat of rams had they been consumed; into smoke did they consume away. "Not so the ungodly, not so," says the text, and surely experience proves it, the ungodly man's leaf must and shall wither. And then it is added concerning the righteous man," whatsoever he doeth, shall prosper." Godly men, it is true have many tribulations, but I am not sure that they have more than the wicked. I do think that when a man is converted he will find it to be true that religion's "ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace," and he has a better hope of even worldly prosperity when he becomes a Christian, than the ungodly man has. Christian habits are the best business habits, if men would but believe it. When a man mixes his religion with his business and allows every act of his life to be guided by it, he stands the best chance in this world, it I may be allowed such a secular expression, for "Honesty is the best policy " after all, and Christianity is the best honesty. The sharp cutting competition of the times may be called honesty—it is only called so down here, it is not called so up there, for there is a good deal of cheating in it. Honesty in the highest sense—Christian honesty—will be found after all to be the best policy in everything, and there will ordinarily be a prosperity, even worldly prosperity, attending a good man in the patient industrious pursuit of his calling. But if he does not have that success he craves, still there is one thing he knows, he would have it if it were best for him. I often know Christian men talk in this fashion, "Well, I do but very little business," says one, "but I have enough coming in to live upon comfortably and happy. I never cared much for push and competition; I never felt that I was fit for it, and I sometimes thank God that I never thrust myself out into the rough stream, but that I was content to keep along shore." And I have marked this one thing, and as a matter of fact I know it cannot be disproved, that many such humble-minded men are the very best of Christians, they live the happiest lives, and whatsoever they do certainly does prosper, for they get what they expected though they did not expect much, and they get what they want though their wants are not very large. They are not going in for anything very great, and therefore they do not come out plucked and empty handed, but they just hold on their way, looking to Providence constantly, for their supplies, and they have all they require; and whatsoever they do, prospers. But they can say too, rusts. If he spends it, it does him little service. The man that hath no God, hath no prosperity. Is he fat—he fattens for the slaughter! Is he in adversity—behold the first drops of the fated storm have begun to fall on him. To the ungodly man there is nothing good in this life. The sweet that he tasteth is the sweetness of poison. That which looketh fair is but as paint upon the harlot's face, beneath there is loathsomeness and disease. There may be a greenness and a verdure upon the mound, but within there lies the rotting carcase, the loathsomeness of corruption. Whatsoever the believer doth, it shall prosper. "Not so the ungodly, not so." Surely this first part of my text is quite bad enough—to have the gate of blessedness shut against you, to have the promises denied you, to be without the blessing which is given to the godly—this punishment of the lost surely were enough to make us start in dismay. II. Now very briefly upon the second point. Listen awhile to THE . "The ungodly are like the chaff." They are not like the wild tree, for that hath life, and they are dead in sin. They are not compared here even to the dead tree plucked up by the roots, for that may be of some service. Floating down the stream, the hand of poverty may recall it from the water, and kindle its fire and relieve its cold. They are not even like the heath in the desert, for it hath some uses, and tends to cheer the arid waste. They are like nothing that hath life, nothing that is of any value. They are here said to be like chaff which the wind driveth away. Now you will at once see how terrible is this figure, if you look at it a moment. They are like chaff. Chaff envelopes good corn, but when the wheat is cut down and carried into the barn, the corn alone is useful, the grain alone is looked at, and that chaff which has grown side by side with the good living wheat, is now become utterly useless, and is to be separated and driven away. And the wicked are compared to chaff—think for a moment, of two or three reasons. First, because they are sapless and fruitless. Chaff hath no sap of life in itself. It is of no use, of no service. Men do but desire to get rid of it. They take the fan into their hands that they may thoroughly purge their floor. They cast up the wheat before the wind with the winnowing shovel, that the breath of the air may blow away the chaff, and leave the wheat pure. All that they care for the chaff is that they may get rid of it, that it may be blown away to waste, for it is sapless and fruitless. Then again you notice that it is light and unstable. The wind sweeps through the wheat, the wheat remains unmoved, the chaff flies away. When cast up in the shovel, the wheat soon finds its place, and returns to the spot from which it has been lifted up; but the chaff is light, it has no stability. Every eddying wind, every breath moves it and carries it away. So are the ungodly. They have nothing stable; they are light, they are but as the froth upon the water; they are but as a bubble on the breaker, seen to day and gone, here and there, and then carried away for ever. Again, the wicked are compared to chaff because it is base and worthless. Who will buy it? Who cares for it? In the East at least it is of no good, no use whatever can be made of it. They are content to burn it up and get rid of it, and the sooner they are rid of it, the better pleased are they. So is it with the wicked. They are good for nothing, useless in this world, useless in the world to come. They are the dross, the offal of all creation. The man who is ungodly, however much he may value himself, is as nothing in the estimation of God. Put a gold chain round his neck, put a star upon his breast, put a crown upon his head, and what is he but a crowned heap of dust, useless, perhaps worse than useless. Base in God's sight, he tramples them beneath his feet. The potter's vessel hath some service, and even the broken potsherd might be used. Some Job might scrape himself with it. But what shall be done with the chaff? It is of no use anywhere, and no one careth for it. See, then, your value, my hearers, if you fear not God. Cast up your accounts and look at yourselves in the right light. You think, perhaps, that you are good for much, but God saith you are good for nothing. You are "like the chaff which the wind driveth away." I linger no more upon this comparison, but choose, rather to dwell upon the third head, which was this:— III. THE AWFUL contained in the Verse—"They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away." How near the chaff is to the grain! It is, in fact, its envelope; they grow together. My hearers, I wish to speak now very pointedly and personally. How nearly related are the ungodly to the righteous! One of you, it may be, now present, an ungodly man, is the father of a godly child. You have been to that child what the chaff is to the wheat; you have nourished the child—cherished it in your bosom; you have been wrapt about it like the chaff about the grain. Is it not an awful thing for you to think that you should have been in such close relationship to a child of God, but that in the great day of division you must be separated from it? The chaff cannot be taken into heaven with the wheat. I point to another. You are the son of a godly mother; you have grown up at her knee. She taught you, when you were but a little one, to say your little prayer, and to sing the little hymn, "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon a little child." That mother looked upon you as her joy and her comfort. She is gone now. But you were once to her what the chaff is to the wheat. You grew, as it were, upon the same stock, you were of the same family, and her heart was wholly wrapt up in you. You were her joy and her comfort here below. Does it not cause you one pang of regret that, dying as you are, you must everlastingly be separated from her? Where she is you can never come. Mayhap, too, I have here a mother who has lost several infants; she has been to those infants what the chaff is to the wheat—wrapt up in her bosom for a little while she fondled them; and they, God's good wheat, have been gathered into the garner, and there they are now in Jesu's floor. There are their little spirits rejoicing before the throne of the Most High. The mother who is left thinks not of it, but she is the mother of angels, and, perhaps, herself a child of hell. Ah, mother! what think you of this? Is this' separation from your child eternal? Will you be content to be found at God's great winnowing-day, the chaff, and will you be driven from your children? Shall you see them in heaven—them in heaven, and yourselves then cast out for ever? Can you bear the thought? Hath your heart become brutish? Is your soul harder than a nether mill-stone? Surely, if it be not, the thought of your present intimate connection with God's people, and of your sure separation, will make you tremble. And oh! my hearers here are some of you sitting side by side with the godly. You sing as they sing, you hear as they hear. Perhaps you assist the outward wants of the church. You are to the church just what the chaff is to the wheat. You are the outward husk, the congregation which surrounds the inner living nucleus of the church. And must it be—must you be separated from us? Are you content to go from the songs of the saints to the shrieks of the doomed? Will you go from the great convocation of the righteous to the last general assembly of the destroyed and cursed in hell? The thought checks my voice. I must speak slowly on this matter for awhile. Well, dear brethren, well I know that this thought used to be dreadful to me. My mother said to me once, after she had long prayed for me, and had come to the conviction that I was hopeless, "Ah," said she "My son, if at the last great day you are condemned, remember your mother will say Amen to your condemnation." That stung me to the quick. Must the mother that brought me forth and that loved me say "Amen" to my being condemned at last? Yet such things must be. Doth not the wheat say Amen to the chaff being blown away? Is it not in fact the very prayer of the wheat that it may be separated from the chaff? and surely when that prayer is heard, and awfully answered, the wheat must say Amen to the chaff being blown away into fire unquenchable. Think, my dear hearers, think again. And must it be—must I bid farewell to her I love, who served the Lord in spirit. Must I see her body committed to the grave, and as I stand there must I bid her a last, a final farewell? Must I be for ever separated from her, because I fear not God, neither regard him, and therefore cannot have a portion amongst the Lord's chosen ones? What, have you lost your relatives for ever? Are your pious fathers and mothers buried in a "sure and certain hope" to which you are strangers? Will you never sing the song of rejoicing with them in heaven? Is there never to be another salutation? Is death a gulf that cannot be bridged to you? Oh, I hope it is the joy of some of us to know we shall meet many of our kindred above, and as we have lost one after another this has been our sweet consolation they are gone and we shall soon follow them; they are not lost but gone before; they are buried as to their flesh, but their souls are in Paradise, and we shall be there also; and, when we have seen our Saviour's face and have rejoiced in that glorious vision, then shall we see them also, and have deeper and purer fellowship with them than we ever had before in all the days of our lives. Well, here is a sad prophecy! The wicked are "like the chaff which the wind driveth away." But you will remark that the awful character of my text does not appear upon the surface. They "are like the chaff which the wind driveth away." Where—where—where? Where are they driven? The man is in health; the sun shines, the sky is calm, the world is still about him. Suddenly there is seen a little cloud the size of a man's hand. A little signal overtakes him. The hurricane begins to rise but first it is but a faint breath. The wicked man feels the cold air blowing on him, but he screens it with the physician, and he thinks that surely he shall live. The storm is on. God hath decreed it, and man cannot stay it. The breath becomes a gale, the gale a wind, the wind a storm, the storm a howling hurricane. His soul is swept away. To go to heaven on angels' wings is a glorious thing; but to be swept out of this world with the wicked is an awful thing—to be carried, not on wings of cherubs, but on the eagle wings of the wind; to be borne, not by yon songsters up to their celestial seats, but to be carried away in the midst of a howling tempest by grim fiends. The wicked are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Do you not catch the thought? I do not know how to bring out the fullness of its poetry—the great storm sweeping man from the place on which he stands. He is driven away. And now cannot your thoughts go further on while I again repeat the question, Whither is he driven? Ah! Whither is he driven? I see him driven from the solid shore of life. He is carried away. But— "In vain my fancy strives to paint the moment after death." I cannot tell you into what state that soul at once enters, that is to say, I cannot tell you by any guess of my own—that were frivolous, and were to play with a solemn matter; but I can tell you one thing, Jesus Christ himself hath said it—"He shall burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." You die, but you die not. You depart, but you depart to fire that never shall be quenched. I will not dwell upon the topic. I return again to ask the question—"Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" Who here is prepared to make his bed in hell? Who shall lie down and rest for ever in that lake of fire? You must, my hearers, if you are ungodly, except you repent. Are there none of you behind me there, who have been living without Christ, and without hope in the world? Are there none of you? Surely there are some such. I beseech you, think of your destiny—death, and after death the judgment. The wind, and after the wind the whirlwind, and after the whirlwind the fire, and after the fire nothing—for ever for ever, for ever lost, cast away, where ray of hope can never come; where eye of mercy can never look upon you, and hand of grace can never reach you. I beseech you, oh, I beseech you by the living God, before whom you stand this day, tremble and repent. "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little." "Tophet is ordained of old, yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die O house of Israel?" "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Oh, I pray God the Holy Spirit to touch some ungodly hearts now, and make you think. And remember my dear hearers, if there be in your bosoms this morning one desire towards Christ, cherish it, blow the little spark till it comes to a flame. If your heart melts ever so little this morning, I beseech you resist not, quench not the heavenly influence. Yield up yourselves and remember the sweet text of last Sunday morning, "whosoever will, let him come and take the water of life freely." I thunder at you, but it is to bring you to Christ. Oh that you would but come to him! Oh poor hearts would that ye did but feel! Oh, that ye knew how to weep for yourselves as I could weep for you now. Oh, that ye knew what a fearful thing it will be to be cast away for ever! Why will ye die? Is there anything pleasing in destruction? Is sin so luscious to you that you will burn in hell for ever for it? What, is Christ so hard a master that you will not love him? Is his cross so ugly that ye will not look towards it? Oh, I beseech you by him whose heart is love, the crucified Redeemer, who now speaks through me this morning, and in me weeps over you, I beseech you look to him and be saved, for he came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost, and him that cometh to him he will in nowise cast out, for "he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." To-day, O Spirit bring sinners to thyself. I exhort you, sinners, lay hold on Christ. Touch the hem of his garment now. Behold, he hangs before you on the cross. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. even so is Jesus lifted up. Look, I beseech you, look and live. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. As though God did beseech you by me, I pray you in Christ's stead be ye reconciled to God. And O may the Spirit make my appeal effectual! May angels rejoice this day over sinners saved and brought to know the Lord. Psalms 2:1-3. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. The conspiracy was both strong and influential, The kings and the rulers combined against Jehovah and against his Christ. They were very determined; they set themselves with resolute purpose; they took counsel together. They were full of a horrible enthusiasm; they raged; they thought the work as good as done, but they imagined a vain thing. The fight was against Jehovah, and against his Anointed, the Christ, the Messiah. What came of it all? Did they break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from them? Listen: -Psalms 2:4. He that sitteth in the heavens shalt laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.For what can mortals be as compared with the Eternal? The fire can readily enough consume the tow. Shall men set themselves in opposition to omnipotence, and hope to prosper? And when God determines to glorify his anointed Son, shall worms of the dust prevent him from doing so’? What can come of all their opposition? God simply laughs at them, Jehovah has them in derision.Psalms 2:5. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.He scarcely needs to lift his hand, he has only to speak; and when Jehovah speaks in wrath, his words are thunderbolts. Men’s hearts are indeed troubled when God’s words come hot with anger into their spirits. This is what God said:-Psalms 2:6. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.“You have raged, you have deliberated, you have resolved; but it is all nothing. There is my Son, the crowned King.” And such is the Anointed tonight; the Christ is on the throne, let Isis enemies say what they will, and he must reign, nothing can prevent it. He must be King of kings and Lord of lords, for thus is it written concerning him.Psalms 2:7. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.This is the seal of the Anointed. He is the Son of the Highest, the only begotten Son of the Father, who says to him, “Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”Psalms 2:8. Ask of me, and I shalt give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Christ is asking of his Father; even he cannot have what he desires without asking for it. Prayer is so essential to the progress of the kingdom of Christ that even Christ himself must ask. But then God has promised to give to Christ the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth to be his possession. This is the great strength of all missionary enterprise. Dear friends, we may be quite sure that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord when we read such a text as this: “I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” If men will not yield to the Lord when he is made known to them, if they resist the drawings of divine love, what will happen? Listen:-Psalms 2:9-10. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces, like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.“Ye rulers, ye magistrates, ye senators, ye governors of the earth, be wise, be instructed.”Psalms 2:11. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.“If you are wise, you will obey the superior King; you will yield obedience to the great Lord of all.”Psalms 2:12. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the Way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. The kings and rulers are bidden to do this; let each one of us do the same, let us give the kiss of homage to him whom God has made to be our King, and take him to be our Lord and Ruler for ever and ever.Psalms 2:12. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.It is so; those of us who have tried it can bear witness that it is so, there is no life like a life of trust in God. The nearest approach to heaven that we can live in this mortal body is a life of simple confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let us read concerning our Lord’s first coming and appearance amongst the sons of men. Turn to the Gospel according to Matthew, at the third chapter This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 2, and Matthew 3. These may be called very properly morning and evening Psalms. The third Psalm is the morning Psalm. A psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. A dark hour that for David, preceded by the shadows of his own sin, and now deepened by the horrible hatred of his own favorite child, who conspired to take his kingdom and his life.Psalms 2:1. LORD how are they increased that trouble me! As if he could not measure his troubles. He stands amazed. He makes his appeal to God.Psalms 2:2-3. Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. That is the worst of all, when they begin to ridicule his religion. He was a man who had said much of his faith in God; and in former days he had done great marvels by trusting in the living God; and now one and another dared to say openly that God had cast him off.Psalms 2:3. But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.The word in the Hebrew is a bigger word than the word shield. It is a buckler — a kind of guard above, around, beneath, an all-surrounding defense. “Thou, Lord, art a shield for me. They cannot harm me. They cannot kill me. I am still guarded by God; and, what is more, thou art my glory. Though my glory is taken away, yet I glory in thee. Whatever else I have not, I have a God, a God that I dare glory in too, for there is no such God as he is. And thou art the lifter up of my head.” My head is still above water. I do not yet sink, and my head shall rise again. Though I bow it down like a bulrush now, I shall one day praise him. I know that I shall, for he is the health of my countenance.Psalms 2:4. I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.He means that he loved to pray alone, but to use his voice in prayer. I have heard many Christians say that they can pray better when they can hear their own voices; they are better able to collect their thoughts. The voice is not necessary to prayer. It is the mere body of prayer. Still, a right healthy body may help the soul, and sometimes the use of the voice may help the spirit. David says that he cried to God; and then it happened to him, as it always happens to us: “He heard me out of his holy hill.”Psalms 2:5. I laid me down and slept;Far from the palace, and from the place of worship where he loved to meet with God.Psalms 2:5. I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.I was kept through the night watches; through restless anxiety I slept. Now God sustains our hearts, even when we are asleep, for else we should not sleep. We should be restless and wakeful. But God gives us a peace ere we fall asleep, which abides with us as a blessed balm of rest, and so we sleep.Psalms 2:6-7. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.They were like fierce lions threatening to devour him. They had already rent him in malice. God came and smote them on the jaw, so that they lost their strength to injure him.Psalms 2:8. Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.That is a sweet morning hymn. Sound Calvinistic doctrine that. “Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.” It is he that saves man. It is he that delivers those that are saved. And here is the speciality and peculiarity of his grace. “Thy blessing is upon thy people.” Oh! to be remembered with them! Then, even if an Absalom should persecute us, the blessing is not withdrawn, for this is entailed upon the children of God. “Thy blessing is upon thy people.” Now for the evening hymn. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 3 and Psalms 4:1-6. Psalms 4:1. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. Good men want to be heard when they pray, they are not satisfied with merely praying, they must have God’s answers to their supplications. See how David pleads the past mercy received from God: “ Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.” Cannot my own heart look back to God’s lovingkindness to me in days gone by .’ Oh, yes! Then, as he is the same God, what he has done in the past is an argument for what he will do in the future. There are some of us here who can adopt the psalmist’s language, and say, “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.”Psalms 4:2. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame?How long will you slander me, how long will you slander God, how long will you turn the gospel into ridicule, how long will you resist the Spirit of God?Psalms 4:2. How long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing?That is, after falsehood, after lying? Why do men seek after falsehood? What attraction can it have for them? Why, only this attraction, that it suits a fool’s heart to feed on falsehood.Psalms 4:3. But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself:You cannot hurt him, for God has hedged him about. You may say what you please against him, but God loves him, and will take care of him.Psalms 4:3. The LORD will hear when I call unto him.What a sweet assurance! O brethren, the mercy-seat is always open to us! It will be a blessed thing if every one of us can say, with David, “The Lord will hear when I call unto him.”Psalms 4:4. Stand in awe, and sin not:This is good advice to ungodly men; let them feel aright the awe of God presence, and they must turn from sin. Holy reverence is a great preservative from sin.Psalms 4:4. Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.Hold private communion with yourself, in a private place, at a private hour. “Be still.” We are far too noisy, most of us talk too much. It would often make men wiser if they were stiller. If a still tongue does not make a wise head, yet it tends that way.Psalms 4:6. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.This is a capital rule for the whole of life. Serve God, and trust in him; do what is right, and rest in the God of right.Psalms 4:6. There be many that say, who will shew us any good?We all want to see anything that is really good, we do not care who shows it to us, even if it be the devil himself. ‘Who will shew us any good?” That question may have another meaning, for there are some who have no desire for spiritual good, for such good as God calls good.Psalms 4:6. LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.David began the Psalm with a personal petition, “Hear me when I call,” but now he begins to glow in spirit, and as his prayer burns more vehemently he prays for others also: “Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.” This is our highest joy, this is our greatest good, to walk in the light or God’s countenance. If we have the favour of God, and know that we have it, we need ask for nothing else, for every other blessing is assured to those who have the favour of God.Psalms 4:7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.The harvest and the vintage were the two seasons of greatest joy in the East, they shouted “Harvest Home” with gladness that the fruits of the earth had again been ingathered, and they drank the new wine, and danced for joy; but David says to the Lord, “ Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. “ When God puts gladness in the heart, it is real gladness, for God is not the Giver of a sham joy; and it is lasting gladness, for God does not give temporary gifts. David says, “Thou hast put gladness in my heart,” and then he compares it with the gladness of the sons of men, and he says that his joy was greater than theirs when their earthly stores were increased. Boaz went to sleep on the threshing-floor, but he that sleeps upon the bosom of God has a far softer bed than that.Psalms 4:8. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. He who has Jehovah as his God is at home even when he is abroad, he is well guarded even when he has none upon earth to protect him, and he can go to sleep in calm confidence when others would be disturbed in mind and too timid to close their eyes. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 4, 5. Psalms 5:1. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.Sometimes we pray right off, as David did when he cried to the Lord, “Hear me when I call.” At other times, we sit down to meditate, and think over what we want to say to the Lord in prayer, as David did when he said, “ ‘O Lord, consider my meditation.’ What I have considered do thou consider.” A well-considered prayer is very likely to succeed with God.Psalms 5:2. Hearken unto the voice of my cry,-“When I have not confidence or comfort enough to present a well-ordered prayer to thee; but, like a child in pain, cry unto thee, ‘Hearken unto the voice of my cry,’”-Psalms 5:2. My King, and my God:What! will a king hearken to a cry? Men generally prepare elaborate petitions when they come into the presence of royalty; but, although the Lord is far greater than all earthly sovereigns, he is far more condescending than they are.Psalms 5:2. For unto the will I pray.I trust that we all pray; I am sure that all believers do; but let us pray more, let us pray much more than we have done and let us each one truly say to the Lord, “ Unto thee will I pray.” He is a King, so serve him with your prayers. He is God, so adore him with your prayers, and if you can put both your hands on him, and say, as David did, “ My King, and my God,” what abundant motives you have for abounding in prayer to himPsa_5:3. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; “When the dew is on all nature, and on my spirit too, then shalt thou hear my voice in prayer. Before I go out into the world, my first thoughts shall be of thee.” Never see the face of man, beloved, until you have seen the face of God.Psalms 5:3. In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.Adjust your prayer as the archer fits his arrow on the bow, look up as you shoot it, and keep on looking up and looking out for an answer to your supplication. You cannot expect God to open the windows of heaven to pour you out a blessing if you do not open the windows of your expectation to look for it. If you look up in asking, God will look down in answering. It is well always to take good aim in prayer; some prayers are like random shots, they cannot be expected to hit the target; but David’s prayer was well aimed, and he expected it to prevail with God: “ In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”Psalms 5:4. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.In both of these Psalms there is a clear line drawn between the righteous and the wicked, this is a line which still needs to be kept very clear, and we must all seek to know on which side of that line we are.Psalms 5:5-6. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.These are strong words, but not too strong, God is not tolerant of evil and those who are most like him in other respects will be like him in this matter also.Psalms 5:7. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy:“I will be like a child who goes in and out of his father’s door as often as he pleases because he is at home. I will not go there on my own merits, but ‘in the multitude of thy mercy.”’Psalms 5:7. And in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.There was no temple on earth when David wrote this Psalm, but God was his temple; and so the pious Jew opened the window, and looked towards Jerusalem, so do we look towards God upon the throne of grace in heaven, and seek to worship him in the beauty of holiness.Psalms 5:8. Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.David does not say, “ Make my way straight, “ he does not want to have his own way, but he wants to walk in God’s way. Thus sweet submission blends with a desire for perfect obedience: “ Make thy way straight before my face.”Psalms 5:9. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;-You cannot expect ungodly men to speak that which is right: “ there is no faithfulness in their mouth; “-Psalms 5:9.Their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulcher;Pouring out foul, putrid gas. They cannot speak without using filthy or blasphemous expressions, or if they do, there is falsehood lurking behind their words, for deceit and evil of all kinds are in their hearts.Psalms 5:9. They flatter with their tongue.Always beware of people who flatter you, and especially when they tell you that they do not flatter you, and that they know you cannot endure flattery, for you are then being most fulsomely flattered, so be on your guard against the tongue of the flatterer.Psalms 5:10. Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.“ It does not matter what they do against me; but, O Lord, ‘they have rebelled against thee.’” David speaks here like a judge pronouncing sentence upon the guilty,-not out of malice, but out of loyalty and devotion to God,Psalms 5:11-12. But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 4, 5. Here the psalmist asks for a visit from God, for he is sick at heart, heavy and depressed. Be very thankful if that is not your case; but if it is, be very grateful that here is a prayer ready-made for you. Here you are taught how to cry to God, and what to expect from him. If you are very sick and sad, you are not worse off than David was. Send for David’s Physician; you cannot have a better doctor than the royal Physician. He who waited on King David is prepared to wait on you.Psalms 6:1. O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger,“Rebuke me; it will do me good; I need it; but not in anger. Be gentle and tender with me: ‘Rebuke me not in thine anger.’”Psalms 6:1. Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.“Chasten me; it may be that the rod will be very curative to me; but let not the chastening be given in thy hot displeasure. Be not very angry with thy poor sinful servant. If thou dost not turn away thy rod, yet turn away thy wrath. It is a sweet prayer. Some people cry to God about their sickness; it is much better to cry to God about the cause of it; that is to say, if it be a chastisement for sin, get rid of the sin, and the rod will then be removed.Psalms 6:2. Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.“Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak.” This was a sweet reason for David to urge: “For I am weak.” He could not say, “For I am worthy.” He would not have dared to say that. He could not say that when he said, “Have mercy,” for mercy is for the unworthy. Justice is for the good; mercy is for those who are guilty. “Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.” Plead the greatness of your disease as a reason for the remedy. Do not come with your self-righteousness; that will hinder you. Come with your sorrow and your sin, your weakness and your pain, and plead these before God.Psalms 6:3. My soul is also sore vexed:That is worse than the bones being vexed. “The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?”Psalms 6:3. But thou, O LORD, how long?There is the pith of the prayer. David is troubled because God is away from him; he has lost communion with his Lord; he has got out of fellowship with his God, and here comes the most necessary cry of all: —Psalms 6:4. Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. Will not that prayer suit you who are here tonight, you who are full of sin, and are heart-broken about it, and dread the wrath to come? I put this prayer into your mouths, and pray the Holy Spirit to put it into your hearts: “Oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.”Psalms 6:5. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?As much as to say, “If thou lettest me die, thou wilt lose one singer out of thy earthly choir; but if thou wilt let me live, I will remember thee; I will praise thee; I will give thee thanks.” Do you feel like saying tonight, “Lord, if thou shalt destroy me, thou wilt gain nothing by it; but if thou wilt save me, there will be one who will give thee thanks for ever”? I have told you sometimes of that old woman who said, “If the Lord does save me, he shall never hear the last of it.” And you and I can also say that if he saves us, he shall never hear the last of it; we will praise him throughout eternity for his great salvation.Psalms 6:6. I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.David was in a very sorry case when he wrote these words. So great was his pain, so acute his sorrow, that all the sluices of his eyes were pulled up, and he seemed to float his bed in tears, and to be like George Herbert when he wrote: — “O who will give me tears? Come, all ye springs, Dwell in my head and eyes: come, clouds and rain: My grief hath need of all the watery things, That nature hath produced. Let every vein Suck up a river to supply mine eyes, My weary, weeping eyes, too dry for me, Unless they get new conduits, new supplies, To bear them out, and with my state agree.”Psalms 6:7. Mine eye is consumed because of grief;He had almost wept his eyes out; they grew red with his weeping, so that he could not see.Psalms 6:7. It waxeth old because of all mine enemies. His eyesight grew dim, like that of an old man. A cataract of grief had put a cataract of blindness into his eyes.Psalms 6:8. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity He wants his God to come to him, so he bids God’s enemies clear out. If we keep company with the wicked, we cannot invite God to our house, and expect him to come. “Depart from me,” says David, “all ye workers of iniquity.” “You who are singing what you call a jolly song, be off with you. You who are merry with your jokes against religion, begone far from me.”Psalms 6:8. For the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.“And if he has heard my tears, I do not want you to be here. I cannot associate with God’s enemies now that he has heard the voice of my weeping.” Is not that a beautiful expression, “The voice of my weeping”? Why, there was no sound, was there? Yet there are songs without words, and there are voices without sounds.Psalms 6:9. The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.“I thought at first that he would not take my petition; but I see be stretches out his right hand, he receives my prayer; and if he receives my prayer, I shall soon receive his answer.”Psalms 6:10. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.Now let us read the eighth Psalm, in which David expresses great wonder that God, whom he had asked to visit him, should deign to do so. I think I see him sitting with his window open. It is night, and he is feeling better; and he bids them throw open the window, and he sits and looks at the stars, glad of the cool, fresh air. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 6:8. Turn or Burn A Sermon (No. 106) Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 7, 1856, by the REV. C. H. Spurgeon at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready."— Psalms 7:12 . IF THE SINNER turn not, God will whet his sword." So, then, God has a sword, and he will punish man on account of his iniquity. This evil generation hath laboured to take away from God the sword of his justice; they have endeavoured to prove themselves that God will "clear the guilty," and will by no means "punish iniquity, transgression and sin." Two hundred years ago the predominant strain of the pulpit was one of terror: it was like Mount Sinai, it thundered forth the dreadful wrath of God, and from the lips of a Baxter or a Bunyan, you heard most terrible sermons, full to the brim with warnings of judgment to come. Perhaps some of the Puritanic fathers may have gone too far, and have given too great a prominence to the terrors of the Lord in their ministry: but the age in which we live has sought to forget those terrors altogether, and if we dare to tell men that God will punish them for their sins, it is charged upon us that want to bully them into religion, and if we faithfully and honestly tell our hearers that sin must bring after it certain destruction, it is said that we are attempting to frighten them into goodness. Now we care not what men mockingly impute to us; we feel it our duty, when men sin, to tell them they shall be punished, and so long as the world will not give up its sin we feel we must not cease our warnings. But the cry of the age is, that God is merciful, that God is love. Ay; who said he was not? But remember, it is equally true, God is just, severely and inflexibly just. He were not God, if he were not just; he could not be merciful if he were not just, for punishment of the wicked is demanded by the highest mercy to the rest of mankind. Rest assured, however, that he is just, and that the words I am about to read you from God's Word are true—"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God;' "God is angry with the wicked every day;" "If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors." Forsooth, because this age is wicked it is to have no hell; and because it is hypocritical it would have but feigned punishment. This doctrine is so prevalent as to make even the ministers of the gospel flinch from their duty in declaring the day of wrath. How few there are who will solemnly tell us of the judgment to come. They preach of God's love and mercy as they ought to do, and as God has commanded them; but of what avail is it to preach mercy unless they preach also the doom of the wicked? And how shall we hope to effect the purpose of preaching unless we warn men that if they "turn not, he will whet his sword?" I fear that in too many places the doctrine of future punishment is rejected and laughed as a fancy and a chimera; but the day will come when it shall be known to be a reality. Ahab scoffed at Micaiah, when he said he should never come home alive; the men of Noah's generation laughed at the foolish old man, (as they thought him), who bid them take heed, for the world should be drowned; but when they were climbing to the tree-tops, and the floods were following them, did they then say that the prophecy was untrue: and when the arrow was sticking in the heart of Ahab, and he said, "Take me from the battle, for I must die;" did he then think that Micaiah spoke an untruth? And so it is now. Ye tell us we speak lies, when we warn you of judgment to come; but in that day when your mischief shall fall on yourselves, and when destruction shall overwhelm you, will you say we were liars then? Will ye then turn round and scoff, and say we spake not the truth? Rather, my hearers, the highest need of honour will then be given to him who was the most faithful in warning men concerning the wrath of God. I have often trembled at the thought that, here I am standing before you, and constantly engaged in the work of the ministry, and what if, when I die, I should be found unfaithful to your souls, how doleful will be our meeting in the world of spirits. It would be a dreadful thing if you were able to say to me in the world to come, "Sir, you flattered us; you did not tell us of the solemnities of eternity; you did not rightly dwell upon the awful wrath of God; you spoke to us feebly and faintly; you were somewhat afraid of us; you knew we could not bear to hear of eternal torment, and therefore you kept it back and never mentioned it!" Why, methinks you would look me in the face and curse me throughout eternity, if that should be my conduct. But by God's help it never shall be. Come fair or foul, when I die I shall, God helping me, be able to say, "I am clear of the blood of all men." So far as I know God's truth I will endeavour to speak it; and though on my head opprobrium and scandal be poured to a ten-fold greater extent than ever, I'll hail it and welcome it, if I may but be faithful to this unstable generation, faithful to God, and faithful to my own conscience. Let me, then, endeavour—and by God's help I will do it as solemnly and as tenderly as I can—to address such of you as have not yet repented, most affectionately reminding you of your future doom, if you should die impenitent. "If he turn not, he will whet his sword." In the first place, what is the turning here meant? In the second place let us dwell on the necessity there is for men's turning, otherwise God will punish them; and then thirdly, let me remind you of the means whereby men can be turned from the error of their ways, and the weakness and frailty of their nature amended by the power of divine grace. I. In the first place, my hearers, let me endeavour to explain to you the NATURE OF THE TURNING HERE MEANT. It says—"if he turn not he will whet his sword." To commence then. The turning here meant is actual, not fictitious—not that which stops with promises and vows, but that which deals with the real acts life. Possible one of you will say, this morning "Lo I turn to God; from this forth I will not sin, but I will endeavour to walk in holiness; my vices shall be abandoned, my crimes shall be thrown to the winds, and I will turn unto God with full purpose of heart;" but, mayhap, to-morrow you will have forgotten this; you will weep a tear or two under the preaching of God's word, but by to-morrow every tear shall have been dried, and you will utterly forget that you ever came to the house of God at all. How many of us are like men who see their faces in a glass, and straightway go away and forget what manner of men they are! Ah! my hearer, it is not thy promise of repentance that can save thee; it is not thy vow, it is not thy solemn declaration, it is not the tear that is dried more easily than the dew-drop by the sun, it is not the transient emotion of the heart which constitutes a real turning to God. There must be a true and actual abandonment of sin, and a turning unto righteousness in real act and deed in every-day life. Do you say you are sorry, and repent, and yet go on from day to day, just as you always went? Will your now bow your heads, and say, "Lord, I repent," and in a little while commit the same deeds again? If ye do, your repentance is worse than nothing, and shall but make your destruction yet more sure; for he that voweth to his Maker, and doth not pay, hath committed another sin, in that he hath attempted to deceive the Almighty, and lie against the God that made him. Repentance to be true, to be evangelical, must be a repentance which really affects our outward conduct. In the next place, repentance to be sure must be entire. How many will say, "Sir, I will renounce this sin and the other; but there are certain darling lusts which I must keep and hold." O sirs, In God's name let me tell you, it is not the giving up of one sin, nor fifty sins, which is true repentance; it is the solemn renunciation of every sin. If thou dost harbour one of those accursed vipers in thy heart, thy repentance is but a sham. If thou dost indulge in but one lust, and dost give up every other, that one lust, like one leak in a ship, will sink thy soul. Think it not sufficient to give up thy outward vices; fancy it not enough to cut off the more corrupt sins of thy life; it is all or none which God demands. "Repent," says he; and when he bids you repent, he means repent for all thy sins, otherwise he never can accept thy repentance as being real and genuine. The true penitent hates sin in the race, not in the individual—in the mass, not in the particular. He says, "Gild thee as thou wilt, O sin, I abhor thee! Ay, cover thyself with pleasure, make thyself guady, like the snake with its azure scales—I hate thee still, for I know thy venom, and I flee from thee, even when thou comest to me in the most specious garb." All sin must be given up, or else you shall never have Christ: all transgression must be renounced, or else the gates of heaven must be barred against you. Let us remember, then, that for repentance to be sincere it must be entire repentance. Again, when God says, "If he turn not, he will whet his sword," he means immediate repentance. Ye say, when we are nearing the last extremity of mortal life, and when we are entering the borders of the thick darkness of futurity, then we will change our ways. But, my dear hearers, do not delude yourselves. It is few who have ever changed after a long life of sin. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" If so, let him that is accustomed to do evil learn to do well. Put no faith in the repentances which you promise yourselves on your death beds. There are ten thousand arguments against one, that if you repent not in health, you will never repent in sickness. Too many have promised themselves a quiet season before they leave the world, when they could turn their face to the wall and confess their sins; but how few have found that time of repose! Do not men drop down dead in the streets—ay, even in the house of God? Do they not expire in their business? And when death is gradual, it affords but an ill season for repentance. Many a saint has said on his death-bed, "Oh! if I had now to seek my God, if I had now to cry to him for mercy, what would become of me? These pangs are enough, without the pangs of repentance. It is enough to have the body tortured, without having the soul wrung with remorse." Sinner! God saith, "To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, when your fathers tempted me and proved me." When God the Holy Spirit convinces men of sin, they will never talk of delays. You may never have another to repent in. Therefore saith the voice of wisdom, "Repent now." The Jewish rabbis said, "Let every man repent one day before he dies, and since he may die to-morrow, let him take heed to turn from his evil ways to-day." Even so we say; immediate repentance is that which God demands, for he hath never promised thee that thou shalt have any hour to repent in, except the one that thou hast now. Furthermore; the repentance here described as absolutely necessary is hearty repentance. It is not a mock tear; it is not hanging out the ensigns of grief, whilst you are keeping merriment in your hearts. It is not having an illumination within, and shutting up all the windows by a pretended repentance; it is the putting out of the candles of the heart; it is sorrow of soul which is true repentance. A man may renounce every outward sin, and yet not really repent. True repentance is a turning of the heart as well as of the life; it is the giving up of the whole soul to God, to be his for ever and ever; it is a renunciation of the sins of the heart, as well as the crimes of the life. Ah! dear hearers, let none of us fancy that we have repented when we have only a false and fictitious repentance; let none of us take that to be the work of the Spirit which is only the work of poor human nature; let us not dream that we have savingly turned to God, when, perhaps, we have only turned to ourselves. And let us not think it enough to have turned from one vice to another, or from vice to virtue; let us remember, it must be a turning of the whole soul, so that the old man is made anew in Christ Jesus; otherwise we have not answered the requirement of the text—we have not turned unto God. And lastly, upon this point, this repentance must be perpetual. It is not my turning to God during to-day that will be a proof that I am a true convert; it is forsaking of my sin throughout the entire of my life, until I sleep in the grave. You need not fancy that to be upright for a week will be a proof that you are saved; it is a perpetual abhorrence of evil. The change which God works is neither a transitory nor a superficial change; not a cutting off the top of the weed, but an away of that which is the cause of the defilement. In old times, when rich and generous monarchs came into their cities they made the fountains run milk and wine; but the fountain was not therefore a fountain of milk and wine always; on the morrow it ran with water as before. So you may to-day go home and pretend to pray; you may to-day be serious, to-morrow you may be honest, and the next day you may pretend to be devout, but yet if thou return, as Scripture has it, "like the dog to its vomit, and like the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire," your repentance shall but sink you deeper into hell, instead of being a proof of divine grace in your hearts. It is very hard to distinguish between legal repentance and evangelical repentance; however, there are certain marks whereby they may be distinguished, and at the risk of tiring you, we will just notice one or two of them; and may God grant that you may find them in your own souls! Legal repentance is a fear of damning: evangelical repentance is a fear of sinning. Legal repentance makes us fear the wrath of God; evangelical repentance makes us fear the cause of that wrath, even sin. When a man repents with that grace of repentance which God the Spirits works in him, he repents not of the punishment which is to follow the deed, but of the deed itself; and he feels that if there were not pit digged for the wicked, if there were no ever-gnawing worm, and no fire unquenchable, he would still hate sin. It is such repentance as this which every one of you must have, or else you will be lost. It must be a hatred of sin. Do not suppose, that because when you come to die you will be afraid of eternal torment, therefore that will be repentance. Every thief is afraid of the prison; but he will steal to-morrow if you set him free. Most men who have committed murder tremble at the sight of the gallows-tree, but they would do the deed again could they live. It is not the hatred of the punishment that is repentance; it is the hatred of the deed itself. Do you feel that you have such a repentance as that? If not, these thundering words must be preached to you again,—"If he turn not, he will whet his sword." But one more hint here. When a man is possessed of true and evangelical repentance—I mean the gospel repentance which saves the soul—he not only hates sin for its own sake, but loathes it so extremely and utterly that he feels that no repentance of his own can avail to wash it out, and he acknowledges that it is only by an act of sovereign grace that his sin can be washed away. Now, if any of you suppose that you repent of your sins, and yet imagine that by a course of holy living you can blot them out—if you suppose that by walking uprightly in future you can obliterate your past transgressions—you have not yet truly repented; for true repentance makes a man feel, that "Could his zeal no respite know, Could his tears for ever flow, All for sin could not atone, Christ must save, and Christ alone." And if it is so killed in thee that thou hatest as a corrupt and abominable thing, and wouldst bury it out of thy sight, but that thou feelest that it will never be entombed, unless Christ shall dig the grave, then thou hast repented of sin. We must humbly confess that we deserve God's wrath, and that we cannot avert it by any deeds of our own, and we must put our trust solely and entirely in the blood and merits of Jesus Christ. If ye have not so repented, again we exclaim in the words of David, "If you turn not, he will whet his sword." II. And now the second point; it is a yet more terrible one to dwell upon, and if I consulted my own feelings I should not mention it; but we must not consider our feelings in the work of ministry, any more than we should if we were physicians of men's bodies. We must sometimes use the knife, where we feel that mortification would ensue without it. We must frequently make sharp gashes into men's consciences, in the hope that the Holy Spirit will bring them to life. We assert, then, that there is a that God should whet his sword and punish men, if they will not turn. Earnest Baxter used to say, "Sinner! turn or burn; it is thine only alternative: TURN OR BURN!" And it is so. We think we can show you why men must turn, or else they must burn. 1. First we cannot suppose the God of the Bible could suffer sin to be unpunished. Some may suppose it; they may dream their intellects into a state of intoxication, so as to suppose a God apart from justice; but no man whose reason is sound and whose mind is in a healthy condition can imagine a God without justice. Ye cannot suppose a king without it to be a good king; ye cannot dream of a good government that should exist without justice, much less of God, the Judge and King of all the earth, without justice in his bosom. To suppose him all love, and no justice, were to undeify him, and make him no longer God; he were not capable of ruling this world if he had not justice in his heart. There is in man a natural perception of the fact, that if there be a God, he must be just; and I can scarcely imagine that ye can believe in a God without believing also in the punishment of sin. It were difficult to suppose him elevated high above his creatures, beholding their disobedience, and yet looking with the same serenity upon the good and upon the evil; you cannot suppose him awarding the same need of praise to the wicked and to the righteous. The idea of God, supposes justice; and it is but to say justice when you say God. 2. But to imagine that there shall be no punishment for sin, and that man can be saved without repentance, is to fly in the face of all the Scriptures. What! Are the records of divine history nothing? And if they be anything must not God have mightily changed, if he doth not now punish sin? What! did he once blast Eden, and drive our parents out of that happy garden on account of a little theft, as man would style it? Did he drown a world with water, and inundate creation with the floods which he had buried in the bowels of this earth? And will he not punish sin? Let the burning hail which fell on Sodom tell you that God is just; let the open mouth of the earth which swallowed up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, warn you that he will not spare the guilty: let the mighty works of God which he did in the Red Sea, the wonders which he wrought on Pharaoh, and the miraculous destruction which he brought on Sennacherib, tell you that God is just. And it were perhaps out of place for me in the same argument to mention the judgments of God even in our age; but have there never been such? This world is not the dungeon where God punishes sin, but still there are a few instances in which we cannot but believe that he actually did avenge it. I am no believer that every accident is a judgment; I am far from believing that the destruction of men and women in a theatre is a punishment upon them for their sin, since the same thing has occurred in divine service to our perpetual sorrow. I believe judgment is reserved for the next world; I could not account for providence if I believed that God punishes here. "Those men upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you nay." It has injured religion for men to take up every providence, and say, for instance, that because a boat was upset on the Sabbath-day it was a judgment on the persons that were in it. We assuredly believe that it was sinful to spend the day in pleasure, but we deny that it was a punishment from God. God usually reserves his punishment for a future state; but yet, we say, there have been a few instances in which we cannot but believe that men and women have been by Providence in this life punished for their guilt. I remember one which I scarcely dare relate to you. I saw the wretched creature myself. He had dared to imprecate on his head the most awful curses that man could utter. In his rage and fury he said he wished his head were twisted on one side, that his eyes were put out, and that his jaws were made fast: but a moment afterwards the lash of his whip—with which he had been cruelly treating his horse—entered his eye, brought on first inflammation, and then lock-jaw, and when I saw him he was just in the very position in which he had asked to be placed, for his head was twisted round, his eye-sight was gone, and he could not speak except through his closed teeth. You will remember a similar instance happening at Devizes, where a woman declared that she had paid her part of the price of a sack of meal, when she had it in her hand, and immediately dropped down dead on the spot. Some of these may have been singular coincidences; but I am not so credulous as to suppose that they were brought about by chance. I think the will of the Lord was in it. I believe they were some faint intimations that God was just, and that although the full shower of his wrath does not fall on men in this life, he does pour a drop or two on them, to let us see how he will one day chasten the world for its iniquity. 3. But why need I go far to bring arguments to bear on you, my hearers? Your own consciences tell you that God must punish sin. You may laugh at me, and say that you have no such belief. I do not say you have but I say that your conscience tells you so, and conscience has more power over men than what they think to be their belief. As John Bunyan said, Mr. Conscience had a very loud voice, and though Mr. Understanding shut himself up in a dark room, where he could not see, yet he used to thunder out so mightily in the streets, that Mr. Understanding used to shake in his house through what Mr. Conscience said. And it is often so. You say in your understanding, "I cannot believe God will punish sin;" but you know he will. You would not like to confess your secret fears, because that were to give up what you have so often most bravely asserted. But because you assert it with such boast and bombast, imagine you do not believe it, for if you did, you would not need look so big while saying it. I know that when you are dying you will believe in a hell. Conscience makes cowards of us all, and makes us believe, even when we say we do not, that God must punish sin. Let me tell you a story; I have told it before, but it is a striking one, and sets out in a true light how easily men will be brought in times of danger to believe in God, and a God of justice too, though they have denied him before. In the backwoods of Canada there resided a good minister, who one evening, went out to meditate, as Isaac did, in the fields. He soon found himself on the borders of a forest, which he entered, and walked along a track which had been trodden before him; musing, musing still, until at last the shadows of twilight gathered around him, and he began to think how he should spend a night in the forest. He trembled at the idea of remaining there, with the poor shelter of a tree into which he would be compelled to climb. On a sudden he saw a light in the distance among the trees, and imagining that it might be from the window of some cottage where he could find a hospitable retreat, he hastened to it, and to his surprise, saw a space cleared and trees laid down to make a platform, and upon it a speaker addressing a multitude. He thought to himself, "I have stumbled on a company of people, who in this dark forest have assembled to worship God, and some minister is preaching to them, at this late hour of the evening, concerning the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;" but to his surprise and horror, when he came nearer, he found a young man declaiming against God, daring the Almighty to do his worst upon him, speaking terrible things in wrath against the justice of the Most High, and venturing most bold and awful assertions concerning his own disbelief in a future state. It was altogether a singular scene; it was lighted up by pine-knots, which cast a glare here and there, while the thick darkness in other places still reigned. The people were intent on listening to the orator, and when he sat down thunders of applause were given to him; each one seeming to emulate the other in his praise. Thought the minister, "I must not let this pass; I must rise and speak; the honour of my God, and his cause demands it." But he feared to speak, for he knew not what to say, having come there suddenly; but he would have ventured, had not something else occurred. A man of middle age, hale and strong, rose, and leaning on his staff he said, "My friends, I have a word to speak to you to-night. I am not about to refute any of the arguments of the orator; I shall not criticise his style; I shall say nothing concerning what I believe to be the blasphemies he has uttered; but I shall simply relate to you a fact, and after I have done that you shall draw your own conclusions. Yesterday, I walked by the side of yonder river; I saw on its floods a young man in a boat. The boat was unmanageable; it was going fast towards the rapids; he could not use the oars, and I saw that he was not capable of bringing the boat to the shore. I saw that young man wring his hands in agony; by-and-bye he gave up the attempt to save his life, kneeled down and cried with desperate earnestness, "O God! save my soul! If my body cannot be saved, save my soul.' I heard him confess that he had been a blasphemer, I heard him vow that if his life were spared he would never be such again; I heard him implore the mercy of heaven for Jesus Christ's sake, and earnestly plead that he might be washed in his blood. These arms saved that young man from the flood; I plunged in, brought the boat to shore, and saved his life. That same young man has just now addressed you, and cursed his Maker. What say you to this, sirs!" The speaker sat down. You may guess what a shadow ran through the young man himself, and how the audience in one moment changed their notes, and saw that after all, whilst it was a fine thing to brag and bravado against Almighty God on dry land, and when danger was distant, it was not quite so grand to think ill of him when near the verge of the grave. We believe there is enough conscience in every man to convince him that God must punish him for his sin; therefore we think that our text will wake an echo in every heart—"If he turn not, he will whet his sword." I am tired of this terrible work of endeavouring to show you that God must punish sin; let me just utter a few of the declarations of his Holy Word, and then let me tell you how repentance is to be obtained. O sirs! ye may think that the fire of hell is indeed a fiction, and that the flames of the nethermost pit are but popish dreams; but if ye are believers in the Bible ye must believe that it cannot be so. Did not our Master say, "Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." You say it is metaphorical fire. But what meant he by this—"He is able to cast both body and soul into hell?" Is it not written, that there is reserved for the devil and his angels fearful torment? And do you not know that our Master said, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment;" "Depart, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels?" "Yes," you say, "but it is not philosophical to believe that there is a hell; it does not consort with reason to believe there is." However, I should like to act as if there were, even if there is no such place; for as the poor and pious man once said, "Sir, I like to have two strings to my bow. If there should be no hell I shall be as well off as you will; but if there should, it will go hard with you." But why need I say "if?" You know there is. No man has been born and educated in this land without having his conscience so far enlightened as to know that to be a truth. All I need to do is to press upon your anxious consideration this thought:—Do you feel that you are a fit subject for heaven now? Do you feel that God has changed your heart and renewed your nature? If not, I beseech you lay hold of this thought, that unless you be renewed all that can be dreadful in the torments of the future world must inevitably be yours. Dear hearer, apply it to thyself, not to thy fellow-men, but to thine own conscience, and may God Almighty make use of it to bring thee to repentance. III. Now briefly what are the MEANS of repentance? Most seriously I say, I do not believe any man can repent with evangelical repentance of himself. You ask me then to what purpose is the sermon I have endeavoured to preach, proving the necessity of repentance? Allow me to make the sermon of some purpose, under God, by its conclusion. Sinner! thou art so desperately set on sin, that I have no hope thou wilt ever turn from it of thyself. But listen! He who died on Calvary is exalted on high "to give repentance and remission of sin." Dost thou this morning feel that thou art a sinner? If so, ask of Christ to give thee repentance, for he can work repentance in thine heart by his Spirit, though thou canst not work it there thyself. Is thy heart like iron? He can put it into the furnace of his love and make it melt. Is thy soul like the nether millstone? His grace is able to dissolve it like the ice is melted before the sun. He can make thee repent, though thou canst not make thyself repent. If thou feelest thy need of repentance, I will not now say to thee "repent," for I believe there are certain acts that must precede a sense of repentance. I should advise you to go to your houses, and if you feel that you have sinned, and yet cannot sufficiently repent of your transgressions, bow your knees before God and confess your sins: tell him you cannot repent as you would; tell him your heart is hard; tell him it is as cold as ice. You can do that if God has made you feel your need of a Saviour. Then if it should be laid to your heart to endeavour to seek after repentance, I will tell you the best way to find it. Spend an hour first in endeavouring to remember thy sins; and when conviction has gotten a firm hold on thee, then spend another hour—where? At Calvary, my hearer. Sit down and read that chapter which contains the history and mystery of the God that loved and died; sit down and think thou seest that glorious Man, with blood dropping from his hands, and his feet gushing rivers of gore; and if that does not make thee repent, with the help of God's Spirit, then I know of nothing that can. An old divine says, "If you feel you do not love God, love him till you feel you do: if you think you cannot believe, believe till you feel you believe." Many a man says he cannot repent, while he is repenting. Keep on with that repentance, till you feel you have repented. Only acknowledge thy transgressions; confess thy guiltiness; own that he were just if he should destroy thee; and say this, solemnly— My faith doth lay its hand On that dear head of thine, While like a penitent I stand, And there confess my sin. Oh! what would I give if one of my hearers should be blessed by God to go home and repent! If I had worlds to buy one of your souls, I would readily give them, if I might but bring one of you to Christ. I shall never forget the hour when I hope God's mercy first looked on me. It was in a place very different from this, amongst a despised people, in an insignificant little chapel, of a peculiar sect. I went there bowed down with guilt; laden with transgression. The minister walked up the pulpit stairs, opened his Bible, and read that precious text, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and beside me there is none else;" and, as I thought, fixing his eyes on me, before he began to preach to others, he said, "Young man! look! look! look! You are one of the ends of the earth; you feel you are; you know your need of a Saviour; you are trembling because you think he will never save you. He says this morning, 'Look!'" Oh, how my soul was shaken within me then! what! thought I, does that man know me, and all about me? He seemed as if he did. And it made me "look!" Well, I thought, lost or saved, I will try; sink or swim, I will run the risk of it; and in that moment I hope by his grace I looked upon Jesus, and though desponding, downcast, and ready to despair, and feeling that I could rather die than live as I had lived, at that very moment it seemed as if a young heaven had had its birth within my conscience. I went home, no more cast down; those about me, noticing the change, asked me why I was so glad, and I told them that I had believed in Jesus, and that it was written, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Oh! if one such should be here this morning! Where art thou, thou chief of sinners, thou vilest of the vile? My dear hearer, thou hast never been in the house of God perhaps these last twenty years; but here thou art, covered with thy sins, the blackest and vilest of all! Hear God's Word. "Come, now let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool, and though they be red like crimson, they shall be white than snow." And all this for Jesus' sake; all this for his blood's sake! "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved;" for his word and mandate is, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned." SINNER! TURN OR BURN! 8:1. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.They are very high, but thy glory is higher than the heavens.Psalms 8:2-4. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?He, whose voice rolls the stars along, who makes those bright worlds to fly like sparks from the anvil of his omnipotence, how can he stoop so low as to regard his fallen creature, man, who is so small, so insignificant?Psalms 8:5-6. For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:Man is God’s viceroy. He reigns over God’s works in God’s name. Let him not set up to be a king, and try to usurp the honour of his great Lord, the Imperator, the Universal Governor.Psalms 8:7-8. All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.What a king man is! Let him not be cruel to the beasts of the field; let him not be a tyrant; God did not make him for that purpose. Let his reign be generous and kind; and if the animals must suffer, yet spare them as much suffering as possible. O man, be thou a generous viceroy, for thou art under a most generous King, who is himself the happy God, and who delights in the happiness of all his creatures!Psalms 8:9. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! Thus does the psalmist finish as he began the psalm, by praising the name of the Lord. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 6:8. This Psalm has a dedication which is very difficult to understand: “To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben. A Psalm of David.” Either “Muthlabben” is the tune to which the Psalm was to be sung, or some musical instrument that is now forgotten, or else it alludes to Ben, who was one of the Levitical singers mentioned in 1 Chronicles 15:18. In all probability, however, the true translation of the title is, “A Psalm on the death of the son,” or “on the death of the champion,” and it is thought by some that it was composed by David after the death of giant Goliath. If it be so, I think you will see, as we read the Psalm, that it well proclaims the victory which God had wrought.Psalms 9:1. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.It will be well if we also resolve that we will praise the Lord. Most people have something or someone to praise, so let us select the Lord, even Jehovah, as the subject of our song. Let us resolve that we will praise him continually, for it may be difficult sometimes to do it. The heart may be very heavy; it may even be inclined to rebellion and murmuring, but let us make this strong resolution, in the power of God’s grace: “I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.” Here is room for great variety of praise, and here are abundant topics for praise, for there is no work of God which is not marvellous, and worthy of being praised with our whole heart. So, Lord I will not be dumb. Thou hast given me a tongue, I am not like the brute beasts that cannot speak; my tongue is the glory of my frame, so with it I will show forth all thy marvellous works.Psalms 9:2. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. Get thee up, then, my soul, out of the dark places of thy despondency. Rise, my drooping spirit, to something higher and better. If thou canst not be glad in anything else, be glad in thy God, — be glad that thou hast a God, and such a God, and that he is thy God still. Whatever else thou mayest have lost, thou hast not lost him. “I will be glad and rejoice.” The reduplication of the words indicates a double joy, — a double gladness, as the apostle says, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” Be glad twice over, for you have double cause for rejoicing in the Lord.Psalms 9:3. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.As much as to say, “The presence of God is quite enough to make my adversaries flee, — yea, and utterly to cut them off.” As John Wesley said, “The best of all is, God is with us;” and if God be with us, it matters little to us who are against us.Psalms 9:4. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.One of our noblemen has this for his motto, “I will maintain it;” but the Christian has a far better one: “Thou hast maintained my right.” If David sang thus after he had hurled the stone from his sling into Goliath’s skull, he might well magnify the name of the Lord, who had maintained the rights of his people, and put the uncircumcised champion of the Philistines to confusion and death.Psalms 9:5-6. Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever. O thou enemy, —You can conceive of David, standing on the prostrate form of his fallen foe, and looking on that gigantic countenance and those mighty limbs, crying out, “O thou enemy,” —Psalms 9:6-7. Destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities, their memorial is perished with them. But the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.“Thou hast destroyed cities,” but thou couldst not destroy God. When thou didst defy the armies of other nations, thou couldst easily put them to rout, but when thou didst defy the living God, then there was an end of thee, for thou couldst not overcome him, nor overcome his people. Blessed be God for this, our faith is founded upon a rock that never shall be removed, and our confidence is fixed upon One who can never fail us, and whose truth must stand fast for ever.Psalms 9:8-10. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee:The basis of faith is knowledge, and there is no knowledge like that which comes from experience. If you know the name of God as Jehovah, — the self-existent and ever-living God, — you will have good reason for trusting him; and then, if you know his many precious names, — such as Jehovah-Tsidkenu, the Lord our Righteousness, Jehovah-Nissi, the Lord my banner; Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide, Jehovah-Shalom, the peace-giving God, and Jehovah-Shammah, the God who is there where his people are — yea, if any one name of God be fully understood by you, you will put your trust in him.Psalms 9:10-12. For thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them:When the great Coroner’s inquest shall be held upon all who have wrongly suffered, the commission will open by an enquiry concerning the blood of the martyrs: “When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them.” His suffering ones, who laid down their lives for the truth’s sake, shall find that their blood was precious in his sight.Psalms 9:12. He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.Is there not consolation in these words for some of you? You have been humbled, and brought down from your high place; now then, is your time to cry; and when you do so, you will prove that “he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.” There are many, who give heed to the petitions of their needy fellow-creatures, and feel their force, for a time; but they are engaged in business, or occupied in other ways, and they soon forget. Other things crowd out the needy one’s petition, and so he is left unhelped. But it is never so with God: “He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.” Notice, in the next verse, how David avails himself of that truth. He seems to say, “Is it true that God does not forget the cry of the humble? Then I will cry unto him, and my humble cry shall go up to his ear, and to his heart.”Psalms 9:13. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; —What a blessed prayer that is, — a prayer useful on all occasions, — under a sense of sin, or under a load of sorrow, — burdened with labour, or crushed with despondency. It is a prayer which is like the cherubim’s sword, which turned every way; you may use it as you will: “Have mercy upon me, O Lord;” —Psalms 9:13. Consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that lifted me up from the gates of death:What a lift that is, — lifted up from the gates of death into life, and ultimately into heaven! What an almighty God our Lord proves himself to be at a dead lift! When every other arm is paralyzed, he comes to us, and lifts us up from the gates of death.Psalms 9:14. That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion:From the gates of death to the gates of Zion, is the lift which God gives to his poor suffering people.Psalms 9:14-15. I will rejoice in thy salvation. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made:If you picture David with the carcase of the giant before him, the Philistines put to ignominious flight, and the Israelites in full pursuit after them, you can understand his saying, “The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made.”Psalms 9:15-16. In the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The LORD known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.The probable meaning of these words is, “Consider and pause.” They are musical rests, perhaps; but they also suggest to us how well it is, in our reading of the Scriptures, sometimes to stop a while, and inwardly digest the words that we have read.Psalms 9:17. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. Even if they are not outwardly as wicked as other men are, yet their forgetfulness of God is the highest form of injustice to him; it is treason against the majesty of heaven; it is robbing God of what is his right; it is a combination of everything that is evil.Psalms 9:18-20. For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. Arise, O LORD, let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.They boast that they are men, and that they quit themselves like men. Yet let them know that, although they are men, they are only men, with all the infirmities and imperfections of men, and that there is a God who will, in due time, let men know that they are but men, and that the best of men are but men at their best.Psalms 9:20. Selah.Pause again, think over what we have been reading, and lift up your heart in prayer to God, seeking the aid of the Holy Spirit to apply the truth to your soul. The Poor Man's Friend June 8th, 1873 by C. H. (1834-1892) "The poor committeth himself unto thee."— Psalms 10:14 . God is the poor man's friend; the poor man, in His helplessness and despair, leaves his case in the hands of God, and God undertakes to care for him. In the days of David,—and I suppose, in this respect, the world has but little improved,—the poor man was the victim of almost everybody's cruelty, and sometimes he was very shamefully oppressed. If he sought redress for his wrongs, he generally only increased them, for he was regarded as a rebel against the existing order of things; and when he asked for even a part of what was his by right, the very magistrates and rulers of the land became the instruments of his oppressors, and made the yoke of his bondage to be yet heavier than it was before. Tens of thousands of eyes, full of tears, have been turned to Jehovah, and he has been invoked to interpose between the oppressor and the oppressed; for God is the ultimate resort of the helpless. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed; he undertakes the cause of all those that are downtrodden. If the history of the world be, rightly read, it will be found that no case of oppression has been suffered to go long unpunished. The Assyrian empire wean a very cruel one, but what is now left of Nineveh and Babylon? Go to the heaps of ruins by the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates, and see what will become of an empire which is made to be only an instrument of oppression in the hands of an emperor and the great men under him. It has ceased to he more than a name; its power has vanished, and its palaces have been destroyed. In later times, there sprang up the mighty empire of Rome; and even now, wherever we wander, we see traces of its greatness and splendour. How came it to fall? Many reasons have been assigned, but you may rest assured that at the bottom of them all was the. cruelty practised towards the slaves, and other poor people, who here absolutely in the power of the aristocracy and oligarchy who formed the dominant party in the empire. There is a fatal flaw in the foundations of any throne that executes not justice; and it matters not though the empire seems to stand high as heaven, and to raise its pinnacles to the skies, down it must come if it be not founded upon right. When ten thousand slaves have cried to God apparently in vain, it has not really been in vain, for he has registered their cries, and in due season has avenged their wrongs; and when the poor toilers, who have reaped the rich man's fields, have been deprived of their hardly-earned wages, and have cast their plaints into the court of heaven, they have been registered there, and God has, at the right time, taken up their cause, and punished their oppressors. For many years the Negro slaves cried to God to deliver them, and at last deliverance came, to the joy of the emancipated multitudes, yet not without suffering to all the nations that had been concerned in that great wrong. And here, too, if the employers of labour refuse to give to the agricultural labourer his just wage, God will surely visit them, in his wrath. At this very day, we have; serfs in England who, with sternest toil, cannot earn enough to keep body and soul together, and to maintain their families as they ought to be maintained; and where masters are thus refusing to their labourers a fair remuneration for their work, let them know that, whoever may excuse them, and whatever may be said of the laws of political economy, God does not judge the world by political economy. He judges the world by this rule, that men are bound to do that which is just and right to their fellow-men; and it can never he right that a man should work like a slave, be housed worse than a horse, and have food scarcely fit for a dog. But if the poor commit their case to God, he will undertake it; and I, as one of God's ministers, will never cease to speak on behalf of the rights of the poor. The whole question has two sides,—the rights of the masters, and the rights of the men. Let not the men do as some workmen do, ask more than they ought; yet, on the other hand, let not the masters domineer over their men, but remember that God is the Master of us all, and he will see that right is done to all. Let us all act rightly towards one another, or we shall feel the weight of his hand, and the force of his anger. Now, having thus given the literal meaning of my text, I am going to spiritualize it, which I should have no right to do if I had not first explained the primary reference of David's words, "The poor committeth himself unto thee." I. THERE ARE POOR MEN; and these do what other poor men have done in temporal things, they commit their case, into the hands of God. Let me try to find out the spiritually poor. They are, first, those who have no merits of their own. There are some people, in the world, who are, according to their own estimate, very rich in good works. They think that they began well, and that they have gone on well, and they hope to continue to do well right to the end of their lives. They do confess, sometimes, that they are miserable sinners, but total. is merely because that expression is in the Prayer Book. They are half sorry it is there, but they suppose that it must have been meant for other people, not for themselves. So far as they know, they have kept all the commandments from their youth up, they have been just in their dealings with their fellow-men, and they do not feel that they are under any very serious obligations even to God himself. I have nothing to say to such people except to remind them that the, Lord Jesus Christ said, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Christ came to bring healing to those who are spiritually sick; you say that you are perfectly well, so you must go your own way, and Christ will go in another direction,—towards sinners. Further, the poor peoples of whom I am speaking, are not only totally without, anything like merit, absolutely bankrupt of any goodness, and devoid of anything of which they could boast, but they are also without strength to perform any such good works in the future. They are so poor, spiritually, that they cannot even pray as they would, and they do not even feel their poverty as they would like to feel it. After having read this Bible, they wish they could re-read it with greater profit; and when they weep oven sin, they feel their own sin in their very tears, and want to weep in penitence over their tears. They are such poor people that they can do absolutely nothing without Christ, and so poor that, in them, that is, in their flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. They did think once that there might be something good in them; but they have searched their nature through most painfully, and they have discovered that, unless grace shall do everything for them, where God is they can never come. Perhaps some of you say, "These must be very bad people." Well, they are no better that they should be, yet I may tell you another thing concerning them, they are no worse than many of those who think themselves a great deal better. They have this lowly opinion of themselves because the grace of God has taught them to think rightly and truthfully about themselves in relation to God. They are, in outward appearance, and as far as we, can judge, quite. as good as others, and better than some. In certain respects, they might be held up as examples to others. This is what we say of them, but they have not a good word to say of themselves; rather, do they put their finger upon their lips, and blush at the remembrance of what they feel themselves to be; or if they must speak of themselves at all, they say, "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way." II. That brings me to notice, secondly, WHAT THESE POOR PEOPLE DO. They commit themselves unto God. This is a very blessed description of what true faith does. The poor in spirit feel that their case is so desperate that they cannot kept it in their own charge, and therefore they commit it to God. I will try to show you how they do that. First, they commit their case to God as a debtor commits his case to a surety. The man is so deeply in debt that he cannot pay his creditors even a farthing in the pound; but here is someone who can pay everything that the debtor owes, and he says to him, "I will stand as security for you; I will be bondsman for you; I will give full satisfaction to all your creditors, and discharge all your debts." There is no person who is thus deeply in debt, who would not be glad to know of such a surety, both able and willing to stand in his stead, and to discharge all his responsibilities. If the surety said to this poor debtor, "Will you make over all your liabilities to me? Will you sign this document, empowering me to take all your debts upon myself, and to be responsible for you? Will you let me be your bondsman and surety?" "Ah!" the poor man would reply, "that I will, most gladly." That is just what spiritually poor men have done to the Lord Jesus Christ,—committed their case, with all their debts and liabilities, into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he has undertaken all the. responsibility for them. I think I hear someone say, "But will Christ really stand in the sinner's place in such a way as that?" Oh, yes! for he did stand, in anticipation, in the sinner's place before the foundation of the world, and he actually stood there when he died upon the accursed tree, by his death obtaining a full discharge of the debts of all those whose Surety he had become. Dear soul, wilt, thou not commit all thy affairs into his hands? Art thou not, willing to let him stand as thy Surety, to clear thee of all thy liabilities? "Willing?" say you; "ah! that I am; and not only willing, but, right glad shall I be for him to take my place, and relieve mo of the burden that is crushing me to the dust." Then it is done for you, and so done that it can never be undone. Suppose that one of you had taken all my debts upon you, and that you were quite able and willing to pay them, I should not go home, and fret myself about my debts. I should rejoice to think that, you had taken them upon yourself, and that therefore they would no longer be mine. If Christ has taken your sins upon himself,—and he has done so if you have truly trusted him, your sins have ceased to be; they are blotted out for ever. Christ nailed to his cross the record of everything that was against, us; and, now, every poor sinner, who is indebted to God's law, and who trusteth in Christ, may know that his debt is cancelled, and that he is clear of all liability for it for ever. Next, we commit our case to Christ as a client does to a solicitor and advocate. You know that, when a man has a suit at law, (I hope that none of you may ever have such a suit,) if he has an advocate to plead his cause, he does not plead for himself. He will probably get into trouble if he does. It is said that, when Erskine was pleading for a Man who was being tried for murder, his client, being dissatisfied with the way in which his defense was being conducted, wrote on a slip of paper, "I'll be hanged if I don't plead for myself." Erskine wrote in reply, "You'll be hanged if you do!" It is very much like that with us; if we attempt to plead for ourselves, we shall be sure to go wrong. We must have the Divine Advocate who alone can defend us against the suits of Satan, and speak with authority on our behalf even before the bar of God. We must commit our case to him, that he may plead for us, and then it will go rightly enough. Remember also that any man, who has committed his case to an advocate, must not interfere with it himself. If anybody from the other side should wait upon him, and say, "I wish to speak to you about that suit," he must reply, I cannot go into the matter with you; I must refer you to my solicitor." "But I want to reason about it; I want to ask you a, few questions about the case." "No," says he, "I cannot listen to what you have to say, you must go to my solicitor." How much trouble Christians would save themselves if, when they have committed their case into the hands of Jesus, they would leave it there, and not attempt to deal with it on their own account! I say to the devil, when he comes to tempt me to doubt and fear, "I have committed my soul to Jesus Christ, and he will keep it in safety. You must bring your accusations to him, not to me. I am his client, and he is my Counsellor. Why should I have such an Advocate as he is, and then plead for myself" John does not say, "If any man sin, let him be his own adovcate;" but he says, "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Dear brother, leave your case with Christ; he can handle it wisely, you cannot. Remember that, if the devil and you get into an argument, he is much older than you are, and far more clever than you are, and he knows a great many points of law that you do not know. You should always refer him to the Saviour, who is older than he is, and knows much more about law and everything else than he does, and who will answer him so effectually as to silence him forever. So, poor tried and tempted soul, commit your case to the great Advocate, and he will plead for you before the Court of King's Bench in heaven, and your suit will be sure to succeed through his advocacy. Further, sinners commit their case to Christ as a patient commits his case to the physician. We, poor sin-sick sinners, put our case into the hands of Jesus, that he may heal us of all our depravities, and evil tendencies, and infirmities. If anyone asks, "Will he undertake my case, if I come to him?" I answer;—Yes, he came to be the Physician of souls, to heal all who trust him. There never was a case in which he could not heal, for he has a wonderful remedy, a catholicon, a cure for all diseases. If you put your case, into his hands, the Holy Spirit will shed abroad his love in your heart, and there is no spiritual disease that can withstand that wondrous remedy. Are you predisposed to quickness of temper? He can cure that. Are you inclined to be indolent? Is there a sluggish spirit within you? He can cure that. Are you proud, or are your tendencies towards covetousness, worldliness, lust, or ambitions? Christ, can cure all these evils. When he was on this earth, he had all manner of patients brought to him, yet he never was baffled by one case, and your case, whatever it may be, will be quite an easy one to him if you only go and commit it into his hands. This building seems to me like a great hospital full of sin-sick souls, and I pray the great Physician to come here, and heal them. Nay, I must correct myself, for he is here; and, as he walks through these aisles, and round these galleries, I beseech you to say to him, "Good Master, I commit myself to thee. I take thee to be my Saviour. O save me from my constitutional temperament, and my besetting sins, and everything else that is contrary to thy holy will!" He will hear you, for he never yet refused to heed the cry of a poor sin-sick soul. Do not let him go by you without praying to, him, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Come, Lord, and lay thy hands upon each one of us and we shall be made perfectly whole! As to the future, the spiritually poor commit themselves to Christ in the same way in which the pilgrims described in The Pilgrim's Progress committeth themselves to the charge of Mr. Greatheart, that he might fight all their battles for them, and conduct them safely to the Celestial City. In the old war time, when the captains of merchant vessels wanted to go to foreign countries, and they were afraid of being captured by the privateers of other nations, they generally went in company under the convoy of a man-of-war to protect them, and that is the way you and I must go to heaven. Satan's privateers will try to capture us, but we commit ourselves to the protection of Jesus, the Lord High Admiral of all the seas, and we poor little vessels sail safely under his convoy. When any enemy seeks to attack us, we need not be afraid. He can blow them all out of the water if he pleased, but he will never suffer one of them to injure a solitary vessel that is entrusted to his charge. Sinner, give thyself up to the charge of Jesus, to be convoyed to heaven; and thou over-anxious child of God, lay down all thine anxieties at the feet of Jesus, and rest in his infinite power and love, which will never let thee be lost. I might thus multiply figures and illustrations of how we commit ourselves to Christ. We do it very much in the way in which our blind friends, sitting under the pulpit, got here this evening,—they came by committing themselves to the care of guides. Some of them can walk a good long way without a guide, but others could not have found their way here to-night without some friend upon whose arm they could lean. That is the way to get to heaven, by leaning upon Jesus. Do not expect to see him, but trust yourself to him, and lean hard upon him. He loves to be trusted, and faith has a wonderful charm for him. I was once near the Mansion House, and as I stood there, a poor blind man, who wished to cross over to the Bank, said to me, "Please, sir, lead me across; I know you will, for I am blind." I was not sure that I could do so, for it is not an easy task to lead a blind man across that part where so many cabs and omnibuses are constantly passing, but I managed it as best I could. I do not think I could have, done it if the poor man had not said to me, "I know you will;" for then I thought that I must; and if you come to Christ, and say, "Lord Jesus, wilt thou lead me to heaven?" and tell him that you are sure that he will never let a poor blind soul miss its way, that you are sure you can trust him, that he is such a kind-hearted Saviour that he will never thrust away a guilty sinner who thus commits himself into his hands, and I am sure that he will be glad to save you, and that he will rejoice over you as he leads you safely home to heaven. If any of you can see with your natural eyes, and yet are blind spiritually, be glad that there is a blessed Guide, to whom you can commit yourself, and do commit yourself to him. Christ leads the blind by a way that they know not, and he will continue to lead them until he brings them to the land where they will open their eyes, and see with rapture and surprise the splendours of paradise, and rejoice that they are all their own for ever. Is not this work of the poor committing themselves to Christ, a very easy task? It is a very easy thing for a debtor to commit his debts to his surety, for anyone to commit his case to his advocate, for a patient to trust himself to his physician, for a pilgrim to feel safe under a powerful convoy, and for a blind man to trust in his guide;—all this is very simple and easy. It does not need much explanation, and faith in Jesus is just as simple and just as easy as that. Why is it, that we sometimes find that faith is difficult? It is because we are to proud to believe in Jesus. If we did but see ourselves as we really are, we should be willing enough to trust the Saviour; but we do not like going to heaven like blind people who need a guide, or like debtors who cannot pay a farthing in the pound. We want to have a finger in the pie, we want to do something towards our own salvation, we want to have some of the praise and glory of it. God save us from this evil spirit! While it is a very simple thing for the Spiritually poor to commit themselves to Christ, let me also say that it is an act which greatly glorifies God. Christ is honoured when any soul trusts in him; it is a joy to his heart to be trusted. When the feeble cling to him, he feels such joy as mothers feel when their little ones cling to them. Christ is glad when poor sin-sick souls come and trust him. It was for this very purpose that he came into the world, to meet the needs of guilty sinners. So this plan, while it is easy for us, is glorifying to him And I will add that it is a plan that never fails any who trust to it. There never was a single soul that committed its case to Christ, and theft found him fail, and there never shall be such a soul so long as the earth endureth. He that believeth in Christ shall not be ashamed or confounded, world without end. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life," and everlasting life can never be taken away from one who has received it. I close by asking a question,—If the spiritually poor commit themselves unto God, what comes of it? Why, it makes them very happy. But, are they not sinful? Oh, yes; but they commit themselves to God's grace, and His grace blots out all their sins for ever. Are they not feeble? Oh, yes; but, their feebleness leads them to commit themselves to his omnipotence; and his strength is made perfect in their weakness. Are they not needy? Oh, yes; but then they bring their needs to him, and they receive out of his fulness "grace for grace." But, are they not often in danger? Oh, yes, in a thousand dangers; but they come, and hide beneath the shadow of God's wings, and he covers them with his feathers, and there they rest in perfect security. His truth becomes their shield and buckler, so that they need not fear any foe. But are they not apt to slip? Oh, yes, but they commit themselves to him who gives his angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways, and to bear them up in their hands, lest they should dash their feet against a stone. But are they not, very fickle and changeable? Oh, yes; but they commit, themselves to him who says, "I am Jehovah; I change not." But are they not unworthy? 0h, yes, in themselves they are utterly unworthy; but they commit themselves to him who is called The Lord their righteousness; and when they are clothed in his righteousness, they are looked upon by God as being "without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing." But have they no sickness? Yes, but they commit themselves to Jehovah-Rophi, the lord, the Healer, and he either heals their sickness, or gives them the grace to endure it. Are they not poor? Yes, many of them are extremely so; but they commit themselves to the faithful Promiser, and so bread is given them, and their water sure. But don't they expect to die? 0h, yes, unless the Lord should first come; but they are not afraid to die. This is the point, above all others, in which the spiritually poor commit themselves unto God. They have learnt that sweet prayer of David so well that it is often on their tongues, "Into thine hand I commit my spirit thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth." They did commit their spirit into God's hands years ago, and he has kept them until now, and they know that, he will not fail them in their dying hour. In conclusion, I pray every spiritually poor heart to commit itself to God. I like to do this every morning. Satan often comes and says, "You are no Christian; all your supposed Christian experience is false." Very Well, suppose it has been false; then I will start afresh; saint or no saint, I will begin over again by trusting Christ to be my Saviour. When you, dear friend, wake tomorrow morning, let this be the first thing that you do,—commit yourself to Jesus Christ for the whole of the day. Say, "My Lord, here is my heart, which I commit to thee. While I am away from home, may my heart be full of fragrance of thy blessed presence; and when I return at night, may I still find my heart, in thy kind keeping! "And every night, ere we go to sleep, let us pray,— "Should swift death this night o'ertake us, And our couch become our tomb; May the morn in heaven awake us. Clad in light and deathless bloom." Are you going to a foreign land? Then, renew the committal of your life to God. Are you going to change your state, and enter upon the joys and responsibilities of married life? Then commit yourself to God. Are you going to a new situation, or opening a new business? Is any change coming over you? Then, make a new committal, or a re-committal of your soul to the Lord Jesus,—only take care that you do it heartily and thoroughly, and make no reserve. I rejoice to feel that I have committed myself to Christ as the slave of old committed himself to his master. When the time came for him to be set free under the Jewish law, he said to his master, "No, I do not want to go. I love you, I love your children, I love your household, I love your service; I do not want to be free." Then you know that the master was to take an awl, and fasten him by the ear to the door-post. I supposes this was done to see whether the man really wanted to remain with his master, or not. Ah, beloved! some, of us have had our ears bored long ago; we have given ourselves up to Christ, and we have a mark upon us which we can never loses. Were we not buried with him by baptism unto death,—a symbol that we are dead to the world, and buried to the world, for his dear sake? Well, in that same way, give yourself wholly up to Jesus; commit yourself to him. As that young bride, commits all her life's joys and hopes to that dear bridegroom into whose face she looks so lovingly, so, O souls, commit yourselves to that dearest Bridegroom in earth or heaven,—the Lord Jesus Christ. Commit yourselves to him, to love and to be loved,—his to obey, his to serve, and his to be kept,—his in life,—and you need not add "till death us do part," but you may say "till death shall wed us more completely, and we shall sit together at the marriage banquet above; and be for ever and for ever one before the throne of God." Thus the poor soul commits itself unto Christ, is married unto Christ, gets the portion which Christ possesses, becomes Christ's own, and then lives with Christ for ever. Oh, that this might be the time in which many a man and many a woman would commit themselves unto Christ! I do not merely mean you who are poor in pocket, but you who are poor in spirit, I am asking you to commit yourselves unto Christ. Do not put it off, but may this be the very hour in which you shall be committed to Christ, and he shall take possession of you to be his for ever and for ever! Amen and Amen. Psalms 11THE Psalmist is advised, by friends or foes, to escape by flight from the inextricable difficulties in which he finds himself involved, Psalms 11:1-3. This he refuses to do, as inconsistent with his faith in the righteousness and grace of God, Psalms 11:4-7. The logical relation of these parts makes the form of the whole somewhat dramatic, although this peculiarity is much less marked than in the second psalm. The language is not so much that of an historical person as of an ideal sufferer, representing the whole class of persecuted innocents. There is no specific reference to any incidents in David's life, although some of the images were probably suggested by his recollections, both of Saul's persecution and of Absalom's rebellion. The general resemblance of this psalm to that before it, and the special resemblance of Psa 11:2 to Psalms 10:8-9, may account for its position in the Psalter. The very difficulties of this psalm are proofs of its antiquity and strong corroborations of the title, which ascribes it to David. 1. (Psalms 11:1) To the chief musician, belonging to him as the performer, and to David, as the author. In Jehovah I have trusted, and do still trust. How will (or can) ye say to my soul, Flee (to) your mountain (as) a bird? The profession of confidence in God at the beginning is the ground of the following interrogation, which implies wonder and disapprobation. How can ye say so? really means, ye should not say so. The question seems to be addressed to timid or desponding friends, rather than to taunting and exulting enemies, as some suppose.—To my soul does not simply mean to me, but so as to affect my feelings. See above, on Psalms 3:3 (2). In the genuine text the verb flee is plural, because addressed to the whole class represented by the ideal sufferer in this case. Hence the frequent change of number throughout the psalm. See above, on Psalms 10:10. The exhortation to flee must be understood as implying that there is no longer any hope of safety.— To your mountain, as a customary place of refuge, not for birds, but for persecuted men. The comparison with a bird has no particular connection with this clause, but is a kind of after-thought, suggesting the idea of a solitary helpless fugitive. (Compare 1 Samuel 26:20, and Lamentations 3:52). There may be an allusion to the words of the angel in Genesis 19:17, as there certainly is to one or both these places in our Lord's exhortation to his followers, Matthew 24:16. 2. (Psalms 11:2) For lo, the wicked will tread (i. e. bend) the bow; they have fixed their arrow on the string, to shoot in darkness at the straightforward (upright) of heart. These are still the words of the advisers introduced in the preceding verse, assigning a reason for the advice there given.— Tread the bow; see above, on Psalms 7:3 (12). Will tread, are about to tread, are treading. The preterite which follows refers to a later point of time. The speakers are supposed to describe what they see actually passing. "They are bending the bow, (and now) they have fixed the arrow on the string." The graphic vividness of the description is impaired, if not destroyed, by giving both the verbs a present form.— Fixed, i. e. in its proper place. The same verb occurs above, in Psalms 7:13 (12). Make ready is too vague in the case before us.— In darkness, in the dark, in secret, treacherously. See above, Psalms 10:8-9.— The straight of heart, the upright and sincere. We do not use the adjective in this sense; but we have the cognate substantive, rectitude, which properly means straightness. 3. (Psalms 11:3) For the pillars (or foundations) will be (are about to be) destroyed: what has the righteous done, i. e. accomplished? The pillars or foundations are those of social order or society itself. These are said to be destroyed, when truth and righteousness prevail no longer, but the intercourse of men is governed by mere selfishness. The question in the last clause implies that the righteous has effected nothing, in opposition to the prevalent iniquity. The past tense represents this as a matter of actual experience, but as one which still continues. The substitution of any other form in the translation is gratuitous and ungrammatical. The true relation of the tenses is correctly given in the Prayer Book Version. For the foundations will be cast down, and what hath the righteous done? 4. (Psalms 11:4) Jehovah (is) in his palace (or temple) of holiness; Jehovah (or as to Jehovah), in the heavens (is) his throne. His eyes behold, his eyelids prove the sons of men. He is so exalted that he can see, and so holy that he must see and judge the conduct of his creatures. By an equally grammatical but less natural construction, the whole verse may be thrown into a single proposition. "Jehovah in his holy temple, Jehovah whose throne is in heaven, his eyes," etc.— For the meaning of the word translated temple, see above on Psalms 5:8 (7).— Eyelids are mentioned as a poetical parallel to eyes, being the nearest equivalent afforded by the language.— Try or prove, as if by seeing through them. With the whole verse compare Psalms 102:20 (19). 5. (Psalms 11:5) Jehovah the righteous will prove, will prove the righteous, and the wicked and the lover of violence his soul hates. The sentence might also be divided thus: Jehovah will prove the righteous and the wicked, and the lover of violence his soul hates. Different from both is the masoretic interpunction, which seems, however to be rather musical than grammatical or logical.— The divine proof or trial of the righteous implies favour and approval like the knowledge spoken of in Psalms 1:6; but in neither case is it expressed. Violence, including the ideas of injustice and cruelty. See above, on Psalms 7:17 (16). His soul has hated and still hates. This is not simply equivalent to he hates, but denotes a cordial hatred. Odit ex animo. He hates with all his heart. 6. (Psalms 11:6) He will rain on wicked (men) snares, fire and brimstone, and a raging wind, the portion of their cup. The mixed metaphors shew that the whole description is a tropical one, in which the strongest figures elsewhere used, to signify destruction as an effect of the divine wrath, are combined. Rain is a natural and common figure for any copious communication from above, whether of good or evil. Snares are a favourite metaphor of David for inextricable difficulties. See above, Psalms 7:16 (15), Psalms 9:16 (15), Psalms 10:9.— Fire and brimstone are familiar types of sudden and complete destruction, with constant reference to the great historical example of Sodom and Gomorrah. See Genesis 19:24, and compare Ezekiel 38:22, Job 23:15.— Raging wind, literally wind (or blast) of furies, is another natural but independent emblem of sudden irresistible inflictions. The second Hebrew word is elsewhere used for strong indignation (Psalms 119:53), and is once applied to the ragings (or ravages) of famine. (Lamentations 5:10.)— The portion of their cup, or their cup-portion, something measured out for them to drink, according to the frequent Scriptural representation, both of God's wrath and favour, as a draught, or as the cup containing it. Compare Psalms 16:5; Psalms 23:5, with Matthew 20:22-23; Matthew 26:39. The meaning of the whole verse is that, notwithstanding the present security of the ungodly, they shall, sooner or later, be abundantly visited with every variety of destructive judgment. 7. (Psalms 11:7) For righteous (is) Jehovah; righteousness he loves; the upright (man) shall his face behold. The for suggests the intimate connection between God's judgment on the wicked and his favour to the righteous. The second clause is a necessary inference from the first. The nature of God determines his judgments and his acts. He who is righteous in himself cannot but approve of righteousness in others. The righteousness of others is in fact nothing more than conformity to his will and nature. Nor does he merely approve of righteousness in the abstract; he rewards it in the person of the righteous man. This idea is expressed in the last clause, which admits of several constructions. It may mean that the upright shall behold his face, i.e. enjoy his favourable presence, as in Psalms 17:15. But the collocation of the singular noun and the plural verb, with the analogy of Psa 11:4 above, is in favour of a different construction: his face shall behold (or does behold), the righteous, i.e. view them with favour and affection. Because the original expression is not properly his face, but their face or faces, Luther explains this as a reason why God loves the righteous, to wit, because their faces look upon (the) right, or that which is right. Another construction, founded on the same fact, is, the righteous shall behold (it with) their faces. It is better, however, to regard this as an instance of that remarkable idiom in Hebrew, which applies to the One True God, verbs, nouns, and pronouns in the plural, and which some explain as a pluralis majestaticus, like that employed by kings at present, and others as a form of speech transferred from polytheism to the true religion. Most probably, however, it was intended to express the fulness of perfection in the divine nature, not without a mystical allusion to the personal distinction in the Godhead. The most remarkable examples of this usage may be found in Genesis 1:26; Genesis 3:22; Genesis 11:7, Job 35:10, Ps. 58:12, Ecclesiastes 12:1, Isaiah 6:8; Isaiah 54:5.— The face is here, like the eyelids in Psalms 11:4, a poetical equivalent to eyes, and the same parallelism reappears in Psalms 34:16-17 (15, 16): "the eyes of Jehovah (are) towards the righteous;" "the face of Jehovah (is) against evil-doers." SUBJECT. Charles Simeon gives an excellent summary of this Psalm in the following sentences: — "The Psalms are a rich repository of experimental knowledge. David, at the different periods of his life, was placed in almost every situation in which a believer, whether rich or poor, can be placed; in these heavenly compositions he delineates all the workings of the heart. He introduces, too, the sentiments and conduct of the various persons who were accessory either to his troubles or his joys; and thus sets before us a compendium of all that is passing in the hearts of men throughout the world. When he penned this Psalm he was under persecution from Saul, who sought his life, and hunted him `as a partridge upon the mountains.' His timid friends were alarmed for his safety, and recommended him to flee to some mountain where he had a hiding place, and thus to conceal himself from the rage of Saul. But David, being strong in faith, spurned the idea of resorting to any such pusillanimous expedients, and determined confidently to repose his trust in God." To assist us to remember this short, but sweet Psalm, we will give it the name of "THE SONG OF THE ." . From Psalms 11:1-3, David describes the temptation with which he was assailed, and from Psalms 11:4-7, the arguments by which his courage was sustained. Ver. 1. These verses contain an account of a temptation to distrust God, with which David was, upon some unmentioned occasion, greatly exercised. It may be, that in the days when he was in Saul's court, he was advised to flee at a time when this flight would have been charged against him as a breach of duty to the king, or a proof of personal cowardice. His case was like that of Nehemiah, when his enemies, under the garb of friendship, hoped to entrap him by advising him to escape for his life. Had he done so, they could then have found a ground of accusation. Nehemiah bravely replied, "Shall such a man as I flee?" and David, in a like spirit, refuses to retreat, exclaiming, In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? When Satan cannot overthrow us by presumption, how craftily will he seek to ruin us by distrust! He will employ our dearest friends to argue us out of our confidence, and he will use such plausible logic, that unless we once for all assert our immovable trust in Jehovah, he will make us like the timid bird which flies to the mountain whenever danger presents itself. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. The most probable account of the occasion of this Psalm is that given by Amyraldus. He thinks it was composed by David while he was in the court of Saul, at a time when the hostility of the king was beginning to show itself, and before it had broken out into open persecution. David's friends, or those professing to be so, advised him to flee to his native mountains for a time, and remain in retirement, till the king should show himself more favourable. David does not at that time accept the counsel, though afterwards he seems to have followed it. This Psalm applies itself to the establishment of the church against the calumnies of the world and the compromising counsel of man, in that confidence which is to be placed in God the Judge of all. W. Wilson, D.D., in loc., 1860. Whole Psalm. If one may offer to make a modest conjecture, it is not improbable this Psalm might be composed on the sad murder of the priests by Saul (1 Samuel 22:19), when after the slaughter of Abimelech, the high priest, Doeg, the Edomite, by command from Saul, "slew in one day fourscore and five persons which wore a linen ephod." I am not so carnal as to build the spiritual church of the Jews on the material walls of the priests' city at Nob (which then by Doeg was smitten with the edge of the sword), but this is most true, that "knowledge must preserve the people; "and (Malachi 2:7), "The priests' lips shall preserve knowledge; "and then it is easy to conclude, what an earthquake this massacre might make in the foundations of religion. Thomas Fuller. Whole Psalm. Notice how remarkably the whole Psalm corresponds with the deliverance of Lot from Sodom. This verse, with the angel's exhortation, "Escape to the mountains, lest thou be consumed, "and Lot's reply, "I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil take me and I die." Genesis 19:17-19. And again, "The Lord's seat is in heaven, and upon the ungodly he shall rain snares, fire, brimstone, storm and tempest, "with "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire out of heaven:" and again "His countenance will behold the thing that is just, "with "Delivered just Lot... for that righteous man vexed his righteous soul with their ungodly deeds." 2 Peter 2:7-8. Cassidorus (A.D., 560) in John Mason Neal's "Commentary on the Psalms, from Primitive and Medieval Writers, "1860. Whole Psalm. The combatants at the Lake Thrasymene are said to have been so engrossed with the conflict that neither party perceived the convulsions of nature that shook the ground— "An earthquake reeled unheedingly away, None felt stern nature rocking at his feet." From a nobler cause, it is thus with the soldiers of the Lamb. They believe, and, therefore, make no haste; nay, they can scarcely be said to feel earth's convulsions as other men, because their eager hope presses forward to the issue at the advent of the Lord. Andrew A. Bonar. Ver. 1. I trust in the Lord: how do ye say to my soul, Swerve on to your mountain like a bird? (others, "O thou bird.") Saul and his adherents mocked and jeered David with such taunting speeches, as conceiving that he knew no other shift or refuge, but so betaking himself unto wandering and lurking on the mountains; hopping, as it were, from one place to another like a silly bird; but they thought to ensnare and take him well enough for all that, not considering God who was David's comfort, rest and refuge. Theodore Haak's "Translation of the Dutch Annotations, as ordered by the Synod of Dort, in 1618." London, 1657. Ver. 1. With Jehovah I have taken shelter; how say ye to my soul, Flee, sparrows, to your hill? "Your hill, "that hill from which you say your help cometh: a sneer. Repair to that boasted hill, which may indeed give you the help which it gives the sparrow: a shelter against the inclemencies of a stormy sky, no defence against our power. Samuel Horsley, in loc. Ver. 1. In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? The holy confidence of the saints in the hour of great trial is beautifully illustrated by the following ballad which Anne Askew, who was burned at Smithfield in 1546, made and sang when she was in Newgate: — Like as the armed knight, | On thee my care I cast, Appointed to the field, | For all their cruel spite: With this world will I fight, | I set not by their haste; And Christ shall be my shield.| For thou art my delight. | Faith is that weapon strong, | I am not she that list Which will not fail at need: | My anchor to let fall My foes, therefore, among, | For every drizzling mist, Therewith will I proceed. | My ship substantial. As it is had in strength | Not oft use I to write, And force of Christe's way, | In prose, nor yet in rhyme; It will prevail at length, | Yet will I shew one sight Though all the devils say nay.| That I saw in my time. Faith in the fathers old | I saw a royal throne, Obtained righteousness; | Where justice should have sit, Which makes me very bold | But in her stead was one To fear no world's distress. | Of moody, cruel wit. I now rejoice in heart, | Absorbed was righteousness, And hope bids me do so; | As of the raging flood: For Christ will take my part, | Satan, in his excess, And ease me of my woe. | Sucked up the guiltless blood. Thou sayest Lord, whoso knock, | Then thought I, Jesus Lord, To them wilt thou attend: | When thou shall judge us all, Undo therefore the lock, | Hard it is to record And thy strong power send. | On these men what will fall. More enemies now I have | Yet, Lord, I thee desire, Than hairs upon my head: | For that they do to me, Let them not me deprave, | Let them not taste the hire But fight thou in my stead. | Of their iniquity. Ver. 1. How say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? We may observe, that David is much pleased with the metaphor in frequently comparing himself to a bird, and that of several sorts: first, to an eagle (Psalms 103:5), "My youth is renewed like the eagle's; " sometimes to an owl (Psalms 102:6), "I am like an owl in the desert; " sometimes to a pelican, in the same verse, "Like a pelican in the wilderness; "sometimes to a sparrow (Psalms 102:7), "I watch, and am as a sparrow; "sometimes to a partridge, "As when one doth hunt a partridge." I cannot say that he doth compare himself to a dove, but he would compare himself (Psalms 55:6), "O that I had the wings of a dove, for then I would flee away and be at rest." Some will say, How is it possible that birds of so different a feather should all so fly together as to meet in the character of David? To whom we answer, That no two men can more differ one from another, that the same servant of God at several times differeth from himself. David in prosperity, when commanding, was like an eagle; in adversity, when contemned, like an owl; in devotion, when retired, like a pelican; in solitariness, when having no company, (of Saul), like a partridge. This general metaphor of a bird, which David so often used on himself, his enemies in the first verse of this Psalm used on him, though not particularising the kind thereof: "Flee as a bird to your mountain; "that is, speedily betake thyself to thy God, in whom you hope for succour and security. Seeing this counsel was both good in itself, and good at this time, why doth David seem so angry and displeased thereat? Those his words, "Why say you to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?" import some passion, at leastways, a disgust of the advice. It is answered, David was not offended with the counsel, but with the manner of the propounding thereof. His enemies did it ironically in a gibing, jeering way, as if his flying thither were to no purpose, and he unlikely to find there the safety he sought for. However, David was not hereby put out of conceit with the counsel, beginning this Psalm with this his firm resolution, In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye then to my soul, etc. Learn we from hence, when men give us good counsel in a jeering way, let us take the counsel, and practice it; and leave them the jeer to be punished for it. Indeed, corporal cordials may be envenomed by being wrapped up in poisoned papers; not so good spiritual advice where the good matter receives no infection from the ill manner of the delivery thereof. Thus, when the chief priests mocked our Saviour (Matthew 27:43), "He trusted in God, let him deliver him now if he will have him." Christ trusted in God never a whit the less for the fleere and flout which their profaneness was pleased to bestow upon him. Otherwise, if men's mocks should make us to undervalue good counsel, we might in this age be mocked out of our God, and Christ, and Scripture, and heaven; the apostle Jude, (Jude 1:18), having foretold that in the last times there should be mockers, walking after their own lusts. Thomas Fuller. Ver. 1. It is as great an offence to make a new, as to deny the true God. In the Lord put I my trust; how then say ye unto my soul (ye seducers of souls), "that she should fly unto the mountains as a bird; "to seek unnecessary and foreign helps, as if the Lord alone were not sufficient? "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and he that delivereth me, my God, and my strength; in him will I trust: my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my refuge. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be safe from mine enemies." "Whom have I in heaven but thee, "amongst those thousands of angels and saints, what Michael or Gabriel, what Moses or Samuel, what Peter, what Paul? "and there is none in earth that I desire in comparison of thee." John King, 1608. Ver. 1. In temptations of inward trouble and terror, it is not convenient to dispute the matter with Satan. David in Psalms 42:11, seems to correct himself for his mistake; his soul was cast down within him, and for the cure of that temptation, he had prepared himself by arguments for a dispute; but perceiving himself in a wrong course, he calls off his soul from disquiet to an immediate application to God and the promises, "Trust still in God, for I shall yet praise him; "but here he is more aforehand with his work; for while his enemies were acted by Satan to discourage him, he rejects the temptation at first, before it settled upon his thoughts, and chaseth it away as a thing that he would not give ear to. In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? And there are weighty reasons that should dissuade us from entering the lists with Satan in temptation of inward trouble. Richard Gilpin. Ver. 1. The shadow will not cool except in it. What good to have the shadow though of a mighty rock, when we sit in the open sun? To have almighty power engaged for us, and we to throw ourselves out of it, by bold sallies in the mouth of temptation! The saints' falls have been when they have run out of their trench and stronghold; for, like the conies, they are a weak people in themselves, and their strength lies in the rock of God's almightiness, which is their habitation. William Gurnall. Ver. 1. The saints of old would not accept deliverances on base terms. They scorned to fly away for the enjoyment of rest except it were with the wings of a dove, covered with silver innocence. As willing were many of the martyrs to die as to dine. The tormentors were tired in torturing Blandina. "We are ashamed, O Emperor! The Christians laugh at your cruelty, and grow the more resolute, "said one of Julian's nobles. This the heathen counted obstinacy; but they knew not the power of the Spirit, nor the secret armour of proof, which saints wear about their hearts. John Trapp. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. Faith's bold avowal, and brave refusal. Ver. 1. Teacheth us to trust in God, how great soever our dangers be; also that we shall be many times assaulted to make us put far from us this trust, but yet that we must cleave unto it, as the anchor of our souls, sure and steadfast. Thomas Wilcocks. Ver. 1. The advice of cowardice, and the jeer of insolence, both answered by faith. Lesson— Attempt no other answer. Ver. 2. How forcibly the case is put! The bow is bent, the arrow is fitted to the string: "Flee, flee, thou defenceless bird, thy safety lies in flight; begone, for thine enemies will send their shafts into thy heart; haste, haste, for soon wilt thou be destroyed!" David seems to have felt the force of the advice, for it came home to his soul; but yet he would not yield, but would rather dare the danger than exhibit a distrust in the Lord his God. Doubtless the perils which encompassed David were great and imminent; it was quite true that his enemies were ready to shoot privily at him; NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2. For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, etc. This verse presents an unequal combat betwixt armed power, advantaged with policy, on the one side; and naked innocence on the other. First, armed power: "They bend their bows, and make ready their arrows, "being all the artillery of that age; secondly, advantaged with policy: "that they may privily shoot, "to surprise them with an ambush unawares, probably pretending amity and friendship unto them; thirdly, naked innocence: if innocence may be termed naked, which is its own armour; "at the upright in heart." Thomas Fuller. Ver. 2. For, lo, the ungodly bend their bow, and make ready their arrows within the quiver: that they may privily shoot at them which are true of heart. The plottings of the chief priests and Pharisees that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. They bent their bow, when they hired Judas Iscariot for the betrayal of his Master; they made ready their arrows within the quiver when they sought "false witnesses against Jesus to put him to death." Matthew 26:59. "Them which are true of heart." Not alone the Lord himself, the only true and righteous, but his apostles, and the long line of those who should faithfully cleave to him from that time to this. And as with the Master, so with the servants: witness the calumnies and the revilings that from the time of Joseph's accusation by his mistress till the present day, have been the lot of God's people. Michael Ayguan, 1416, in J. M. Neale's Commentary. Ver. 2. That they may secretly shoot at them which are upright in heart. They bear not their bows and arrows as scarecrows in a garden of cucumbers, to fray, but to shoot, not at stakes, but men; their arrows are jacula mortifera (Psalms 7:2), deadly arrows, and lest they should fail to hit, they take advantage of the dark, of privacy and secrecy; they shoot privily. Now this is the covenant of hell itself. For what created power in the earth is able to dissolve that work which cruelty and subtlety, like Simeon and Levi, brothers in evil, are combined and confederate to bring to pass? Where subtlety is ingenious, insidious to invent, cruelty barbarous to execute, subtlety giveth counsel, cruelty giveth the stroke. Subtlety ordereth the time, the place, the means, accommodates, concinnates circumstances; cruelty undertakes the act: subtlety hideth the knife, cruelty cutteth the throat: subtlety with a cunning head layeth the ambush, plotteth the train, the stratagem; and cruelty with as savage a heart, sticketh not at the most dreadful, most direful objects, ready to wade up to the ankles, the neck, in a whole red sea of human, yea, country blood: how fearful is their plight that are thus assaulted! John King. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. The craftiness of our spiritual enemies. Ver. 3. It was equally correct that the very foundations of law and justice were destroyed under Saul's unrighteous government: but what were all these things to the man whose trust was in God alone? He could brave the dangers, could escape the enemies, and defy the injustice which surrounded him. His answer to the question, "What can the righteous do?" would be the counter question, "What cannot they do?" When prayer engages God on our side, and when faith secures the fulfilment of the promise, what cause can there be for flight, however cruel and mighty our enemies? With a sling and a stone, David had smitten a giant before whom the whole hosts of Israel were trembling, and the Lord, who delivered him from the uncircumcised Philistine, could surely deliver him from King Saul and his myrmidons. There is no such word as "impossibility" in the language of faith; that martial grace knows how to fight and conquer, but she knows not how to flee. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? But now we are met with a giant objection, which with Goliath must be removed, or else it will obstruct our present proceedings. Is it possible that the foundations of religion should be destroyed? Can God be in so long a sleep, yea, so long a lethargy, as patiently to permit the ruins thereof? If he looks on, and yet doth not see these foundations when destroyed, where then is his omniscience? If he seeth it, and cannot help it, where then is his omnipotence? If he seeth it, can help it, and will not, where then is his goodness and mercy? Martha said to Jesus (John 11:21), "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." But many will say, Were God effectually present in the world with his aforesaid attributes, surely the foundations had not died, had not been destroyed. We answer negatively, that it is impossible that the foundations of religion should ever be totally and finally destroyed, either in relation to the church in general, or in reference to every true and lively member thereof. For the first, we have an express promise of Christ. Matthew 16:18. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Fundamenta tamen stant inconcussa Sionis. And as for every particular Christian (2 Timothy 2:19), "Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his." However, though for the reasons aforementioned in the objections (the inconsistency thereof with the attributes of God's omnipotence, omniscience, and goodness), the foundations can never totally and finally, yet may they partially be destroyed, quoad gradum, in a fourfold degree, as followeth. First, in the desires and utmost endeavours of wicked men, 1. Hoc velle, They bring their— 2. Hoc agere, 3. Totum posse. If they destroy not the foundations, it is no thanks to them, seeing all the world will bear them witness they have done their best (that is, their worst), what their might and malice could perform. Secondly, in their own vainglorious imaginations: they may not only vainly boast, but also verily believe that they have destroyed the foundations. Applicable to this purpose, is that high rant of the Roman emperor (Lu 2:1): "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." All the world! whereas he had, though much, not all in Europe, little in Asia, less in Africa, none in America, which was so far from being conquered, it was not so much as known to the Romans. But hyperbole is not a figure, but the ordinary language of pride; because indeed Augustus had very much he proclaimeth himself to have all the world... Thirdly, the foundations may be destroyed as to all outward visible illustrious apparition. The church in persecution is like unto a ship in a tempest; down go all their masts, yea, sometimes for the more speed they are forced to cut them down: not a piece of canvas to play with the winds, no sails to be seen; they lie close knotted to the very keel, that the tempest may have the less power upon them, though when the storm is over, they can hoist up their sails as high, and spread their canvas as broad as ever before. So the church in the time of persecution feared, but especially felt, loseth all gayness and gallantry which may attract and allure the eyes of beholders, and contents itself with its own secrecy. In a word, on the work days of affliction she weareth her worst clothes, whilst her best are laid up in her wardrobe, in sure and certain hope that God will give her a holy and happy day, when with joy she shall wear her best garments. Lastly, they may be destroyed in the jealous apprehensions of the best saints and servants of God, especially in their melancholy fits. I will instance in no puny, but in a star of the first magnitude and greatest eminency, even Elijah himself complaining (1 Kings 19:10): "And I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." Thomas Fuller. Ver. 3. If. It is the only word of comfort in the text, that what is said is not positive, but suppositive; not thetical, but hypothetical. And yet this comfort which is but a spark (at which we would willingly kindle our hopes), is quickly saddened with a double consideration. First, impossible suppositions produce impossible consequences, "As is the mother, so is the daughter." Therefore, surely God's Holy Spirit would not suppose such a thing but what was feasible and possible, but what either had, did, or might come to pass. Secondly, the Hebrew word is not the conditional im, si, si forte, but chi, quia, quoniam, because, and (although here it be favourably rendered if), seemeth to import, more therein, that the sad case had already happened in David's days. I see, therefore, that this if, our only hope in the text, is likely to prove with Job's friends, but a miserable comforter. Well, it is good to know the worst of things, that we may provide ourselves accordingly; and therefore let us behold this doleful case, not as doubtful, but as done; not as feared, but felt; not as suspected, but at this time really come to pass. Thomas Fuller. Ver. 3. If the foundations, etc. My text is an answer to a tacit objection which some may raise; namely, that the righteous are wanting to themselves, and by their own easiness and inactivity (not daring and doing so much as they might and ought), betray themselves to that bad condition. In whose defence David shows, that if God in his wise will and pleasure seeth it fitting, for reasons best known to himself, to suffer religion to be reduced to terms of extremity, it is not placed in the power of the best man alive to remedy and redress the same. "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" My text is hung about with mourning, as for a funeral sermon, and contains: First, a sad case supposed, "If the foundations be destroyed." Secondly, a sad question propounded, "What can the righteous do?" Thirdly, a sad answer implied, namely, that they can do just nothing, as to that point of reestablishing the destroyed foundation. Thomas Fuller. Ver. 3. If the foundations be destroyed, etc. The civil foundation of a nation or people, is their laws and constitutions. The order and power that's among them, that's the foundation of a people; and when once this foundation is destroyed, What can the righteous do? What can the best, the wisest in the world, do in such a case? What can any man do, if there be not a foundation of government left among men? There is no help nor answer in such a case but that which follows in the fourth verse of the Psalm, "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men; "as if he had said, in the midst of these confusions, when as it is said (Psalms 82:5), "All the foundations of the earth are out of course; "yet God keeps his course still, he is where he was and as he was, without variableness or shadow of turning. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 3. The righteous. The righteous indefinitely, equivalent to the righteous universally; not only the righteous as a single arrow, but in the whole sheaf; not only the righteous in their personal, but in their diffusive capacity. Were they all collected into one body, were all the righteous living in the same age wherein the foundations are destroyed, summoned up and modelled into one corporation, all their joint endeavours would prove ineffectual to the reestablishing of the fallen foundations, as not being man's work, but only God's work to perform. Thomas Fuller. Ver. 3. The foundations. Positions, the things formerly fixed, placed, and settled. It is not said, if the roof be ruinous, or if the side walls be shattered, but if the foundations. Ver. 3. Foundations be destroyed. In the plural. Here I will not warrant my skill in architecture, but conceive this may pass for an undoubted truth: it is possible that a building settled on several entire foundations (suppose them pillars) close one to another, if one of them fall, yet the structure may still stand, or rather hang (at the least for a short time) by virtue of the complicative, which it receiveth from such foundations which still stand secure. But in case there be a total rout, and an utter ruin of all the foundations, none can fancy to themselves a possibility of that building's subsistence. Thomas Fuller. Ver. 3. What CAN the righteous? The can of the righteous is a limited can, confined to the rule of God's word; they can do nothing but what they can lawfully do. 2 Corinthians 13:8. "For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth:" Illud possumus, quod jure possumus. Wicked men can do anything; their conscience, which is so wide that it is none at all, will bear them out to act anything how unlawful soever, to stab, poison, massacre, by any means, at any time, in any place, whosoever standeth betwixt them and the effecting of their desires. Not so the righteous; they have a rule whereby to walk, which they will not, they must not, they dare not, cross. If therefore a righteous man were assured, that by the breach of one of God's commandments he might restore decayed religion, and resettle it statu quo prius, his hands, head, and heart are tied up, he can do nothing, because their damnation is just who say (Romans 3:8), "Let us do evil that good may come thereof." Ver. 3. Do. It is not said, What can they think? It is a great blessing which God hath allowed injured people, that though otherwise oppressed and straitened, they may freely enlarge themselves in their thoughts. Thomas Fuller. Ver. 3. Sinning times have ever been the saints' praying times: this sent Ezra with a heavy heart to confess the sin of his people, and to bewail their abominations before the Lord. Ezra 9:1-15. And Jeremiah tells the wicked of his degenerate age, that "his soul should weep in secret places for their pride." Jeremiah 13:17. Indeed, sometimes sin comes to such a height, that this is almost all the godly can do, to get into a corner, and bewail the general pollutions of the age. "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Such dismal days of national confusion our eyes have seen, when foundations of government were destroyed, and all hurled into military confusion. When it is thus with a people, "What can the righteous do?" Yes, this they may, and should do, "fast and pray." There is yet a God in heaven to be sought to, when a people's deliverance is thrown beyond the help of human policy or power. Now is the fit time to make their appeal to God, as the words following hint: "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven; "in which words God is presented sitting in heaven as a temple, for their encouragement, I conceive, in such a desperate state of affairs, to direct their prayers thither for deliverance. And certainly this hath been the engine that hath been instrumental, above any, to restore this poor nation again, and set it upon the foundation of that lawful government from which it had so dangerously departed. William Gurnall. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. This may furnish a double discourse. 1. If God's oath and promise could remove, what could we do? Here the answer is easy. 2. If all earthly things fail, and the very State fall to pieces, what can we do? We can suffer joyfully, hope cheerfully, wait patiently, pray earnestly, believe confidently, and triumph finally. Ver. 3. Necessity of holding and preaching foundation truths. Ver. 4. David here declares the great source of his unflinching courage. He borrows his light from heaven— from the great central orb of deity. The God of the believer is never far from him; he is not merely the God of the mountain fastnesses, but of the dangerous valleys and battle plains. Jehovah is in his holy temple. The heavens are above our heads in all regions of the earth, and so is the Lord ever near to us in every state and condition. This is a very strong reason why we should not adopt the vile suggestions of distrust. There is one who pleads his precious blood in our behalf in the temple above, and there is one upon the throne who is never deaf to the intercession of his Son. Why, then, should we fear? What plots can men devise which Jesus will not discover? Satan has doubtless desired to have us, that he may sift us as wheat, but Jesus is in the temple praying for us, and how can our faith fail? What attempts can the wicked make which Jehovah shall not behold? And since he is in his holy temple, delighting in the sacrifice of his Son, will he not defeat every device, and send us a sure deliverance? Jehovah's throne is in the heavens; he reigns supreme. Nothing can be done in heaven, or earth, or hell, which he doth not ordain and overrule. He is the world's great Emperor. Wherefore, then, should we flee? If we trust this King of kings, is not this enough? Cannot he deliver us without our cowardly retreat? Yes, blessed be the Lord our God, we can salute him as Jehovahnissi; in his name we set up our banners, and instead of flight, we once more raise the shout of war. His eyes behold. The eternal Watcher never slumbers; his eyes never know a sleep. His eyelids try the children of men: he narrowly inspects their actions, words, and thoughts. As men, when intently and narrowly inspecting some very minute object, almost close their eyelids to exclude every other object, so will the Lord look all men through and through. God sees each man as much and as perfectly as if there were no other creature in the universe. He sees us always; he never removes his eye from us; he sees us entirely, reading the recesses of the soul as readily as the glancings of the eye. Is not this a sufficient ground of confidence, and an abundant answer to the solicitations of despondency? My danger is not hid from him; he knows my extremity, and I may rest assured that he will not suffer me to perish while I rely alone on him. Wherefore, then, should I take wings of a timid bird, and flee from the dangers which beset me? NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. The infinite understanding of God doth exactly know the sins of men; he knows so as to consider. He doth not only know them, but intently behold them: His eyelids try the children of men, a metaphor taken from men, that contract the eyelids when they would wistly and accurately behold a thing: it is not a transient and careless look. Stephen Charnock. Ver. 4. His eyes behold, etc. God searcheth not as man searcheth, by enquiring into that which before was hid from him; his searching is no more but his beholding; he seeth the heart, he beholdeth the reins; God's very sight is searching. Hebrews 4:13. "All things are naked, and opened unto his eyes, "tetrachlidmena, dissected or anatomised. He hath at once as exact a view of the most hidden things, the very entrails of the soul, as if they had been with never so great curiosity anatomised before him. Richard Alleine, 1611-1681. Ver. 4. His eyes behold, etc. Consider that God not only sees into all you do, but he sees it to that very end that he may examine and search into it. He doth not only behold you with a common and indifferent look, but with a searching, watchful, and inquisitive eye: he pries into the reasons, the motives, the ends of all your actions. The Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. Revelation 1:14, where Christ is described, it is said, his eyes are as a flame of fire: you know the property of fire is to search and make trial of those things which are exposed unto it, and to separate the dross from the pure metal: so, God's eye is like fire, to try and examine the actions of men: he knows and discerns how much your very purest duties have in them of mixture, and base ends of formality, hypocrisy, distractedness, and deadness: he sees through all your specious pretences, that which you cast as a mist before the eyes of men when yet thou art but a juggler in religion: all your tricks and sleights of outward profession, all those things that you use to cozen and delude men withal, cannot possibly impose upon him: he is a God that can look through all those fig leaves of outward profession, and discern the nakedness of your duties through them. Ezekiel Hopkins, D.D. Ver. 4. His eyes behold, etc. Take God into thy counsel. Heaven overlooks hell. God at any time can tell thee what plots are hatching there against thee. William Gurnall. Ver. 4. His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. When an offender, or one accused for any offence, is brought before a judge, and stands at the bar to be arraigned, the judge looks upon him, eyes him, sets his eye upon him, and he bids the offender look up in his face: "Look upon me, "saith the judge, "and speak up:" guiltiness usually clouds the forehead and clothes the brow; the weight of guilt holds down the head! the evil doer hath an ill look, or dares not look up; how glad is he if the judge looks off him. We have such an expression here, speaking of the Lord, the great Judge of heaven and earth: "His eyelids try the children of men, "as a judge tries a guilty person with his eye, and reads the characters of his wickedness printed in his face. Hence we have a common speech in our language, such a one looks suspiciously, or, he hath a guilty look. At that great gaol delivery described in Revelation 6:16, All the prisoners cry out to be hid from the face of him that sat upon the throne. They could not look upon Christ, and they could not endure Christ should look upon them; the eyelids of Christ try the children of men... Wickedness cannot endure to be under the observation of any eye much less of the eye of justice. Hence the actors of it say, "Who seeth us?" It is very hard not to show the guilt of the heart in the face, and it is as hard to have it seen there. Joseph Caryl. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. The elevation, mystery, supremacy, purity, everlastingness, invisibility, etc., of the throne of God. Ver. 4-5. In these verses mark the fact that the children of men, as well as the righteous, are tried; work out the contrast between the two trials in their designs and results, etc. Ver. 5. The Lord trieth the righteous: he doth not hate them, but only tries them. They are precious to him, and therefore he refines them with afflictions. None of the Lord's children may hope to escape from trial, nor, indeed, in our right minds, would any of us desire to do so, for trial is the channel of many blessings. "It is my happiness below Not to live without the cross; But the Saviour's power to know, Sanctifying every loss." "Trials make the promise sweet; Trials give new life to prayer; Trials bring me to his feet— Lay me low, and keep me there." "Did I meet no trials here— No chastisement by the way— Might I not, with reason, fear I should prove a cast away?" "Bastards may escape the rod, Sunk in earthly vain delight; But the true born child of God Must not— would not, if he might." William Cowper. Is not this a very cogent reason why we should not distrustfully endeavour to shun a trial? — for in so doing we are seeking to avoid a blessing. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5. The Lord trieth the righteous. Except our sins, there is not such plenty of anything in all the world as there is of troubles which come from sin, as one heavy messenger came to Job after another. Since we are not in paradise, but in the wilderness, we must look for one trouble after another. As a bear came to David after a lion, and a giant after a bear, and a king after a giant, and Philistines after a king, so, when believers have fought with poverty, they shall fight with envy; when they have fought with envy, they shall fight with infamy; when the have fought with infamy, they shall fight with sickness; they shall be like a labourer who is never out of work. Henry Smith. Ver. 5. The Lord trieth the righteous. Times of affliction and persecution will distinguish the precious from the vile, it will difference the counterfeit professor from the true. Persecution is a Christian's touchstone, it is a lapis lydius that will try what metal men are made of, whether they be silver or tin, gold or dross, wheat or chaff, shadow or substance, carnal or spiritual, sincere or hypocritical. Nothing speaks out more soundness and uprightness than a pursuing after holiness, even then when holiness is most afflicted, pursued, and persecuted in the world: to stand fast in fiery trials argues much integrity within. Thomas Brooks. Ver. 5. Note the singular opposition of the two sentences. God hates the wicked, and therefore in contrast he loves the righteous; but it is here said that he tries them: therefore it follows that to try and to love are with God the same thing. C.H.S. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4-5. In these verses mark the fact that the children of men, as well as the righteous, are tried; work out the contrast between the two trials in their designs and results, etc. Ver. 5. The Lord trieth the righteous. 1. Who are tried? 2. What in them is tried? — Faith, love, etc. 3. In what manner? — Trials of every sort. 4. How long? 5. For what purpose? Ver. 5. His soul hateth. The thoroughness of God's hatred of sin. Illustrate by providential judgments, threatenings, sufferings of the Surety, and the terrors of hell. Ver. 5. The trying of the gold, and the sweeping out of the refuse. Ver. 6. But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth: why, then, shall I flee from these wicked men? If God hateth them, I will not fear them. Haman was very great in the palace until he lost favour, but when the king abhorred him, how bold were the meanest attendants to suggest the gallows for the man at whom they had often trembled! Look at the black mark upon the faces of our persecutors, and we shall not run away from them. If God is in the quarrel as well as ourselves, it would be foolish to question the result, or avoid the conflict. Sodom and Gomorrah perished by a fiery hail, and by a brimstone shower from heaven; so shall all the ungodly. They may gather together like Gog and Magog to battle, but the Lord will rain upon them "an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone:" Ezekiel 38:22. Some expositors think that in the term "horrible tempest, "there is in the Hebrew an allusion to that burning, suffocating wind, which blows across the Arabian deserts, and is known by the name of Simoom. "A burning storm, "Lowth calls it, while another great commentator reads it "wrath wind; "in either version the language is full of terrors. What a tempest will that be which shall overwhelm the despisers of God! Oh! what a shower will that be which shall pour out itself for ever upon the defenceless heads of impenitent sinners in hell! Repent, ye rebels, or this fiery deluge shall soon surround you. Hell's horrors shall be your inheritance, your entailed estate, the portion of your cup. The dregs of that cup you shall wring out, and drink for ever. A drop of hell is terrible, but what must a full cup of torment be? Think of it— a cup of misery, but not a drop of mercy. O people of God, how foolish is it to fear the faces of men who shall soon be faggots in the fire of hell! Think of their end, their fearful end, and all fear of them must be changed into contempt of their threatenings, and pity for their miserable estate. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares. Snares to hold them; then if they be not delivered, follow fire and brimstone, and they cannot escape. This is the case of a sinner if he repent not; if God pardon not, he is in the snare of Satan's temptation, he is in the snare of divine vengeance; let him therefore cry aloud for his deliverance, that he may have his feet in a large room. The wicked lay snares for the righteous, but God either prevents them that their souls ever escape them, or else he subverts them: "The snares are broken and we are delivered." No snares hold us so fast as those of our own sins; they keep down our heads, and stoop us that we cannot look up: a very little ease they are to him that hath not a seared conscience. Samuel Page, 1646. Ver. 6. He shall rain snares. As in hunting with the lasso, the huntsman casts a snare from above upon his prey to entangle its head or feet, so shall the Lord from above with many twistings of the line of terror, surround, bind, and take captive the haters of his law. C.H.S. Ver. 6. He shall rain snares, etc. He shall rain upon them when they least think of it, even in the midst of their jollity, as rain falls on a fair day. Or, he shall rain down the vengeance when he sees good, for it rains not always. Though he defers it, yet it will rain. William Nicholson, Bishop of Gloucester, in "David's Harp Strung and Tuned", 1662. Ver. 6. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest. The strange dispensation of affairs in this world is an argument which doth convincingly prove that there shall be such a day wherein all the involucra and entanglements of providence shall be clearly unfolded. Then shall the riddle be dissolved, why God hath given this and that profane wretch so much wealth, and so much power to do mischief: is it not that they might be destroyed for ever? Then shall they be called to a strict account for all that plenty and prosperity for which they are now envied; and the more they have abused, the more dreadful will their condemnation be. Then it will be seen that God gave them not as mercies, but as "snares." It is said that God "will rain on the wicked snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest:" when he scatters abroad the desirable things of this world, riches, honours, pleasures, etc., then he rains "snares" upon them; and when he shall call them to an account for these things, then he will rain upon them "fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest" of his wrath and fury. Dives, who caroused on earth, yet, in hell could not obtain so much as one poor drop of water to cool his scorched and flaming tongue: had not his excess and intemperance been so great in his life, his fiery thirst had not been so tormenting after death; and therefore, in that sad item that Abraham gives him (Lu 16:25), he bids him "remember that thou, in thy lifetime, receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." I look upon this as a most bitter and a most deserved sarcasm; upbraiding him for his gross folly, in making the trifles of this life his good things. Thou hast received thy good things, but now thou art tormented. Oh, never call Dive's purple and delicious fare good things, if they thus end in torments! Was it good for him to be wrapped in purple who is now wrapped in flames? Was it good for him to fare deliciously who was only thereby fatted up against the day of slaughter? Ezekiel Hopkins. Ver. 6. Snares, fire and brimstone, storm and tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. After the judgment follows the condemnation: prefigured as we have seen, by the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. "Snares:" because the allurements of Satan in this life will be their worst punishments in the next; the fire of anger, the brimstone of impurity, the tempest of pride, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. "This shall be their portion; "compare it with the psalmist's own saying, "The Lord himself is the portion of my inheritance and my cup." Psalms 16:5. Cassidorus, in J. M. Neale's Commentary. Ver. 6. The portion of their cup. Hebrew, the allotment of their cup. The expression has reference to the custom of distributing to each guest his mess of meat. William French and George Skinner, 1842. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6. He shall rain. Gracious rain and destroying rain. Ver. 6. The portion of the impenitent. Ver. 7. The delightful contrast of the last verse is well worthy of our observation, and it affords another overwhelming reason why we should be stedfast, unmoveable, not carried away with fear, or led to adopt carnal expedients in order to avoid trial. For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. It is not only his office to defend it, but his nature to love it. He would deny himself if he did not defend the just. It is essential to the very being of God that he should be just; fear not, then, the end of all your trials, but "be just, and fear not." God approves, and, if men oppose, what matters it? His countenance doth behold the upright. We need never be out of countenance, for God countenances us. He observes, he approves, he delights in the upright. He sees his own image in them, an image of his own fashioning, and therefore with complacency he regards them. Shall we dare to put forth our hand unto iniquity in order to escape affliction? Let us have done with byways and short turnings, and let us keep to that fair path of right along which Jehovah's smile shall light us. Are we tempted to put our light under a bushel, to conceal our religion from our neighbours? Is it suggested to us that there are ways of avoiding the cross, and shunning the reproach of Christ? Let us not hearken to the voice of the charmer, but seek an increase of faith, that we may wrestle with principalities and powers, and follow the Lord, fully going without the camp, bearing his reproach. Mammon, the flesh, the devil, will all whisper in our ear, "Flee as a bird to your mountain; "but let us come forth and defy them all. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." There is no room or reason for retreat. Advance! Let the vanguard push on! To the front! all ye powers and passions of our soul. On! on! in God's name, on! for "the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 7. That God may give grace without glory is intelligible; but to admit a man to communion with him in glory without grace, is not intelligible. It is not agreeable to God's holiness to make any inhabitant of heaven, and converse freely with him in a way of intimate love, without such a qualification of grace: The righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright; he looks upon him with a smiling eye, and therefore he cannot favourably look upon an unrighteous person; so that this necessity is not founded only in the command of God that we should be renewed, but in the very nature of the thing, because God, in regard to his holiness, cannot converse with an impure creature. God must change his nature, or the sinner's nature must be changed. There can be no friendly communion between two of different natures without the change of one of them into the likeness of the other. Wolves and sheep, darkness and light, can never agree. God cannot love a sinner as a sinner, because he hates impurity by a necessity of nature as well as a choice of will. It is as impossible for him to love it as to cease to be holy. Stephen Charnock. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 7. The Lord possesses righteousness as a personal attribute, loves it in the abstract, and blesses those who practise it. Psalms 12:1. Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.The Psalm speaks of a very discouraging time, and records a very dreary fact, but the psalmist is wise, and turns to God with that short, sententious prayer, “Help, Lord.”Psalms 12:2-3. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:They will not be able to continue speaking falsely and proudly for over; a shovelful of earth from the grave-digger’s spade will silence them, and a terrible display of God’s justice will make them speechless for ever.Psalms 12:4-5. Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.That is all it is, only a puff, — the biggest brag of the wicked, the most tremendous threat against the Lord’s people, is but a puff after all; and God will set his people high above all those who puff at them.Psalms 12:6-8. The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt beep them, O LORD, thou shall preserve them from this generation for ever. The wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted.Now let us read in Jeremiah’s prophecy, chapter 8. Remember, dear brethren, that Jeremiah had the very sorrowful task of warning a people who would not give heed to his warnings. He prophesied evil, — evil which began to come upon the people even while he prophesied, yet they would not turn to God. I sometimes think Jeremiah was the greatest of all the prophets, because, in the teeth of perpetual opposition, with no measure of success whatever, he continued to be faithful to God and to deliver the message with which he was sent, weeping the while over people who would not weep for themselves. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 12.; and Jeremiah 8, and Jeremiah 9:1. Psalms 13:1-2. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?When you and I have to spread our complaints before God, we are not the first who have done so. When we complain of God’s forsaking us, we are not alone. There was a greater than David who, even in the article of death, cried, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”Psalms 13:3. Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; When it is dark, very dark, we get drowsy. Sorrow induces sleep. Remember how the Saviour found the disciples sleeping for sorrow. Therefore David asks for light. Light will help him to keep awake, and he fears to sleep, so he prays, “Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”Psalms 13:4-5. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and these that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But what a precious “but” this is! You can hear the chain rattle as the anchor goes down to hold the vessel.Psalms 13:5-6. I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. What a climb there is, in this Psalm, from the abyss of sorrow up to the summit of joy! “I will sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me.” I hope many of us know what this blessed change means. If any of you are in great sorrow tonight, may my Lord and Master lighten your eyes! This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 12, 13, and 14. Psalms 14:1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.He was a fool to think it. He was not fool enough, however, to say it except in his heart. Fools have grown more brazen-faced of late; for now, they not only say it in their heart, but they say with their tongues, “There is no God.” Oh, no; I have made a mistake! They do not call them “fools” now; they call them “philosophers.” That, however, is often exactly the same thing.Psalms 14:1. They are corrupt,It is always so. When they will have no God, they will have no goodness “They are corrupt.” That is the secret of infidelity. The psalmist has put his finger on it: “They are corrupt.”Psalms 14:1-2. They have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. David represents God looking from the battlements of heaven upon our fallen humanity; and at the time when he looked, he could see none that understood him, or sought him. By nature we are all in this condition. Until the grace of God seeks us, we never seek God. Even God looked in vain. He was no stern critic; he was no hypercritic: “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.”Psalms 14:3. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.“That was in old Testament times,” says one. If you turn to the Epistle to the Romans, you will find that Paul quotes it as being true in his day. It is always true, and it always will be true, apart from the grace of God: “There is none that doeth good; no, not one.”Psalms 14:4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?Are they all so foolish?Psalms 14:4. Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.They think nothing of God’s people. They could swallow them at a mouthful, they so despise them. Notice, that, whenever a man despises God, he soon despises God’s people; it is only natural that he should do so. Meanwhile, he himself will not call upon the Lord.Psalms 14:5. There were they in great fear:What, these very people who would not call upon God! Were they in great fear? Yes, God can bring great fear upon the men who seem most bold. It is noticed that the boldest blasphemers, when they become ill, are generally the most timid persons. These are the people who begin to cry, and give up what they boasted of, when they get into deep waters: “There were they in great fear.”Psalms 14:5. For God is in the generation of the righteous.He is with his people, he always will be with his people, and when he makes bare his arm, fear takes possession of his enemies.Psalms 14:6. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.They mocked at the idea of a mans trusting in God for his daily bread, or trusting in God for his eternal salvation; but, mock as men may, there is no other refuge for a soul but God. When the floods are out, there is no safety but in the ark with God. Oh, that men would trust in him!Psalms 14:7. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.May that time soon come! Amen. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 12, 13, and 14. Psalms 15THIS psalm teaches the necessity of moral purity as a condition of the divine protection. It first propounds the question who shall be admitted to God's household, and the privileges of its inmates, Psalms 15:1. This is answered positively, Psalms 15:2, and negatively, Psalms 15:3; then positively again, Psalms 15:4, and negatively, Psalms 15:5. The last clause of the last verse winds up by declaring, that the character just described shall experience the protection tacitly referred to in the first verse. As the contrast exhibited in this psalm and the fourteenth may account for its position in the Psalter, so its obvious resemblance to the twenty-fourth makes it not improbable that their historical occasion was identical. 1. (Psalms 15:1) A Psalm by David. Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tent? who shall dwell in thy hill of holiness? The holy hill is Zion, as in Psalms 2:6; the tent is the tabernacle which David pitched there for the ark, when he removed it from Gibeon (2 Samuel 6:17, 1 Chronicles 15:1; 1 Chronicles 16:1; 1 Chronicles 16:39, 2 Chronicles 1:3-5). Both together signify the earthly residence of God; see above on Psalms 3:5 (4). The idea is not that of frequenting Zion as a place of worship, but of dwelling there, as a guest or as an inmate of God's family. The same figure for intimate communion with Jehovah, and participation of his favour, reappears in Psalms 23:6; Psalms 27:4-5; Psalms 24:3; Psalms 61:5; Psalms 65:5 (4), 84:5 (4). So too, in Ephesians 2:19, believers are described as members of God's family. 2. (Psalms 15:2) Walking perfect, and doing right, and speaking truth, in his heart. The Psalmist, speaking in behalf of God, here answers his own question. The only person who can be admitted to domestic intercourse with God is one walking perfect, etc. Walking is put for the habitual course of life (see above, on Psalms 1:1). Perfect, complete, as to all essential features of the character, without necessarily implying perfection in degree. The form of expression seems to be borrowed from Genesis 17:1. A remarkably analogous expression is that used by Horace: integer vitae scelerisque purus. The next phrase, doing right, practising rectitude, may be either a synonymous parallel to the first, or a specification under it, parallel to speaking truth. The general idea of walking perfect is then resolved into the two particular ideas of doing right and speaking truth. In his heart, i.e. sincerely, as opposed to outward show or hypocritical profession. This phrase seems to qualify not merely what precedes, speaking truth, but the whole description, as of one who sincerely and internally, as well as outwardly, leads a blameless life by doing right and speaking truth. 3. (Psalms 15:3) (Who) hath not slandered with his tongue, (who) hath not done his neighbour harm, and a scandal hath not taken up against his neighbour. The positive description of the foregoing verse is now followed by a negative one. (Compare Psalms 1:1-2). The social virtues are insisted on, and their opposites excluded, because they are apt to be neglected by hypocrites, against whom this psalm is directed. The past tense of the verbs denotes a character already marked and determined by the previous course of life. The verb seems strictly to denote the act of busy or officious tale-bearing. There seems to be an allusion to Leviticus 19:16. With his tongue, literally on his tongue, as we say to live on, i.e. by means of anything, an idiom which occurs in Genesis 27:40. (Compare Isaiah 38:16.) The next clause adds deed to word, as in the foregoing verse. Scandal, reproach, defamatory accusation. The verb used here is by some explained as meaning to take up upon the lips (Psalms 16:4), and then to utter or pronounce. Others give it the same sense as in Genesis 31:17, where the meaning is to lift up upon, i.e. to burden. The idea then is, that he has not helped to load his neighbour with reproach. Friend and neighbour does not mean any other man, but one sustaining a peculiarly intimate relation, such as that of the members of the chosen people to each other. See above, on Psalms 12:3 (2). 4. (Psalms 15:4) Despised in his eyes (is) a reprobate, and the fearers of Jehovah he will honour; he hath sworn to his own hurt, and will not change The Chaldee Paraphrase, followed by the Prayer Book version, makes the first clause descriptive of humility. He is despised in his own eyes (and) rejected. But the parallelism with the next clause shews that a contrast was designed between his estimation of two opposite classes, and as one of these is those who fear Jehovah, the other must be represented by rejected, i.e.. by Jehovah, reprobate. The future form, as usual, suggests the idea of a present act repeated or continued in the future. He honours, and will still persist in honouring, the fearers of Jehovah. The Septuagint and Vulgate explain "to the neighbour", and some modern versions to the bad (man). But the sense is determined by the obvious allusion to Leviticus 5:4 : "if a soul swear to do evil or to do good," i.e. whether to his own advantage or the contrary. So here the phrase must mean "he hath sworn to injure (himself)" not designedly, but so as to produce that effect. He will not change, literally, exchange, i.e. substitute something else for what he has promised. 5. (Psalms 15:5) His silver (money) he hath not given for usury, and a bribe against a guiltless (person) hath not taken. Doing these (things), he shall not be moved forever. In Hebrew as in French, silver is put for money in general. There is obvious allusion to the frequent prohibition in the Mosaic law, not of lending money upon interest for commercial purposes, a practice then unknown, but of usurious lending to the poor, and especially to poor Israelites. See Exodus 22:24, Leviticus 25:37, Deuteronomy 23:20, and compare Proverbs 28:8, Ezekiel 18:8. The taking of judicial bribes is also expressly forbidden in Exodus 23:8, Deuteronomy 16:19; Deuteronomy 27:25. The masoretic interpunction of this sentence seems to be merely rhythmical or musical, as in Psalms 11:5. The words doing these cannot be separated from what follows without destroying the sense. This last clause is an answer to the question in Psalms 15:1, but with a change of form, implying that admission to God's household was itself security against all danger. Compare Ps. 54:23 (22). For better understanding, see above, on Psalms 10:6; Psalms 13:5. SUBJECT, &c. This Psalm of David bears no dedicatory title at all indicative of the occasion upon which it was written, but it is exceedingly probable that, together with the twenty-fourth Psalm, to which it bears a striking resemblance, its composition was in some way connected with the removal of the ark to the holy hill of Zion. Who should attend upon the ark was a matter of no small consequence, for because unauthorized persons had intruded into the office, David was unable on the first occasion to complete his purpose of bringing the ark to Zion. On the second attempt he is more careful, not only to allot the work of carrying the ark to the divinely appointed Levites (1 Chronicles 15:2), but also to leave it in charge of the man whose house the Lord had blessed, even Obededom, who, with his many sons, ministered in the house of the Lord. (1 Chronicles 26:8; 1 Chronicles 26:12.) Spiritually we have here a description of the man who is a child at home in the Church of God on earth, and who will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever above. He is primarily Jesus, the perfect man, and in him all who through grace are conformed to his image. . The first verse (Psalms 15:1) asks the question; the rest of the verses (Psalms 15:2-5) answer it. We will call the Psalm THE AND ANSWER. Ver. 1. THE . Jehovah. Thou high and holy One, who shall be permitted to have fellowship with thee? The heavens are not pure in thy sight, and thou chargest thine angels with folly, who then of mortal mould shall dwell with thee, thou dread consuming fire? A sense of the glory of the Lord and of the holiness which becomes his house, his service, and his attendants, excites the humble mind to ask the solemn question before us. Where angels bow with veiled faces, how shall man be able to worship at all? The unthinking many imagine it to be a very easy matter to approach the Most High, and when professedly engaged in his worship they have no questionings of heart as to their fitness for it; but truly humbled souls often shrink under a sense of utter unworthiness, and would not dare to approach the throne of the God of holiness if it were not for him, our Lord, our Advocate, who can abide in the heavenly temple, because his righteousness endureth for ever. Who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall be admitted to be one of the household of God, to sojourn under his roof and enjoy communion with himself? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? Who shall be a citizen of Zion, and an inhabitant of the heavenly Jerusalem? The question is raised, because it is a question. All men have not this privilege, nay, even among professors there are aliens from the commonwealth, who have no secret intercourse with God. On the grounds of law no mere man can dwell with God, for there is not one upon earth who answers to the just requirements mentioned in the succeeding verses. The questions in the text are asked of the Lord, as if none but the Infinite Mind could answer them so as to satisfy the unquiet conscience. We must know from the Lord of the tabernacle what are the qualifications for his service, and when we have been taught of him, we shall clearly see that only our spotless Lord Jesus, and those who are conformed unto his image, can ever stand with acceptance before the Majesty on high. Impertinent curiosity frequently desires to know who and how many shall be saved; if those who thus ask the question, "Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?" would make it a soul searching enquiry in reference to themselves they would act much more wisely. Members of the visible church, which is God's tabernacle of worship, and hill of eminence, should diligently see to it, that they have the preparation of heart which fits them to be inmates of the house of God. Without the wedding dress of righteousness in Christ Jesus, we have no right to sit at the banquet of communion. Without uprightness of walk we are not fit for the imperfect church on earth, and certainly we must not hope to enter the perfect church above. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 1. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? In that the church of Christ upon earth is a tabernacle, we may note, that neither the church itself, nor the members of it, have any fixed or firm seat of habitation in this world: "Arise, depart, for this is not your rest." Micah 2:10. "Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Hebrews 13:14. God's tabernacle, being a movable temple, wandered up and down, sometimes in the desert, sometimes in Shiloh, sometimes among the Philistines, sometimes in Kirjathjearim, and never found any settled place till it was translated into the mountain of God: even so the church of God wandereth as a straggler and a stranger in the wilderness of this world, being destitute, tormented, and afflicted on every side, persecuted from this city to that, and never enjoying any constant habitation of sound and sure rest until it be translated unto God's holy hill. The verb (Heb.) gur (as the learned in Hebrew note) signifying to dwell as a stranger, or a sojourner, imports that a citizen of heaven is a pilgrim on earth... In that the church is a tabernacle, we may see that it is not a fort, compassed about with any strong walls, armed with any human forces; and yet such as keep within her are defended from heat of sun, and hurt of storms. Her strength is not here, but from above, for Christ her Head is in all her troubles a present help, a refuge against the tempest, a shadow against the heat. Isaiah 35:4. The church on earth is indeed a tabernacle, but it is God's tabernacle, wherein he dwelleth as in his house; "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?" for to this end the Lord commanded the tabernacle to be made, that he might dwell among them, the blessed apostle construes it of his dwelling among them. 2 Corinthians 6:16. "You are, "saith he, "the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them." To the same purpose, God is said elsewhere to dwell in Sion, and to walk in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, that is, in the midst of the seven churches, in the midst of his city (Psalms 46:5), in the midst of his people. Isaiah 12:6. John Boys, D.D., Dean of Canterbury, 1571-1625. Ver. 1. Lord, who shall abide, etc. If David, a man endued with an excellent and divine spirit, one in whom singular wisdom, rare knowledge, and deep understanding of hidden secrets appeared, who being taught of God in heavenly things, far surpassed and exceeded in wisdom all his teachers and counsellors, did notwithstanding desire to know the sheep from the goats, the good from the bad, the saints from the hypocrites, the true worshippers of God from dissemblers, the true inhabitants of the holy tabernacle from the intruders of the wicked, lest therein he should be deceived; how great cause have we, in whom neither the like spirit, neither such wisdom, nor equal knowledge, nor comparable understanding, by many degrees appeareth, to fear our own weakness, to doubt of our own judgments, to confess our own infirmity, and to suspect the subtle sleights and coloured pretences of men: and for further knowledge in hidden, deep, and secret things, with David to demand and ask this question, "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?"... Where David saith, "Who shall abide in thy holy hill?" he giveth us to understand that there is no true and sound rest but in the holy hill of the Lord, which is the church. Then the wicked and ungodly which are not of God's house, of his holy hill, of the church, have no quiet, rest, nor sound peace; but they are in continual perplexity, continual torment, continual disquietness of their minds. Richard Turnbull, 1606. Ver. 1. Abide in the tabernacle, etc. The worshippers in the outer court only will get their eternal abode without among the dogs, sorcerers, etc; but they that shall be inhabitants of heaven, come further in, even unto the tabernacle itself: their souls are fed at his table, they find the smell of his garments as of myrrh, aloes, and cassia; and if they miss it at any time, it is the grief of their souls, and they are never at rest till they recover it again. Thomas Boston. Ver. 1. Who shall dwell, etc. "Now who is he? Say, if ye can, Who so shall gain the firm abode? Pilate shall say, `Behold the Man!' And John, Behold the Lamb of God!'" John Barclay, quoted by A. A. Bonar, in loc. Ver. 1. Holy hill. Heaven is aptly compared to a hill, hell to a hole. Now who shall ascend unto this holy mount? None but those whom this mount comes down unto, that have sweet communion with God in this life present, whose conversation is in heaven, though their commoration be for awhile upon earth, who do here eat, and drink, and sleep, eternal life. John Trapp. Ver. 1-2. The disguising and counterfeiting of hypocrites in all ages, occasioned haply this query: for, as Paul speaks, "all are not Israel that are of Israel, "a great many living in the church are not of the church, according to that of the doctors upon this place, multi sunt corpore qui non sunt fide, multi nomine qui non sunt nomine. Wherefore, David, here perceiving that sundry people were shuffled into God's tabernacle like goats among the sheep, and tares among the corn, being Jews outwardly, but not inwardly, deceiving others often, and, sometimes, themselves also, with a bare profession of religion, and false opinion of true piety, cometh unto God (as to the searcher and trier of the hearts of men, acquainted with all secrets, and best understanding who are his own), saying unto him, O Lord, forsomuch as there is so much unsoundness and hypocrisy reigning among those that dwell in thy tabernacle, professing thy word, and frequenting the places of thy worship; I beseech thee most humbly, to declare to thy people some tokens and cognizances by which a true subject of thy kingdom may be discerned from the children of this world. Here then, observe, that an external profession of faith, and outward communion with the church of God, is not sufficient unto salvation, unless we lead an incorrupt life correspondent to the same, doing the thing which is right, and speaking the truth in our heart. And, therefore, the silly Papist is exceedingly deceived in relying so much upon the church's outside, to wit, upon the succession of Roman bishops, upon the multitude of Roman Catholics, upon the power and pomp of the Roman synagogue, crying as the Jews in old time, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, "our church is the temple of the Lord. The carnal and careless gospeller is deceived also, placing all his religion in the formal observation of outward service, for a mere verbal Christian is a real atheist, according to that of Paul (Titus 1:16), "In word they profess that they know God, but in their works they deny him; "and so many who seem to sojourn in God's tabernacle for a time, shall never rest upon his holy hill; and this assertion is expressly confirmed by Christ himself: "Not every one (saith he) that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:21-23. Consider this, all ye which are Christians in lip only but not in life, making a mask of religion, or rather a very vizard, with eyes, and mouth, and nose, fairly painted and proportioned to all pretences and purposes. O think on this, all ye that forget God, he that dwelleth on high, and beholds the things here below, suffers none to rest upon the mountain of his holiness but such as walk uprightly, doing that which is just, and speaking that which is true. John Boys. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. Qualifications for church membership on earth and in heaven. A subject for self examination. Ver. 1. 1. Comparison of the church to the tabernacle. God's presence manifested, sacrifice offered, and vessels of grace preserved in it; mean externally, glorious within. 2. Comparison of its double position to that of the tabernacle. Moving in the wilderness, and fixed on the hill. 3. Enquire into qualification for admittance into church and tabernacle. Parallel with the priests, etc. Ver. 1. The great question. Asked by idle curiosity, despair, godly fear, earnest enquirer, soul troubled by falls of others, holy faith. Give answer to each. Ver. 1. The citizen of Zion described. Thomas Boston's Sermons. Ver. 1. Anxiety to know the true saints, how far lawful and profitable. Ver. 1. God the only infallible discerner of true saints. WORKS UPON THE PSALM Fower Sermons and Two Questions, as they were uttered and disputed by that learned Frenchman, PETER BARO. 1560. Lectures on the XV. Psalme read in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, in London. By GEORGE DOWNAME. Doctor of Divinitie, London. 1604. 4to. Four Sermons, by way of Exposition of Psa 15:1-5., by RICHARD , are found at the end of the old 4to containing his Exposition of the Epistles of James and Jude. There is no separate title page to the Exposition of the Psalm; the date of the book Isaiah 1606. The Works of John Boys, D.D., Deane of Canterburie, 1629, folio, contains Expositions of Psa 2:1-12; Psalms 9:1-20; Psalms 15:1-5. (The folio edition of Boys' Works consists of Expositions of the Scriptures used in the Liturgy.) A Practical and Polemical Commentary, or Exposition on the whole Fifteenth Psalm, wherein the text is learnedly and fruitfully explained, some controversies discussed, sundry cases of conscience are cleared; more especially that of USURIE. By , late minister of Saint Martin's, in the city of York. 1658. 4to. Psalms 15:2* Ver. 2. THE ANSWER. The Lord in answer to the question informs us by his Holy Spirit of the character of the man who alone can dwell in his holy hill. In perfection this holiness is found only in the Man of Sorrows, but in a measure it is wrought in all his people by the Holy Ghost. Faith and the graces of the Spirit are not mentioned, because this is a description of outward character, and where fruits are found the root may not be seen, but it is surely there. Observe the accepted man's walk, work, and word. He that walketh uprightly, he keeps himself erect as those do who traverse high ropes; if they lean on one side over they must go, or as those who carry precious but fragile ware in baskets on their heads, who lose all if they lose their perpendicular. True believers do not cringe as flatterers, wriggle as serpents, bend double as earth grubbers, or crook on one side as those who have sinister aims; they have the strong backbone of the vital principle of grace within, and being themselves upright, they are able to walk uprightly. Walking is of far more importance than talking. He only is right who is upright in walk and downright in honesty. And worketh righteousness. His faith shows itself by good works, and therefore is no dead faith. God's house is a hive for workers, not a nest for drones. Those who rejoice that everything is done for them by another, even the Lord Jesus, and therefore hate legality, are the best doers in the world upon gospel principles. If we are not positively serving the Lord, and doing his holy will to the best of our power, we may seriously debate our interest in divine things, for trees which bear no fruit must be hewn down and cast into the fire. And speaketh the truth in his heart. The fool in the last psalm spoke falsely in his heart; observe both here and elsewhere in the two psalms, the striking contrast. Saints not only desire to love and speak truth with their lips, but they seek to be true within; they will not lie even in the closet of their hearts, for God is there to listen; they scorn double meanings, evasions, equivocations, white lies, flatteries, and deceptions. Though truths, like roses, have thorns about them, good men wear them in their bosoms. Our heart must be the sanctuary and refuge of truth, should it be banished from all the world beside, and hunted from among men; at all risk we must entertain the angel of truth, for truth is God's daughter. We must be careful that the heart is really fixed and settled in principle, for tenderness of conscience toward truthfulness, like the bloom on a peach, needs gentle handling, and once lost it were hard to regain it. Jesus was the mirror of sincerity and holiness. Oh, to be more and more fashioned after his similitude! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 1-2. See Psalms on "Psalms 15:1" for further information. Ver. 2. He that walketh uprightly, etc. If neither the golden reason of excellency can move us, nor the silver reason of profit allure us, then must the iron reason of necessity enforce us to integrity and uprightness of heart. For first, such is the necessity thereof, that without integrity the best graces we seem to have are counterfeit, and, therefore, but glorious sins; the best worship we can perform is but hypocrisy, and therefore abominable in God's sight. For uprightness is the soundness of all grace and virtues, as also of all religion and worship of God, without which they are unsound and nothing worth. And first, as touching graces, if they be not joined with uprightness of heart, they are sins under the masks or vizards of virtue, yea, as it may seem, double sins: for as Augustine saith, Simulata aequitas est duplex iniquitas, quia et inquitas est, et similatio: Feigned equity is double iniquity, both because it is iniquity, and because it is feigning. George Downame, D.D., 1604. Ver. 2. He that walketh uprightly. Here two questions are moved; First. Why David describes a sound member of the church, and inheritor of heaven, by works rather than by faith, seeing the kingdom of heaven is promised unto faith, and the profession thereof also maketh one a member of the visible church? Secondly. Why, among all the fruits of faith, almost innumerable, he makes choice of those duties especially which concern our neighbours? To the first, answer may be, that in this, and in all other places in Holy Scripture, where good works are commanded or commended in any, faith is ever presupposed, according to that apostolical maxim, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin; ""Without me, "saith our blessed Saviour, "ye can do nothing" (John 15:5); and without faith in him it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6); fides est operum fomes, as Paulinus wittily: "Faith (as our church speaks), is the nest of good works; albeit our birds be never so fair, though haply we do that which is right, and speak that which is true, yet all these will be lost, except it be brought forth in a true belief." Aristides was so just in his government that he would not tread awry for any respect to friend or despite of foe. Pomponius is said to have been so true, that he never made lie himself, nor suffered a lie in other. Curtius at Rome, Menaeceus at Thebes, Codrus at Athens, exposed themselves unto voluntary death, for the good of their neighbours and country: yet, because they wanted the rest of true faith in the world's Saviour, where to lay their young, we cannot (if we speak with our prophet here from God's oracle), say that they shall ever rest upon his holy hill. Another answer may be, that faith is an inward and hidden grace, and many deceive themselves and others with a feigned profession thereof, and therefore the Holy Spirit will have every man's faith to be tried and known by their fruits, and howsoever, eternal life be promised to faith, and eternal damnation be threatened against infidelity, yet the sentence of salvation and condemnation shall be pronounced according to works, as the clearest evidence of both. It is truly said, out of Bernard, that although our good works are not causa regnandi, yet they be via regni, the causeway wherein, although not the cause wherefore, we must ascend God's holy hill. To the second demand, why the duties immediately belonging to God, are not mentioned here, but only such as concern our brother? Answer is made, that this question is propounded of such as, living in the visible church, openly profess the faith, and would seem to be devout, hearing the word of God, and calling upon his name; for of such as are profane atheists, and so not so much as make a semblance of holiness, there is no question to be made, for, without all doubt, there can be no resting place for such in the kingdom of heaven. Now that we may discern aright which of those that profess religion are sound, and which unsound; the marks are not to be taken from an outward hearing of the word, or receiving of the sacraments, and much less from a formal observation of human traditions in God's tabernacle (For all these things hypocrites usually perform), but from the duties of righteousness, giving every man his due, because the touchstone of piety towards God is charity towards our brother. "Herein, "saith John, "are the children of God known, and the children of the devil: whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." John Boys. Ver. 2. There is no ascertaining the quality of a tree but by its fruits. When the wheels of a clock move within, the hand on the dial will move without. When the heart of a man is sound in conversion, then the life will be fair in profession. When the conduit is walled in, how shall we judge of the spring but by the waters which run through the pipes? William Secker. Ver. 2. And worketh righteousness. A man must first be righteous before he can work righteousness of life. "He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous." 1 John 3:7. The tree makes the fruit, not the fruit the tree; and therefore the tree must be good before the fruit can be good. Matthew 7:18. A righteous man may make a righteous work, but no work of an unrighteous man can make him righteous. Now we become righteous only by faith, through the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Romans 5:1... Wherefore let men work as they will, if they be not true believers in Christ, they are not workers of righteousness; and, consequently, they will not be dwellers in heaven. Ye must then close with Christ in the first place, and by faith receive the gift of imputed righteousness, or ye will never truly bear this character of a citizen of Zion. A man shall as soon force fruit out of a branch broken off from the tree and withered, as work righteousness without believing in, and uniting with Christ. These are two things by which those that hear the gospel are ruined. Thomas Boston. Ver. 2. Worketh righteousness. Jacob's ladder had stairs, upon which he saw none standing still, but all either ascending, or else descending by it. Ascend you likewise to the top of the ladder, to heaven, and there you shall hear one say, "My Father doth now work, and I work also." Whereupon Basil notes that King David having first said, "Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle?" adds then, not he that hath wrought righteousness heretofore, but he that doth now work righteousness, even as Christ saith, "My Father doth now work, and I work also." Thomas Playfere. Ver. 2. But here observe, David saith, that worketh righteousness; not that talks about, thinks about, or hears of, righteousness; because, "not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law, shall be justified." What then do we owe unto others? That which Christ saith (Matthew 7:12), "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them, "even unto your enemies: that is, to injure no one, to succour those that suffer injury, and to do good unto all men. But these things, I say, are spoken especially unto those who have respect of persons; as if he has said, It is not because thou art a priest, nor because thou art of a religious order, not because thou prayest much, nor because thou doest miracles, nor because thou teachest excellently, nor because thou art dignified with the title of father, nor because thou art the doer of any work (except righteousness), that thou shalt rest in the holy hill of the Lord; for if thou be destitute of the works of righteousness, neither all thy good works, nor thy indulgences, nor thy votes and suffrages, nor thy intercessions, shall avail thee anything. Therefore, the truth is firm; that it is the walker without spot, and the doer of righteousness, that shall rest in the tabernacles of the Lord. Yet how many are there, who build, increase and adorn churches, monasteries, altars, vessels, garments, etc., who, all the while, never so much as think of the works of righteousness; nay, who tread righteousness under foot that they may work these their own works, and because of them hope to gain the pardon of their unrighteousness, while thousands are deceived by these means! Hence, in the last day, Christ will say, "I was an hungered, I was thirsty, I was naked, I was in prison, I was a stranger." He will not say one word about those works which are done and admired at this day. And, on the other hand, it is of no account against thee that thou art a layman, or poor, or sick, or contemptible, or how vile soever thou art, if you work righteousness, you shall be saved. The only work that we must hope will be considered and accounted of, is the work of righteousness: all other works that either urge or allure us on under a show of godliness, are a thing of naught. Martin Luther. Ver. 2. And speaketh the truth in his heart. Anatomists have observed that the tongue in man is tied with a double string to the heart. And so in truth spoken there is necessary a double agreement of our words. 1. With our heart. That is, to the speaking of truth, it is necessary our words agree with our mind and thoughts about the thing. We must speak as we think, and our tongues must be faithful interpreters of our mind: otherwise we lie, not speaking as we think. So what is truth in itself may be spoken by a man, and yet he be a liar; namely, if he does not think as he speaks. 2. With the thing as it is in itself. Though we think a thing to be so, which is not so, we lie, when we affirm it; because it is not as we say, though we really think it is so. For our mistaken notions of things can never stamp lies to pass current for truths. 2 Thessalonians 2:11. Thomas Boston. Ver. 2. I this day heard a sermon from Psalms 15:2, And speaketh the truth in his heart.... O my soul, receive the admonition that has been given thee! Study truth in the inward parts; let integrity and truth always accompany thee, and preserve thee: speak the truth in thy heart. I am thankful for any conviction and sense I have of the evil of lying; Lord, increase my abhorrence of it: as a further assistance and help against this mean, sordid, pernicious vice, I would endeavour, and resolve, in pursuit of the directions laid before us in the sermon, to mortify those passions and corruptions from whence this sin of lying more ordinarily flows, and which are the chief occasion of it, as "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts" (Matthew 15:19); so, from the same fountain proceed evil words. And I would, with the greatest zeal, set myself against such corruptions as upon observation I find more commonly betray me into this iniquity: pride often indites our speech, and coins many a lie; so envy, covetousness, malice, etc. I would endeavour to cleanse myself from all this filthiness: there never will be a mortified tongue while there is an unmortified heart. If I love the world inordinately, it is a thousand to one I shall be often stretching a point to promote a worldly interest; and if I hate my brother, it is the same odds I shall reproach him. Lord, help me to purge the fountain, and then the streams will be pure. When the spring of a clock, and all of the movements are right, the hand will go right; and so it is here. The tongue follows the inward inclination. I would resolve to do nothing that may need a lie. If Gehazi's covetousness had not shamed him, he had not wanted a lie to excuse him, "He that walks uprightly, walks surely" and safely in this, as well as other respects. Proverbs 10:9. May I do nothing that is dishonourable and mean, nothing that cannot bear the light, and then I shall have little temptation to lying. I would endeavour for a lively sense of the eye of God upon me, acting and speaking in his presence. Lord, I desire to set thee always before me; thou understandest my thoughts as perfectly as others do my words. I would consider before I speak, and not speak much or rashly. Proverbs 29:20. I would often think of the severity of a future judgment, when every secret shall be made manifest, and the hypocrite and liar exposed before angels and men. Lastly, I would frequently beg divine assistance herein. Psalms 119:29 Proverbs 30:8. O my God, help me in my future conduct, remove from me the way of lying; may the law of kindness and truth be in my tongue; may I take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue. I bewail my past miscarriages in this respect, and flee to thy mercy through the blood of Christ; bless to me the instructions that have been this day given me; let no iniquity prevail against me; "Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins, and cleanse me from secret faults." I commit my thoughts, desires, and tongue, to thy conduct and government; may I think and act in thy fear, and always speak the truth in my heart. Benjamin Bennet's "Christian Oratory, "1728. Ver. 2,5. As the eagle casts off her beak, and so renews her youth, and the snake strips off her old skin, and so makes herself smooth: even so he that will enter into the joys of God, and rest upon his holy mountain, must, as the Scripture speaks, put off the old man and put on the new, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness, repenting truly speedily, steadily. Robert Cawdray. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. He that walketh uprightly. 1. What he must be. He must be upright in heart. A man himself bent double cannot walk uprightly. 2. How he must act. Neither from impulse, ambition, gain, fear, or flattery. He must not be warped in any direction, but stand perpendicularly. 3. What he must expect. Snares, etc., to trip him. 4. Where he must walk. Path of duty, the only one in which he can walk uprightly. 5. Where he must look. Up, right up, and then he will be upright. Ver. 2. Speaketh the truth in his heart. Subject: — Heart falsehood and heart truth. Ver. 2. (first clause). The citizen of Zion, an upright walker. Ver. 2. (middle clause). The citizen of Zion, a worker of righteousness. Ver. 2. (last clause). The citizen of Zion, a speaker of truth. Four Sermons in Thomas Boston's Works. Psalms 15:3* Ver. 3. After the positive comes the negative. He that backbiteth not with his tongue. There is a sinful way of backbiting with the heart when we think too hardly of a neighbour, but it is the tongue which does the mischief. Some men's tongues bite more than their teeth. The tongue is not steel, but it cuts, and it's wounds are very hard to heal; its worst wounds are not with its edge to our face, but with its back when our head is turned. Under the law, a night hawk was an unclean bird, and its human image is abominable everywhere. All slanderers are the devil's bellows to blow up contention, but those are the worst which blow at the back of the fire. Nor doeth evil to his neighbour. He who bridles his tongue will not give a licence to his hand. Loving our neighbour as ourselves will make us jealous of his good name, careful not to injure his estate, or by ill example to corrupt his character. Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. He is a fool if not a knave who picks up stolen goods and harbours them; in slander as well as robbery, the receiver is as bad as the thief. If there were not gratified hearers of ill reports, there would be an end of the trade of spreading them. Trapp says, that "the tale bearer carrieth the devil in his tongue, and the tale hearer carries the devil in his ear." The original may be translated, "endureth; "implying that it is a sin to endure or tolerate tale bearers. "Show that man out!" we should say of a drunkard, yet it is very questionable if his unmanly behaviour will do us so much mischief as the tale bearers insinuating story. "Call for a policeman!" we say if we see a thief at his business; ought we to feel no indignation when we hear a gossip at her work? Mad dog! Mad dog!! is a terrible hue and cry, but there are few curs whose bite is so dangerous as a busybody's tongue. Fire! fire!! is an alarming note, but the tale bearer's tongue is set on fire of hell, and those who indulge it had better mend their manners, or they may find that there is fire in hell for unbridled tongues. Our Lord spake evil of no man, but breathed a prayer for his foes; we must be like him, or we shall never be with him. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour. Lamentation for the gross neglect of this duty, or the frequent commission of this sin. What tears are sufficient to bewail it? How thick do censures and reproaches fly in all places, at all tables, in all conventions! And this were the more tolerable, if it were only the fault of ungodly men, of strangers and enemies to religion; for so saith the proverb, "Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked." When a man's heart is full of hell, it is not unreasonable to expect his tongue should be set on fire of hell; and it is no wonder to hear such persons reproach good men, yea, even for their goodness. But alas! the disease doth not rest here, this plague is not only among the Egyptians but Israelites too. It is very doleful to consider how professors sharpen their tongues like swords against professors; and one good man censures and reproaches another, and one minister traduces another; and who can say, "I am clean from this sin?" O that I could move your pity in this case! For the Lord's sake pity yourselves, and do not pollute and wound your consciences with this crime. Pity your brethren; let it suffice that godly ministers and Christians are loaded with reproaches by wicked men— there is no need that you should combine with them in this diabolical work. You should support and strengthen their hands against the reproaches of the ungodly world, and not add affliction to the afflicted. O pity the world, and pity the church which Christ hath purchased with his own blood, which I think bespeaks you in these words, "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me." Job 19:21. Pity the mad and miserable world, and help it against this sin; stop the bloody issue; restrain this wicked practice amongst men as much as possibly you can, and lament it before God, and for what you cannot do yourselves, give God no rest until he shall please to work a cure. Matthew Poole, 1624-1679. Ver. 3. He that backbiteth not, etc. Detraction or slander is not lightly to be passed over, because we do so easily fail in this point. For the good name of a man, as saith Solomon, is a precious thing to every one, and to be preferred before much treasure, insomuch that it is no less grievous to hurt a man with the tongue than with a sword: nay, ofttimes the stroke of a tongue is more grievous than the wound of a spear, as it is in the French proverb. And therefore the tongue must be bridled, that we hurt not in any wise the good name of our neighbour; but preserve it unto him safe and sound, as much as in us shall lie. That which he addeth touching evil or injury not to be done to our neighbour, is like unto that which we have seen already concerning the working or exercising of righteousness. He would have us therefore so to exercise all upright dealing, that we might be far from doing any damage or wrong to our neighbours. And by the name of neighbour, is meant every man and woman, as it is plain and evident. For we are all created of God, and placed in this world that we might live uprightly and sincerely together. And therefore he breaketh the law of human society (for we are all tied and bound by this law of nature) that doth hurt or injury to another. The third member of this verse is, nor that reproacheth another, or, that maintains not a false report give one against another; which latter particle seemeth to be the better, since he had spoken before expressly, touching the good name of another, not to be hurt or wronged with our tongue. To the which fault this is next in degree, wherewith we are too much encumbered, and which we scarce acknowledge to be a fault, when we further and maintain the slanders devised and given out by another against a man, either by hearing them or telling them forth to others, as we heard them. For why? It seemeth for the most part to be enough for us if we can say, that we feign not this or that, nor make it of our own heads, but only tell it forth as we heard it of others, without adding anything of our own brain. But as oft as we do this we fail in our duty doing, in not providing for our neighbour's credit, as were requisite for the things, which being uttered by others ought to be passed over in silence and to lie dead, we gather up, and by telling them forth, disperse them abroad, which whether it be a sin or no, when as we ought by all means possible to wish and do well unto our neighbours, all men do see. And therefore you that travel towards eternal life, must not only not devise false reports and slanders against other men, but also not so much as have them in thy mouth being devised by others, neither by any means assist or maintain them in slandering; but by all honest and lawful means, provide for the credit and estimation of thy neighbour, so much as in thee lieth. Peter Baro, D.D., 1560. Ver. 3. He that backbiteth not with his tongue. The Hebrew word (lgr) signifieth to play the spy, and by a metaphor, to backbite or slander, for backbiters and whisperers, after the manner of spies, go up and down dissembling their malice, that they may espy the faults and defects of others, whereof they may make a malicious relation to such as will give ear to their slanders. So that backbiting is a malicious defamation of a man behind his back...And that the citizen of heaven doth and ought to abhor from backbiting, the horrible wickedness of this sin doth evince. For first, Leviticus 19:16, where it is straightly forbidden, the "tale bearer" is compared to a pedlar: "Thou shalt not walk about with tales and slanders, as it were a pedlar among thy people." So much (lykr) signifieth. For as the pedlar having bought his wares of some one or more goeth about from house to house that he may sell the same to others; so backbiters and tale bearers, gathering together tales and rumours, as it were wares, go from one to another, that such wares as either themselves have invented, or have gathered by report, they may utter in the absence of their neighbour to his infamy and disgrace. Likewise Psalms 50:20, it is condemned as a notable crime, which God will not suffer to go unpunished; Ezekiel 22:9, it is reckoned among the abominations of Jerusalem, for which destruction is denounced against it; and Romans 1:29-30, among the crimes of the heathen, given over unto a reprobate sense, this is placed: they were "whisperers and backbiters." George Downame. Ver. 3. He that backbiteth not. He that is guilty of backbiting, that speaks evil of another behind his back, if that which he speaks be false, is guilty of lying, which is prejudicial to salvation. If that which he speaks be true, yet he is void of charity in seeking to defame another. For as Solomon observes, "Love covereth all sins." Proverbs 10:12. Where there is love and charity, there will be a covering and concealing of men's sins as much as may be. Now where charity is wanting, their salvation is not to be expected. 1 Corinthians 13:1, etc.; 1 John 3:14-15. Christopher Cartwright, 1602-1658. Ver. 3. Backbiteth not. This crime is a conjugation of evils, and is productive of infinite mischiefs; it undermines peace, and saps the foundation of friendship; it destroys families, and rends in pieces the very heart and vitals of charity; it makes an evil man party, and witness, and judge, and executioner of the innocent. Bishop Taylor. Ver. 3. Backbiteth. The scorpion hurts none but such as he touches with the tip of his tail; and the crocodile and basilisk slay none but such as either the force of their sight, or strength of their breath reach. The viper woundeth none but such as it biteth; the venomous herbs or roots kill none but such as taste, or handle, or smell them, and so come near unto them; but the poison of slanderous tongues is much more rank and deadly; for that hurts and slays, wounds and kills, not only near, but afar off; not only at hand, but by distance of place removed; not only at home, but abroad; not only in our own nation, but in foreign countries; and spareth neither quick nor dead. Richard Turnbull. Ver. 3. Backbiteth. The word here used comes from a root signifying foot, and denotes a person who goes about from house to house, speaking things he should not (1 Timothy 5:13); and a word from this root signifies spies; and the phrase here may point at persons who creep into houses, pry into the secrets of families, divulge them, and oftentimes represent them in a false light. Such are ranked among the worst of men, and are very unfit to be in the society of saints, or in the Church of Christ. See Romans 1:30. John Gill. Ver. 3. Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. The saints of God must not be too light of hearing, much less of believing all tales, rumours, and reports of their brethren; and charity requireth that we do not only stop and stay them, but that we examine them before we believe them. Saul, the king, too light of belief in this point, believed the slanderous and false reports of David's enemies, who put into Saul's head that David imagined evil against him. Yea, David himself showed his great infirmity in that, that without due examination and proof of the matter, he believed the false report of Ziba, against Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan; of whom to David the king, persecuted by Absalom his son, Ziba reported falsely, that he should say, "This day shall the house of Israel restore unto me the kingdom of my father." The example of whose infirmity in Scripture reproved, must not we follow; but let us rather embrace the truth of that heavenly doctrine which, through God's Spirit, here he preacheth, that we believe not false reports against our neighbours. Richard Turnbull. Ver. 3. Despise not thy neighbour, but think thyself as bad a sinner, and that the like defects may befall thee. If thou canst not excuse his doing, excuse his intent which may be good; or if the deed be evil, think it was done of ignorance; if thou canst no way excuse him, think some great temptation befell him, and that thou shouldest be worse if the like temptation befell thee; and give God thanks that the like as yet hath not befallen thee. Despise not a man being a sinner, for though he be evil today, he may turn tomorrow. William Perkins, 1558-1602. Ver. 3-5. They that cry down moral honesty, cry down that which is a great part of religion, my duty towards God, and my duty towards man. What care I to see a man run after a sermon, if he cozens and cheats as soon as he comes home? On the other side, morality must not be without religion, for if so, it may change as I see convenience. Religion must govern it. He that has not religion to govern his morality, is not a dram better than my mastiff dog; so long as you stroke him, and please him, and do not pinch him, he will play with you as finely as may be, he is a very good moral mastiff; but if you hurt him, he will fly in your face, and tear out your throat. John Seldon, 1584-1654. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. The evils of detraction. It affects three persons here mentioned: the backbiter, the suffering neighbour, and the taker up of the reproach. Ver. 3. Nor taketh up a reproach. The sin of being too ready to believe ill reports. Common, cruel, foolish, injurious, wicked. Psalms 15:4* Ver. 4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. We must be as honest in paying respect as in paying our bills. Honour to whom honour is due. To all good men we owe a debt of honour, and we have no right to hand over what is their due to vile persons who happen to be in high places. When base men are in office, it is our duty to respect the office; but we cannot so violate our consciences as to do otherwise than contemn the men; and on the other hand, when true saints are in poverty and distress, we must sympathize with their afflictions and honour the men none the less. We may honour the roughest cabinet for the sake of the jewels, but we must not prize false gems because of their setting. A sinner in a gold chain and silken robes is no more to be compared with a saint in rags than a rush light in a silver candlestick with the sun behind a cloud. The proverb says, that "ugly women, finely dressed, are the uglier for it, "and so mean men in high estate are the more mean because of it. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. Scriptural saints under the New Testament rule "swear not at all, "but their word is as good as an oath: those men of God who think it right to swear, are careful and prayerful lest they should even seem to overshoot the mark. When engagements have been entered into which turn out to be unprofitable, "the saints are men of honour still." Our blessed Surety swore to his own hurt, but how gloriously he stood to his suretyship! what a comfort to us that he changeth not, and what an example to us to be scrupulously and precisely exact in fulfilling our covenants with others! The most far seeing trader may enter into engagements which turn out to be serious losses, but whatsoever else he loses, if he keeps his honour, his losses will be bearable; if that be lost all is lost. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 15:3" for further information. Ver. 4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned, etc. When wicked Jehoram, king of Israel, came to Eliseus, the prophet, to ask counsel of the Lord, and to entreat for waters, having in company Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, being virtuous; the prophet showeth his contempt to the one, being wicked, and his reverence to the other, being godly, faithful and virtuous, said, "As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee." 2 Kings 3:14. Thus was the wicked vile in his sight; thus did he not flatter the ungodly. In like manner godly Mordecai, the Jew, having Haman the ambitious and proud Agagite in contempt, would in no wise bow the knee unto him in sign of honour, as the rest of the people did; for which cause he was extremely hated, menaced, and molested of proud and wicked Haman. To wink at their wickedness, to uphold them in their iniquity, to fawn upon them and flatter them, to praise them when they deserve just reproof, is, as it were, an honouring of them; to which, as to a most grievous sin, the prophet denounces a most bitter curse: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20. Richard Turnbull. Ver. 4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned. To contemn the wicked and honour the godly, are opposite the one to the other. But the former may seem not to be sufficiently beseeming to a godly man. For why should he contemn or despise others, who is commanded by all means to care for the credit of others, as we heard even now? Nay, a godly man, letting others go, ought to search into himself, and to accuse himself, but not to judge of others. But this saying of the prophet is to be understood rather of the faults than of the person. As every man therefore is to be loved, so are the faults of every man to ne hated of the godly. For so is God himself, whom we desire to be like unto, that we might dwell with him, affected and disposed. For why? he hateth no man, nay, he hateth nothing at all in this whole universal world, but only sin. For he is the author and preserver of all things that be; and therefore doth good and wisheth well to all; only of sin he is not the author, but the free and unconstrained will of man and Satan. Notwithstanding God doth so greatly hate sin, that by reason thereof he doth sometimes neglect and forsake men, yea, and have them in contempt. So then a godly man, nor contemneth any; but yet notwithstanding he dislikes sin in sinful men, and that he sticketh not to let them perceive either by reproving them, or shunning their company, or by doing of some other thing, whereby they may know they are misliked of good men for their enormities, and see themselves to be contemned of others for their wicked and ungodly life. A good man therefore must not flatter the ungodly in their ungracious attempts, but must freely declare that he disallows their course and conversation. Peter Baro. Ver. 4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned. Augustine, as Posidonius writeth, showing what hatred he had to tale bearers and false reporters of others, had two verses written over his table; by translation these: "He that doth love with bitter speech the absent to defame, Must surely know that at this board no place is for the same." Richard Turnbull. Ver. 4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned. The burgess of the New Jerusalem, reprobos reprobat, et probos probat; he cannot flatter any man, nor fancy such as in whom he findeth not aliquid Christi, something of the image of God. A golden Colosse, stuffed with rubbish, he cannot stoop to, But he honoureth them that fear the Lord, as the only earthly angels, though never so mean and despicable in the world's eye. Mr. Fox, being asked whether he remembered not such a poor servant of God who had received succour from him in time of trouble? answered, "I remember him well; I tell you, I forget the lords and ladies, to remember such." John Trapp. Ver. 4. He honoureth them that fear the Lord. Though the godly some way or other be injurious unto us, we ought nevertheless to honour and not to despise them. So Joseph did Mary, though he supposed her to have dealt injuriously with him; and she had done so, indeed, if it had been with her as he imagined. Calvin's resolution concerning Luther was very admirable in this respect. They differed much about the presence of Christ in the sacrament; and Luther being of a vehement spirit, wrote bitterly against those who did hold otherwise in that point than himself did. This enforced some, who were more nearly concerned in the business, to prepare to answer Luther; which Calvin understanding, and fearing lest they being provoked by Luther's tartness, should deal with him in the like kind, he wrote unto Bullinger, a prime man among them, persuading and exhorting him to carry the business so as to show all due respect unto Luther, considering what worth and excellency there was in him, however he had demeaned himself in that particular. And he adds, that he often used to say, that although Luther should call him devil, yet he would do him that honour, to acknowledge him a choice servant of God. Christopher Cartwright. Ver. 4. He honoureth them that fear the Lord. I have read of one that said, If he should meet a preacher and an angel together, he would first salute the preacher and then the angel. Charles Bradbury's "Cabinet of Jewels, "1785. Ver. 4. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. "His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles; His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate; His tears pure messengers, sent from his heart; His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth." William Shakespeare. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. The duty of practically honouring those who fear the Lord. Commendation, deference, assistance, imitation, etc. Ver. 4. The sin of estimating persons other than by their practical characters. Ver. 4. (last clause). The Lord Jesus as our unchanging Surety, his oath and his hurt. Psalms 15:5* Ver. 5. He that putteth not out his money to usury. Usury was and is hateful both to God and man. That a lender should share with the borrower in gains made by his money is most fitting and proper; but that the man of property should eat up the poor wretch who unfortunately obtained a loan of him is abominable. Those who grind poor tradesmen, needy widows, and such like, by charging them interest at intolerable rates, will find that their gold, and their silver are cankered. The man who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord must shake off this sin as Paul shook the viper into the fire. Nor taketh reward against the innocent. Bribery is a sin both in the giver and the receiver. It was frequently practised in Eastern courts of justice; that form of it is now under our excellent judges almost an unheard of thing; yet the sin survives in various forms, which the reader needs not that we should mention; and under every shape it is loathsome to the true man of God. He remembers that Jesus instead of taking reward against the innocent died for the guilty. Ver. 5. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. No storm shall tear him from his foundations, drag him from his anchorage, or uproot him from his place. Like the Lord Jesus, whose dominion is everlasting, the true Christian shall never lose his crown. He shall not only be on Zion, but like Zion, fixed and firm. He shall dwell in the tabernacle of the Most High, and neither death nor judgment shall remove him from his place of privilege and blessedness. Let us betake ourselves to prayer and self examination, for this Psalm is as fire for the gold, and as a furnace for silver. Can we endure its testing power? NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 15:3" for further information. Ver. 5. The Puritanic divines are almost all of them against the taking of any interest upon money, and go to the length of saying that one penny per cent per annum will shut a man out of heaven if persisted in. It appeared to me to be useless to quote opinions in which I cannot agree, especially as this would occupy space better employed. The demanding of excessive and grinding interest is a sin to be detested; the taking of the usual and current interest in a commercial country is not contrary to the law of love. The Jews were not engaged in commerce, and to lend money even at the lowest interest to their fellow farmers in times of poverty would have been usurious; but they might lend to strangers, who would usually be occupied in commerce, because in the commercial world, money is a fruitful thing, and the lender has a right to a part of its products; a loan to enable a non trader to live over a season of want is quite another matter. C.H.S. Ver. 5. He that putteth not out his money to usury. By usury is generally understood the gain of anything above the principal, or that which was lent, exacted only in consideration of the loan, whether it be in money, corn, wares, or the like. It is most commonly taken for an unlawful profit which a person makes of his money or goods. The Hebrew word for usury signifies biting. The law of God prohibits rigorous imposing conditions of gain for the loan of money or goods, and exacting them without respect to the condition of the borrower, whether he gain or lose; whether poverty occasioned his borrowing, or a visible prospect of gain by employing the borrowed goods. It is said in Exodus 22:25-26, "If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury, "etc. And in Leviticus 25:35-37, "If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen into decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner, that he may live with thee: take thou no usury of him, "etc. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ Psalms 16:1. Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.Notice how the psalmist urges the prevailing plea of faith. A trusted God will be a preserving God. If thou, believer, canst truly say that thou art trusting God in any time of trouble or danger, thou wilt be safe enough in his keeping.Psalms 16:2-3. O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, is whom is all my delight.“I cannot do thee any good, thou art too great to need anything from me; but I may be the means of blessing to thy people, thy saints may reap some little benefit from what I do. They are the company I keep, they are the choicest friends I know, and if thou wilt but help me to do something for thee which shall bring blessing to them, I shall indeed rejoice”Psalms 16:4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. We must be faithful to God, to the God revealed to us in the Book of God, the God of the Old Testament of the New Testament, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must keep to him, not make another god after our own imagination. It is practical idolatry even to conceive of God otherwise than he is revealed in Holy Scripture. This we must not do, but say, concerning the God of the Bible, “This God is our God for over and ever.”Psalms 16:5. The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.One of the great houses of nobility has for its motto the words, “I will maintain it.” But David’s is a better one: “Thou maintainest my lot.” God is the best Defender that his people can ever have.Psalms 16:6. The lines are fallen into me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.Many of us have proved this to be true in our experience. May we continue gratefully contented and more than contented, delighted with whatever God appoints for us!Psalms 16:7-8. I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me?“In my acts by day, and my thoughts by night,”Psalms 16:8. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.Now across the sacred page there comes the wondrous revelation of a glorious One who speaks in the very words that are recorded here. Though, possibly, we have not recognized him, these words that follow apply specially to Jesus Christ our Lord.Psalms 16:9. Therefore my heart is glad,Because, in the night watches, he had sought his Father, and found help in him, he could say, “Therefore my heart is glad.”Psalms 16:9-10. And my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell;Or, rather, Hades, the abode of the dead.Psalms 16:10. Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Now David was gathered to his fathers, and his body saw corruption, as the apostle Peter rightly observed, so it is clear that he is not speaking of himself here, not in the first place, at any rate, but of “great David’s greater Son,” our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: “Neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”Psalms 16:11. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hands there are pleasures for evermore. Psalms 17:1. Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.Good men are often slandered and misunderstood; and, at such times, the first verse of this Psalm will well fit their lips: “Hear the right, O Lord.” And, at all times, it is a great blessing when a supplicant can say to God, “Give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.” It must be a dreadful thing to pray with lips that do not speak the truth. When men’s thoughts are far away from their prayers, and they are muttering pious words but their heart is absent, what a mockery it must be in the sight of God! A dead prayer, — who will own it? It is like the child that was overlaid in the days of Solomon, which neither of the two mothers would own to be hers, Beware of dead prayers. You may dress them up as finely as you like; but, if there is no life in them, what good are they?Psalms 17:2. Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.It is the appeal of a slandered man to the highest court; he takes his case into the Court of King’s Bench, and asks God himself to give the verdict concerning what he had done. It is a good case that will bear to be so investigated.Psalms 17:3. Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.Happy is the man who is not afraid for God to come to him suddenly in the night, or to pounce upon him, as it were, at any hour of the day, for, whenever he comes, he will find his servant so acting that he will not mind who examines his conduct. He is keeping his lip, purposing that it shall not transgress God’s law, and he is ruling his whole body in like manner. Only the grace of God can enable us to do this.Psalms 17:4. Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.Notice that verse, young man! There is much-needed teaching there for you. There are many “paths of the destroyer” in this wicked city of London, and all over the world; and it is only by taking heed to our ways, according to God’s Word, that we can hope to escape from them. How pleasant those “paths of the destroyer” often appear to be! How smooth and how alluring they are! All sorts of supposed delicacies and beauties will tempt you to go that way, and the foolish heart readily inclines to these indulgences; but happy is the man whose judgment is enlightened by God’s Word so that he avoids it, and passes by “the paths of the destroyer.”Psalms 17:5. Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.“I know that I am in thy way; but, O Lord, hold me up! I am like a horse that needs a careful driver, else I shall trip and fall, in rough places or in smooth, ‘Hold up my goings in thy paths,’ for I may fall even there. There are the sins of my holy things, so ‘hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.’”Psalms 17:6-12. I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.They are enclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Many godly men have such cruel enemies as David had, so they will do well to pray as he did: —Psalms 17:13-15. Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: from men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. As for me,—“What do I possess? What is my portion? Am I full of substance, like the men of the world, or have I little of this world’s wealth? It is of small consequence, for, ‘as for me,’” — Psalms 17:15. I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.That is our portion. God grant that we may prize it more and more! Amen. Psalms 18:1-3. I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust; my buckler, and my horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I shall call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.At first he says, “I will love thee” then, “I will trust thee,” now he says “I will call upon thee,” and that calling upon God is specially in the sense of praising him; and when you have just experienced a divine deliverance, how full your spirit is of sacred gratitude!Psalms 18:4-7. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.God was angry with Saul and with all David’s persecutors because they hunted that good man like a partridge upon the mountains. The prayer of the poor suppliant called down the anger of God upon his adversaries.Psalms 18:8. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.This is a wonderful picture of the anger of God. The Hebrews always connected manifestations of anger with the nose and mouth just as they ascribed various passions and feelings to the different members of the body. So David says, “There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured.” Does someone ask, “Can prayer move God in this way?” Yes, it seems so. Of course, David had to speak after the manner of men; there is no other way in which men can speak, so he describes God as being thus stirred by the cry of his poor child when it came up into his ears. Nothing brings a man’s temper into his face like an injury done to his child, and God, as a father, cannot endure to have his children hurt. “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.”Psalms 18:9-10. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.So quick is God to come to the deliverance of his persecuted people.Psalms 18:11-13. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. The LORD; also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail storms and coals of fire.Behold the dread artillery of heaven as God turns his terrible guns against the enemies of his people, and pours out hot shot from his lofty bastion: “hail stones and coals of fire.”Psalms 18:14-15. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.The psalmist is evidently describing the passage of the Red Sea, and likening the descent of God to his individual help to that memorable descent of God to the rescue of his entire people. And indeed, God is as great in his help to one as in his help to all; he is never little. When God helps you, my brother, he is a great God, and greatly to be praised, as greatly so as when he comes to the rescue of an entire nation. Therefore sing unto the Lord, whose arm is lifted up for you, even for you, as truly as it was lifted upon Israel when he brought them out of Egypt “with a strong hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with great terror.”Psalms 18:16. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. The Lord made another Moses of him. Pharaoh’s daughter gave the name of Moses, that is, one drawn out, to the child who was brought to her, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”Psalms 18:17. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me; for they were too strong for me. Is that the reason why God interposed on David’s behalf? Then let all his weak children find comfort in the fact that, when our enemies are too strong for us, God will come and deliver us. Let us be thankful for burdens that are too heavy for us to bear, and cast them upon the almighty shoulders that can easily sustain them. If we could do without God, we should do without God; but as we cannot, God will come to us, and help and deliver us.Psalms 18:18-19. They presented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.What a sense of divine love God’s gracious deliverance brings! Perhaps David would never have known how greatly God delighted in him if he had not been in such dire distress, and had not had such a great deliverance.Psalms 18:20-24. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. If God gives you grace to be honest, and upright, and true, and steadfast in the time of temptation, you may be quite sure that he will deliver you; in fact, he has already wrought the greater part of your deliverance in thus keeping you from sin. The worst thing that a trouble can do for a Christian man is to carry him off his feet, and make him forsake his integrity.Psalms 18:25-27. With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; with the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the forward thou wilt shew thyself forward. For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.If your faith cannot endure testing and trying, it is but poor faith. It will not do to die with if it will not do to live with. But if you cry to the Lord, and he enables you in the time of your distress to be faithful to him then he will certainly give you deliverance sooner or later.Psalms 18:28-30. For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlightened my darkness. For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect:If you practice self-reliance, but not God-reliance, you will be sure to fail. What poor strength that is which does not come from God! Is it worthy of the name of strength at all? Is it not impotence and impudence combined? May God keep us from imagining that we can do anything apart from him! At the same time, may his gracious Spirit work in us the sure confidence that we can do everything he bids us do when he is our Helper! David had that confidence, for he goes on to sing, —Psalms 18:30-37. The word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places. He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.Remember that this is a soldier’s song,-a song under the old covenant when men might fight as they may not fight now. We must, therefore, spiritualize this ancient war-song as we read it.Psalms 18:38-45. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me. They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not. Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets. Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me. The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places. So it came to pass that the Philistines were afraid of David, and he delivered his people from the attacks of all invaders, and brought them that blessed peace which Solomon enjoyed with them.Psalms 18:46-50. The LORD liveth, and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me. He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name. Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore. This Psalm teaches us the excellence of the two revelations which God has made to man. The first is the revelation which he has made in nature, and the second is that which he has made in his inspired Word. The psalmist first sings of God as he displays himself in his works in creation: —Psalms 19:1. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.So much is this the case that it has been well said that “an undevout astronomer is mad.” There are such traces of the Infinite and the Omnipotent in the stars, and especially the more thoroughly they are studied, and the science of mathematics is brought to bear upon them, in order, in some degree, to guess at the incalculable distances and mighty weights of the starry orbs, that a man must perceive in them traces of the divine handiwork if he is only willing to do so: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork.”Psalms 19:2. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.Every day speaks to the following one, even as the day that went before it spoke to it, and each day has its own message. Its history is an echo of the voice of God, and if man had but ears to hear, he would perceive that the things which happen from day to day proclaim the presence and power of God. And even night, with her impressive silence, reveals the Most High in the solemn hush and stillness. In the great primeval forests, the winds seem, with songs without words, to declare the presence of the Most High. There is something there, in the stillness of the night, as weird-like and so solemn, which has made unbelief retreat, and caused faith to lift up her eye, and see more in the heavens at night than she had seen by day: “Night unto night sheweth knowledge.”Psalms 19:3-4. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.Though nature does not speak, yet its words go to the ends of the earth; and, silently, they sing the- praises of God. To the inner ears of an enlightened man, there is a measure of spiritual teaching ever going on.Psalms 19:4-6. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.All this is emblematical of the spread of the gospel; so Paul tells us in the Epistle to the Romans: “Their souls went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.” Our Lord Jesus, up-springing from the couch whereon he slept awhile, has sent his light even to the ends of the earth. “Nor shall his spreading gospel rest, Till through the world his truth has run, — Till Christ has all the nations blest, That see the light, or feel the sun.” There are brighter days yet to come to us. The strength of Christ, as he daily runs the gospel race, has not diminished, indeed, he puts it out yet more and more, and the day shall come when, as the full sunlight makes the perfect day, so shall the full revelation of the gospel to the eyes of all men fill the whole earth with the praises of God. Now let us read concerning the Book of God. We have read about his works, now let us read about his words.Psalms 19:7. The law of the LORD is perfect, —“The doctrine of the Lord (as it may be read,) is perfect,” —Psalms 19:7. converting [or, restoring] the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, Oh, what a mercy that is! What could our souls do with ifs and buts and perhapses? But the teachings of God’s Word are certain, positive, infallible.Psalms 19:7. Making wise the simple.No matter how foolish, how childlike, we may be to begin with, so long as our minds are free from gunning and craftiness, and as are simple and sincere, this Book will make us truly wise.Psalms 19:8. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart:You know they do. Oftentimes has your heart leaped for joy when the statutes of the Lord have been made known to you.Psalms 19:8-11. The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned:Do you not find it so, — that, oftentimes, a test of scripture comes to your mind just at the moment when you were about to suffer spiritual shipwreck? When you would have done something that would have caused you lifelong grief and vast damage, the Word of God has stepped before you with the flaming danger signal, and you have been stopped in time.Psalms 19:11. And in keeping of them there is great reward.Not, for keeping of them, for it is not of debt; but, “in keeping of them.” It is always best to do as God bids you. You never forget a duty, or refuse to do it, without suffering loss, and every mistake you make, with regard to your Lord’s will, is a damage to yourselves. The keeping of his commands is most soul-enriching. The most profitable business that a child of God can carry on in the business of obedience to his Lord’s commands: “In keeping of them there is great reward.”Psalms 19:12. Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.The man who searches his heart most will yet leave some sin undiscovered; and he who says, “I have no sin; I am living without sin,” has surely never seen into his own heart at all, he must be an utter stranger to the condition it is in. Let this be the prayer of each one of us: “Cleanse thou me from secret faults.”Psalms 19:13. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;“Let me never dare to do what I know to be wrong. Let me not say, ‘I will go just so far, and then stop.’ Let me not tempt the Holy Spirit of God. Oh, let me never tempt the devil to tempt me, and put myself into a dangerous position under the notion that God will keep me if I am his child: ‘keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;’” —Psalms 19:13. Let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.You will never go into apostasy if you are watchful against presumption. Those men who, like Judas, commit the great transgression, and utterly perish, are men who knew nothing about watching their own hearts, but who presumed, and were sinfully bold and self-confident, and so came to an ill end. You know where John Bunyan says Heedless and Too Bold went to; and there are many like them.Psalms 19:14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight; O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. The 20th Psalm is a prayer for the king going forth to the conflict, — a prayer for David; better still, a prayer for great David’s greater Son. The 21st Psalm is a song of victory for the returning conqueror, it is a Te Deum, as the king has triumphed, and has returned from the conflict to enjoy the congratulations of his loyal subjects.Psalms 20:1. The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; —This is a prayer for David, a prayer for Jesus, and a prayer for every child of God: “Jehovah hear thee in the day of trouble.” What dost thou want? Remember that the Lord gives thee this promise, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” “The name of the God of Jacob defend thee.” The God that took care of Jacob when he slept with a stone for his pillow; the God that guarded him when he was a stranger in a strange land, and brought him home again; the God that wrestled with him at Jabbok, the God that made all things work for him, instead of against him, as he feared, — “the name” — the character, the attributes, the glory — “of the God of Jacob defend thee;”—Psalms 20:2. Send thee help from the sanctuary, —“Help from the holy place, help from the sprinkled blood, help from the mercy-seat, help from the golden pot that had the manna, help from Aaron’s rod that budded, help from him that shone between the cherubim, — send thee help from the Holy of Holies,” —Psalms 20:2. And strengthen thee out of Zion; —That is to say, with his own power, his own glory, which he manifests in the midst of his people.Psalms 20:3. Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.This God did to his dear Son, and this he is prepared to do to all his people. Whenever we give anything to the cause of God, we ought to do it with all that solemnity and all that willingness which was seen in God’s own people in the olden time; remembering that it is to him we bring it; and the chief point for our consideration is, “Will he accept it?”Psalms 20:4. Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfill all thy counsel.We cannot pray this for everybody. We do pray it for Christ, and we pray it for the Lord’s sanctified people, that he may grant them the desire of their heart, and fulfill their counsel.Psalms 20:5. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfill all thy petitions.What a wonderful prayer this is! May it be granted to each of you! “The Lord fulfill all thy petitions.”Psalms 20:6-9. Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. Save, LORD:Or, “Hosanna.”Psalms 20:9. Let the king hear us when we call.Now turn to the Psalm of victory. It corresponds very beautifully with the litany which we have just been reading. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 20. and 21. Psalms 21:1. The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!See how greatly Christ rejoices, how full his heart is of gladness as he sees God’s power put forth, and God’s salvation accomplished among men.Psalms 21:2-3. Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast, not with holden the request of his lips. Selah. For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness:That is to say, “Thou goest before him,” as you have seen, in pictures, some great conqueror preceded by those who strewn his path with roses, so has God strewn the pathway of Christ with innumerable blessings.Psalms 21:3. Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. Is he not of royal race? Has he not achieved a mighty conquest? Is he not King of kings and Lord of lords?Psalms 21:4. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.“Thou gavest him a resurrection from the dead as our Mediator, and as such he lives.”Psalms 21:5. His glory is great in thy salvation:It is the distinguishing mark of God’s salvation that Christ’s glory is great in it. In the beginning, and the middle, and the end of it, everywhere you see the name of Jesus written large in letters of light. In his salvation, the Father has glorified his Son.Psalms 21:5-8. Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him. For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies:That very hand that was nailed to the tree shall find out all the adversaries of the cross.Psalms 21:8. Thy right hand shall fall out those that hate thee.“Hide wherever they may, thou wilt find them out. They may stand in the high places, and defy thee; but thou wilt hurl them down.”Psalms 21:9. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger:“Not only shall they be cast into the fire, but they shall themselves be as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger. They shall torment themselves, and shall be their own destruction.”Psalms 21:9-11. The LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.But that did not diminish their sin. When a man has devised an evil tiring, even if he cannot carry it out, he is guilty of it.Psalms 21:12. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.As if God would single out the enemies of Christ to be targets for his arrows, and fill them with the darts of his displeasure; who would wish to be in such a plight as this?Psalms 21:13. Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy powerThis exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 20. and 21. Stand and look up at Christ upon the cross, and look upon these words, as his. He himself is the best exposition of this wondrous psalm.Psalms 22:1-2. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.Gethsemane!—there is the key—a prayer unanswered at that time: “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me.” It was not possible. He must drink it. “In the night season I am not silent.”Psalms 22:3. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.No hard thoughts of God, even when he was forsaken. A forsaken Christ still clings to the Father, and ascribes perfect holiness to him.Psalms 22:4-6. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man: a reproach of men, and despised of the people. How low did Christ descend for our sakes not only low as man, but lower still! Never was godly man forsaken of God, and yet Jesus was; so he is lower than we are while he hangs upon the tree “a reproach of men, and despised of the people.”Psalms 22:7-8. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him, let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.Was not this just what they said at the cross? Ah, little did they know that he saved others; himself he could not save, because a matchless love held his hands there, as with diamond rivets.Psalms 22:9-10. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.He remembers his wonderful birth. He was God’s, indeed, from the very first.Psalms 22:11. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. They have all gone. Peter and all the rest have fled. There is none to help.And there stand the Scribes and Pharisees, and the great men of the nation.Psalms 22:12-14. Many bulls haw compasssed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, All dissolved—nothing could hold together—quite spent and gone.Psalms 22:14. And all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax:He felt the inward sinking fever brought on him by the wounds he had upon the cress. “My heart is like wax.”Psalms 22:14-16. It is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd: and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws: and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me:There they are—the cruel multitude—thrusting out the tongue and hooting at him. “For dogs have compassed me.”Psalms 22:16. The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me:The hind of the morning is now surrounded by the dogs. He cannot escape.Psalms 22:16-17. They pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.Horrible, to the tender, modest soul of Jesus, were those vile stares of the ribald multitude as they gazed upon him.Psalms 22:18-22. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me .from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.The sun that was darkened, now shines again. The Saviour’s griefs are o’er. A calm is spread over his mind. He is about to say, “It is finished!” and his heart is comforted. We leave that passage there. I hope we all know this Psalm by heart, may we also know it by heart-experience! It is a sweet pastoral song just suited to our Sabbath evening worship. There is here no din of arms, no noise of war; but there is a delicious hush, only broken by the gentle tinkling of the sheep-bell. God give us that sweet rest tonight!Psalms 23:1. The LORD is my shepherd;All true rest begins with Jesus, as all the comfort of the sheep is provided for their by their shepherd. “The Lord is my shepherd.” Is it so? Canst thou look up, poor defenseless sheep, and say, “The Lord is my shepherd”? Then comes the blessed inference: —Psalms 23:1. I shall not want.I do not want, I cannot want; I never shall want with such a Shepherd as I have. He will provide for me; nay, more, God himself is my provision. All I need I have, for “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” I cannot provide for myself, but I shall not want. Famine may come, and others who have no God to go to, may pine and perish, but in the worst season I shall not want, for “The Lord is my shepherd.”Psalms 23:2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:I am so weak that I even need God’s help to enable me to lie down, but “He maketh me to lie down.” Yes, the rest of the soul is so hard to attain that nobody ever does reach it except by the power of God. He who made the heavens must make us to lie down if we are really to rest. What delightful rest it is when we lie down in his pastures, which are always green! Did you ever find them dry? Our Shepherd makes us not only to feed, but so to feed that we lie down in the midst of the pastures. There is more than we can eat, so the Lord makes a couch of it for us: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:”Psalms 23:2. He leadeth me beside the still waters.There is, first, contemplation: “He maketh me to lie down.” Then there is activity. “He leadeth me.” There is also progress, and there is provision for our advance in the heavenly way: “He leadeth me.” He leadeth me beside the waters of quietness, not by the rushing torrents of excitement, nor by the place of noisy strife. “He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.” “He leadeth me beside the still waters.” Not, he drives, or drags; but he himself leads, going first to show the way. It is for me to follow, happily to follow, where “He leadeth me beside the still waters.”Psalms 23:3. He restoreth my soul:He can do it at once. He restoreth now. He is a restoring God. “He restoreth my soul.” He brings my wandering spirit back when I forsake his ways; and having done that, he leads me, even more carefully than before, for a second time we have the psalmist’s declaration, “He leadeth me.”Psalms 23:3-4. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:Though death’s shadow hovers all around me, and damps my spirit, though I feel as though I must die, and cannot bear up under present trial any longer, “Yea, though I walk,” for I do walk I will not quicken my pace, I will not be in a flurry, I will not run for it. Though death itself shall overshadow me, I will keep up my walk with God. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” There is none, therefore I will not fear any. We often feel more afraid through our fear itself than through any real cause for fear. Some people seem to be ever on the lookout for fear where there is none. Do not you see any, nor let any enter your heart; gay with the psalmist, “I will fear no evil:” —Psalms 23:4. For thou art with me;Should a sheep fear when the shepherd is with it? What cause has it to fear if that Shepherd is omniscient, omnipotent, and full of tenderness?Psalms 23:4. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.Thy rule and thy correction: thy rod, with which I sometimes am made to smart; thy staff, with which I am supported. These are my comforts; why should I fear? Are you drinking in all this precious truth, dear friends? Are you feeling it in your soul’s deepest experience? This Psalm is very good to read, but it is far better to write out from your own experience. Make it a song of your own; not merely a song in the Book, but a song for yourselves.Psalms 23:5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:There is a fight going on, and there are enemies all around. You do not generally have tables set in the hour of battle; but God keeps his people so calm amid the bewildering cry, so confident of victory, that even in the presence of their enemies a table is spread with all the state of a royal banquet. “Thou preparest a table.” There is a doth on the table, there are the ornaments on it, and there are all the accompaniments of a feast: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” They may look on if they like; they may grin, they may wish they could devour, but they cannot sit down at the table, and they cannot prevent me from sitting down at it. Let them blow their trumpets, let them fire their guns: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” It is the very acme of security and repose that is here described. I know of no expression, not even that of lying down in green pastures, that is more full of restfulness than this: “Thou preparest table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”Psalms 23:5. Thou anointest my head with oil;At some feasts, they poured perfumed unguents on the heads of the guests, so God will leave out nothing that is for the joy and comfort of his people. “Thou anointest my head with oil.” You shall have delicacies as well as necessaries; you shall have joy as well as safety; you shall be prepared for service as well as preserved from destruction.Psalms 23:5. My cup runneth over.I have not only what I wish, but I have more; not only all I can hold, but something to spare: “My cup runneth over.” If this is the case with your cup, dear friend, let it run over in thankful joy, and if you have more of this world’s substance than you need, ask the poor and needy to come and catch that which flows over.Psalms 23:6. Surely —This is another of the psalmist’s inferences, and a very sure one. He does not say, “Peradventure,” but, “Surely”Psalms 23:6. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:Here is a prince of the blood royal of heaven attended by two body guards, — goodness and mercy, — which keep close behind him. These are the grooms that ride on the horses of salvation: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.” “Goodness” — to provide for me; “mercy” — to blot out my sin. “Goodness and mercy shall follow me,”-not only now and then, but, “all the days of my life.” When I get gray-headed and feeble, and have to lean heavily upon my staff, these twin angels shall be close behind to bear me up, and bear me through.Psalms 23:6. And I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.Even while I am here in this world, I will be-“No more a stranger or a guest But like a child at home,” dwelling with God; and by-and-by, in the fullest sense, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” I always compare this Psalm to a lark. It begins on the ground among the sheep, but up it goes till you may hear its blessed notes echoing among the stars: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” It has its nest in the grass of the green pastures; but it flies up like the strains of sweetest music rising even to the skies: “I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” God grant that this may be the portion of every one of us, for his great name’s sake! Amen. Psalms 24:1. The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof, And therefore it is also the believer’s. The real fullness of the earth belongs to the Christian. “The meek shall inherit the earth.”Psalms 24:1-2. The world, and they that dwell there in. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.So, child of God, you are in your Father’s house even while you are down here on earth. Still, that question in the next verse is very suggestive. Albeit that the earth is the Lord’s, yet we do not want to stop in it for ever.Psalms 24:3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? This is the portion of the Lord’s people to ascend the hill of the Zion that is above, to enter the New Jerusalem, and to stand in the immediate presence of God. But who shall ever be able to do that?Psalms 24:4-5. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully; he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the blood of his salvation.The man who will go to heaven is the clean man, the man who has been washed from his sins in the blood of the Lamb; and he is clean just where he was most likely to be foul, he has “clean hands.” Grace has enabled him to touch the things of the world without receiving a stain from them, and to touch holy things without defiling them. This expression — “clean hands “ — refers to his outward life; but he is also clean inside, for he has “a pure heart.” If a man were clean as to his actions, but not clean as to his motives, he would not be fit to enter heaven, but the man described here is a true man. He has not followed after vanity, neither has he uttered a lie, but he has followed the truth, and he has spoken the truth. He is the man whom God will bless, but he has no righteousness of his own, so we read that “he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” So he needed to be saved, and he needed a righteousness better than his own, and this God will give him.Psalms 24:6. This is the generation of them that seek him, that see thy face, O Jacob. Selah.It is a wonderful thing that Jesus Christ should take his people’s name but he does. He gives his Church his own name in that remarkable passage in Jeremiah 33:16, “This is the name wherewith she shall be called The Lord our righteousness;” and now, to make the union complete, he takes her name as his own, and Christ is here called Jacob.Psalms 24:7-10. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.Now, if Christ is our Shepherd in the meadows down here where he makes us to lie down in the green pastures of his grace, he will also be our Shepherd in the heavenly pastures up there on the hill-tops of glory, where the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us, and shall lead us unto living fountains of waters, and we shall delight for ever to “follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 23, 24. Psalms 25:1. Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.It is down; and I would fain lift it up; yet I am powerless to do so if I am left to myself. When the soul cleaves to the earth, who but God can lift it up? Yet it must be our desire and object to seek to lift up our soul unto God.Psalms 25:2. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.Whatever happens to me, I trust in thee. Down goes the anchor; that ship will never drift far out to sea. “O my God, I trust in thee.” Can you say that, dear friends? Then, if you are in the dark, you are as safe as if you were in the light, for still this anchor holds: “O my God, I trust in thee.” “Let not mine enemies triumph over me.” They will do so, if they can get me back into the world. If they can seduce me from the paths of holiness, what shouts of joy there will be in the camp of the enemy! “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.”Psalms 25:3. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.When good men are in earnest on their own account, they soon begin to pray for others; and the evil which they dread for themselves, they are sure to dread for their brethren. David first prayed, “Let me not be ashamed;” and then he added, “Let none that wait on thee be ashamed.” The only shame that is worth having is a blessed shame,— the shame of true repentance, which sorrows over past sin, of which it is ashamed. Alas! there will be an eternal shame, which shall cover those who choose the ways of sin.Psalms 25:4. Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. That is the prayer of one who is tight of the Spirit, for, by nature, our desire is to have our own way; and if we can have our own way, we are satisfied. But when the Lord has taught us better, our prayer is, “Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.”Psalms 25:5. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.We need not only to have the path shown to us, but to be led into it, for we are like babes just learning to walk, we must have a finger that we may hold, or a hand that we may lean upon: “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me.” That is the second time that David has prayed for the Lord to teach him; and as long as we are here, we also shall each one need to pray, Teach me. What is a disciple but as learner? His daily cry must be, “Teach me: for thou art the God. of my salvation.” There is another grip of the hand of faith. I have taken thee to be my salvation, O my God! I trust nowhere else, “On thee do I wait all the day,” expecting everything from thee,—tarrying thy leisure, but tarrying hopefully, expecting to be blessed.Psalms 25:6. Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.Thy saints knew them before I was born, and I have known them since I have been born again. By the constancy of thy kindness to me hitherto, continue still to bless me, for art thou not an unchanging God?Psalms 25:7. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.In this verse and the preceding one, there are three “remembers”— erst, that God would remember his tender mercies and his lovingkindnesses; next, that he would not remember our sins and our transgressions; and, then, that he would remember us according to his mercy and goodness. This last request may remind us of the prayer of the dying thief, “Lord, remember me;” and it may serve for us as a repenting prayer: “According to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.”Psalms 25:8. Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.If good men endeavor to make others good, much more will the good God do so. A good man will seek to lead sinners in the right way; and. much more will our good Saviour, and God, and Helper do so. Only let us be willing to be taught, and come to him confessing our ignorance, and. asking to be led and instructed. This Psalm, you see, dear friends, is all about teaching; and as David needed instruction, so also do we. The next verse deals with the same subject:Psalms 25:9. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.Not the proud man, but the meek,— the learners,— the teachable ones; those who, like little children, are willing to believe what they are told upon true authority. Oh, that we all may be among the meek! The tender-mouthed horse is easy to drive; but some people are so stubborn and obstinate that they are “as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle.” Oh, that we were sensitive to the slightest touch of the divine hand, and always ready and anxious to be instructed by the Lord.Psalms 25:10. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.Do you believe that, you who have been sorely tried? If you are resting in covenant love, and find your hope in covenant blood and covenant promises, you must believe that everything God does to you is done in mercy and truth. Ay, though he strikes till every blow of the rod leaves a blue wound behind, yet we rejoice in these tokens of his fatherly love and desire for our highest good, for he has said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” The word “love” in that passage conveys the idea of a very tender and ardent auction.Psalms 25:11. For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.Those who are not taught of God pray very differently from that, for their prayer is, “O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is little;” but he who is graciously instructed confesses the greatness of his guilt, and out of that he draws a plea for mercy, for is not God a great God, and is it not greatly to his glory to pardon great sinners; and when they are pardoned, are they not filled with a great love, and a great zeal, so that they are greatly serviceable to their Lord and toaster?Psalms 25:12. What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. True reverence for God, a holy fear of him, is a quality that God delights to see; and wherever he finds it, there he gives further instruction.Psalms 25:13. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. Are you one of those trembling ones who fear to offend God? Well, I daresay that you sometimes envy those who are very boisterous in their joy. Do not envy them; you have something better in having that holy, filial fear that trembles at God’s Word; and you shall have the secret of the Lord with you, and he will show you his covenant.Psalms 25:14-15 The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. ine eyes are eyes toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.When they get into it, he will pluck them out of it. When Satan seems to cast a net over me, God will come and pull me out. There is force in that word “pluck”— denoting swiftness and energy; perhaps, also, there is a little idea of roughness, but God’s roughness is true tenderness.Psalms 25:16. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.If you pass that dish round, there are some who will not help themselves from it, for they are not “desolate and afflicted.” But I know that there are some, even here, who are both “desolate and afflicted.” Be sure, dear friends, that you make this prier your own: “Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.”Psalms 25:17-18. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of any distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain;And what follows? “Take the affliction and the pain away”? No.Psalms 25:18. And forgive all my sins.David will be quite content if God will but look with pitying eyes upon his sufferings; but, as for his sins, he must be clean rid of them, he cannot be happy until he has the answer to this petition, “Forgive all my sins.”Psalms 25:19. Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. The better the man, the more bitterly is he hated by the ungodly. It is not by holiness that you will escape the hatred of the world, it is by that very thing that you will arouse its malice. Do not wish to have it otherwise; but remember your Lord’s own words, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” But, “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” If we live near to God, and are truly the seed of the woman, the seed of the serpent will be constantly nibbling at our heel; some little viper or other will be sure to be there. As the great serpent seeks to do us injury, so will his seed.Psalms 25:20. O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.Do you notice how David gets back to his key-note? Almost at the beginning of the Psalm, he said, “O my God, I trust in thee;” now he says “I put my trust in thee.” Let faith in God be the key-note of your life-psalm. At another time, David wrote, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” That is the motto for all Christians,—“Trust, trust, TRUST.” When there is nothing to be seen, when you are in thick Egyptian darkness, let Job’s confident declaration be the resolve of your spirit, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”Psalms 25:21. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.The child of God cannot hope to pass through the world safely unless he is careful to keep his integrity and his uprightness. There are some who profess to be Christians, who try to get on in trade by various tricks, and they hope to win the favor of men by just bending a little to their ways. Never do so, beloved; if you give way an inch, you will have to give way a yard or a mile before long.Psalms 25:22. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.God did so to Israel himself. Jacob, whose name was also Israel, said, “All these things are against me;” yet God redeemed him out of his troubles; and so will the Lord do for all his people in due time, glory be unto his name, world without end! Amen. No doubt this Psalm was written by David when his cruel persecutor Saul, the more effectually to stab at him, spread false reports concerning his character. When the wicked can use no other weapons, they always have their quivers full of slanderous reports. Let us learn here that the best of men must expect to be misrepresented, and to have the worst of crimes laid to their charge. Let us learn, also, from the example of David, to carry our case to the highest court at once, not to meddle with the lower courts of earth, but to go at once to the Court of King’s Bench in heaven, and there plead our cause before the eternal throne.Psalms 26:1. Judge me, O LORD;As if he turned away from all other judges, bribed and false as they had proved themselves to be in his ease, and put himself on trial before God: “Judge me, O Lord; “-Psalms 26:1.For I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.He pleads two things: first, the outward life and second, the inward faith, which, as it is the main-spring and source of the outer life of integrity, is also the more important of the two. Remark, that as the case is between himself and his accusers he pleads his life, for though we are justified before God by faith and not by works, yet before men we must be justified by our works, rather than by our faith. It is in vain for me to plead my faith when I am slandered. The only answer that can effectually shut the mouth of the adversary, is to point to a blameless life. Hence in this case he not only brings his faith before his God, but he also brings the fruit of his faith. Note, the inference which he draws from God’s mercy to him in enabling him to walk uprightly and to trust him-“ therefore I shall not slide.” He rests for the future upon his God. His position was slippery, his enemies were always busy trying to trip up his heels, but saith he-“ I shall not slide.”Psalms 26:2. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.This is a wonderful verse. One would hardly dare to pray it. Here are three kinds of trial. According to the etymology of the Hebrew the first is the trial by touch-“ Examine me “; the next is the trial by smell- “ Prove me “; and the next is the trial by fire-“ Assay my reins and my heart.” You see how anxious he is really to have the matter decided by God. “Lord, search me through and through; thou knowest I am not a hypocrite.” Now who dares to say this but that true man of God whose soul is wholly fixed upon the Lord? The reins and the heart are mentioned because those were believed to be the seat of the affections, and when the affections are right the whole man is right. The heart is the fountain from which issue streams of life, and if the fountain be pure, the streams cannot be impure; hence he asks chiefly that the examination may be directed to his reins and to his heart.Psalms 26:3. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes:-Right straight before his eyes, he had God’s lovingkindness. Some people appear to have their miseries, their sorrows, their sins, before their eyes but happy is that believer who always has God’s lovingkindness before him!Come, my brother, forget for a little while the burden of your business cares; now for a little season let the sickness that is in your house be left in the hand of your God, and let his lovingkindness be before your eyes. Lovingkindness-pull the word to pieces. Remember the ancientness of it, the constancy of it, the variety of ways in which it shows itself, and the lavish bounties which it bestows upon you. Do not turn your back to God’s goodness, but now, right straight before you set the lovingkindness of your God.Psalms 26:3. And I have walked in thy truth.By which he may mean two things, first that he endeavored to hold fast to truth both in doctrine and in practice; or, secondly, that by God’s truthfulness in giving him the promised grace, he had been enabled to walk uprightly.Psalms 26:4. I have not sat with vain persons,-I never took counsel with them; they never were my choice companions.Psalms 26:4. Neither will I go in with dissemblers.He makes a vow for the future that all crafty, lying, and foolish men shall never have his companionship.Psalms 26:5. I have hated the congregation of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked.By which he does not mean that he does not associate with them in any way for we must needs go out of the world if we will not have communion with sinners; but he means that he did not seek their company, found no pleasure in it, and never went in it to abet them in their evil deeds.Psalms 26:6. I will wash mine hands in innocency:Pilate did this, but alas! the water was very dirty in which he washed his hands. This was an old Jewish rite when a man was found murdered; if the people in the valley in which he was found would be free from the crime of murder they took a heifer, slew it, and then washed their hands in water over the head of the victim. They were then clear. So here he says- “ I will wash mine hands in innocency: “Psalms 26:6. So will I compass thine altar, O LORD:He is innocent far as men are concerned, but he still confesses that he is a sinner, for he goes to God’s altar. Perfect men need no altars. It is the sinner that needs a sacrifice. So let the saint ever know that though he can plead innocency against the charges of men yet before God, his hope lies in the blood-besprinkled altar of which Jesus Christ is the great High Priest.Psalms 26:7-8. That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.I am sure many of us can say this, that when the Sabbath comes round, it is the best day of all the week, and that hour in the week-night when we can get to the house of God-what an inexpressible relief is that! It is to us like a green oasis in the midst of the sandy desert. There are no beauties in nature and no changes to be perceived in traveling that I think can ever compensate for the loss of the constant means of grace, after all God’s house is the fairest spot of earth. Zion, I will prefer thee above my chief joy! If I forget thee let my right hand forget her cunning. “I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where shine honour dwelleth.”Psalms 26:9-10. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: in whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.See, he so loves God’s house that he cannot bear the thought of being shut in with sinners; and this is our comfort, that if we have loved God’s house on earth we shall dwell in his house for ever.Psalms 26:11. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.See again, my beloved, how in the Christian’s practice good works and faith are seen happily blended. He declares that he will walk in his integrity, but still, still note, he prays as one that is conscious of a thousand imperfections-“Redeem me and be merciful unto me.” We do rest on Christ alone, but still we desire to walk in holiness with as much exactness as though our salvation depended upon our good works.Psalms 26:12. My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD. Very much of the language of David used here, I trust, we can make our own. May the Spirit of God lead us to understand, by experience, what he has written.Psalms 27:1. The LORD is my light and my salvation;I find no comfort anywhere else but in him, and expect salvation from none but himself. “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”Psalms 27:1. Whom shall I fear! the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid!Who can stand against him? What strength can resist his strength? What darkness can baffle his light? What foes can prevent his salvation?Psalms 27:2. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.“They wanted to destroy me altogether — to eat me right up.” If they did not destroy me, it was not from want of heart to do it, nor even from want of power, for there were many of them. But I had not to fight, for they fell before they reached me. “They stumbled end fell.”Psalms 27:3. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.Let them come on. They fell before: the, will fall again. Let them come on. God was strong enough to meet them and overthrow them once. He will do it again. Therefore, why should we fear? Ah! dear brethren, those that have had the most experience of the divine fullness will rest most confident that nothing can harm them.Psalms 27:4. One thing have I desired of the LORD that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.He only wished to be always like a child at home — live in God’s house —no temporal structure; but wherever he was he wished to feel that he was near to God — that all places were the mansions of the great Father, so that he might always have his eye fixed upon the beauty of the Lord, and his ear always open to listen to the voice of the Lord. Ah! if we can once get ourselves wholly given up to God, it will take our thoughts off the various oppositions we can meet with, and we shall no more be afraid.Psalms 27:5-6. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. It is a blessed resolution, not always easily carried out, but still it ought to be. Our life ought to be singing. It used to be sinning: it ought now to be singing, since the sin has been put away. Oh! happy are the men that know their God. If the whole world lye full of storms, yet may they rest in peace. Get near to God: acquaint thyself with him, and be at peace. The remedy for all trouble is dwelling near to God.Psalms 27:7-8. Hear, O LORD. when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD will I seek.Are we always mindful of divine monitions? When the still small voice in the heart says, “Seek ye my face,” brothers and sisters, do we always at once respond and say, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek”? I am afraid we are often as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding, and need to have the bit, and the bridle, and the rod. But happy are those who have a sensitive nature — quickly feel the movements of the Spirit of God.Psalms 27:9-10. Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help: leave me not, neither forsake me. O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.He prayed, you see, and it looked a little unbelieving when he said, “Leave me not, neither forsake me.” But it was not so, for at once he confessed that he did not think that God would leave him, even when our father and mother, who are the last to leave us, should do so. “Then the Lord will take me up.”Psalms 27:11-14. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say on the LORD.I suppose he meant that last sentence to be his own personal recommendation, derived from his own experience. “Wait, I say, on the Lord.” He had tried it — proved its wonderful power — as the restorative to his heart, and so he says, “Wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalms 28:1. Unto thee will I cry, O LORD my rock: be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.Oh! if God did not hear prayer, we should become like dead men — ay, like lost men. Our fall or despair would be terrible indeed. “Lest, if thou be silent to me, I become Like them that go down into the pit.”Psalms 28:2. Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.Is that the way you pray, dear friend? I know there are some that, if they have uttered certain good words — got through a form of prayer — are perfectly satisfied. As to whether God hears them or not, that does not trouble them. But if you are a true child of God, it will be your main thought in prayer, “Will he hear me? Will he hear me? Will he answer me.” And you will think nothing of a prayer at all unless you have the comfortable, believing persuasion that yore’ prayer has reached the car and heart of God. Oh! believe us, for some of us do know, by experience, that prayer is a real thing. It is no repetition of words. It really is the heart speaking into the ear of God; and God does graciously respond when prayer is truly offered.Psalms 28:3. Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.We are often afraid lest we should get numbered with them. “Oh! were it not for grace divine, Their fate so dreadful had been mine.” “Gather not my soul with sinners,” is the prayer of many a godly man. When he looks within and sees the sin that is there, and what he deserves from the hand of God, apart from the blood and righteousness of Christ, he begins, indeed, to pray, “Draw me not away with the wicked. O Lord, do not let me wander into doctrinal error or into errors of life, or into laxity of behavior, or into backslidings, but keep me fast, for unless thou hold me fast: — “’I feel I must, I shall, decline, And prove like them at last.’ Draw me not away with the wicked.”Psalms 28:4. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.And a just mind feels that such ought to be the case. God is a judge, and he will punish sin, and gracious men do not wish that it should be otherwise. Even to that terrible side of God’s character, which is seen in his vengeance upon the ungodly, the Christian trains the loving eye. He is not reconciled to half a God, or to a God with half the attributes of God, namely, love and tenderness: but he loves God as he finds him. He loves that. God who is a consuming fire. I should be afraid if I could not love God under any aspect in which he is presented to me, because just as I should feel that I did net love a man truly if I said, “In such a character I cannot endure him,” I should feel that there was some difference between him and me. We must love God in every character — upon the throne of justice, as well as upon the seat of love.Psalms 28:5-6. Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up. Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.Can you say this? Excuse me putting the question again and again to all now present, for it is a very vital question. If you never knew what answered prayer means, God help you to begin to pray, “Blessed be the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications.” This exposition consisted of readings from Colossians 3; Colossians 4:1-4. Psalms 28:1-6. The Majestic Voice June 22, 1856 by C. H. (1834-1892) "The voice of the Lord is full of majesty."— Psalms 29:4 . All God's works praise him, whether they be magnificent or minute, they all discover the wisdom, the power, and the benevolence of their Creator. "All thy works praise thee, O God." But there are some of his more majestic works which sing the song of praise louder than others. There are some of his doings, upon which there seems to be graven in larger letters than usual the name of God. Such are the lofty mountains, which worship God with uncovered heads both night and day; such are the rolling seas, too mighty to be managed by man, but held in check by God, and such, especially, are the thunders and the lightnings. The lightnings are the glances of the eyes of God, and the thunders are the utterings of his voice. The thunder has been usually attributed to God more especially, though philosophers assure us that it is to be accounted for by natural causes. We believe them, but we prefer, ourselves, to look to the first great cause, and we are content with that old and universal belief, that the thunder is the voice of God. It is marvellous what effect the thunder has had upon all kinds of men. In reading an ode of Horace the other day, I found him in the first two verses, singing like a true Ithurean, that he despised God, and intended to live merrily; but by-and-bye he hears the thunder, and acknowledging that there is a Jehovah, who lives on high, he trembles before him. The most wicked of men have been obliged to acknowledge that there must be a Creator, when they have heard that marvellous voice of his sounding through the sky. Men of the stoutest nerve and the boldest blasphemy have become the weakest of all creatures, when God has in some degree manifested himself in the mighty whirlwind, or in the storm. "He breaketh the cedars of Lebanon;" he bringeth down the stout hearts; he layeth down the mighty, and he obliges those who never acknowledged him to reverence him when they hear his voice. The Christian will acknowledge the thunder to be the voice of God, from the fact, that if he be in the right frame of mind, it always suggest to him holy thoughts. I do not know how it may be with you, but I scarce ever hear the rolling thunder, but I begin to forget earth and look upwards to my God. I am unconscious of any feeling of terror or pain; it is rather a feeling of delight that I experience, for I like to sing that verse— "The God that rules on high, And thunders when he please, That rides upon the stormy sky And manages the seas; This awful God is ours, Our Father and our love, He shall send down his heavenly powers To carry us above." He is our God, and I like to sing that, and think of it: but there is something so terrible in the tone of that voice when God is speaking, something so terrific to other men, and humbling to the Christian, that he is obliged to sink very low in his own estimation; then he looks up to God, and cries, "infinite Jehovah, spare a worm, crush not an unworthy wretch. I know it is thy voice; I reverence thee with solemn awe; I prostrate myself before thy throne; thou art my God, and beside thee there is none else." It might well have occurred to a Jewish mind to have called the thunder the voice of God, when he considered the loudness of it, when all other voices are hushed; even if they be the loudest voices mortals can utter, or the most mighty sounds; yet are they but indistinct whispers, compared with the voice of God in the thunder; and indeed, they are entirely lost when God speaks from his throne, and makes even the deaf hear, and those who are unwilling to acknowledge him hear his voice. But we need not stop to prove, that the thunder is the voice of God, from any natural feeling of man; we have Scripture to back us up, and therefore we shall do our best to appeal to that. In the first place, there is a passage in the book of Exodus where I would refer you; where, in the margin, we are told that the thunder is the voice of God. In the 9th chapter and the 28th verse, Pharaoh says, "Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail." The original Hebrew has it, and my margin has it, and the margin of all you who are wise enough to have marginal Bibles—"Voices of God." "Let there be no more voices of God and hail." So that it is not a mere illusion, but we are really warranted by Scripture, in saying, that "the thunder is the voice of God lifted up in the sky." Now, for another proof; to what shall we refer you unless we send you to the book of Job? In his 37th chapter, 3rd verse, he says, "he directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth. After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency: and he will not stay them when his voice is heard. God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend." And so he says in the 40th chapter, at the 9th verse, "Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?" I am glad, in this age, when men are seeking to forget God, and put him entirely out of the creation, and trying to put laws in the place of God, as if laws could govern a universe without some one to execute those laws, and put power and force into them—I am glad, I say, to be able to bear testimony to something which men cannot deny to be caused immediately by God the mighty One himself. There is one striking proof I would offer to you, that the thunder is the voice of God; and that is the fact, that when God spake on Sinai, and gave forth his law, his voice is then described, if not in the first passage, yet in the reference to it, as being great thunders. "There were thunders and lightnings, exceedingly loud and long." God spoke then, and he spoke so terribly in thunder, that the people requested that they might hear that voice no more. And I must refer you to one passage in the New Testament, which will bear me out thoroughly in describing the thunder to be, indeed, the voice of God; and that is in the 11th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, where Jesus lifted up his voice to heaven at the tomb of Lazarus, and asked his Father to answer him; and then a voice came from heaven, and they that stood by said, "that it thundered;" it was the voice of God which was then heard, and they ascribed it to the thunder. Here is a remarkable proof when God's voice has been heard on any remarkable occasion, it has always been accompanied by the sound of thunder, or, rather, has been the sound of thunder itself. Well, now, leaving these considerations altogether, we come to make some remarks, not upon the voice of God in the thunder, but upon the voice of God as elsewhere heard; for it is not only heard there naturally, but there are spiritual voices and other voices of the Most High. "The voice of the Lord is full of majesty." God has spoken in various ways to man, in order that man might not think him a God so engrossed with himself that he does not observe his creatures. It has graciously pleased the Divine Being, sometimes to look upon man, at other times to stretch out his hand to man, sometimes to reveal himself in mortal appearance to man, and frequently to speak to man. At sundry times he has spoken absolutely without the use of means—by his own voice, as for instance, when he spoke from Sinai's blazing mountain-top, or when he spoke to Samuel in his bed, and said unto him several times, "Samuel, Samuel;" or when he spoke to Elijah, and Elijah said, "he heard the whirlwind, and he saw the fire;" and after that there was "a still small voice." He has spoken immediately from heaven by his own lips on one or two occasions in the life of Christ. He spoke to him at the waters of Jordan, when he said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." He spoke to him on another occasion, to which we have already referred. He spoke—it was God that spoke, though it was Jesus Christ—he spoke to Saul, when on his way to Damascus, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" He has spoken several times immediately by his own voice, without the intervention of means at all; at other seasons, God has been pleased to speak to men by angels. He has, as it were, written the message, and sent it down by his messenger from on high: he hath told to man many wonders and secrets by the lips of those glorious beings, who are flaming spirits of his, that do his pleasure. As frequently, perhaps, God has spoken to men in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon them. Then, when the natural ear hath been closed, he hath opened the ear of the spirit, and he hath taught truths which, otherwise, men could never have known. More frequently still, God hath spoken to men by men. From the days of Noah even until now, God has raised up his prophets, by whose lips he hath spoken. It was not Jeremiah who uttered that lament which we read, but it was Jehovah, the God in Jeremiah, speaking through the natural organs of his voice. It was not Isaiah who foresaw the future, and foretold the doom of nations, it was God in Isaiah thus speaking. And so with every prophet of the Lord now living, and every minister whom God hath raised up to speak: when we speak with power and efficacy, and unction, it is not we that speak, but it is the Spirit of our Father who dwelleth in us. God speaks through men; and now also, we know that God speaks through his own written Word of Inspiration. When we turn to the page of Scripture, we must not look upon these words as being in any degree the words of men, but as being the words of God. And though they be silent, yet do they speak; and though they cause no noise, yet, verily, "their sound hath gone forth throughout all the world, and their noise unto the ends of the earth." And yet, again, God even now speaks himself by the use of means; he does not make man speak, he does not make the Bible speak merely of itself, but he speaks through the Bible, and through the man, and there be times when the Spirit of God speaks in the heart of man without the use of means. I believe there be many secret impulses, many solemn thoughts, many mysterious directions given to us without a single word having been uttered, but by the simple motions of God's Spirit in the heart. This thing I know, that when I have neither heard nor read, I have yet felt the voice of God within me, and the Spirit hath, himself, revealed some dark mystery, opened some secret, guided me into some truth, given me some direction, led me in some path, or in some other way hath immediately spoken to me himself; and I believe it is so with every man at conversion; with every Christian, as he is carried on through his daily life, and especially as he nears the shores of the grave—that God, the Everlasting One, speaks himself to his soul, with a voice that he cannot resist, although he may have resisted the mere voice of man. The voice of the Lord is still heard, even as it was heard aforetime. Glory be to his name! And now, my beloved, I come to the doctrine, "The voice of the Lord is full of majesty." First of all, essentially , "The voice of the Lord" must be "full of majesty;" secondly, constantly , "the voice of the Lord is full of majesty;" thirdly, efficaciously , in all it does, "The voice of the Lord is full of majesty." I. First, then, "THE VOICE OF THE LORD IS FULL OF MAJESTY." Ay, and so it should be. Should not that voice be full of majesty which comes from Majesty? Is not God the King of kings, and the Ruler of the whole earth? Should he, then, speak with a voice below his own dignity? Should not the king speak with the voice of a king? Should not a mighty monarch speak with a monarch's tongue? And surely, if God be God, and if he be the Master of all worlds, and the Emperor of the universe, he must, when he speaks, speak with the monarch's tongue and with a majestic voice. The very nature of God requires that all he does should be God-like. His looks are looks divine; his thoughts are thoughts divine; and should not his words be words divine, since they come from him? Verily, from the very essence of God, we might infer that his voice would be full of majesty. But what do we mean by a voice having majesty? I take it that no man's voice can have majesty in it unless it is true; a lie, if it should be spoken in the noblest language, would never be majestic; a falsehood, if it be uttered by the most eloquent lips, would be a mean and paltry thing, however it might be spoken; and an untruth, wherever uttered, and by whomsoever, is not majestic; it never can be truth, and truth only can ever have majesty about it; and because God's word are pure truth, unalloyed with the least degree of error, therefore does it come to pass that his words are full of majesty. Whatever I hear my Father say in Scripture, whatever he speaks to me by the ministry, or by his Spirit, if he speaks it, there is not the slightest alloy of untruth about it. I may receive it just as it is. "My faith may on his promise live, May on his promise die." I need not reason about it; it is enough for me to take it and believe it, because he has said it. I need not try to prove it to the worldling: if I were to prove it, he would believe it none the better; if the voice of God's majesty doth not convince him, sure the voice of my reasoning never can. I need not stand and cut and divide between the voice of God and the other; I know it must be true, if he has said it; and therefore I will believe all that I believe God has said, believing that his voice is full of majesty. Then, again, when we speak of a majestical voice, we mean by it, that it is a commanding voice . A man may speak truth, and yet there may be but little majesty in what he says, because he speaks it in a tone that never can command attention and catch the ear of his fellow creatures. in fact, there are some men, expounders of truth, who had better hold their tongues, for they do truth an injury. We know full many who affect to preach God's truth, who go out to battle, who take the lance in their hands to defend the honor of Christ, but who wield the lance so ill, and who have so little of God's Spirit, that they do but disgrace his holy name, and it would have been better had they remained at home. Oh! beloved, God's voice, when he speaks, is always a commanding voice. Let the monarch arise in the midst of his creatures; they may have been conversing with each other before; but hush! his majesty is about to speak. It is so with the majesty of God; if he should speak in heaven the angels would hush their hallelujahs, and suspend the notes of their golden harps, to hear him; and when he speaks on earth, it is at all times becoming in all his creatures to hush their rebellious passions, and make the voice of their reason be silent. When God speaks, either from the pulpit or from his Word, I hold it to be my duty to keep silence. Even while we sing the glories of our God, our soul stands trembling; but when he speaks forth his own glories, who is he that dares to reply? Who is he that shall life up his voice against the majesty of heaven? There is something so majestic in the voice of God, that when he speaks, it commands silence everywhere, and bids men hear. But there is something very powerful in the voice of God, and that is the reason why it has majesty in it. When God speaks, he speaks not weakly, but with a voice full of power. We poor creatures, at times, are clothed by God with that might, and when we speak grace comes pouring from our lips; but there are oftentimes seasons when we meet with small success; we talk and talk, and have not our Master's feet behind us, nor our Master's spirit within us, and therefore but little is done. It is not so with God: he never wasted a word yet; never spoke a solitary word in vain. Whatever he intended he had but to speak and it was accomplished. Once he said, "Let there be light," and instantly light was. So he said in past eternity that Christ should be his first elect, and Christ was his first elect. He decreed out salvation; he spake the word, and it was done. He sent his Son to redeem, and proclaimed to his elect justification in him. And his voice was a powerful voice, for it did justify us. Any other man's voice could not pardon sin; none but the voice of the monarch can speak pardon to the subject; and God's is a majestic voice, for he has only to speak, and our pardon is at once signed, sealed, and ratified. God is not magniloquent in his words; he does not speak big, sounding words, without meaning. The simplest word he utters may have little meaning to man, but it has a power and meaning in it equal to the omnipotence of God. There is a majesty about the voice of God which might suffice to nerve my soul to fight the dragon; to say, "Where is thy boasted victory, death? Where is the monster's sting?" That one promise hath majesty enough in it to make the dwarf a giant, and the weakling one of the mighties of the Most High. It has might enough in it to feed a whole host in the wilderness; to guide a whole company through the mazes of mortal life; majesty enough to divide the Jordan, to open the gates of heaven, and admit the ransomed in. Beloved, I cannot tell you how it is that God's voice is so majestic, except from the fact, that he is so mighty himself, and that his words are like him. But just one thought more concerning the voice of God being essentially majestic; and I must trouble you to remember that, if you forget everything else that I have said. In some sense Jesus Christ may be called the voice of God, for you know he is called the Word of God frequently in Scripture; and I am sure this Word of God "is full of majesty." The voice and the word are very much the same thing. God speaks: it is his Son. His Son is the Word; the Word is his Son, and the voice is his Son. Ah! truly the voice, the Word of God, "is full of majesty." Angels! ye can tell what majesty sublime invested his blest person when he reigned at his Father's right hand; ye can tell what were the brightnesses which he laid aside to become incarnate; ye can tell how sparkling was that crown, how mighty was that sceptre, how glorious were those robes bedecked with stars. Spirits! ye who saw him when he stripped himself of all his glories, ye can tell what was his majesty. And oh! ye glorified, ye who saw him ascend up on high, leading captivity captive—ye beloved songsters, who bow before him, and unceasingly sing his love! ye can tell how full of majesty he is. High above all principalities and powers ye see him sit; angels are but servants at his feet; and the mightiest monarchs like creeping worms beneath his throne. High there, where God alone reigns, beyond the ken of angels or the gaze of immortal spirits—there he sits, not majestic merely, but full of majesty. Christian! adore your Saviour; adore the Son of God; reverence him, and remember at all seasons and times, how little so ever you may be, your Saviour, with whom you are allied, the Word of God, is essentially full of majesty. II. Now the second point, IT IS FULL OF MAJESTY. God's voice, like man's voice, has its various tones and degrees of loudness; but it is full of majesty, constantly so—whatever tone he uses, it is always full of majesty. Sometimes God speaks to man with a harsh voice, threatening him for sin; and then there is majesty in that harshness. When man is angry with his fellows, and he speaks harshly and severely, there is little majesty in that; but when the just God is angry with sinful mortals, and he says, "I will by no means spare the guilty;" "I, the Lord, am a jealous God;" when he declares himself to be exceedingly wroth, and asks who can stand before the fury of his countenance—when the rocks are cast down by him—there is a majesty in that terrific voice of his. Then he adopts another voice. Sometimes it is a gentle didactic voice, teaching us what he would have us learn. And then how full of majesty it is! He explains, he expounds, he declares: he tells us what we are to believe; and what a majesty there is in his voice then! Men may explain God's Word, and have no majesty in what they say; but when God teaches what his people are to hold to be truth, what majesty there is in it! So much majesty, that if any man take away from the words that are written in this Book, God shall take away his name out of the book of life and out of the holy city—so much majesty, that to seek to mend the Bible is a proof of a blasphemous heart, that to seek to alter one word of Scripture is a proof of alienation from the God of Israel. At another time God uses another voice—a sweet consoling voice. And oh! ye mourners that have ever heard God's comforting voice, is not that full of majesty! There is nothing of the mere trifling that sometimes we employ to comfort poor sick souls. Mothers will often talk to those who are sick in some gentle strain; but somehow it appears to be affected, and is, therefore, not full of majesty; but when God speaks to comfort, he uses his majestic words. "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." Oh! is there not majesty in this sweet voice? "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I never forget thee." How sweet, but yet how majestic! We cannot avoid being comforted by it if God speaks it to our souls. Sometimes God's voice is a reproving voice; and then it is full of majesty. "The ox knoweth his owner," he says, "and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider;" and he speaks reprovingly, as if he had a controversy with them, and calls the mountains and the hills to hear his reproof of them on account of sin; "I have nourished and brought up children, but they have rebelled against me." But God's reproving voice is always full of majesty. At other times it is a voice of command to his children, when he appears to them and says, "Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward," And how majestic are God's commands, how mighty is his voice, when he tells us what to do! Some of you have a very poor estimation of what God's voice is. God tells you to be baptized in honor of your Lord and Master; he speaks to you, and he tells you to come round his table, and to remember his dying sufferings; but you do not think much of it: it seems to be lost upon you. But let me tell you, that God's voice of command is as full of majesty, and ought to be as much regarded by his people as his word of promise or his word of doctrine. Whenever he speaks there is a majesty about his voice, whatever tone he may adopt. Ah! beloved, and there are times coming when God will speak words which will be evidently full of majesty—when he will speak and say, "Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment." There will be majesty in that voice; for Hades shall then be unlocked, and the gates of the grave sawn in twain; the spirits of the dead shall again be clothed with flesh, and the dry bones shall be made alive once more. And he will speak by-and-bye, and summon all men to stand before his bar; and there will be majesty in his voice then, when he shall say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you;" and oh! dread thought, there will be tremendous majesty in his voice, when he shall exclaim, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Again. God's voice is full of majesty in all the different degrees of its loudness . Even in calling there is a difference in the loudness of God's voice; many of you were called gently to Christ, and you did not seem to hear the thunders of Sinai, like many of God's people; but whether the voice be loud or soft, it is always full of majesty. And in all its mediums it is full of majesty. God has sometimes chosen the poor to speak his wisdom by. If I go and hear a countryman or an untaught man preach, who makes many mistakes in grammar, yet if it is God's word that he preaches, it "is full of majesty." And sometimes, when a little child has repeated a text, we have not noticed the child, by reason of the majesty of the voice. In fact, the meaner the instrument employed, the greater the majesty in the voice itself. I have noticed a tendency in many to despise their poorer brethren, members of smaller churches, where there is a more humble minister than one they are in the habit of hearing; but this is all wrong, for God's voice is full of majesty; and he can as well speak by one as the other. III. In the last place, I must briefly refer to the majesty of God's voice WHEN IT IS IN ITS EFFECTS—when it is spoken home to the heart of man. Just look at the Psalm, and let me briefly refer to the facts here mentioned. I shall not understand them naturally, though, doubtless, they were so intended by David, but I shall understand them spiritually. As Dr. Hawker remarks, "Doubtless they were intended to set out gracious operations, as well as natural ones." First, the voice if the Lord is a breaking voice. "The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars." The proudest and most stubborn sinner is broken before him when he speaks. I believe that even the spirit of Voltaire, stubborn as that spirit was, and hard as a millstone, would have been broken in a single instant, if God had but spoken to him; the hardest heart I have here needs only one syllable from God to break it in a moment. I might hammer away to all eternity, but I could not do it; but "the voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." In the next place it is a moving voice, an overcoming voice. "He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn." Who would ever think of a mountain moving? It stands so fast and firm. But God's voice, like his voice in Zerubbabel, speaks to that mountain, and says, "Who art thou, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain." There is not a mountain standing in this world that God cannot move away by his voice, whether it be the mountains of Rome, or the mountain of the false prophet, or the mountains of colossal systems of heresy, or infidelity, or idolatry. God has only to speak the word, and the idols shall fall from their thrones, and the firm mountains of priest-craft shall skip like a calf. In the next place, the voice of God is a dividing voice. "The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire;" or, as it should be, "The voice of the Lord cutteth out with flames of fire." You saw the lightning on Friday, and you remarked then, when God's voice was heard, that the flash seemed to part the cloud and divide the sky. Just so with God's word. Where God's word is faithfully preached, and his voice is spiritually heard, it is always a dividing voice. You bring all kinds of different characters into a chapel, and God's word splits them all in twain. It is in this place God divides you. The son of God holds his throne, and sits in judgment here. It divides men from men; it divides sinners from their sins; it divides sinners from their righteousness; it splits through clouds and darkness; it divides our troubles, breaks a way for us to heaven. In fact, there is nothing that the voice of God cannot divide. It is a dividing voice. And then, again, the voice of the Lord is such a loud voice, that it is said to shake the wilderness. "The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh." Stand in the middle of a wilderness or a desert, and conceive if you would make anything hear; but when God speaks, his voice ringeth through the wilderness, and startleth the desert itself. Minister of God! you have only to speak God's voice, and you will be heard; if you have only half-a-dozen to hear you, you will be heard further than you know of. None of us can preach a gospel sermon, but it is heard and talked of more than we imagine. Yea, there is not a pious conversation with a poor woman but may be carried all over the world, and produce the most wonderful effects. Nobody can tell how loud is God's voice, and how far it may be heard. "Lift up thy voice; lift it up; be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God." And your voice may be ever so weak, and your ability ever so little: only lift it up, and God Almighty, by his grace, may make the very wilderness to shake, yea, he may make the very wilderness of Kadesh to tremble. And then in the 9th verse there is another idea, which I must not pass over, although I might have preferred to do so, possibly. "The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve." By this I understand what the ancients believed—that so affrighted were the hinds by the noise of the thunder, that the period of calving was often hastened on, and frequently prematurely. It is just so with God's voice. If a man has in him a desire towards Christ, the voice of God makes him bring forth that desire, to the joy and rejoicing of his soul. And very frequently, when a man has a bad design towards God, God has only to speak, and his design becomes abortive. It is brought forth, as it were, before its time, and falls like an untimely fruit to the ground. Whatever man has within him, God can make it come out of him in a single moment: if he has a desire towards God, God can bring forth that desire, and he can bring forth the soul, and make it alive; and if it be a desire against God, God can frustrate that desire, kill it, overwhelm it, and overthrow it; for "the voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve." And in the next place, the voice of God is a discovering voice . It "discovereth the forests." The trees were your former hiding-place; but in the forest, however thick it may be, there doth the lightning gleam; and under the mighty trees, however thick their covering, the voice of the Lord is heard. God's voice is a discovering voice. You hypocrites! you get hiding yourselves under the trees of the forest; but God's voice thundereth after you when it speaks. Some of you get hiding under ceremonies, good lives, resolutions, and hopes; but God's voice will discover the forests; and recollect, there will be a day with some of you, when you will hide yourselves, or seek to do it, under rocks and mountains, or in the deepest parts of the forests; but when he sits upon his throne, the voice of the Lord will discover the forests. Ye may stand under the old oak, or creep within its trunk, and feel that there you are hidden; but his eyes like balls of fire, shall see you through and through, and his voice, like a voice of thunder, shall say, "Come forth, culprit; come forth, man; I can see thee; 'Mine eye can pierce the shades, and find thy soul as soon In midnight's darkness as in blazing noon.' Come forth, come forth!" And vain then will be thy disguises, vain thy subterfuges. "The voice of the Lord discovereth the forests." Oh! I would to God that he would speak to some of you this morning, and discover your souls! I wish he would discover to you your lost and hopeless condition; that you are damned without Christ, every one of you! Oh that he would discover to you how horrible is your position, considered apart from the Saviour; discover to you the fallacy of all your legal hope, and of all your experiences, if they are not experiences allied to Christ! I pray that he would discover to you that all your good works will come tumbling on your head at last, if you build them for a house, and that you must stand surrounded by no covering, but unveiled before the God who discovers the forests. I would have preached to you this morning; but I cannot. Yet, perhaps, amidst the multitude of my words there may be some still small voice of God, which shall reach your heart. And if the rest of you should despise it, what of that? The voice of God will be as full of majesty in the reprobate as in the elect; and if ye be cast away into hell, God shall get as much glory from the voice which ye heard and which ye despised, as he does from his voice which the elect heard, and at which they trembled and fled to God. Do not think that your damnation will rob God of any of his honor. Why, sirs, he can be as much glorified in your destruction as in your salvation. You are but little creatures in the account of his glory. He can magnify himself anyhow. Oh! humble yourselves, therefore, before God; bow down yourselves before his love and his mercy; and hear now what the plan of salvation is, whereby God brings out his elect. It is this: "He that believeth," in that voice, that Word, that Son of his; "He that believeth,"—not merely he that hopeth; "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned." Ah! hearers, if I could leap out of my body, and could lay aside the infirmities of my spirit, methinks that then I might preach to you; but I know right well that even then it must be God that speaks; and therefore I leave the words. My God! My God! Save these my people; for Jesus' precious name's sake. Amen and Amen. Jesus Hiding Himself by Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) This updated and revised manuscript is copyrighted ã 1999 by Tony Capoccia. All rights reserved. ‘You hid Your face, and I was troubled.’— Psalms 30:7 ‘Why dost thou shade thy lovely face? oh, why Doth that eclipsing hand so long deny The sunshine of thy soul?enlivening eye? ‘Without that light, what light remains in me? Thou art my life, my way, my light; in thee I live, I move, and by thy beams I see. ‘Thou art my life; if thou but turn away, My life's a thousand deaths: thou art my way; Without thee, Lord, I travel not, but stray. ‘My light thou art; without thy glorious sight, Mine eyes are darkened with perpetual night. My God thou art my way, my life, my light.’ QUARLES. The Lord Jesus will never remove his love from any one of the objects of his choice. The names of his redeemed are written on his hands and graven on his side; they are designed for eternal bliss, and his hand and his heart are jointly resolved to bring them to that blessed consummation. The lowliest lamb of the blood?bought flock shall be preserved securely by the ‘strength of Israel’ unto the day of his appearing, and shall, through every season of tribulation and distress, continue to be beloved of the Lord. Yet this does not prevent the great Shepherd from hiding himself for a season, when his people are rebellious. Though the Redeemer's grace shall never be utterly removed, yet there shall be partial withdrawals of his presence, whereby our joys shall be dimmed, and our evidences darkened. He will sometimes say, ‘I will return again to my place till they acknowledge their offenses,’ which they have committed against me; and at other seasons, for a trial of their faith, he will ‘for a mere moment’ hide himself from them. In proportion as the Master's presence is delightful, his absence is mournful. Dark is the night which is caused by the setting of such a sun. No blow of Providence can ever wound so sorely as this. A destroyed crop is nothing compared with an absent Redeemer; yes, sickness and the approach of death are preferable to the departure of Emmanuel. Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life; and more than that would the sin\-cere disciple be prepared to surrender for a re\-newal of his Lord's presence. ‘Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me; when His lamp shone upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness!’ Such will be the sorrowful com\-plaint of the spirit when groping its way through the darkness of desertion. ‘God's hiding himself, though but for trial's sake, will so trouble a Christian that he will quickly be a burden to himself, and fear round about, as it is said of Pashhur. . It will make him weary of the night, and weary of the day; weary of his own house, and weary of God's house; weary of mirth, and account it madness; weary of riches and honours; yea, if it continue long, it will make him weary of life itself, and wish for death.’ [Lockyer on Christ’s Communion] The effect is always deplorable during the time of its duration, but the cause of it is not always the same. There are various reasons for apparent desertions; we will enter upon that interesting subject in the next chapter, and in the present meditation we shall chiefly consider the ill effects of the absence of Christ We would carefully distinguish between those withdrawals which are evidences of an offence given to our Lord, and those which are designed to be trials of our faith. Our experience under different varieties of forsakings will vary, and the following remarks, although primarily applicable to all desertions, are only intended in their detail to refer to those which are brought about by our transgressions; and even then it is not to be imagined that each case will exhibit every point which we shall now observe. Here we especially refer to those hidings of God's countenance which are brought upon us as a fatherly chastisement. And we do not here dwell upon the ultimate and blessed effects of the temporary forsakings of God, but are only to be understood to refer to the ills which, during the time, beset the soul. Holy men may be left to walk in darkness. ‘Sometimes Christians are guilty of acting a part which is offensive to their dear Saviour, and therefore he withdraws from them. Darkness spreads itself over them, thick clouds interpose between him and their souls, and they see not his smiling face. This was the case with the Church when she was inclined unto carnal ease, rather than to rise and give her Beloved entrance. He quickened her desires after the enjoyment of his company, by an effectual touch upon her heart; but he withdrew, departed, and left her to be\-wail her folly in her sinful neglect. Upon this her bowels were troubled: she arose and sought him; but she found him not. It is just with him to hide himself from us, if we are indifferent about the enjoyments of his delightful presence, and give us occasion to confess our ingratitude to him, by the loss we sustain in consequence of it. His love in itself passes under no vicissitude; it is always the same; that is our security; but the manifestation of it to our souls, from which our peace, comfort and joy spring, may be interrupted through our negligence, sloth, and sin. A sense of it, when it is so, may well break our hearts; for there is no ingratitude in the world like it.’ [Brine]. We would not be understood to teach that God punishes his people for sin in a legal sense; this would be a slur upon his justice; for, seeing that he has fully punished their sin in Christ, to inflict any penalty upon them would be demanding a double punishment for one offence, which would be unjust. Let the chastisements be understood in a paternal sense as correctives, and the truth is gained. Sin will be chastened in the elect. ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities’ . If we walk contrary to him, he will walk contrary to us. The promise of communion is only attached to obedience. ‘He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him’ . Now if we walk scandalously, and indulge in known sin, no wonder the Lord withdraws himself from us. The joy of his salvation must not rest with his erring ones, though the salva\-tion itself is always theirs. Alas for us, that our corruption should so frequently mar our communion! Many times between conversion and the rest of eternity, the Christian, through sin, will have to walk through a salt land, not inhabited, and find the Songs of Solomon hushed by the wail of the Lamentations. Yet we would gladly believe that there are some who have but little cause to write their history in black letters, for their life has been one continued calm com\-munion, with only here and there a hurried interruption. We are far from believing that the despondency, coldness, and misery produced by a loss of the visible love of Christ ought to make up any considerable part of the biography of a Christian. That they do so in many cases, we readily admit, but that it should be so, we can never allow. Those men who glory in what they proudly call a deep experience—by which they mean great wanderings from the path which Enoch trod when he walked with God, \-are very prone to exalt the infirmities of the Lord’s people into infallible and admirable proofs of grace. To them an absent Christ is fine stock in trade for a sermon on their own superlative wisdom; and a heart which mourns abundantly, but loves most scantily, is to them what per\-fection is to the Arminian. As if the weeds of the field were precious plants because they will grow in good soil; as if the freckles on the face of beauty were to be imitated by all who desire to attain to loveliness; or as if the rocks in the sea were the very cause of its fullness. The deepest experience in the world is that which deals only with the Lord Jesus Christ, and is so sick of man, and of all within him, and so con\-fident in the Lord Jesus, that it casts the whole weight of the sin and sinfulness of the soul entirely upon the Redeemer, and so rejoicing in his all?sufficiency, looks above the needs and woes of its own evil and ruined nature, to the completion of the new man in Christ Jesus. That eminent preacher, the late Rowland Hill, has well said, ‘I do not like Christians to live always complaining; but I do not mind how much they complain if they carry their corrup\-tions to Jesus.’ This is forgotten by many; but those who are careful to practise it will have many reasons for gladness. Blessed be God, the green pastures and the still waters, the shepherd's staff and pleasant company, are objects which are quite as familiar to the believer's mind as the howling wilderness and the brandished rod— ‘The men of grace have found Glory began below; Celestial fruits on earthly ground, From faith and hope do grow.’ Yet, to the believer's grief, seasons of absence do occur, and those, alas, too frequently. It is our business, as the Holy Spirit shall enable us, very briefly to consider the subject of apparent desertion on account of sin, and may he make it useful to us. We shall now proceed to review the troubles which attend the suspended communion. The effects of the withdrawal of the face of Jesus are the outward signs shadowing forth the secret sickness of the heart, which such a con\-dition necessarily engenders. Although it is not fatal, yet is it exceedingly hurtful to miss the company of the Lord. As plants do not thrive when the light is kept from them, but become blanched and unhealthy, so souls de\-prived of the light of God's countenance are unable to maintain the verdure of their piety or the strength of their graces, What a loss is a lost Christ! During this unhappy season the believer's evi\-dences are eclipsed; he is in grievous doubt concerning his own condition before God; his faith has become weak, his hope nearly buried, and his love cold and lethargic. The graces which, like planetary stars, once shone on him with light and radiance, are now dark and cheerless, for the sun has departed, the source of their light is concealed in clouds. Evidences without Christ are like unlit candles, which give no light; like fig trees with only leaves, devoid of fruit; like purses with\-out gold, and like barns without wheat: they have great capabilities of comfort, but without Jesus they are emptiness itself. Evi\-dences are like conduit pipes—they are some\-times the channels of living water, but if the supply from the fountainhead is cut off from them, their waters utterly fail. That man will die of thirst who has no better spring to look to than an empty pitcher of evidences. Ishmael would have perished in the wilderness if his only hope had been in the bottle which his mother brought out with her from the tent of Abraham; and assuredly without direct sup\-plies from the gracious hands of the Lord Jesus, the saints would soon be in an ill plight. Unless the God of our graces is ever at the root of them, they will prove like Jonah’s gourd, which withered away when he was most in need of it. In this condition we shall find ourselves, if we lose the presence of the Lord Jesus; we shall be racked with fears, and tormented with doubts, without possessing that sovereign tonic with which in better days our sorrows have been allayed. We shall find all the usual sources of our consolation dried up, and it will be in vain for us to expect a single drop from them. Ahab sent Obadiah on an idle errand, when in the time of great drought he said, ‘Go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks; perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive, so that we will not have to kill any livestock;’ for it was the presence and prayer of Elijah which alone could procure the rain to supply their needs; and if we, when we have lost our Master's closeness, seek to obtain comfort in past experiences and timeworn evidences, we shall have to weep with bitter tears because of a dis\-appointed hope. We must regain the closeness of Christ, if we want to restore the lustre of our assurance. An absent Saviour and joyous confidence are seldom to be spoken of together. We know, however, that some professors can maintain a confident bearing when the presence of the Lord is withheld; they are as content without him as with him, and as happy under his frown as when in the sunshine of his smile. Between the outward appearances of strong faith and strong delusion there is frequently so little difference that the presumptuous boaster is often as highly esteemed as the assured be\-liever: nevertheless in their inner nature there is an essential distinction. Faith believes on Jesus when his comfortable promise is not granted; but it does not render the soul indifferent to the sweetness of his company. Faith says, ‘I believe Him when I do not feel his love manifested towards me, but my very per\-suasion of his faithfulness makes me pant for the light of his countenance;’ but vain presumption exclaims, ‘Away with evidences and manifestations, I am a vessel of mercy, and therefore I am secure; why should I trouble myself about grace or graces? I have made up my mind that all is right, and I will not break my slumbers despite whoever may seek to alarm me.’ Happy is the man whose faith can see in the thick darkness, and whose soul can live in the year of drought; but that man is not far from a curse who slights the fellowship of the Lord, and esteems his smile to be a vain thing. It is an ill sign if any of us are in a contented state when we are forsaken of the Lord; it is not faith, but wicked indifference, which makes us careless concerning communion with Him. And yet how often have we had cause to lament our lack of concern; how frequently have we groaned because we could not weep as we ought for the return of our husband who had hidden himself from us! When enveloped in the mists of desertion, we lose all those pleasant visions of the future which once were the jewels in the crown of our life. We have no climbings to the top of Pisgah; no prospects of the better land; no pledge of pure delight; no foretastes of the riches of glory, and no assurance of our title to the goodly land beyond Jordan. It is as much as we can do to preserve ourselves from despair; we cannot aspire to any confidence of future glory. It is a contested point with us whether we are not ripening for hell. We fear that we never knew a Saviour's love, but have been all along deceivers and deceived; the pit of hell yawns before us, and we are in great straits to maintain so much as a bare hope of escape from it. We had once despised others for what we thought to be foolish doubts, but now that we ourselves are ready to slip with our feet, we think far more of the lamps which we despised when we were at ease, and would be willing to change places with them if we might have as good an opinion of our own sincerity as we have of theirs. We would give anything for half a grain of hope, and would be well content to be the lowliest of the sheep, if we might only have a glimpse of the Shepherd. The native buoyancy of spirit which distinguishes the heir of heaven is in a great measure removed by the departure of the Lord. The be\-liever is spiritually a man who can float in the deepest waters, and mount above the highest bil\-lows; he is able, when in a right condition, to keep his head above all the floodwaters which may invade his peace: but see his Lord depart, and he sinks in deep mire, where there is no standing—all the waves and the billows have covered him. Troubles which were light as a feather to him, are now like mountains of lead; he is afraid of every dog that snarls at him, and trembles at every shadow. He who in his better days could cut down an acre of enemies with a single stroke, is afraid at the approach of a single adversary. He whose heart was fixed so that he was not afraid of evil tidings, is now alarmed at every report. Once he could hurl defiance to earth and hell with it, and could laugh at persecution, slander, and reproach, but he is now as timid as a deer, and trembles at every phantom that threatens him. His daily cares, which once he loved to cast upon the Lord, and counted only as the small dust of the balance are now borne upon the shoulders of his own anxiety, and are an intolerably oppressive load. He was once clothed in impervious armour, and was not afraid of sword or spear; but now that he has lost his Master's presence, such is his nakedness that every thorn pierces him, and every briar fetches blood from him; yes, his spirit is pierced through and through with anxious thoughts which once would have been his scorn. How the mighty are fallen; how the princes are taken in a net, and the nobles cast down as the mire of the street! He who could do all things can now do nothing; and he who could rejoice in deep distress is now mourning in the midst of blessings. He is like a chariot without wheels or horses, a harp without strings, a river without water, and a sail without wind. No songs and music now; his harp is hanging on the willows. It is vain to ask of him for a song, for ‘the chief musician with his stringed instruments’ has ceased to lead the choir. Can the spouse be happy when she has grieved her bridegroom and lost his company? No; she will go weeping through every street of the city, until she can again embrace him; her joy shall cease until again she shall behold his countenance. It is frequently an effect of divine withdrawal that the mind becomes grovelling, and earthly. Covetousness and love of riches attain a sad preponderance. The Lord will hide himself if we love the world; and, on the other hand, his absence, which is intended for far other pur\-poses, will sometimes, through the infirmity of our nature, increase the evil which it is intended to cure. When the Lord Jesus is present in the soul, and is beheld by it, ambition, covetousness, and worldliness flee quickly; for his apparent glory is such that earthly objects fade away like the stars in noonday; but when he is gone, they will show their false glitter, as the stars, however small, will shine at midnight. Find a Christian whose soul cleaves to the dust, and who cares for the things of this life, and you have found one who has had but little manifest fellowship with Jesus. As sure as we continually undervalue the Saviour's company, we shall set too high an estimate upon the things of this life, and then bitterness and disappointment are at the door. At this juncture, moreover, the great enemy of souls is particularly busy; our distress is his opportunity, and he is not backward in availing himself of it. Now that Zion's Captain has re\-moved his royal presence, the evil one concludes that he may deal with the soul using the strategies of his own malicious heart. Accordingly, with many a roar and hideous yell, he seeks to frighten the saint; and if this is not sufficient, he lifts his arm of terror and hurls his fiery dart. As lions prowl by night, so does he seek his prey in the darkness. The saint is now more than usually beneath his power; every wound from the venom filled dart festers and gangrenes more easily than at other times; while to the ear of the troubled one the howlings of Satan seem to be a thousand times louder than he had ever heard before. Doubts of our calling, our election, and adoption, fly into our souls like the flies that flew into Pharaoh’s palace, and all the while the grim fiend covers us with a darkness that may be felt. Had he attacked us in our hours of communion, we would soon have made him feel the metal of our swords; but our arm is trembling, and our strokes are like blows from the hand of a child, exciting his laughter rather than his fear. Oh for the days when we put to flight the armies of the aliens! would to God we could again put on strength, and by the arm of the Lord overthrow the hosts of hell! Like Samson we sigh for the hair in which our great strength lies; and when the shouts of the vaunting Philistines are in our ears, we cry for the strength which once laid our enemies into ‘heaps upon heaps’ by the thousands. We must again enjoy the manifest presence of the Lord, or we shall have hard work to lift up a flag against the enemy. It is not an unusual circumstance to find sin return to the conscience at this critical season. ‘Now the heart, disclosed, betrays All its hid disorders; Enmity to God's right ways, Blasphemies and murders, Malice, envy, lust, and pride, Thoughts obscene and filthy; Sores corrupt and putrefied, No part sound or healthy. All things to promote our fall, Show a mighty fitness; Satan will accuse withal, And the conscience witness; Foes within, and foes without, Wrath, and law, and terrors; Rash presumption, timid doubt, Coldness, deadness, errors.’ [Hart] When Israel had the sea before them, and the mountains on either hand, their old masters thought it a fit time to pursue them; and now that the believer is in great straits, his former sins rise up to afflict him and cause him renewed sorrow: then our sins become more formidable to us than they were at our first repentance; when we were in Egypt we did not see the Egyptians on horses and in chariots—they only appeared as our task\-masters with their whips; but now we see them clad in armour, as mighty ones, full of wrath, bearing the instruments of death. The pangs of sin, when the Lord forsakes us, are frequently as vehement as at first conversion, and in some cases far more so; for a conviction of having grieved a Saviour whose love we have once known, and whose faithfulness we have proved, will cause grief of a far more poignant character than any other sort of conviction. Men who have been in a room full of light, think that the darkness is more dense than it is con\-sidered to be by those who have long walked in it; so pardoned men think more of the evil of sin than those who never saw the light. The deserted soul has little or no liberty in prayer: he pursues the habit from a sense of duty, but it yields him no delight. In prayer the spirit is dull and lethargic, and after it the soul feels no more refreshment than is afforded to the weary by a sleep disturbed with dreams and broken with terrors. He is unable to enter into the spirit of worship; it is rather an attempt at devotion than the attainment of it. As when the bird with a broken wing strives to fly, and rises a little distance, but speedily falls to the ground, where it painfully limps and flaps its useless wing—so does the believer strive to pray, but fails to reach the height of his desires, and sorrowfully gropes his way with anguishing attempts to soar on high. A pious man once said, ‘Often when in prayer I feel as if I held between my palms the fatherly heart of God and the bloody hand of the Lord Jesus; for I remind the one of his divine love and inconceivable mercies, and I grasp the other by his promise, and strive to hold him fast and say, “I will not let thee go except thou bless me.”’ [ Genesis 32:26 ]. But when left by the Lord such blessed nearness of access is impossible; there is no answer of peace, no token for good, no message of love. The ladder is there, but no angels are ascending and descend\-ing upon it; the key of prayer is in the hand, but it turns uselessly within the lock. Prayer without the Lord's presence is like a bow with\-out a string, or an arrow without a head. The Bible, too, that great granary of the finest wheat, becomes a place of emptiness, where hunger looks in vain for food: in reading it, the distressed soul will think it to be all threatenings and no promises; he will see the terrors written in capitals, and the consolations printed in a type so small as to be almost illegible. Read the Word he must, for it has become as necessary as his food; but enjoy it he cannot, for its savour has departed. As well as we might try to read in the dark, there will be no joy from the Holy Scripture, unless Christ shall pour his gracious light upon the page. As the richest field yields no harvest without rain, so the book of revela\-tion brings forth no comfort without the dew of the Spirit. Our interaction with Christian friends, once so enriching, is rendered profitless, or at best its only usefulness is to reveal our poverty by enabling us to compare our own condition with that of other saints. We cannot min\-ister to their edification, nor do we feel that their company is affording us its usual enjoy\-ment; and it may be that we will turn away from them, longing to see His face whose absence we deplore. This barrenness spreads over all the ordinances of the Lord's house, and renders them all unprofitable. When Christ is with the Christian, the means of grace are like flowers in the sunshine, smelling fragrantly and smiling beautifully; but without Christ they are like flowers by night, their fountains of fragrance are sealed by the darkness. The songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, and her solemn feasts as mournful as her days of fast\-ing. The sacred supper which, when Christ is at the table, is a feast of fat things, without Him is as an empty vine. The holy convoca\-tion without him is as the gatherings in the marketplace, and the preaching of his Word as the shoutings in the streets. We hear, but the out\-er ear is the only part affected; we sing, but ‘Hosannas languish on our tongues, And our devotion dies.’ We even attempt to preach (if this is our call\-ing), but we speak in heavy chains, full of grievous bondage. We pant for God’s house, and then, after we have entered it, we are only the worse for it. We have thirsted for the well, and having reached it we find it empty. Very probably we will grow highly critical, and blame the ministry and the church when the blame lies only within ourselves. We shall begin to complain, censure, criticise, and blame. I would to God that any who are now doing so would pause and inquire the reason of their unhappy dis\-position. Hear the reproof administered by one of the giants of puritanical times: ‘You come oft\-times to Wisdom's home, and though she prepare you all spiritual dainties, yet you can relish nothing but some by?things, that lie about the dish rather for ornament than for food. And would you know the reason of this? It is because Christ is not with your spirits. If Christ were with you, you would feed on every dish at Wisdom's table, on promises, yea, and on threatenings too. “To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet,” saith Solomon. All that is good and wholesome goes down well where Christ is with the spirit.’ [Lockyer] Oh, for the Master's smile to impart a relish to his delicacies! Weakness is the unavoidable result of the Lord's displeasure. ‘The joy of the Lord is our strength,’ and if this is lacking then we necessarily become faint. ‘His presence is life,’ and the removal of it shakes us to our very foundation. Duty is toilsome labour, unless Christ make it a delight. ‘Without me you can do nothing,’ said the Redeemer; and truly we have found it so. The boldness of lion?like courage, the firmness of rooted decision, the confidence of un\-flinching faith, the seal of quenchless love, the vigour of undying devotion, the sweetness of sanctified fellowship—all hang for support upon the one pillar of the Saviour's presence, and if this is removed then they fail. There are many precious clusters, but they all grow on one bough, and if that is broken they fall with it. Though we are flourishing like the green bay tree, yet the sharpness of such a winter will leave us leafless and bare. Then ‘the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food.’ ‘Instead of a sweet smell there will be a stench; instead of a sash, a rope; instead of well-set hair, baldness; instead of a rich robe, a girding of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty’ It is then that we shall cry with Saul, ‘I am deeply distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from me and does not answer me anymore, neither by prophets nor by dreams’ . It is good for us that he is not completely gone forever, but will turn again lest we perish. Not to weary ourselves upon this mournful topic, we may sum up the manifest effects of a loss of the manifest favour of Christ in one sad list—misery of spirit, faintness in hope, coldness in worship, slackness in duty, dullness in prayer, barrenness in meditation, worldliness of mind, strife of conscience, attacks from Satan, and weakness in resisting the enemy. The withdrawing of Divine presence work in man does him much ruin. Good Lord, deliver us from all grieving of your Spirit, from all offending of the Saviour, from all with\-drawing of your visible favour, and loss of your presence. And if at any time we have erred, and have lost the light of your countenance, O Lord, help us still to believe your grace and trust in the merits of your Son, through whom we address you. Amen. TO THE READER SINNER, if the consequences of the temporary departure of God is so terrible, what must it be to be shut out from him forever? If the passing cloud of his seeming anger scatters such grievous rain upon the beloved sons of God, how terrible will be the continual shower of God's unchanging wrath which will fall on the head of rebellious sinners forever and ever! Ah, and we do not need to look as far as the future! How pitiable is your condition NOW! How great is the danger which you are exposed to every day! How can you eat or drink, or sleep or work, while the eternal God is your enemy? He whose wrath makes the devils roar in agony is not a God to be trifled with! Beware! his frown is death; it is more than that—it is hell. If you knew the misery of the saint when his Lord deserts him only for a small moment, it would be enough to amaze you. Then what must it be to endure it throughout eternity? Sinner, you are hurrying to hell, pay attention where you are at! This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ May the Holy Spirit, who inspired the writer of this Psalm, now lead us into its inner meaning! It is entitled “A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David; “or, rather, “A Psalm; a song of dedication for the House. By David.” It was a song of faith, since David did not live to witness the dedication of the temple, for which he had planned in his heart, and for which he had laid by in store. Though he knew that he would not be permitted by God to build it, he took delight in writing a Psalm which might be sung at the opening of the temple. Thus it begins: —Psalms 30:1. I will extol thee, O LORD; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.“I will exalt thee, for thou hast exalted me. I will lift up thy praise, because thou hast lifted up my spirits. I will bless thee, for thou hast blessed me,” Our song of praise should be the echo of God’s voice of love. “Thou hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.” You remember that this was one of the three things put to David as a chastisement for his great sin in numbering the people: “Wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? “He here praises the Lord that such calamity as that did not come upon him.” Thou hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.” Sorrows averted should be the occasion of grateful songs of thanksgiving.Psalms 30:2. O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.The king and the people had been sorely smitten with darkness on account of his sin, but the Lord, in mercy, bade the destroying angel sheathe his sword when he “was by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite,” —the very place which afterwards became the site on which the temple was built. It was well, therefore, at its opening, to praise the God who heals his people. We ought to praise the Lord more than we do for our recovery from sickness. Employ the physician if you will, but, when healing comes to you, magnify the Lord for it, and ascribe the glory of it to his holy name.Psalms 30:3. O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.Here is a double mercy to sing of, — not dead, and not damned. Life spared is something for which to praise the Lord, but to have the soul saved from going down to the pit is a cause of still greater thanksgiving. Oh praise the name of the Lord, ye who love him, and trust in him, for he has delivered you from going down into the pit!Psalms 30:4. Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.David seems to say to the saints, “Do not let me sing alone, but all of you join in the chorus.” He does not invite reprobates to praise the Lord, but he says, “Sing unto Jehovah. O ye saints of his.” I think it is very wrong to have the praises of God sung in public by ungodly men and women, as there sometimes are; the singing should not be left to a godless choir. Oh, no; “sing unto the Lord, all ye saints of his,” for you only can sing sincerely unto him. “Give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness,” — at the very memory of him; at the remembrance of the whole of him, for that is his holiness, his wholeness, the entire, perfect character of God. O saints below, sing as they do in heaven, for their song is “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.Psalms 30:5. For his anger endureth but a moment;Notice that the words “endureth but” are inserted by the translators, and very properly so; but see how the passages reads if you leave them out: “For his anger a moment,” That is long enough for him to display it, for it is his strange work; and long enough for us to endure it, for it might crush us if it lasted longer.Psalms 30:5. In his favour is life:Life came to Jerusalem, in David’s day, as soon as God smiled upon it; and life comes to us as soon as we taste of his favor, even though we have been ready to die of despair.Psalms 30:5. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.As the dews are appropriate to the night, so is weeping seemly for us when Jesus hides his face from us. The children of the bride-chamber may well mourn when the heavenly Bridegroom is taken from them, but it is only for a night. Morning will end our mourning. Our night-sorrow is for the night, but our joys are for a day that will know no evening.Psalms 30:6. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.It is a pity to say too much; very few people fall into the opposite fault of saying too little. It is always a pity to be counting with certainty upon the future, and presuming, because of the hopefulness of the present, that this state of things will last for ever David was not wise when he said, in his prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”Psalms 30:7. LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.When God is at cross purposes with his people, they are troubled at once. There is no need for blows, no need for angry words: “Thou didst hide thy face; and I was troubled.” That is enough for a child of God; let him but miss the light of God’s countenance, and it breaks him down at once.Psalms 30:8. I cried to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. What should the child of God do, when he is in trouble, but cry? And to whom should he cry but to his Father?Psalms 30:9. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? shall the dust praise thee? Shall it declare thy truth?So his prayer was an argument, and that is the very bone and sinew of prayer, — to reason and argue with God. He seems to put it thus, — “Lord, if I lose my soul, thou wilt be a loser, too, for thou wilt lose a singer out of thy choir, one who would be glad enough to praise thee, and whose very life it is to magnify thee. Oh, do not cut me down! When I am dead, when I am lost, there can be no praise to thee from me, so spare me, my gracious God?”Psalms 30:10. Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper.What a handy prayer this is, a prayer to carry about with you wherever you go! “Lord, be thou my Helper.” That is a minister’s prayer when he was going to preach. That is a Sunday-school teacher’s prayer when going to the class. Is not that a prayer for the sufferer when the pain upon him is very severe? “Lord, be thou my Helper.” Art thou working for him? Art thou cast down in soul? This prayer will suit thee: “Lord, be thou my Helper.”Psalms 30:11. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.What a transformation scene in answer to prayer! Notice that David does not say, “I hope that thou hast,” but he puts it thus, “Thou hast — thou hast,” He is quite sure about it; and, being sure of this great mercy, he gives God all the glory of it. What a wonderful change it is! Not merely from mourning into peace, but into delight, — delight expressed by dancing; not merely from sackcloth into ordinary areas, but from the sackcloth of sorrow in the satin of gladness. God does nothing by halves; he not only chases away the night, and gives us twilight, but he goes on to gladden us with the full glory of noontide; and sell this he does with a, definite end and purpose: —Psalms 30:12. To the end that my glory-Or, “my tongue” —Psalms 30:12. May sing praise to thee, and not be silent. God ought to have praise from us. It is the quit-rent which we pay as tenants to the great Lord of all; let us not rob him of his revenue.Psalms 30:12. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psalms 31:1. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust;This is a good beginning; this is the fulcrum which will give us the necessary leverage for lifting any weight of sorrow or trouble that may be burdening us: “In thee, O Jehovah, do I put my trust.” Can each of us truthfully say that to begin with? If so, we may go on with David to the petitions that follow: —Psalms 31:1. Let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.It would be to us the shame of shames if God, in whom we put our trust, could fail us. Then, indeed, might the scoffers say, “Where is now their God?” and what should we then be able to say of the righteousness of God? He has pledged himself that he will never fail nor forsake anyone of his people; so, if he ever did fail them, what would become of his honour?Psalms 31:2. Bow down thine ear to me;“Listen to me, O Lord! Stoop down out of thy glory to catch the faint accents of my sorrowing, almost expiring spirit.”Psalms 31:2. Deliver me speedily:“My case is urgent, Lord, for I am in deep distress. Delay will be dangerous, and may be even fatal: ‘Deliver me speedily:’ “Psalms 31:2. Be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me. David was so accustomed to hide in the rocks of Engedi, and similar fastnesses, that we do not wonder that he found such a comparison as this come naturally to his mind: “Be thou my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me.”Psalms 31:3. For thou art my rock and my fortress;Why did David just now pray God to be to him what he here says that God is? It was, surely, in order that he might know experimentally what he already knew doctrinally; he wanted the truth, in which he already believed, to be proven in his own experience, so he prayed to the Lord, “Be thou my strong rock, . . . for thou art my rock and my fortress;” —Psalms 31:3. Therefore for thy name’s sake —“For thy glory’s sake, for thy honour’s sake,” —Psalms 31:3. Lead me, and guide me.“Lead me, as a child needs to be led. Guide me, as a traveler in a foreign land needs to be guided. I need thee both to lead and to guide me.”Psalms 31:4. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.Sometimes the believer gets so entangled that he sees no way of escape. He is caught like a bird in the fowler’s net, and he is so surrounded by it that he cries to the Lord, “Pull me out of the net.” He feels that he can only be delivered by the putting forth of God’s power, and that is the reason why he adds, “O Lord, use thy strength on my behalf; give a desperate tug, and pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; for thou art my strength.”Psalms 31:5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit:The dying words of Jesus may well be the living words of each one of his redeemed people. We ought continually to commit our spirit into our great Father’s hands, for there is no other place that can be so safe and blessed as between the strong, almighty, never-failing hands of the eternal God.Psalms 31:5. Thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.Redemption is such a blessed ground for confidence in God. Even the ordinary redemptions, such as David had experienced when the Lord had redeemed him out of the hand of his enemies, and redeemed him out of troubles of many kinds, were great sources of consolation to David; but what shall we say of that rich, full, free redemption which Christ accomplished for his people upon Calvary’s cross? Think you that God will not keep those whom he has purchased with the blood of his own dear Son? Will he suffer those to perish who have cost him so dearly? Oh, no! none shall pluck them from his hand. This is a sound argument that David uses: “Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.”Psalms 31:6. I have hated them that regard lying vanities:That is, those that trusted in their idol gods, which he calls by this contemptuous name, “lying vanities.” David was not very respectful to false religions; he called them vanities and lies, and said, “I have hated them that regard them;”Psalms 31:6-7. But I trust in the LORD. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;“ ‘Thou hast considered my trouble;’ — thou hast looked at it, weighed it, understood it.” When a wise man gives his consideration to a thing, we respect his judgment; but what shall we say of the consideration of God? This is a wonderful expression: “Thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities.” “When I hardly knew myself, and could not make out what I was or where I was, thou hast known all about me; and thou hast known me when I was in rags and tatters, when I was so down at the heel that nobody else would own me, thou didst not discard me: ‘Thou has known my soul in adversities;’ “ —Psalms 31:8-10. And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing:That is better than spending our years in sinning; yet it is a painful experience when every breath seems to be drawn with a pang, and the effort to live is itself a struggle, as it is in certain trying diseases.Psalms 31:10-11. My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, They were the nearest to him, and therefore could smite him the most keenly.Psalms 31:11. And a fear to mine acquaintance:They did not like to own him even as an acquaintance; they were afraid of him. Yet what a light this verse throws upon David’s previous declaration, “Thou has known my soul in adversities”!Psalms 31:12. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind;The very man, in whose honour, in the former times, the women out of all the cities of Israel sang, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” now had sorrowfully to say, ‘I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind.”Psalms 31:12. I am like a broken vessel.“Men think me of no more value than a piece of broken crockery that is flung away on the dunghill as utterly useless.”Psalms 31:13. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side:The very best of men have had to smart under the wounds caused by that cruel, accursed thing slander. No quality of purity, no degree of piety, can screen a man from the tongue of slander; in fact, as the birds peck most at the ripest fruit, it is often the best of men who are most slandered.Psalms 31:13-14. While they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.That is a grand utterance of the psalmist; now he is coming back to the point where he began; the Psalm is now in harmony with its keynote.Psalms 31:15. My times are in thy hand:My times are not in the hands of my enemies; they cannot hurt me without God’s permission.Psalms 31:15-16. Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant:Oh, for the shinings of God’s face! How blessed and glorious they are! I is heaven on earth to dwell within the circle of that light; and if we get out of the range of those rays, what joy can we have?Psalms 31:16. Save me for thy mercies’ sake.That is a prayer for a sinner, and a prayer for a saint; a prayer for every day in the year: “Save me for thy mercies’ sake.”Psalms 31:17 —19. Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Oh, how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee;Then, be off good courage, you tried ones; think of all the god things that are laid up in store for you, the treasures that are put away for the present. Nor is this all: “How great is thy goodness,” —Psalms 31:19. Which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!So there is goodness in the present as well as goodness in the future, goodness wrought out as well as goodness stored up.Psalms 31:20. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.There is nothing much worse than the strife of tongues. A pack of wolves would not be half so bad as a pack of tongues let loose upon a man. Wolves do but tear the flesh; but tongues devour a man’s character, and eat up his very life. Oh, how blessed it is to be kept secretly in God’s royal pavilion from the strife of tongues!Psalms 31:21. Blessed be the LORD; for he hath showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city.He has kept me in safety, and preserved me from every foe, blessed be his holy name!Psalms 31:22-23. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. O love the LORD, all ye his saints;It seems as if David felt that he could not love the Lord sufficiently by himself, so he calls upon all the saints to bring their hearts full of love, and yield their treasure unto God.Psalms 31:23. For the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.He gives him a sharp blow with the back of his hand, but he gives to the righteous a full-handed mercy.Psalms 31:24. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.Your heart is faint, but the Lord will put strength where now there is weakness; wherefore “be of good courage.” Cowardice weakens, fear saps a man’s strength; so “be of good courage,” for your strength shall be equal to your day, and you shall yet win the victory, “all ye that hope in the Lord.” “A Psalm of David, Maschil”: that is to say, an instructive psalm: “Maschil.” I suppose that David wrote it after he had been forgiven and restored to divine favor. I think we may read it as a part of our own experience, either of conversion or when restored after backsliding.Psalms 32:1-2. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.Twice he says “blessed.” He had felt the weight of sin; he had been sore troubled, and now that Nathan is sent to him with the word of pardon, “The Lord hath put away thy sin, though shalt not die,” he counts himself doubly blessed — blessed, not the man who has never sinned; blessed is he who, having sinned, is forgiven; not the man who has no sin, but whose sin is covered. Wonderful word! Both in English and Hebrew, it sounds very much alike. The sacred “Kophah.” the cover which covers sin so that sin is hidden, even from the eye of God himself! A wondrous deed! Blessed is the man who knows that divine covering! “Blessed,” says he “is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” All along, after David’s sin, he became very crafty and very cunning, full of guile. You know the dodges that he had resorted to, to cover up his sin; he tried to play some of his tricks on God himself, but he felt it was a mischievous and foolish thing to do: he was uneasy, he was unhappy. We have sometimes heard it said that after David sinned, he remained insensible for nine months, until he received the divine rebuke; but it was not so. He remained very sensitive, very depressed, very unhappy, and he was trying this way and that to cover up his sin and guile. He could not do it; he ought to make a clean breast of it, and confess it before God, and give up his crooked ways, and his ideas of excusing himself, and when he had done that, when he had given up his guile and his guilt, too, then he got the double blessing: “Blessed, blessed!” If there are any of you who are treading crooked ways with God and man, give them up. I know of nothing that will make you give them up like knowing free, full, perfect pardon through the precious blood of Christ, and the free grace of God. The two things go together, guilt and guile; the two things go out of us together; when guilt is pardoned, guile is killed. Now hear how David felt while he was conscious of his sin, and yet was not right with God.Psalms 32:3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.A wanton glance, and the sin with Bathsheba. Where was the pleasure of it when it cost him all this? Such groaning that his very bones get old as if they were rotten, and his heart was heavy as if he wished to die. “For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me.” God was dealing with him; God with his hand pressing him heavily, forcing his sin home upon him, making him say, “My sin is ever before me.” Oh! the misery of sinning to a child of God. Do not dream that we can ever have any pleasure in sin; the worldling may, but the believer never can. To him it is a deadly viper, that will fill his veins with burning poison.Psalms 32:4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.When he tried to pray, it was a dried-up prayer; he tried to make a psalm, but it was a dried-up song; he tried to do some good, for he was still a good man, but it was all withered without the Spirit of God. His moisture was gone out of him, turned into the drought of summer, and summer in David’s country was a very droughty thing indeed. Every human thing despaired, the grass seemed to turn to dust; it was so with him. If you go into sin, this is what will happen to you. If you are a true child of God, you will have all the joy of God taken from you, all the moisture of your heart dried up, and you will be like a parched, withered thing. “Selah”: time to stop, time to have a pause in the music; he was on so bass a key, he had need now to screw up the harp strings and rise to something a little sweeter.Psalms 32:5. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.He must come to confession, full, spontaneous, unreserved; there must be a resolution. “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord”; a firm determination to hide nothing, to see the sin yourself, and to tell the Lord that you do see it, and to confess it with great grief and sorrow. What a wonderful word that is: “I said, I will confess, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” God took away the sin: ay, the very pith and marrow of it, “the iniquity of my sin.” Take the bone away, and the marrow of the bone too; “thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin” — it has all gone, wholly gone; by one stroke of God’s divine grace the sinner was pardoned. Selah againPsa_32:6. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.“For this” (because of this and for this blessing) “shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found.” The pardoning God must be sought. There is an attraction in the greatness of his mercy. They that are godly, even though they have offended and gone astray, must come back and seek for pardon in a time when thou mayest be found. “Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.” The godly man is safe when the floods are out. There are times when great waters prevailed in David’s country; the brooks sometimes turned to rivers and came down with a rush when they were least expected; and here he says that, when such a thing as that shall happen, yet God’s people shall be saved, They shall come, but they shall not come nigh unto them. Let me read those words again: If you have gone to God in the day of your sin, and have found pardon, he that took away the sin will take away the sorrow. “Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.”Psalms 32:7. Thou art my hiding place; thou shall preserve me from trouble; thou shall compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.“Thou art my hiding place” — precious words! “Thou art my hiding place”; not “Thou art a hiding place,” but “Thou art MY hiding place.” A man who is beset by foes does not stand still, and say, “Yes, I can see there is a hiding place there,” but he runs to it. Beloved, run to your hiding place this morning, each one of you who can have a claim and interest in Christ: run to him now and say: “Thou shalt preserve me from trouble.” David has come up out of the roaring to the singing; all the day long he roared, and now all the day long he sings; he hears songs everywhere: he lives in a circle of music; his heart is so glad. Well may he put another “Selah,” for he has smitten the strings very joyfully, and they need tuning again.Psalms 32:8. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.And here the speaker changes: “I will instruct thee”; I have forgiven thee; “I will instruct thee, and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go.” I have restored thee back to the way; now I will teach thee in the way thou shalt go. “I will guide thee with mine eye”; thine own might lead thee astray. I will guide thee with mine eye”; I will be on the path, I will fix mine eye upon thee. “I will guide thee with mine eye.”Psalms 32:9. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.“Be ye not as the horse,” not only David, but all of you. If God will guide you, be guided; if he will teach you, be teachable; if he will be gracious to you, be gracious towards him.Psalms 32:10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.“Many sorrows shall be to the wicked”; David had found that out; his sin had brought him a transient pleasure, but a lasting misery. He shall have a bodyguard of mercy; God will be gracious to him, tender to him, and will not leave him if he is trusting in the Lord.Psalms 32:11. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.“Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous.” Be glad. Well, but you cannot always be glad, says one. “Be glad in the Lord”; you may always be glad in him. Here is an unchanging source of joy. “Rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy.” Here is the man that was silent, has gone as far as shouting now. Is it not enough to make him? Twice he was blessed, in the first and second verses; and now he has been pardoned, he has been delivered, he has been compassed about with mercy: why, he must be glad! “Shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” God bless you in the reading of his Word. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 32; John 17. --- A Cheering Congratulation by C. H. (1834-1892) "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is covered." -- Psalms 32:1 Men have all of them their own ideals of blessedness. Those ideals are often altogether contrary to the sayings, which our Saviour uttered in his Sermon on the Mount. They count those to be blessed who are strong in health, who are abundant in riches, who are honoured with fame, who are entrusted with command, who exercise power-those, in fact, who are distinguished in the eyes of their fellow-creatures. Yet I find not such persons called " blessed " in God's Word, but oftentimes humble souls, who might excite pity rather than envy, are congratulated upon the blessings which they are heirs to, and which they shall soon enjoy. To the penitent there is no voice so pleasant as that of pardon. God, who cannot lie-God, who cannot err-tells us what it is to be blessed. Here he declares that " blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is covered. " This is an oracle not to be disputed. Forgiven sin is better than accumulated wealth. The remission of sin is infinitely to be preferred before all the glitter and the glare of this world's prosperity. The gratification of creature passions and earthly desires is illusive-a shadow and a fiction; but the blessedness of the justified, the blessedness of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness is substantial and true. How apt we are to say in our hearts, "Would God Adam had never fallen, for blessed must be the man who never sinned!" Could any man have attained to a perfect life, which deserved commendation at God's hands, blessedness would surely glow around him like a halo; at his feet the earth would blossom; in his nostrils the air would breathe sweet odours; and his ears would be regaled with the sweet singing of birds; "content, indeed, to sojourn while he must below the skies, But having there his home." Such a man would feel and find the beams of brightness playing over the entire expanse of life, and the thrill of gladness filling his heart with unbroken peace. The mountains and hills would break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field would clap their hands, to multiply his inlets to happiness. But it is not of such imaginary bliss that our sacred Psalmist loves to sing; because, however true, it would be a mere mockery to tell us, who are so deeply fallen, of sweet delights that those alone could know who never fell. Our time of probation is over. We of mortal race were proved, tried, and condemned long ago. It is not possible now for us to have the blessedness of uncorrupted innocence. And yet, thank God, blessedness is still possible to us, sinners though we be. We may hear the voice of the ever blessed of God pronouncing us to be blessed. His mercy can secure to use what our merit could never have earned, for so it is written , " Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is covered. " May every one of us partake of this blessedness, and know and rejoice in the full assurance. Now the observations I address to you shall be very simple; but if they come home to us as true, and we can grasp them with a lively faith, they will be none of the less gratifying to us because they seem common. I. Forgiven There is Forgiveness With God: Transgression May Be Forgiven. It is spoken of here, not as a flight of fancy, or a poetic dream; it is not an imaginary or a possible circumstance, but it is described as a fact that does occur, and has been the happy lot of some who knew its sweet relief, and felt its strange felicity-" Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. " Do not take the words with all their weight of meaning; for though taught in our catechisms, embodied in our creeds, and admitted in our ordinary conversation on religious subjects, the belief in the forgiveness of sins is not always sincere and hearty. When the guilt of sin is felt, and the burden of sin grows heavy, and when the wound stinks and is corrupt, as the Psalmist says, we are very apt to doubt the possibility of pardon; or, at least, of our own pardon. Under deep conviction of sin, and a sense of the peculiar heinousness of our own guilt, there is a haze and more than a haze-a thick fog, which hides the light of this doctrine from our view. We think all men pardonable except ourselves. We can believe in the doctrine of forgiveness of sin for blasphemers, for thieves, for drunkards, even for murderers; but there is some particular aggravation in the sin which we have committed that appears to us to admit of no place of repentance, to find no promise of absolution. So, writing bitter things against ourselves, we become our own accusers and our own judges, and seem as if we would even become our own executioners. In our distraction we are thus prone to doubt that our transgression can be forgiven. And, beloved, I am not sure that those of us who are saved do not sometimes have misgivings about this grand truth. Although I know that I am saved in Christ, yet at times when I look back upon my life, and especially dwell upon some dark blots which God has forgiven, but for which I can never forgive myself, the question comes across me, "Is it so? Is that really blotted out? It was so crimson, so scarlet; can it be that the spot is entirely gone?" We know that, being washed in the blood of Christ, we are whiter than snow; but it is not always that our faith can realize the forgiveness of sins while our heart and conscience are revolving the flagrancy of their guilt. It should not be so. We ought to be able to bear, at one and the same time, a vision of sin in all its horror, and a full view of the sacrifice for sin in all its holiness and acceptance to God-to feel that we are guilty, weak, lost, and ruined, yet to believe that Christ is not only able to save to the very uttermost, but that he has saved us-to confess our crimes, while we cast ourselves without a question into his blessed arms. I trust that we can do this. But, alas! a fly may find its way into the sweetest pot of ointment, a little folly may taint a good reputation, and an unworthy doubt may tarnish the purest faith; so it may be profitable to remind even the forgiven man that forgiveness of sin is possible, that forgiveness of sin is presented in the gospel as a covenant blessing, that forgiveness of sin it the possession of every believer in Jesus, that his sin has gone entirely and irreversibly, and that for him all manner of sin has been forgiven, blotted out, and put away through the precious blood of Jesus, seeing that he has believed in God's great propitiatory sacrifice. Peradventure there has strolled into this sanctuary tonight some professing Christian who, though a true child of God, has foully stained his profession. It may be, my dear friend, that in your weakness, and to your shame, and to your confusion of face, you have forsaken God, and have fallen into sin. You knew better, you who have instructed others, you who would have denounced such conduct with great severity in your fellow-creatures, have fallen into the transgression yourself, and now you are conscious that both the sin and its results are very bitter; you are smarting under the rod, your bones have been sore broken, and, perhaps, while I am speaking, it seems as if my words were putting them out of joint again where there had been a little healing. Beloved brother or sister in Christ, if your sin be a public sin, a grievous sin, a black and foul sin; if it be a sin which conscience cannot for a moment tolerate, a sin which God's people must detest, even thought it be in you who are dear to them, let me entreat you not to suffer the deceitfulness of sin to drive you to despair; in the anguish of remorse do not shun the mercy seat. Doubt not that the Lord is still ready to pardon you. Let not Satan persuade you that you have sinned a sin which is unto death. Nay, come to the cross of Christ. The blood of Jesus was real, and it was really shed to wash away real sin, not sin in the abstract, as we talk of it here, but sin in the concrete, as you have committed it--such sin as yours; nay, your sin, that special sin, that degrading sin, that sin which you are ashamed to mention, that sin which makes you now, even at the very thought of it, hang your head and blush. Know of a truth that your sin is pardonable. Do you ask me why I draw this inference from my text? I answer that it was penned by David, when his crimes were complicated, his character corrupted, and his case seemed beyond the possibility of a cure. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God! Whatever your sin may have been, it can scarcely have exceeded his in atrocity. You know how he added sin to sin; you know how high he stood, and how low he sunk; and you know how sweetly he could sing, " Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is covered. " It shines forth more clearly now than ever it shone before. Sin is pardonable; the Lord God is merciful and gracious. Hear the heavenly invitation, " Come, now, let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as wool; though they be red like crimson, they shall be whiter than snow. " Hear Jehovah's voice out of heaven, " I, even I, am he that blotteth out thine iniquities for my name's sake: I will not remember thy sins. " With such a peerless proclamation of perfect pardon we leave this point. We trust, however, that you will not leave it till you have proved its preciousness and its power. Observe now that the pardon being proved, the:-- II. Blessedness May Be Enjoyed. So much sadness comes from a sense of sin that it is not easy for a penitent to regard pleasure as within his reach, or for a criminal to imagine that cheerfulness can become his habitual condition. How have I heard a man say, "Were God to forgive me, I do not think I could be happy; such is my sin that, though it should be put away, the memory would haunt me, the disgrace would distract me; my own conscience would confound me; I never could blend with the blessed ones." Is not this just what the prodigal said, " I am not worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants? " He could not think so well of his father as to suppose that he could receive him again into his affections as his child; hence he would be content to take the yoke of service, and to be a hired servant of his father's; not a servant born in the house, though these were common enough among the Jews; but a hired servant, willing to be even with the lowest class of servants, so that he might but live in his father's house. I know that this is often the feeling of humble souls, but look at the text and observe the blessed truth which it teaches. You may not only be forgiven, my dear friends, but you may enjoy, notwithstanding your past sin blessedness, even on earth. Oh! look up through those tears! They can all be wiped away, or should they continue to flow in a long life of penitence, if they do not fall upon the Saviour's feet, which thou wouldest fain wash with the tears of thine affection, and wipe with the hairs of thy head, thou shalt find those tears to be precious drops that ye need not rue. Though evangelical repentance may be compared to bitter herbs in one respect, to be eaten lamenting, yet in another respect there is no grace so sweet as repentance. In heaven, it is true, they do not repent, but here on earth it well becomes the saints. It is sweet here below to sit and weep one's heart away in sorrow for sin at the foot of the cross of Christ, saying, "With my tears his feet I bathe;" and although we shall have done with it when we reach those blissful shores, until then repentance shall be the occupation of our lives. But dear friends, you may suppose that as sincere repentance always leads to great searching of heart, it cannot be blessed, yet it really is so. Repentance, as we have already said, is a sweet grace. You remember that the prodigal shed his tears, his best tears, in his father's heart, and sobbed out, " Father, I have sinned! " Oh! what a place for repentance is the bosom of God, with his love shed abroad in the heart, making you contrite and moving you to say, "How could I have sinned against so good a God? How could I be an enemy to one who is so full of grace? How could I run away and spend my substance with harlots, when here was my Father's deep care for my welfare? How could I choose their base love, when a love so pure, so true, so constant, was waiting for me?" Oh! it is a holy sorrow that hath a clear life ensuing; and I tell you that, however deep your repentance may be, it shall not stand in the way of your being blessed; but shall even prove to be one contributory stream to the blessedness of your experience. Does the memory of your sins haunt you, and do you feel that you shall always hang your head as one whom pardon could not purge? Not thus did the apostle Paul reflect on his many sins. Though he bewailed the wickedness of his heart, and was ashamed of the evil he had done, yet his humility after he was converted took the form of gratitude, cheering his very soul with the most lively impulse. While confessing that he was the very chief of sinners, at the same time and in the same breath he said, " This is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. " Conscious of his own infirmities, he could exclaim, " O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? " Yet, confident of his full redemption, he could add, " I thank god, through Jesus Christ our Lord. " Moreover, hurling defiance at all his accusers, he asks, " Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? " No bolder or more triumphant champion of divine grace that that apostle, who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, but now rejoices to bear record, " I obtained mercy that, in me, Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering as a pattern to them who should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. " What though your past offences be never so rank, and your present shame should sting you with ever so much poignant sorrow, yet with thrills of bless you shall prove the full blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Methinks I hear one say, "Few men have fallen more deeply into sin that I have; if converted, I might be pointed out as an illustrious monument of divine grace; yet, what with vanities which have matured into vices, and passing follies which have grown into positive evil habits, it is not likely I should ever attain the same eminence in grace as those who were trained from childhood in the sanctuary, and never lived a dissolute life, or risked a desperate death, as I have done." Let me assure you that this is a great fallacy. The heights of glory are now open to those who once plunged in to the depths of sin. Say not, slave of Satan, that thou canst not be soldier of the cross. Thou canst be a heroic soldier. Thou mayest win a crown of victory. Why needest thou be weak in faith? Thou canst not be languid in love. Great sinner as thou art, thou hast in this a sort of advantage; thou wilt love much because thou hast had much forgiven thee. Surely, if thy love be warmer than that of others, thou hast the mainspring of zeal, the mightiest force within to mould thy future course. Instead of being less than others, thou shouldest seek to outdo them all, not out of carnal emulation, but out of holy strife. I counsel thee, poor sinner, when thou comest to Christ, do not try to hide thyself in some obscure corner; but come to the light, that thou mayest have near and intimate fellowship with thy Lord; for the love thou hast to him, show kindness to his lambs; by thy generosity to his disciples, show thy gratitude to the Master; grudge no service; be ready to spend, and to be spent; yield yourself a living sacrifice to him who redeemed thee from thy sins and restored thee to his favour. I liked what one said to me today when I was seeing enquirers who are seeking membership with us. "By God's grace," he said, "I will try to make up for lost time." Let this be your resolve, dear friends. If you are called by grace when the day is far spent and the time in which you can hope to serve your Lord is getting brief, do not waste an opportunity, but engage with all your heart and soul in the work of faith and labour of love for the Lord Jesus. Some of us were called at the first or second hour of the day, and while we were yet children we found some employment in the vineyard. Still, we cannot sever Christ as we would. Oh! I wish I had a thousand tongues that I might tell out his love, and could live a thousand lives to proclaim his grace amongst the sons of men! But as for you, whose time must, in the course of nature, be so short; you who have given so much of your lives to Satan-do not let Christ now be put off with the fag end, but give him the very best of your love, the fat of your sacrifice, the strength and soul of your being. And as to the matter of enjoyment, I cannot believe for a moment that when a great sinner is blessed with a great pardon, he should fail to have the fullness of joy which so divine a benefit must properly excite. My observation has been that the joy of those who have been graciously forgiven after having greatly transgressed rather exceeds than falls short of the joy of such as are more gradually brought into gospel liberty. Oh! no; my Master will not adjudge you to take a second rank. He who was by birth an alien, and in open rebellion an enemy to God, shall have all the rights of citizenship, and partake of all the privileges of the saints. Not he who, like Samuel, was lighted to his couch in childhood by the lamps of the sanctuary, is more welcome at the Father's board than the returning prodigal. Such blessedness is in store for some of you. You have fallen; you have lost your character; you have stifled the voice of your own conscience; you have forfeited all title to self-respect. But by Christ redeemed, in Christ restored, this infinite blessedness shall be your portion. Have you been put out of the Church? Have your brethren been compelled to withdraw from fellowship with you because of your flagrant sin? Have you been convicted of a crime, and suffered a term of imprisonment? There is blessedness possible to you yet. There may have strayed in here one who from the fold has wandered very far. Though you have forfeited your good name, I simply and sincerely point out to you the means whereby you may yet transform your blighted life into a blessed life. Glory to God and peace to your own soul shall immediately follow your trust in the sacrifice of Christ. " Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. " Seemeth it not to thee that this is the very fountain of all blessings? Thou comest here to the streamhead, to the source of the great wide river of mercies. Those of you, therefore, who believe in the forgiveness of sins should not be satisfied till you have the title-deeds, enjoy the possession, and revel in the blessedness of this reconciliation to God. "If I am a Christian," said a sister to me hesitantly; "but I do not like that ugly 'if,'" she added; "I must get rid of it." So she prayed the Lord, "Let there be no 'if' between me and thee." I would have you pray in like manner. Oh! those horrible "ifs"! They are spiritual mosquitoes that sting and harass us; they are like stones in the shoes, and you cannot travel with them. Hear what David says: "Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Still enlarging upon our last point, rather than venturing on to anything fresh, observe:-- III. That the State of Forgiveness is Evidently a State of Blessedness if we Remember the Contrast it Involves. Ask the sinner, conscious of his guilt and its penalty, who is bemoaning himself and crying out, " God, be merciful to me a sinner! " what wouldest thou think if thy condition could be changed and thy conscience cleansed by one line of the pen, or by one word of the lips that can pronounce pardon? Would not that be blessed beyond wishful thought or wakeful dream? "Oh!" say you, "I would count no penance too sever, no sacrifice too costly, if I might but get my sins cancelled, forgiven, and completely obliterated." Look at poor Christian, wringing his hands, sighing and crying. Why was it? He wanted to have his burden taken off. Had you spoken to him, he would have told you he was willing to go through floods and flames if he could get relief from his burden, and be clean rid of it. Seeing how every anxious soul longs for forgiveness, clearly it must be a state to be greatly desired, and those who do attain it find it to be full of gladness, delight, and rejoicing. It is indeed blessed to have sin forgiven; but, oh! how wretched to face its infamy, to feel its malignity, to fear its terrible penalty. Witness a soul in despair; that is a dreadful sight; I think I would sooner walk fifty miles than see a despairing soul; I have seen several such, shut up in the iron cage. You may talk, talk, talk, and try to give some cheer, but it is of no use. No promises can comfort; the gospel itself seems to have no charm. Were you to put the question to a despairing soul, "Would it be a blessed thing to have sin forgiven?" sharp, quick, and decided would the answer be. Not the lips only -- the heart would express itself in every muscle of the face, in every limb of the body-the nerves all tingling with joy, the eyes shining with gleams of heaven. Ask dying sinners, stung with remorse at the memory of their lives, and filled with dread at the prospect of the future, whether it is not a blessed thing to have sins forgiven. Though they may have trifled hitherto, the death-hour forbids dissembling. Now the vanities of time pass like a shadow, and the realities of eternity come up like a specter. "Too late!" they cry; "too late! Had we but fled to Christ before! Had we but turned our eyes to him in years gone by, then hope would have cheered us in this extremity!" But it is not death they dread so much as the after-death; not present dissolution, but (shall I say it?) the damnation that may follow. Unforgiven sin! Who can paint the sentence it must meet? Could we peer into that world where wicked spirits are tormented ever and anon, and there ask the question, "Would it be a blessed thing to be forgiven?" ah! you can guess the answer. I pray thee, friend, and tempt not the terror for thyself. Trifle not with kind entreaty; know that 'tis treason so to do. The pardon spurned will recoil on your own head. You will bewail in everlasting misery the mercy that, through your willfulness, was unavailing. Blessed must he be whose sins are forgiven, for it enables him to escape from the horrible doom of the impenitent. But you shall have a witness nearer at hand. You know, as a fact recorded in the Gospels, that the Son of man had power on earth to forgive sins. You know, too, from the testimony of the Acts of the Apostles, that his Names, by faith in his Name, are invested with the same power. By the ministry of the Holy Spirit one may hear now, as in days of yore, a voice of divine authority saying, " Thy sins are forgiven thee; go in peace. " It was only last week I met with one who had been forgiven on the previous Sunday. The sweet relief, the calm belief, and the true blessedness of that man was such that you could see it flashing from his eyes and animating every faculty of his being. The whole man was so full of joy that he did not know how to contain himself. The drift of all his conversation was, "I have found Christ; I have laid hold on eternal life! I have trusted in Jesus! I am saved!" His joy, though uttered in part, was unutterable. I sympathized in his ecstasy, remembering that it was so with me. I wanted to tell everybody that Christ was precious, and was able to save. Oh! yes, the young convert is a good witness, though the old Christian is quite as good. It is a blessed thing to have had fifty years' enjoyment of the forgiveness of sin. I have half a mind to call some of our venerable friends up here to bear their witness. I am sure they would not stammer: or had they lost the power of ready speech through infirmity of the flesh, their testimony would be sound and vigorous, for they would tell you unhesitatingly how blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. I wish I had time to show you that forgiveness of sin is not only blessed of itself, but:-- IV. All its Concomitants Help to Swell the Tide of Blessing. A thousand felicities follow in its train. He who is forgiven is justified, acquitted, vindicated, sent forth without a stain or blemish on his reputation; he is regenerated, quickened, invigorated, and brought into newness of life; more still, he is adopted, initiated into a divine family, invested with a new relationship, and made heir of a heritage entailed by promise. The work of sanctification begun in him here will one day be completely perfected. He who is forgiven was elected from before the foundations of the world. He was redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus. For him Christ stood as his sponsor, surety, and substitute at the bar of justice. To the forgiven man all things have become new. Our Lord Jesus Christ has raised him up and made him sit in heavenly places with him. He is even now a son and heir, a child of God, a prince of the blood imperial, a priest and a king who shall reign with Christ forever and ever. He who is washed in the precious blood is favoured beyond any words that I can find to express it. Ten thousand blessings are his portion. "How precious!" such a pardoned one may exclaim; " how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! " But the:-- V. Blessedness of the Man Whose Transgression is Forgiven, Whose Sin is Covered, Will be Mainly Seen in the Next State. That disembodied spirit, clear of spot or blemish, washed and whitened in the blood of the Lamb, passes without fear into the invisible world. It trembles not, though it appears before the eye of justice. No award can come to the forgiven soul except this, " Come, thou blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for thee. " We commit the body of the forgiven sinner to the grave in " sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection. " We give his flesh to be the food of the word, and his skin may rot to dust; but though worms destroy his body, yet in his flesh shall he see God, whom his eyes shall see for himself and not another. I was astonished some little time ago when I heard a good pastor, standing by the coffin or an honoured minister, say, "There lies nothing of our brother." Not so, thought I. The bodies of the saints were purchased by Christ; though flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither can corruption inherit incorruption, yet there will be such a marvelous change pass over the body of the forgiven sinner that the same body-changed, but still the same body-shall be reunited with the disembodied spirit to dwell at God's right hand. Hark! Hark! The trumpet sounds! Oh! my brethren, we can but speak in prose. These great scenes we shall all of us see. We shall then think after another fashion. The trumpet sounds. The echo reaches heaven. Hell startles at the sound to its nethermost domains. This trembling earth is all attention. The sea yields up her dead. A great white cloud comes sailing forth in awful majesty. Upon it there is a throne, where Jesus sits in state. But his heart has no cause to quake whose sins are all forgiven. Well may the ransomed soul be calm amidst the pomp and pageantry of that tremendous day; for he who sits upon the throne is the Son of man, in whose blood we have been washed. Lo! This is the same Jesus who said, " I have forgiven thee. " He cannot condemn us. We shall find him to be our Friend whom others find to be their Judge. Blessed is that man who is forgiven! See him, as with ten thousand times ten thousand others, pure as himself and like to himself, who had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, he ascends to the Celestial City, a perfect man in body and in soul, to dwell for ever there! Hark to the acclamations of the ten thousand times ten thousand, the sound of the harpers harping with their harps, and the song that is like great waters. Write, yea, write now, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." But doubly blessed are they then that they rise from the dead. Once they were sinners washed in blood; but then, in body and in soul, they shall have come, through the precious blood, to see Jesus face to face. Oh! how I wish that all of us knew this blessedness! Seek it, friends, seek it. It is to be found. " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near. " I am especially encouraged in preaching the gospel this evening, because I have just been seeing some who have been recently converted. There are hearers of the gospel among you who have been listening to me for many years. Often have I feared that, in your case, I had laboured in vain; but I have great hope now concerning some of you. The Lord keeps bringing in the old hearers of eight, nine, and ten years' standing. Oh! I pray that Lord to save every one of you, and bring you into the fold. I do long and pant that I may present you all before my Master's face with joy! Even should you go and join other churches, and serve the Lord elsewhere, that will cause me no sorrow or regret. But God forbid that any of you should despise mercy, reject the gospel, and die in your sins. May you prove the blessedness of pardon, and then shall we meet, an unbroken congregation, before the Throne. The Lord grant it, for his Name's sake. Amen. Psalms 33:1. Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.Notice the connection between the words “rejoice “and “praise.” Joy is the soul of praise. God is not extolled by our misery, but by our holy mirth. Be glad in the Lord, for so can you make him glorious. “Rejoice and “praise “, “for praise is comely for the upright.” Praise is the beauty of a Christian. What wings are to a bird, what fruit is to the tree, what the rose is to the thorn, that is praise to a child of God.Psalms 33:2. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.In the old days of forms, and ceremonies, and outward worship, musical instruments were abundantly used; but in the early Christian Church there was no such thing as a musical instrument, because the believers were afraid of going back to Judaism. It is curious that, as men get further away from Christ, they get fonder and fonder of such things as these. Still, under certain conditions, they are lawful; though, we think, not expedient. God was acceptably worshipped in the olden time with harp and with psaltery, and he may be so now; yet we worship him, so we judge for our own selves, better without them.Psalms 33:3. Sing unto him a new song;For, you see, that all the music had singing with it. “Praise the Lord with harp; sing unto him “Sing unto him a new song.” “Unto the Lord, unto the Lord, Oh, sing a new and joyful song!” It was only as it guided and strengthened the singing that the instrumental music was tolerated even in those early days.Psalms 33:3. Play skillfully with a loud noise.God ought to be worshipped with our best: “Play skillfully.” God ought to be earnestly worshipped: “with a loud noise.” Hearty worship is what the Lord desires, and what he deserves; let us render it to him.Psalms 33:4. For the word of the LORD is right;Let us praise him for his Word. Men are depreciating it; let us appreciate it. “The word of the Lord is right:” from the first page to the last it is right, emphatically right; let us praise him for it.Psalms 33:4. And all his works are done in truth.The book of providence is full of truth; oh, for grace to read it with thankful hearts! Let us praise God, and sing unto him, as every page passes under our eye.Psalms 33:5. He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.You would think, from the way in which most people talk, that the world was full of misery and full of the anger of the Lord; but it is not. Notwithstanding all the evil that is in it, it is still true that “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”Psalms 33:6. By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.They did not grow out of something that was there before; they were made out of nothing “by the word of the Lord.” All the hosts of stars innumerable were created “by the breath of his mouth.”Psalms 33:7. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.We know not how much God hath in store, out of sight, in the vast abysses; but we know that he drowned the world when he broke up the fountains of the great deep.Psalms 33:8. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.He is so great a God that all the oceans are in his sight but as a heap; let us worship, and adore, and bow down before him.Psalms 33:9. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.With God it is no sooner said than it is done; “He spake, and it was done.” All that he has to do is but to bid it be so, and so it is. And, as it was for creation, so is it for confirmation: “He commanded, and it stood fast.”Psalms 33:10. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.If the folly of man yields to God’s wisdom, so also shall the wisdom of man. No matter though men take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed, God will certainly carry out his purposes.Psalms 33:11. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.What the Lord intends to do, he will do; there is no turning him from his purpose, and his dispensations stand fast for ever.Psalms 33:12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.If you have chosen God, God has chosen you. It is a happy thing when it is so; when these two elections meet,-your election of God, and God’s election of you,-then you are happy indeed.Psalms 33:13-14. The LORD looketh from heaven; he beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Just as in a glass hive you can see all the bees, and all they do, so can God see us; and he can see all that we think, and read and know us through and through.Psalms 33:15-16. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he considereth all their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host:Look at Napoleon, who marched more than half a million of men into Russia; but they nearly all melted away, and, after a time, he himself became a captive on the lone rock of St. Helena: “There is no king saved by the multitude of an host.”Psalms 33:16. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. Look at Goliath, stronger than all his fellows; yet how soon he lay prone upon the earth when a single stone from the sling of David smote him in the forehead.Psalms 33:17-19. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.Whatever becomes of kings and princes in the day of need, the Lord will take care of those who fear him, and put their trust in him. There have been vast numbers of cases of singular providence’s, so many that they have ceased to be singular, in which God has provided for those who have trusted in him,Psalms 33:20. Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. Dear friends, notice those three “ours”-three firm clasps, three strong holdfasts: “Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.” Why did he not say, “Our souls wait,” for there are many of us? Ah! but we are so alike in this one thing that it is as if we had only one soul in all these many bodies, so the psalmist says, “our soul.” You remember, when the disciples went to Emmaus, and Christ talked with them, they said, “Did not our heart burn within us?” There were two of them; then, why did they not say, “Did not our hearts burn?” Well, their hearts were so one that he who spoke called them “heart” rather than “hearts”; and it is so here: “Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.”Psalms 33:21-22. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.That is a good prayer with which to close our reading; let us all present it at the throne of the heavenly grace. Psalms 34:1. I will bless the LORD at all times:“At dark times, and bright times when I am alone, and when I am in company; when I feel like doing it and when I do not feel like doing it: ‘I will bless the Lord at all times.’”Psalms 34:1. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.“I will not only feel it in my heart, but I will give expression to it with my mouth. Those who do not care for this blessed employment may leave it alone; but as for me, ‘his praise shall continually be in my mouth.’”Psalms 34:2. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.“I will ride the high horse when I begin to talk of the goodness of God: ‘My soul shall make her boast in the Lord;’ and whereas boasters are generally very vexatious to humble-minded people, this kind of boasting shall please them: ‘the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.’”Psalms 34:3. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.Come, my brethren and sisters, I cannot perform this happy service alone; it is too much for me all by myself. This bunch of grapes is too heavy to be carried by one. “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.”Psalms 34:4. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.Should not the prayer-hearing God be praised? If he hears the cries of his people, should he not also hear the praises of his people? It is not one only to whom God has thus listened, but many can say with the psalmist, “I sought the Lord, and he heard me.”Psalms 34:5-6. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. It is God’s delight to hear the cry of poor men. Sometimes, he passes by the rich and great, and gives heed to the poor and desolate. It is our need that has the loudest cry with God; if our necessities are urgent, our prayer will be powerful.Psalms 34:7. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.God’s children are always attended like princes, legions of angels form their body-guard. The angel of the Lord, and companies of holy angels with him, pitch their celestial tents round about them that fear God.Psalms 34:8. O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.Do try him, dear friends, and prove for yourselves how good and gracious he is: “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” “Oh, make but trial of his love; Experience will decide How blest are they, and only they, Who in his truth confide!”Psalms 34:9. O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.He will supply all their wants. You need not fear for anything else when once you fear God.Psalms 34:10. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger:They are strong, and fierce, and crafty, and unscrupulous, yet still they suffer hunger: —Psalms 34:10. But they that seek the LORD; shall not want any good thing.Though they be neither cruel, nor cunning, nor strong, “they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” What a promise for you to plead in prayer, dear friends! If you are in any need, do not hesitate, but by an act of faith take this gracious word, and plead it with the promise-keeping God: “Hast thou not said that, ‘they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing’? Then, Lord, do as thou hast said.”Psalms 34:11-13. Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.He who can manage his tongue can manage his whole body; for the tongue is the rudder of the ship, and if that be properly held, the vessel will be rightly steered. If thou wouldst escape the quicksands and the rocks, look well to thy tongue; keep it from evil, that it speak neither blasphemy against God nor slander against thy fellow men; and keep thy lips from guile, that is, from deceit, from double meanings, from saying one thing and meaning another, or making other people think that you mean another, — an art all too well understood in these days. God make us plain-speaking men, who say what we mean, and mean what we say! When, by the grace of God, we are taught to do this, we have learnt a good lesson.Psalms 34:14. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.If it runs away from you, run after it. Never run into or after a quarrel, but always run after peace: “Seek peace, and pursue it.”Psalms 34:15. The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.The Lord is always watching them, and he is always listening that he may hear everything they say, especially when they cry unto him.Psalms 34:16. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.He will not only destroy the wicked, but he will blot out the very memory of them. They may become great and famous in their wickedness, but they shall not be kept in memory, as the righteous are. As Solomon says, “The name of the wicked shall rot.”Psalms 34:17-18. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.Men do not care for broken hearts, but God does. “Give me a sound heart and a brave heart,” says man. “Give me a broken and a contrite heart,” says the Lord. If you have such a heart as that, be not afraid to draw near to your God, through Jesus Christ, for he is already nigh unto you.Psalms 34:19. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.Many who read this verse admit that the first part of it is true: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous.” Yes, but the latter clause is also true: “but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Do not omit either portion of the passage, for one part is as true as the other.Psalms 34:20. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.God’s people shall suffer no real, lasting, vital injury. You may have flesh wounds, but as to the bones of your spirit, as it were, the solid part of it, “not one of them is broken.”Psalms 34:21. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.They shall want nothing else to make an end of them but their own sins: “Evil shall slay the wicked.”Psalms 34:22. The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.Now we are going to read the last chapter of the Book of the prophet Hosea, the first of the minor prophets. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 34; and Hosea 14. Psalms 35WE have here another of those psalms, in which two great parties, the righteous and the wicked, are exhibited in contrast and in an attitude of mutual hostility. The psalm may be divided into three parts, parallel to one another, in all of which the elements combined are complaint, prayer, and the promise of thanksgiving for anticipated deliverance. The first division is occupied with an invocation of divine judgments on God's enemies, ending with an expression of triumph in God's favour, Psalms 35:1-9. The second contains a more particular description of these enemies, as oppressors, false accusers, unthankful renderers of evil for good, and malignant scoffers, with a prayer for the divine interposition, and a pledge of public thanksgiving, Psalms 35:10-18. The third renews briefly the description of the enemy, but is chiefly filled with prayer to be delivered from them, and closes, like the others, with a promise of perpetual thanksgiving, Psalms 35:19-28. 1. (Psalms 35:1) By David. Oppose, Jehovah, my opposers; devour my devourers. The correctness of the title is confirmed by the appearance of allusion to 1 Samuel 24:16 (15), the incident recorded in which place may have been present to the Psalmist's mind although we have no reason to believe that he wrote it with exclusive reference to that time or to himself, but for the use of pious sufferers in general.— Strive with my strivers, or contend with my contenders. The original verb is one specifically used to denote judicial contest, litigation, in which sense a cognate noun is used below, Psalms 35:23, and the English Bible thus translates the verse before us: plead (my cause) with them that strive against me; fight against them that fight against me. It is only in the passive form, however, that MHl means to fight; its primary sense is to devour. The application of this metaphor to warfare is not uncommon. See below, Psalms 56:2-3 (1, 2), and compare Numbers 14:9; Numbers 24:8, Deuteronomy 7:16. 2. (Psalms 35:2) Lay hold of shield and buckler; and stand up in my defence (or for my help). The manifestation of God's saving and protecting power is described in Scripture under various figures corresponding to the form of the particular suffering or danger. Against injustice he appears as an advocate or judge (see Psalms 35:23 below); against violence as a warrior (see Deuteronomy 32:41-42). In this character the Psalmist here entreats him to appear, and for that end to seize, grasp, or lay hold of his weapons of defence. The shield and buckler seem to have been different in size (1 Kings 10:16-17), though not in use.— Arise, address thyself to action. See above, on Psalms 3:8 (7).— In my help is by some explained to mean as my help, i.e. my helper; but the Hebrew idiom seems to be identical with our phrase in my defence. 3. (Psalms 35:3) And draw out the spear, and stop (the way) against my pursuers; say to my soul, Thy salvation (am) I. The first verb properly means empty, pour out, and then draw out. Some suppose the expression to be strictly applicable only to the sword, but to be here applied by a kind of poetic licence to the spear. Others suppose it to be strictly used, but in relation to the drawing of it out of its repository or concealment. Some explain the Hebrew as a foreign word, identical with the Scythian battle-axe. But no such word occurs in Hebrew elsewhere, and the meaning of the verb, is entirely appropriate, to close or stop the way against another. Against, or literally to meet, in a hostile or military sense which the word has in Deuteronomy 1:44, Joshua 8:14, and elsewhere.—To my soul; see above, on Psalms 11:1.—Thy salvation, see below, Psalms 38:22 (22). 4. (Psalms 35:4) Shamed and confounded be the seekers of my soul; turned back and made to blush the devisers of my hurt. Entirely disappointed in their hopes and efforts. The optative meaning of the futures is determined by the unambiguous form in Psalms 35:6 below. The seekers of my soul or life, i.e. such as seek it to destroy it. Compare Matthew 2:13; Matthew 2:20. Turned back, disgracefully repulsed and defeated. See above, on Psalms 9:18 (17). Made to blush: the form of the verb in Hebrew is not causative, but simply means to blush or be confused. The causative form is here employed in order to give uniformity to the English sentence.— My hurt, literally my evil, i.e. evil fortune, calamity, or injury.— Devisers, literally thinkers, i.e. such as meditate or purpose my destruction. 5. (Psalms 35:5) Let them be as chaff before a wind, and the angel of Jehovah smiting. Under the influence of inspiration, the Psalmist sees the natural and righteous consequences of their wickedness, and viewing the case merely in itself, apart from personal feeling, speaks of this effect as desirable. The wish expressed is, to all intents and purposes, equivalent to a prediction or the affirmation of a general truth. The Psalmist desires the destruction of these sinners precisely as God wills it; nor is it any harder to reconcile such wishes with the highest degree of human goodness than it is to reconcile the certain fact that God allows some men to perish with his infinite bene volence. The figure of chaff before the wind suggests the idea of intrinsic worthlessness with that of easy and complete destruction. Compare Psalms 1:4. The participle at the close means striking (them) down, so that they cannot rise. Compare Psalms 36:12. The angel of Jehovah, his appointed instrument of vengeance. See above, on Psalms 34:8 (7). 6. (Psalms 35:6) Let their way be dark and slippery, and the angel of Jehovah chasing them. The optative form of the verb at the beginning determines the sense of those which go before, and which otherwise might be ambiguous.—Dark and slippery, literally darkness and srnoothnesses, an emphatic substitution of the abstract for the concrete. The fearful image thus suggested of men driven, like chaff before the wind, along a dark and slippery path, is rendered more terrific by the additional idea of their being hotly pursued by the destroying angel. The construction of the last clause, both in this verse and the one before it, is: (let) the angel of Jehovah (be) pursuing them. 7. (Psalms 35:7) For without cause they hid for me their pit fall; without cause they digged for my soul. This verse assigns the reason of the imprecations or denunciations which precede.— Without cause, wantonly, gratuitously, unprovoked, and therefore prompted by mere malice. See below, Psalms 35:19.— The pit of their net is an idiomatic phrase like the hill of my holiness. See above, on Psalms 2:6. The true sense of the phrase appears to be their net-pit, i.e. their pit covered with a net, a figure borrowed from .the ancient modes of hunting. See above, on Psalms 7:16 (15), Psalms 9:16 (15). In the last clause we may either supply a relative, as in the common version, which they digged, or take the verb in the absolute sense of making a pit or ditch. 8. (Psalms 35:8) Let ruin come (upon) him (when) he does not know; and his net which he hid— let it take him— with ruin (to his ruin) let him fall into it. The first noun properly denotes a crash, as of a falling house, and then a ruin, both in the narrower and wider sense. When he does not know, unawares, unexpectedly, as in Isaiah 47:11, Job 9:5. The last clause may also be translated, into ruin let him fall into it, i.e. as the common version has it, into that very ruin. But it is simpler to lethim fall with ruin, i.e. ruinously to his own destruction. 9. (Psalms 35:9)And my soul shall exult in Jehovah, shall joy in his salvation. Our idiom would require so or then at the beginning of the sentence, to make the connection of the verses clear.— In Jehovah, not merely on account of him, but in union with him and possession of him, as the parallel phrase, in his salvation, means in the experience and enjoyment of it. This is a kind of promise that the favour asked shall not be unrequited by thanks- giving, and the same idea is still further carried out in the next verse. 10. (Psalms 35:10) All my bones shall say, Jehovah, who is like thee, delivering the sufferer from (one) stronger than himself, and the sufferer and the needy from his spoiler? The bones, the frame, the person, are here put for the whole man. See above, on Psalms 32:3. The interrogative form implies negation. "There is no such saviour besides God." The apparent tautology may be relieved in English by translating even the sufferer, etc. But such repetitions are entirely congenial to the Hebrew idiom. With the second clause compare Jeremiah 31:11, and with the third Psalms 10:2. 11. (Psalms 35:11) There rise up witnesses of violence; (as to) that which I have not known they ask me. The future verbs describe the acts as still in progress, and as likely to be long continued. They are rising or about to rise, asking or about to ask. The word translated violence is one of very frequent occurrence in the psalms, and includes the ideas of injustice and cruelty. See above, on Psalms 7:17 (16), Psalms 10:5; Psalms 18:49 (48), Psalms 25:19; Psalms 27:12. "They endeavour to draw from me the acknowledgment of crimes which I have not committed, and of which I have no knowledge." 12. (Psalms 35:12) They repay me evil for good— bereavement to my soul. "If given up to them, I have nething to expect but a continued recompence of evil for good, extending even to the loss of what is most essential to my being and well-being." The word translated bereavement commonly means loss of children, but is here used metaphorically for the most extreme and lamentable destitution. 13. (Psalms 35:13) And I— in their sickness my clothing (was) sackcloth; I humbled with fasting my soul— and my prayer into my bosom shall return. The general idea is that he displayed the deepest sympathy with their distresses. This idea is expressed by figures borrowed from the oriental mourning usages. Sackcloth, fasting, and prayer are here particularly mentioned. To humble the soul (or one's self), or as some explain it, to mortify the appetite, is the phrase by which fasting is described in the Law of Moses (Leviticus 16:31; Leviticus 23:27; Leviticus 23:32, Numbers 29:7), and which is here combined with the later word — The last clause is obscure, and is by some understood to signify the constancy of supplication, coming back and going out again without cessation. Others explain it as a mere description of the attitude of prayer with the head bowed upon the bosom, as if he had said, I was continually pouring prayer into my bosom. But neither of these explanations is so probable as the traditional one of the Jews, according to which he desires that the prayer which he offered for them might redound to his own advantage. Or the clause may be still more simply construed as a prediction "My prayer shall not be lost, it shall return in blessings to the heart which prompted it." 14. (Psalms 35:14) As (if it had been) a friend, a brother to me, I went on (or went about); as a mourner for a mother, squalid I bowed down. He not only mourned in their calamity, but with the deepest grief, as for a friend, a brother, or a parent, which terms are so arranged as to produce a beautiful and striking climax.— The verb in thI will thank thee in the great assembly, ine first clause corresponds very nearly to the familiar English phrase went on, in the sense of lived or habitually acted. See above, on Psalms 1:1.— The Hebrew word means squalid, dirty, in allusion to the ancient oriental practice of neglecting the appearance, and even covering the dress and person with dust and ashes, as a token of extreme grief. The bowing down is also to be taken as a part of the same usage. 15. (Psalms 35:15) And (yet) in my limping they rejoiced, and were gathered together; there were gathered together against me cripples, and I did not know (it): they did tear and were not silent. With his behaviour to them in their affliction he contrasts theirs to him. As disease in general is a common figure for distress, so lameness in particular is so used here and in Psalms 38:18 (17), Jeremiah 20:10. They assembled not to comfort but to mock him and revile him.— The obscure Herbrew wording has been variously explained to mean smiters with the tongue (Jeremiah 18:18), i.e. slanderers— whipped (Job 39:8), i.e. degraded criminals— and smitten (Isaiah 53:4), i.e. afflicted. But Luther's explanation, which connects the word with the cognate form (2 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 9:3), smitten in the feet, lame, crippled, not only yields a good sense, but agrees best with the figure of the first clause. 'When I limped cripples mocked at me'— i. e. those who were themselves contemptible treated me with contempt. I did not know it. It was done behind my back, and while I was entirely unsuspicious. See above, on Psalms 35:8. This is a more natural construction than whom I did not know, Which is, moreover, inconsistent with what goes before.— They rent or tore me by their slanders. 16. (Psalms 35:16) With worthless mockers for bread— gnashing against me their teeth. This they did in the company of impious, reprobate, or worthless scoffers, who calumniate others for the sake of gaining favour with their wicked patrons. Hence they are called bread or cake scoffers, those who earn their food by spiteful mockery of others. The form of the whole verse is extremely idiomatic, and scarcely admits of an exact translation. The literal meaning of the first clause is with the worthless of mockers of bread, and in the second the verb gnash is an infinitive, which can only be rendered in intelligible English by a participle or a finite verb, they gnashed, or gnashing. This is always expressive of malignant rage, and shews that what is here described is not mere raillery but spiteful defamation. 17. (Psalms 35:17) Lord, how long wilt thou look on? Restore my soul from their rains (or ruinous plots), from the young lions my lonely one. The first Hebrew word is not Jehovah but Adhonai, properly expressive of dominion or sovereignty. See above, on Psalms 16:2— How long? The Hebrew phrase usually means how much, but is here specially applied to time; how much time? how long? Wilt thou see what treatment I receive, and merely see it, as an indifferent spectator?— Restore my soul has not the same sense as in Psalms 19:8 (7), Psalms 23:3, but the strict one of bringing back from the dangerous extreme to which he had been brought by the ruins or ruinous devices— i.e. designed to ruin others— of his enemies. Lions are mentioned as the strongest and fiercest of wild beasts, and young lions as the most active of their specics. See above, on Psalms 34:11 (10).— My lonely, solitary soul. See above, on Psalms 22:21 (20). 18. (Psalms 35:18) In (the midst of the) mighty people I will praise, thee On the supposition that his prayer will be heard and answered, he engages to give public thanks, in the great congregation or assembly of God's people. See above, on Psalms 22:23; Psalms 22:26 (22, 25).— Strong people, strong in numbers, a poetical equivalent to great congregation.— The verb in the last clause means to praise in general; that in the first to praise for benefits received, to acknowledge favours, in other words to thank. See above, on Psalms 33:2. 19. (Psalms 35:19) Let them not rejoice respecting me, my enemies of falsehood, (and let not) my haters without cause wink the eye. Respecting me, at my expense, or, in this and similar connections, over me, although this idea is not so much expressed in the text as suggested by the context. See above, Psalms 25:2, and below, Psalms 35:24, Psalms 38:7 (16). Let them not rejoice, let them have no occasion so to do.— My enemies of falsehood, my false enemies, who gratify their spite by calumny and slander.— My haters without cause, those who hate me gratuitously, out of sheer spite, without any reasonable ground or even colourable pretext. This is a favourite description of the enemies of the righteous— see above, on Psalms 7:5 (4), Psalms 25:3— and was pre-eminently true of the enemies of Christ, to whom it is applied in the New Testament (John 15:25). The negation of the first clause is to be repeated in the other, as in Psalms 9:19 (18). Winking is here referred to as a gesture of mutual congratulation among accomplices in guilt. Compare Proverbs 6:13; Proverbs 10:10. 20. (Psalms 35:20) For not peace will they speak, and against the quiet of the land words of deceits will they devise. The for assigns a reason why they ought not to be suffered to rejoice in the success of their designs. The reason is, because their design, are evil, tending not to peace— in the strict sense, as opposed to strife, or in the wide sense, as opposed to trouble and calamity — but to the disturbance of those who are peacefully inclined, the quiet (or tranquil) of the land, i. e. the land of promise, considered as the home of God's chosen people, who, as its rightful proprietors, are characteristically peaceful, and averse from all strife and disorder. Compare Matthew 5:5. To disturb these, the wicked devise words of deceits, in which phrase words is not an idiomatic pleonasm,— compare Psalms 41:9 (8), Psalms 65:4 (3), — but a substantive expression, meaning false (or lying) words, and more specifically slanders— see below, Psalms 36:4 (3)— the utterers of which are called lying enemies in Psalms 35:19. The futures of this verse include the present: they do so now and will do so still. Some connect not peace as an emphatic compound, meaning just the opposite of peace. Compare Isaiah 10:15. 21. (Psalms 35:21) And have widened against me their mouth; they have said, Aha, aha, our eye has seen. "They have mocked at my distress with contemptuous grimaces, and rejoiced in the fulfilment of their spiteful wishes." With the first clause compare Psalms 22:8 (7) above. The Hebrew interjection in the last clause seems to be a natural expression of joyful surprise. Their success was almost too great to be real, yet attested by their senses. The verse ends with a kind of aposiopesis: "our own eyes have seen"— what we could not have believed on the report of another, to wit, the gratification of our warmest wishes. See below, Psalms 35:25. 22. (Psalms 35:22) Thou hast seen, Jehovah, be not silent; Lord, be not far from me. "But they are not the only witnesses of my distress, for thou, Lord, like-wise seest and hast long seen it. Seeing it, therefore, be no longer silent; refrain no longer from interposing in my favour; speak in my behalf; be near me in this time of peril." The connection of the verses is like that in Psalms 10:13-14, and the prayer in the last clause not unlike that with which the same psalm opens. With the other petition, be not silent, compare that at the beginning of Ps. 28., and with the first words, thou hast seen, those of Psa 35:17 above. 23. (Psalms 35:23) Arouse (thee) and awake for my right (or judgment), my God and me Lord, for my cause. "Put an end to this inaction and apparent indifference, and manifest thy presence, as my sovereign and my covenant-keeping God, for the vindication of my innocence against false accusers and us righteous judges." The same petition, clothed in nearly the same words, occurs above in Psalms 7:7; Psalms 7:9 (6, 8). See also Psalms 9:5 (4), Psalms 17. 24. (Psalms 35:24) Judge me according to thy righteousness, Jehovah, my God, and let them not rejoice respecting me. "Do me justice, clear me from aspersion, grant an attestation of my innocence, in the exercise and exhibition of thine own essential rectitude, and in accordance with that covenant relation which exists between us; and thus, in the most effectual manner, take away from my malignant enemies all pretext and occasion for exulting in my overthrow, or otherwise triumphing at my expense." With the last clause compare Psalms 30:2 (1) above, where he thanks God for the very favour which he here asks. The verb in this clause may be referred to men in general, or with still greater probability to the enemies described in the preceding context. 25. (Psalms 35:25) Let them not say in their heart, Aha, our soul (or our heart's desire)! Let them not say, We have swallowed him up! In their heart, not secretly, but cordially, not as opposed to saying so to others, but to mere profession. — Our heart's desire! an abbreviated exclamation prompted by strong feeling. "This is precisely what we have so long and so intensely wished for!" See above, on Psalms 37:12. Let them not say, let them not have occasion so to ay; let not the events which befall me justify them in so saying.— Swallowed him up, utterly destroyed him. See above, on Psalms 21:10 (9), and compare Lamentations 2:16, where the form of expression is no doubt copied from the verse before us. 26. (Psalms 35:26) Let them be ashamed and blush together— the rejoicers in my evil; let them put on shame and contempt the (men) magnifying against me (their words, or their deeds, or themselves)! The relative construction, who rejoice in my hurt, who magnify against me, gives the sense, but in an English rather than a Hebrew form.— Ashamed, disappointed and defeated. See above, on Psalms 35:4.—Blush, be confused or confounded.—My evil, i.e. evil fortune, injury, including the idea of injustice, as the antithetical term in Psalms 35:27 is righteousness or justification.— Put on, as a dress, and wear it, or be covered with it. See below, on Psalms 109:18 (17), and compare Job 8:24.— Contempt, disgrace, ignominy.— Making great, etc., their mouth or words, i.e. speaking proudly, Obadiah 1:12, Ezekiel 35:13; or still more probably and agreeably to usage, acting proudly, as in Psalms 55:13 (12), and elsewhere. The complete expression may be that used in Joe 2:20. 27. (Psalms 35:27) Let them shout (or sing) and rejoice— the desirers of my righteousness and let them always say, Great is (or be) Jehovah, the (God) willing (or desiring) the peace of his servant! The sentence may be brought into closer conformity to our idiom by adopting a relative construction. "Let them rejoice who desire my righteousness," i.e. my justification, who desire to see me practically justified by God's providential dealings with me.—Let them always say, i.e. always have occasion so to do, which is virtually wishing that the peace or prosperity of Jehovah's servant may be perpetual. The verbal adjective in both these clauses means desiring, with a strong implication of complacency or satisfaction in the object, and therefore really includes the two ideas of desire and delight.— The righteousness or justification of the first clause is an obvious antithesis to the evil, hurt, or injury of Psa 35:26, and no less obviously identical, or at least coincident, with the peace or welfare of the last clause here. 28. (Psalms 35:28) And my tongue shall utter thy righteousness— all the day (long) thy praise. The and connects the verse with what precedes, as the effect with its occasion or its muse. This connection may be made clear in our idiom by the use of a more definite particle, such as then or so.— The verb used in this verse is applied elsewhere both to articulate and inarticulate animal sounds. The nearest equivalent in English is to utter. For a secondary or derived sense of the same verb, see above, on Psalms 1:2. —All the day long, or every day, common expressions for continually, always.— The righteousness of the first clanse is the object of the praise in the second. The righteousness of God here mentioned has reference to the Psalmist's righteousness in Psalms 35:27. By vindicating this, the divine justice or fidelity acquires, as it were, a new claim to the praises of the justified sinner, which he here declares himself resolved to pay. Title. A Psalm of David. Here is all we know concerning this Psalm, but internal evidence seems to fix the date of its composition in those troublous times when Saul hunted David over hill and dale, and when those who fawned upon the cruel king, slandered the innocent object of his wrath, or it may be referred to the unquiet days of frequent insurrections in David's old age. The whole Psalm is the appeal to heaven of a bold heart and a clear conscience, irritated beyond measure by oppression and malice. Beyond a doubt David's Lord may be seen here by the spiritual eye. Divisions. The most natural mode of dividing this Psalm is to note its triple character. Its complaint, prayer, and promise of praise are repeated with remarkable parallelism three times, even as our Lord in the Garden prayed three times, using the same words. The first portion occupies from Psalms 35:1-10, the second from Psalms 35:11-18, and the last from Psalms 35:19-28; each section ending with a note of grateful song. Ver. 1. Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me. Plead against those who plead against me; strive with my strivers; contend with my contenders. If they urge their suit in the law court, Lord, meet them there, and beat them at their own weapons. Every saint of God shall have this privilege: the accuser of the brethren shall be met by the Advocate of the saints. Fight against them that fight against me. If my advisers try force as well as fraud, be a match for them; oppose thy strength to their strength. Jesus does this for all his beloved--for them he is both intercessor and champion; whatever aid they need they shall receive from him, and in whatever manner they are assaulted they shall be effectually defended. Let us not fail to leave our case into the Lord's hand. Vain is the help of man, but ever effectual is the interposition of heaven. What is here asked for as a boon, may be regarded as a promise to all the saints; in judgment they shall have a divine advocate, in warfare a divine protection. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Bonar entitles this Psalm, "The awful utterance of the Righteous One regarding those that hate him without cause, "and he makes the following remarks thereupon: --"Throughout the endless day of eternity the Lord Jesus shall himself speak the Father's `praise, 'and shall put marked emphasis on his `righteousness'-- that righteousness which shall have been exhibited, both in the doom of those who hated the offered Redeemer, and in the salvation of those who received him. There is nothing in all this wherein his own may not fully join, especially on that day when their views of justice shall be far clearer and fuller than now. On that day we shall be able to understand how Samuel could hew Agag in pieces, and the godly hosts of Israel slay utterly in Canaan man and woman and child, at God's command. We shall be able, not only fully agree in the doom, `Let them be confounded, 'etc., but even to sing, `Amen, Hallelujah, ' over the smoke of torment. Revelation 19:1-2. We should in some measure now be able to see every verse of this Psalm in the spirit in which the Judge speaks it, we feeling ourselves his assessors in judging the world. 1 Corinthians 6:2. We shall, at all events, be able to use it on that day when what is written here shall be all accomplished." Andrew A. Bonar. Ver. 1. Plead my cause, O God, with them that strive with me. 1. Doth the world condemn thee for thy zeal in the service of God? Reproachfully scorn thee for thy care to maintain good works? not blush to traduce thee with imputations of preciseness, conceited singularity, pharisaical hypocrisy? Oh, but if thy conscience condemn thee not all this while, if that be rectified by the sacred word of God, if thou aim at his glory in pursuing thine own salvation, and side not with the disturbers of the church, go on, good Christian, in the practice of piety, discourage not thyself in thy laudable endeavours, but recount with comfort that the Lord is thy judge 1 Corinthians 4:4, with a scio cui crediderim, "I know whom I have believed." 2 Timothy 1:12. 2. Art thou wrongfully adjudged in the erroneous courts of men? are truth and righteousness gone aside from their proper places? Is equity neglected, and poverty overlaid? Well, have patience awhile, cheer up thy fainting spirits, there is a God that beholdeth the innocency of thy cause, unto whom thou hast liberty to make thy last appeal: Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Or, 3. Art thou otherwise injured by the hands of malicious men? and doth a penurious estate disable thee to sue for amends? Doth a Nimrod oppress thee? A Laban defraud thee? A covetous landlord gripe thee? Well, yet take not the matter into thine own hands by attempting unlawful courses; presume not to be judge in thine own cause, for default of a present redress; but often remember what the apostle taught his Thessalonians: "It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you." Isaac Craven's Sermon at Paul's Cross, 1630. Ver. 1. Plead, etc. More literally, litigate, O Lord, with them that litigate against me, contend against them that contend with me; i.e., avenge me of mine adversaries. Daniel Cresswell, D.D., F.R.S., in "The Psalms of David according to the Book of Common Prayer: with Critical and Explanatory Notes", 1843. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. Jesus our Advocate and Champion; our friend in the courts of heaven and the battles of earth. Psalms 35:2* Ver. 2. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. In vivid metaphor the Lord is pictured as coming forth armed for battle, and interposing himself between his servant and his enemies. The greater and lesser protections of providence may be here intended by the two defensive weapons, and by the Lord's standing up is meant his active and zealous preservation of his servant in the perilous hour. This poetic imagery shows how the psalmist realised the existence and power of God; and thought of him as a real and actual personage, truly working for his afflicted. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2. Shield and buckler. The word rendered shield is in the Hebrew text (Ngm), magen, which was a short buckler intended merely for defence. The word rendered buckler is (hnu) tsinnah; it was double the weight of the magen, and was carried by the infantry; the magen, being lighter and more manageable, was used by the calvary. The tsinnah answered to the scutum, and the magen to the clypeus, among the Romans. The word tsinnah, means that kind of shield from the middle of which there arose a large boss, surmounted by a dagger, and which was highly useful both as a defensive and an offensive weapon in ancient warfare. James Anderson, note to Calvin in loc. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. Jesus armed as the defender of the faithful. Psalms 35:3* Ver. 3. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me. Before the enemy comes to close quarters the Lord can push them off as with a long spear. To stave off trouble is no mean act of lovingkindness. As when some valiant warrior with his lance blocks up a defile, and keeps back a host until his weaker brethren have made good their escape, so does the Lord often hold the believer's foes at bay until the good man had taken breath, or clean fled from his foes. He often gives the foes of Zion some other work to do, and so gives rest to his church. What a glorious idea is this of Jehovah blocking the way of persecutors, holding them at the pike's end, and giving time for the hunted saint to elude the pursuit! Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Besides holding off the enemy, the Lord can also calm the mind of his servant by express assurance from his own mouth, that he is, and shall be, safe under the Almighty wing. An inward persuasion of security in God is of all things the most precious in the furnace of persecution. One word from the Lord quiets all our fears. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. Draw out the spear, and stop the way. The spear in the days of Saul and David was a favourite weapon. (See 1 Chronicles 11:1-47). A valiant man bravely defending a narrow pass might singly with his lance keep back a pursuing host, and give time for his friends to escape. Very remarkable were the feats of valour of this sort performed in Oriental warfare. David would have his God become his heroic defender, making his enemies pause. C. H. S. Ver. 3. Draw out; or, as the Hebrew phrase is, empty, that is, unsheath; the like is of the sword. Exodus 15:9 Leviticus 26:33. Henry Ainsworth. Ver. 3. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Observe, 1. That salvation may be made sure to a man. David would never pray for that which could not be. Nor would Peter charge us with a duty which stood not in possibility to be performed. 2 Peter 1:10. "Make your election sure." And to stop the bawling throats of all cavilling adversaries, Paul directly proves it: "Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Corinthians 13:5. We may then know that Christ is in us. If Christ be in us, we are in Christ; if we be in Christ, we cannot be condemned, for Romans 8:1, "There is no damnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." But I leave this point that it may be sure, as granted; and come to ourselves, that we may make it sure. The Papists deny this, and teach the contrary, that salvation cannot be made sure; much good do it them, with their sorry and heartless doctrine! If they make that impossible to any which God hath made easy for many, "into their secret let not my soul come." Genesis 49:6. Observe, 2. That the best saints have desired to make their salvation sure. David that knew it, yet entreats to know it more. "I know thou favourest me" Psalms 41:11; yet here, still, dic animae, "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." A man can never be too sure of his going to heaven. Thomas Adams. Ver. 3. Say unto my soul. God may speak with his own voice; and thus he gave assurance to Abraham, "Fear not, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." Genesis 15:1. If God speak comfort, let hell roar horror. 2. He may speak by his works: actual mercies to us demonstrate that we are in his favour, and shall not be condemned. "By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me." 3. He may speak by his Son. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. 4. He may speak by his Scripture; this is God's epistle to us, and his letters patent, wherein are granted to us all the privileges of salvation. A universal si quis; "Whosoever believes, and is baptised, shall be saved." 5. He may speak by his ministers, to whom he hath given "the ministry of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:19. 6. He doth speak this by his Spirit: he "sendeth forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Galatians 4:6. By all these voices God says to his elect, I am your salvation. ...My. There is no vexation to the vexation of the soul; so no consolation to the consolation of the soul. ...Let this teach us to make much of this My. Luther says there is great divinity in pronouns. The assurance that God will save some is a faith incident to devils. The very reprobates may believe that there is a book of election; but God never told them that their names were written there. The hungry beggar at the feast house gate smells good cheer, but the master doth not say, "This is provided for thee." It is small comfort to the harbourless wretch to pass through a goodly city, and see many glorious buildings, when he cannot say, Haec mea domus, I have a place here. The beauty of that excellent city Jerusalem, built with sapphires, emeralds, chrysolites, and such precious stones, the foundation and walls whereof are perfect gold Revelation 21:1-27, affords a soul no comfort, unless he can say, Mea civitas, I have a mansion in it. The all sufficient merits of Christ do thee no good, unless, tua pars et portio, he be thy Saviour. Happy soul that can say with the psalmist, "O Lord, thou art my portion!" Let us all have oil in our lamps, lest if be then to buy, beg, or borrow, we be shut out of doors like the fools, not worthy of entrance. Pray, Lord, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. ...Who? What? To whom? When? WHO? The Lord! To the Lord David prays. He hath made a good choice, for there is salvation in none other. "Thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help." Hosea 13:9. The world fails, the flesh fails, the devil kills. Only the Lord saves. WHAT? Salvation. A special good thing; every man's desire. I will give thee a lordship, saith God to Esau. I will give thee a kingdom, saith God to Saul. I will give thee an apostleship, saith God to Judas. But, I will be thy salvation, he says to David, and to none but saints. TO WHOM? My salvation. Not others only, but "thine." A man and a Christian are two creatures. He may be a man that hath reason and outward blessings; he is only a Christian that hath faith, and part in the salvation of Christ. God is plentiful salvation, but it is not ordinary to find a cui --to whom. Much of heaven is lost for lack of a hand to apprehend it. WHEN? In the present, "I am." Sum, non sufficit quod ero. It is comfort to Israel in captivity that God says, Ero tua redemptio, I will redeem thee; but the assurance that quiets the conscience is this, I am thy salvation. As God said to Abraham, "Fear not, I am with thee." Deferred hope faints the heart. Whatsoever God forbears to assure us of, oh, pray we him not to delay this, "Lord, say to our soul, I am thy salvation." Condensed from Thomas Adams. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. Enemies kept at arm's length. How the Lord does this, and the blessedness of it to us. Ver. 3. (last clause). Full assurance. An assurance positive, personal, spiritual, present, divine, complete, coming by a word from God. Ver. 3. (last clause). Heaven made sure. Thomas Adams' Sermon. Psalms 35:4* Ver. 4. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul. There is nothing malicious here, the slandered man simply craves for justice, and the petition is natural and justifiable. Guided by God's good spirit the psalmist foretells the everlasting confusion of all the haters of the righteous. Shameful disappointment shall be the portion of the enemies of the gospel, nor would the most tender hearted Christian have it otherwise: viewing sinners as men, we love them and seek their good, but regarding them as enemies of God, we cannot think of them with anything but detestation, and a loyal desire for the confusion of their devices. No loyal subject can wish well to rebels. Squeamish sentimentality may object to the strong language here used, but in their hearts all good men wish confusion to mischief makers. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. Let them be confounded and put to shame. Here David begins his imprecations, which yet, saith Theodoret, he doth not utter as cursing, but as prophesying rather. If we shall at any time take upon us thus to imprecate (as we may in some cases), we must see to it, first, that our cause be good; secondly, that we do it not out of private revenge, but merely for the glory of God; thirdly, that we utter not a syllable this way, but by the guidance of God's good Spirit. John Trapp. Ver. 4-8,26. How are we to account for such prayers for vengeance? We find them chiefly in four Psalms, the seventh, thirty-fifth, sixty-ninth, and one hundred and ninth, and the imprecations in these form a terrible climax. In the last no less than thirty anathemas have been counted. Are these the mere outbursts of passionate and unsanctified feeling, or are they the legitimate expression of a righteous indignation? Are they to be excused as being animated by the "spirit of Elias"? a spirit not unholy indeed, but far removed from the meekness and gentleness of Christ; or are they the stereotyped forms in which the spirit of devotion may utter itself? Are they Jewish only, or may they be Christian also? An uninstructed fastidiousness, as it is well known, has made many persons recoil from reading these Psalms at all. Many have found their lips falter when they have been called to join in using them in the congregation, and have either uttered them with bated breath and doubting heart, or have interpreted them in a sense widely at variance with the letter. Some have tried to reconcile them with a more enlightened conscience, by regarding such words not as the expression of a wish, but as the utterance of a prediction; but the Hebrew optative which is distinct enough from the simple future, absolutely forbids this expedient. Others again would see in them expressions which may lawfully be used in the soul's wrestling against spiritual enemies. And finally, some would defend them as utterances of righteous zeal for God's honour, and remind us that if we do not sympathise with such zeal, it may be not because our religion is more pure, but because our hearts are colder. Now the real source of the difficulty lies in our not observing and bearing in mind the essential difference between the Old Testament and the New. The older dispensation was in every sense a sterner one than the new. The spirit of Elias, though not an evil spirit, was not the spirit of Christ. "The Son of Man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Lu 9:56. And through him his disciples are made partakers of the same spirit. But this was not the spirit of the older economy. The Jewish nation had been trained in a sterner school. It had been steeled and hardened by the discipline which had pledged it to a war of extermination with idolaters; and however necessary such a discipline might be, it would not tend to foster the gentler virtues; it is conceivable how even a righteous man, under it, feeling it to be his bounden duty to root out evil wherever he saw it, and identifying, as he did, his own enemies with the enemies of Jehovah, might use language which to us appears unnecessarily vindictive. To men so trained and taught, what we call "religious toleration, "was a thing not only wrong, but absolutely inconceivable. It may be quite true that we find revenge forbidden as directly in the Old Testament as in the New, as, for instance, in Leviticus 19:18, "Thou shalt not avenge, "etc., though even there is a limitation, "against the children of thy people." And it may be no less true that we find instances of imprecation in the New; as when St. Paul says 2 Timothy 4:14, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works, "or when he exclaims Acts 23:3, "God will smite thee, thou whited wall; "or, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema." But even these expressions are very different from the varied, deliberate, carefully constructed, detailed anathemas of the Psalms. And our Lord's denunciations, to which Hengstenberg refers, are in no way parallel. They are not curses upon individuals, but in fact solemn utterances of the great truth, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." But after all, whatever may be said of particular passages, the general tone which runs through the two covenants, is unquestionably different. To deny this is not to honour Moses, but to dishonour Christ. Matthew 5:43 19:8. On the other hand, we must not forget that these imprecations are not the passionate longings for personal revenge. The singer undoubtedly sees in his enemies the enemies of God and his church. They that are not with him are against God. And because the zeal of God's house even consumes him, he prays that all the doers of iniquity may be rooted out. The indignation therefore is righteous, though it may appear to us wrongly directed, or excessive in its utterance. Once more, the very fact that a dark cloud hid God's judgment in the world to come from the view of the Old Testament saints, may be alleged in excuse of this their desire to see him take vengeance on his enemies here. How deeply this problem of God's righteousness exercised their minds is abundantly evident from numerous places in the Psalms. They longed to see that righteousness manifested. It could be manifested, they thought, only in the evident exaltation of the righteous, and the evident destruction of the wicked here. Hence, with their eye always fixed on temporal recompense, they could even wish and pray for the destruction of the ungodly. The awful things of the world to come were to a great extent hid from their eyes. Could they have seen these, then surely their prayer would have been not, "Let the angel of the Lord persecute them, ""Blot them out of thy book; "but rather with him who hung upon the cross; "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." J. J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 4,8,26. David was about as devoid of vindictiveness as any public character who can well be named. His conduct in relation to Saul, from first to last displayed a singularly noble spirit, far removed from anything like the lust of vengeance; and the meekness with which he endured the bitter reproaches of Shimei, bore witness to the same spirit after his accession to the throne. ...When David's whole career is intelligently and fairly reviewed, it leaves on the mind the impression of a man possessed of as meek and placable a temper as was ever associated with so great strength of will, and such strong passions. Even in the heats of sudden resentment, he was not apt to be hurried into deeds of revenge. Such being the case, it would certainly have been a strange and unaccountable thing if he had shown himself less the master of his own spirit in poems composed in seasons of retirement and communion with God, especially since these very poems express a keen sense of the heinousness of the sin that has been laid to his charge. He can affirm regarding his implacable enemies, "As for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother." Psalms 35:13-14. "O Lord, my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy): let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth." Psalms 7:3-5. Surely one ought to think twice before putting on the imprecations an interpretation which would make them utterly incongruous with these appeals, uttered almost in the same breath. William Binnie, D.D. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. The everlasting confusion of the devil. Psalms 35:5* Ver. 5. Let them be as chaff before the wind. They were swift enough to attack, let them be as swift to flee. Let their own fears and the alarms of their consciences unman them so that the least breeze of trouble shall carry them hither and thither. Ungodly men are worthless in character, and light in their behaviour, being destitute of solidity and fixedness; it is but just that those that make themselves chaff should be treated as such. When this imprecation is fulfilled in graceless men, they will find it an awful thing to be for ever without rest, without peace of mind, or stay of soul, hurried from fear to fear, and from misery to misery. And let the angel of the Lord chase them. Fallen angels shall haunt them, good angels shall afflict them. To be pursued by avenging spirits will be the lot of those who delight in persecution. Observe the whole scene as the psalmist sketches it: the furious foe is first held at bay, then turned back, then driven to headlong flight, and chased by fiery messengers from whom there is no escape, while his pathway becomes dark and dangerous, and his destruction overwhelming. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information. Ver. 5. As chaff. Literally, "As the thistledown." John Morison. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 35:6* Ver. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery. What terrors are gathered Here! No light, no foothold, and a fierce avenger at their heels! What a doom is appointed for the enemies of God! They may rage and rave today, but how altered will be their plight ere long! And let the angel of the Lord persecute them. He will follow them hot foot, as we say, never turning aside, but like a trusty pursuivant serving the writ of vengeance upon them, and arresting them in the name of unflinching justice. Woe, woe, woe, unto those who touch the people of God; their destruction is both swift and sure. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information. Ver. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery. A horrible way! Darkness alone who feareth not? A slippery way alone who avoids not? In a dark and slippery way, how shalt thou go? where set foot? These two ills are the great punishments of men: darkness, ignorance; a slippery way, luxury. Let their way be darkness and slipping; and let the angel of the Lord persecute them, that they be not able to stand. For anyone in a dark and slippery way, when he seeth that if he move his foot he will fall, and there is no light before his feet, haply resolves to wait until light come; but here is the angel of the Lord persecuting them. Augustine. Ver. 6. Slippery. Margin, as in Hebrew, slipperiness. This is a circumstance which adds increased terror to the image. It is not only a dark road, but a road made slippery by rains; a road where they are in danger every moment of sliding down a precipice where they will be destroyed. Albert Barnes. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6. The horrible pilgrimage of the ungodly. Ver. 6. The trinity of dangers in the pathway of the wicked, their way dark with ignorance, and slippery with temptation, while behind them is the avenger. Psalms 35:7* Ver. 7. In this verse the psalmist brings forward the gravamen of his charge against the servants of the devil. For without cause --without my having injured, assailed, or provoked them; out of their own spontaneous malice have they hid for me their net in a pit, even as men hunt for their game with cunning and deception. Innocent persons have often been ruined by traps set for them, into which they have fallen as guilelessly as beasts which stumble into concealed pits, and are taken as in a net. It is no little thing to be able to feel that the enmity which assails us is undeserved-- not caused by any wilful offence on our part. Twice does David assert in one verse that his adversaries plotted against him without cause. Net making and pit digging require time and labour, and both of these the wicked will expend cheerfully if they may but overthrow the people of God. Fair warfare belongs to honourable men, but the assailants of God's church prefer mean, ungenerous schemes, and so prove their nature and their origin. We must all of us be on our guard, for gins and pitfalls are still the favourite weapons of the powers of evil. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information. Ver. 7. They hid for me their net in a pit. As if David had said that they had dug a pit, and covered and hid its mouth with a net, that I might pass upon it and fall into it. Kimchi. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 35:8* Ver. 8. Let destruction come upon him at unawares. This tremendous imprecation is frequently fulfilled. God's judgments are often sudden and signal. Death enters the persecutor's house without pausing to knock at the door. The thunderbolt of judgment leaps from its hiding place, and in one crash the wicked are broken for ever. And let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall. There is a lex talionis with God which often works most wonderfully. Men set traps and catch their own fingers. They throw up stones, and they fall upon their own heads. How often Satan outwits himself, and burns his fingers with his own coals! This will doubtless be one of the aggravations of hell, that men will torment themselves with what was once the fond devices of their rebellious minds. They curse and are cursed; they kick the pricks and tear themselves; they pour forth floods of fire, and it burns within and without. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information. Ver. 4,8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information. Ver. 8. Let destruction come upon him at unawares. Or a storm, such as is caused in the Eastern countries by a south wind, very sudden, violent, and destructive. John Gill. Ver. 8. Let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall. By giving Ahithophel rope enough, the Lord preserved David from perishing. Who will not admire that Goliath should be slain with his own sword, and that proud Haman should hold Mordecai's stirrup, and be the herald of his honour? The wicked shall be undone by their own doings; all the arrows that they shoot at the righteous shall fall upon their own pates. Maxentius built a false bridge to drown Constantine, but was drowned himself. Henry the Third of France was stabbed in the very same chamber where he had helped to contrive the cruel massacre of the French Protestants. And his brother, Charles the Ninth, who delighted in the blood of the saints, had blood given him to drink, for he was worthy. It is usual with God to take persecutors in the snares and pits that they have laid for his people, many thousands in this nation have experienced; and though Rome and her confederates are this day laying snares and traps and digging pits for the righteous, who will rather burn than bow to their Baal, yet do but wait and weep, and weep and wait a little, and you shall see that the Lord will take them in the very snares and pits that they have laid and digged for his people. Condensed from Thomas Brooks. Ver. 8. Let the net that he hath hid catch himself. Thou fool, who opposest thy counsels to those of the Most High. He who devises evil for another, falls at last into his own pit, and the most cunning finds himself caught by what he had prepared for another. But virtue without guile, erect like the lofty palm, rises with greater vigour when it is oppressed. Pietro Metastasio, 1698-1782. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 8. Destruction at unawares, an awful topic. Psalms 35:9* Ver. 9. And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord. Thus rescued, David ascribes all the honour to the Judge of the right; to his own valorous arm he offers no sacrifice of boasting. He turns away from his adversaries to his God, and finds a deep unbroken joy in Jehovah, and in that joy his spirit revels. It shall rejoice in his salvation. We do not triumph in the destruction of others, but in the salvation given to us of God. Prayer heard should always suggest praise. It were well if we were more demonstrative in our holy rejoicing. We rob God by suppressing grateful emotions. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 9. And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord, etc. While some ascribe to fortune, and others to their own skill, the praise of their deliverance from danger, and few, if any, yield the whole praise of it to God, David here, declares that he will not forget the favour which God had bestowed upon him. My soul, says he, shall rejoice, not in a deliverance of the author of which it is ignorant, but in the salvation of God. To place the matter in a still stronger light, he assigns to his very bones the office of declaring the divine glory. As if not content that his tongue should be employed in this, he applies all the members of his body to the work of setting forth the praises of God. The style if speaking which he employs is hyperbolical, but in this way he shows unfeignedly that his love to God was so strong that he desired to spend his sinews and bones in declaring the reality and truth of his devotion. John Calvin. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 9. Joy in God and in his salvation. Psalms 35:10* Ver. 10. As the tongue were not enough to bless God with, David makes every limb vocal--All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee? His whole anatomy he would make resonant with gratitude. Those bones which were to have been broken by my enemies shall now praise God; every one of them shall bring its tribute, ascribing unrivalled excellence to Jehovah the Saviour of his people. Even if worn to skin and bone, yet my very skeleton shall magnify the Lord, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him. God is the champion, the true knight errant of all oppressed ones. Where there is so much condescension, justice, kindness, power, and compassion, the loftiest songs should be rendered. Come, dear reader, have you not been delivered from sin, Satan, and death, and will not you bless the Redeemer? You were poor and weak, but in due time Christ sought you, and set you free. O magnify the Lord today, and speak well of his name. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 10. All my bones, etc. These words contain the most vivid description of the highest delight which by the whole soul and body should be experienced and openly manifested. He mentions his soul Psalms 35:9 and all his bones as about to take part in the joy, to indicate that he most heartily and with his whole body was about to rejoice, and that the joy which he would manifest would not be of an ordinary character, but of the highest order, so that each several bone should sing forth the praises of God. Herman Venema, 1697-1787. Ver. 10. All my bones. In the Scriptures emotions are generally ascribed to the viscera, the bones are usually regarded as passive; in this place and Psalms 51:8, and in these two places only, exulting joy is attributed to the bones. Ordinary experience shows us that the intestines have sympathy with our passionate excitements, but we have no consciousness of the bones becoming sympathetically sensitive. The expression therefore is highly poetical, and indicates that they joy intended would be far beyond ordinary and common delight; it would be so profound that even the most callous part of the human frame would partake of it. Doubtless the poetry has a basis of truth in it, for though we may not perceive it, there is most assuredly a true and real sympathy with our mental states in every particle of bone and muscle, as well as in those tender organs which are more apparently affected. C. H. S. Thoughts suggested by a passage in "Biblical Psychology, " by Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 10. All my bones. That is, whatsoever strength and vigour is in me shall be spent in celebrating thy praises. Or, although I have nothing left me but skin and bones so poor am I grown, yet I will not be wanting to the work. John Trapp. Ver. 10. My bones are riving through my skin, and yet all my bones are praising him. "I said, I am cast out of thy sight, but I will look again towards thy holy temple." Thomas Halyburton. 1674-1711. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 10. A matchless God, and his matchless grace--these are the themes. An experienced heart, thoroughly quickened--this is the songster; and from this cometh matchless music. The music of a shattered harp. Psalms 35:11* This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ Psalms 36THIS remarkable psalm consists of three distinguishable parts, besides the title, ver. 1. The first contains a strong description of human depravity, Psalms 36:2-5 (1-4). The second contrasts with this the divine excellence, Psalms 36:6-10 (5-9). In the third, the Psalmist prays to be delivered from the first, and made a partaker of the second, with a strong assurance that his desire will be fulfilled, Psalms 36:11-12 (10-12). The first part differs from the rest, in form as well as substance, being much more obscure and difficult. 1. To the Chief Musician. By a Servant of Jehovah. By David. This peculiar collocation of the words, which occurs only here and in the title of the eighteenth psalm, seems to imply something more than would have been conveyed by the description, David, a servant of Jehovah. The difference intended may be this, that servant of Jehovah is not added to the name as a descriptive epithet, but is itself the salient point of the inscription, the name being added merely to identify the person. This would seem to shew that, for some reason founded in the psalm itself, it is important that it be regarded as the work of a servant of Jehovah, one inspired by him, perhaps in opposition to the inspiration of depravity referred to in the next verse. 2. (Psalms 36:1). Thus saith depravity to the wicked (one) in the midst of my heart, there is no fear of God before his eyes. This is one of the most difficult and doubtful verses in the whole book of Psalms. The first word in Hebrew is a passive participle used as a noun, like the Latin dictum, and employed as a standing formula in prophecy to indicate the person speaking. The usual combination is a dictum of Jehovah, commonly translated in our Bible, saith (or thus saith) the Lord. Instead of the divine name, that of David is substituted in 2 Samuel 23:1 and the man there and also in Proverbs 30:1, both which appear to be copied from the words of Balaam in Numbers 24:15. The constant use of this formula to introduce prophetic dicta seems to require an analogous interpretation of it here, as meaning something more than the mere act of speaking and suggesting the idea of an authoritative dictum or oracular response, proceeding not from God nor from his prophets, but from sin, which here supplies their place. A dictum of depravity, or, copying the paraphrastic but familiar version in the English Bible, thus saith transgression or corruption.— The meaning of the next phrase is determined by the analogy of Psa 110:1, where the same preposition can only indicate the object of address, the saying of Jehovah (or thus saith Jehovah) to my Lord. So here, the true construction is not, the transgression of the wicked, which indeed is ungrammatical, but thus saith transgression to the wicked. The only possible modification of this syntax, at all justified by usage, is to denote the subject, not the object of the dictum— thus saith depravity (as) to the wicked— this is the testimony which it bears against him. This explanation, although not supported by Psalms 110:1, is consistent with the frequent use to denote the subject, and affords a good sense, namely, that depravity itself bore witness against the wicked, in the Psalmist's mind, that there was no fear of God before his eyes. If, on the other hand, the Hebrew indicates the object of address, the first clause may be the words of the wicked man himself, and the last clause the comment of the Psalmist on them. "Thus saith depravity to (me) the wicked man, in the midst of my heart." There is no fear of God before his eyes. That is to say, the wicked man makes sin his god, and its suggestions his prophetic oracles, and thereby shews that there is no fear of God before his eyes. By a different interpunction, this sense may be put upon the sentence. Thus saith depravity to the wicked man: "In the midst of my heart there is no fear of God before his eyes," or even in his presence. But as this interpretation would make sin speak of its own heart in addressing the sinner, and as the reference of his eyes to God is somewhat forced, the choice seems to lie between the other two constructions before stated, one of which yields the same sense that appears to be intended in the common version, the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart that there is no fear of God before his eyes, and that of the Prayer Book, my heart showeth, me the wickedness of the ungodly that there is, etc. Amidst these various and doubtful explanations, one thing is certain, that the wicked man is here described as one who fears not God, just as the fear of God is elsewhere put for godliness or piety. 3. (Psalms 36:2). For he has flattered himself in his own eyes, as to (God's) finding his iniquity (and) hating (it). The obscurity of the original may be shown by a bald translation. For he has made smooth to him in his eyes, to find his iniquity to hate. To make smooth, here and in Proverbs 29:5, is an elliptical expression for making smooth the words or the actions, i.e. speaking or acting in a flattering manner. See above, on Psalms 5:10 (9). As there is no reflexive pronoun in Hebrew, the personal pronouns are occasionally so used, him for himself, his for his own, &c. In this case, however, it is possible to give them their strict meaning by referring them to God. He (the wicked man) has made (his words or actions) smooth to him (i.e. to God), in his eyes (the eyes of God). In other words he has endeavoured to deceive him by a specious appearance. But this construction is less natural, because it makes the phrase in his eyes still more redundant, because it represents the sinner as a hypocrite, rather than a t transgressor; and because it makes the last clause more obscure and difficult. To find iniquity, i.e. to detect and punish it, is an expression borrowed from Genesis 44:16. The unfavourable meaning of the phrase is determined by the addition of the words to hate. The reference of this clause to the sinner's own feelings is at variance with usage. With the whole verse compare Deuteronomy 29:18 (19), and see above, on Psalms 10:6. 4. (Psalms 36:3). The words of his mouth (are) falsehood and fraud, he has ceased to act wisely, to act well (do good). The use of the abstract for the concrete, falsehood and deceit for false and deceitful, adds to the strength of the expression. What he say is not merely false, but falsity itself. For the precise meaning of the Hebrew words, see above, on Psalms 5:6-7 (5, 6). The verbs of the last clause are in the causative form, which always has an active meaning. To be wise is therefore an inadequate translation, and to do good an ambiguous one, as this English phrase is specially applied to acts of benefience or practical utility. The true sense of the last verb is to do well or right, in opposition to doing wrong. See below, on Psalms 37:3. Instead of ceasing from his sins, the sinner has abandoned even the appearance of well-doing. The form of epression is like that in Isaiah 1:16 5. (Psalms 36:4). Falsehood he will meditate upon his bed; he will take his stand upon a way not good; evil he will not abjure. The first words , both in this and the preceding verse, does not mean mere false speaking, but a false character, one not according to the truth, of which the divine will is the standard. It is therefore nearly equivalent to wickedness. The futures express present habit and a settled purpose of continuance. While he continues what he is, he will continue thus to act. On his bed, by night, the natural season of reflection. Or the idea may be, that instead of sleeping he spends the hours of rest in meditating evil, or contriving mischief.— The verb to set himself, or take his stand, is the same that occurred before in Psalms 2, and implies both a settled purpose and the commencement of its execution.— A way not good is an example of the figure called meiosis, in which more meant than is expressed, although suggested by the context. The idea really conveyed to every reader is that of an extremely bad way, or the worst way possible.— The last verb means to reject or renounce with contempt and abhorrence. See above, on Psalms 15:4. 6. (Psalms 36:5). O Jehovah, in the heavens (is) thy mercy, and thy faithfulness unto the clouds. From the odious image of the sinner just presented he now turns away to contemplate the divine perfections. The parallelism of the clauses seem to shew that in the heavens means in heaven as well as on earth, i. e. reaching from the one to the other, which idea is then literally expressed, as far as, even to, or up to, the clouds, which last is simply an equivalent to heavens.— Mercy and faithfulness are also parallels, the latter meaning God's fidelity or truth in the fulfilment of his promises, even to the undeserving. See below, on Psalms 37:3. 7. (Psalms 36:6). Thy righteousness (is) like the hills of the Almighty; thy judgments (are) a great deep; man and beast thou wilt save, (O) Jehovah! Righteousness here means rectitude in its widest sense, including the veracity and faithfulness mentioned in the foregoing verse. Judgments is an idiomatic synonyme, thee plural being either used to give it an abstract meaning, as in life, or to denote particular acts of righteousness. This attribute is here described as infinite, by a comparison with natural emblems of immeosity. The first mentioned are the mountains of God, or of the mighty (God), the divine name here used being that which properly denotes omnipotence. See above, on Psalms 5:5 (4). By explaining this word as an abstract, we obtain the sense, mountains of strength, i.e. strong mountains; but the constant usage of the term as a divine name seems decisive in favour of the sense, hills produced by the almighty power of God and therefore proving it.— The great deep, the ocean, as in Genesis 7:11. (Compare Genesis 1:2). The idea conveyed is not so much that of depth and mystery as that of vastness and immensity. The comprehensiveness of God's protecting care is further indicated by the combination man and beast (or brute). To save includes the acts of helping, protecting and providing. 8. (Psalms 36:7). How precious (is) thy mercy, (O) God, and the sons of man in the shadow of thy wings may trust (or take refuge). The richness of God's mercy is apparent from the very fact that it affords protection to mankind, mewling of course only those to whom it has been promised. The figure of overspreading wings is carried out more fully in Deuteronomy 32:11, and Matthew 23:37.— For the meaning of the verb used in this verse, see above, on Psalms 2:12. 9. (Psalms 36:8). They shall be drenched with the abundance of thy house; (with) the stream of thy pleasures thou wilt water them (or give them drink). They, i.e. such of the children of men as are permitted to take refuge under God's protection.— Shall drink abundantly, or to satiety, be soaked or drenched. The derivative noun occurs above, in Psalms 23:5.— Abundance, literally fat or fatness, put for the richest food. Thy house, thy household, with or without allusion to the tabernacle, not as a place of worship merely, but as the earthly residence of God. See above, on Psalms 23:6; Psalms 27:4. In the second clause there is a beautiful allusion to the river which watered the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:10). This allusion, although lost in a trans lation, is marked in the original by the use of the word eden in the plural number to mean pleasures or delights. The verb to water or make drink is also the one used in Genesis 2:10, which shews that it is not a mere fortuitous coincidence. 10. (Psalms 36:9). For with thee is a fountain of life; in thy light shall we see light. They shall derive all this from thee, because in thee alone is the exhaustless source of all these blessings.— With thee, in thy presence, in union and communion with thee.— The well-spring, fountain-head, or source of life, a sum ary expression for all enjoyments and advantages. The same idea is then clothed in another figurative dress. In thy light we shall see light. It is only by the light of God's countenance that man can see any good. It is only in God's favour that he can be happy. The only bliss attainable or desirable is that which is bestowed by God and resides in him. See above, on Psalms 4:7 (6). 11. (Psalms 36:10). Continue thy mercy to those knowing thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart. To his glowing description of the blessedness resident in God and flowing from his favour, he now adds a prayer that it may be extended to the class, of which he claims to be a member. The first verb literally means to draw out or protract, and is the same that is used in different applications in Psalms 10:9; Psalms 28:3, above.— Those knowing thee, and as a necessary consequence loving thee, since genuine knowledge of the true God is inseparable from right affections towards him.— Thy righteousness, thy true and faithful dealings with those trusting in thy mercy, here and often elsewhere represented as the upright or straightforward in heart as well as in behaviour. 12. (Psalms 36:11). Suffer not to come (upon) me foot of pride, and let not hand of wicked ones expel me. What he had just asked for the upright in general, he now asks for himself in particular, plainly implying that the view which he had taken of human depravity in Psalms 36:2-5 (1-4), was suggested by his own sufferings, or fear of suffering, at the hand of wicked enemies.— The verb in the first clause does not merely mean to come against, invade or threaten, but to come upon, implying actual and violent assault. See above, Psalms 35:8. The mention of the foot suggests the ideas of spurning trampling, and crushing; that of the hand the more general idea of exerted strength or violence. The last verb is a causative, and strictly means to put to flight; cause to wander, or send into exile. Compare its use in 2 Kings 21:8. The general idea of the verse is, do not give me up to the power of my enemies. 13. (Psalms 36:12). There are the doers of iniquity fallen; they are struck down and cannot rise (or stand). The prayer is followed by a sudden assurance of its being answered, in the strength of which the Psalmist speaks of his desire as already accomplished. See above, on Psalms 20:7 (6).— There has very much the same sense as in common parlance, when uttered as a sudden exclamation. There! they have fallen (already). Strictly explained, it means on the very spot and in the very midst of their anticipated triumph. See above, on Psalms 14:5, where the same use of the particle occurs, and compare Psalms 132:17, and Judges 5:11, in all which places it is betterto retain the lo6a1 sense of there than to exchange it for the supposititious one of then, which never occurs elsewhere.— Iniquity, vanity or falsehood, in the sense explained above, on Psalms 36:5 (4).— Struck, or smitten down, a stronger phrase than cast down. See above, Psalms 35:5.— The last words may either mean, they cannot stand their ground, save themselves from falling, or they cannot rise again when fallen. See above, Psalms 1:5; Psalms 18:39 (38), and compare Proverbs 24:16. Title. To the Chief Musician, He who had the leadership of the Temple service was charged with the use of this song in public worship. What is everybody's business is never done. It was well to have one person specially to attend to the service of song in the house of the Lord. Of David the servant of the Lord. This would seem to indicate that the Psalm peculiarly befits one who esteems it an honour to be called Jehovah's servant. It is THE SONG OF HAPPY SERVICE; such a one as all may join in who bear the easy yoke of Jesus. The wicked are contrasted with the righteous, and the great Lord of devout men is heartily extolled; thus obedience to so good a Master is indirectly insisted on, and rebellion against him is plainly condemned. Divisions. From Psalms 36:1-4 David describes the rebellious: in Psalms 36:5-9 he extols the various attributes of the Lord; in Psalms 36:10-11 he addresses the Lord in prayer, and in the last verse his faith sees in vision the overthrow of all the workers of iniquity. Ver. 1. The transgression of the wicked. His daring and wanton sin; his breaking the bounds of law and justice. Saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. Men's sins have a voice to godly ears. They are the outer index of an inner evil. It is clear that men who dare to sin constantly and presumptuously cannot respect the great Judge of all. Despite the professions of unrighteous men, when we see their unhallowed actions our heart is driven to the conclusion that they have no religion whatever. Unholiness is clear evidence of ungodliness. Wickedness is the fruit of an atheistic root. This may be made clear to the candid head by cogent reasoning, but it is clear already and intuitively to the pious heart. If God be everywhere, and I fear him, how can I dare to break his laws in his very presence? He must be a desperate traitor who will rebel in the monarch's own halls. Whatever theoretical opinions bad men may avow, they can only be classed with atheists, since they are such practically. Those eyes which have no fear of God before them now, shall have the terrors of hell before them for ever. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Title. To the Chief Musician, has given rise to many conjectures. In the Septuagint the Hebrew word is translated, eiz to telos, to the end; a meaning so utterly vague as to defy all reasonable conjecture. ...The meaning of the term appears to be this: the Psalms in which it occurs were given in charge by their inspired authors to the Chief Musician overseeing some specific band of music, whether harps, psalteries, or wind instruments. John Jebb, A.M., in "A Literal Translation of the Book of Psalms, " 1846. Title. The servant of the Lord. David only uses this title here and in Psalm eighteen. In both he describes the dealings of God both with the righteous and the wicked, and it is most fit that at the very outset he should take his place with the servants of the Lord. C. H. S. Whole Psalm. First Part. A character of a wicked man Psalms 36:1. 1. He calls evil good Psalms 36:2. 2. He continues in it. 3. He is an hypocrite Psalms 36:3. 4. He is obstinate. 5. He is studious in wickedness Psalms 36:4. Second part. God's patience and mercy Psalms 36:5-6. 1. To all, even all creatures. 2. But particularly to his people, which he admires. Upon which the faithful (1) trust, (2) are satisfied Psalms 36:7-8. The Third part. He prays that this effect may light, 1. On God's people Psalms 36:10. 2. On himself Psalms 36:11. 3. His acclimation upon it Psalms 36:12. William Nicholson (Bishop), 1662. Ver. 1. In this Psalm we have a description of sin, especially as it appears in those who have openly broken God's bands. The introduction is very striking; The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. How could the transgression of the wicked speak within the heart of him who in the inscription of the Psalm declares himself to be the servant of JEHOVAH? These words are generally understood as signifying that the outward conduct of the sinner, as often as he thought of it, naturally suggested this conclusion to his mind, that he was destitute of all fear of God. But they may perhaps admit of another meaning, equally agreeable to the literal reading; wickedness, saith of the wicked, within my heart, etc. According to this view, the psalmist meant that notwithstanding the external pretences of the wicked, and all their attempts to cover their iniquity, he was certain that they had no real sense of the presence of God, that they secretly renounced his authority. How was he assured of this? By a comparison of their conduct with the dictates of the heart. He could not indeed look into their hearts, but he could look into his own, and there he found corruption so strong, that were it not for the fear of God that was implanted within him, he would be as bad as they. John Jamieson. Ver. 1. It is not the imperfection or shortcoming in the fear of God, but the being destitute of it altogether, that proveth a wicked man: There is no fear of God before his eyes. David Dickson. Ver. 1. (last clause). Not having the fear of God before his eyes, has become inwoven into proceedings in criminal courts. When a man has no fear of God, he is prepared for any crime. Total depravity is not too strong a term to describe human wickedness. The sinner has no fear of God. Where that is wanting, how can there be any piety? And if there is no piety, there must be total want of right affections, and that is the very essence of depravity. William S. Plumer. Ver. 1. Durst any mock God with flourishes and formalities in religion, if they feared him? Durst any provoke God to his face by real and open wickedness, if they feared him? Durst any sin with the judgments of God fresh bleeding before their eyes, if they feared the Lord and his wrath? Durst they sin with heaps of precious mercy before their eyes, if they feared the Lord and his goodness? Durst any flatter either others or themselves with hopes of impunity in their sin, if they feared the Lord and his truth? Durst any slight their own promises, professions, protestations, oaths, or design the entangling of others by them, rather than the binding of themselves, did they fear the Lord and his faithfulness, even the Lord who keepeth covenant and promise for ever? All these and many more transgressions of the wicked (all these ways of transgression are found among the wicked, it were well if none of them were found among those who have a name of godliness; I say, all these transgressions of the wicked) say, There is no fear of God before their eyes. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 1. The wicked man has no regard to the oracles of God: he had one in his own heart, which dictates nothing but rebellion. Zachary Mudge. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. What is the fear of God? How does it operate? What is the effect of its absence? What should we learn from seeing such evil results? Or the atheism underlying transgression. Psalms 36:2* Ver. 2. For. Here is the argument to prove the proposition laid down in the former verse. David here runs over the process of reasoning by which he had become convinced that wicked men have no proper idea of God or respect for him. God fearing men see their sins and bewail them, where the reverse is the case we may be sure there is no fear of God. He flattereth himself in his own eyes. He counts himself a fine fellow, worthy of great respect. He quiets his conscience, and so deceives his own judgment as to reckon himself a pattern of excellence; if not for morality, yet for having sense enough not to be enslaved by rules which are bonds to others. He is the free thinker, the man of strong mind, the hater of cant, the philosopher; and the servants of God are, in his esteem, mean spirited and narrow minded. Of all flatteries this is the most absurd and dangerous. Even the silliest bird will not set traps for itself; the most pettifogging attorney will not cheat himself. To smooth over one's own conduct to one's conscience (which is the meaning of the Hebrew) is to smooth one's own path to hell. The descent to eternal ruin is easy enough, without making a glissade of it, as self flatters do. Until his iniquity be found to be hateful. At length he is found out and detested, despite his self conceit. Rottenness smells sooner or later too strong to be concealed. There is a time when the leprosy cannot be hidden. At last the old house can no longer be propped up, and falls about the tenant's ears: so there is a limit to a man's self gratulation; he is found out amid general scorn, and can no longer keep up the farce which he played so well. If this happens not in this life, the hand of death will let light in upon the coveted character, and expose the sinner to shame and contempt. The self flattering process plainly proves the atheism of sinners, since the bare reflection that God sees them would render such self flatteries extremely difficult, if not impossible. Belief in God, like light reveals, and then our sin and evil are perceived; but wicked men are in the dark, for they cannot see what is so clearly within them and around them that it stares them in the face. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes. The matter which this self flattery especially concerns is sin, as appears from the following clause. He deceives himself as to its nature and consequences, its evil and aggravations, and he continues to do so until his iniquity be found to be hateful; till it be fully discovered, and appear in its magnitude and atrocious circumstances both to himself and others, by some awful divine judgment, such as that mentioned in the last verse of the Psalm: "There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise." He adduces this self deceit and continuance in it, as illustrating the truth of that judgment he had formed of the state of such a person: There is no fear of God before his eyes: for he flattereth himself in his own eyes. And surely the proof is incontrovertible. For a man under the bondage of sin would never flatter himself in his own eyes, were it not that God is not before them. The reason why he thinks so well of himself is, that God is not in all his thoughts. He hath cast off all fear about himself because he hath no fear of God. John Jamieson. Ver. 2. He flattereth himself. 1. Some flatter themselves with a secret hope, that there is no such thing as another world. 2. Some flatter themselves that death is a great way off, and that they shall hereafter have much opportunity to seek salvation. 3. Some flatter themselves that they lead moral and orderly lives, and therefore think that they shall not be damned. 4. Some make the advantages under which they live an occasion of self flattery. They flatter themselves that they live in a place where the gospel is powerfully preached, and among a religious people, where many have been converted; and they think it will be much easier for them to be saved on that account. 5. Some flatter themselves with their own intentions. They intend to give themselves liberty for a while longer, and then to reform. 6. There are some who flatter themselves that they do, and have done, a great deal for their salvation, and therefore hope they shall obtain it; when indeed they neither do what they ought to do, nor what they might do even in their present state of unregeneracy; nor are they in any likely way to be converted. 7. Some hope by their strivings to obtain salvation of themselves. They have a secret imagination that they shall, by degrees, work in themselves sorrow and repentance of sin, and love towards God and Jesus Christ. Their striving is not so much an earnest seeking to God, as a striving to do themselves that which is the work of God. 8. Some sinners flatter themselves that they are already converted. They sit down and rest in a false hope, persuading themselves that all their sins are pardoned; that God loves them; that they shall go to heaven when they die; and that they need trouble themselves no more. "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Revelation 3:17. Condensed from Jonathan Edwards. Ver. 2. In his own eyes. He had not God before his eyes in holy awe, therefore he puts himself there in unholy admiration. He who makes little of God makes much of himself. They who forget adoration fall into adulation. The eyes must see something, and if they admire not God, they will flatter self. C. H. S. Ver. 2. Until his iniquity be found to be hateful; that is, until he finds by experience that it is a more dreadful thing to sin against God, and break his holy commands, than he imagined. Jonathan Edwards. Ver. 2. Hateful. Odious to himself, others, and to God. Gilbert Genebrard, 1537-1597. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. The arts, motives, assistances, results, and punishments of self flattery, and the discovery which concludes it. Ver. 2. Self flatteries. Jonathan Edwards' Sermon. Ver. 2. On the deceitfulness of the heart, with regard to the commission of sin. Two Sermons, in Jamieson's "Sermons on the Heart." Psalms 36:3* Ver. 3. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. This pair of hell dogs generally hunt together, and what one does not catch the other will; if iniquity cannot win by oppression, deceit will gain by chicanery. When the heart is so corrupt as to flatter itself, the tongue follows suit. The open sepulchre of the throat reveals the foulness of the inner nature. God fearing men make a conscience of their words, and if they sin through infirmity they do not invent excuses, or go about to boast of their wickedness: but because wicked men think little of evil and artful speeches, we may be clear that God rules not in their souls. The original by declaring that the words of the wicked are falsehood and deceit is peculiarly strong; as if they were not only false in quality, but actual falseness itself. He hath left off to be wise, and to do good. From the good way he has altogether gone aside. Men who fear God proceed from strength to strength in the right path, but godless men soon forsake what little good they once knew. How could men apostatise if they had respect unto the supreme Judge? Is it not because they grow more and more forgetful of God, that in due season they relinquish even that hypocritical reverence of him which in former days they maintained in order to flatter their souls? NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. He hath left off. That little light he once had, he hath lost, and cast off such good practices as once in hypocrisy he performed; neither will he learn to do better. John Trapp. Ver. 3. (last clause). Apostasy from God is really an undoing of all the good which we have done. It is a wicked repentance quite contrary to the grace of repentance; as that is a repentance from dead works, so this is a repentance from works of a better sort: He hath left off to be wise, and to do good. It is a perversion to evil after a seeming conversion from it. Timothy Cruso. Ver. 3-4: — Yet did he spare his sleep, and hear the clock Number the midnight watches, on his bed Devising mischief more; and early rose, And made most hellish meals of good men's names. From door to door you might have seen him speed, Or placed amid a group of gaping fools. Peace fled the neighbourhood in which he made His haunts; and, like a moral pestilence, Before his breath the healthy shoots and blooms Of social joy and happiness decayed. Fools only in his company were seen, And those forsaken of God, and to themselves Given up. The prudent shunned him and his house As one who had a deadly moral plague. Robert Pollock, 1799-1827. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. Bad words. Two out of many kinds. Ver. 3. (second clause). The relation between true wisdom and practical goodness. Psalms 36:4* Ver. 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed. His place of rest becomes the place for plotting. His bed is a hot bed for poisonous weeds. God fearing men meditate upon God and his service; but when men turn all their thoughts and inventive faculties towards evil, their godlessness is proved to a demonstration. He hath the devil for his bed fellow who lies abed and schemes how to sin. God is far from him. He setteth himself in a way that is not good. When he gets up he resolutely and persistently pursues the mischief which he planned. The worst of ways he prefers for his walking, for he has taught his heart to love filthiness, having accustomed himself to revel in it in imagination. He abhorreth not evil. So far from having a contempt and abhorrence for evil, he even rejoices in it, and patronises it. He never hates a wrong thing because it is wrong, but he meditates on it, defends it, and practises it. What a portrait of a graceless man these few verses afford us! His jauntiness of conscience, his licentiousness of speech, his intentness upon wrong doing, his deliberate and continued preference of iniquity, and withal his atheistic heart, are all photographed to the life. Lord, save us from being such. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3-4: — See Psalms on "Psalms 36:4" for further information. Ver. 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed. As the man that fears God communes with his heart upon his bed, that he may not sin, no, not in his heart; so the man that fears not God, devises how he may plot and perform sin willingly. David Dickson. Ver. 4. Upon his bed. Most diligently does Ayguan follow up the scriptural expressions concerning a bed, and tell us that there are six different beds of wickedness— that of luxury, that of avarice, of ambition, of greediness, of torpor, and of cruelty, and he illustrates them all by examples from Scripture. J. M. Neale. Ver. 4. He setteth himself in a way that is not good. To wait to sin is to sin deliberately, yea, to wait to sin resolvedly. That sin is exceedingly sinfully committed which we set and prepare ourselves to commit. David, describing a wicked man, saith, He setteth himself in a way that is not good; that is, in an evil way: he doth not only fall into sin (that may be the case of a good man), but he takes or chooseth an evil way, and then sets or settles himself in it, resolving not to leave it, no, nor to be beaten out of it. Sin may be said to wait for a godly man, that is, Satan waits and watches his season to tempt him unto sin; but a godly man doth not wait nor watch to sin. It is bad enough to be overtaken with sin, or with a fault (as the apostle speaks, Galatians 6:1); but to be taken with sin, and so to wait for a season to take our fill of it, is as bad as bad can be. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 4. He setteth himself in a way that is not good. Proud sinners have strongest conceit that they go right, at least in the way of their choice. Satan blindeth them so, that they mistake both the end and the way: in their count they are running to heaven, when they are posting to hell: he serveth them kindly with fresh post horses. Sometimes he mounts them on drunkenness, and when they have run a stage on that beastliness, he can mount them on lechery. Again, he can refresh them with avarice; and if they be weary of that slow jade, he setteth them on lofty ambition, and to make them more spirited he can horse them on restless contention. Every one seeth not Satan's enquiry: there is no complexion or disposition, but he hath a fit horse for it, and that of itself. Every man's predominant is a beast of Satan's saddling and providing to carry men to hell. The way is one, the post master is one, he is to be found at every stage, mounting his gallants, their horses are all of one kind though not of one colour. Happy is the man whom God dismounts in that evil way, and more happy is he who taketh with that stay, and turneth his course to heaven. William Struther. Ver. 4. He abhorreth not. i.e., is far enough from rejecting any instrument, however sinful, for attaining his purposes. J. J. Stewart Perowne. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. Diligence in doing evil, a mark of deep depravity. W.S. Plumer. Ver. 4. The abuse of retirement to wicked purposes, a sure characteristic of an habitual sinner. N. Marshall. Ver. 4. The sinner on his bed, in his conduct, in his heart; and to this, in his death, and in his doom. Ver. 4. (second clause). Ways which are not good. Ver. 4. (last clause). Neutrality condemned. Psalms 36:5* Ver. 5-9. From the baseness of the wicked the psalmist turns his contemplation to the glory of God. Contrasts are impressive. Ver. 5. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens. Like the ethereal blue, it encompasses the whole earth, smiling upon universal nature, acting as a canopy for all the creatures of earth, surmounting the loftiest peaks of human provocations, and rising high above the mists of mortal transgression. Clear sky is evermore above, and mercy calmly smiles above the din and smoke of this poor world. Darkness and clouds are but of earth's lower atmospheres: the heavens are evermore serene, and bright with innumerable stars. Divine mercy abides in its vastness of expanse, and matchless patience, all unaltered by the rebellions of man. When we can measure the heavens, then shall we bound the mercy of the Lord. Towards his own servants especially, in the salvation of the Lord Jesus, he has displayed grace higher than the heaven of heavens, and wider than the universe. O that there atheist could but see this, how earnestly would he long to become a servant of Jehovah! Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Far, far above all comprehension is the truth and faithfulness of God. He never fails, nor forgets, nor falters, nor forfeits his word. Afflictions are like clouds, but the divine truthfulness is all around them. While we are under the cloud we are in the region of God's faithfulness; when we mount above it we shall not need such an assurance. To every word of threat, or promise, prophecy or covenant, the Lord has exactly adhered, for he is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens. David considering the thoughts and deeds of impious men, and the mercy of God towards them, utters this exclamation. When men are so impudently, who does not admire the divine longsuffering! Sebastian Munster, 1489-1552. Ver. 5-7. This Psalm doth fitly set forth unto us the estate and condition of these times, wherein wickedness increaseth: and so in the former part of the Psalm is a discovery of wickedness, verse 3. And what should we do when there is such wickedness in the earth? In the fifth verse, Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. God is gathering up all goodness, mercy, and peace from man to himself; and though there is cruelty, mischief, and wickedness in the world, in the earth, yet there is mercy, truth, and faithfulness in the clouds; and it's good that wisdom, goodness, truth, and righteousness leave the world, and cleave to God, that so we may follow it; and that what goodness, mercy, truth, and faithfulness we formerly enjoyed in man, we may enjoy it in God. And when wickedness increaseth, righteousness increaseth likewise: Thy righteousness is like the great mountains: when the world tears and breaks itself in pieces, then is the righteousness of God a great mountain. Thy judgments are a great deep; when the whole world is become one sea of confusion, then are the judgments of the Lord a great deep, where not only man, but beasts may rest safely. Thou preservest man and beast. And though this time is a time of growing and spreading wickedness in man, yet it is a time of sweetest admiration and love in God; and when men that sin do cry out, O woeful man! they that enjoy God, cry out, O happy man! And though men that live in the earth cry out, O miserable! what times are here? men that live in heaven cry out, How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! The Lord makes all things naked and bare, that we only may have him to be our safety. William Sedgwick (1600-1668). In "The Excellency of the love of God, "a sermon in a volume, entitled "Some Flashes of Lightnings of the Son of Man, "1648. Ver. 5-9: — Thy mercie Lord doth to the HEAUENS extend, Thy faithfulness doth to the CLOUDES assend; Thy justice stedfast as a is, Thy deepe as is the great Abisse; Thy noble mercies saue all liueinge thinges, The sonnes of men creepe underneath thy winges: With thy great plenty they are fedd at will, And of thy pleasure's streame they drinke their fill; For euen the well of life remaines with thee, And in thy glorious light wee light shall see. Sir John Davies. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5-6. Four glorious similes of the mercy, faithfulness, and providence of God. The preacher has here a wealth of poetic imagery never surpassed. Psalms 36:6* Ver. 6. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains. Firm and unmoved, lofty and sublime. As winds and hurricanes shake not an Alp, so the righteousness of God is never in any degree affected by circumstances; he is always just. Who can bribe the Judge of all the earth, or who can, by threatening, compel him to pervert judgment? Not even to save his elect would the Lord suffer his righteousness to be set aside. No awe inspired by mountain scenery can equal that which fills the soul when it beholds the Son of God slain as a victim to vindicate the justice of the Inflexible Lawgiver. Right across the path of every unholy man who dreams of heaven stand the towering Andes of divine righteousness, which no unregenerate sinner can ever climb. Among great mountains lie slumbering avalanches, and there the young lightnings try their callow wings until the storm rushes down amain from the awful peaks; so against the great day of the Lord's wrath the Lord has laid up in the mountains of his righteousness dreadful ammunition of war with which to overwhelm his adversaries. Thy judgments are a great deep. God's dealings with men are not to be fathomed by every boaster who demands to see a why for every wherefore. The Lord is not to be questioned by us as to why this and why that. He has reasons, but he does not choose to submit them to our foolish consideration. Far and wide, terrible and irresistible like the ocean are the providential dispensations of God: at one time they appear as peaceful as the unrippled sea of glass; at another tossed with tempest and whirlwind, but evermore most glorious and full of mystery. Who shall discover the springs of the sea? He who shall do this may hope to comprehend the providence of the Eternal. "Undiscovered sea! Into thy dark, unknown, mysterious caves, And secret haunts unfathomably deep, Beneath all visible retired, none went And came again to tell the wonders there." Yet as the deep mirrors the sky, so the mercy of the Lord is to be seen reflected in all the arrangements of his government on earth, and over the profound depth the covenant rainbow casts its arch of comfort, for the Lord is faithful in all that he doeth. O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. All the myriads of creatures, rational and irrational, are fed by Jehovah's hand. The countless beasts, the innumerable birds, the inconceivable abundance of fishes, the all but infinite armies of insects, all owe their continuance of life to the unceasing outgoings of the divine power. What a view of God this presents to us! What a debased creature must he be who sees no trace of such a God, and feels no awe of him! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 36:6" for further information. Ver. 5-9: — See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information. Ver. 6. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains. Literally mountains of God, which men have not planted, and which men cannot move. Christopher Wordsworth. Ver. 6. Thy judgments are a great deep. Men's sins are a great deep, and Satan's ways are called a depth; but God's judgments, his ways in the wheels, are the greatest deep of all, they are unsearchable. William Greenhill. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5-6. Four glorious similes of the mercy, faithfulness, and providence of God. The preacher has here a wealth of poetic imagery never surpassed. Ver. 6. God's word and works mysterious. C. Simeon. Ver. 6. (second clause). God's judgments are— 1. Often unfathomable— we cannot discover the foundation or cause, and spring of them. 2. They are safe sailing. Ships never strike on rocks out in the great deeps. 3. They conceal great treasure. 4. They work much good— the great deep, though ignorance thinks it to be all waste, a salt and barren wilderness, is one of the greatest blessings to this round world. 5. They become a highway of communion with God. The sea is today the great highway of the world. Ver. 6. (last clause). Kindness of God to the lower animals, as well as man. Psalms 36:7* Ver. 7. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God. Here we enter into the Holy of Holies. Benevolence, and mercy, and justice, are everywhere, but the excellence of that mercy only those have known whose faith has lifted the veil and passed into the brighter presence of the Lord; these behold the excellency of the Lord's mercy. The word translated excellent may be rendered "precious; "no gem or pearl can ever equal in value a sense of the Lord's love. This is such a brilliant as angels wear. King's regalia are a beggardly collection of worthless pebbles when compared with the tender mercies of Jehovah. David could not estimate it, and therefore, after putting a note of admiration, he left our hearts and imagination, and, better still, our experience, to fill up the rest. He writes how excellent! because he cannot tell us the half of it. Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. The best of reasons for the best of courses. The figure is very beautiful. The Lord overshadows his people as a hen protects her brood, or as an eagle covers its young; and we as the little ones run under the blessed shelter and feel at rest. To cower down under the wings of God is so sweet. Although the enemy be far too strong for us, we have no fear, for we nestle under the Lord's wing. O that more of Adam's race knew the excellency of the heavenly shelter! It made Jesus weep to see how they refused it: our tears may well lament the same evil. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 36:5" for further information. Ver. 5-9.: — See Psalms on "Psalms 36:5" for further information. Ver. 7. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! etc. The expressions here which denote the abundance of divine blessings upon the righteous man, seems to be taken from the temple, from whence they were to issue. Under the covert of the temple, the wings of the cherubim, they were to be sheltered. The richness of the sacrifices, the streams of oil, wine, odours, etc., and the light of the golden candlestick, are all plainly referred to. Samuel Burder. Ver. 7. Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. The word signifies to fly, to betake one's self to a place of safety: as the chickens in danger to be seized on, fly under the wings of the hen. "Under whose wings thou art come to trust." Rth 2:12. The helpless bird pursued by the kite, in danger to be devoured, runs under the shadow of the dam. Thus it is with a sinner at the first working of faith, he apprehends himself pursued by wrath and judgment; he knows if they seize on him he must perish without remedy. Oh, the sad condition of such a soul! Oh, but he sees Christ spreading his wings ready to secure perishing sinners; he hears him inviting in the gospel to come under his shadow! Oh, how sweet is that voice to him (however, while senseless he rejected it)! He hears, obeys, and runs to Christ for shelter, and so he is safe. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. David Clarkson. Ver. 7. Thy wings. A common figure in the Psalms, taken more immediately, in my opinion, from the wings of the cherubim overshadowing the mercyseat which covered the ark; but more remotely from the birds, which defend their young from the solar rays by overshadowing them with their wings. Francis Hare (Bishop), 1740. Ver. 7.: — In lonesome cell, guarded and strong I lie, Bound by Christ's love, his truth to testify, Though walls be thick the door no hand unclose, God is my strength, my solace, and repose. In a letter of Jeronius Segerson, written in the prison at Antwerp to his wife, named Lysken, who likewise lay a prisoner there, 1551. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 7. The object, reasons, nature, and experience of faith. Ver. 7-8. Admiration! Confidence! Expectation! Realisation! Psalms 36:8* Ver. 8. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house. Those who learn to put their trust in God shall be received into his house, and shall share in the provision laid up therein. The dwelling place of the Lord is not confined to any place, and hence reside where we may, we may regard our dwelling, if we be believers, as one room in the Lord's great house; and we shall, both in providence and grace, find a soul contenting store supplied to us as the result of living by faith in nearness to the Lord. If we regard the assembly of the saints as being peculiarly the house of God, believers shall, indeed, find in sacred worship the richest spiritual food. Happy is the soul that can drink in the sumptuous dainties of the gospel— nothing can so completely fill the soul. And thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. As they have the fruits of Eden to feed on, so shall they have the river of Paradise to drink from. God's everlasting love bears to us a constant and ample comfort, of which grace makes us to drink by faith, and then our pleasure is of the richest kind. The Lord not only brings us to this river, but makes us drink: herein we see the condescension of divine love. Heaven will, in the fullest sense, fulfil these words; but they who trust in the Lord enjoy the antepast even here. The happiness given to the faithful is that of God himself; purified spirits joy with the same joy as the Lord himself. "That my joy may be in you, that your joy may be full." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5-9.: — See Psalms on "Psalms 36:5" for further information. Ver. 8. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house: and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. Mark, first, the excellency of the provision, fatness of thy house, the river of thy pleasures. The fattest is esteemed the fairest and the most excellent food; therefore the saint was enjoined to offer the fat in sacrifice under the law. As God expects the best from us, so he gives the best to us. This made David, when he had feasted so curiously, to sing so cheerfully. Fatness here is the top, the cream of all spiritual delicacies. "My soul is filled as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips." Psalms 63:5. But, though God keeps so noble a house to satisfy his people's hunger, what special care doth he take to quench their thirst! Thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures. Oh, he drinks to them, and they pledge him in his own cup! Hath the child, then, any cause, when his Father keeps so rare and costly a table, to leave such dainties and go begging up and down the country for scraps and fragments? Oh, how much do these disgrace their Parent's provision, and their own discretion! But mark, reader, secondly, the plenty as well as the excellency of this provision. Here is fatness in the abstract, a river of pleasure; and so much as that they who enjoy is shall be satisfied, and abundantly satisfied. A river is overflowing and ever flowing; it communicates its water, and yet is never empty. It is fed with springs and fountains, and therefore it is no wonder if it always be full. They that are at such a well need not complain of want; but here are not only rivers and fatness, but of God's people it is said, they shall be abundantly satisfied. In the original it is inebriated. They shall have not only a sufficiency, but a redundancy of spiritual delights. The vessels of their souls shall be filled to the brim out of that river whose streams make glad the city of God. Surely, then, they who may have bread in such abundance, enough and to spare, in their Father's house, made of the kidneys of the wheat, of the finest flour, need not hanker after the world's homely fare. Our heavenly Father doth not keep so starveling a house that the world's scraps should go down with us. George Swinnock. Ver. 8. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house. I once heard a father tell, that when he removed his family to a new residence where the accommodation was much more ample, the substance much more rich and varied than that to which they had previously been accustomed, his youngest son, yet a lisping infant, ran round every room and scanned every article with ecstasy, calling out in childish wonder at every new sight, "Is this ours, father? and is this ours?" The child did not say "yours; "and I observed that the father while he told the story was not offended with the freedom. You could read in his glistening eye that the infant's confidence in appropriating as his own all that his father had, was an important element in his satisfaction. Such, I suppose, will be the surprise, and joy, and appropriating confidence with which the child of our Father's family will count all his own when he is removed from the comparatively mean condition of things present, and enters the infinite things to come. When the glories of heaven burst upon his view, he does not stand at a distance like a stranger saying, O God, these are thine. He bounds forward to touch and taste every provision which those blessed mansions contain, exclaiming as he looks in the Father's face, Father, this and this is ours! The dear child is glad of all the father's riches, and the Father is gladder of his dear child. William Arnot. Ver. 8. The fatness of thy house. If there is an allusion to the temple, as Hupfield thinks, fatness would equal "fat sacrifices." and men would be regarded as the priests in the house, after the analogy of Jer 31:14. J. J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 8. The fatness of thy house. Fat was regarded among the Jews, as among all other nations of antiquity, as the richest part of animals, and therefore became synonymous with the first, the best, the prime of anything. Christian D. Ginsburg, LL.D., in Kitto's Cyclopedia. Ver. 8. Of thy house. This is emphatic, and means that which thou hast prepared for thine own household, thine own faithful domestics. Here is intended not the good things prepared for all men, but for the household retainer of God. John Piscator, 1546-1626, and D.H. Mollerus. Ver. 8. Pleasures. Delights, the same word as is translated "Eden" in Genesis, only it is here in the plural number. Dalman Hapstone, M.A. Ver. 8. And, saith one of the fathers, do you ask me what heaven is? Saith one, When I meet you there I will tell you. The world to come, say the Rabbins, is the world where all is well. I have read of one that would willingly swim through a sea of brimstone to get to heaven, for there, and only there, is perfection of happiness. What are the silks of Persia, the spices of Egypt, the gold of Ophir, and the treasures of both Indies, to the glory of another world? Augustine tells us that one day, when he was about to write something upon the eighth verse of the thirty-sixth Psalm, Thou shalt make them drink of the rivers of thy pleasures, and being almost swallowed up with the contemplation of heavenly joys, one called unto him very loud by his name; and, enquiring who it was, he answered, I am Jerome, with whom in my lifetime thou hadst so much conference concerning doubts in Scripture, and am now best experienced to resolve thee of any doubts concerning the joys of heaven; but only let me first ask thee this question— Art thou able to put the whole earth, and all the eaters of the sea, into a little pot? Canst thou measure the waters in thy fist, and mete out heaven with thy span, or weigh the mountains in scales, or the hills in a balance? If not, no more is it possible that thy understanding should comprehend the least of the joys of heaven; and certainly the least of the joys of heaven are inconceivable and inexpressible. Thomas Brooks. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 7-8. Admiration! Confidence! Expectation! Realisation! Ver. 8. (first clause). The provisions of the Lord's house. What they are, their excellence and abundance, and for whom provided. Ver. 8. (second clause). The heavenly Hiddekel — Its source, its flood, the happy drinkers, how they came to drink. Psalms 36:9* Ver. 9. For with thee is the fountain of life. This verse is made of simple words, but like the first chapter of John's Gospel, it is very deep. From the Lord, as from an independent self sufficient spring, all creature life proceeds, by him is sustained, through him alone can it be perfected. Life is in the creature, but the fountain of it is only in the Creator. Of spiritual life, this is true in the most emphatic sense; "it is the Spirit that quickeneth, ""and we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God." In thy light shall we see light. Light is the glory of life. Life in the dark is misery, and rather death than life. The Lord alone can give natural, intellectual, and spiritual life; he alone can make life bright and lustrous. In spiritual things the knowledge of God sheds a light on all other subjects. We need no candle to see the sun, we see it by its own radiance, and then see everything else by the same lustre. We never see Jesus by the light of self, but self in the light of Jesus. No inward intelligence of ours leads us to receive the Spirit's light, but the rather, it often helps to quench the sacred beam; purely and only by his own illumination, the Holy Ghost lights up the dark recesses of our heart's ungodliness. Vain are they who look to learning and human wit, one ray from the throne of God is better than the noonday splendour of created wisdom. Lord, give me the sun, and let those who will delight in the wax candles of superstition and the phosphorescence of corrupt philosophy. Faith derives both light and life from God, and hence she neither dies nor darkens. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5-9.: — See Psalms on "Psalms 36:5" for further information. Ver. 9. For with thee is the fountain of life. These are some of the most wonderful words in the Old Testament. Their fulness of meaning no commentary can ever exhaust. They are, in fact, the kernel and the anticipation of much of the profoundest teaching of S. John. J. J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 9. In thy light shall we see light. The object and matter of our eternal happiness is called light. It will not be a dazzling and confounding light as was the brightness of Moses' face at his coming down from the mount; the people could not behold him: it will not be an astonishing light, as that in the mount at our Lord's transfiguration; the disciples fell to the ground, their weak eyes could not behold those glimpses of glory that shined through the vail of flesh. But the light in our heaven of happiness will be a strengthening and comforting light; it will strengthen and confirm the eyes of our understanding to behold it. Then shall we be enabled as the young eagles, to behold the Sun of Righteousness in his brightness and glory. It was said by the Lord to Moses, "None can see my face and live." Exodus 33:20. That glorious sight which Daniel saw took strength from him. Daniel 10:8. The object being without him, drew out all his spirits to behold and admire it and so weakened him; but in heaven our God, whom we shall see and know, will be within us to strengthen us; then shall we live because we see his face. It will be also a comforting light, like the light of the morning to the wearied watchman, who longed after it in the nighttime. William Colville. Ver. 9. In thy light shall we see light. It is but a kind of dim twilight comparatively, which we enjoy here in this world. While we are hid in this prison house we can see but little; but our Father's house above is full of light; "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, "etc. Matthew 13:43. If the Day star be risen in your hearts, live in the pleasant and cheerful expectation of perfect day. For we can ascend but a little way into the mysteries of the kingdom, as long as we are upon the footstool; and we shall know vastly and inconceivably more in the first moment after we come to heaven, than we are capable of attaining here throughout all our days. Timothy Cruso. Ver. 9. In thy light shall we see light. The light of nature is like a spark, the light of the gospel a lamp, the light of grace a star, but the light of glory the sun itself. The higher our ascent the greater our light; God dwelleth "in the light which no man can approach unto." 1 Timothy 6:16 — no man, while he carries mortality and sin about him; but when those two corrupt and incapable qualities shall be put off, then shall we be brought to that light. We are now glad of the sun and stars over our heads, to give us light: what light and delight shall that be when these are under our feet! That light must needs go as far beyond their light as they now go beyond us. But alas! they are only able to discourse of that light, that do enjoy it, to whom that eternal day is risen; not we that live in the humble shade of mortality and natural dimness. I leave it therefore to your meditations: it is a glorious light which we do well often to consider, considering to admire, admiring to love, loving to desire, desiring to seek, and finding to enjoy for ever. Thomas Adams. Ver. 9. In thy light shall we see light. There is a great boast of light in the world, and there is some ground for it in natural things; but, as of old the world by wisdom knew not God, so of late. If ever we know God, it must be through he medium of his word. This I take to be the meaning of the passage. The term light in the last clause means the true knowledge of God; and, in the first, the true medium of attaining it, namely, divine revelation. The sum seems to amount to this: the word of God is the grand medium by which we can attain a true and saving knowledge of God. What the sun and stars are to the regions of matter, that revelation is to the mental region. Genesis 1:13; Genesis 1:17. ...There are many things of which you may entertain no doubt, concerning which there may be no manner of dispute; yet, make a point of seeing them in God's light. Many content themselves with seeing them in the light in which great and good men have placed them; but, though angels, they are not the true light: they all view things partially. If what they say be true, yet, if we receive it merely on their representation, our faith will stand in the wisdom of men, and not in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:5. That knowledge or faith which has not God's word for its ground will not stand in the day of trial. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ May the Spirit of God graciously apply this Psalm to our hearts, comforting us as no one else can! Is he not the Comforter, and what better cordial has he for our spirits than his own Word?Psalms 37:1-2. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.Evil cannot last. It is a feeble plant, like the grass and weeds which the mower’s scythe soon cuts down, and leaves to wither in the blazing sunshine.Psalms 37:3-4. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. This is a most precious verse, its sweetness who can tell? Do not think first of the desires of thy heart, but think first of delighting thyself in thy God. If thou hast accepted him as thy Lord, he is thine; so delight in him, and then he will give thee the desires of thy heart.Psalms 37:5. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.Give it over into God’s hands, and then confide in him as completely as a little child confides in its mother. “He shall bring it to pass.” It is quite certain that you cannot “bring it to pass,” so you will be wise if you leave it with him who can do what you cannot.Psalms 37:6. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.Thou canst not make the light and the noonday; that is a work that is far beyond thy power; but thy God can give thee both light and noonday. He can clear thy character from any slander that may have befouled it, and he can crown thee with honour and glory in place of the contempt that is now cast upon thee.Psalms 37:7. Rest in the LORD,- That is the sweetest word of all: “Rest.” Go no further. Fret no more. Bear thy burdens no longer. Make this day a Sabbath to thy soul: “Rest in the Lord,”-And wait patiently for him:-Do not be in a hurry. The Lord has infinite leisure, so partake of it as far as thou canst: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him:”-Psalms 37:7-8. Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger,-You cannot do that unless you “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.” Angry passions fail upon the fire of fretfulness; therefore, “cease from anger,”-Psalms 37:8-9. And forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evil doers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.Their turn will come in due time. It comes last, but then it comes to last, for there is nothing to come after the last.Psalms 37:10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.The house in which he lived, or the place that was called by his name, is often destroyed.Psalms 37:11-12, But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. ‘The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.-That has been the style of things from the beginning, and the old serpent’s seed will be like the old serpent, and he “was more subtle than any beast of the field.” “The wicked plotteth against the just,”-He plots against the Lord’s people, but-- Psalms 37:13-18. The Lord shall laugh at him,”For he seeth that his day is coming. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdest the righteous. The LORD knoweth the day of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.He gives them an eternal portion by an everlasting covenant.Psalms 37:19. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.There is nothing that they can get, but God will give them what they cannot get themselves. He will ransack heaven and earth to find food for his people: “In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”Psalms 37:20-23. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth, and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD:-Even his “steps”-the little movements of his life,-not only his “rest plans and his ambitious projects, but “the steps of a good man are ordered by Jehovah;”-Psalms 37:23.And he delighteth in his way.He loves to see him walk, even as parents delight to watch the first tottering steps of their little children, so that he, who “taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man,” taketh pleasure in the ways of his people.Psalms 37:24. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down:-For a while, it may seem as if he had been finally defeated; things may seem to go altogether wrong with him; but, “though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;”-Psalms 37:24-25. For the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.And we also can still speak of the faithfulness of Jehovah. He who took care of his people in David’s day has not changed since then. We have not seen the righteous forsaken.Psalms 37:26. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.God has a special regard for the children of believers. Grace does not run in the blood, but it often runs side by side with it. The God of Abraham is the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of Joseph, and the God of Manasseh and Ephraim.Psalms 37:27-29. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints;they are preserved for ever:but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.I have frequently remarked to you that, although the wolf is very strong and fierce, and the sheep is very weak and timid, yet there are more sheep in the world than there are wolves; and the day will come when the last wolf will be dead, and then the sheep shall cover the plains and feed upon the hills. Weak as the righteous often are, they “shall inherit the land” when the wicked shall have been out off from the earth.Psalms 37:30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.That which is down in the heart will come up into the mouth, and you may rest assured that men are fairly judged by the common current of their conversation.Psalms 37:31-33. The law of his God is in his heart, none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. How dreadful it would be for the godly man if the Lord were to leave him in the hand of the wicked! You remember how David sought to avoid that calamity when he had to choose famine, pestilence, or the sword of his enemies. “Let me fall,” said he “into the hand of the Lord, for very great are his mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” Let us thank God that, even if we should get into the hand of the ungodly, the Lord will not leave us there, nor condemn us when we are judged.Psalms 37:34-37. Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.There is no end to that man, for he is to endure world without end. In any sense in which there is an end to him, his end is everlasting peacePsa_37:38-39. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.Have you not proved it so, dear brethren and sisters in Christ? I know that you have had times of trouble, but has not God been your strength in a very peculiar way in all such times?Psalms 37:40. And the LORD shall help them,-He is and he shall ever be their Helper: “The Lord shall help them,”-Psalms 37:40. And deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.That is the point,-not because of any merit of theirs, nor because of any skill of theirs, but “he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.” So, Lord, help us to trust in thee! Amen Psalms 37:17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the LORD upholdeth the righteous. They must stand, therefore, for how shall he fall whom God upholds?Psalms 37:18-19. The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. These are bad times now. Everyone complains, and indeed there seems to be abundant cause, for distress is universal. But let us fall back on the promise. “In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.”Psalms 37:20-23. But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away. The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth. For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off. The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.There is a mutual delight, you see. If we delight in God, God delights in us. He delights in the conduct of his people. When they walk with him, he takes pleasure in every step that they take. What say you, brothers and sisters? Have you tried to live today so that God may take pleasure in you He cannot do it if we have lived carelessly, or fruitlessly, or selfishly. But when we live to him, then the Lord delights in our way.Psalms 37:24. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.Just going to fall, but in came the interposing hand. Grace catches us up when sin would throw us down.Psalms 37:25. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.It was so unusual a thing that David had never seen, it. I have several times seen the seed of the righteous begging bread, but in every case it has been because of their drunkenness or their laziness, or because of their own vice which they brought upon themselves. But, as a rule, takes care of the children of his children. He does not suffer them to want. They may be brought into great straits, but he will not permit them to come to beggary.Psalms 37:26-29. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed. Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are perserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. There is a grand time coming (oh! that God would hasten it!) when truth and righteousness shall rule the earth, and then shall the godly have their portion. At the present time: — “Every prospect Pleases, And only man is vile “; But the day shall come when the vile person shall cease from off the earth, and the saints shall trove the kingdom.Psalms 37:30. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.You may often judge a man by his mouth. The physician looks at the tongue to see how the man is; and so is a righteous man known by his mouth and his tongue, for he talks of judgment.Psalms 37:31-40. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide. The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut of, thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright. For the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut of. But the salvation of the righeous is of the .LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him. I am going to read two portions of Scripture. In the first, — the 38th Psalm, — we shall hear a suffering servant of Jehovah crying out to his God.Psalms 38:1. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.“If thou dost rebuke me, do it gently, O my Lord! If thou dost chasten me, let not thy displeasure wax hot against thy servant.”Psalms 38:2. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.God may aim his arrows even at his own children, and he may lay his hand very heavily upon those whom he deeply loves.Psalms 38:3. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.David was under the afflicting hand of God even with regard to his bodily disease. He could have borne the pain if it had been merely physical; but there was a sense of sin mixed with it which made it sting him in his very soul.Psalms 38:4-5. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.David had some painful old sores; I mean, old sins; and they seem to have broken out again and again, and when he wrote this Psalm, he was groaning in his spirit at the remembrance of them. His faith was at a low ebb, and his feelings were of the most bitter and sorrowful kind.Psalms 38:6. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.Yet he was a true child of God all the while, for this is, according to its title, “A Psalm of David,” concerning whom the Lord said “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.” God’s flowers do not have sunlight twenty-four hours in the day. They have their night seasons, when it is not only dark, but it may also be heavy with the cold dew, or trying with a sharp frost.Psalms 38:7-8. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.That is an expressive word that David uses: “I have roared.” He felt as if his prayers were more like the agonized cries of a wounded beast than the intelligent supplications of a human being, — least of all, of a man of God; and, sometimes, when the spirit is greatly bowed down, it cannot express itself in words, but has to be content with groans, and cries, and sobs, and tears.Psalms 38:9. LORD, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.What a sweet, sweet truth that is! Happy is that man, who in the time of deepest darkness, can still grasp that truth and hold it fast. “Lord, my groaning is not hid from thee! I could only roar out my complaint, or groan it out; but thou couldst hear it just as well as if I had ordered my words aright before thee.”Psalms 38:10-11. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.“Relatives and friends alike all get away from me as far as they can, for they cannot bear to be in such sorrowful company.”Psalms 38:12-13. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.Although David was a tried man, he was, at least at that time, a wise man. God did not leave his servant to act or to speak foolishly; and beloved, when men are unjustly rebuking and reproaching you, there is nothing more wise than to act as if you did not hear them. It is the very acme of wisdom if you can keep quiet, and not answer them, — refusing to make any apologies or extenuations — or even showing any sign that you have so much as heard what they have said.Psalms 38:14-15. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: —What sublime faith there is here! It is easy to have faith in sunshiny weather, — to have faith when you have the least need of it. There are plenty of people, who fancy they are believing in God when everything is going well with them. It is one thing to believe when you are lying at anchor in a peaceful harbour, it is quite another matter to believe when you are at sea in a storm. David hoped in God when trouble had come upon him wave upon wave: “For in thee, O Lord, do I hope:” —Psalms 38:15. Thou wilt hear, O LORD my God.“Even if I do not hear thee, thou wilt hear me and if no man shall hear me, thou wilt hear my prayer, and answer my supplication.”Psalms 38:16-20. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.We need never be afraid of any man’s opposition when the reason for his being our adversary is that we “follow the thing that good is,” as our translators quaintly express it.Psalms 38:21-22. Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.Now we shall see, as we read that wondrous 53rd chapter of Isaiah not a man of God in trouble, but the Son of God in trouble; and we shall see him also as a deaf man that heareth not, “and as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 38, and Isaiah 53. This Psalm gives a description of David’s experience and conduct when stretched upon a sick-bed. He appears to have felt impatience working within him, which I am sorry to say is a very common disease with most of us when God’s hand is heavy upon us. Yet David struggled against his impatience, though he felt it, he would not know it, lest he should thereby open the mouths of his enemies, and cause them to speak evil of his God. Let us imitate his restraint if we resemble him in the temptation to impatience.Psalms 39:1. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue:--This government of the tongue is a most important part of our ways; it in a very essential part of holy discipline, yet we have heard of one saint who said that he had lived for seventy years, and had tried to control his tongue, but that he had only begun to understand the art when he died. David said, “I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue;”-Psalms 39:1. I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.They have such quick ears, and they are so ready to misinterpret and misrepresent our words, and if they can find one word awry, they will straightway preach a long sermon over it, so let us muzzle our mouths while they are near. The ill words of Christians often make texts for sinners, and thus God is blasphemed out of the mouths of his own beloved children. Let it not be so with any of you, beloved.Psalms 39:2. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.We all know that, unless our grief can find expression, it swells and grows till our heart is ready to break. We have heard of a wise physician who bade a man in great trouble weep as much as ever he could. “Do not restrain your grief,” he said, “but let it all out.” He felt that only in that way would the poor sufferer’s heart be kept from breaking. David determined that, before the wicked, he would have nothing at all to say, and though his griefs were surging within him, yet for a time he kept them from bursting out.Psalms 39:3. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,He could not hold his peace any longer; it would have been well if he had done so, for he uttered an unwise prayer when be spake with his tongue.Psalms 39:4. LORD, make me to know mine end,That is what you and I are apt to say when we get into a little trouble; we want to die, and get away from it all. We say that we long to be with Christ, but I am afraid that it is often only a lazy wish to share the spoils of victory without fighting the battle, to receive the saints’ wages without doing the saints’ work, and to enter into heaven without the toils and dangers of the pilgrims’ way. Perhaps this has been the case with us sometimes when we have thought that our aspirations were of the best and holiest kind. When David prayed, “Lord, make me to know mine end,” his prayer was not a very wise one, but the next sentences were not quite so foolish:--Psalms 39:4. And the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.Oh, that we could all know how frail we are! But we reckon upon living for years when we have scarcely many more minutes left, we think our life’s hour-glass is full when the sands have almost run out, and although the hand of God’s great clock may be upon the striking-point, we think our brief hour has but just begun.Psalms 39:5. Behold, thou hast made my days as, an handbreadth;This is a very common measure, the breadth of the human hand; and David says that this span is the measure of his life. Some here must surely have spent a great part of that handbreadth; let them and all of us be prepared to meet our God when that short span’s limit is reached.Psalms 39:5. And mine age is as nothing before thee:It is an incalculably tiny speck when compared with the immeasurable age of the Eternal: “Mine age is as nothing before thee.” When Alcibiades boasted of his great estates, the philosopher brought him a map of the world, and said to him, “Can you find your estates on this map?” Even Athens itself was but as a pin’s point; where, then, were the estates of Alcibiades? Nowhere to be seen. So, when we see the great map of eternity spread out before us, where is the whole of this world’s history? It is but a speck, and where then, are your life and mine? They are as nothing before God.Psalms 39:5. Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.Then what must he be at his worst statePsa_39:6. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: They fret, and fume, and flurry, and worry, and all about what? About nothing. We sometimes say, “It will be all the same a hundred years hence.” Ah! but it will be all the same much sooner than that, when the six feet of earth shall be all our heritage.Psalms 39:6. He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.“Bethink thee,” says an old writer, “every time thou dost lock up thy money in a box, how soon death shall lock thee up in thy coffin.” Some men seem to be like our children’s money-boxes, into which money is put, but they must be broken before any can come out. To some men, how sad must be the thought that they have been accumulating wealth all their days, and they know not for whom they have been gathering it! A stranger may, perhaps, inherit it; or if their own kith and kin shall get it, they may squander it just as thoroughly as the misers hoarded it.Psalms 39:7. And now, Lord,-If all earthly things are nothing but emptiness,-Psalms 39:7.What wait I for?“I wait for nothing here, for there is nothing here to wait for.”Psalms 39:7. My hope is in thee.Ah! this hope makes life worth living. Now that we hope in God, now that we know that there remaineth another and a better world than this world of shadows, life is invested with true solemnity.Psalms 39:8-9. Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.It is always a blessed reason for resignation when we can say of any bereavement or affliction, “The Lord has done it.” Shall he not do as he wills with his own? Then let us say, with Job, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”Psalms 39:10-12. Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears:Tears have ever had great prevalence with God. Christ used these sacred weapons when, “with strong crying and tears,” he prayed to his Father in Gethsemane, “and we heard in that he feared.” Sinner, there is such potency in a penitent’s tears that thou mayest prevail with God if thou wilt come to him weeping over thy sin, and pleading the precious blood of Christ. Thy tears cannot merit heaven, or wash away thy sins, but if thou dost penitently grieve over them, and trust in the great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, thy tearful prayers shall have a gracious answer of peace. Mr. Bunyan describes the City of Mansoul as sending Mr. Wet-eyes as one of her ambassadors to the Prince Emanuel, and he is still a most acceptable ambassador to the King of kings. He who knows how to weep his heart out at the foot of the cross shall not be long without finding mercy. Tears are diamonds that God loves to behold.Psalms 39:12. For I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.“I am not a stranger to thee, O my God! Blessed be thy holy name, I know thee well; but ‘I am a stranger with thee.’ Thou art a stranger in shine own world, and so am I. The world knows thee not, and the world knows me not; and when I act as thou actest, the world hateth me even as it hateth thee.”Psalms 39:13. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more. To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. If I were to read this Psalm all through as referring to Christ, and to Christ only, I should be correct in so doing; but still, there is such a unity between Christ and those who compose his mystical body that, what is true of the Head, is true of the members. What is true of the Vine, is true of the branches. What is true of Christ, is true of those who are in him. Therefore, this Psalm relates to David as well as to “great David’s greater Son”, and it also concerns every one who is of the royal seed, every true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the Psalm begins :— Psalms 40:1. I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.“I waited.” Do not beggars wait long at a fellow-creature’s door for some pitiful alms, and should not I be content to linger at Mercy’s gate for such great boons as I am craving? “I waited patiently.” Well may we tarry in patience till Jehovah’s time to help, since we know that “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him; and if he be pitiful, we can well afford to be patient, “I waited patiently for Jehovah.” Those who have been most mighty in prayer have sometimes had to wait for the answers to their supplications. Do not expect the Lord to hear thee today or tomorrow. He may hear thee before thou speakest, according to his promise, “Before they call, I will answer;” but he may, for the trial of thy faith, make thee wait. Art thou able to wait? Then thou art certain to receive a great blessing. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me,” bowed down out of heaven, inclined unto me, stooped to me, thought well of me, and of my prayer also, “and heard my cry.” Psalms 40:2. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.This is a wonderful song, full of rapturous joy. You know how Orientals were accustomed to cast their prisoners into pits, and those pits were often horribly deep, and dark, and damp; and the mud at the bottom would be such that a man would sink in it. David sings of the Lord, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay.” What a wonderful up-bringing was this; and, as God never does anything by halves, he did not let his servant slip back again, for David added, “and set my feet upon a rock.” “He set my feet.” When God sets a man’s feet, those feet are well set; there is no sliding, no slipping, then. The Lord set’ David’s feet upon a rock; and, more than that, established his goings, made them firm, so that when he stirred he did not stumble. Psalms 40:3. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God:Sing, then, believer! Thou didst groan often enough in the pit; sing now that thou art on the rock. Thou wast desolate enough in the dungeon; sound aloud thy grateful thanksgivings now that thy goings are established. Psalms 40:3. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.There you have a picture of a sinner’s conversion and its effects. The man sees the Lord’s goodness to the child of God in distress. He fears; that is, he stands in awe of the great God; and then he also believes, he trusts in the Lord. One saint makes many; one child of God brought up out of the horrible pit leads to the bringing up of a great many others in the same way.Psalms 40:4. Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.If you trust in God, you will have no reverence for the proud, nor for those who turn aside from God’s Word, and teach falsehood. If you really fear God, you will have no fear of men. Psalms 40:5. Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. The child of God, reviewing the Lord’s great goodness, feels that he can never count the mercies of God to him; and, as to telling them out, that can never be, It will be, perhaps, a part of our eternal employment to tell to angels, and principalities, and powers in the heavenly places the story of the lovingkindness of the Lord which we have experienced here below. If we had no troubles, we should have nothing to tell; but now that we are led in a strange way, and into very difficult places, we can write another page in our diary, which will be worth reading in those days when fictions shall all have been consumed in the fire, but the great facts in the lives of the Lord’s people shall make God to be admired in his saints for ever and ever. Psalms 40:6-8. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.Spoke I not truly when I said that the Christ of God is here? To whom is this passage one hundredth part so applicable as to the Lord Jesus himself? Does not Paul dwell upon this passage as teaching the putting aside of the old covenant law, and the bringing in of something better, even the obedience of Christ our Saviour? However, this evening, I wish to read the Scripture in reference to the saints, the Lord’s own people. I trust that many of us, seeing that God does not delight in ritualistic performances, and in the externals of religion, so much as he does in the obedience of the heart, can come to him, and declare with David, “I delight to do thy will, O my God.” Beloved friends, you are not what you ought to be; you are not what you want to be; you are not what you shall be; but, tell me, are you ever happier than when you are consciously doing the will of God? Do you not find misery in sin, and delight in holiness? If you can say that it is so with you, then you are bound for the kingdom; you are on the way to complete victory over sin. Be of good cheer; he who has wrought in you this selfsame thing, to delight to do the will of God, will grant you grace to do it. He will bruise Satan under your feet shortly; and your inbred corruptions shall yet be uprooted by the Spirit of his grace. Psalms 40:9. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.This is what Jesus can say. He was the Prince of open-air preachers, the Great Itinerant, the President of the College of all preachers of the gospel; and I trust that many of us here can also say that, according to our ability and opportunity, we have tried to tell of Christ to those round about us. Psalms 40:10. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.If any of you have done so, if there has been a sinful reticence about the things of God, if called to preach, you yet have not preached the full gospel of God’s grace, the Lord forgive you, and bring you out into a clear manifestation of what he has written within your hearts! We cannot tell what we do not know, and we ought not to try to do so; but what is graven in our hearts by the Holy Spirit we are bound to tell to others. This gas was lighted that it might shine; and you received the divine fire that you might shine to the glory of God. It may be that, in some dark hour, it shall afford you at least a little comfort to be able to say, “I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation.” You may be able to use it as an argument in prayer, as the psalmist does: “I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation, therefore,”— Psalms 40:11. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord; let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.Depend upon it, God will take care of us, if we take care of his truth. If we, from cowardly reasons, keep back any part of the gospel, God may leave us to defend ourselves; but if we conceal nothing that he has revealed to us, if we are faithful to the truth committed to our charge, that truth will itself preserve us, and we shall know more and more of the loving-kindness of the Lord. But what a sad verse is the next one, if it describes the experience of any one of you who have known the Lord! Psalms 40:12. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.If that is the condition of any one whom I am addressing, be comforted by the remembrance that another has been along that dark road where you now are found, and follow his example in praying to the Lord to deliver you. — Psalms 40:13. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.Thus did David cry unto the Lord “out of the depths.” Imitate his example if you are in similar circumstances. Say, with good John Ryland,— “Out of the depths of doubt and fear, Depths of despair and grief, I cry; my voice, O Jesus, hear, And come to my relief!” 14—16. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, Aha, Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee:Here is comfort for all poor trembling seekers; they are only seekers, but let us thank God that they are seekers, and let us say with the psalmist, “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.” All true Christians, those who have found Christ, are still seekers; for, after finding Christ, they do their souls inflame to seek him more and more. So that our prayer also is, “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.” Psalms 40:16-17. Let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.The Lord bless to us the reading of this precious portion of his Word, for his name’s sake! Amen. You will see, dear friends, from these holy songs, that the saints of God in those olden days were not screened from trials and troubles, but were tempted in all points like as we are. If we happen to be in similar trying circumstances, let us take comfort from their experiences; the footsteps of the flock that has gone before should make the sheep feel that it is not lost. Psalms 41 To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.Psalms 41:1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.David delivered others, and God will deliver him. When he is poor and needy, God will think upon him, even as he considered the poor and the needy when they cried unto him.Psalms 41:2-3. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.God will be condescendingly gentle to such as are kind and gentle to the poor. If we love God first, and then exhibit the result of that love in our care for the poor and the needy, we shall certainly be recompensed, for he that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord, and the Lord will pay him back, — sometimes in his own coin, and oftener in a coin of heavenly currency. Let us take note of this, and let us never harden our heart against the poor and the needy in the time of their extremity.Psalms 41:4. I said, Lord, be merciful unto me:David had been very kind to the poor at all times; but when he gets into trouble, he does not plead that, he just mentions it, but the main stress of his pleading is quite in another direction, namely, for mercy: “I said, Lord be merciful unto me.”Psalms 41:4-5. Heal my soul; for have sinned against thee. Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?But good men do not die to please wicked men, and sometimes, when the good men have been dead and buried, and their memory has been insulted by the wicked, they have risen up again in their posthumous influence. Good men live too long for the wicked, but they live as long as God wills that they should; they are immortal till their work is done. The story of Wycliffe is but a typical case of what has often happened. When the monks gathered round his bed, and expected that their opponent would soon be gone, he said, “I shall not die, but live,” and so he did; and even after he had died, he continued to be a living power in the land; indeed, we know not how much of the blessings we enjoy is the result of the light that was shed upon England by “the morning star of the Reformation.”Psalms 41:6. And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.Those are bad visitors to the sick who, when they speak, talk only nonsense or that which galls the sufferer; and then, when they go out, begin to tell an idle tale against him to his injury.Psalms 41:7-9. All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth .fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.Many a child of God has had his character whispered down by slanderers, many a man has had a hard time of it through the evil speaking of men of the world; yea, even the Lord of saints and the King of pilgrims knew what it was to find a traitor in his most familiar friend, and to receive the basest ingratitude from one who had eaten of his bread. Do not be carried away with too much sorrow if you are slandered or betrayed; better men than you have suffered through this fearful evil. Therefore, take the trouble to your Lord, and bear it with such patience as he will give you.Psalms 41:10-11. But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.“He may think that he shall triumph over me, he may even begin in his mind to divide the spoil; but he shall never really get it: ‘Mine enemy doth not triumph over me.’”Psalms 41:12-13. And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.That is the sick man’s praise; it is full of fervor and full of life. Let us never rob God of the revenue of his praises; let us not have such a cupboard love for him that we only praise him when he gives us good things. Let us bless his name just as much when he takes away, when he afflicts, when he chastises. That is true praise which comes from the bed of affliction, and from a heart that is sore broken with sorrow. Now in the next Psalm we find the good man in trouble again. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 41, 42. Psalms 42:1. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.“As the hart panteth” or “brayeth.” And if such be your soul’s panting after God, you shall have what you pant for. Sooner or later, God will manifest himself in grace to the man who cries after him in this fashion.Psalms 42:2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : —“My soul, my very soul, thirsteth for God, the living God.”Psalms 42:2-3. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?That is another of the taunts of the ungodly. Just now, they said, “When shall he die and his name perish?” Now they cry, “Where is thy God?” “You said that he would help you; you were sure that he would comfort you; you were confident that he would draw near to you; and now you are crying and panting after him, and have not got what you want: ‘Where is thy God?’”Psalms 42:4. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me :-That is not a good thing to do; if you do pour your soul out, do not pour it into yourself again. There is little gain when you merely empty your grief out of yourself into yourself. I have known many a man lay his burden down, and then take it up again directly. That is poor economy; the way to get rid of the sorrow is to pour out your hearts before God. There is no wisdom in doing what the psalmist says he did: “I pour out my soul in me:”—Psalms 42:4-5. For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?You see, the psalmist here talks to himself. Every man is two men; we are duplicates, if not triplicates, and it is well sometimes to hold a dialogue with one’s own self. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul?” I always notice that, as long as I can argue with myself about my depressions, I can get out of them; but when both the men within me go down at once, it is a downfall indeed. When there is one foot on the solid rock, the other comes up to it pretty soon.Psalms 42:5. Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.“I know I shall; he will yet look at me. I shall not always be in the dark; wherefore, let me begin at once to praise him.” It is well sometimes to snatch a light from the altars of the future, and with it to kindle the sacrifices of the present: “I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.”Psalms 42:6. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar.From the little hill I will think of all thy former love; — all the sacred spots where thou hast met with me, all the lonely places where thou hast been my comfort, and all the joyful regions where thou hast been my glory. I will think of these, and take comfort from them, for thou art an unchanging God; and what thou didst for me aforetime, thou wilt do for me again and yet again.Psalms 42:7. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.Here is a great storm; here is a man, not merely on the sea, but in the sea; with not only some waves beating upon him, but with all of them going over him; and those not common waves, but God’s waves. That is a Hebraism for the biggest waves, Atlantic billows; all these have gone right over him, yet see how he swims. Hope in God always crests the stormiest billow.Psalms 42:8-9. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?See what liberties saints take with God; how they reason with him, how they argue with him; and God loves them to do so. Are you not pleased with your child when he urges reasons why you should do this or that for him? You are glad to see that he has mind enough to think of these things, and confidence enough in you to expect you to be affected by his pleadings; and the Lord loves his people to discourse with him. “Put me in remembrance,” saith he, “let us plead together.” “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.” If we reasoned more with God, we should reason less with ourselves. There is a good reason for reasoning with God, but it is often unreasonable to reason with yourself.Psalms 42:10-11. As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: For I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.It is curious to see the duplicate man here; he talks to himself as “thou,” and yet he says “I.” “Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance.” First, he said, “I shall yet praise him for the health of his countenance;” now it is “the health of my countenance.” When God helps us with his countenance, then our own countenance soon grows bright and healthy. “Who is the health of my countenance,” says the psalmist; and then he comes to the sweetest note of all, “and my God.” “For yet I know I shall him praise, Who graciously to me, The health is of my countenance, Yea, mine own God is he.” Oh, sweet word that! May each of us be able to reach it! Amen. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 41, 42. Psalms 43:1-2. Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. For thou art the God of my strength:In the previous Psalm, David had called the Lord the God of his life. Now he calls him the God of his strength. We generally sing ourselves up. We may begin in a very low key, as David did, but if we can praise God in the dark, we shall soon praise God in the light.Psalms 43:2-4. Why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: “My exceeding joy,”--exceeding all the other joys I have,--exceeding still the joys of the happiest men I have ever known.Psalms 43:4. Yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.It was not enough for David to say, “O God;” he cries, “O God my God.” You cannot praise another man’s God. Possession is not only nine points of the law, but it is all the points of the gospel.Psalms 43:5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.May the Lord comfort his mourning people by such words as these! Psalms 44:1. We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.Now Israel was restored to Canaan, and the Canaanite and Perizzite were driven out, that God’s chosen people might occupy their appointed place.Psalms 44:2-3. How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.They did use their own arm and sword; but, for all that, it was God who won the victory for them. It was his might that made them brave, and a consciousness of his gracious purpose that made them strong, so that they routed all their foes until, from Dan to Beersheba, the land was all their own.Psalms 44:4-6. Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob. Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. See how the lesson from ancient history was turned to practical account in the psalmist’s own experience: “As our forefathers were delivered, not by their own bow or sword, but by the right hand of the Most High, so I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.” Brethren, let us always labour to reproduce in ourselves, by God’s grace, the best experiences of his saints. Wherever we see the hand of the Lord displayed in others of his people, let us pray that the same hand may be manifested to us and in us.Psalms 44:7-8. But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 44:1-8; and Psalms 45. --- The Story of God's Mighty Acts July 17th, 1859 by C. H. (1834-1892) "We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old."— Psalms 44:1 . Perhaps there are no stories that stick by us so long as those which we hear in our childhood, those tales which are told us by our fathers, and in our nurseries. It is a sad reflection that too many of these stories are idle and vain, so that our minds in early infancy are tinctured with fables, and inoculated with strange and lying narratives. Now, among the early Christians and the old believers in the far-off times, nursery tales were far different from what they are now, and the stories with which their children were amused were of a far different class from those which fascinated us in the days of our babyhood. No doubt, Abraham would talk to young children about the flood, and tell them how the waters overspread the earth, and how Noah alone was saved in the ark. The ancient Israelites, when they dwelt in their own land, would all of them tell their children about the Red Sea, and the plagues which God wrought in Egypt when he brought his people out of the house of bondage. Among the early Christians we know that it was the custom of parents to recount to their children everything concerning the life of Christ, the acts of the apostles, and the like interesting narratives. Nay, among our puritanic ancestors such were the stories that regaled their childhood. Sitting down by the fireside, before those old Dutch tiles with the quaint eccentric drawings upon them of the history of Christ, mothers would teach their children about Jesus walking on the water, or of his multiplying the loaves of bread, or of his marvellous transfiguration, or of the crucifixion of Jesus. Oh, how I would that the like were the tales of the present age, that the stories of our childhood would be again the stories of Christ, and that we would each of us believe that, after all, there can be nothing so interesting as that which is true, and nothing more striking than those stories which are written in sacred writ; nothing that can more truly move the heart of a child than the marvellous works of God which he did in the olden times. It seems that the psalmist who wrote this most musical ode had heard from his father, handed to him by tradition, the stories of the wondrous things which God had done in his day; and afterwards, this sweet singer in Israel taught it to his children, and so was one generation after another led to call God blessed, remembering his mighty acts. Now, my dear friends, this morning I intend to recall to your minds some of the wondrous things which God has done in the olden time. My aim and object will be to excite your minds to seek after the like; that looking back upon what God has done, you may be induced to look forward with the eye of expectation, hoping that he will again stretch forth his potent hand and his holy arm, and repeat those mighty acts he performed in ancient days. First, I shall speak of the marvellous stories which our fathers have told us, and which we have heard of the olden time; secondly, I shall mention some disadvantages under which these old stories labour wit regard to the effect upon our minds; and, then, I shall draw the proper inferences from those marvellous things which we have heard, that the Lord did in the days of yore. I. To begin then, with THE STORIES WE HAVE HEARD OF THE LORD'S ANCIENT DOINGS. We have heard that God has at times done very mighty acts. The plain everyday course of the world hath been disturbed with wonders at which men have been exceedingly amazed. God hath not always permitted his church to go on climbing by slow degrees to victory, but he hath been pleased at times to smite one terrible blow, and lay his enemies down upon the earth, and bid his children march over their prostrate bodies. Turn back then, to ancient records, and remember what God hath done. Will ye not remember what he did at the Red Sea, how he smote Egypt and all its chivalry, and covered Pharaoh's chariot and horse in the Red Sea? Have ye not heard tell how God smote Og, king of Bashan, and Sihon, king of the Amorites, because they withstood the progress of his people? Have ye not learned how he proved that his mercy endureth for ever, when he slew those great kings and cast the mighty ones down from their thrones? Have you not read, too, how God smote the children of Canaan, and drove out the inhabitants thereof, and gave the land to his people, to be a possession by lot for ever? Have you not heard how when the hosts of Jabin came against them, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera? The river of Kishon swept them away, "that ancient river, the river Kishon," and there was none of them left? Hath it not been told you, too, how by the hand of David, God smote the Philistines, and how by his right hand he smote the children of Ammon? Have you not heard how Midian was put to confusion, and the myriads of Arabia were scattered by Asa in the day of his faith? And have you not heard, too, how the Lord sent a blast upon the hosts of Sennacherib, so that in the morning they were all dead men? Tell—tell ye these, his wonders! Speak of them in your streets. Teach them to your children. Let them not be forgotten, for the right hand of the Lord hath done marvellous things, his name is known in all the earth. The wonders, however, which most concern us, are those of the Christian era; and surely these are not second to those under the Old Testament. Have you never read how God won to himself great renown on the day of Pentecost? Turn ye to this book of the record of the wonders of the Lord and read. Peter the fisherman stood up and preached in the name of the Lord his God. A multitude assembled and the Spirit of God fell upon them; and it came to pass that three thousand in one day were pricked in their heart by the hand of God, and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And know you not how the twelve apostles with the disciples went everywhere preaching the Word, and the idols fell from their thrones? The cities opened wide their gates, and the messengers of Christ walked through the streets and preached. It is true that at first they were driven hither and thither, and hunted like partridges upon the mountains: but do ye not remember how the Lord did get unto himself a victory, so that in a hundred years after the nailing of Christ to the cross, the gospel had been preached in every nation, and the isles of the sea had heard the sound thereof? And have you forgotten how the heathen were baptized, thousands at a time, in every river? What stream is there in Europe that cannot testify to the majesty of the gospel? What city is there in the land that cannot tell how God's truth has triumphed, and how the heathen has forsaken his false god, and bowed his knee to Jesus the crucified? The first spread of the gospel is a miracle never to be eclipsed. Whatever god may have done at the Red Sea, he hath done still more within a hundred years after the time when Christ first came into the world. It seemed as if a fire from heaven ran along the ground. Nothing could resist its force. The lightning shaft of truth shivered every pinnacle of the idol temple, and Jesus was worshipped from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. This is one of the things we have heard of the olden times. And have ye never heard of the mighty things which God did by preachers some hundreds of years from that date? Hath it not been told you concerning Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed, how, whenever he preached, the church was thronged with attentive hearers; and there, standing and lifting up holy hands, he spake with a majesty unparalleled, the word of God in truth and righteousness; the people listening, hanging forward to catch every word, and anon breaking the silence with the clapping of their hands and the stamping of their feet; then silent again for a while, spell-bound by the mighty orator; and again carried away with enthusiasm, springing to their feet, clapping their hands, and shouting for joy again? Numberless were the conversions in his day. God was exceedingly magnified, for sinners were abundantly saved. And have your fathers never told you of the wondrous things that were done afterwards when the black darkness of superstition covered the earth, when Popery sat upon her throne and stretched her iron rod across the nations and shut the windows of heaven, and quenched the very stars of God and made thick darkness cover the people? Have ye never heard how Martin Luther arose and preached the gospel of the grace of God, and how the nations trembled, and the world heard the voice of God and lived? Have you not heard of Zwingle among the Swiss, and of Calvin in the city of Geneva, and of the mighty works that God did by them? Nay, as Britons have ye forgotten the mighty preacher of the truth—have your ears ceased to tingle with the wondrous tale of the preachers that Wickliffe sent forth into every market town and every hamlet of England, preaching the gospel of God? Oh, doth not history tell us that these men were like fire-brands in the midst of the dry stubble; that their voice was as the roaring of a lion, and their going forth like the springing of a young lion. Their glory was as the firstling of a bullock; they did push the nation before them, and as for the enemies, they said, "Destroy them." None could stand before them, for the Lord their God had girded them with might. To come down a little nearer to our own times, truly our fathers have told us the wondrous things which God did in the days of Wesley and of Whitefield. The churches were all asleep. Irreligion was the rule of the day. The very streets seemed to run with iniquity, and the gutters were filled full with the iniquity of sin. Up rose Whitefield and Wesley, men whose hearts the Lord had touched, and they dared to preach the gospel of the grace of God. Suddenly, as in a moment, there was heard the rush as of wings, and the church said: "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?" They come! they come! numberless as the birds of heaven, with a rushing like mighty winds that are not to be withstood. Within a few years, from the preaching of there two men, England was permeated with evangelical truth. The Word of God was known in every town, and there was scarcely a hamlet into which the Methodists had not penetrated. In those days of the slow-coach, when Christianity seemed to have bought up the old wagons in which our fathers once travelled—where business runs with steam, there oftentimes religion creeps along with its belly on the earth,—we are astonished at these tales, and we think them wonders. Yet let us believe them; they come to us as substantial matters of history. And the wondrous things which God did in the olden times, by his grace he will yet do again. He that is mighty hath done great things and holy is his name. There is a special feature to which I would call your attention with regard to the works of God in the olden time; they derive increasing interest and wonder from the fact that they were all sudden things. The old stagers in our churches believe that things must grow, gently, by degrees; we must go step by step onward. Concentrated action and continued labour, they say, will ultimately bring success. But the marvel is, all God's works have been sudden. When Peter stood up to preach, it did not take six weeks to convert the three thousand. They were converted at once and baptized that very day; they were that hour turned to God, and become as truly disciples of Christ as they could have been if their conversion had taken seventy years. So was it in the day of Martin Luther: it did not take Luther centuries to break through the thick darkness of Rome. God lit the candle and the candle burned, and there was the light in an instant—God works suddenly. If anyone could have stood in Wurtemburg, and have said: "Can Popery be made to quail, can the Vatican be made to shake?" The answer would have been:—"No; it will take at least a thousand years to do it. Popery, the great serpent, has so twisted itself about the nations, and bound them so fast in its coil, that they cannot be delivered except by a long process." "Not so," however, did God say. He smote the dragon sorely, and the nations went free; he cut the gates of brass, and broke in sunder the bars of iron, and the people were delivered in an hour. Freedom came not in the course of years, but in an instant. The people that walked in darkness saw a great light, and upon them that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, did the light shine. So was it in Whitefield's day. The rebuking of a slumbering church was not the work of ages; it was done at once. Have ye never heard of the great revival under Whitefield? Take as an instance that at Camslang. He was preaching in the church-yard to a great congregation, that could not get into any edifice; and while preaching, the power of God came upon the people, and one after another fell down as if they were smitten; and at least it was estimated that not less than three thousand persons were crying out at one time under the conviction of sin. He preached on, now thundering like Boanerges, and then comforting like Barnabas, and the work spread, and no tongue can tell the great things that God did under that one sermon of Whitefield. Not even the sermon of Peter on the day of Pentecost was equal to it. So has it been in all revivals; God's work has been done suddenly. As with a clap of thunder has God descended from on high; not slowly, but on cherubim right royally doth he ride; on the wings of the mighty wind does he fly. Sudden has been the work; men could scarce believe it true, it was done in so short a space of time. Witness the great revival which is going on in and around Belfast. After carefully looking at the matter, and after seeing some trusty and well-beloved brother who lived in that neighborhood, I am convinced, notwithstanding what enemies may say, that it is a genuine work of grace, and that God is doing wonders there. A friend who called to see me yesterday, tells me that the lowest and vilest men, the most depraved females in Belfast, have been visited with this extraordinary epilepsy, as the world calls it; but with this strange rushing of the spirit, as we have it. Men who have been drunkards have suddenly felt an impulse compelling them to pray. They have resisted; they have sought to their cups in order to put it out; but when they have been swearing, seeking to quench the Spirit by their blasphemy, God has at last brought them on their knees, and they have been compelled to cry for mercy with piercing shrieks, and to agonize in prayer; and then after a time, the Evil one seems to have been cast out of them, and in a quiet, holy, happy frame of mind, they have made a profession of their faith in Christ, and have walked in his fear and love. Roman Catholics have been converted. I thought that an extraordinary thing; but they have been converted very frequently indeed in Ballymena and in Belfast. In fact, I am told the priests are now selling small bottles of holy water for people to take, in order that they may be preserved from this desperate contagion of the Holy Spirit. This holy water is said to have such efficacy, that those who do not attend any of the meetings are not likely to be meddled with by the Holy Spirit—so the priests tell them. But if they go to the meetings, even this holy water cannot preserve them—they are as liable to fall prey to the Divine influence. I think they are just as likely to do so without as with it. All this has been brought about suddenly, and although we may expect to find some portion of natural excitement, yet I am persuaded it is in the main a real, spiritual, and abiding work. There is a little froth on the surface, but there is a deep running current that is not to be resisted, sweeping underneath, and carrying everything before it. At least there is something to awaken our interest, when we understand that in the small town of Ballymena on market day, the publicans have always taken one hundred pounds for whiskey, and now they cannot take a sovereign all day long in all the public houses. Men who were once drunkards now meet for prayer, and people after hearing one sermon will not go until the minister has preached another, and sometimes a third; and at last he is obliged to say: "You must go, I am exhausted." Then they will break up into groups in their streets and in their houses, crying out to God to let this mighty work spread, that sinners may be converted unto him. "Well," says one, "we cannot believe it." Very likely you cannot, but some of us can, for we have heard it with our ears, and our fathers have told us the mighty works that God did in their days, and we are prepared to believe that God can do the same works now. I must here remark again, in all these old stories there is one very plain feature. Whenever God has done a mighty work it has been by some very insignificant instrument. When he slew Goliath it was by little David, who was but a ruddy youth. Lay not up the sword of Goliath—I always thought that a mistake of David—lay up, not Goliath's sword, but lay up the stone, and treasure up the sling in God's armory for ever. When God would slay Sisera, it was a woman that must do it with a hammer and a nail. God has done his mightiest works by the meanest instruments: that is a fact most true of all God's works—Peter the fisherman at Pentecost, Luther the humble monk at the Reformation, Whitefield the potboy of the Old Bell Inn at Gloucester in the time of the last century's revival; and so it must be to the end. God works not by Pharaoh's horses or chariot, but he works by Moses' rod; he doth not his wonders with the whirlwind and the storm; he doth them by the still small voice, that the glory may be his and the honour all his own. Doth not this open a field of encouragement to you and to me? Why may not we be employed in doing some mighty work for God here? Moreover, we have noticed in all these stories of God's mighty works in the olden time, that wherever he has done any great thing it has been by someone who has had very great faith. I do verily believe at this moment that, if God willed it, every soul in this hall would be converted now. If God chose to put forth the operations of his own mighty Spirit, not the most obdurate heart would be able to stand against it. "He will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy." He will do as he pleases; none can stay his hand. "Well," says one, "but I do not expect to see any great things." Then, my dear friend, you will not be disappointed, for you will not see them; but those that expect them shall see them. Men of great faith do great things. It was Elijah's faith that slew the priests of Baal. If he had the little heart that some of you have, Baal's priests had still ruled over the people, and would never have been smitten with the sword. It was Elijah's faith that bade him say: "If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him." And again: "Choose one bullock for yourselves, cut it in pieces, lay it on wood and put no fire under, call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Jehovah." It was his noble faith that bade him say: "Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape"; and he brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there—a holocaust to God. The reason why God's name was so magnified, was because Elijah's faith in God was so mighty and heroic. When the Pope sent his bull to Luther, Luther burned it. Standing up in the midst of the crowd with the blazing paper in his hand he said: "See here, this is the Pope's bull." What cared he for all the Popes that were ever in or out of hell? And when he went to Worms to meet the grand Diet, his followers said: "You are in danger, stand back." "No," said Luther, "if there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on the roofs of the houses, I would not fear; I will go"—and into Worms he went, confident in the Lord his God. It was the same with Whitefield; he believed and he expected that God would do great things. When he went into his pulpit he believed that God would bless the people, and God did do so. Little faith may do little things, but great faith shall be greatly honoured. O God! our fathers have told us this, that whenever they had great faith Thou hast always honoured it by doing mighty works. I will detain you no longer on this point, except to make one observation. All the mighty works of God have been attended with great prayer, as well as with great faith. Have you ever heard of the commencement of the great American revival? A man unknown and obscure, laid it up in his heart to pray that God would bless his country. After praying and wrestling and making the soul-stirring enquiry: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? " he hired a room, and put up an announcement that there would be a prayer-meeting held there at such-and-such an hour of the day. He went at the proper hour, and there was not a single person there; he began to pray, and prayed for half an hour alone. One came in at the end of the half-hour, and then two more, and I think he closed with six. The next week came around, and there might have been fifty dropped in at different times; at last the prayer-meeting grew to a hundred, then others began to start prayer-meetings; at last there was scarcely a street in New York that was without a prayer-meeting. Merchants found time to run in, in the middle of the day, to pray. The prayer-meetings became daily ones, lasting for about an hour; petitions and requests were sent up, these were simply asked and offered before God, and the answers came; and many were the happy hearts that stood up and testified that the prayer offered last week had been already fulfilled. Then it was when they were all earnest in prayer, suddenly the Spirit of God fell upon the people, and it was rumored that in a certain village a preacher had been preaching in thorough earnest, and there had been hundreds converted in a week. The matter spread into and through the Northern States—these revivals of religion became universal, and it has been sometimes said that a quarter of a million people were converted to God through the short space of two or three months. Now the same effect was produced in Ballymena and Belfast by the same means. The brother thought that it lay at his heart to pray, and he did pray; then he held a regular prayer-meeting; day after day they met together to entreat the blessing, and fire descended and the work was done. Sinners were converted, not by ones or twos but by hundreds and thousands, and the Lord's name was greatly magnified by the progress of his gospel. Beloved, I am only telling you facts. Make each of you your own estimate of them if you please. II. Agreeable to my division,, I have now to make a few observations upon THE UNDER WHICH THESE OLD STORIES LABOUR. When people hear about what God used to do, one of the things they say is: "Oh, that was a very long while ago." They imagine that times have altered since then. Says one: "I can believe anything about the Reformation—the largest accounts that can possibly be given, I can take in." "And so could I concerning Whitefield and Wesley," says another, "all that is quite true, they did labour vigorously and successfully, but that was many years ago. Things were in a different state then from what they are now." Granted; but I want to know what the things have to do with it. I thought it was God that did it. Has God changed? Is he not an immutable God, the same yesterday, to-day and for ever? Does not that furnish an argument to prove that what God has done at one time he can do at another? Nay, I think I may push it a little further, and say what he has done once, is a prophecy of what he intends to do again—that the mighty works which have been accomplished in the olden time shall all be repeated, and the Lord's song shall be sung again in Zion, and he shall again be greatly glorified. Others among you say, "Oh, well I look upon these things as great prodigies—miracles. We are not to expect them every day." That is the very reason why we do not get them. If we had learnt to expect them, we should no doubt obtain them, but we put them up on the shelf, as being out of the common order of our moderate religion, as being mere curiosities of Scripture history. We imagine such things, however true, to be prodigies of providence; we cannot imagine them to be according to the ordinary working of his mighty power. I beseech you, my friends, abjure that idea, put it out of your mind. Whatever God has done in the way of converting sinners is to be looked upon as a precedent, for "his arm is not shortened that He cannot save, not is his ear heavy that He cannot hear." If we are straitened at all, we are not straitened in ourselves, and with earnestness seek that God would restore to us the faith of the men of old, that we may richly enjoy his grace as in the days of old. Yet there is yet another disadvantage under which there old stories labour. The fact is, we have not seen them. Why, I may talk to you ever so long about revivals, but you won't believe them half so much, nor half so truly, as if one were to occur in your very midst. If you saw it with your own eyes, then you would see the power of it. If you had lived in Whitefield's day, or had heard Grimshaw preach, you would believe anything. Grimshaw would preach twenty-four times a week: he would preach many times in the course of a sultry day, going from place on horseback. That man did preach. It seemed as if heaven would come down to earth to listen to him. He spoke with a real earnestness, with all the fire of zeal that ever burned in mortal breast, and the people trembled while they listened to him, and said, "Certainly this is the voice of God." It was the same with Whitefield. The people would seem to move to and fro while he spoke, even as the harvest field is moved with the wind. So mighty was the energy of God that after hearing such a sermon the hardest-hearted men would go away and say: "There must be something in it, I never heard the like." Can you not realize these as literal facts? Do they stand up in all their brightness before your eyes? Then I think the stories you have heard with your ears should have a true and proper effect upon your lives. III. This brings me in the third place to the PROPER THAT ARE TO BE DRAWN FROM THE OLD STORIES OF GOD'S MIGHTY DEEDS. I would that I could speak with the fire of some of those men whose names I have mentioned. Pray for me, that the Spirit of God may rest upon me, that I may plead with you for a little time with all my might, seeking to exhort and stir you up, that you may get a like revival in your midst. My dear friends, the first effect which the reading of the history of God's mighty works should have upon us, is that of gratitude and praise. Have we nothing to sing about to-day?—then let us sing concerning days of yore. If we cannot sing to our well-beloved a song concerning what he is doing in our midst, let us, nevertheless, take down our harps from the willows, and sing an old song, and bless and praise his holy name for the things which he did to his ancient church, for the wonders which he wrought in Egypt, and in all the lands wherein he led his people, and from which he brought them out with a high hand and with an outstretched arm. When we have thus begun to praise God for what he has done, I think I may venture to impress upon you one other great duty. Let what God has done suggest to you the prayer that he would repeat the like signs and wonders among us. Oh! men and brethren, what would this heart feel if I could but believe that there were some among you who would go home and pray for a revival of religion—men whose faith is large enough, and their love fiery enough to lead them from this moment to exercise unceasing intercessions that God would appear among us and do wondrous things here, as in the times of former generations. Why, look you here in this present assembly what objects there are for our compassion. Glancing round, I observe one and another whose history I may happen to know, but how many are there still unconverted—men who trembled and who know they have, but have shaken off their fears, and once more are daring their destiny, determined to be suicides to their own souls and to put away from them that grace which once seemed as if it were striving in their hearts. They are turning away from the gates of heaven, and running post-haste to the doors of hell; and will not you stretch out your hands to God to stop them in this desperate resolve? If in this congregation there were but one unconverted man and I could point him out and say: "There he sits, one soul that has never felt the love of God, and never has been moved to repentance," with what anxious curiosity would every eye regard him? I think out of thousands of Christians here, there is not one who would refuse to go home and pray for that solitary unconverted individual. But, oh! my brethren, it is not one that is in danger of hell fire; here are hundreds and thousands of our fellow-creatures. Shall I give you yet another reason why you should pray? Hitherto all other means have been used without effect. God is my witness how often I have striven in this pulpit to be the means of the conversion of men. I have preached my very heart out. I could say no more than I have said, and I hope the secrecy of my chamber is a witness to the fact that I do not cease to feel when I cease to speak; but I have a heart to pray for those of you who are never affected, or who, if affected, still quench the Spirit of God. I have done my utmost. Will not you come to the help of the Lord against the mighty? Will not you r prayers accomplish that which my preaching fails to do? Here they are; I commend them to you. Men and women whose hearts refuse to melt, whose stubborn knees will not bend; I give them up to you and ask you to pray for them. Carry their cases on your knees before God. Wife! never cease to pray for your unconverted husband. Husband! never stop your supplication till you see your wife converted. And, O fathers and mothers! have you no unconverted children? have you not brought them here many and many a Sunday, and they remain just as they have been? You have sent them first to one chapel and then to another, and they are just what they were. The wrath of God abideth on them. Die they must; and should they die now, to a certainty you are aware that the flames of hell must engulf them. And do you refuse to pray for them? Hard hearts, brutish souls, if knowing Christ yourself ye will not pray for those who come of your own loins—your children according to the flesh. Dear friends, we do not know what God may do for us if we do but pray for a blessing. Look at the movement we have already seen; we have witnessed Exeter Hall, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Westminster Abbey, crammed to the doors, but we have seen no effect as yet of all these mighty gatherings. Have we not tried to preach without trying to pray? It is not likely that the church has been putting forth its preaching hand but not its praying hand? O dear friends! let us agonize in prayer, and it shall come to pass that this Music Hall shall witness the sighs and groans of the penitent and the songs of the converted. It shall yet happen that this vast host shall not come and go as now it does, but little the better; but men shall go out of this hall, praising God and saying:—"It was good to be there; it was none other than the house of God, and the very gate of heaven." Thus much to stir you up to prayer. Another inference we should draw is that all the stories we have heard should correct any self-dependence which may have crept into our treacherous hearts. Perhaps we as a congregation have begun to depend upon our numbers and so forth. We may have thought: "Surely God must bless us through the ministry." Now let the stories which our fathers have told us remind you, and remind me, that God saves not by many nor by few; that it is not in us to do this but God must do it all; it may be that some hidden preacher, whose name has never been known, will yet start up in this city of London and preach the Lord with greater power than bishops or ministers have ever know before. I will welcome him; God be with him; let him come from where he may; only let God speed him, and let the work be done. Mayhap, however, God intends to bless the agency used in this place for your good and for your conversion. If so, I am thrice happy to think such should be the case. But place no dependence upon the instrument. No, when men laughed at us and mocked us most, God blessed us most; and now it is not a disreputable thing to attend the Music Hall. We are not so much despised as we once were, but I question whether we have so great a blessing as once we had. We would be willing to endure another pelting in the pillory, to go through another ordeal with every newspaper against us, and with every man hissing and abusing us, if God so pleases, if he will but give us a blessing. Only let him cast out of us any idea that our own bow and sword will get us victory. We shall never get a revival here unless we believe that it is the Lord, and the Lord alone, that can do it. Having made this statement, I will endeavour to stir you up with confidence that the result may be obtained that I have pictured, and that the stories we have heard of the olden time, may become true in our day. Why should not every one of my hearers be converted? Is there any limitation in the Spirit of God? Why should not the feeblest minister become the means of salvation to thousands? Is God's arm shortened? My brethren, when I bid you pray that God would make the ministry quick and powerful, like a two-edged sword, for the salvation of sinners, I am not setting you a hard, much less an impossible, task. We have but to ask and to get. Before we call, God will answer; and while we are yet speaking he will hear. God alone can know what may come of this morning's sermon, if he chooses to bless it. From this moment you may pray more; from this moment God may bless the ministry more. From this hour other pulpits may become more full of life and vigour than before. From this same moment the Word of God may flow, and run, and rush, and get to itself an amazing and boundless victory. Only wrestle in prayer, meet together in your houses, go to your closets, be instant, be earnest in season and out of season, agonize for souls, and all that you have heard shall be forgotten in what you shall see; and all that others have told you shall be as nothing compared with what you shall hear with your ears and behold with your eyes in your own midst. Oh ye, to whom all this is as an idle tale, who love not God,, neither serve him, I beseech you stop and think for a moment. Oh, Spirit of God, rest on thy servant while a few sentences are uttered, and make them mighty. God has striven with some of you. You have had your times of conviction. You are trying now, perhaps, to be infidels. You are trying to say now—"There is no hell—there is no hereafter." It will not do. You know there is a hell and all the laughter of those who seek to ruin your souls cannot make you believe that there is not. You sometimes try to think so, but you know that God is true. I do not argue with you now. Conscience tells you that God will punish you for sin. Depend upon it—you will find no happiness in trying to stifle God's Spirit. This is not the path to bliss, to quench those thoughts which would lead you to Christ. I beseech you, take off your hands from God's arm; resist not still His Spirit. Bow the knee and lay hold of Christ and believe on him. It will come to this yet. God the Holy Spirit will have you. I do trust that in answer to many prayers he intends to save you yet. Give way now, but oh, remember if you are successful in quenching the Spirit, your success will be the most awful disaster that can ever occur to you, for if the Spirit forsake you, you are lost. It may be that this is the last warning you will ever have. The conviction you are now trying to put down and stifle may be the last you will have, and the angel standing with the black seal and the wax may be now about to drop it upon your destiny, and say, "Let him alone. He chooses drunkenness—he chooses lust—let him have them;; and let him reap the wages in the everlasting fires of hell." Sinners, believe on the Lord Jesus: repent and be converted every one of you. I am bold to say what Peter did. Breaking through every bond of every kind that could bind my lip, I exhort you in God's name—Repent and escape from damnation. A few more months and years, and ye shall know what damnation means, except ye repent. Oh! fly to Christ while yet the lamp holds out and burns, and mercy is still preached to you. Grace is still presented; accept Christ, resist him no longer; come to him now. The gates of mercy are wide open too-day; come now, poor sinner, and have thy sins forgiven. When the old Romans used to attack a city, it was sometimes their custom to set up at the gate a white flag, and if the garrison surrendered while that white flag was there, their lives were pared. After that the black flag was put up, and then every man was put to the sword. The white flag is up to-day; perhaps to-morrow the black flag will be elevated upon the pole of the law; and then there is no repentance or salvation either in this world or in that which is to come. An old eastern conqueror when he came to a city used to light a brazier of coals, and, setting it high upon a pole he would, with sound of trumpet proclaim, that if they surrendered while the lamp held out and burned he would have mercy upon them, but that when the coals were out he would storm the city, pull it stone from stone, sow it with salt, and put men, women, and children, to a bloody death. To-day the thunders of God bid you to take the like warning. There is your light, the lamp, the brazier of hot coals. Year after year the fire is dying out, nevertheless there is coal left. Even now the wind of death is trying to blow out the last live coal. Oh! sinner, turn while the lamp continues to blaze. Turn now, for when the last coal is dead thy repentance cannot avail thee. Thy everlasting yelling in torment cannot move the heart of God; thy groans and briny tears cannot move him to pity thee. To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation. Oh, to-day lay hold on Christ, "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, (or, upon the lilies,) for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves. We may look upon the 45th Psalm as being a sort of compendium of the Song of Solomon. It is written, too, upon the same subject, and that is not the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh’s daughter; — only the strangest and most whimsical fancy could ever have found Pharaoh’s daughter either in this Psalm or in the Book of the Canticles. It is a description of Christ and his Church; a song of love between that pair for ever affianced, and soon to sit down together at the marriage supper in glory.Psalms 45:1. My heart is inditing a good matter:Or, as the margin has it, “My heart boileth or bubbleth up with good matter.” It is said of Origen, one of the ancient fathers of the Church, that whenever he preached, he preached with great earnestness and fervor; but that, when he spoke of Christ, he seemed to be all on fire. So, whenever our hearts speak of the good matter which concerns Christ, our souls should be all on fire, we should be boiling over with love to him.Psalms 45:1. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:A man can never speak so well of the things which he has learned, or heard, as of the things which he has made, that is, the things which he has experienced. Indeed, this is your life-work and mine, beloved, to tell to others the things which we have made our own touching the king.Psalms 45:1. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.A ready writer writes what he has thought of beforehand, what he has well meditated upon, and digested; so the psalmist declares that this rapturous song is as certainly true as the verba scripta of a thoughtful accomplished penman.Psalms 45:2. Thou art fairer than the children of men:The Hebrew word here is doubled, as much as to say, “Thou art doubly fair; thou art fair, fair; twice fairer than the children of men.” Both in outward appearance — although his visage was so sadly marred while he was here, — and in personal character, our Lord Jesus Christ is “fairer than the children of men.”Psalms 45:2. Grace is poured into thy lips:Grace has, in the most copious manner, been poured upon Christ, and now there pours from his lips a very cataract of grace; — floods of love, and tenderness, and holy eloquence stream from his lips.Psalms 45:2-3. Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.Put thy sword where it will be ready for use; come forth, and let us see thee appear in thy strength, O most Mighty! For this is one of the names of Christ: “I have laid help upon One that is mighty; I have exalted One chosen out of the people.”Psalms 45:4-5. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.You may see, on some of the ancient slabs, representations of Oriental monarchs riding in their chariots, perhaps engaged in hunting, or pursuing their enemies, with their bow and arrow in their hands, and their sword upon their thigh. So is our Saviour thus graphically described. His Word is his sword, and the testimony of his ministers he makes to be like sharp arrows sticking in the hearts of his enemies. May it be so this day, and everyday may Christ thus ride prosperously!Psalms 45:6. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter.This could not have been said of Solomon; for he was never called God. It refers to none other than Christ the King, whose throne is for ever and ever.Psalms 45:7-9. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women:Thy maids of honour, for all those who truly wait on Christ become at once the King’s daughters. It is more noble to serve God than to sit as king upon a throne. The day shall come when all the honour of earthly kings’ daughters will have passed away, but the glory of those who are in Christ’s court as honourable women shall abide for ever.Psalms 45:9. Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.In the best and purest gold. Every member of the Church of Christ may well say, with Dr. Watts, — “Strangely, my soul, art thou array’d By the great Sacred Three”Psalms 45:10-11. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house; so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.Though the Church has been brought up in the world, she is to be separated from it. The more distinction there can be between Christians and worldlings, the better will it be for both. Christ greatly admires the beauty of his Church when she is separated from the world, and it is nothing but an adulterous alliance when the church becomes united to the State. We never can expect any great and permanent blessing to any church which thus degrades and dishonours itself. If a church cannot stand without the support of the civil power, let it fall; but happy is that Church which relies alone upon the King himself, and is content with the dowry which he gives her.Psalms 45:12. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour.The day is coming when the Church of Christ shall be honoured by all men. The merchant princes, who now esteem her as a thing of naught, shall come with their tribute to her, and those who once despised her shall entreat her favor.Psalms 45:13-14. The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.Happy was John the Baptist to be “the friend of the Bridegroom” to Christ, and happy are the hearts of those who are the bridesmaids to his Church: “the virgins her companions that follow her” — you, whose pure hearts are set upon the Lord alone, and who follow whithersoever he doth lead, you, too, “shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework” with his Church.Psalms 45:15-16. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.There is such a thing as an apostolical succession, though not the fiction which usually goes by that name. The Lord is constantly raising up fresh disciples, fresh preachers, and fresh teachers, whom he makes to be princes in his earthly courts, and who shall be princes in his heavenly courts for ever and ever.Psalms 45:17. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.“Jesus shall reign where’er the sun Does his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore Till moons shall wax and wane no more.” To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, Song upon Alamoth. This Psalm is often called “Martin Luther’s Psalm.” Whenever there was any great trouble, Luther used to say, “Let us sing the forty-sixth Psalm together, and then let the devil do his worst.” This is the Psalm, too, from which Mr. John Wesley preached in Hyde Park, at the time of a great earthquake. While the earth was shaking, and there was a great tempest, Mr. Wesley preached from the second verse: “ Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”Psalms 46:1. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.All creatures have their places of refuge. “ As for the stork, the fir trees are her house. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies.” All men also have their places of refuge, though some are “refuges of lies.” But God is our refuge and strength,” the omnipotence of Jehovah is pledged for the defense and support of his people. “A very present help in trouble,”-one who is near at hand; always near, but nearest when he is most needed. Not much entreaty is required to bring him to the aid of his people, for he is close at hand and close at heart, “a very present help in trouble.”Psalms 46:2-3. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Here we have, you perceive, a mention of the greatest convulsions of nature, yet the believer fears not. Doubtless, too, these verses are intended to be a picture of the great convulsions that take place in the providential dealings of God. States and kingdoms that seem to be as solid as the earth will one day be removed. Dynasties that seem as fixed and firm as mountains may soon be swept away into the sea of oblivion. We may have famine, and war, and pestilence, and anarchy, until the whole earth shall seem to be like the sea in a great storm; yea, hope may fail with many and the stoutest hearts may shake at the swelling thereof; yet, let the worst come to the worst, God’s people are still safe. As one old writer saith, “Though God should, to use his words concerning Jerusalem, wipe the earth as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down, yea, though he should break it into a thousand shivers, yet need not his people fear; for, if he does not protect them under heaven, he will take them up to be with him in heaven.” If heaven and earth could be mingled together, and chaos could return, yet still, as long as God is God, there is no use for the believer to fear.Psalms 46:3. Selah.We may well pause, and renew our confidence in the God who never has failed us, and who never will fail any who trust him.Psalms 46:4. There to a river, the stream whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most High.Whatever river may have been in the psalmist’s mind, it was the symbol of sovereign grace, flowing freshly and freely from the sacred fountain of eternal love, to make glad the people of God. And now we have the inspired Book, we have the preached Word, we have the many precious promises, we have the blessed Spirit himself, and all these make a glorious river, the streams whereof “make glad the deity of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.”Psalms 46:5. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.The Hebrew expression is, “at the turning of the morning,” our marginal reading gives it, “when the morning appeareth.” “God shall help her at the turning of the morning.” At that period when the night is the blackest, just before the light begins to come, then shall God help his Church. Child of God, this promise is to you also. When the night gets thickest, and the gloom is the heaviest, then God shall help you “at the turning of the morning.” He may tarry for a while, but he will tarry no longer than is wise. You shall find, in looking back upon God’s dealings with you, that, although he sometimes seemed to be long in coming to your help and you cried out, “Lord, how long?” yet, after all, he did help you, and that “right early,” too.Psalms 46:6. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.God hath but to speak, and his stoutest foe shall dissolve like snow when the sun shineth upon it.Psalms 46:7-9. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Here the psalmist invites us to behold what God has done in the past. He has desolated the desolaters, and destroyed the destroyers. War has been a terrible scourge to mankind, but our God is Master even over war. When I look at the old ruined castles all over our land, I cannot help saying to myself and others too, “Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth,” and when I stumble upon some broken-down abbeys, and monasteries, and Popish cathedrals, I can but wish that there were more of them, that we might see many such desolations which the Lord hath made in the earth. He will get the victory over all his foes, and break all his adversaries in pieces, however long he may wait before putting forth his great power in judgment upon them.Psalms 46:10. Be still, and know that I am God:--Here is the command, and here is the reason which will help us to obey it. Judge not the Lord hastily; murmur not at his providential dealings with you. Be not hurrying and scurrying hither and thither, but “be still.” In silence and in confidence shall be your strength. “Be still, and know that I am God:”-Psalms 46:10. I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.If God is willing to wait, you need not be impatient. His time is the best time, and he will be exalted in due time.Psalms 46:11. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Psalms 47:1-5. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah. God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.One of our sacred poets has written, “All his work and warfare done, He into his heaven is gone, And beside his Father’s throne, Now is pleading for his own;” but, not merely is he “beside his Father’s throne,” he is with him sitting upon the throne, and waiting until his foes be made his footstool.Psalms 47:6-9. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.There are some, in these days, who have, according to their own confession, cast off the God of Abraham. They do not believe in the Jehovah who is revealed in the Old Testament; they are like those of whom Moses said, “They sacrificed to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not; “ but as for us, we still delight to sing,” “The God of Abraham praise Who reigns enthroned above, Ancient of everlasting days, And God of love! Jehovah, great I AM! By earth and heaven confest; I bow, and bless the sacred name For ever blest!” “But the God of Abraham is very stern,” says someone. Assuredly he is; he is terrible in the majesty of his justice; yet we worship and adore him for that very reason. No effeminate deity, such as modern thought has invented, has even an atom of our admiration, much less of our adoration; but the glorious God of the Sinai thunders, who is equally terrible as the God of justice on Calvary, this God, who, nevertheless, is love, our hearts adore and worship. A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. It is not every Psalm that is a song, for some Psalms are full of sorrow and it is not every song that is a Psalm, for, alas! there are many songs that are mere foolish rhymes or something worse, but here is a happy combination, “A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah.”Psalms 48:1. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised —Surely a great God should have great praise: “greatly to be praised” —Psalms 48:1. In the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.If there is any place where he ought to be praised, surely it is there. Even if all the rest of the world is silent, let God be praised “in the mountain of his holiness.” Holy people must praise the holy God. It is natural that they should do so. It needs holy people to see God, and when they do see him, their eyes will glisten with delight, and their voices will ring with his praise.Psalms 48:2. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, in mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.Thus the Jew praises Jerusalem, and thus the Christian praises the Church. The Church of Christ is, to his eye, the most precious thing in the whole world, and there is nothing upon the face of the earth that is so lovely in the sight of God as his own chosen Church.Psalms 48:3. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.Are not all her people kings? Therefore they live in palaces; and they none of them trust in themselves, God is known to them as a refuge.Psalms 48:4-5. For, lo, the kings were assembled, they passed by together. They saw it, and so they marveled;They came up with their confederate bands of kings to attack Jerusalem, and they looked at it, and wondered at its strength and beauty.Psalms 48:5. They were troubled, and hasted away,If they came quickly, they went away still more quickly, hurrying off like a band of frightened children.Psalms 48:6-7. Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.God broke up the confederacies of kings that were leagued against his people. Even the great galleons of Tarshish were dashed to pieces when the Lord blew with his wind, and scattered them, as, many centuries later, he did with the “Invincible” Armada on our own coasts.Psalms 48:8. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of host, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah. Well might there be a pause here for solemn consideration, for putting the harp strings right, and lifting up the heart to the Lord in praise.Psalms 48:9. We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.” Here is a blessed subject, “thy lovingkindness, O God;” — a blessed people, we who have enjoyed it; — a blessed occupation, “we have thought of thy lovingkindness,” — and a blessed place in which to do it, “in the midst of thy temple.” When we are in the midst of the Lord’s people, in the midst of his Church, then is the time for sweet and blessed thoughts concerning our gracious God.Psalms 48:10. According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth:As is God’s name, so is his fame; unto the very ends of the earth shall men hear the praises of the Lord, especially when he delivers his people.Psalms 48:10. Thy right hand is full of righteousness.God’s right hand is never empty: “thy right hand is full;” and when he comes to sinners, he deals with them in righteousness; and when he comes to his saints in mercy, it is still in righteousness. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins”Psalms 48:11. Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments. That is, the smaller cities of Judah, let them sing, as well as Jerusalem, the high praises of their delivering God. Perhaps it refers to the women who, in times of war, have to suffer most and worst of all; let them be loudest in their joyous music; as Miriam took her timbrel, and led the song of the women on the shore of the Red Sea, so let the daughters of Judah be glad because of the Lord’s righteous judgments upon the enemies of his people.Psalms 48:12-13. Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.Sunday-school teachers, note the security of the Church of God, mark the eternal truth on which she is founded, the everlasting promises by which she is guarded, the forts and bastions of omnipotence that preserve her from the assaults of her enemies! and then tell all this “to the generation following.”Psalms 48:14. For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.But the Hebrew is better still: “He will be our guide even over death.” We shall trample down death; or, as one puts it, we shall stand by the grave of death. What a glorious place for us to stand in when death itself is dead through the ever-living Christ, and the resurrection power that comes through his death! “He will be our guide even over death.” This exposition consisted of readings from 1 Kings 5, and Psalms 48, 95. The chief musician here bids us not to fear the ungodly. However high they may be placed, they are but dying men, and when they die their hope shall perish with them. He gives a very graphic description of the deathbed and of the perdition of ungodly men.Psalms 49:1-2. Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: both low and high, rich and poor, together.Whenever God has a voice for men, it is meant for all sorts of men. No Scripture is of private interpretation. No warning is intended only for a few. Hear ye this, then, all ye people. Whether ye be low, ye are not too low to listen to his voice; or, whether ye be high, ye are not too high to be under his supremacy.Psalms 49:3-4. My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.Mysteries are to be preached, but they are to be preached with an earnest endeavor on the preacher’s part to make them plain. If it be a dark saying, yet let it be open; and, if music will help, so let it be. Whatever there is to be taught, let it be plainly taught to the sons of men.Psalms 49:5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?We may read it: “The iniquity of my supplanters shall compass me about.” There may some dark days when the wicked seed, whose delight it is to bite at the heel of the seed of God, will gather around us; and we think, perhaps, that they will be too many for us. But why should we fear them? Who are they? They are great and mighty, perhaps, but if they are but an iniquity; — a corporated iniquity, — we need not to be afraid of them. Our righteous God is our defender.Psalms 49:6-7. They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: They may be rich as Croesus, but they cannot save a comrade from the grave. They may fee the physician, but they cannot bribe death. How little is the power of wealth, after all! The rich man cannot save even his babe that he loves so well. He certainly cannot save his fellow-sinner.Psalms 49:8. (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)There is no redemption but one, and if a soul be unredeemed, the hope of it ceaseth for ever.Psalms 49:9. That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.For the bodies of the great are fed upon by the worm as readily as the bodies of the paupers. They may embalm the body, if they will, to cheat the worm, or put it into a coffin of lead, but little can they do with it. It is a costly business after all, and is the exception to the rule. Even the wisest cannot live for ever, so as not to see corruption.Psalms 49:10. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish and leave their wealth to others.Whatever men may have gathered, the wisest cannot find an invention which will enable him to take his treasure with him. He must leave it behind. “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither.”Psalms 49:11. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.Man is so fond of immortality that, while he foolishly rejects the reality of it he clings to the name of it; and he builds a house which he ties down by entail to his heirs, and his heirs’ heirs, “for ever,” as he calls it. And then he calls the land by his own name, that it may never be forgotten that such a worm as he once crawled over that portion of the earth.Psalms 49:12. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not:He passes away. His grace, his lordship, his reverence, must lie in the grave. How ridiculous grand titles seem when once it is said, “Earth to earth; dust to dust; ashes to ashes.” “Vain pomp and glory of the earth,” indeed we may say, in the presence of the shroud and the mattock, and the grave and the worm. “Man being in honour abideth not.”Psalms 49:12. He is like the beasts that perish.Not like any one beast, but like any beast that perisheth. He doth but live, and, as far as this world is concerned, he is gone.Psalms 49:13. This their way is their folly: yet their prosperity approve their sayings. Selah.When men have lived only for this world, and die and pass away, without any future worth the having — without any hope of heaven — yet still they report it in the papers that he died “worth” — so much, as if it were wonderful to have so much to leave. And they speak of the shrewd things he used to say — mostly very greedy things, and very grasping things; and though he was a fool, after all, for aiming at the “main chance,” as he called it, while he missed the real main chance, namely, the salvation of his soul yet his posterity inherit his folly with his blood, and they approve his sayings.Psalms 49:14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave;They lead a worldly life, and die a worldly death-quiet, contented with this world, — no thought of the world to come.Psalms 49:14. Death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;That everlasting daybreak shall shed a light on many things; and then the master and the lord, who-- tyrannized over the poor and needy, shall find himself under the foot of those he trod upon. “The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.”Psalms 49:14-15. And their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.What a happy confidence! Blessed are those who, by a living faith in a living God, know that their soul shall be received into its Maker’s hands. But woe unto those whose confidence lies in the treasure they have accumulated and the acres they have purchased.Psalms 49:16-17. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. They will not know him in the next world to be the squire, the peer, the prince. Death is a dreadful leveller. Envy not the great man of this world. “His glory shall not descend after him.”Psalms 49:18. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.Not “when thou doest good,” mark; for often when you do good, men will criticize and censure; -- and, the better the deaf, the more sure is it to provoke the contempt of many. But “men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself.” A shrewd man, that! That is the kind of man, See how he prospers! A smart, pushing fellow! Oh, yes, he is the man for a friend.” Whenever there is an aggravated selfishness that accumulates to itself like a rolling snow-ball, men are sure to praise. It is the irony of life.Psalms 49:19. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.They are sleeping in the grave. So shall he, and beyond the grave there is nothing but darkness for him whose heart is set on this world.Psalms 49:20. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.Understanding, and the fear of the Lord which is the beginning thereof, and not earthly honour, is our only succor in the day of death. A Psalm of Asaph. It is mentioned, in the life of Hezekiah, that “the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer,” so that very likely this Psalm was sung in the temple after it had been cleansed and reopened for worship. The first part of the Psalm contains a majestic prophecy of the Second Advent.Psalms 50:1-3. The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.He came once under the old legal dispensation, and then “there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount; ... Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon in it fire,” and when Christ shall come, in the latter days, with equal splendor, there shall be fire and tempest to swell the pomp of his court.Psalms 50:4. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.Heaven shall yield up the blessed who are already there, and earth shall give up those that are alive and remain until Christ’s coming, and so the whole company of the redeemed shall stand in the presence of their great Lord and Saviour when Christ shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” This is the summons that is to ring out to the heavens above and the earth beneath: —Psalms 50:5-6. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.Now the subject of the Psalm changes; but let not the doctrine of the Second Advent pass from our thoughts. Christ will surely come again, but are we all prepared to meet him? Shall we behold that glorious appearance with joy or with sorrow? When he reigns with his ancients gloriously, shall we share in the splendors of that reign? Lord, call us to thyself now; help us to suffer with thee now; help us to bear reproach for thee among men now, and then, though — “It doth not yet appear how great we must be made,” — yet we know that “When we see our Saviour here, we shall be like our Head.” Now the Lord addresses his own people: —Psalms 50:7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.Note then that, with all the faults which Christ can find in his people, he is still their God. All the sins of the saints cannot separate them from Christ. They may blot the indenture, but it is only a copy of the covenant made by Christ on their behalf; the real title-deeds are in heaven, beyond all risk of loss. Sinner though thou art, O child of Israel, yet God is thy God still, and not all thine imperfections, follies, and backslidings can ever rob thee of thine eternal interest in him.Psalms 50:8-13. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?The Lord puts a slur upon the Levitical sacrifices in comparison with evangelical offerings. He sets prayer and praise before the blood of bulls or the sacrifices of goats. Yet we are not to understand that God despises the gifts of his people. If you give to God as though he needed your help, he will have none of it but our gracious God is so condescending that, although he needs nothing, he permits his people to bring their thank-offerings, and to lay them at his feet. My God, wilt thou accept a gift from me? Then I will not be slow to give it to thee. Let every one of us feel in his heart that, though God needeth nothing from us, yet we need the privilege of giving to him.Psalms 50:14-15. Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High; and call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. See the three ways of praising God. One is by giving him your grateful thanksgiving. Banish your murmurings; sweep away your mistrusts; and let your mouth be filled with his praise all the day long. Then the next way of praising God is by paying your vows unto him; let your constant prayers and offerings to God prove the gratitude of your heart. And the last and sweetest way of praising God is to call upon him in the day of trouble. There are many of you who are in trouble at this moment, therefore call upon God. Perhaps you say, “That will benefit me, but how will it glorify him?” Why, God getteth much honour out of hearts that dare to trust him. If thou canst cast thy burden upon the Lord, thou wilt as much honour him as angels do when, with veiled faces, they cry, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.” We adore his wisdom, his faithfulness, his love, his grace, his truth, his power, when we believe that in the darkest night he can bring us sudden daylight, and that in the ebb-tide of our affairs he can bring the floods back again. Christian, honour thy God by calling upon him. With all thy difficulties, and doubts, and fears, call upon God, and he will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify him. Now comes another change: —Psalms 50:16. But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?Unconverted preachers, unsaved Sabbath-school teachers, what answer can you give to this question of the Most High?Psalms 50:17-20. Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and has been a partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. Slander, you see, is put side by side with adultery and theft; and indeed, I do not know whether it is not the worst of the three. You might almost as well cut a man’s throat as slander his character. You had better steal his purse than steal his good name. “What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.” There are no coals hot enough to burn slanderous tongues; there are no punishments severe enough for those who slander their own mother’s son.Psalms 50:21. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;A wonderful thing is that silence of God, that longsuffering with sinners and another wonderful thing is the impudent interpretation which the sinner gives to that silence.Psalms 50:21. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.“I will do what I have not yet done. If thou thinkest me in arrears, I will clear myself with thee soon. I will ease me of mine adversaries.” When God arises in judgment, he may make it to be a slow work, but he will make it to be a sure work.Psalms 50:22-23. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.How blessed, then, is it to praise the Lord both with the lip and with the life! In the first part of this Psalm God has solemnly expostulated with his people as to the utter worthlessness of sacrifice and ceremony apart from living faith in him, and holy life as its fruit; and he sums it all up in the searching question of the 13th verse, “Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Have ye such a groveling opinion of me, your God, as to conceive that I am satisfied with these things?” See what contempt the Lord pours upon sacrifices — even those that were of his own ordaining — when men rested in them and made them their confidence and their end.Psalms 50:14. Offer unto God thanksgiving:This is what he wants — heart-work.Psalms 50:14. And pay thy vows unto the most High:This is what he demands — obedience.Psalms 50:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.Thus you see God has spoken to his professing people — to those who were moral, decent, and observant of outward ritual. He now turns to some others — some others, perhaps, quite as outwardly religious, but their lives were immoral; their conduct was a breach of his law. At first he speaks of their neglect of the first table, which says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” and shows that it is not bullocks and rams which can make amends for forgetfulness of God. Now he turns to the second table and shows that no amount of sacrifice can make up for breaches of the law of God as it touches our fellow men.Psalms 50:16. But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?Your unholiness, even though you were of the tribe of Levi, would disqualify you from declaring my statutes. Your mouth full of slander, how should you dare to use it to speak of my covenant with it?Psalms 50:17. Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.As if they were worthless things to be thrown away — as if they were obnoxious things to be thrown behind thy back where thou couldest not see them. “Dost thou talk about worshipping me, whilst thou art neglecting my words?” Now it is a very solemn thing when a man boasts about the covenant, or about the doctrines of grace, or about outward ceremonies, and yet there are parts of God’s Word that he neglects — there are portions of God’s will that he dares not look in the face. If ever I meet a text that I am afraid of, I begin to be afraid off myself; and if I feel any tendency to take away from a text any of its swooping charges or its strong demands, I feel that surely I must have quarreled, with this text, because it has quarreled with me. How can we think we are offering to God acceptable sacrifice when any of his words are cast behind our backs?Psalms 50:18. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.“When thou sawest a thief thou consentedst with him,” and some professors do this. If they do not themselves rob, there are some who will employ their clerks to tell lies in writing. They consent in the bad trade of others. They become accomplices, helping to make excuses for others. “And hast been partaker with adulterers.” Can a man profess to be religious, and yet do this? Well, I have known such, and such will creep into the Church of God still — unclean, unchaste men, who nevertheless will come and sit as God’s people sit, and sing as God’s people sing. And, indeed, any one who listens to lascivious talk, or who smiles at an unchaste jest, is himself a partaker with adulterers more or less.Psalms 50:19. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.How many do this, and yet think they are the children of God? They ruin other characters most remorselessly; they will spread false reports, if not actually invent them, and yet think themselves the people of God.Psalms 50:20. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.When a tongue has once learned the habit of calumny, it will spare none. The nearest relative and the dearest will become victims to the habit —first of gossip and afterwards of actual detraction and lying. Oh! the misery, the pain, that is caused in the world by this habit which is so rife! And can we imagine ourselves to be the people of God when we delight in repeating false stories about others? Have we forgotten the truth of that word, “All liars shall have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone”? As surely as God is true and loves truth, if we love lies, where God is we can never come. It matters not how much we may pretend to have reverence for God, and to have an experience of his truth; we are not of the truth, neither are we of God.Psalms 50:21. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;God, in his long-suffering, bears with these sinners. “Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself.” These men came at last to say, “Pooh! the prophets make too much fuss about holiness. You can serve God, and yet, after all, live as we do. So long as we give God a tithe, it matters not how we get our property. If we offer him the bulls, he will be quite content.” Ah! to what do men degrade their God! Some made him of old to be like unto a bullock that hath horns and hoofs; but many men now-a-days think God to be like themselves, and that is worse.Psalms 50:21. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.“I will lay thy sins out before thee — parcel them out, ‘Item this’ — Item that.’ I will classify them: I will set them like a dreadful army in array before thee. I will let thee see that, though I had patience with thee, I was neither blind nor deaf, but heard and saw all that thou hast done, and noted it all.” Oh! what a vista this opens up for unholy professors — for ungodly members of Christian churches!Psalms 50:22. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.What solemn words! What dreadful words? God never plays at threatening; and his ministers, when they speak of wrath to come, are not to speak with velvet mouths and soft words, for “Oh! the wrath to come,” as George Whitefield used to say with uplifted hands and streaming eyes, “The wrath to come! The wrath to come — how dreadful will it be:” God himself proves it. “Beware ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver.” And then the Psalm finishes up with this kind word of gracious address which drops like raindrops out of the bosom of the tempest that went before:Psalms 50:23. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me:More than he that offers bullocks.Psalms 50:23. And to him that ordereth his conversation aright. The man that strives in the sight of God to walk a holy life: this is the man to whom:Psalms 50:23. Will I show the salvation of God.If he wants saving, let him order his conversation as he may, he will owe all to sovereign grace. He will have no merit of his own; “but where I by grace,” saith the Lord, “lead a man to order his conversation aright there will I show more and more fully, and at last perfectly in him, the salvation of God.” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 50:14-23; Ezekiel 36:21-38. There are seven penitential Psalms, but this seems to be the chief one of the seven. The language of David is as suitable to us today as it was to him, and though much was lost to the cause of righteousness by David’s sin, yet the Church is enriched for all ages by the possession of such a Psalm as this. It is a marvelous recompense. Surely here the Lord reigneth, bringing good out of evil, blessing generation after generation through that which in itself was a great evil.Psalms 51:1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.Observe he appeals to mercy, and mercy only — to mercy, abounding mercy in its tenderest and kindest aspect. “According to thy tender mercies.” Note here David does not use his name. He does not say, “Lord remember David”: he is ashamed of his name. And he does not seem to want God to remember that, but to remember mercy: and to have pity upon this nameless sinner. He does not say, “Save the son of thine handmaid,” or “Deliver thy servant,” as he was wont to do; he just appeals to mercy, and that is all. And observe it is not “Have mercy upon me, oh! my God.” He is far off now: he has lost the comfortable assurance of the covenant of grace, and so it is rather more like the cry of the prodigal when he returned and said, “I am not worthy to be called thy son”: have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness — according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out — (or as more correctly it might be rendered, “wash out” — “wipe out”) — my transgressions. The allusion is rather to a dish — wipe it out, turn it upside down, and turn out all that is in it, sweep it away — wipe out all my transgressions. Or it may be as a withdrawal of a record in court when the indictment is withdrawn, “Lord be pleased to quash the indictment against me; blot out all my transgressions.”Psalms 51:2. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.Nothing about the punishment observe — he does not mention that. The true penitent, though he dreads punishment, much more dreads sin. It is sinfulness — sin that he would be delivered from. “Wash me.” Thou must do it; no other washing will suffice. Wash me thoroughly, till I am perfectly cleansed: cleanse me from my sin — my sin. I do not lay it on anyone else; cleanse me from it.Psalms 51:3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.Unless sin is before us, we shall not be likely to spread it before God; but when we have knowledge of it, then we shall make acknowledgment of it to God. “My sin is ever before me.” He was in such a state of heart that the remembrance of sin seemed painted on his eyeballs. Even in his dreams he remembered it: he was never free from the dread remembrance of it.Psalms 51:4. Against thee only have I sinned.Yet he had sinned against many more; but just now the thought of his sin against God swallowed up all else. All his offenses against his fellow men were trivial compared with the high treason which he had committed against his God. This is the virus of sin, that it is sin against God.Psalms 51:4. And done this evil in thy sight.Whilst thou wast looking on. For a thief to steal in the presence of the Judge is impudence indeed, but yet in thy presence, O my God, I have done this evil.Psalms 51:4. That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.As much as to say, “I make this confession of sin, which is so black, that if thou shouldest judge me, however severely, or sentence me to however exemplary a punishment, thou wilt be quite clear and quite just. I could put in no plea against whatever thou shouldest command. I richly deserve all thy wrath can bring upon me.”Psalms 51:5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin, did my mother conceive me.The black stream leads him to look at the black fountain. How can we expect from parents who have sinned that there should be born unto them pure and spotless children. No! the tendencies in us all towards evil are there at the very first. He does not at all venture to excuse himself, but rather to aggravate his sin, that he had been a sinner from his very birth.Psalms 51:6-7. Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:He had seen the leper pronounced clean when the hyssop was dipped in blood and sprinkled on him; but then the leper had to be clean beforehand before this could make him ceremonially clean. He is leaping through the first process and coming to the closing one, his soul anxious to be accepted with God at once.Psalms 51:7. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.Yet what can be whiter than snow? Snow is not like a whited wall that is but white on the surface: it is white all through. And yet when God washes the believer, he makes him whiter than snow, for the snow soon becomes tainted, soon loses its purity; but we never shall if God shall wash us. There was no provision made for the cleansing of an adulterer under the law. David, therefore, had to look beyond all the sacrifices of the law to the cleansing power of the great coming sacrifice, and he so believed in it that with a brave faith — (I know no more brave expression in all Scripture than this) — he says, “Wash me, filthy as I am, and I shall be whiter than snow.”Psalms 51:8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.The original expression is “bones cracked,” or, as one puts it, smashed. His sense of sin had been so great that he felt as one might feel whose very bones had been smashed by some terrible blow. So he seems to say that, as there may be a delightful pleasure in having every one of these broken bones restored, such would be his pleasure if God would pardon his sins.Psalms 51:9. Hide thy face from my sins,If we set out sins before our own faces, then God will turn his face away from our sins. If we hide our sins from our faces, God will set them before his face, but when they are ever before us they shall be never before him.Psalms 51:9-10. And blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God:It is a creation: the very word is used which is employed concerning the creation in the first chapter of Genesis. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.Psalms 51:11. Cast me not away from thy presence: and take not thy holy spirit from me.I have put thee away from my presence by forgetting thee, but put me not away from thy presence. I have been filled with an unholy spirit, but oh! take not thy Holy Spirit from me.Psalms 51:12. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me.He feels how much he needs it. The burnt child dreads the fire. “Uphold me with thy free spirit.”Psalms 51:13. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways: and sinners shall be converted unto thee.And David has been doing that ever since, for this Psalm has been a continual sermon to sinners, teaching them God’s ways in pardoning sin; and many, I doubt not, have been converted unto God by his Spirit through the language of this Psalm. When you and I find Christ, let us tell of our blessed finding. Hast thou honey? Eat it not all thyself: go, tell thy fellow men. Art thou saved? Tarry not, but go and spread the news that others may be saved too.Psalms 51:14. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation;His faith is growing. He has humbled himself. It is the way to rise. Weaken thyself before God, and thou shalt grow strong. Empty thyself, and thou shalt be filled; bow low, and he will lift thee up. “Thou God of my salvation.”Psalms 51:14. And my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. Those tongues that confess sins are the best tongues to sing with. That tongue which has been salted with the brine of penitence is fitted to be sweet with the honey of praise.Psalms 51:15. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.You know the leper when he was unclean — what did he do? He covered his lips, as much as to confess that he was not fit to speak. So here the unclean David, with the covering over his lips, will not venture to speak until the Lord has taken away his sin, and opened his mouth for him. It was this that Isaiah meant when he said, “Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips”; but when it was said concerning the live coal, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips,” then he spake right eloquently. “Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.”Psalms 51:16. For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.Here we have what God does desire, and what he does not. If you turn to the sixth verse, you will see what he does desire. “Thou desirest truth in the inward parts.” Now here he does not desire the mere outward and external worship rendered by sacrifice. It was not the type alone that satisfied him.Psalms 51:17. The sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.There are some spices that are never perfect in fragrance till they are pounded with the pestle in the mortar, and so is a broken heart. If it be made to suffer and to smart, yet there is sweet pleasure to the Lord when he perceives in his people the smart concerning sin — when they hate and loathe it.Psalms 51:18-19. Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.Gratitude ascends when sin is forgiven, and when God appears to bless his church, then she blesses her God. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 51, Psalms 119:145-168. Psalms 52THIS psalm, besides the title, yes. 1, 2, contains three stanzas of three verses each. In the first, the Psalmist expostulates with an arrogant, cruel, and deceitful enemy, Psalms 52:3-5 (1-3). In the second, he foretells the destruction of his enemy by the divine judgments, and the contempt to be excited by his folly, Psalms 52:6-8 (4-6). In the third, he contrasts this fatal fruit of unbelief with the happy effects of his own trust in God, Psalms 52:9-9 (7-9). The two Selahs in Psalms 52:5; Psalms 52:7 (3, 5), have reference not so much to the form of the psalm as to the feelings of the Psalmist, and are therefore placed irregularly. See above, on Psalms 3:3 (2). The variation of the English and the Hebrew Bible, in numbering the verses of this psalm, isthe same, and arises from the same cause, as in the fifty-first. 1. To the Chief Musician. Maschil. By David. The psalm is expressly designated as a Maschil or didactic psalm, because its adaptation to this purpose might very easily be overlooked in consequence of its avowed relation to a particular event in David's history. See above, on Psalms 32:1; Psalms 42:1; Psalms 45:1. Though occasioned by this incident, however, it was written for the permanent and public use of the ancient church, and is therefore inscribed to (or for) the Chief Musician. See above, on Psalms 4:1; Psalms 51:1. 2. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. This is merely the beginning of the story, which is supposed to be familiar to the reader of the psalm, and which is given at length in 1 Sam. xxii. Doeg is mentioned only as the witness or informer, by whose means the matter came to Saul's knowledge. When he came, literally in his coming, the same form of expression as in Psalms 51:2. 3. (Psalms 52:1). Why wilt thou boast thyself in evil, mighty (man)? The mercy of the Almighty (is) all the day. The future form of the verb suggests the dea of obstinate persistency. Boast thyself in evil, exult or triumph in the injury of others. The mighty man is not Doeg but Saul, who, of all the characters in sacred history, approaches nearest to the classical idea of a hero. There is something, therefore, of respect and admiration implied in the address, as if he had said "How can one who might have been so, eminent in well-doing, glory in his shame or boast himself in evil?" In the last clause there is an obvious antithesis between the malice of this mighty man and the unfailing goodness of the mighty God. The particular divine name here used therefore is peculiarly significant. See above, on Psalms 5:5 (4), 1. 1. As if he had said, "Mighty and malicious as thou art, the might and mercy of Jehovah are still greater." All the day, i.e. perpetual, unceasing. See above, on Psalms 42:11 (10). 4. (Psalms 52:2). Mischiefs will thy tongue devise, like a razor whetted, working deceitfully. The first word means calamitous events, brought on one man by the malice of another. See above, on Psalms 5:10 (9), Psalms 38:13 (12), and below, on Psalms 57:2 (1). The distinctive meaning of the future is the same as in Psalms 52:3 (1). The tongue is here said to meditate or devise mischief, because it is personified, or poetically substituted for the speaker. The allusion is to Saul's cutting words when he accused Ahimelech and David of conspiracy against him (1 Samuel 22:13). This false charge, or the tongue which uttered it, is likened to a razor, not merely sharp but sharpened, whetted, for the purpose or occasion. See above, on Psalms 45:6 (5). Similar comparisons occur in Psalms 57:5 (4), Psalms 59:8 (7), Psalms 64:4 (3), Jeremiah 9:2; Jeremiah 9:7 (3, 8). Working deceitfully, literally deceit or fraud. These words may be grammatically referred to the speaker or his tongue as practising deceit; but it yields a more striking sense to understand them of the razor, as working deceitfully, i.e. moving silently and smoothly, when it cuts most keenly.5. (Psalms 52:3). Thou hast loved evil (more) than good, falsehood (more) than speaking righteousness. The past tense, like the futures in the foregoing verses, includes the idea of the present; but unlike them, it represents the love of sin as already long-continued and habitual. Compare the form of expresion with that in Psalms 45:8 (7). Righteousness includes truth or veracity, as the genus comprehends the species. The particular unrighteousness here meant is falsehood, as appears from the antithesis. The selah tacitly suggests the writer's abhorrence of that which he describes. 6. (Psalms 52:4). Thou hast loved all devouring words, tongue of fraud. This is not so much a continuation of the foregoing discourse, as a resumption or recapitulation for the purpose of drawing a conclusion from it. In periodic style, the connection of the ideas might be thus exhibited: "Since then thou lovest, etc., therefore God will," etc. Devouring words, literally words of swallowing or deglutition. The second noun occurs only here; but the verb to swallow up is continually used in Hebrew to express the idea of complete destruction. See above, on Psalms 21:10 (9), Psalms 35:25. Tongue of deceit or deceitful tongue. This phrase may be governed by the verb, thou past loved all devouring words (and or even) a deceitful tongue. But it adds to the strength of the expression, and agrees better with the form of the context, to make it an apostrophe or direct, address to the deceitful tongue itself. 7. (Psalms 52:5). (So) likewise shall God destroy thee for ever; he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of (thy) tent, and root thee out of the land of life. Selah. The particle at the beginning, also, likewise, shows the dependence of this verse upon the one before it, which is really conditional though not in form. "As thou, on thy part, lovest all devouring words, so likewise God, on his part, will destroy thee." No exact translation can convey the full force of the verbs in this verse, which suggests a variety of striking figures for destruction or extermination. The first denotes properly the act of pulling down or demolishing a house (Leviticus 14:45), and this would also seem to be the primary meaning of the third (Proverbs 15:25), although somesuppose it to denote the act of pulling up, and to be the opposite of plant, as the first verb is of build. The second verb, in every other place where it occurs, has reference to the handling and carrying of fire or coals. See Proverbs 6:27; Proverbs 25:22, Isaiah 30:14. To a Hebrew reader, therefore, it would almost necessarily suggest, not the general idea of removal merely, but the specific one of removing or taking away like fire, i.e. as coals are swept out from a hearth, or otherwise extinguished. The remaining verb adds to these figures that of violent eradication, and is well represented by its English equivalent. The land of life, or, as it is commonly translated, and of the living, is a poetical description of life itself, or the present state of existence, under the figure of a country. See above, on Psalms 27:13. The quick recurrence of the pause implies excited feeling, and invites attention to the threatening which immediately precedes. 8. (Psalms 52:6). And the righteous shall see, and they shall fear, and at him they shall laugh. The fear meant is that religious awe produced by any clear manifestation of God's presence and his power. In Psalms 64:9-10 (8, 9), it is assumed to be compatible with joy, and here with laughter at the wicked, not a selfish exultation in his sufferings, which is explicitly condemned in the Old Testament (Proverbs 24:17, Job 31:29), but that sense of the absurdity of sin, which must be strongest in the purest minds, and cannot, therefore, be incompatible with pity, the rather as it is ascribed to God himself (Psalms 2:4). The paronomasia of the verbs translated see and fear is the same as in Psalms 40:4 (3). Shall see, i.e. the destruction threatened in Psalms 52:7 (6). At him, the person thus destroyed, the same who is addressed directly in the foregoing context. The enallage personæ; may be avoided by exchanging at him for at it, i.e. the destruction itself; but this is not so agreeable to Hebrew usage, which always prefers personal to abstract forms of speech. 9. (Psalms 52:7). Behold the man (who) will not make God his strength, but will trust in the increase of his wealth, (and) will be strong in his wickedness. This may be regarded as the language of the laughers mentioned in Psalms 52:8 (6). Behold the man, see to what he is reduced. The effect of the behold is similar to that of the interrogation in Isaiah 14:16. The word translated man is not one of the usual terms, but one implying strength or power, so that its use here gives a kind of sarcastic import to the passage. See the analogous use of an opposite expression in Psalms 8:5 (4), Psalms 10:18. The future expresses fixed determination and anticipated perseverance in refusing. Make, literally place or set. See above, on Psalms 40:5 (4). His strength, or more exactly, his stronghold or fortress. See above, on Psalms 27:1; Psalms 37:39; Psalms 43:2. Increase, or simply abundance, greatness. See above, on Psalms 5:8 (7), Psalms 51:3 (1). The word translated wickedness is the singular of that translated mischiefs in Psalms 52:4 (2) above. It seems to signify particularly an inclination fo malicious mischief. 10. (Psalms 52:8). And I (am) like a green olive-tree in the house of God, I have-trusted in the mercy of God (to) eternity and perpetuity. He expects not only the destruction of the wicked but his own salvation. To express the connection of the verses clearly, our idiom would require an adversative particle at the beginning, but I. See above, on Psalms 2:6. A verdant fruitful tree is a favourite emblem of prosperity. See above, on Psalms 1:3. The olive is here specified, as palms and cedars are in Psalms 92:13-14 (12, 13). The imagery of the verse before us is copied in Jeremiah 11:16. The house of God, the tabernacle, considered as his earthly residence, in which he entertains his friends and provides for his own household. See above, on Psalms 15:1; Psalms 22:6; Psalms 27:4-5; Psalms 36:9 (8). The mixed metaphors only show that the whole description is a figurative one, and should be so interpreted. have (already) trusted, which includes his present trust, but also includes more, to wit, that it is not a new or sudden impulse, but a settled habit of his soul. The two nouns, eternity and perpetuity, are combined in the adverbial sense of for ever and ever. See above, on Psalms 10:16; Psalms 21:5 (4), Psalms 45:7 (6), Psalms 48:14 (13). This qualifying phrase relates, not to the act, but to the object, of his trust. His meaning is not, "I will trust for ever in God's mercy," which would have required a future verb; but, "I have already trusted, and do still trust, in his mercy, as a mercy that will last for ever." 11. (Psalms 52:9). I will thank thee to eternity because thou hast done (it), and will hope (in) thy name— because it is good— before thy saints. The common version of the first verb (praise) is not sufficiently specific, as it properly denotes a particular kind of praise, namely, that for benefits received. See above, on Psalms 6:6 (5), Psalms 49:19 (18). The object of the verb hast done is to be supplied from the context. See above, on Psalms 37:5; Psalms 39:10 (9). Thy name, the manifestation of thy nature. See above, on Psalms 5:12 (11), Psalms 20:2 (1), Psalms 23:3, Psalms 48:11 (10). To expect God's name, or wait for it, is to trust in the future exercise and exhibition of the same divine perfections which have been exhibited already. The common version, I will wait on thy name, is not so happy as the one in the Prayer Book, I will hope in thy name. Here again, as in Psalms 52:9 (7), the epexegetical clause, for it is good, relates not to the act of expectation, but its object. He does not mean, "because it is good to hope in thy name," but "because thy name is good, and is therefore to be hoped in." This is clear from the analogy of Psa 69:17 (16), Psalms 109:21, which also shews that the concluding words, before thy saints, are to be construed neither with what follows, it is good before thy saints, i. e. in their estimation, nor with the remoter antecedent, I will thank thee, but with the neare antecedent, I will wait for thy name before thy saints, i.e. I will profess my trust in thy mercy, not in private merely, but in the presence of thy people, of the church. Compare Psalms 22:23 (22). For it is good must then be read as a parenthesis. Thy saints, the merciful objects of thy mercy. See above, on Psalms 4:4 (3). It is here used simply as a general designation or description of God's people. Title. To the Chief Musician. Even short Psalms, if they record but one instance of the goodness of the Lord, and rebuke but briefly the pride of man, are worthy of our best minstrelsy. When we see that each Psalm is dedicated to "the chief musician, "it should make us value our psalmody, and forbid us to praise the Lord carelessly. Maschil. An Instructive. Even the malice of a Doeg may furnish instruction to a David. A Psalm of David. He was the prime object of Doeg's doggish hatred, and therefore the most fitting person to draw from the incident the lesson concealed within it. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and saith unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. By this deceitful tale bearing, he procured the death of all the priests at Nob: though it had been a crime to have succoured David as a rebel, they were not in their intent and knowledge guilty of the fault. David felt much the villany of this arch enemy, and here he denounces him in vigorous terms; it may be also that he has Saul in his eye. Division. We shall follow the sacred pauses marked by the Selahs of the poet. Ver. 1. Why boasteth thyself in mischief, O mighty man? Doeg had small matter for boasting in having procured the slaughter of a band of defenceless priests. A mighty man indeed to kill men who never touched a sword! He ought to have been ashamed of his cowardice. He had no room for exultation! Honourable titles are but irony where the wearer is mean and cruel. If David alluded to Saul, he meant by these words pityingly to say, "How can one by nature fitted for nobler deeds, descend to so low a level as to find a theme for boasting in a slaughter so heartless and mischievous?" The goodness of God endureth continually. A beautiful contrast. The tyrant's fury cannot dry up the perennial stream of divine mercy. If priests be slain their Master lives. If Doeg for awhile triumphs the Lord will outlive him, and right the wrongs which he has done. This ought to modify the proud exultations of the wicked, for after all, while the Lord liveth, iniquity has little cause to exalt itself. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Title. That Maschil means a sacred composition, is evident from Psalms 47:7, where the passage which we render, "Sing ye praises with understanding, "is literally, "Sing ye a Maschil, "or song of instruction. This word occurs as a title in thirteen places; and six times is prefixed to compositions of David's. In several instances it occurs in consecutive Psalms; i.e., in the 42nd (of which the 43rd is the sequel), the 44th and 45th, the 52nd, 53rd, 54th, and 55th, the 88th and 89th. A circumstance which favours the notion that the term was one peculiarly used by some particular editor or collector of a certain portion of the Psalter. John Jebb. Ver. 1. (first clause). Why doth he glory in malice that is mighty? that is, he that in malice is mighty, why doth he glory? There is need that a man be mighty, but in goodness, not in malice. Is it any great thing to glory in malice? To build a house belong to few men, any ignorant man you please can pull down. To sow wheat, to dress the crop, to wait until it ripen, and in that fruit on which one has laboured to rejoice, doth belong to few men: with one spark any man you please can burn all the crop... What art thou about to do, O, mighty man, what are thou about to do, boasting thyself much? Thou art about to kill a man: this thing also a scorpion, this also a fever, this also a poisonous fungus can do. To this is thy mightiness reduced, that it be made equal to a poisonous fungus! Augustine. Ver. 1. By mischief is understood not simply what evil he had done, but the prosperity which he now enjoyed, obtained through mischief; as is clear both from the word boasting and from the seventh verse...Formerly he was the chief of Saul's shepherds 1 Samuel 21:8, but by that wicked destruction of the priests of God by Saul, and the execution of the cruel sentence, he obtained the chief place near to the king 1 Samuel 22:9. Hermann Venema. Ver. 1. O mighty man. These words may be added by way of irony, as if he had said, A great deal of valour and prowess you have shown in slaying a company of unarmed men, the priests of the Lord, yea, women and children, no way able to resist you or else to imply the ground of his vain boasting, to wit, either his present greatness, as being a man in great place, and of great power with Saul; or the great preferments he expected from Saul. Arthur Jackson. Ver. 1. The goodness of God endureth continually. He contrasts the goodness of God with the wealth and might of Doeg, and the foundation of his own confidence as widely different from that of Doeg, his own placed upon the goodness of God, enduring for ever and showing itself effectual. It is as if he had said, The goodness of God to which I trust, is most powerful and the same throughout all time, and in it I shall at all times most surely rejoice that goodness of God, since now it sustains me, so it will exalt me in its own good time; it therefore is, and will be above me. ... Not without emphasis does he say the goodness la of the strong God, a contrast to Doeg the hero, and the ruinous foundation of his fortune. Hermann Venema. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. The confidence of faith. 1. The circumstances were distressing. 1. David was misjudged. 2. David exiled. 3. A bad man in power. 4. God's priests slain. 2. The consolation was abiding. 1. There is a God. 2. He is good. 3. His goodness continues. 4. Good will therefore overcome. 3. The rejoinder was triumphant. Why boasteth thou? 1. The mischief did not touch the main point. 2. It would be overruled. 3. It would recoil. 4. It would expose the perpetrators to scorn. WORK UPON THE FIFTY-SECOND PSALM 'S "Life of David, "contains an Exposition of this Psalm. Vol. 1., pp. 140-143. Psalms 52:2* Ver. 2. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs. Thou speakest with an ulterior design. The information given was for Saul's assistance apparently, but in very deed in his heart the Edomite hated the priests of the God of Jacob. It is a mark of deep depravity, when the evil spoken is craftily intended to promote a yet greater evil. Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. David represents the false tongue as being effectual for mischief, like a razor which, unawares to the person operated on, is making him bald; so softly and deftly do Oriental barbers perform their work. Or he may mean that as with a razor a man's throat may be cut very speedily, under the pretence of shaving him, even thus keenly, basely, but effectually Doeg destroyed the band of the priests. Whetted by malice, and guided by craft, he did his cruel work with accursed thoroughness. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thus our version. But I do not very well understand the propriety of the tongue's devising mischief, and devising it like a sharp razor. But we may easily avoid this harsh comparison by rendering the words: You contrive mischiefs with thy tongue, as with a sharp razor, O thou dealer in deceit: i.e., you contrive with thy smooth and flattering tongue to wound the reputation and character of others, as though thou wast cutting their throats with a smooth razor. Samuel Chandler. Ver. 2. Like a sharp razor, that instead of shaving the hair lances the flesh; or missing the beard cutteth the throat. John Trapp. Ver. 2. The smooth adroit manner of executing a wicked device neither hides not abates its wickedness. Murder with a sharp razor is as wicked as murder with a meat axe or bludgeon. A lie very ingeniously framed and rehearsed in an oily manner, is as great a sin, and in the end will be seen to be as great a folly as the most bungling attempt at deception. William S. Plumer. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 52:3* Ver. 3. Thou lovest evil more than good. He loved not good at all. If both had been equally profitable and pleasant, he would have preferred evil. And lying rather than to speak righteousness. He was more at home at lying than at truth. He spake not the truth except by accident, but he delighted heartily in falsehood. SELAH. Let us pause and look at the proud blustering liar. Doeg is gone, but other dogs bark at the Lord's people. Saul's cattle master is buried, but the devil still has his drovers, who fain would hurry the saints like sheep to the slaughter. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. Thou lovest evil more than good. --Thou hast loved evil, he says, more than good, not by simply preferring it, but by substituting it; so that in the stead of good he hath done evil, and that from the inmost love of his soul, bent upon evil; wherefore he does not say that he admitted, but loved evil, not moral only, but physical, for the destruction of his neighbours; so to have loved it, that he willed nothing but evil, being averse to all good. Hermann Venema. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. In what cases men clearly love evil more than good. Psalms 52:4* Ver. 4. Thou lovest. Thou hast a taste, a gusto for evil language. All devouring words. There are words that, like boa constrictors, swallow men whole, or like lions, rend men to pieces; these words evil minds are fond of. Their oratory is evermore furious and bloody. That which will most readily provoke the lowest passions they are sure to employ, and they think such pandering to the madness of the wicked to be eloquence of a high order. O thou deceitful tongue. Men can manage to say a great many furious things, and yet cover all over with the pretext of justice. They claim that they are jealous for the right, but the truth is they are determined to put down truth and holiness, and craftily go about it under this transparent pretence. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. He was all tongue; a man of words; and these the most deceitful and injurious. Adam Clarke. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 52:5* Ver. 5. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever. Fain would the persecutor destroy the church, and therefore God shall destroy him, pull down his house, pluck up his roots, and make an end of him. He shall take thee away. God shall extinguish his coal and sweep him away like the ashes of the hearth; he would have quenched the truth, and God shall quench him. And pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, like a plant torn from the place where it grew, or a captive dragged from his home. Ahimelech and his brother priests were cut off from their abode, and so should those be who compassed and contrived their murder. And root thee out of the land of the living. The persecutor shall be eradicated, stubbed up by the root, cut up root and branch. He sought the death of others and death shall fall upon him. He troubled the land of the living, and he shall be banished to that land where the wicked cease from troubling. Those who will not "let live" have no right to "live." God will turn the tables on malicious men, and mete to them a portion with their own measure. "SELAH." Pause again, and behold the divine justice proving itself more than a match for human sin. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5. God shall destroy thee forever, etc. There are four words the psalmist makes us of to denote the utter vengeance that awaited this deceitful and bloody wretch, all of them having a very strong meaning. The first, ksty from stn, signifies to pull down, and break utterly into pieces; as when an altar is demolished. (Judges 6:30 8:9.) The second, kth from the root hrh, which signifies to twist anything, or pluck it up by twisting it round, as trees are sometimes twisted up. The third, khmy from hmg, which properly signifies utterly to sweep away anything like dust or chaff; and the expression lhm khm means not sweep thee away from thy tent, but sweep thee away, that thou mayest be no longer a tent; thyself, thy family, thy fortune, shall be wholly and entirely swept away, and dissipated forever; to which the fourth word, ksrs, answers, eradicabit te, he shall root thee out from the land of the living. It is impossible words can express a more entire and absolute destruction. Samuel Chandler. Ver. 5. God shall likewise destroy thee forever. Here are quot verba tot tonotrua, so many words, so many thunderclaps. As thou hast destroyed the Lord's priests, and their whole city, razing and harassing it; so God will demolish and destroy thee utterly, as an house pulled down to the ground, so that one stone is not left upon another (Leviticus 14:45); so shall God pull down Doeg from that high preferment, which he by sycophancy hath got at court. John Trapp. Ver. 5. Wonderful is the force of the verbs in the original, which convey to us the four ideas of laying prostrate, dissolving as by fire, sweeping away as with a besom, and totally extirpating root and branch, as a tree is eradicated from the spot on which it grew. If a farther comment be wanted, it may be found in the history of David's enemies, and the crucifiers of the son of David; but the passage will be fully and finally explained by the destruction of the world of the ungodly at the last day. George Horne. Ver. 5. The poet accumulates dire and heavy words, and mingles various metaphors that he might paint the picture of this man's destruction in more lively colours. Three metaphors appear to be joined together, the first taken from a building, the second from a tent, the third from a tree, if attention is given to the force and common acceptation of the words. Hermann Venema. Ver. 5. He shall take thee away; or, seize thee, as coals are taken with the tongs. J. J. Stewart Perowne. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 52:6* Ver. 6. The righteous --the object of the tyrant's hatred-- shall outlive his enmity, and also shall see, before his own face, the end of the ungodly oppressor. God permits Mordecai to see Haman hanging on the gallows. David had brought to him the tokens of Saul's death on Gilboa. And fear. Holy awe shall sober the mind of the good man; he shall reverently adore the God of providence. And shall laugh at him. If not with righteous joy, yet with solemn contempt. Schemes so far reaching all baffled, plans so deep, so politic, all thwarted. Mephistopheles outwitted, the old serpent taken in his own subtlety. This is a good theme for that deep seated laughter which is more akin to solemnity than merriment. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6. The righteous also shall see, etc. That is, to use the apt words of Gejerus, "This shall not be a secret judgment, or known only to a few, but common fame shall spread abroad throughout the kingdom, or city, the notable punishments of the ungodly. The righteous also shall not pass by such an event with indifference, but with earnest eyes shall contemplate it, "etc. I add, and hence shall they take joy, and turn it to their own use, to the greater fearing of God... The righteous, upon whose destruction the ungodly man was intent, shall survive and spend their lives safe in the favour of God; they shall see with attentive mind, they shall consider; nor, as worldlings are accustomed, shall they pass it by without reflection or improvement, they shall see and fear, namely, God the just judge; and instructed in his judgment by this instance, they shall be the more careful to abstain from all designs and crimes of this kind. Hermann Venema. Ver. 6. And shall laugh at him; or, over him --over the wicked man thus cast down--they shall laugh. Such exultation, to our modern sensibilities, seems shocking, because we can hardly conceive of it, apart from the gratification of personal vindictiveness. But there is such a thing as a righteous hatred, as a righteous scorn. There is such a thing as a shout of righteous joy at the downfall of the tyrant and the oppressor, at the triumph of righteousness and truth over wrong and falsehood. J. J. Stewart Perowne. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 52:7* Ver. 7. Lo. Look ye here, and read the epitaph of a mighty man, who lorded it proudly during his little hour, and set his heel upon the necks of the Lord's chosen. This is the man that made not God his strength. Behold the man! The great vainglorious man. He found a fortress, but not in God; he gloried in his might, but not in the Almighty. Where is he now? How has it fared with him in the hour of his need? Behold his ruin, and be instructed. But trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. The substance he had gathered, and the mischiefs he had wrought, were his boast and glory. Wealth and wickedness are dreadful companions; when combined they make a monster. When the devil is master of money bags, he is a devil indeed. Beelzebub and Mammon together heat the furnace seven times hotter for the child of God, but in the end that shall work out their own destruction. Wherever we see today a man great in sin and substance, we shall do well to anticipate his end, and view this verse as the divine in memoriam. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 7. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength. David having showed (Psalms 52:5-6) the wicked man, by the righteous judgment of God rooted out of the land of the living, shows us in the next verse, the righteous man at once fearing and laughing at this sight, as also pointing at him saying, Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength. The words are a divine but cutting sarcasm. The original is geber, which signifieth a strong, valiant man: as we say in English, Lo, this is the brave and gallant man you wot of! But who was this for a man? He was one, saith he, that trusted in the abundance of his riches. Oh! It is hard to abound in riches and not to trust in them. Hence that caution (Psalms 62:10): If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Now, what is the setting the heart upon riches but our rejoicing and trusting in them? And because the heart of man is so easily persuaded into this sinful trust upon riches, therefore the apostle is urgent with Timothy to persuade all rich men--not only mere worldly rich men, but godly rich men--against it; yea, he urges Timothy to persuade rich men against two sins, which are worse than all the poverty in the world, yet the usual attendants of riches--pride and confidence: Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded. 1 Timothy 6:17. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 7-8. Perhaps some of you have been long professors, and yet come to little growth in love to God, humility, heavenly mindedness, mortification; and it is worth the digging to see what lies at the root of your profession, whether there be not a legal principle that hath too much influenced you. Have you not thought to carry all with God from your duties and services, and too much laid up your hopes in your own actings? Alas! this is as so much dead earth, which must be thrown out, and gospel principles laid in the room thereof. Try but this course, and try whether the spring of thy grace will not come on apace. David gives an account how he came to stand and flourish when some that were rich and mighty, on a sudden withered and came to nothing. Lo, saith he, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. While others trust in the riches of their own righteousness and services, and make not Christ their strength, do thou renounce all, and trust in the mercy of God in Christ, and thou shalt be like a green olive when they fade and wither. William Gurnall. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 7-8. The worldling like an uprooted tree, the believer a vigorous well planted olive. Psalms 52:8* Ver. 8. But I, hunted and persecuted though I am, am like a green olive tree. I am not plucked up or destroyed, but am like a flourishing olive, which out of the rock draws oil, and amid the drought still lives and grows. In the house of God. He was one of the divine family, and could not be expelled from it; his place was near his God, and there was he safe and happy, despite all the machinations of his foes. He was bearing fruit, and would continue to do so when all his proud enemies were withered like branches lopped from the tree. I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. Eternal mercy is my present confidence. David knew God's mercy to be eternal and perpetual, and in that he trusted. What a rock to build on! What a fortress to fly to! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 7-8. See Psalms on "Psalms 52:7" for further information. Ver. 8. (first clause): "But I am olive charged with fruit In fertile soil that grows." This appears to express of the Hebrew words, which our translators render, like a green olive tree, but which in reality have no reference to the colour, but to the flourishing, vigorous, and thriving state of the plant; just as Homer gives it the epithet of "luxuriant, "and "flourishing; "and Ovid that of "ever flourishing." The fact is, the colour of the leaves of this tree is not a bright lively green; but a dark, disagreeable, or yellowish one. Scheuchzer describes the leaves, as "superne coloris atrovirentis, vel in viridi flavescentis." An English traveller, writing from Italy, thus expresses his disappointment about the olive tree: --"The fields, and indeed the whole face of Tuscany, are in a manner covered with olive trees; but the olive tree does not answer the character I have conceived of it. The royal psalmist and some of the sacred writers, speak with rapture of the `green olive tree, 'so that I expected a beautiful green; and I confess to you, I was wretchedly disappointed to find its hue resembling that of our hedges when they are covered with dust." I have heard other travellers express the same feeling of disappointment. "The true way of solving the difficulty, "as Harmer properly remarks, "is to consider the word translated `green, 'not as descriptive of colour, but of some other property; youthfulness, vigour, prosperity, or the like." Richard Mant. Ver. 8. Green olive tree in the house of God. Several expositors fancifully imagine that olive trees grow in certain of the courts of the Tabernacle; but the notion must not be endured, it would have been too near an approach to the groves of the heathen to have been tolerated, at least in David's time. The text should surely be read with some discretion; the poet does not refer to olive trees in God's house, but compares himself in the house of God to an olive tree. This reminds us of the passage, "Thy children like olive plants around thy table, "where some whose imaginations have been more lively than their judgments, have seen a table surrounded, not with children, but with olive plants. Whoever, in the realms of common sense, ever heard of olive plants round a table? If, as Thrupp supposes, Nob was situated upon the Mount of Olives, we can, without any conjecture, see a reason for the present reference to a flourishing olive tree. C. H. S. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 7-8. The worldling like an uprooted tree, the believer a vigorous well planted olive. Ver. 8. The believer's character, position, confidence, and continuance. Psalms 52:9* Ver. 9. I will praise thee for ever. Like thy mercy shall my thankfulness be. While others boast in their riches I will boast in my God; and when their glorying is silenced for ever in the tomb, my song shall continue to proclaim the lovingkindness of Jehovah. Because thou hast done it. Thou hast vindicated the righteous, and punished the wicked. God's memorable acts of providence, both to saints and sinners, deserve, and must have our gratitude. David views his prayer as already answered, the promise of God as already fulfilled, and therefore at once lifts up the sacred Psalm. And I will wait on thy name. God shall still be the psalmist's hope; he will not in future look elsewhere. He whose name has been so gloriously made known in truth and righteousness, is justly chosen as our expectation for years to come. For it is good before thy saints. Before or among the saints David intended to wait, feeling it to be good both for him and them to look to the Lord alone, and wait for the manifestation of his character in due season. Men must not too much fluster us; our strength is to sit still. Let the mighty ones boast, we will wait on the Lord; and if their haste brings them present honour, our patience will have its turn by and by, and bring us the honour which excelleth. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 9. He compares himself (1) With an olive tree, a tree a ways green, lasting long and fruitful, whose fruit is most useful and grateful: so he paints his future state as joyful, glorious, lasting, and useful and pleasing to men: plainly a reference is made to the royal and prophetic office, in both of which he represents himself as an olive tree, by supplying others with >oil through his rule and instruction: (2) With the olive growing luxuriantly, and abounding in spreading bough, and so, spacious and large... (3) But why does he add in the house of God? That he might indicate, unless I am deceived: (a) That he should possess a dwelling in that place where the house of God was, whence he was now exiled through the calumnies of Doeg and the attacks of Saul stirred up thereby: (b) That he should perform distinguished service to the house of God, by adorning it, and by restoring religion, now neglected, and practising it with zeal: (c) That he should derive from God and his favour, whose that house was, all his prosperity: (d) That he, like a son of God, should rejoice in familiarity with him, and should become heir to his possessions and promises. Hermann Venema. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 9. The double duty, and the double reason: the single heart and its single object. Ver. 9. What God has done, what we will do, and why. Psalms 53A SECOND edition of the fourteenth psalm, with variations, more or less important, in each verse. That either of these compositions is an incorrect copy of the other is highly improbable, because two such copies of the same psalm would not have been retained in the collection, and because the variations are too uniform, consistent, and significant, to be the work of chance or mere traditional corruption. That the changes were deliberately made by a later writer is improbable, because such a liberty would hardly have been taken with a psalm of David, and because the later form, in that case, would either have been excluded from the Psalter, or substituted for the first form, or immediately connected with it. The only satisfactory hypothesis is; that the original author afterwards re-wrote it, with such modifications as were necessary to bring out certain points distinctly, but without any intention to supersede the use of the original composition, which therefore still retains its place in the collection. This supposition is confirmed by the titles, which ascribe both psalms to David. Of this kind of retractatio, which is not unknown to the practice of uninspired hyinnologists, we have already met with a remarkable example in the case of David. See above, the concluding note on Psalms 18. As a general fact, it may be stated, that the variations in the psalm before us are such as render the expression stronger, bolder, and in one or two cases more obscure and difficult. To these variations the remarks which follow will be restricted. For the exposition of the parts which are common to both psalms, the reader is referred to that of Psalms 24. 1. To the Chief Musician— upon Methalath— Maschil— by David. Between the inscription to the Chief Musician and the name of David, which are also found at the beginning of Ps. xiv., we have here two additional expressions. The first of these is by some regarded as the name or description of an instrument; but as it is so used nowhere else, and as forms almost identical occur more than once in the sense of sickness or disease (Exodus 15:26, Proverbs 18:14, 2 Chronicles 21:15), it seems most natural to take the phrase as an enigmatical enunciation of the subject of the psalm, which is in strict accordance both with general usage and with that of David in particular. See above, on Psalms 5:1; Psalms 22:1; Psalms 45:1. By disease we may then understand the spiritual malady with which mankind are all infected, and which is really the theme or subject of the composition. In the only other title where it reappears (Ps. lxxxviii. 1), it denotes corporeal disease. The other addition (maschil) describes the psalm as a didactic one. See above, on Psalms 52:1. 2. (Psalms 53:1). The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They have done corruptly, they have done abominable wickedness, there is none doing good. See above, on Psalms 14:1. The only variation in this verse is the substitution of iniquity for deed or act. Instead of saying, they have made (their) conduct abominable, the Psalmist uses the stronger expression, they have made iniquity abominable, or done abominably (in their) wickedness. 3. (Psalms 53:2). God from heaven has looked down on the sons of man, to see if there is (any) acting wisely, seeking God. See above, on Psalms 14:2. The only difference in the Hebrew of these verses is that the name Elohim is here substituted for Jehovah. The same change occurs below, in Psalms 53:4-6. The name Jehovah is not used at all in the psalm before us, but occurs four times in Psalms 14, and Elohim thrice. This difference seems to mark Psalms 43 as the later composition, in which the writer aimed at an external uniformity, which did not occur to him at first. This is a much more natural supposition than that he afterwards varied what was uniform at first. The attempts which have been made to account, still more particularly, forthe use of the divine names in these two psalms, have entirely failed. 4. (Psalms 53:3). All of it has apostatised; together they have putrefied; there is none doing good; there is not even one. See above, on Psalms 14:3. For all of it we there have the whole, i.e. the whole human race. The same thing seems to be intended by the more obscure phrase, all of it, in which the pronoun may refer to man, in the collective sense of mankind or the human race. The idea of departure from God, apostasy, is expressed in the parallel places by two verbs almost identical in form, the one of which means properly to turn aside and the other to turn back. 5. (Psalms 53:4). Do they not know—(these) workers of iniquity— eating my people (as) they eat bread—(and on) God call not? See above, on Psalms 14:4. The only variation here, besides the change of the divine name which has been already mentioned, is the omission of the all before workers of iniquity. This has been noted by some critics as the only case in which the language of the fourteenth psalm is stronger than the parallel expression of the fifty-third. 6. (Psalms 53:5). There have they feared a fear, because God hath scattered the bones of thy besieger; thou hast put (them) to shame, because God hath rejected them. See above, on Psalms 14:5-6. The design to strengthen the expression is particularly clear in this case, where two verses are compresed into one, and the other changes all enhance the emphasis. Thus, instead of a general assurance of divine protection, God is in the righteous generation, we have here a description of their enemies' destruction, in the most poetical and striking terms, God hath scattered the bones of thy besieger, literally thy encamper, him that encampeth against thee. So, too, instead of the complaint, that the wicked treat the faith of pious sufferers with contempt— the counsel of the sufferer ye will shame, because Jehovah is his refuge— we have here the tables turned upon the scoffers by the scorn both of God and man— thou host put to shame (the individuals included in the collective phrase thy besieger), because God has rejected them, an act implying both abhorrence and contempt. In this, which is by far the most considerable variation of the two editions, the existence of design is so apparent, that the supposition of an inadvertent or fortuitous corruption seems preposterous. So far are the two psalmsfrom being contradictory. or even inconsistent, that they might be sung together, by alternate or responsive choirs, with the happiest effect. Nothing can be more natural, therefore, than the supposition that David gave the psalm this new shape, to express the same essential feelings in a higher degree, and a more emphatic form. 7. (Psalms 53:6). Who will give out of Zion salvations (to) Israel— in God's returning (to) the captivity of his people— let Jacob exult, let Israel joy! See above, on Psalms 14:7. The only variations are the change of Jehovah to Elohim, and of the singular salvation to its plural, denoting variety and fulness. See above, on Psalms 18:50 (49). The exact translation is salvations of Israel, and the meaning of the next clause, "when God revisits (or in God's revisiting) his captive people." Title. To the Chief Musician. If the leader of the choir is privileged to sing the jubilates of divine grace, he must not disdain to chant the miseries of human depravity. This is the second time he has had the same Psalm entrusted to him (see Psalms 14:1-7.), and he must, therefore, be the more careful in singing it. Upon Mahalath. Here the tune is chosen for the musician, probably some mournfully solemn air; or perhaps a musical instrument is here indicated, and the master of the choir is requested to make it the prominent instrument in the orchestra; at any rate, this is a direction not found in the former copy of the Psalm, and seems to call for greater care. The word "Mahalath" appears to signify, in some forms of it, "disease, "and truly this Psalm is THE SONG OF MAN'S DISEASE-- the mortal, hereditary taint of sin. Maschil. This is a second additional note not found in Psalms 14:1-7, indicating that double attention is to be given to this most instructive song. A Psalm of David. It is not a copy of the fourteenth Psalm, emended and revised by a foreign hand; it is another edition by the same author, emphasised in certain parts, and rewritten for another purpose. Subject. The evil nature of man is here brought before our view a second time, in almost the same inspired words. All repetitions are not vain repetitions. We are slow to learn, and need line upon line. David after a long life, found men no better than they were in his youth. Holy Writ never repeats itself needlessly, there is good cause for the second copy of this Psalm; let us read it with more profound attention than before. If our age has advanced from fourteen to fifty-three, we shall find the doctrine of this Psalm more evident than in our youth. The reader is requested to peruse Psalms 14:1-7, "Treasury of David, "Vol. 1. Ver. 1. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. And this he does because he is a fool. Being a fool he speaks according to his nature; being a great fool he meddles with a great subject, and comes to a wild conclusion. The atheist is, morally as well as mentally, a fool, a fool in the heart as well as in the head; a fool in morals as well as in philosophy. With the denial of God as a starting point, we may well conclude that the fool's progress is a rapid, riotous, raving, ruinous one. He who begins at impiety is ready for anything. No God, being interpreted, means no law, no order, no restraint to lust, no limit to passion. Who but a fool would be of this mind? What a Bedlam, or rather what an Aceldama, would the world become if such lawless principles came to be universal! He who heartily entertains an irreligious spirit, and follows it out to its legitimate issues is a son of Belial, dangerous to the commonwealth, irrational, and despicable. Every natural man is, more or less a denier of God. Practical atheism is the religion of the race. Corrupt are they. They are rotten. It is idle to compliment them as sincere doubters, and amiable thinkers--they are putrid. There is too much dainty dealing nowadays with atheism; it is not a harmless error, it is an offensive, putrid sin, and righteous men should look upon it in that light. All men being more or less atheistic in spirit, are also in that degree corrupt; their heart is foul, their moral nature is decayed. And have done abominable iniquity. Bad principles soon lead to bad lives. One does not find virtue promoted by the example of your Voltaires and Tom Paines. Those who talk so abominably as to deny their Maker will act abominably when it serves their turn. It is the abounding denial and forgetfulness of God among men which is the source of the unrighteousness and crime which we see around us. If all men are not outwardly vicious it is to be accounted for by the power of other and better principles, but left to itself the "No God" spirit so universal in mankind would produce nothing but the most loathsome actions. There is none that doeth good. The one typical fool is reproduced in the whole race; without a single exception men have forgotten the right way. This accusation twice made in the Psalm, and repeated a third time by the inspired apostle Paul, is an indictment most solemn and sweeping, but he who makes it cannot err, he knows what is in man; neither will he lay more to man's charge than he can prove. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Probably the two Psalms refer to different periods; the fourteenth to the earlier portion of the world, or of Jewish history; the fifty-third to a later, perhaps a still future time. Jehovah, through Christ, is frequently said to turn to the world to see what its condition is, and always with the same result. "All flesh had corrupted its way" in the days of Noah, and, "when the Son of Man cometh" again, it is intimated that he will scarcely "find faith on the earth." The two Psalms also apply to different persons. The former refers to the enemies of God, who tremble when his presence is made known; they are in great fear, because vengeance is about to be inflicted on them for their sins. Here the Supreme Being is called Jehovah. In the fifty-third Psalm the interests of God's people are principally kept in view. The ungodly are regarded as plotting against the righteous, and it is in this relation their case is considered. The fear that was just and reasonable in the fourteenth Psalm, because it concerned the unrighteous under a sense of impending judgment, is said to be unfounded in the fifty-third, because God was in the midst of his people, scattering the bones of their enemies, and showing himself, not as Jehovah, but as the Elohim of his redeemed children. The fourteenth Psalm contemplates judgment; the fifty-third deliverance; and thus, though seemingly alike, a different lesson is conveyed in each. The Psalm, then, descriptive of the universal and continuous corruption of man's nature, very properly occupies an introductory place in a series intended to represent the enemies of Messiah, who oppose his church during his absence, and who are to attempt to resist his power when he comes again. Before entering upon an examination of the character of these opponents, this Psalm teaches that, until changed by grace, all are gone astray; "there is none righteous, no, not one, "and that for all there is but one remedy, the Deliverer coming out of Zion, who shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. R. H. Ryland, M.A., in "The Psalms restored to Messiah, "1853. Whole Psalm. The state of earth ought to be deeply felt by us. The world lying in wickedness should occupy much of our thoughts. The enormous guilt, the inconceivable pollution, the ineffably provoking Atheism of this fallen province of God's dominion, might be a theme for our ceaseless meditation and mourning. To impress it the more on us, therefore, the Psalm repeats what has been already sung in Psalms 14. It is the same Psalm, with only a few words varied; it is "line upon line, precept upon precept; "the harp's most melancholy, most dismal notes again sounded in our ear. Not that the Lord would detain us always, or disproportionately long, amid scenes of sadness; for elsewhere he repeats in like manner that most triumphant melody, Psalms 40:6-12 108:6-13; but it is good to return now and then to the open field on which we all were found, cast out in loathsome degradation. Andrew A. Bonar, in "Christ and his Church in the Book of Psalms, " 1859. Whole Psalm. A second edition of the fourteenth Psalm, with variations more or less important, in each verse. That either of these compositions is an incorrect copy of the other is highly improbable, because two such copies of the same Psalm would not have been retained in the collection, and because the variations are too uniform, consistent, and significant, to be the work of chance or mere traditional corruption. That the changes were deliberately made by a later writer is improbable, because such a liberty would hardly have been taken with a Psalm of David, and because the latter form, in that case, would either have been excluded from the Psalter or substituted for the first form, or immediately connected with it. The only satisfactory hypothesis is, that the original author afterwards rewrote it, with such modifications as were necessary to bring out certain points distinctly, but without any intention to supersede the use of the original composition, which therefore still retains its place in the collection. Thus supposition is confirmed by the titles, which ascribe both Psalms to David... As a general fact, it may be stated, that the variations in the Psalm before us are such as render the expression stronger, bolder, and in one or two cases more obscure and difficult. J. A. Alexander, 1850. Whole Psalm. This Psalm is a variation of Psa 14:1-7. In each of these two Psalms the name of God occurs seven times. In Psalms 14:1-7, it is three times Elohim, and four times Jehovah; in the present Psalm it is seven times Elohim. Christopher Wordsworth, 1868. Whole Psalm. God, in this Psalm, "speaketh twice, "for this is the same almost verbatim with the fourteenth Psalm. The scope of it is to convince us of our sins, to set us blushing, and to set us trembling because of them: there is need of "line upon line" to this purpose. God, by the psalmist, here shows-- I. The fact of sin. God is a witness to it. He looks down from heaven and sees all the sinfulness of men's hearts and lives. All this is open and naked before him. II. The fault of sin. It is iniquity (Psalms 53:1; Psalms 53:4); it is an unrighteous thing; it is that in which there is no good (Psalms 53:1; Psalms 53:3); it is going back from God (Psalms 53:3). III. The fountain of sin. How comes it that men are so bad? Surely, it is because there is no fear of God before their eyes; they say in their hearts, there is no God at all to call us to account, none that we need to stand in awe of. Men's bad practices flow from their bad principles. IV. The folly of sin. He is a fool (in the account of God, whose judgment we are sure is right) who harbours such corrupt thoughts. The "workers of iniquity, "whatever they pretend to, "have no knowledge; "they may truly be said to know nothing that do not know God. Psalms 53:4. V. The filthiness of sin. Sinners are "corrupt" (Psalms 53:1); their nature is vitiated and spoiled; their iniquity is "abominable; "it is odious to the holy God, and renders them so; whereas, otherwise he "hates nothing that he has made." What neatness soever proud sinners pretend to, it is certain that wickedness is the greatest nastiness in the world. VI. The fruit of sin. See to what a degree of barbarity it brings men at last! See their cruelty to their brethren! They "eat them up as they eat bread." As if they had not only become beasts, but beasts of prey. See their contempt of God at the same time--they have not called upon him, but scorn to be beholden to him. VII. The fear and shame that attends sin (Psalms 53:5). "There were they in great fear" who had made God their enemy; their own guilty consciences frightened them and filled them with horror. This enables the virgin, the daughter of Zion, to put them to shame and expose them, "because God hath despised them" VIII. The faith of the saints, and their hope and power touching this great evil (Psalms 53:6). There will come a Saviour, a great salvation, a salvation from sin. O that it might be hastened! for it will bring in glorious and joyful times. There were those in Old Testament times that looked and hoped, that prayed and waited for this redemption. Such salvations were often wrought, and all typical of the everlasting triumphs of the glorious church. Condensed from Matthew Henry, 1662-1714. Ver. 1. The fool hath said in his heart, etc. It is in his heart he says this; this is the secret desire of every unconverted bosom. If the breast of God were within the reach of men, it would be stabbed a million of times in one moment. When God was manifest in the flesh, he was altogether lovely; he did no sin; he went about continually doing good: and yet they took him and hung him on a tree; they mocked him and spat upon him. And this is the way men would do with God again. Learn--First. The fearful depravity of your heart. I venture to say there is not an unconverted man present, who has the most distant idea of the monstrous wickedness that is now within his breast. Stop till you are in hell, and it will break out unrestrained. But still let me tell you what it is--you have a heart that would kill God if you could. If the bosom of God were nor within your reach, and one blow would rid the universe of God, you have a heart fit to do the deed. Second. The amazing love of Christ-- "While we were enemies, Christ died for us." Robert Murray Macheyne, 1813-1843. Ver. 1. There is no God. ny'is properly a noun, and means nonentity, or nonexistence: "nothing of God, "or "no such thing as God." It cannot be explained as a wish--"No God!" i.e., O that there were no God! --because ny'in usage always includes the substantive verb, and denies the existence, or at least the presence, of the person or thing to which it is prefixed. This is also clear from the use of the same word in the last clause, where its sense is unambiguous. J. A. Alexander on Psalm XIV. Ver. 1. There is no God. Thus denying the agency of Providence, for the word Elohim, here translated God, means judge (compare Exodus 22:28), and has reference not to the essence, but to the providence of the Deity. Daniel Cresswell, 1776-1844. Ver. 1. It is to be noted that Scripture saith, The fool hath said in his heart, and not "thought in his heart; "that is to say, he doth not so fully think it in judgment, as he hath a good will to be of that belief; for seeing that it makes not for him that there should be a God, he doth seek by all means accordingly to persuade and resolve himself, and studies to affirm, prove, and verify it to himself as some theme or position, all which labour, notwithstanding that sparkle of our creation light, whereby men acknowledge a Deity, burneth still within; and in vain doth he strive utterly to alienate it or put it out, so that it is out of the corruption of his heart and will, and not out of the natural apprehension of his brain and conceit, that he doth set down his opinion, as the comical poet saith, "Then came my mind to be of my opinion, "as if himself and his mind had been two diverse things; therefore, the atheist hath rather said, and held it in his heart, than thought or believed in his heart that there is no God. Francis Bacon (1560-1626), in "Thoughts on Holy Scripture". HINTS TO THE VILLAGE See the hints on Psalms 14:1-7. Ver. 1. The fool's inside and outside. Ver. 1. I. The folly of atheism. He who says there is no God is a fool. 1. No reason for the assertion. 2. All reason against it. II. The seat of atheism is the heart; it is a moral unbelief not an intellectual, the language of the will not of the understanding. III. Cause of atheism. 1. Loving evil. 2. Hating good. G. R. Psalms 53:2* Ver. 2. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men. He did so in ages past, and he has continued his steadfast gaze from his all surveying observatory. To see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Had there been one understanding man, one true lover of his God, the divine eye would have discovered him. Those pure heathens and admirable savages that men talk so much of, do not appear to have been visible to the eye of Omniscience, the fact being that they live nowhere but in the realm of fiction. The Lord did not look for great grace, but only for sincerity and right desire, but these he found not. He saw all nations, and all men in all nations, and all hearts in all men, and all motions of all hearts, but he saw neither a clear head nor a clean heart among them all. Where God's eyes see no favourable sign we may rest assured there is none. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2. That did seek God. Although all things are full of God, yet is he to be sought for of godly men, by reason of the darkness which compasseth our minds through original sin. For both the flesh, and the senses, and earthly affections do hinder us from knowing of him, yea, though he be present. Peter Martyr, 1500-1562. Ver. 2-3. Their sin is described in gradation. They do not understand, because a true knowledge of things divine forms the basis of proper conduct towards God; they do not ask for God, because they only care for him whose clear and sure insight apprehends him as their highest possession; they are gone aside, because he who cares not for him is sure to get estranged from him, and to deviate from his paths; and they are altogether become filthy (i.e., worthless), because man's proper strength and fitness for virtue must well from the fountain of communion with God. Agustus F. Tholuck. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. I. God has not left the world to itself. II. He takes particular notice of all that is in it. III. The only thing he values in it is the knowledge of himself. G. R. Psalms 53:3* Ver. 3. Every one of them is gone back. The whole mass of manhood, all of it, is gone back. In the fourteenth Psalm it was said to turn aside, which was bad enough, but here it is described as running in a diametrically opposite direction. The life of unregenerate manhood is in direct defiance of the law of God, not merely apart from it but opposed to it. They are altogether become filthy. The whole lump is soured with an evil leaven, fouled with an all pervading pollution, made rank with general putrefaction. Thus, in God's sight, our atheistic nature is not the pardoned thing that we think it to be. Errors as to God are not the mild diseases which some account them, they are abominable evils. Fair is the world to blind eyes, but to the all seeing Jehovah it is otherwise. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. How could there be, when the whole mass was leavened with so evil a leaven? This puts an end to the fictions of the innocent savage, the lone patriarch, "the Indian whose untutored mind, "etc. Pope's verse-- "Father of all, in every age; In every clime adored, By saint, by savage, or by sage, Jehovah, Jove, or Lord, " evaporates in smoke. The fallen race of man, left to its own energy, has not produced a single lover of God or doer of holiness, nor will it ever do so. Grace must interpose, or not one specimen of humanity will be found to follow after the good and true. This is God's verdict after looking down upon the race. Who shall gainsay it? NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2-3. See Psalms on "Psalms 53:2" for further information. Ver. 3. They are altogether become filthy. wxlag neelachu. They are become sour and rancid; a metaphor taken from milk that has fermented and turned sour, rancid, and worthless. Adam Clarke, 1760-1832. Ver. 3. (second clause). The word wxlag, rendered they are become filthy, might be read, they have become rotten or putrid. John Morison, 1829. Ver. 3. (last clause). Evil men are not only guilty of sins of commission, having done abominable iniquity, but they are guilty of many sins of omission. In fact, they have never done one holy act. They may be moral, decent, amiable, they may belong to the church; but there is none that doeth good, no, not one. William S. Plumer. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 53:4* Ver. 4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? They have no wisdom, certainly, but even so common a thing as knowledge might have restrained them. Can they not see that there is a God? that sin is an evil thing? that persecution recoils upon a man's own head? Are they such utter fools as not to know that they are their own enemies, and are ruining themselves? Who eat up my people as they eat bread. Do they not see that such food will be hard to digest, and will bring on them a horrible vomit when God deals with them in justice? Can they imagine that the Lord will allow them to devour his people with impunity? They must be insane indeed. They have not called upon God. They carry on their cruel enterprises against the saints, and use every means but that which is essential to success in every case, namely, the invocation of God. In this respect persecutors are rather more consistent than Pharisees who devoured widow's houses, and prayed too. The natural man, like Ishmael, loves not the spiritual seed, is very jealous of it, and would fain destroy it, because it is beloved of God; yet the natural man does not seek after the like favour from God. The carnal mind envies those who obtain mercy, and yet it will not seek mercy itself. It plays the dog in the manger. Sinners will out of a malicious jealousy devour those who pray, but yet they will not pray themselves. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? Conscience is a means to curb and restrain, control and rebuke corrupt nature, and the swelling forms of it. It is not there as a native inhabitant, but as a garrison planted in a rebellious town by the great Governor of the world, to keep the rebellion of the inhabitants within compass, who else would break forth into present confusion. David, speaking of the corruption of man by nature, after this question, Whether there be not some knowledge to discover their evil doings to them? yes, says he, Have they no knowledge, who eat up my people as bread Yes; and therefore (Psalms 53:5) They are often in fear, God having placed this there to overcome them with fear; and by that to restrain them from many outrages against God's people, whom in their desires, and sometimes practice, they eat up as bread Therefore this knowledge is put in as a bridle to corrupt nature, as a hook was put into Sennacherib's nostrils (Isaiah 37:29) to rule and tame men, and overcome them with fear. If they had no knowledge they would eat up one another, and the church, as bread; but there is their fear, says he, that is, thence it comes to pass they are kept in awe Thomas Goodwin, 1600-1679. Ver. 4. Who eat up my people as they eat bread C'est, n'en font non plus de conscience, que de manger un morceau de pain. (That is, they have no more scruple in doing this than in eating a morsel of bread.) French Margin. Ver. 4. My people. David may call the serious his people, because of his regard for them, and because they were his supporters and friends. They adhered to him in all his afflictions. ("Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God, " Rth 1:16.) Benjamin Boothroyd, 1836. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. How far knowledge is and is not a restraint upon ungodliness. Ver. 4. It is a sin not to call upon God. I. What is it to call upon God? Three things required in it. 1. A drawing near to him. 2. A speaking to him. 1 Samuel 1:12-13. 3. A praying to him. II. How should we call upon God? 1. Reverently, considering (1) God's holiness and greatness; (2) our own sin and weakness. Genesis 18:27. 2. Understandingly. 1 Corinthians 14:15. (1) Of what we ask. (2) Of whom we ask it. 3. Submissively. 4. Believingly. Mr 11:24 James 1:6. 5. Sincerely. James 4:3. 6. Constantly. (1) So as to be always in a praying frame. (2) So as to take all occasions of pouring forth our souls in prayer to God. (3) So as to let no day slip without prayer. III. How it appears to be a sin not to call upon God. 1. He hath commanded it. Isaiah 55:6 1 Timothy 2:8. 2. Because praying is one of the principal parts of worship we owe to God. I. Who are guilty of this sin? 1. All who pray to any one else but God. 2. All who neglect either public, private, or family prayer. 3. All who pray, but not aright. William Beveridge (1636-1708), in "Thesaurus Theologicus." Psalms 53:5* Ver. 5. There were they in great fear, where no fear was. David sees the end of the ungodly, and the ultimate triumph of the spiritual seed. The rebellious march in fury against the gracious, but suddenly they are seized with a causeless panic. The once fearless boasters tremble like the leaves of the aspen, frightened at their own shadows. In this sentence and this verse, this Psalm differs much from the fourteenth. It is evidently expressive of a higher state of realisation in the poet, he emphasises the truth by stronger expressions. Without cause the wicked are alarmed. He who denies God is at bottom a coward, and in his infidelity he is like the boy in the churchyard who "whistles to keep his courage up." For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee. When the wicked see the destruction of their fellows they may well quail. Mighty were the hosts which besieged Zion, but they were defeated, and their unburied carcasses proved the prowess of the God whose being they dared to deny. Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them. God's people may well look with derision upon their enemies since they are the objects of divine contempt. They scoff at us, but we may with far greater reason laugh them to scorn, because the Lord our God considers them as less than nothing and vanity. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5. There were they in great fear, where no fear was. There is a fond and superstitious fear, when men are afraid of their shadows, as Pisander was afraid of meeting his own soul; and Antenor would never go forth of the doors, but either in a coach closed upon all sides, or with a target borne over his head, fearing, I guess, lest the sky should fall down upon it, according to that in the Psalm, They fear where no fear is. John King, 1559-1621. Ver. 5. There were they in great fear, where no fear was. Behold how fearful a hell a wounded conscience is! For why is Cain afraid to be killed, seeing there is none living to perform it, but his father and mother, and perhaps some women children, which the Scripture nameth not? It is God's just judgment, that they that will not fear the Lord who is only to be feared, should stand in fear of them who are justly no cause of fear. He that lately feared not to kill his brother, is now made a terror to himself. Hereby also we may consider what is the repentance of the wicked; they see perhaps the fault together with the punishment, but they admit the fault and lament the punishment. Nicholas Gibbens, 1602. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. I. What persecutors are to themselves-their own tormentors, full even of groundless fears. II. What they are to one another-though in concert here, their bones are scattered hereafter. III. What they are to those whom they persecute-made ashamed before them. IV. What they are to God-a contempt and derision. G. R. Psalms 53:6* Ver. 6. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion. Would God the final battle were well over. When will the Lord avenge his own elect? When will the long oppression of the saints come to its close, and glory crown their heads? The word salvation is in the plural, to show its greatness. When God bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Inasmuch as the yoke has been heavy, and the bondage cruel, the liberty will be happy, and the triumph joyous. The second advent and the restoration of Israel are our hope and expectation. We have attempted to throw into rhyme the last two verses of this Psalm: The foes of Zion quake for fright. Where no fear was they quail; For well they know that sword of might Which cuts through coats of mail. The Lord of old defiled their shields, And all their spears he scorned; Their bones lay scattered over the fields, Unburied and unmourned. Let Zion's foes be filled with shame; Her sons are blessed of God; Though scoffers now despise their name, The Lord shall break the rod. Oh! would our God to Zion turn, God with salvation clad; Then Judah's harps should music learn, And Israel be glad. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS None. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6. I. There is salvation for Israel. II. That salvation is in Zion. III. Their salvation remains there when they are banished from it. I. Their joy becomes greater when they return. G. R. Psalms 541. To the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments. A didactic psalm. By David. This is the title of Psalms 4, but with a change of the generic term mizmor to the specific one maschil. See above, on Psalms 53:1. According to some modern interpreters, the plural neginoth does not denote a plurality of stringed instruments, but simply that kind of music, with its complex variety of tones. The psalm consists of a prayer for deliverance from wicked enemies, Psalms 54:1-3, with a confident anticipation of success, and a promise of thanksgiving, Psalms 54:4-7. As to the numbering of the verses, see above, on Psalms 51:1; Psalms 52:1. 2. In the coming of the Ziphites, and they said to Saul, (Is) not David hiding himself with us? The verse gives the historical occasion of the composition, in the same form as in the titles of Psalms 51 and Psalms 52. Such an occurrence is twice recorded in the history, 1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 26:1. The verbal coincidence is greater in the first case. The words of the Ziphites seem to have been remembered on account of some peculiarity in the expression, perhaps the use of the reflexive participle, which remains unchanged in all three places, the earliest of which is probably the one before us. The interrogation implies surprise that Saul should be ignorant of what was so notorious. Hiding himself, now engaged in doing so, not merely wont to do so, or already hidden. With us, among us, or in our land, i.e. the wilderness or pasture ground of Ziph (1 Samuel 23:14-15), in or near which was a town of the same name (Joshua 15:55, 2 Chronicles 11:8), the ruins of which are thought to be still visible, not far from what the natives call Tell Ziph, or the Hill of Ziph. (Robinson's Palestine, II. 191.) 3. (Psalms 54:1). O God, by thy name save me, and by thy might thou wilt judge me. The insensible transition from the imperative to the future shews the confidence with which the prayer is offered. By thy name, i.e. the exercise of those perfections which have been already manifested. See above, on Psalms 52:9. That it is not a mere periphrasis for God himself, is clear from the parallel expression, might or power. Judge me, do me justice, vindicate my innocence, by saving me from spiteful enemies and false accusers. See above, on Psalms 7:9 (8), Psalms 26:1. 4. (Psalms 54:2). O God, hear my prayer, give ear to the sayings of my mouth. See above, on Psalms 4:1, Psalms 5:1. 5. (Psalms 54:3). For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek my soul (or life); they have not set God before them. Selah. To the earnest petitions in the two preceding verses he now adds a particular description of his danger. Strangers, not foreigners, but aliens in spirit, both to him and to Jehovah, with special reference to Saul. See below, on Psalms 120:5. Oppressors, persecutors, tyrants. The original expression implies the possession of power, and its lawless exercise. See above, on Psalms 37:35. Not to set God before them is to act as if they did not remember or believe in his existence and his presence. The Selah indicates a pause of indignation and abhorrence. See above, on Psalms 52:5 (3). 6. (Psalms 54:4). Behold, God (is) a helper for me; the Lord is among the upholders of my soul. From the party of his enemies he looks to that of his defenders, and joyfully recognises God, not merely with, but in (the midst of) them, among them. The behold is expressive of surprise, and at the same time of a perspicacious faith. With the form of expression in the first clause, compare Psalms 30:10; with the second Psalms 118:7, Judges 11:35. The upholders of his soul are the defenders of his life against those who seek it. See above, Psalms 54:5 (3). Adhonai, the divine name properly translated Lord, because expressive of God's sovereignty. It is peculiarly appropriate here, where he is claiming God as his protector. 7. (Psalms 54:5). The evil shall return to my enemies; in thy truth destroy them. The future here runs into the imperative, as the imperative does into the future in Psalms 54:3 (1), above. The imperative in this case is only a stronger form of prediction. The evil, which they mean to do me. Return to, or upon them, i.e. shall befall themselves. See above, on Psalms 7:17 (16), This is the sense required by the reading in the text (bvwy), which the modern critics commonly regard as the most ancient. The marginal or masoretic reading must be rendered, he will cause to return, repay, requite. Thy truth, the truth of thy promises and threatenings, thy veracity. See above, on Psalms 30:10 (9). The certain foresight of the doom of the wicked, which is expressed in the first clause, makes the prayer (if such it be considered little more than an expression of that certainty. See above, on Psalms 5:11 (10). 8. (Psalms 54:6). With a free-will offering will I sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, Jehovah, for it is good. In the confident assurance of a favourable answer to his prayer, he promises a suitable acknowledgment. See above, on Psalms 5:8 (7). A free-will or voluntary offering, as opposed to one prescribed by law, not to one rendered obligatory by a vow, for then a voluntary offering would in this case be impossible. The Hebrew word is the technical term applied to such an offering in the law. See Leviticus 7:16; Leviticus 22:23, and compare Exodus 25:2; Exodus 35:29, Numbers 15:3. With the last clause compare Psalms 52:9. 9. (Psalms 54:7). For out of all distress he hath delivered me, and on my enemies my eye has looked. In his confident assurance of a favourable issue, he speaks of it, though future, as already past. The sudden change of person, may be avoided by translating the first verb, it (i.e. thy name) has delivered me, according to the prayer in Psalms 54:3 (1). My eye has looked or gazed, with an implication of delight, or at least of acquiescence, which is commonly conveyed by this construction. This kind of satisfaction in the execution of God's threatenings is sinful only when combined with selfish malignity. Apart from this corrupt admixture, it is inseparable from conformity of will and coincidence of judgment with God. The same kind and degree of acquiescence which is felt by holy angels in heaven may surely be expressed by saints on earth, especially in their collective capacity as a church, in whose name the Psalmist is here speaking, and not merely in his own or that of any other individual. Title. To the Chief Musician on Neginoth. The music was to be that of stringed instruments. Variety is to be studied in our tunes, and in all other matters relating to sacred song. Monotony is often the death of congregational praise. Providence is varied, and so should our recording songs be. Maschil. We are to learn and to teach by what we sing. Edification must not be divorced from psalmody. A Psalm of David. David's productions were as plentiful as they are profitable. His varied life was for our benefit, for from it we derive these hymns, which at this hour are as fresh and as precious as when he wrote them. When the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us? To curry favour with Saul they were guilty of gross inhospitality. What cared they what innocent blood was shed so that they earned the graceless monarch's smile! David came quietly among them, hoping for a little rest in his many flights, but they deserted him in his solitary abode, and betrayed him. He turns to God in prayer, and so strong was his faith that he soon sang himself into delightful serenity. Divisions. From Psalms 54:1-3, where the Selah makes a pause for us, the psalmist pleads with God, and then in the rest of the song, laying aside all doubt, he chants a hymn of joyful triumph. The vigour of faith is the death of anxiety, and the birth of security. Ver. 1. Save me, O God. Thou art my Saviour; all around me are my foes and their eager helpers. No shelter is permitted me. Every land rejects me and denies me rest. But thou, O God, wilt give me refuge, and deliver me from all my enemies. By thy name, by thy great and glorious nature. Employ all thine attributes for me. Let every one of the perfections which are blended in thy divine name work for me. Is not thine honour pledged for my defence? And judge me by thy strength. Render justice to me, for none else will or can. Thou canst give me efficient justice, and right my wrongs by thine omnipotence. We dare not appeal to God in a bad cause, but when we know that we can fearlessly carry our cause before his justice we may well commit it to his power. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Title. From the inscription, learn, 1. Particular straits and particular deliveries should be particularly remarked: as David here remembereth the danger he was in by the treachery of the Ziphims. 2. Mighty men will find readily more friends in an evil cause, than the godly do find in a good cause: as Saul has the Ziphims to offer their service to his cruelly, when David was in straits. 3. The wicked are very hearty to do an ill turn, and glad to find occasion of it. "Doth not David, "saith they, "hide himself with us?" as if this had been good and blessed news. David Dickson (1583-1662), in "A Brief Explication upon the Psalms." Whole Psalm. The church has taken a clear view in appointing this as one of the Psalms in commemoration of the passion of Jesus. It is seen with greatest effect as a simple prophecy of Christ. Read thus, it is very plain and intelligible; requiring little more than the first idea to exhibit a perfect correspondence with the life and feelings of the Messiah. William Hill Tucker, in "The Psalms... with Notes, "1840. Whole Psalm. In the first three verses, David being sought for by his enemies, prays against them. That was his course, he always began his conflict with God, contending and wrestling with him for a blessing and assistance. He durst not lift up his hands even against the enemies of God (yet what durst not David do?) till he had first lifted them up in humble supplication to the Lord his strength. "Who taught his hands to war, and his fingers to fight." Psalms 144:1. This being done, his courage breaks out like lightning, he doubts not of slaying his thousands and ten thousands. So in the fourth and fifth verses, he becomes his own prophet, promising himself victory. For who can resist him who hath Omnipotence for his second? Or how can any enemy maintain a fight against that captain who hath beforehand defeated and broken their forces by his prayers? assured his conquest before he puts on his armour? Then in the last verses, David concludes where he began, thankfully acknowledgeth God's goodness in his deliverance, and the dissipation of his enemies, obliging himself to a return of dutiful affectionate service, in consideration of so great mercies received. J. Dolben, in a Thanksgiving Sermon, 1665. Whole Psalm. Blessed Redeemer! give me grace to eye thee, and to call to my recollection thine exercises amidst the false friends and open foes, which in the days of thy flesh surrounded thee. Lord! help me so to consider thee, who didst endure such a contradiction of sinners against thyself, that I may not be weary and faint in mind. And while the Ziphims of the present hour harass and distress me, and would deliver my soul up into the hand of the enemy: oh! for grace to be looking unto thee, and deriving strength from thee, that I may discover thy gracious hand delivering me out of all my troubles, and making me more than conqueror in thy strength, and in the power of thy might. Robert Hawker, D.D., 1753-1827. Ver. 1. Save me, O God. As David was at this time placed beyond the reach of human assistance, he must be understood as praying to be saved by the name and the power of God, in an emphatic sense, or by these in contradistinction to the usual means of deliverance. Though all help must ultimately come from God, there are ordinary methods by which he generally extends it. When these fail, and every earthly stay is removed, he must then take the work into his own hands. It was such a situation that David here fled to the saints' last asylum, and sought to be saved by a miracle of divine power. John Calvin. Ver. 1. Judge me by thy strength, or power, i.e., determine, decide my cause by thy mighty power. Saul, in the cause between him and David, was resolved to end it by force only, and to arbitrate in no other way than by a javelin, a sword, or his forces. The psalmist well knew that Saul, in this respect, would be too hard for him; and therefore applies for protection and justice to one whose power he knew was infinitely superior to his adversaries, and who, he was assured, could and would defend him. Samuel Chandler (1693-1766), in "A Critical History of the Life of David." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. In the deliverance of the saints the honour and power of God are concerned. I. Their failure would dishonour both. II. Their salvation glorifies both. III. Both are immutable, therefore we have a sure plea at all times. WORK UPON THE FIFTY-FOURTH PSALM In 'S "Life of David, "pp. 152-4, there is an Exposition of this Psalm. Psalms 54:2* Ver. 2. Hear my prayer, O God. This has ever been the defence of saints. As long as God hath an open ear we cannot be shut up in trouble. All other weapons may be useless, but all prayer is evermore available. No enemy can spike this gun. Give ear to the words of my mouth. Vocal prayer helps the supplicant, and we keep our minds more fully awake when we can use our tongues as well as our hearts. But what is prayer if God hear not? It is all one whether we babble nonsense or plead arguments if our God grant us not a hearing. When his case had become dangerous, David could not afford to pray out of mere custom, he must succeed in his pleadings, or become the prey of his adversary. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2. (second clause). Let the words of my mouth with which I have defended my cause, be pleasing and acceptable to thee. For in this way can prayers and words of the mouth be correctly distinguished, unless any one should wish simply to understand by them prayers uttered by the mouth; but, as I have said, the phrase is more emphatic. Hermann Venema, 1697-1787. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. Our main concern in prayer. I. What is meant by God's hearing prayer. II. How we may know that he has done so. III. What is to be done when this is doubtful. IV. What is due to him when the hearing is given. Psalms 54:3* Ver. 3. For strangers are risen up against me. Those who had no cause for ill will had gone against him; persons to whom he could have given no offence, for they were strangers to him. They were aliens to his God also, and should these be allowed to worry and destroy him. A child may well complain to his father when strangers come in to molest him. What right have they to interfere? Let them leave off meddling and mind their own concerns. And oppressors seek after my soul. Saul, that persecuting tyrant, had stamped his own image on many more. Kings generally coin their own likeness. He led the way, and others followed seeking David's soul, his blood, his life, his very existence. Cruel and intense were they in their malice, they would utterly crush the good man; no half measure would content them. They have not set God before them. They had no more regard for right and justice than if they knew no God, or cared for none. Had they regarded God they would not have betrayed the innocent to be hunted down like a poor harmless stag. David felt that atheism lay at the bottom of the enmity which pursued him. Good men are hated for God's sake, and this is a good plea for them to urge in prayer. Selah. As if he said, "Enough of this, let us pause." He is out of breath with indignation. A sense of wrong bids him suspend the music awhile. It may also be observed, that more pauses would, as a rule, improve our devotions: we are usually too much in a hurry: a little more holy meditation would make our words more suitable and our emotions more fervent. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. Strangers: aliens to his truth, men who from unbelief have estranged themselves from all lot and portion in his covenants --oppress and persecute. William Hill Tucker. Ver. 3. (first clause). The Chaldee interpreter reads, proud men, instead of strangers, a reading which also is found in eight of Kennicott's Codices. So also Psalms 86:14. William Walford, in "The Book of Psalms. A New Translation, " etc., 1837. Ver. 3. (first clause). There is a great mistake made by rendering the word oyrz (zarim) strangers. The Ziphites surely were Israelites, and not strangers. The fact is this, that word is taken from hrz (zarah) the primary meaning of which is "to scatter, "to "disperse, "also "to sift, "as grain. Hence it signifies, likewise figuratively, to sift a matter, to investigate, to search out, to trace out. So here, David complains of the new and dangerous enemies he had got in the Ziphites, who became Saul's spies. When he pleads, therefore, for deliverance, saying, "Save me, O God, " etc., he describes the danger he was in: For spies have risen against me. Benjamin Weiss, in "New Translation, Exposition, and Chronological Arrangement of the Psalms, "1858. Ver. 3. Oppressors seek after my soul; i.e., my life at least; my soul also they would destroy, if it lay in their power, as the Papists delivered up John Huss to the devil. John Trapp, 1611-1662. Ver. 3. Selah. See "Treasury of David", Vol. 1, pp. 25,29,346,382; and Vol. 2, pp. 249-252. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. Strange trials. I. They are not altogether strange. 1. Not so to God. 2. Not so in the history of the church. 3. Not so to the provisions of grace wherein they are anticipated. II. Wherein they are strange. 1. They reveal God anew. 2. Endear forgotten promises. 3. Train unused graces. 4. Being new praises, etc. Ver. 3. (last clause). The root of sin: if they remembered his authority they dared not, if they tasted his love they would not, if they were conformed to his nature they could not. Psalms 54:4* Ver. 4. Behold, God is mine helper. He saw enemies everywhere, and now to his joy as he looks upon the band of his defenders he sees one whose aid is better than all the help of men; he is overwhelmed with joy at recognizing his divine champion, and cries, Behold. And is not this a theme for pious exultation in all time, that the great God protects us, his own people: what matters the number or violence of our foes when HE uplifts the shield of his omnipotence to guard us, and the sword of his power to aid us? Little care we for the defiance of the foe while we have the defence of God. The Lord is with them that uphold my soul. The reigning Lord, the great Adonai is in the camp of my defenders. Here was a greater champion than any of the three mighties, or than all the valiant men who chose David for their captain. The psalmist was very confident, he felt so thoroughly that his heart was on the Lord's side that he was sure God was on his side. He asked in the first verse for deliverance, and here he returns thanks for upholding: while we are seeking one mercy which we have not, we must not be unmindful of another which we have. It is a great mercy to have some friends left us, but a greater mercy still to see the Lord among them, for like so many cyphers our friends stand for nothing till the Lord sets himself as a great unit in the front of them. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. Behold, says he, I produce a certain fact, well known, demonstrated by a new proof, and worthy of all attention; for the particle behold, contains this breadth of meaning. Hermann Venema. Ver. 4. Christ sees with the utmost clearness, that God will be his own helper, and of them--the disciples and believers-- that uphold his soul. In the same moment, does he foresee the destruction of his enemies. He views, in thought, the armies of Titus, the fall of the Jewish nation, and the dispersion of the remnant. He beholds the avenging hand of God, stretched in fury over the destroyers. William Hill Tucker. Ver. 4. (second clause). Such as take part with the persecuted saints, God will take part with them! The Lord is with them that uphold my soul. David Dickson. Ver. 4-5. He is assured of help to himself and to his friends, and of vengeance to his enemies. Whence learn, 1. Fervent prayer hath readily a swift answer, and sometimes wonderfully swift, even before a man have ended speech, as here David findeth in experience. Behold, saith he, God is my helper. 2. The sight of faith is very clear and piercing through all clouds when God holds forth the light of his Spirit unto it, it can demonstrate God present in an instant; ready to help in greatest straits: Behold, God is my helper. 3. There is more joy in God's felt presence than grief in felt trouble; for, Behold, God is mine helper, was more comfortable to David than his friends' unkindness, and strangers' malice was grievous. David Dickson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. A theme for wonder. 1. At his unmerited grace, that he should side with me. 2. At his gracious power, for who can resist him? 3. At his practical help, for he has upheld my soul. Psalms 54:5* Ver. 5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies. They worked for evil, and they shall have their wages. It cannot be that malice should go unavenged. It were cruelty to the good to be lenient to their persecutors. It is appointed, and so it must ever be, that those who shoot upward the arrows of malice shall find them fall upon themselves. The recoil of their own gun has often killed oppressors. Cut them off in thy truth. Not in ferocious revenge is this spoken, but as an Amen to the sure sentence of the just Judge. Let the veracity of thy threatenings be placed beyond dispute, the decree is right and just, let it be fulfilled. It is not a private desire, but the solemn utterance of a military man, a grossly injured man, a public leader destined to be a monarch, and a man well trained in the school of Moses, whose law ordains eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 54:4" for further information. Ver. 5. Cut them off. He desires that God would destroy them with a death dealing blow, which is the force the word tmu contains; its primitive sense is to be silent, to keep silence, whence it is transferred to a stroke penetrating deeply and striking fatally, such as is called a silent blow, opposed to a sounding one, which is wont to rebound and not pierce deeply. Hermann Venema. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 54:6* Ver. 6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee. Spontaneously will I bring my freewill offerings. So certain is he of deliverance that he offers a vow by anticipation. His overflowing gratitude would load the altars of God with victims cheerfully presented. The more we receive, the more we ought to render. The spontaneousness of our gifts is a great element in their acceptance; the Lord loveth a cheerful giver. I will praise thy name, O Lord. As if no amount of sacrifice could express his joyful feelings, he resolves to be much in vocal thanksgiving. The name which he invoked in prayer (Psalms 54:1), he will now magnify in praise. Note how roundly he brings it out: O Jehovah. This is ever the grand name of the revealed God of Israel, a name which awakens the most sublime sentiments, and so nourishes the most acceptable praise. None can praise the Lord so well as those who have tried and proved the preciousness of his name in seasons of adversity. The psalmist adds, for it is good, and surely we may read this with a double nominative, God's name is good, and so is his praise. It is of great use to our souls to be much in praise; we are never so holy or so happy as when our adoration of God abounds. Praise is good in itself, good to us, and good to all around us. If David's enemies are described in Psalms 54:3 as not setting God before them, he here declares that he is of a different mind from them, for he resolves to have the Lord in perpetual remembrance in his sacrifices and praises. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6. I will freely sacrifice unto thee. He would sacrifice freely: by which he does not allude to the circumstance, that sacrifices of thanksgiving were at the option of worshippers, but to the alacrity and cheerfulness with which he would pay his vow when he had escaped his present dangers. John Calvin. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6. We should sacrifice voluntarily, liberally, joyfully, continuously, with pure motive. Ver. 6. The goodness of praising the good name. Psalms 54:7* Ver. 7. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble. Up to that time deliverance had come, and for that danger also he felt that rescue was near. David lived a life of dangers and hair breadth escapes, yet he was always safe. In the retrospect of his very many deliverances he feels that he must praise God, and looking upon the mercy which he sought as though it were already received, he sang this song over it-- "And a new song is in my mouth, To long loved music set, Glory to thee for all the grace I have not tasted yet." Out of all trouble our covenant God is pledged to bring us, and therefore even now let us uplift the note of triumph unto Jehovah, the faithful preserver of them that put their trust in him. Thus far have we proved his promise good; he changes not, and therefore in all the unknown future he will be equally our guardian and defence, "showing himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." And mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies. He knew that yet he should look on his haughty foes, gazing down on them in triumph as now they looked on him in contempt. He desired this as a matter of justice, and not of personal pique. His righteous soul exulted because he knew that unprovoked and gratuitous malice would meet with a righteous punishment. Could we keep out of our hearts all personal enmity as fully as the psalmist did in this Psalm, we might yet equally feel with him a sacred acquiescence and delight in that divine justice which will save the righteous and overthrow the malicious. In closing, let us trust that if we are as friendless as this man of God, we may resort in prayer as he did, exercise the like faith, and find ourselves ere long singing the same joyous hymn of praise. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 7. Mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies. Or, mine eye hath looked upon mine enemies; that is, he was able to meet them without terror. Samuel Davidson, D.D., 1852. Ver. 7. The reader will note that the words his desire are supplied by our translators, and are not in the original text. C. H. S. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 7. (first clause). The exclamation of the newly pardoned penitent, the cry of the delivered saint, the song of the ripe Christian, the shout of the glorified believer. To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David. It needed the chief musician to sing such a Psalm as this; it is so full of sorrow, and yet so full of confidence in God. It is a Psalm upon the stringed instruments, and it sings not of man only, but of that Son of man — that greatest of men, who was also greatest in grief as greatest in faith. Maschil: that is, “instructive,” “full of teaching.” The experience of one child of God is instructive to another, and especially the experience of the great First-born among many brethren. A Psalm of David — David, that many-sided man, who seemed not one, but “all mankind’s epitome.” Who has not found his own experience when he has read the Psalms of David? It is a looking-glass — this Book of Psalms — which reflects us all. See how he begins.Psalms 55:1. Give ear to my prayer, O God;All the saints pray. There is no exception to this rule. And in their times of trouble they pray with greater vehemence than ever. They delight in prayer. But observe how eager they are that God should hear them. It is not praying for praying’s sake — for the use of good words only. “Give ear to my prayer, O God.”Psalms 55:1. And hide not thyself from my supplication.When a man passes by his fellow in his distress, he is said to hide himself. O God, do not pass me by, When thou hearest my plaintive voice, do not hurry on and leave me to my woes. Forget not, beloved, that our Lord Jesus Christ did suffer the hidings of God’s face. You and I may trust that in our hour of prayer we shall not have to do so. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” But even if we should have to drink of that cup, better lips than ours have tasted its bitterness long ago.Psalms 55:2. Attend unto me, and hear me:That is three times he thus implores God to give him a hearing. It reminds me of that Gethsemane pleading of our Lord when thrice he prayed using the same words. Here David begins — makes his exordium in prayer with a threefold cry to God. “Give ear to me; hide not thyself from me; attend unto my prayer, and hear me.”Psalms 55:2. I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;Sometimes prayer is scarcely articulate. “I make a noise.” He was very free with God. He spoke out his heart as best his heart would speak, and he seemed to ramble. I believe that some of our sweetly-composed prayers have no prayer in them, and some of our broken petitions are those that reach the heart of God. “Groanings that cannot be uttered” are prayers that cannot be refused. There may be most strength in the passion of the soul when there is least order in the expression of the soul. “I mourn in my complaints, and make a noise.”Psalms 55:3. Because of the voice of the enemy,He can speak, and speak clearly too. Malice is never short of language, “because of the voice of the enemy.”Psalms 55:3. Because of the oppression of the wicked:The best men have often been the most oppressed of men. Men have often spoken worst of those who have deserved the best. David is in that plight, and so was our Lord. He, too, knew the voice of the enemy and the oppression of the wicked.Psalms 55:3. For they cast iniquity upon me,They bespatter me with their mire; they slander me. They speak evil of my good.Psalms 55:3. And in wrath they hate me.It is the old story. The seed of the serpent naturally hates the seed of the woman. Even our Lord had a bruised heel. Know ye not that Ishmael persecutes Isaac, the child of the promise? All down history there runs this line — the mark of blood and suffering. It must be so, “for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.”Psalms 55:4. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.I suppose that David may have written this after he had been driven out of Jerusalem by the party under the leadership of his son Absalom and Ahithophel. When it is all over he sings his song of dolour, and yet of confidence before his God. You know that our Lord Jesus Christ could use this language with very great emphasis. “My heart is sore pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me” — as if mid-night came down upon his soul — came down from God. “Are fallen upon me.” Descended therefore; and those are the heaviest of griefs which seem to come down just when we expected that showers of mercy would come down. Our Saviour knew what this meant.Psalms 55:5-6. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.If he could not have the wings of an eagle to fight out the conflict, he begged for the wings of a dove to fly from it. But what would you and I be if we had wings? Where could we go if we had wings, but, like the dove of Noah, fly to the Lord? And we can get there without wings, brethren. We can get there by faith in him. It is a vain wish, then, and yet how many have sighed: — “Oh! for a lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity of shade, Where rumor of oppression and deceit might never reach me more.” Ah! we sigh for solitude, and when we get solitude we sigh to get out of it.Psalms 55:7. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.Why, David had been in the wilderness, and then he sighed to get back to the temple of God; but such foolish creatures are we at our very wisest that we know not what we sigh for. It was good for David that he had not wings, and it is good for you that you cannot run away. God has made you no armor for your back because you must go forward. Long ago he burnt our boats. We cannot return. We must “forward” now to the eternal victories in his strength.Psalms 55:8. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.But he that would fly away from slander must fly very fast. How can we escape it? That cruel tongue, that wicked tongue walks through the earth and smites with its sword the best of God’s people. Now, like a soldier, David prays as his Master would never pray.Psalms 55:9. Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.That was not a bad prayer, for God heard it. He did divide their tongues. The counsels of the wicked were put to naught, and so they made a mistake, and David escaped through their divisions. I see not how a king driven from his throne and hunted by rebels, can pray differently from this. If he be a warrior and fights at all, he must wish for victory. Yet let me remind you that these verses need not be read in the imperative, neither may they necessarily be understood to be prayers. They can be read as prophecies. “God will destroy and divide the tongues of the wicked.” The divisions of error are the hope of truth. God divides the tongues of those who use their tongues against his Word, and so his truth conquers.Psalms 55:10. Day and night they go about upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.Remember, Jerusalem was in the hands of a band of wicked men. Everywhere sin prevailed when David had quitted it.Psalms 55:11-12. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets. For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:Here you get to the center of David’s grief. Ahithophel had betrayed him, and here you begin to see the portrait of Christ coming out on the canvas. David seems to be painted first, and then there is painted an image of our Lord, which is seen here and there. “It was not an enemy; then I could have borne it.”Psalms 55:13. But it was thou,In the original it runs thus: “But thou.” The ardor of poetry is upon the Psalmist. He sees him: “Thou.” And he looks at him with indignation: “Thou.”Psalms 55:13-14. A man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.It is Ahithophel; it is Judas Iscariot; it is either; it is both. Oh! what a grief it is to be betrayed by one whom we have trusted, one whom we treated as our equal, one whom we followed as a trusted guide, one to whom we told our secret and linked our heart. “Mine acquaintance.” One whose friendship was sanctified by the sanctions of religion. “We took sweet counsel together, and walked to the house of God in company.” Have any of you had to suffer from this serpent’s tongue? Be not surprised. Your Master endured it before you. And now David bursts out in words of prayer, “Let death seize upon them. Let them go down quick into hell.”Psalms 55:15. Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.And this prayer also was heard, for Ahithephel was hanged with a rope, and Absalom without one; and their followers perished by thousands in the wood of Ephraim; and so God swept away the good man’s slanderers.Psalms 55:16. As for me,What would I do? Plot against their plots, and set cunning against their cunning? No, not I.Psalms 55:16-17. I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.He would pray often, but not too often. Where time sets her boundaries there are we to set up our altars: evening and morning, and at noon. It seems natural that our undertakings should be begun, continued, and ended in God, and that each day. Oh! pray much when your enemies plot much. If, morning, noon, and evening, they are seeking your ill, then just as often seek you good from God. How beautifully he puts it. “He shall hear my voice.” He does not pray at a peradventure. He is certain that prayer will come up to God. Yea, more than that, he anticipates a blessing; he foresees, nay, he sees the blessing. To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam (a golden Psalm) of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath.Psalms 56:1-2. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up: he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. David was in such peril from man that he cried to God to come to our rescue. Man was merciless to him, so he prayed, “Be merciful unto me, O God.” His enemies were many and mighty, so he appealed to the One who was almighty; who could destroy them, or put them all to flight.Psalms 56:3. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.He is a happy man who can trust in God when he is afraid, but he is still happier who can say, “I will trust, and not be afraid.”Psalms 56:4. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.The trusting soul is a singing soul, and it soon becomes a courageous soul. Faith in God drives out the fear of man: “In God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”Psalms 56:5-6. Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps when they wait for my soul.David had many enemies, Saul, Doeg the Edomite, the Philistines, and some even in his own household, but all their malice and craft were in vain since the Lord was on his side. We too have enemies who wrest our words, whose thoughts against us are evil, who lay traps for us, and lie in ambush to take us unawares; but we need not fear any of them, not even the great adversary himself, if we are trusting in the Lord.Psalms 56:7. Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.?They sought to cast him down, so he prayed to the Lord to cast them down, and we know how graciously the Lord answered his supplication.Psalms 56:8. Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?David was such a wanderer at that time that he might not remember all the places where he had hidden away from Saul, but God had a record of them, and even of his tears: “are they not in thy book?” There is nothing that concerns the Lord’s chosen people that is not noted and remembered by him.Psalms 56:9. When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.David’s confidence in God was not misplaced, he who can truthfully say, “God is for me,” need not fear however many may be against him.Psalms 56:10-11. In God will I praise his word: in the LORD will I praise his word.In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. He repeats the declarations he made in verse 4; such holy confidence may rightly be published again and again. It is most pleasing and honouring to the Lord, and it is most likely to lead other tried believers to follow such a worthy example. The praising and trusting man fears not what man can do unto him.Psalms 56:12. Thy vows are upon me, O God I will render praises unto thee.David had not forgotten the vows that he had made unto the Lord. Vows should not be lightly made; but, once made, they should be sacredly remembered, and faithfully performed.Psalms 56:13. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?So the Psalm ends, as it began, with prayer, a prayer that was most graciously answered, as we can see if we turn to Psalms 116:8-9 : “Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtaim of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave. This is one of the “Destroy not” Psalms; for that is the meaning of the title, Altaschith, which is used here, and in Psalms 58, 59, and 75. Michtam of David. David’s golden Psalm, “when he fled from Saul in the cave.” In this Psalm we see the calmness of David’s heart when he was in great peril. He was a man of peace; and to be hunted cruelly, as he was by Saul, greatly pained him. Yet, with all the sensitiveness of his nature, he did not fall into unbelief; for his sensitiveness was balanced by his confidence in his God. You will see how, greatly as he was afflicted, he was greatly strengthened.Psalms 57:1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me:He pleads twice; for his was an urgent case. He would have the Lord help him at once; for, perhaps, if the Lord’s mercy came not to him at once, it would be too late; so he cried, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me.”Psalms 57:1. For my soul trusteth in thee:This is the feather on the arrow of prayer that guides it straight to the heart of God. This is the condition attached to the promise, “According to your faith be it unto thee.” If you can truly plead that your soul is trusting in God, you may be assured that he will not deny you his mercy.Psalms 57:1. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.What a sweet realization there is here of the power of God to protect him! Just as the little chick hides beneath the mother’s wing, and knows no fear, so says David, “in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge.” There was no refuge to be seen; but David does not ask to see; an unseen God is all that faith wants. If it be only a shadow, yet the shadow of Jehovah’s wings is substantial enough for our confidence: “In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.” They will be overpast; the worst calamity will not last forever. We shall think differently of these rough times by-and-by; we ought not to give up in despair, and cast away our confidence while we are in the thick of the fight. Until the calamities are overpast, it should be our joy to run under God’s protecting wings, and hide ourselves securely there.Psalms 57:2. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.Faith is never dumb; true faith is a crying faith. If thou hast a confidence in God of such a kind that thou dost not need to pray, get rid of it; for it is of no use to thee; it is a false confidence, it is presumption. Only a crying faith will be a prevailing faith. “I will cry unto God most high:” the very height and sublimity of God is an attraction to faith; for though he is so high, he can and will stoop. Though God is so high, he can lift me up above the storm; for he is above it himself, and he can set me above it, too. “I will cry unto God most high;” and David sweetly adds, “unto God that performeth for me.” The translators have inserted the words, “all things”, and very properly, too; but David leaves, as it were, a gap, so that we may fill in anything that we please. Thus do we- “Sing the sweet promise of his grace, And the performing God.” He is not one who gives us promises, and then puts us off without the thing promised; but he fulfils the promises he has made, he is the Faithful Promiser: “God that performeth for me.”Psalms 57:3. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. If he cannot find any means upon earth for saving David, he will send from heaven to do it; but he will save him. God is sure to find an ark for his Noahs if the floods should cover the whole earth; and when they cannot be preserved any longer on the earth, he will catch them away to himself in heaven; but he will surely take care of his own: “He shall send from heaven, and save me.” If there were only one of his people in danger, he would rend the heavens in order to save him: “He shall send from heaven and save me,” not only from the danger to my life, but from danger to my character: “from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.” Often, the enemies of the righteous are so fierce and cruel that they would, like some huge python, swallow up the godly man, devour him, make an end of him, make one meal of him, if they could; but God will not allow them to do so. He will send from heaven, and deliver us from the reproach of them that would swallow us up.Psalms 57:3. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.The Psalmist had only prayed for mercy; twice he had said, “Be merciful unto me.” But God always answers us more largely than we ask in our prayers; he does exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think. So his truth comes with his mercy, as a double guard to protect his people: “God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.”Psalms 57:4. My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.Yet, notice that David says, “I lie” there, that is the emphatic word; and the force of that word conveys this idea, “I recline there; I feel at ease, notwithstanding the danger of my position; I recline, and rest, even among them that are set on fire.” Oh, the calm confidence of the faith that forgets the adversary when once she has hidden herself under the shadow of Jehovah’s wings! The description given of ungodly persecutors is very strong: “whose teeth are spears and arrows.” Their mouth seems to contain a deadly armoury; they have no molars to grind their food, they are all canine teeth, cruel, cutting. You must know some such critical spirits, that seem to be all teeth, and whose every tooth is a spear or an arrow. But their tongue is worse than their teeth, for it is not only a sword, but “a sharp sword”, a sharpened sword. Oh, how tongues will cut and wound! You may heal the cut of a sword; but who shall heal the cut of a deadly, cruel, malicious, slanderous tongue? Yet for all that, David was not dismayed, but he said, “I lie down among such men, my soul is among lions.” Like Daniel among the lions, so does this man of God take his night’s rest, as calmly as though he were sleeping in his own bed at home.Psalms 57:5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.David so rises above his present circumstances that he begins to praise his God. O beloved, there is no condition in which God ought to be robbed of a song! What if I am sick? Yet my Lord must have my music, even if the harp-strings are not well tuned. What if I am poor? Yet why should I be poor towards him, and deny him my need of praise? What if I am busy? Yet I must still find time for praising him. How sweetly David seeks to exalt and glorify his God, “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.”Psalms 57:6. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves.They hunted him as they spread a snare for a bird, or as they sought to entrap a wild beast by digging a pit, and covering it over that he might stumble into it. David scarcely has time to tell us of their devices before he discovers that their plans have come to nought: “they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves.” You may go calmly on, my persecuted friend, for those who seek to do the righteous hurt, will only hurt themselves; their bows shall be broken, their arrows shall fall back into their own bosoms. Only be thou still, and let the wicked alone; let God fight for thee, and do thou hold thy peace.Psalms 57:7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.That is enough for me, I will not stop my singing for all my adversaries. Let them howl like lions, I will sing on. Let them dig their pits, I will sing on. I find this my best employment, to keep on praising my God. “All that remains for me, Is but to love and sing, And wait until the angels come, To bear me to the King.”Psalms 57:8. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. My tongue, the glory of my frame, be not thou silent! Bestir thyself! “I myself will awake early,” or, “I will awake the dawning.” I will call the sun up to be shining; I will bid him wake to shine to the honour of my Lord. With the earliest birds I will make one more singer in the great concert-hall of God. I will not want more rest, or a longer time to myself to consider all my troubles, I will give my best time, the first hour of the day, to the praise of my God.Psalms 57:9. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.I will make the Gentiles hear it. They that know not the Lord shall be astonished when they hear me praising him, and they shall ask, “Who is this God of whom this man makes so much?”Psalms 57:10-11. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exulted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.God give us that same calm praiseful frame of mind that David possessed if we are called to endure such trials as fell to his lot! Let me say, before we begin our reading, that the 108th Psalm is made up partly of the 60th and partly of the 57th; yet we are sure that the Holy Spirit is not short of language, so that he needs to repeat himself. It is always a pity to think that any portion of Scripture can be tautology. It cannot be; there is some good reason for every repetition; and you will see that, in the two Psalms, which we are about to read, the latter part of the 57th coincides with the first part of the 108th; and that, in the 57th Psalm, we have prayer and praise, and, in the 108th, we have praise and prayer. It is well that we should see how these two holy exercises can change places, — so that, sometimes, we begin with prayer, and pray ourselves up into praise, and, at other times, we begin with praise, and find in it the strength we need to aid us in prayer.Psalms 57:7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.Let the lions open their cruel mouths, and roar, and let wicked men, “whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword, do their worst against me; let my every footstep be among the nets and pits that they have set and dug to catch me; even in the midst of danger, ‘my heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I still sing and give praise.’”Psalms 57:8. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.“I will awake the dawn,” — so the Hebrew has it; — “I will wake up the morning and chide it for being so long in opening its eyes to look upon God’s works. David did this, notwithstanding all the trials of his surrounding circumstances. He calls on his “glory” — perhaps he means his tongue, — possibly, his poetic faculty, — perchance, his musical skill, — it may be that he means his intellect, — whatever his “glory” is, he calls upon his highest powers to awake to praise his God. Then he takes his psaltery and harp, — strange companions for a man whose soul is among lions but saints know how to evoke sweetest music even when their enemies are fighting fiercely against them; — and he sings, —Psalms 57:9-11. I will praise thee, O lord, among the people: I will sing unto the among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above all the earth.Have not some of you found God’s mercy to be “great unto the heavens”? It even seemed to reach above the heavens; and as for God’s truth, you followed it till you could follow it no further, for it had ascended above the clouds. We could scarcely, I think, ever expect to understand here all the truth which God has pleased to let us hear or read. It reaches “unto the clouds,” and there we must leave it for the present. When God ceases to reveal anything, we may cease to inquire concerning it. I saw, in Florence, a picture of “The Sleeping Saviour.” He is represented as sleeping in the manger at Bethlehem, and the artist depicts the angels hovering round him, with their fingers on their lips as though they would not wake him from his holy slumbers. So, when God bids truth sleep, do not try to wake it. There is enough revealed for thee to know, and more that thou wilt know by-and-by, so, pry not between the folded leaves; but wait your Lord’s appointed time to teach you more of his will. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 57:7-11; Psalms 108, Psalms 581. To the Chief Musician. Al-tashheth. By David. Michtam. See above, on Psalms 57:1. The Psalmist complains of unjust, spiteful, hardened enemies, Psalms 58:1-5, and prays that their power may be broken, Psalms 58:6-11). The contents of the psalm agree with its title in shewing that it belongs to the period of Saul's persecutions, when David had to contend with unjust rulers, who were at the same time his personal enemies. But although suggested by his own experience, the psalm was designed for permanent and public use, and is therefore inscribed to the Chief Musician. 2. (Psalms 58:1). Are ye indeed dumb (when) ye (should) speak righteousness (and) judge equitably, sons of man? The first words are exceedingly obscure. One of them, not expressed in English and the ancient versions, means dumbness, as in Psalms 56:1, and seems to be here used as a strong expression for entirely speechless. In what respect they were thus dumb, is indicated by the verb which follows, but the connection can be made clear in English only by a circumlocution. The interrogation, are ye indeed, expresses wonder, as at something scarcely credible, Can it be so? Is it possible? Are you really silent, you whose very office is to speak for God and against the sins of men? See Deuteronomy 1:16-17. That the speaking here meant is judicial speaking, appears from the more specific parallel expression. The word translated equitably is a plural noun meaning equities or rectitudes. See above, on Psalms 17:2. Strictly understood, it is not a qualifying term, but the object of the verb judge, as in the other clause righteousness is governed directly by the verb speak. The address to them as sons of man reminds them of their own dependence and responsibility. 3. (Psalms 58:2). Nay, in heart, iniquities ye practise; in the land, the violence of your hands ye weigh. The particle at the beginning is, as usual, emphatic, meaning not only this but something more. See above, Psalms 18:48; Psalms 44:9. Not contented with neglecting their official functions, they were guilty of positive injustice. The Hebrew for iniquities is the plural of a word. used in Psalms 37:1; Psalms 43:1, and denotes various acts of injustice. The future forms (ye will do, ye will weigh) implies an obstinate persistency in evil. To do or practise wickedness in heart may mean to plan or contrive it, as in Micah 2:1, leaving the execution to be inferred as a matter of course. Or the phrase may be translated with the heart, i.e. cordially, ex anima, con amore, or to use an idiomatic English expression with a will. The first words of the last clause, in the land, may seem, from their position, to be in contrast with the phrase in heart; but the antithesis, if any, is between the heart and hands, and in the land suggests the aggravating circum-stance, that all this was practised by persons in authority under the theocracy, among the chosen people. Violence, violent injustice. See above, on Psalms 55:9. The last verb in this sentence means to level or make even, and in that sense is repeatedly applied to paths. See Isaiah 26:7, Proverbs 4:26, v. 6, 21. But as the derivative noun means a lance (Proverbs 16:11, Isaiah 40:12), the verb may here denote the act of weighing, levelling the balance, rendering it even, which some, without necessity, ascribe to it in several of the places above cited, where its constant combination with a way or path seems to exclude the idea of weighing as incongruous, and to require that of smoothing or levelling as peculiarly appropriate. This last might be retained even here, and the metaphor be understood to mean that they facilitated or promoted violence (or prepared its way); but the sense of weighing is equally appropriate, and agrees well with the favourite idea of the scales of justice, which is found not only in the classics but in Scripture. See Job 31:6. The meaning then is, that. these wicked rulers, instead of weighing out justice to their subjects, weighed out, administered, dispensed, the most violent injustice, and that, too, devised and practised by themselves. 4. (Psalms 58:3). Estranged are the wicked from the womb; they go astray from, (their) birth, speaking lies. The first verb in Hebrew is not a passive but a neuter form, denoting the condition of estrangement, alienation, from God and from all goodness. The wicked thus described are the whole class, of which his persecutors formed a part. The preterite tense is used in the original (were estranged, went astray) on account of the retrospective reference to the beginning of life. The verb translated go astray is one frequently applied to moral aberrations. From their birth, literally from the belly. See above, Psalms 22:10. Speaking lies, or with closer adherence to the form of the original, speakers of falsehood, i.e. habitual liars. The other version seems to mean that they begin to lie as soon as they are born, a hyperbolical expression, of which some interpreters relieve the sentence by making this the subject of the proposition and parallel to wicked in the other clause. Speakers of falsehood go astray from (their) birth. In this description of the wicked there is nothing inconsistent with the doctrine of universal depravity, as recognised in Psalms 14:1; Psalms 51:5 above, and in Genesis 8:21, Job 14:4, because the holiness of some men is a mere exception to the general rule, produced by the distinguishing grace of God, which frees them from the paramount influence of that corruption to which others still continue subject. 5., 6. (Psalms 58:4-5). There is poison to them like the poison of a serpent, as a deaf adder stops its ear, which will not hearken to the voice of enchanters, of (one) charming charms, (of one) most wise. The first words are equivalent to the English construction, they have poison, The Hebrew noun originally signifies heat, and especially the heat of anger, in which sense it repeatedly occurs above, Psalms 6:1; Psalms 37:8; Psalms 38:1. The same sense is retained here by the ancient versions (furor), and agrees well with the popular idea of vindictive spite, as a natural instinct of this class of animals. But most interpreters explain the word, here and in Deuteronomy 32:24, as meaning venom, animal poison, so called from its inflammatory effects upon the person bitten. The Hebrew phrase translated like means strictly after (or according to) the likeness of. Compare its use in Genesis 1:26. It may be here employed, instead of the simple particle of comparison, for the sake of emphasis, as we say like, but more emphatically just like. As to the species of serpent mentioned in the second clause of Psa 58:4, all that is necessary to a correct interpretation of the verse is to understand it as denoting a variety regarded as peculiarly malignant, and therefore resisting the incantations by which other species were subdued, especially in Egypt. See the allusions to this practice in Ecclesiastes 10:11, Jeremiah 8:17. This clause admits of a different construction, like the deaf adder he stops his ear, which some interpreters prefer because an adder cannot stop its ears, and need not stop them if naturally deaf, whereas it is by stopping his that the wicked man becomes like a deaf adder. The word translated enchanters properly means whisperers or mutterers, in allusion to familiar practices of the ancient wizards. Charming charms, laying spells, or as the Hebrew words are commonly supposed to signify originally, tying knots with a magical design. The last word in Psalms 58:5, is a passive participle, analogous to our word learned, and here meaning skilful. The English versions and the Vulgate make it an adverb (sapienter, never so wisely); but the Septuagint and Jerome give it its proper meaning as an adjective, in which case it is probably in apposition with the nouns preceding, and connected in like manner with the voice of the first clause. The general idea of the verse, however construed, is that the malice of his enemies is stubborn and inexorable. 7. (Psalms 58:6). O God, crush their teeth in their mouth; the grinders of the young lions shatter, O Jehovah! The complaint is now followed by a prayer, that these ferocious enemies may be disarmed and disabled. This idea is expressed by the use of the same figure as in Psalms 3:7, that of wild beasts rendered harmless by the breaking of their teeth. Compare Job 29:17, Hence in the last clause they are expressly called lions. See above, Psalms 57:4. Young lions, not mere whelps, from which they are distinguished in Ezekiel 19:2-3, but full-grown lions, in the first maturity of their strength, and therefore more to be dreaded than when older or younger. See above, Psalms 17:12; Psalms 34:10; Psalms 35:17. The Hebrew verbs in this verse are peculiarly expressive, and, though wholly unconnected with each other, are both used elsewhere to express the ideas of violently breaking, breaking down, breaking out, breaking off, and breaking through. See Exodus 15:7; Exodus 19:21, Leviticus 14:45, Judges 6:30, 1 Kings 18:30. 8. (Psalms 58:7). Let them melt away as waters, let them go their way; let him bend his arrows, as if they were cut off. The optative meaning of these features seems to be determined by the imperatives in Psalms 58:6. There is nothing ungrammatical, however, in retaining the strict future sense, and regarding the verse as an expression of strong confidence as to the event. The first verb elsewhere has the sense of being rejected with contempt, and is so used in Ps. 15:9; but as two of its radical letters coincide with those of a verb meaning to be melted, most interpreters prefer this sense. The other might, however, be retained, and the phrase explained to mean that they should be east aside as water, and especially as filthy water, is rejected. Go their way, literally go to their or to themselves. Some understand it to mean for themselves, i. e. for their own benefit, their destruction being represented, by a sort of irony, as all that they have gained by their hostility. Compare the use of the same phrase in Psalms 64:5; Psalms 66:6. In the next clause, most interpreters assume a sudden change of number, such as frequently occurs in speaking of an ideal person representing a plurality of real individuals. See above, on Psalms 58:3; Psalms 58:6. He (i.e. the enemy) shall bend his arrows, literally tread them, i. e. bend by treading on them. This expression is applicable strictly to the bow, and it is so applied repeatedly above. See Psalms 7:12; Psalms 11:2; Psalms 37:14. Having thus acquired the secondary sense of fitting, making ready, it is transferred from the bow to the arrows, not only here but in Psalms 64:3, below. If the last verb be construed with the arrows as its subject, they would seem to be described as blunted or deprived of their points, and the meaning of the clause is, that the weapons of the enemy take no effect. The whole clause, however, will admit of a different construction, which refers the singular verb and pronoun to God himself, and the plural verb to these rebellious sinners. Let him bend his arrows,as if they were cut off, i.e. so that they may be cut off. Notwithstanding the obscurity of this clause, the connection is preserved unbroken by the obvious meaning of the other. 9. (Psalms 58:8). As a snail melts, let him go; (like) the untimely birth of a woman, they have not beheld the sun. The idea of speedy and entire disappearance is still more strongly expressed here. The meaning of the word translated snail rests upon rabbinical tradition and a doubtful etymology. The point of comparison may relate to some popular belief or to some apparent idiosyncrasy in this class of animals, perhaps to the idea of its losing a portion of its body by locomotion. The. next noun primarily signifies what falls from the tree, unripe fruit, and is then transferred to animal abortions. The past tense in the last clause seems to mark it as a kind of reflection introduced into the midst of the prayer. "So far from living too long, as I feared, they seem scarcely to have lived at all." 10. (Psalms 58:9). Before your pots can feel the thorn, whether raw or done, he will blow him away. This is one of the obscurest and most difficult verses in the book, and yet the general idea is sufficiently clear. The he in the lastclause relates to God, the him to his wicked enemy. The verb translated blow away means properly to storm away, or carry away with (or like) a tempest. The rapidity of this movement is expressed by a familiar comparison. Your pots, your vessels used in cooking. The address seems to be to the sinners, afterwards referred to as a single person. Feel, perceive the heat. Compare Job 6:30. The thorn, used as fuel, kindles quickly and immediately burns out, so that this comparison suggests the idea of a very sudden change. The singular expression which follows literally means as (well) living as heat; but as the adjective is elsewhere used to signify raw, not cooked (1 Samuel 2:15), the noun joined with it may be taken in the opposite sense of cooked or done. This may be a proverbial expression, borrowed from the dialect of common life, to convey the idea of a sudden change, which waits for nothing, but carries men away in the midst of their employments. This, though still an unusual form of speech, will seem less unnatural if we suppose the process of cooking to be here used as a figure for the plots and devices of the enemy, a metaphor by no means far-fetched or unknown to other writers. The idea, then, is that while these devices, so to speak, are cooking, the cooks are snatched away by a superior power, without caring whether the operation is complete or not. "Before the seething pot of your contrivances begins to feel the quickly kindled heat which you apply to it, the tempest of divine wrath carries you away, whether your mess be cooked or raw." 11. (Psalms 58:10). Rejoice shall the righteous, because he has seen vengeance; his steps he shall bathe in the blood of the wicked. The vengeance in which he shall rejoice is not his own, but God's, in the vindication of whose righteousness and honour all holy beings must rejoice for ever, although not in the suffering of those who perish. The same idea is expressed more strongly in the last clause by a martial figure. To bathe his feet (or rather his steps) in the blood of others is to walk where their blood is flowing, to tread the battle-field where they have fallen, to gain a sanguinary triumph over them, or rather it is to partake in the triumph of another. Thus one of the old commentators says that David washed his feet in Saul's blood, Elijah in Ahab's, Hezekiah in Sennacherib's, without any agency or share in their destruction, and without any selfish or malignant exultation in their ruin. Let it also be observed that in this, as in many like cases, the act is ascribed to an ideal person, and is therefore no example for our imitation. 12. (Psalms 58:11). And man shall say, Yes, there is fruit to the righteous; yes, here is a God judging in the earth. This shall be said, not by a man, nor by any particular man, but by men in general, by man as opposed to God. The particle translated yes really means only, and denotes that this and nothing else is true. See above, on Psalms 39:11. There is fruit to the righteous, or, in our idiom, he has fruit, i. e. he reaps what he has sown. Compare Isaiah 3:10-11. The very power that destroys his enemies is his protector. The idea of existence is expressed in the last clause, contrary to usage, and is therefore emphatic. THERE is, notwithstanding all denials, doubts, and false appearances, THERE is a God judging in the earth. Another unusual circumstance in this clause is, that not only the divine name, but the participle agreeing with it, is in the plural number. The same thing occurs in Joshua 24:19, 1 Samuel 17:26. In this case it may possibly be intended to suggest the idea, that although these earthly representatives of God are so unfaithful, there are, nevertheless, gods judging in the earth, i.e. one God, who possesses in himself the source of all the justice exercised by other beings. See above, on Psalms 11:7. VOLUME III - PREFACE This volume completes one half of my labour upon this priceless book, and my humble prayer is that I may be spared to conclude the other portion. So uncertain is human life, and so often have men's best designs remained unfinished, that I will press on with all diligence, lest, perhaps, the lamp of life should go out ere the writer has seen by its light the word FINIS at the conclusion of the last verse. This volume has cost more labour than any other, because upon the larger proportion of the Psalms contained in it no great writers have expatiated at length. Some six or seven of them are specially notable, and have, therefore, been expounded and preached upon on all hands, but the rest remain almost untrodden ground in sacred literature, hence the gathering of extracts has required a wider range of reading and far more laborious research. Where one author writes upon a portion of Scripture, all write, while other passages remain almost untouched. This has driven me very much more to the Latin authors, and in them to a vein of exposition very little worked in these days. The neglect of these voluminous expositors is, however, not very censurable, for as a rule the authors are rather heavy than weighty. "Art is long and life is short", hence I found myself unequal to the unaided accomplishment of my task, and I have had to call in the aid of my excellent friend Mr. Gracey, the accomplished classical tutor of "the Pastors' College", to assist me in the work of winnowing the enormous heaps of Latin comments. Huge folios, full of dreary word spinning, yield here and there a few goodly grains, and these, I trust, will be valuable enough to my readers to repay my coadjutor and myself for our pains. For the selection of extracts I alone am responsible, for the accuracy of the translations we are jointly accountable. The reader will note that not without much expense of money, as well as toil, he has here furnished to his hand the pith of Venema, Le Blanc, Lorinus, Gerhohus, Musculus, Martin Geier, Mollerus, and Simon de Muis; with occasional notes from Vitringa, Jansenius, Savonarola, Vatablus, Turrecremata, Marloratus, Palanterius, Theodoret, and others, as they were judged worthy of insertion. I can truly say that I have never flinched from a difficulty, or spared exertion in order to make the work as complete as it lay in my power to render it, either by my own endeavours or the help of others. My faithful amanuensis, Mr. Keys, has been spared to me, and has been a continual visitor at the British Museum, Lambeth Palace, Dr. Williams' Museum, and Sion College; and many have been the courtesies which, despite differences of creed, I have received in his person from those who are in authority in those treasures of literature; for all which I would now record my hearty thanks. No object has been before me but that of serving the church and glorifying God by doing this work right thoroughly. I cannot hope to be remunerated pecuniarily; if only the bare outlay be met I shall be well content, the rest is an offering to the best of Masters, whose word is meat and drink to those who study it. The enjoyment of the work is more than sufficient reward, and the hope of helping my brethren in their biblical studies is very sweet to me. The late increase of wages to printers, and the rise both in paper and binding, may compel an advance in the very low price charged for these volumes hitherto, but this shall not be made unless it becomes absolutely necessary to screen me from loss. As a larger sale will secure a return of my outlay, the matter is mainly in the hands of the public. Volume 1 being now in the third edition, and the second edition of Volume 2 being upon the press, I am led to hope that the present volume will also meet with a large and rapid sale; and if so, the old price may suffice to cover the outlay. My venerable friend, Mr. George Rogers, has furnished me with many hints for the notes to village preachers, and it is hoped that this portion of the work has been so improved that it will not be the least useful part of it. Testimonies received lead to the belief that in the two former volumes numerous students have found help in that department. There is no need to multiply words in this preface, but it is incumbent upon me to bless the Lord for help given, help daily and hourly sought while I have been occupied in this service; and it is also on my heart to ask a favourable mention of my volumes among their friends from those who kindly appreciate them. C.H. Spurgeon. Clapham, March, 1872. ere Psalms 58:1-11 To the Chief Musician. Although David had his own case in his mind's eye, yet he wrote not as a private person, but as an inspired prophet, and therefore his song is presented, for public and perpetual use, to the appointed guardian of the Temple psalmody. Altaschith. The wicked are here judged and condemned, but over the godly the sacred "Destroy not" is solemnly pronounced. Michtam of David. This is the fourth of the Psalms of the Golden Secret, and the second of the "Destroy nots." These names if they serve for nothing else may be useful to aid the memory. Men give names to their horses, jewels, and other valuables, and these names are meant not so much to describe as to distinguish them, and in some cases to set forth the owner's high esteem of his treasure; after the same fashion the Oriental poet gave a title to the song he loved, and so aided his memory, and expressed his estimation of the strain. We are not always to look for a meaning in these superscriptions, but to treat them as we would the titles of poems, or the names of tunes. . The ungodly enemy is accused, Psalms 58:1-5; judgment is sought from the judge, Psalms 58:6-8; and seen in prophetic vision as already executed, Psalms 58:9-11. Ver. 1. Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? The enemies of David were a numerous and united band, and because they so unanimously condemned the persecuted one, they were apt to take it for granted that their verdict was a right one. "What everybody says must be true, "is a lying proverb based upon the presumption which comes of large combinations. Have we not all agreed to hound the man to the death, and who dare hint that so many great ones can be mistaken? Yet the persecuted one lays the axe at the root by requiring his judges to answer the question whether or not they were acting according to justice. It were well if men would sometimes pause, and candidly consider this. Some of those who surrounded Saul were rather passive than active persecutors; they held their tongues when the object of royal hate was slandered; in the original, this first sentence appears to be addressed to them, and they are asked to justify their silence. Silence gives consent. He who refrains from defending the right is himself an accomplice in the wrong. Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? Ye too are only men though dressed in a little brief authority. Your office for men, and your relation to men both bind you to rectitude; but have ye remembered this? Have ye not put aside all truth when ye have condemned the godly, and united in seeking the overthrow of the innocent? Yet in doing this be not too sure of success, or ye are only the "sons of men, "and there is a God who can and will reverse your verdicts. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Title. The proper meaning of the root of Michtam is to engrave, or to stamp a metal. It therefore, in strictness, means, an engraving or sculpture. Hence in the Septuagint, it is translated sthlografia, an inscription on a column. I would venture to offer a conjecture in perfect harmony with this view. It appears by the titles of four out of these six Psalms, that they were composed by David while flying and hiding from the persecutions of Saul. What, then, should hinder us from imagining that they were inscribed on the rocks and on the sides of the caves which so often formed his place of refuge? This view would accord with the strict etymological meaning of the word, and explain the rendering of the Septuagint. John Jebb, in "A Literal Translation of the Book of Psalms, "1846. (See also Explanatory Notes on Psalms 6:1-10; Psalms 56:1-13. "Treasury of David", Vol. 1., pp. 222-23; Vol. 3, p. 40.) Whole Psalm. Kimchi says this Psalm was written on account of Abner, and the rest of Saul's princes, who judged David as a rebel against the government, and said it was for Saul to pursue after him to slay him; for if they had restrained him, Saul would not have pursued after him; and indeed they seem to be wicked judges who are addressed in this Psalm; do not destroy. Arama says, it declares the wickedness of Saul's judges. John Gill. Ver. 1. Are ye dumb (when) ye (should) speak righteousness (and) judge equitably, sons of men? The first words are exceedingly obscure. One of them mla, not expressed in the English, and the ancient versions, means dumbness, as in Psalms 61:1, and seems to be here used as a strong expression for entirely speechless. In what respect they were thus dumb, is indicated by the verb which follows, but the connection can be made clear in English only by a circumlocution. The interrogation, are ye indeed, expresses wonder, as at something scarcely credible. Can it be so? Is it possible? are you really silent, you, whose very office is to speak for God, and against the sins of men? Joseph Addison Alexander. Ver. 1. O congregation, O band, or company. The Hebrew alem, which hath the signification of binding as a sheaf or bundle, seemeth here to be a company that are combined or confederate. Henry Ainsworth. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 58:2* Ver. 2. Yea, in heart ye work wickedness. Down deep in your very souls ye hold a rehearsal of the injustice ye intend to practise, and when your opportunity arrives, ye wreak vengeance with a gusto; your hearts are in your wicked work, and your hands are therefore ready enough. Those very men who sat as judges, and pretended to so much indignation at the faults imputed to their victim, were in their hearts perpetrating all manner of evil. Ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. They were deliberate sinners, cold, calculating villains. As righteous judges ponder the law, balance the evidence, and weigh the case, so the malicious dispense injustice with malice aforethought in cold blood. Note in this verse that the men described sinned with heart and hand; privately in their heart, publicly in the earth; they worked and they weighed--they were active, and yet deliberate. See what a generation saints have to deal with! Such were the foes of our Lord, a generation of vipers, an evil and adulterous generation; they sought to kill him because he was righteousness itself, yet they masked their hatred to his goodness by charging him with sin. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2. In heart ye work wickedness, etc. The psalmist doth not say, they had wickedness in their heart, but that they did work it there: the heart is a shop within, an underground shop; there they did closely contrive, forge, and hammer out their wicked purposes, and fit them into actions; yea, they weighed the violence of their hands in the earth. That's an allusion to merchants, who buy and sell by weight; they weigh their commodity to an ounce; they do not give it out in gross, but by exact weight. This saith the psalmist, they weigh the violence of their hands; they do not oppress grossly, but with a kind of exactness and skill, they sit down and consider what and how much violence they may use in such a case, or how much such a person may endure, or such a season may bear. They are wiser than to do all at once, or all to one, lest they spoil all. They weigh what they do, though what they do be so bad that it will hold no weight when God comes to weigh it. Nor do they arrive at this skill presently, but after they have, as it were, served an apprenticeship at it; and they bind themselves to the trade very early; for as it follows at the third verse of the Psalm, The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies, that is, they are estranged both by nature and by early practice; they lose no time, they go to it young, even "as soon as they are born, "as soon as they are fit for any use, or to do any thing, they are using and setting themselves to do wickedly. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 2. The word twlwe wickedness properly signifies the inclinations of scales, when the scale weighs down to one side; then it is transferred to respect of persons, to injustice and iniquity, especially in public tribunals and decisions, as in Psalms 82:2, How long will ye judge lwe by an unjust inclination of the scales? Hermann Venema. Ver. 2. The principles of the wicked are even worse than their practices: premeditated violence is doubly guilty. George Rogers. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 58:3* Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb. It is small wonder that some men persecute the righteous seed of the woman, since all of them are of the serpent's brood, and enmity is set between them. No sooner born than alienated from God--what a condition to be found in! Do we so early leave the right track? Do we at the same moment begin to be men and commence to be sinners? They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Every observer may see how very soon infants act lies. Before they can speak they practise little deceptive arts. This is especially the case in those who grow up to be adept in slander, they begin their evil trade early, and there is no marvel that they become adept in it. He who starts early in the morning will go far before night. To be untruthful is one of the surest proofs of a fallen state, and since falsehood is universal, so also is human depravity. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb, etc. How early men do sin! How late they do repent! As soon as they are born "they go astray, "but if left to themselves they will not return till they die; they will never return. Children can neither go nor speak as soon as born, but as soon as born they can "go astray" and "speak lies; "that is, their first speaking is lying, and their first going is straying; yea, when they cannot go naturally, they can go astray morally or metaphorically: the first step they are able to take is a step out of the way. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 3. They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Of all sins, no sin can call Satan father like to lying. All the corruption that is in us came from Satan, but yet this sin of forging and lying is from the devil more than any; tastes of the devil more than any. Hence every man is a liar (Romans 3:4), and so every man is every sinner else; but in a special manner every man is a liar; for that the very first depravation of our nature came in by lying, and our nature doth taste much still of this old block to be given to lying, the devil also breathing into us a strong breath to stir us up to lying. Hence no sooner do we speak but we lie. As we are in body, subject to all diseases, but yet, some to one sickness rather than to another: so in the soul, all are apt enough to all sin, and some rather to one vice than to another; but all are much inclined to lying. A liar then is as like the devil as ever he can look: as unlike to God as ever he can be. Richard Capel, 1586-1656, in "Tentations, their Nature, Danger, Cure." Ver. 3. The figure of the wicked going astray as soon as they are born, seems to be taken from the disposition and power of a young serpent soon after its birth. The youngest serpent can convey poison to anything which it bites; and the suffering in all cases is great, though the bite is seldom fatal. Place a stick near the reptile whose age does not amount to many days, and he will immediately snap at it. The offspring of the tiger and of the alligator are equally fierce in their earliest habits. Joseph Roberts, in "Oriental Illustrations of the Sacred Scriptures, "1844. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. I. The natural effects of original sin are seen in early suffering and death. II. Its moral effects are seen in the early commission of actual sin. III. Early depravity is evinced in the conscious guilt of telling lies. G. R. Ver. 3. (first clause). The inner pandemonium, or the calendar of the heart's crime. Psalms 58:4* Ver. 4. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent. Is man also a poisonous reptile? Yes, and his venom is even as that of a serpent. The viper has but death for the body in his fangs; but unregenerate man carries poison under his tongue, destructive to the nobler nature. They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear. While speaking of serpents the psalmist remembers that many of them have been conquered by the charmer's art, but men such as he had to deal with no art could tame or restrain; therefore, he likens them to a serpent less susceptible than others to the charmer's music, and says that they refused to hear reason, even as the adder shuts her ear to those incantations which fascinate other reptiles. Man, in his natural corruption, appears to have all the ill points of a serpent without its excellences. O sin, what hast thou done! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. Poison. There is such a thing as poison; but where to be found? Ubicunque fuerit, in homine quis quaereret? Wheresoever it is, in man who would look for it? God made man's body of the dust; he mingled no poison with it. He inspires his soul from heaven; he breathes no poison with it. He feeds him with bread; he conveys no poison with it. Unde venenum? Whence is the poison? Matthew 13:27 --"Didst not thou, O Lord, sow good seed in thy field?" Unde zizaniae --"From whence then hath it tares?" Whence? Hoc fecit inimicus --"The enemy hath done this." We may perceive the devil in it. That great serpent, the red dragon, hath poured into wicked hearts this poison. His own poison, malitiam, wickedness. Cum infundit peccatum, infundit venenum --"When he pours in sin he pours in poison." Sin is poison. Original depravity is called corruption; actual poison. The violence and virulence of this venomous quality comes not at first. Nemo fit repente pessimus --No man becomes worst at the first dash. We are born corrupt, we have made ourselves poisonous. There be three degrees, as it were so may ages, in sin. First --secret sin; an ulcer lying in the bones, but skinned over with hypocrisy. Secondly --open sin, bursting forth into manifest villany. The former is corruption, the second is eruption. Thirdly --frequented and confirmed sin, and that is rank poison, envenoming soul and body. Thomas Adams, 1614. Ver. 4. Adder. Hebrew ntb pethen, the Egyptian cobra (Naja hage), one of the venomous Colubrine Snakes (Colubri). This is one of the so called hooded snakes, with which serpent charmers chiefly deal. The Spectacled Snake proper (Naja tripudians) is a closely related species. The well known Cobra di Capello is another. They are all noted for their deadly bite. The hollow fangs communicate with a poison gland, which being pressed in the act of biting, sends a few drops into the puncture. The venom quickly acts on the whole system, and death soon ensues. John Duns, D.D., in "Biblical Natural Science, "1868. Ver. 4. The deaf adder. Certain it is, says a modern writer upon the Psalms, that the common adder or viper here in England, the bite of which too, by the way, is very venomous, if it is not wholly deaf, has the sense of hearing very imperfectly. This is evident from the danger there is of treading upon these animals, unless you happen to see them; for if they do not see you, and you do not disturb them, they never endeavour to avoid you, which when they are disturbed and do see you, they are very solicitous of doing. Allowing, then, that there is a species of these noxious animals, which either not having the sense of hearing at all, or having it only in a low degree, may very well be said to be deaf; this may help to explain the present poetical passage of the psalmist. He very elegantly compares the pernicious and destructive practices of wicked men to the venom of a serpent; and his mentioning this species of animals, seems to have brought to his mind another property of at least one sort of them, in which they likewise resembled perverse and obstinate sinners, who are deaf to all advice, utterly irreclaimable, and not to be persuaded. This the adder resembled, which is a very venomous animal, and moreover is deaf, or very near it. And perhaps his saying that she stoppeth her ear, may be no more than a poetical expression for deafness; just as the mole, which in common speech is said to be blind, might in a poetical phrase, be said to shut her eyes; as in fact she does when you expose her to the light. The next clause, Which refuseth to hear, etc., is another poetical expression for the same thing. Samuel Burder, in "The Scripture Expositor, "1810. Ver. 4. The deaf adder. Several of the serpent tribe are believed to be either quite deaf, or very dull of hearing. Perhaps that which is called the puddeyan, the "beaver serpent, "is more so than any other. I have frequently come close up to these reptiles; but they did not make any effort to move out of the way. They lurk in the path, and the victim on whom they pounce will expire within a few minutes after he is bitten. Joseph Roberts. Ver. 4. The deaf adder. The adder, or asp, is the haje naja, or cobra of Egypt, according to Cuvier. The hearing of all the serpent tribes is imperfect, as all are destitute of a tympanic cavity, and of external openings to the ear. The deaf adder is not a particular species. The point of the rebuke is, the pathen, or "adder, "here in question, could hear in some degree but would not; just as the unrighteous judges, or persecutors, of David could hear with their outward ears such appeals as he makes in Psalms 58:1-2, but would not. The charmer usually could charm the serpent by shrill sounds, either of his voice or of the flute, the serpent's comparative deafness rendering it the more amenable to those sounds which it could hear. But exceptional cases occurred of a deaf adder which was deaf only in the sense that it refused to hear, or to be acted on. Also Jeremiah 8:17; compare Ecclesiastes 10:11. A. R. Fausset. Ver. 4. The deaf adder that stoppeth her ear. With respect to what is said of the animal's stopping its ears, it is not necessary to have recourse to the supposition of its actually doing so, which by some persons has been stated, but it is sufficient to know, that whilst some serpents are operated upon in the manner above described, others are partly or altogether insensible to the incantation. Richard Mant. Ver. 4. (second clause). This clause admits of a different construction, like the deaf adder he stops his ear, which some interpreters prefer, because an adder cannot stop its ears, and need not stop them if naturally deaf, whereas it is by stopping his, the wicked man becomes like a deaf adder. J. A. Alexander. Ver. 4-5. Experienced and skilful as the serpent charmers are, however, they do not invariably escape with impunity. Fatal terminations to these exhibitions of the psyllid art now and then occur; for there are still to be found "deaf adders, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely."... Roberts mentions the instance of a man who came to a gentleman's house to exhibit tame snakes, and on being told that a cobra, or hooded snake, was in a cage in the house, was asked if he could charm it; on his replying in the affirmative, the serpent was released from the cage, and no doubt, in a state of high irritation. The man began his incantation, and repeated his charms; but the snake darted at him, fastened upon his arm, and before night he was a corpse. Philip Henry Gosse, in "The Romance of Natural History, "1861. Ver. 4-5. One day a rattlesnake entered our encampment. Among us was a Canadian who could play the flute, and who, to divert us, marched against the serpent with his new species of weapon. On the approach of his enemy, the haughty reptile curls himself into a spiral line, flattens his head, inflates his cheeks, contracts his lips, displays his envenomed fangs and his bold throat; his tongue flows like two flames of fire; his eyes are burning coals; his body swollen with rage, rises and falls like the bellows of a forge; his dilated skin assumes a dull and scaly appearance; and his tail, whence proceeds the death announcing sound, vibrates with such rapidity as to resemble a light vapour. The Canadian begins to play upon his flute --the serpent starts with surprise, and draws back his head. In proportion as he is struck with the magic notes, his eyes lose their fierceness; the oscillations of his tail become slower and the sounds which it makes become weaker, and gradually die away. Less perpendicular upon their spiral line, the rings of the charmed serpent are by degrees expanded, and sink one after another on the ground in concentric circles. The shades of azure, green, white, and gold recover their brightness on his quivering skin, and slightly turning his head, he remains motionless, in the attitude of attention and pleasure. At this moment the Canadian advances a few steps, producing from his flute sweet and simple notes. The serpent, inclining his variegated neck, opens a passage with the head through the high grass, and begins to creep after the musician; stopping when he stops, and beginning to follow him again as soon as he advances forward. In this manner he was led out of the camp, attended by a great number of spectators, both savages and Europeans, who could scarcely believe their eyes, which had witnessed this effect of harmony. Francois Aguste, Viscount de Chateaubriand, 1768-1848. Ver. 4-5. The serpent, when she begins to feel the charmer, clappeth one ear presently to the ground, and stoppeth the other ear with her tail, although by hearkening to the charmer, as some observe, she would be provoked to spit out her poison, and renew her age. (This is a specimen of the old fashioned un-natural history. No one will be misled by it. C. H. S.) So hot is man upon his harlot sin, that he is deaf to all that would counsel him to the contrary; he stops his ear, hardens his heart, stiffens his neck against the thunders of the law, the still voice of the gospel, the motions of the Spirit, and the convictions of his own conscience. When sin calls, they run through thick and thin for haste; when the world commands, how readily do they hearken, how quickly do they hear, how faithfully do they obey! but when the blessed God cries to them, charges them by his unquestionable authority, beseeches them for their own unchangeable felicity, they, like statues of men, rather than living creatures, stand still and stir not at all. Other things move swiftly to their centres; stones fall tumbling downward, sparks fly apace upward, coneys run with speed to their burrows, rivers with violence to the ocean, and yet silly man hangs off from his Maker, that neither entreaties nor threatenings, nor the word, nor the works of God, nor the hope of heaven, nor fear of hell, can quicken or hasten him to his happiness. Who would imagine that a reasonable soul should act so much against sense and reason? George Swinnock, 1627-1673. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. (first clause). A generation of serpents. T. Adams's Sermon. Ver. 4. Sin as a poison. Poisons may be attractive in colour and taste, slow or rapid in action, painful in effect, withering, soporific or maddening. In all cases deadly. Psalms 58:5* Ver. 5. Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. Ungodly men are not to be won to right by arguments the most logical, or appeals the most pathetic. Try all your arts, ye preachers of the word! Lay yourselves out to meet the prejudices and tastes of sinners, and ye shall yet have to cry, "Who hath believed our report?" It is not in your music, but in the sinner's ear that the cause of failure lies, and it is only the power of God that can remove it. "You can call spirits from the vast deep, But will they come when you do call for them?" No, we call and call, and call in vain, till the arm of the Lord is revealed. This is at once the sinner's guilt and danger. He ought to hear but will not, and because he will not hear, he cannot escape the damnation of hell. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 58:4" for further information. Ver. 4-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 58:4" for further information. Ver. 4-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 58:4" for further information. Ver. 5. Will not hearken. The Lord hath some of his elect ones whom he seeth walking in bypaths and crooked ways: the Lord giveth a commission to his servants, the ministers, and saith, Go invite and call yon soul to come to me, and say, Return, O Shulamite; but the soul stirs not: the Lord sends and calls again: yet with the deaf adder, he hearkeneth not to the voice of the enchanter: well, saith the Lord, "If you will not come; I will fetch you"; if fair means will not do, foul means must; then he hisses for the fly and the bee of affliction, and calls forth armies of trouble, and gives them commission to seize upon, and to lay siege to such a man or woman, and saith, Ply them with your cannon shot, till you make them yield, give up the keys and strike the sail; he sends sickness to their bodies, a consumption to their estate, death to their friends, shame to their reputation, a fire to their house, and the like, and bids them prey and spoil, till they see and acknowledge the hand of the Lord lifted up. J. Votier's "Survey of Effectual Calling, "1652. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. The serpent charmer. I. He charms with moral persuasion, promise, threatening, etc. II. He charms wisely, earnestly, affectionately, argumentively. III. He charms in vain; the will is averse. Hence the need of divine grace and of the gospel. Psalms 58:6* Ver. 6. Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth. If they have no capacity for good, at least deprive them of their ability for evil. Treat them as the snake charmers do their serpents, extract their fangs, break their teeth. The Lord can do this, and he will. He will not suffer the malice of the wicked to triumph, he will deal them such a blow as shall disable them from mischief. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord. As if one brute creature had not enough of evil in it to complete the emblem of ungodly nature, another specimen of ferae naturae is fetched in. For fierce cruelty the wicked are likened to young lions, monsters in the prime of their vigour, and the fury of their lustiness; and it is asked that their grinders may be smashed in, broken off, or dashed out, that the creatures may henceforth be harmless. One can well understand how the banished son of Jesse, while poisoned by the venomous slander of his foes, and worried by their cruel power, should appeal to heaven for a speedy and complete riddance from his enemies. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6. Break their teeth, destroy the fangs of these serpents, in which their poison is contained. This will amount to the same meaning as above. Save me from the adders, the sly and poisonous slanderers: save me also from the lions --the tyrannical and bloodthirsty men. Adam Clarke. Ver. 6. Great teeth. mwetlm, according to Michaelis and Gesenius, are the eye teeth, which in lions are sharp and terrible. George Phillips, B.D., in "The Psalms in Hebrew: With a Commentary, "1846. Ver. 6-9. David's enemies were strong and fierce as young lions: he therefore prayed that their teeth might be broken, even their strongest teeth, their grinders, with which they were ready to devour him; that so they might be disabled from doing mischief. They overwhelmed him like an inundation: but he desired it might prove a land flood, which is soon wasted. They were about to shoot at him: but he would have their bows, or their arrows, to be shivered to pieces, and become like straw, and do no execution, and he prayed that they might waste insensibly as the snail, which leaves its substance all along its track; and that they might come to nothing, like an abortion. He also predicted, that their prosperous rage (which resembled the crackling of thorns under a pot), would soon be extinct, and produce no effect; while the Lord in his wrath would hurry them into speedy destruction; as a furious whirlwind drives a living man down a precipice, or into a dreadful pit. Thomas Scott, 1747-1821. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 58:7* Ver. 7. Let them melt away as waters which run continually. Like mountain torrents dried up by the summer heats let them disappear; or like running streams whose waters are swiftly gone, so let them pass away; or like water spilt which none can find again, so let them vanish out of existence. Begone, ye foul streams, the sooner ye are forgotten the better for the universe. When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. When the Lord goes forth to war, let his judgments so tell upon these persecutors that they may be utterly cut in pieces as a mark shattered by many shafts. Or perhaps the meaning is, when the ungodly man marches to the conflict, let his arrows and his bow drop into fragments, the string cut, the bow snapped, the arrows headless, the points blunted; so that the boastful warrior may not have wherewithal to hurt the object of his enmity. In either sense the prayer of the Psalm has often become fact, and will be again fulfilled as often as need arises. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6-9. See Psalms on "Psalms 58:6" for further information. Ver. 7. (first clause). Perowne renders this clause, Let them melt away, as water (which) runneth apace, and says that the reference is to "water running away, and so wasted and lost." Ver. 7. (first clause). In desert parts of Africa it has afforded much joy to fall in with a brook of water, especially when running in the direction of the journey, expecting it would provide a valuable companion. Perhaps before it accompanied us two miles it became invisible by sinking into the sand; but two miles farther along it would reappear, and raise hopes of its continuance: but after running a few hundred yards, would sink finally into the sand, no more again to rise. John Campbell, 1766-1840. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 58:8* Ver. 8. As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away. As the snail makes its own way by its slime, and so dissolves as it goes, or as its shell is often found empty, as though the inhabitant had melted away, so shall the malicious eat out their own strength while they proceed upon their malevolent designs, and shall themselves disappear. To destroy himself by envy and chagrin is the portion of the ill disposed. Like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun. Solemn is this curse, but how surely does it fall on many graceless wretches! They are as if they had never been. Their character is shapeless, hideous, revolting. They are fitter to be hidden away in an unknown grave than to be reckoned among men. Their life comes never to ripeness, their aims are abortive, their only achievement is to have brought misery to others, and horror to themselves. Such men as Herod, Judas, Alva, Bonner, had it not been better for them if they had never been born? Better for the mothers who bore them? Better for the lands they cursed? Better for the earth in which their putrid carcasses are hidden from the sun? Every unregenerate man is an abortion. He misses the true form of God made manhood; he corrupts in the darkness of sin; he never sees or shall see the light of God in purity, in heaven. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver 6-9. See Psalms on "Psalms 58:6" for further information. Ver. 8. As a snail which melteth away as it goeth, literally, which goeth in melting (or slime), the noun being in the accusative as describing the nature of the action, and the allusion being to the slimy trail which the snail leaves behind it, so that it seems to waste away. Evidently this is nothing more than a poetical hyperbole, and need not be explained, therefore, as a popular error or a mistake in natural history. J. J. Stewart Perowne, B.D., in "The Book of Psalms; a New Translation, with Introduction and Notes, "1864. Ver. 8. As a snail which melteth, etc. This is a very remarkable and not very intelligible passage. The Jewish Bible renders the passage in a way which explains the idea which evidently prevailed at the time the Psalms were composed: "As a snail let him melt as he passeth on." The ancients had an idea that the slimy track made by a snail as it crawled along was subtracted from the substance of its body, and that in consequence the farther it crept the smaller it became until at last it wasted entirely away. The commentators on the Talmud took this view of the case. The Hebrew word, lwlbv shablul, which undoubtedly does signify a snail of some kind, is thus explained: --"The Shablul is a creeping thing; when it comes out of its shell, saliva pours from itself until it becomes liquid, and so dies." Other explanations of this passage have been offered, but there is no doubt that the view taken by these commentators is the correct one, and that the psalmist, when he wrote the terrible series of denunciations in which the passage occurs, had in his mind the popular belief regarding the gradual wasting away of the snail as it "passeth on." It is needless to say that no particular species of snail is mentioned, and almost as needless to state that in Palestine there are many species of snails, to any or all of which these words are equally applicable. J. G. Wood, in "Bible Animals." 1869. Ver. 8. The untimely birth of a woman. The wicked are all, so speak, human abortions; they are and for ever remain defective beings, who have not accomplished the great purpose of their existence. Heaven is the one end for which man is created, and he who falls short of it does not attain the purpose of his being; he is an eternal abortion. O. Prescott Hiller. Ver. 8. (second clause). David when he curseth the plots of wicked men, that though they have conceived mischief, and though they have gone with it a long time, and are ready to bring it forth, yet saith he, Let them be (that is, let their counsels and designs be) like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun: that is, let them be dashed and blasted, let them never bring forth their poisonous brood to the hurt and trouble of the world. Joseph Caryl. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 8. The snail like course of ungodly men. Their sin destroys their property, health, time, influence, life. Psalms 58:9* Ver. 9. Before your pots can feel the thorns. So sudden is the overthrow of the wicked, so great a failure is their life, that they never see joy. Their pot is put upon the hook to prepare a feast of joy, and the fuel is placed beneath, but before the thorns are lit, before any heat can be brought to bear upon the pot, yea, even as soon as the fuel has touched the cooking vessel, a storm comes and sweeps all away; the pot is overturned, the fuel is scattered far and wide. Perhaps the figure may suppose the thorns, which are the fuel, to be kindled, and then the flame is so rapid that before any heat can be produced the fire is out, the meat remains raw, the man is disappointed, his work is altogether a failure. He shall take them away as with a whirlwind. Cook, fire, pot, meat and all, disappear at once, whirled away to destruction. Both living, and in his wrath. In the very midst of the man's life, and in the fury of his rage against the righteous, the persecutor is overwhelmed with a tornado, his designs are baffled, his contrivances defeated, and himself destroyed. The passage is difficult, but this is probably its meaning, and a very terrible one it is. The malicious wretch puts on his great seething pot, he gathers his fuel, he means to play the cannibal with the godly; but he reckons without his host, or rather without the Lord of hosts, and the unexpected tempest removes all trace of him, and his fire, and his feast, and that in a moment. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6-9. See Psalms on "Psalms 58:6" for further information. Ver. 9. (first clause). Before your cooking vessels, etc. It would puzzle Oedipus himself to make any tolerable sense of the English translation of this verse. It refers to the usage of travellers in the East, who when journeying through the deserts, make a hasty blaze with the thorns which they collect, some green and full of sap, others dry and withered, for the purpose of dressing their food; in which circumstances, violent storms of wind not infrequently arise, which sweep away their fuel and entire apparatus, before the vessels which they use become warm by the heat. An expressive and graphical image of the overwhelming ruin of wicked men. William Walford, 1837. Ver. 9. Before your pots feel the bramble. By this proverbial expression the psalmist describes the sudden eruption of the divine wrath; sudden and violent as the ascension of the dry bramble underneath the housewife's pot. The brightness of the flame which this material furnishes, the height to which it mounts in an instant, the fury with which it seems to rage on all sides of the vessel, give force, and even sublimity to the image, though taken from one of the commonest occurrences of the lower life--a cottager's wife boiling her pot! The sense, then, will be: "Before your pots feel the bramble, he shall sweep them away in whirlwind and hurricane." Samuel Horsley, 1733-1806. Ver. 9. In all the book of God I do not remember any sentence so variously and differently translated as this verse... This variety of translations ariseth chiefly from the original Hebrew word twrym siroth, which in the Hebrew tongue signifies, first, pots or cauldrons, wherein flesh is sod, as Exodus 16:3 38:3 Eze 11:11. Secondly, thorns, and pricks of thorns and briers, as Isaiah 34:13 Hosea 2:8. Thirdly, because the pricks of the great bramble are very sharp and hooked, this word is used to signify fishhooks. Amos 4:2. In all our English Bibles of the old, new, and Geneva translation, and some Latin Bibles, this word is taken to signify pots or cauldrons; but the Septuagint, Hierome, vulgar Latin, Austine, Pagnine, Tremellius, and all others that I have seen, take this word in the second sense, for the sharp pricks of thorns and brambles. Here, certainly, this word signifies the sharp pricks of the great dog bramble, which here in the Hebrew text is dj atad, and is used (Judges 9:14-15) in Jotham's parable to signify the bramble, which being made king of the trees, kindled a fire, which devoured the cedars of Lebanon. Now this bramble in the body, and every branch of it, is beset with sharp hooked pricks, some of which are green and have life and moisture in them, and though they be sharp, yet they are not so stiff and strong as to make any deep wound in a man's flesh. Others are greater, more hooked, and hardened by drying and parching with the vehement heat of the sun; and they strike to the quick, and hold fast, or tear where they catch hold of man's skin or flesh. The first are here called dja, living or green; the other are called, nwrx, dried, or parched and hardened; and the prophetical psalmist affirms that "God who judgeth in the earth, will take away and destroy as with a tempestuous whirlwind, every one of them, as well the green as the dry, "as Tremellius out of the original doth most truly translate the word... The whole text runs thus: "Before they feel your thorns or pricks, O ye bramble, he will take away every one as with a whirlwind, as well the green as the dry." Before they, that is, the righteous whom ye hate and persecute; do feel. that is, have a full sense and understanding of your thorns or pricks, that is, of the sharpness, fury, and mischief which is in the heart and hand of all and every one among you; for every one in your band and congregation is a grievous thorn and sharp prick of the cursed bramble, sharply set and bent to do mischief in malice and fury to the people and church of God. "He that is God who judgeth in the earth" (as it is expressed in the eleventh verse, in the last words) "will take away as with a whirlwind" (that is, scatter and destroy tempestuously), "every one, as well the living and green as the dry and hardened." That is, of every sort banded together, as well the green headed and young persecutors, sharp set, but not so strong to hurt, as the old and dry who are hardened in malice by long custom, and in power and policy are strong to do mischief. George Walker, in a Fast Sermon before the House of Commons, 1644. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 58:10* Ver. 10. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. He will have no hand in meting out, neither will he rejoice in the spirit of revenge, but his righteous soul shall acquiesce in the judgments of God, and he shall rejoice to see justice triumphant. There is nothing in Scripture of that sympathy with God's enemies which modern traitors are so fond of parading as the finest species of benevolence. We shall at the last say, "Amen, "to the condemnation of the wicked, and feel no disposition to question the ways of God with the impenitent. Remember how John, the loving disciple, puts it. "And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ Psalms 59THIS psalm consists of two parallel parts, in both which the succession of ideas is substantially the same. A sufferer complains of treacherous and cruel enemies, Psalms 59:1-4, prays to be delivered from them, Psalms 59:5, and confidently anticipates their ruin, ver. 7-12 (6-11). In the second part we have again, in the same order, the complaint, Psalms 59:12, the prayer, Psalms 59:13, and the anticipation, Psalms 59:14-17. To the Chief Musician. Al-tashheti. By David. Michtam. When Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. This remarkable incident in David's life, which was the beginning of his long and painful wanderings, is recorded, almost in the same words, 1 Samuel 19:11. The title or inscription is the same as in the two preceding psalms. 2. (Psalms 59:1). Free me from my enemies, my God, from those rising up (against) me thou wilt raise me, i.e. place me beyond their reach. Here, as often elsewhere, the tone of supplication is insensibly exchanged for that of confident anticipation. But the change is momentary, and the form of supplication is immediately resumed. My insurgents or assailants; see above, on Psalms 17:7. The idea and expression at the close are the same as in Psalms 20:1. Compare Psalms 18:48. 3. (Psalms 59:2). Free me from workers of iniquity, and from men of blood save me. The same words and phrases have occurred repeatedly before. See above, Psalms 5:5; Psalms 6:8; Psalms 14:4; Psalms 26:9; Psalms 28:3. This verse and the one before it constitute the general introductory petition, the ground and reason of which are afterwards assigned. 4. (Psalms 59:3). (This I ask) because (such enemies as I have just described) have laid wait for my soul (or life); there assemble against me strong ones, not (for) my transgression, and not (for) my sin, Jehovah! Or, (it is) not my fault nor my sin, Jehovah. 5. (Psalms 59:4). Without iniquity (on my part, to excuse or even to provoke them) they run and set themselves (against me). Both these are military terms, and seem to denote strictly the scaling of a wall. See above, on Psalms 18:29. Awake (arouse thyself from this apparent inactivity) to meet me (to respond to my petition), and see (my danger, and the malice of my enemies). 6. (Psalms 59:5). And thou, Jehovah, God, (Lord of) Hosts, God of Israel, awake to, visit all the nations; spare not all traitors of iniquity. Selah. The accumulation of divine names is not unmeaning, but suggestive of reasons why the prayer should be answered, to wit, because He to whom it was addressed was not only the Eternal, Self-existent God, the Sovereign of the Universe, but the God of Israel, and therefore bound by covenant to save his people. All the nations, i.e. such as are the enemies of God and of his people; and if whole nations are thus dealt with, how much more may Jehovah be expected to destroy his individual enemies? Traitors of iniquity, wicked traitors. The depth of the feeling here expressed is further 7. (Psalms 59:6). Let them return at evening, let them howl like the dog, and go around the city. The verbs may also be rendered as simple futures, expressive of a confident anticipation: they shall return, etc. In either case, the verse contains a metaphorical description of the disappointment of the enemy, who are here compared to the gregarious untamed dogs by which the oriental cities are infested. As these dogs prowl about the streets in search of food, and howl for want of it, so let (or so shall) my wicked enemies. Others, with equal probability, explain this verse as a description of their present fierceness and avidity. 8. (Psalms 59:7). Lo, they pour out with their mouths; swords (are) in their lips; for who (is) hearing? He here reverts to his description and complaint of his enemies. The first verb is expressive of a constant flow or gush. See above, on Psalms 19:2. What it is that they thus pour out, although not expressed, may be readily gathered from the context, namely, slanders and reproaches. The swords in their lips are significant of sharp and cutting speeches. Compare Psalms 52:3. The English version, by supplying "say they," makes the last clause the language of these wicked foes, who are then to be understood as denying God's omniscience or his justice. See above, on Psalms 10:11; Psalms 10:13, and compare Psalms 14:1; Psalms 42:10. But a still more striking sense may be obtained by making this clause the complaint of the Psalmist himself, as if he had said: no wonder that they thus pour out their bitter words; for who is there to observe and punish them? The question implies that God himself had ceased to notice their offences, and the participial form, that this neglect had now become habitual. 9. (Psalms 59:8). And thou, Jehovah, wilt laugh at them; thou wilt mock at all nations. The resistance of whole nations, or of all collectively, is but an object of contempt to thee; how much more that of even the most potent individuals. See above, on Psalms 2:4; Psalms 37:13. The connection between this verse and the one before it depends upon the meaning of the question with which Psalms 59:7 closes. If that be regarded as the language of the enemy, the thought to be supplied is, "But although they thus imagine that thou dost not hear, thou wilt soon undeceive them by deriding them." On the other supposition it is this: "Although I am continually tempted to say, who doth hear? I am, nevertheless, persuaded that thou dost hear and despise their impotent malignity." 10. (Psalms 59:9). His strength unto thee will I keep, for God is my high place. The first clause is so obscure that some interpreters have thought it necessary to change the text, and read my strength, i.e. thou who art my strength, for thee will I watch or wait. Some who retain the common text suppose a sudden change of person, (as for) his strength, i.e. God's, I will watch .for thee, O God! But this is much less natural than the common version (because of) his strength, i.e. the enemy's, will I wait upon thee. According to the first translation above given, the meaning of the clause is, I will reserve the strength and violence of the enemy, to be dealt with and disposed of by Jehovah. My high place, beyond the reach of enemies and dangers. See above, on Psalms 9:9; Psalms 18:2; Psalms 46:7; Psalms 46:11. 11. (Psalms 59:10). My God (with) his mercy will meet me; God will make me to gaze upon my enemies. This translation of the first clause follows the reading in the text of the Hebrew Bible. The common version exhibits the marginal or masoretic emendation, the God of my mercy, i. e. my merciful God, or the God who shews me mercy, shall prevent me, in the primrary and proper sense of coming before me. The idea here is that of coming to meet one in a friendly manner. See above, on Psalms 21:3, and compare the unfavourable meaning of the same verb in Psalms 13, Psalms 18:5; Psalms 18:18. To gaze, i. e. with joy and triumph. See above, on Psalms 54:7. This is equivalent to saying, he will give me the victory. The word for enemies is the same as in Psalms 5:8. 12. (Psalms 59:11). Slay them not, lest my people forget; make them wander by thy power and bring them down, our shield, O Lord! The meaning of the first clause, as appears from the context, is, destroy them not utterly, or once for all. My people, i.e. Israel, the chosen race. Make them wander, like Cain and like Israel in the wilderness, to both which cases the same verb is applied, Genesis 4:12, Numbers 32:13. These are tacitly referred to, as familiar examples of this kind of punishment, inflicted both on individuals and nations. Bring them down, cause them to descend, from their present high position, humble them, and make their humiliation an example and a warning to all others. This was signally fulfilled in the case of Saul and his household, as well as in that of the nations which resisted the divine will and oppressed the chosen people, to both which cases the expressions of this psalm are designedly appropriate. Our shield, our protector; not only mine but ours; not only David's but all Israel's. The figure of a shield is a favourite one with David. See above, on Psalms 3:3; Psalms 18:2; Psalms 28:7. It is not only striking and expressive, but historically associated with the origin of the nation in the calling of Abraham and the patriarchal promises. See Genesis 15:1. 13. (Psalms 59:12.) The sin of their mouth— the word of their lips— and they shall be taken in their pride— and from cursing and falsehood they will tell. This is a close translation of this very obscure verse, that is to say, obscure in its particular expressions, though its general sense is obvious enough. The construction given in the English versions, (for) the sin of their mouth (and) the word of their lips they shall be taken, either overlooks the copulative particle before the verb or makes it unmeaning, they shall even be taken. The latest interpreters prefer to render it, the sin of their mouth (is) the word of their lips, i.e. the word of their lips is the sin of their mouth; whatever they speak is spoken sinfully; they cannot speak without committing sin. They shall be taken, caught, surprised, as they have sought to surprise others. See above, Psalms 9:15; Psalms 35:8. It may also be read as an expression of desire, may they be taken! In their pride, not merely on account of it, although this is included, but in the midst of it, in the act of indulging it. From cursing represents their capture as arising (or proceeding) from their cursing, and may therefore be translated for, as in the English Bible. Cursing, or rather swearing in attestation of a falsehood. See above, on Psalms 10:7. The phrase to tell a falsehood is common to both idioms. Most interpreters supply a relative, (which) they tell, or will tell. Otherwise, from must be understood as meaning of, concerning. 14. (Psalms 59:13.) Consume in wrath, consume (them), and let them be no more, and let them know that God (is) ruling in Jacob, unto the ends of the earth. The first verb strictly means to cause to cease, to finish, to destroy so that nothing is left. Let them be no more, let them cease to be. By itself, the Hebrew phrase would seem to mean, and they are not, but the tense, which is not expressed in the original, must be determined by the prayer preceding. The last clause might at first sight seem to mean, let my enemies know that God rules not only in Israel, but throughout the earth. But this is forbidden by the prayer that they may cease to be, and would require a connecting particle of some sort after Jacob. The true construction, indicated by the accents, is, and let them (i.e. men in general) know to the ends of the earth, that God (is) ruling (i.e. habitually rules) in Jacob. This description of the whole world as witnessing and interested in God's dealings with his chosen people, is in strict accordance with the very end for which he chose them, and is particularly characteristic of David. See above, on Psalms 18:49; Psalms 56:5; Psalms 56:9; Psalms 56:11, and compare his language to Goliath, 1 Samuel 17:46 : "This day will Jehovah deliver thee into my hand, and I will smite thee that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel." 15. (Psalms 59:14). Then let them return at evening, howl like the dog, and go around the city. The first word in Hebrew is a simple copulative, meaning and; but the connection seems to be, since God is my protector and these enemies are doomed to destruction, let them threaten as they will, I shall not fear them. It is equally grammatical, though not so natural, to understand the verse as a prediction or confident anticipation of the miserable state to which these enemies should be reduced, like a herd of oriental dogs without a master or a home, prowling about in search of food, and howling with hunger, but remaining still unsatisfied. See above, on Psalms 59:6. 16. (Psalms 59:15). They shall wander (in quest of something) to eat, (and) if they are not satisfied, remain all night. This sentence is obscure, whether it be understood as a defiance or a threatening, though the latter construction is recommended by the emphatic pronoun at the beginning. They themselves, the very persons who now threaten me, shall roam about in search of food, etc. The most probable meaning of the last clause is: and not being satisfied, not finding what they seek, they must continue seeking it by night as well as by day. The conversive particle before the last word seems be here equivalent to then or still after a conditional clause—"if they are not satisfied, then they shall remain all night"— or "though they be not satisfied, yet must they remain all night." 17. (Psalms 59:16). And I will sing thy strength, and celebrate in the morning thy mercy; for thou hast been a high place to me, a refuge in my distress. The pronoun at the beginning is emphatic, I, on my part, as contrasted with these wretches. Thy strength or power, thus exerted in my behalf. In the morning, or at break of day, which is the primary meaning of the term. The phrase is in obvious antithesis to at evening in Psalms 59:14. There may also be allusion to the frequent use of night and morning, as emblems of suffering and relief. Compare the words of David in 2 Samuel 23:4. A height, high place, or place of safety, as in Psalms 59:9 above. In my distress, or retaining the original construction, in distress to me. The form of expression is the same as in Psalms 18:6. 18. (Psalms 59:17). My strength, unto thee will I sing; for God is my high place, the God of my mercy. The most natural construction of the first phrase is that which makes it a direct address to God, as the author of his strength. But as the structure of the clause is precisely similar to that at the beginning of Psa 59:9, some adopt a similar construction, my strength will I sing unto thee. I will praise my strength to thee, because I shall thereby praise thyself. This is equivalent to saying, I will celebrate thee as my strength. High place, place of safety, refuge, or asylum, as in Psalms 59:9; Psalms 59:16. God of my mercy, my merciful God, or the God who shews me mercy. See above, on Psalms 59:10. To the Chief Musician. Strange that the painful events in David's life should end in enriching the repertoire of the national minstrelsy. Out of a sour, ungenerous soil spring up the honey bearing flowers of psalmody. Had he never been cruelly hunted by Saul, Israel and the church of God in after ages would have missed this song. The music of the sanctuary is in no small degree indebted to the trials of the saints. Affliction is the tuner of the harps of sanctified songsters. Altaschith. Another "destroy not" Psalm. Whom God preserves Satan cannot destroy. The Lord can even preserve the lives of his prophets by the very ravens that would naturally pick out their eyes. David always found a friend to help him when his case was peculiarly dangerous, and that friend was in his enemy's household; in this instance it was Michal, Saul's daughter, as on former occasions it had been Jonathan, Saul's son. Michtam of David. This is the Fifth of the Golden Secrets of David: God's chosen people have many such. When Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him. Great efforts were made to carry the Psalms away to other authors and seasons than those assigned in the headings, it being the fashion just now to prove one's learning by disagreeing with all who have gone before. Perhaps in a few years the old titles will be as much reverenced as they are now rejected. There are spasms in these matters, and in many other things among the would be "intellectuals" of the schools. We are not anxious to show our readiness at conjecture, and therefore are content with reading this Psalm in the light of the circumstances here mentioned; it does not seem unsuitable to any verse, and in some the words are very appropriate to the specified occasion. . In Psalms 59:1-2 he prays, in Psalms 59:3-4 he complains of his woes, and again in Psalms 59:5 he prays. Here he inserts a Selah, and ends one portion of his song. In Psalms 59:6-7 he renews his complaint, in Psalms 59:8-10 declares his confidence in God, and in Psalms 59:11-13 lifts up his heart in prayer; closing another part of his Psalm with Selah. Then he prays again in Psalms 59:14-15, and afterwards betakes himself to singing. Ver. 1. Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God. They were all round the house with the warrant of authority, and a force equal to the carrying of it out. He was to be taken dead or alive, well or ill, and carried to the slaughter. No prowess could avail him to break the cordon of armed men, neither could any eloquence stay the hand of his bloody persecutor. He was taken like a bird in a net, and no friend was near to set him free. Unlike the famous starling, he did not cry, "I cannot get out, "but his faith uttered quite another note. Unbelief would have suggested that prayer was a waste of breath, but not so thought the good man, for he makes it his sole resort. He cries for deliverance and leaves ways and means with his God. Defend me from them that rise up against me. Saul was a king, and therefore sat in high places, and used all his authority to crush David; the persecuted one therefore beseeches the Lord to set him on high also, only in another sense. He asks to be lifted up, as into a lofty tower, beyond the reach of his adversary. Note how he sets the title, My God, over against the word, mine enemies. This is the right method of effectually catching and quenching the fiery darts of the enemy upon the shield of faith. God is our God, and therefore deliverance and defence are ours. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS This Psalm has in its stern contents something no doubt strange to our ears. But never let us omit to distinguish from each other the times and diverse economies, and to place ourselves as far as possible, in sympathy with the experience of a heart which burned for nothing more than for the glorifying of God in this world. Everything that tended to obscure the theocratic relation of God to his people, called up in the soul of David the most vehement passion. The scornful oppression with which Saul and his venal satellites visited him, the man of God, could not but have, upon the eyes of all, the appearance as if Jehovah were no longer Lord in his own land, who inexorably adhered to his laws and rights. Treason, falsehood, and every kind of evil then prevailed unchecked. What wonder, that as formerly Moses in the wilderness was provoked against the stiff necked people, so also David, whom the awful holiness of God had already made to tremble, should feel his spirit stirred against the ungodly who surrounded him, and should say, with Job, "My bowels boiled within me." Frederick William Krummacher, D.D., in "David, the King of Israel, "1867. Ver. 1. O my God. There are two pleas which the psalmist makes use of; one was, that God was his God, Psalms 59:1; the other was the power and strength of his enemies. It is a blessed thing to have the covenant to fly to in all times of straits and troubles; there is always an anchor hold of hope there. My God, is such a plea as infinitely over balances all other things. He has engaged himself to do his people good; and it is time for him to work when the enemy exalts himself. The church's enemies are never so near destruction as when they think they have nothing to do, but take and divide the spoil. We may plead God's promise and the enemies' power too; both are a ground of hope to a believer in Jesus. John Hill (1711-1746), in "Sermons on Several Occasions." Ver. 1. That rise up against me. He insists upon the strength and violence of his enemies, with the view of exciting his mind to greater fervour in the duty of prayer. These he describes as rising up against him, in which expression he alludes, not simple to the audacity or fierceness of their assaults, but to the eminent superiority of power which they possessed; and yet he asks that he may be lifted up on high, as it were, above the reach of this over swelling inundation. John Calvin. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. (first clause). Deliver me from temptation, uphold me in temptation, cleanse me from the result of temptation. The world, the flesh, the devil, and chiefly sin, these are our enemies. We cannot escape them of ourselves, but the Lord by providence and grace can rescue us. WORK UPON THE FIFTY-NINTH PSALM In 'S "Life of David, "Vol. 1., pp. 85-89, there is an Exposition of this Psalm. Psalms 59:2* Ver. 2. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Saul was treating him very unjustly, and besides that was pursuing a tyrannical and unrighteous course towards others, therefore David the more vehemently appeals against him. Evil men were in the ascendant at court, and were the ready tools of the tyrant, against these also he prays. Bad men in a bad cause may be pleaded against without question. When a habitation is beset by thieves, the good man of the house rings the alarm bell; and in these verses we may hear it ring out loudly, "deliver me, ""defend me, ""deliver me, ""save me." Saul had more cause to fear than David had, for the invincible weapon of prayer was being used against him, and heaven was being aroused to give him battle. And save me from bloody men. As David remembers how often Saul had sought to assassinate him, he knows what he has to expect from that quarter and from the king's creatures and minions who were watching for him. David represents his enemy in his true colours before God; the bloodthirstiness of the foe is a fit reason for the interposition of the righteous God, for the Lord abhors all those who delight in blood. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS None. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. (first clause). From being tempted by their promises, cowed by their threats, corrupted by their teaching, influenced by their example, injured by their slander, hindered in usefulness by their opposition. Psalms 59:3* Ver. 3. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul. They were in ambuscade for the good man's life. He knew their design and cried to God to be rescued from it. Like wild beasts they crouched, and waited to make the fatal spring; but their victim used effectual means to baffle them, for he laid the matter before the Lord. While the enemy lies waiting in the posture of a beast, we wait before God in the posture of prayer, for God waits to be gracious to us and terrible towards our foes. The mighty are gathered against me. None of them were absent from the muster when a saint was to be murdered. They were too fond of such sport to be away. The men at arms who ought to have been fighting their country's battles, are instead thereof hunting a quiet citizen; the gigantic monarch is spending all his strength to slay a faithful follower. Not for my transgression, not for my sin, O Lord. He appeals to Jehovah that he had done no ill. His only fault was, that he was too valiant and too gracious, and was, besides, the chosen of the Lord, therefore the envious king could not rest till he had washed his hands in the blood of his too popular rival. We shall always find it to be a great thing to be innocent; if it does not carry our cause before an earthly tribunal, it will ever prove the best of arguments in the court of conscience, and a standing consolation when we are under persecution. Note the repetition of his declaration of integrity. David is sure of his innocence. He dares repeat the plea. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. (first clause). On the expression, they lie in wait for my soul, compare 1 Samuel 19:11, "And Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If thou save not thy life soul tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain; "and Psalms 7:2; Psalms 7:5. E. W. Hengstenberg. Ver. 3. The mighty are gathered against me, is rendered by Chandler, The mighty are turned aside to lay snares against me. Ver. 3. The mighty are gathered against me. As if he would say, "But I am weak, be thou, however, my strength, and vindicate my innocence." Arnd. Ver. 3-4. He pleads his own innocency, not as to God, but as to his persecutors. Note, 1. The innocency of the godly will not secure them from the malignity of the wicked. Those that are harmless like doves, yet for Christ's sake are hated of all men, as if they were noxious like serpents, and obnoxious accordingly. 2. Though our innocency will not secure us from troubles, yet it will greatly support and comfort us under our troubles. The testimony of our conscience for us, that we have behaved ourselves well toward those that have behaved themselves ill towards us, will be very much our rejoicing in the day of evil. If we are conscious to ourselves of our innocency, we may with humble confidence appeal to God, and beg of him to plead our injured cause which he will do in due time. Matthew Henry. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. (first clause). The subtleties of Satan. Watches for places, times, states, and ways in which to assail us. Errors in doctrine, practice, spirit, set forth to entrap us. "Ye are not ignorant of his devices." Or, the diabolical ambush, discovered by watchfulness, and defeated by faith. Psalms 59:4* Ver. 4. They run and prepare themselves without my fault. They are all alive and active, they are swift to shed blood. They prepare and use their best tactics; they besiege me in my house, and lay their ambuscades as for some notable enemy. They come up fully armed to the attack, and assail me with all the vigour and skill of a host about to storm a castle; and all for no cause, but out of gratuitous malice. So quick are they to obey their cruel master, that they never stay to consider whether their errand is a good one or not; they run at once, and buckle on their harness as they run. To be thus gratuitously attacked is a great grief. To a brave man the danger causes little distress of mind compared with the injustice to which he is subjected. It was a cruel and crying shame that such a hero as David should be hounded down as if he were a monster, and beset in his house like a wild beast in its den. Awake to help me, and behold. When others go to sleep, keep thou watch, O God. Put forth thy might. Arouse thee from thy inaction. Only look at thy servant's sad condition and thy hand will be sure to deliver me. We see how thorough was the psalmist's faith in the mercy of his Lord, for he is satisfied that if the Lord do but look on his case it will move his active compassion. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 59:3" for further information. Ver. 4. They run, as armed warriors rushing to the assault (Psalms 18:29). The Hebrew for "prepare themselves, "(Heb.) means also "they establish themselves; "they make firm their footing, like forces assaulting a city. Job 30:14. A. R. Fausset. Ver. 4. They run and prepare. The zeal and diligence of the wicked in the cause of unrighteousness might well reprove the languor and tardiness of saints in the work of faith and labour of love. In the church of God nothing is the source of more mischief than the want of true zeal and liveliness. It is only when "many run to and fro" that "knowledge shall be increased." William S. Plumer. Ver. 4. Without fault. As it respected Saul, he was a faithful subject and an obedient son-in-law. Benjamin Boothroyd. Ver. 4. Awake to help me, literally, Awake to meet me. In time of temptation the Lord seems to be absent from us, and not to observe our distress--to be, as it were, as Jesus, in the storm, is described as having been "asleep in the hinder part of the ship." Mr 4:38. But it is only an appearance; the Lord neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalms 121:4); he is always ready to come to our help when we call upon him. O. Prescott Hiller. Ver. 4. And behold. The expression is one which savours at once of faith and of the infirmity of the flesh. In speaking of God, as if his eyes had been hitherto shut to the wrongs which he had suffered, and needed now for the first time to be opened for the discovery of them, he expresses himself according to the weakness of our human apprehension. On the other hand, in calling upon God to behold his cause, he shows his faith by virtually acknowledging that nothing was hid from his providential cognisance. John Calvin. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. The activity of the evil a rebuke for the good. I. Their activity, run. II. Unanimity--they run. III. Their care--prepare themselves. IV. Their readiness--without my fault. Psalms 59:5* Ver. 5. Thou, thyself, work for me personally, for the case needs thine interposition. Therefore, because I am unjustly assailed, and cannot help myself. O Lord, ever living, God of Hosts, able to rescue me; the God of Israel, pledged by covenant to redeem thine oppressed servant; awake to visit all the heathen, arouse thy holy mind, bestow thy sacred energies, punish the heathen among thine Israel, the false hearted who say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. And when thou art about the business, let all the nations of thine enemies, and all the heathenish people at home and abroad know that thou art upon circuit, judging and punishing. It is the mark of a thoughtful prayer that the titles which are in it applied to God are appropriate, and are, as it were, congruous to the matter, and fitted to add force to the argument. Shall Jehovah endure to see his people oppressed? Shall the God of hosts permit his enemies to exult over his servant? Shall the faithful God of a chosen people leave his chosen to perish? The name of God is, even in a literal sense, a fortress and high tower for all his people. What a forceful petition is contained in the words, "awake to visit"! Actively punish, in wisdom judge, with force chastise. Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Be merciful to them as men, but not as transgressors; if they continue hardened in their sin, do not wink at their oppression. To wink at sin in transgressors will be to leave the righteous under their power, therefore do not pass by their offences but deal out the due reward. The psalmist feels that the overthrow of oppression which was so needful for himself must be equally desirable for multitudes of the godly placed in like positions, and therefore he prays for the whole company of the faithful, and against the entire confraternity of traitors. Selah. With such a subject before us we may well pause. Who would not sit still and consider, when vengeance is being meted out to all the enemies of God? How wrong is that state of mind which hates to hear of the punishment of the wicked! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5. O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel. In time of straits we should set our eyes most upon those styles of God which most serve to strengthen our faith, especially such as hold forth his power and goodwill to employ his power for us. David Dickson. Ver. 5. Lord God of hosts. YAHVEH, Elohim, Tsebaoth; as in Psalms 80:4,19 84:8. Compare 2 Samuel 5:10 1 Kings 19:10; 1 Kings 19:14 Psalms 89:8. From "The Psalms translated from the Hebrew, with Notes chiefly exegetical." By William Kay, D.D., 1871. Ver. 5. Lord God of hosts. Some have thought this equivalent to God of battles; the true force of the epithet, however, is, "Sovereign of the stars, material hosts of heaven, and of the angels their inhabitants." A. A. Hodge, in "Outlines of Theology, "1866. Ver. 5. 1. God of hosts, and therefore able; 2. God of Israel, and therefore willing. Andrew A. Bonar. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel. This title furnishes an admirable topic. Psalms 59:6* Ver. 6. They return at evening. Like wild beasts that roam at night, they come forth to do mischief. If foiled in the light, they seek the more congenial darkness in which to accomplish their designs. They mean to break into the house in the dead of might. They make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Howling with hunger for their prey, they sneak round and round the walls, prowling with stealthy footstep, and barking in unamiable concert. David compares his foes to Eastern dogs, unowned, loathsome, degraded, lean, and hungry, and he represents them as howling with disappointment, because they cannot find the food they seek. Saul's watchmen and the cruel king himself must have raved and raged fiercely when they found the image and the pillow of goat's hair in the bed instead of David. Vain were their watchings, the victim had been delivered, and that by the daughter of the man who desired his blood. Go, ye dogs, to your kennels and gnaw your bones, for this good man is not meat for your jaws. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6. At evening. The evening expresses the time of calamity and want, and alludes to the wild beasts which are wont in the evening to go forth in quest of prey. Hermann Venema. Ver. 6. They make a noise like a dog. The noise I heard then I shall never forget. To say that if all the sheep dogs in going to Smithfield on a market day, had been kept on the constant bark and pitted against the yelping curs upon all the carts in London, they could have given any idea of the canine uproar that now first astonished me, would be to make the feeblest of images. The whole city rang with one vast riot. Down below me, at Tophane; over about Stamboul; far away at Scutari; the whole sixty thousand dogs that are said to overrun Constantinople, appeared engaged in the most active extermination of each other, without a moment's cessation. The yelping, howling, barking, growling, and snarling, were all merged into one uniform and continuous even sound, as the noise of frogs becomes, when heard at a distance. For hours there was no lull. I went to sleep and woke again, and still, with my windows open, I heard the same tumult going on; nor was it until daybreak that anything like tranquillity was restored. Albert Smith, in "A Month at Constantinople, "1850. Ver. 6. In bringing their secret plans to bear, they are represented as hungry dogs, prowling about the city in the darkness for prey; ranging, each one with his own object, but in one common cause. To take in the full force of this metaphor it must be remembered that in Eastern cities formerly, as at the present day, it was the custom to cast out all the refuse of food--bones, offal, etc. --into the streets, which was consumed chiefly by dogs, great numbers of which were kept, as it would seem, for that particular purpose. With this idea in mind, the metaphor has great propriety in its application to Christ's enemies. "Every evening they return They howl like dogs, And surround the city." William Hill Tucker. Ver. 6-7. This is a continued metaphor, which must be well observed, of a famished and rabid dog, unable to satisfy either its hunger or thirst; and describes men, howling formerly like dogs, pursuing, seizing all good things for themselves, and devouring; but now destitute of all things, unable to quench their cupidity, despised, miserable, and desperate wanderers. Such did Saul and his messengers sent against David in Najoth Rama show themselves to be, and give the prelude to their coming misery. Hermann Venema. Ver. 6-7. 1. They are diligent about it, They return at evening. 2. Mad, and set to do it, They make a noise like a dog, and threaten boldly. 3. Unwearied and obdurate in their purpose: They go round about the city. 4. Impudent, and brag what they will do to me: Behold, they belch out with their mouth. 5. And their words are bloody: Swords are in their lips. Adam Clarke. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 59:7* Ver. 7. Behold they belch out with their mouth. The noisy creatures are so remarkable in their way, that attention is called to them with a behold. Ecce homines, might we not say, Ecce canes! Their malicious speech gushes from them as from a bubbling fountain. The wicked are voluble in slander; their vocabulary of abuse is copious, and as detestable as it is abundant. What torrents of wrathful imprecation will they pour on the godly! They need no prompters, their feelings force for themselves their own vent, and fashion their own expressions. Swords are in their lips. They speak daggers. Their words pierce like rapiers, and cleave like cutlasses. As the cushion of a lions's paw conceals his claw, so their soft ruby lips contain bloody words. For who, say they, doth hear? They are free from all restraint, they fear no God in heaven, and the government on earth is with them. When men have none to call them to account, there is no accounting for what they will do. He who neither fears God nor regards man sets out on errands of oppression with gusto, and uses language concerning it of the most atrociously cruel sort. David must have been in a singular plight when he could hear the foul talk and hideous braggings of Saul's black guards around the house. After the style in which a Cavalier would have cursed a Puritan, or Claverhouse a Coventanter, the Saulites swore at the upstarts whom the king's majesty had sent them to arrest. David called them dogs, and no doubt a pretty pack they were, a cursed cursing company of curs. When they said, "Who doth hear?" God was listening, and this David knew, and therefore took courage. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 59:6" for further information. Ver. 6-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 59:6" for further information. Ver. 7. Behold, they belch out with their mouth, etc. Bark like dogs, so Aben Ezra; or, bubble out, as a fountain bubbles out with water; so they cast out their wickedness in great abundance (see Jeremiah 6:7); the phrase denotes the abundance of evil things and wicked speeches that come out of their mouths, which showed the naughtiness of their hearts; so David's enemies blustered and threatened what they would do to him could they find him; and Christ's enemies poured out their wicked charges of blasphemy and sedition against him in great plenty, and without proof. John Gill. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 59:8* Ver. 8. But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them. He speaks to God, as to one who is close at hand. He points to the liers in wait and speaks to God about them. They are laughing at me, and longing for my destruction, but thou hast the laugh of them seeing thou hast determined to send them away without their victim, and made fools of by Michal. The greatest, cleverest, and most malicious of the enemies of the church are only objects of ridicule to the Lord; their attempts are utterly futile, they need give no concern to our faith. Thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. As if David had said --What are these fellows who lie in ambush! And what is the king their master, if God be on my side? If not only these but all the heathen nations were besetting the house, yet Jehovah would readily enough disappoint them and deliver them. In the end of all things it will be seen how utterly contemptible and despicable are all the enemies of the cause and kingdom of God. He is a brave man who sees this today when the enemy is in great power, and while the church is often as one shut up and besieged in his house. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 8. God sees and smiles, he looks and laughs at these giants; he sits in heaven far above their reach; neither doth he much trouble himself about the matter; no more should we, but trust in him, and know that there is a counsel in heaven, that will dash the mould of all contrary counsels upon the earth, as the stone cut out of the mountain did the four great monarchies. Daniel 2:34. And therefore though the wicked, in the pride of his heart, doth persecute the poor; though they belch out with their mouth, and seek to double murder the innocent, by detraction and by deadly practice, yet God both hears and jeers at their madness, and will bring all their purposes to nought with little ado; nay, the very cruelty of his enemies will move God to make haste. The saints fare the better for the insolence and outrages of their enemies, whose ruin is thereby accelerated; and somewhat God will do the sooner for his people, lest the enemy exalt himself. Psalms 140:8. Abraham Wright. Ver. 8. (last clause). In the close of the verse, mention is made of all nations, to intimate, that though they might equal the whole world in numbers, they would prove a mere mockery with all their influence and resources. Or the words may be read--EVEN AS thou hast all the nations in derision. One thing is obvious, that David ridicules the vain boasting of his enemies, who thought no undertaking too great to be accomplished by their numbers. John Calvin. Ver. 8-9. 8 But thou, Lord, laugh at them; You deride all the heathen. 9 His strength! Toward thee will I keep watch, For God is my high fort. William Kay. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 59:9* Ver. 9. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee. Is my persecutor strong? Then, my God, for this very reason I will turn myself to thee, and leave my matters in thy hand. It is a wise thing to find in the greatness of our difficulties a reason for casting ourselves on the Lord. "And when it seems no chance nor change From grief can set me free, Hope finds its strength in helplessness, And, patient, waits on thee." For God is my defence, my high place, my fortress, the place of my resort in the time of my danger. If the foe be too strong for me to cope with him, I will retreat into my castle, where he cannot reach me. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 8-9. 8 But thou, Lord, laugh at them; You deride all the heathen. 9 His strength! Toward thee will I keep watch, For God is my high fort. William Kay. Ver. 9. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee. Those seem to come nearest the meaning of the psalmist, who construe the words as one continuous sentence, I will put in trust his strength with thee, meaning that however intemperately Saul might boast of his strength, he would rest satisfied in the assurance that there was a secret divine providence restraining his actions. We must learn to view all men as subordinated in this manner, and to conceive of their strength and their enterprises as depending upon the sovereign will of God. In my opinion, the following version is the best--His strength is with thee, I will wait. The words are parallel with those in the end of the Psalm, where there can be no doubt that the nominative case is employed, My strength is with thee, I will sing. John Calvin. Ver. 9. (first clause). His strength is great, humanly viewed; but to the eye of faith what is it! LXX, to kratoz moi (--uzzi); and so most ancient versions. (The contrast is given in Psalms 59:16-17.) William Kay. Ver. 9. Will I wait upon thee, literally, I will keep watch to thee, alluding to the title, "When Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him." David sets watching before God, against their watching to kill him. A. R. Fausset. Ver. 9. How weak soever the believer finds himself, and how powerful soever he perceives his enemy to be, it is all one to him, he hath no more to do but to put faith on work, and to wait till God works. Because of his (that is, the enemy's) strength, I will wait upon thee, saith he to the Lord, for God is my defence. David Dickson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 9. The greatness of difficulty a reason for prayer and faith. Psalms 59:10* Ver. 10. The God of my mercy shall prevent me. God who is the giver and fountain of all the undeserved goodness I have received, will go before me and lead my way as I march onward. He will meet me in my time of need. Not alone shall I have to confront my foes, but he whose goodness I have long tried and proved will gently clear my way, and be my faithful protector. How frequently have we met with preventing mercy--the supply prepared before the need occurred, the refuge built before the danger arose. Far ahead into the future the foreseeing grace of heaven has projected itself, and forestalled every difficulty. God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. Observe that the words, my desire, are not in the original. From the Hebrew we are taught that David expected to see his enemies without fear. God will enable his servant to gaze steadily upon the foe without trepidation; he shall be calm, and self possessed, in the hour of peril; and ere long he shall look down on the same foes discomfited, overthrown, destroyed. When Jehovah leads the way victory follows at his heels. See God, and you need not fear to see your enemies. Thus the hunted David, besieged in his own house by traitors, looks only to God, and exults over his enemies. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 10. The God of my mercy shall prevent me. Oh, how the saints sing of the love of Christ! Oh, how they sing that this love was not moved by worthiness, and it disdains all hire and price, but loves us because he loves us! Deuteronomy 7:8. O sing of his wonderful love, and of the prevention of this love of Christ: The God of my mercy shall prevent me. How, 1. It prevents thy love to him. 1 John 4:19. We love God, because he first loved us. 2. It prevents our sins, as in Paul's case. Acts 4:3 : And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. 3. It prevents our calamities. Psalms 79:8; Let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us. And, 4. It prevents our endeavours. The God of my mercy shall prevent me. John Spalding, in "Synaxis Sacra, "1703. Ver. 10. (first clause). The psalmist was sure of mercy upon these grounds, he knew he was safe, because God was his God, and the God of his mercy: The God of my mercy shall prevent me. Some read it, hath prevented me; others, doth prevent me; and others, as in my text, shall prevent me. Each of these senses is exceedingly sweet and full. Take it in the first sense, hath prevented me; and it implies thus much, that the psalmist never was in any difficulty, temptation, or fear, but God was beforehand with him; having always the mercy ready which he stood in need of; and had given it in due season, and that when he least expected it, and it may be was least prepared for it. Take it in the second sense, doth prevent, it argues the psalmist's ground of confidence when all present appearances were gone; as if he had said, "God is of one mind, his thoughts are thoughts of peace, and not of evil; he may vary his providence, but his heart is the same as ever; why should I fear, why should I not hope and rejoice? for my God is a tried God, he is working for me even now. He prevents my fears, and he will prevent my falling." Take the words as they lie in my text, and it comes to the same thing. "God sees all my enemies' designs, and he is ready for them; my prayer is heard, and sure I am deliverance will come, though I know not the time of it." My design, under the Spirit's influence, is to look into my own heart and yours, and show you what wonders of providence and grace God, as the God of our mercy, has caused to pass before us. In discoursing on these words, I shall enquire, I. In what sense, or in what respects, God is the God of our mercy. II. How, as the God of our mercy, he doth prevent us. III. Apply. I am to enquire in what respects God is said to be the God of his people's mercy, and it seems to include in it these three things. 1. That all the mercy which is in God's nature, is for his saints. It is a great word that (1 Peter 5:10), the God of all grace. God has in him all sorts of grace for his saints. He hath pardoning, quickening, strengthening, comforting, and preserving grace. His mercy is rich mercy, abundant mercy, inexhaustible mercy, sure mercy. A man's riches are his glory; God glories in his mercy; it is his delight, he rests in it; and so may we, because there is an infinite inconceivable fulness of it in him. "With thee is the fountain of life." God distributes and parcels out this mercy, that we may conceive of it the better; hence he is called by the apostle, The Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3. God is not called the author of our mercies, but the Father of them; to show how freely they come from him; they are his bowels; he is pleased with them, as the father is with his own child; dwell on the name, it is a sweet one, the Father of mercies. In my text, David grasps all this mercy, lays hold of it as his own mercy: The God of my mercy shall prevent me. That is one sense. 2. It supposes, farther, that there is a portion of mercy laid by, in the purpose of God, for every saint; a portion of mercy which he may call his own. This some understand to be Christ's meaning to Paul (2 Corinthians 12:9): My grace is sufficient for thee; i.e., that grace which I have allotted for thee thou wilt find sufficient. I knew what thou wouldst need in my eternal counsels; I have made provision beforehand; I have taken care thou shouldest have enough. 3. The words suppose, farther, that God has taken it upon him as his charge, to keep this portion of his mercy for his people. Whatever it be, soul, it is in trust for thee with him. Every saint may apply to God, as the God of every mercy which he needs. Condensed from John Hill's Sermon. Ver. 10. God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. The words, my desire, are not in the original, and would be better omitted. The sense is--God will enable me to look down calmly upon my enemies. So Christ looked upon his murderers. So Stephen was enabled to do when they "gnashed upon him with their teeth." "All that sat in the council looking steadfastly upon him saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." Acts 6:15. Christopher Wordsworth. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 10. (first clause). The divine forwardness to bless. Psalms 59:11* Ver. 11. Slay them not, lest my people forget. It argues great faith on David's part, that even while his house was surrounded by his enemies he is yet so fully sure of their overthrow, and so completely realises it in his own mind, that he puts in a detailed petition that they may not be too soon or too fully exterminated. God's victory over the craft and cruelty of the wicked is so easy and so glorious that it seems a pity to end the conflict too soon. To sweep away the plotters all at once were to end the great drama of retribution too abruptly. Nay, let the righteous be buffeted a little longer, and let the boasting oppressor puff and brag through his little hour, it will help to keep Israel in mind of the Lord's justice, and make the brave party who side with God's champion accustomed to divine interpositions. It were a pity for good men to be without detractors, seeing that virtue shines the brighter for the foil of slander. Enemies help to keep the Lord's servants awake. A lively, vexatious devil is less to be dreaded than a sleepy, forgetful spirit which is given to slumber. Scatter them by thy power. Blow them to and fro, like chaff in the wind. Let the enemy live as a vagabond race. Make Cains of them. Let them be living monuments of divine power, advertisements of heaven's truth. To the fullest extent let divine justice be illustrated in them. And bring them down. Like rotten fruit from a tree. From the seats of power which they disgrace, and the positions of influence which they pollute, let them be hurled into humiliation. This was a righteous wish, and if it be untempered by the gentleness of Jesus, we must remember that it is a soldier's prayer, and the wish of one who was smarting under injustice and malice of no ordinary kind. O Lord, our shield. David felt himself to be the representative of the religious party in Israel, and therefore he says, our shield, speaking in the name of all those who make Jehovah their defence. We are in good company when we hide beneath the buckler of the Eternal; meanwhile he who is the shield of his people is the scatterer of their enemies. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 11. Slay them not, that they may be a whetstone to others' faith--as the Spartans (mentioned in Plutarch's Apothegms) refused to allow the destruction of a neighbouring city which had often called forth their armies, saying, "Destroy not the whetstone of our young men." Andrew A. Bonar. Ver. 11. Slay them not: -- "Live loathed and long You smiling, smooth, detested parasites." W. Shakespeare. Ver. 11. The enemies must serve for monuments of the divine righteousness, not less in the abiding wretchedness of their race than by their own sudden destruction. Parallel to this verse, and to Psalms 59:6; Psalms 59:14, is the curse which David utters upon Joab, in 2 Samuel 3:29 : "Let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or that falleth on the sword, or that lacketh bread; "then the threatening of a man of God to Eli, in 1 Samuel 3:36, where, after announcing the violent death of the evildoers themselves, corresponding to 1 Samuel 3:13 here, it is said: "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him (the new high priest) for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priests offices, that I may eat a piece of bread." Christian expositors have all along drawn attention to the fact, that the substance of our verse, as that also of verses, 6, 14, has gone into fulfilment on the Jews. "They have been scattered into all lands, and must go and stand before the eyes of all Christians, as a living witness that they have crucified the true Messiah and Saviour of the world. So that if you see a Jew, think on this word." (Arndt.) E. W. Hengstenberg. Ver. 11. Slay them not; namely, suddenly. Scatter them. It should seem that he hath a relation to Cain's punishment, whom God would not have killed, but would have him to be a wanderer all the days of his life for a spectacle, and an example of his judgments. Genesis 4:12. Others translate it, shake them namely, their degree of honour and glory. John Diodati, 1576-1649. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 11. The continuance of our enemies a salutary ordinance of God for the prevention of an evil to which we are very liable. Psalms 59:12* Ver. 12. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride. Such dreadful language of atheism and insolence deserves a fit return. As they hope to take their victims, so let them be taken themselves, entangled in their own net, arrested in the midst of their boastful security. Sins of the lips are real sins, and punishable sins. Men must not think because their hatred gets no further than railing and blasphemy that therefore they shall be excused. He who takes the will for the deed, will take the word for the deed and deal with men accordingly. Wretches who are persecutors in talk, burners and stabbers with the tongue, shall have a reckoning for their would be transgressions. Pride though it show not itself in clothes, but only in speech, is a sin; and persecuting pride, though it pile no faggots at Smithfield, but only revile with its lips, shall have to answer for it among the unholy crew of inquisitors. And for cursing and lying which they speak. Sins, like hounds, often hunt in couples. He who is not ashamed to curse before God, will be sure to lie unto men. Every swearer is a liar. Persecution leads on to perjury. They lie and swear to it. They curse and give a lying reason for their hate. This shall not go unnoticed of the Lord, but shall bring down its recompense. How often has it happened that while haughty speeches have been fresh in the mouths of the wicked they have been overtaken by avenging providence, and made to see their mischief recoil upon themselves! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 12. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, etc. Albeit the persecutors do not accomplish their purpose against the righteous; yet their pride, their brags, their lies, their slanders, their curses against the godly, are a sufficient ditty for damnation and wrath to come upon them. David Dickson. Ver. 12. The words of their lips. The phrase, word of the lips, is often used for empty loquacity and boasting; the opposite of a word that is solid and founded on fact, as in 2 Kings 18:20. "Thou speakest, but it is only a word of the lips." Proverbs 14:23. "In all labour there is profit: but the word of the lips tendeth only to penury." Hermann Venema. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 59:13* Ver. 13. Consume them in wrath. As if he had changed his mind and would have them brought to a speedy end, or if spared would have them exist as ruins, he cries, consume them, and he redoubles his cry, consume them; nay, he gives a triple note, that they may not be. Revilers of God whose mouths pour forth such filth as David was on this occasion obliged to hear, are not to be tolerated by a holy soul; indignation must flame forth, and cry to God against them. When men curse the age and the place in which they live, common humanity leads the righteous to desire that they may be removed. If they could be reformed it would be infinitely better; but if they cannot, if they must and will continue to be like mad dogs in a city, then let them cease to be. Who can desire to see such a generation perpetuated? And let them know; i.e., let all the nations know, that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. He whose government is universal fixes his headquarters among his chosen people, and there in special he punishes sin. So David would have all men see. Let even the most remote nations know that the great moral Governor has power to destroy ungodliness, and does not wink at iniquity in any, at any time, or in any place. When sin is manifestly punished it is a valuable lesson to all mankind. The overthrow of a Napoleon is a homily for all monarchs, the death of a Tom Paine a warning to all infidels, the siege of Paris a sermon to all cities. Selah. Good cause there is for this rest, when a theme so wide and important is introduced. Solemn subjects ought not to be hurried over; nor should the condition of the heart while contemplating themes so high be a matter of indifference. Reader, bethink thee. Sit thou awhile and consider the ways of God with men. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 13. Consume them, emphatically, consume them in wrath, that they may not be; which at first sight seems contrary to his first desire, Slay them not; but it is not so, for he speaks not of their life, as if he would have them so consumed, that they should not remain alive; but he desires only a consumption of their power, royalty, command, etc. And so these words are a farther explication of his second desire, Bring them down. He would have them so brought down and consumed in their strength, dignity, command, wealth, riches, that made them proud, that they never be able any more to oppose God, hurt his people, trample upon religion and his church; he would have them live. William Nicholson. Ver. 13. Consume them. I hear of sad doings in Poland, of villages burnt down, of peaceable men deported to Siberia by hundreds, of woman flogged; and when I look away to that Warsaw market place where a woman, nearly naked, is being publicly beaten, and when I see cruel Mouravieff smile as the blood jets forth from the scourged shoulders, I will not deny that I feel very much tempted to say, "Happy man, whose bullet in fair flight should empty that saddle!" Am I bloodthirsty in this? Am I vindictive? Do you condemn me for this feeling? R. A. Bertram. Ver. 13. That they may not be. By the word wmgyaw, that they may not be, may be understood either a vile and wretched state in general, or even total destruction. The former must indeed here be admitted, as is plain from the context, yet not to the exclusion of the latter sense; since a miserable condition, such as in a disease, issues in destruction at length. Not to be is evidently by no means rarely taken for to be nobody, to be wretched, afflicted, despised. Compare Jeremiah 31:15. Hermann Venema. Ver. 13. Selah. Though God be in all his words Yea and Amen, yet in setting this seal of Selah to this doctrine, he hath testified his will that he would have all these things the better understood and the deeper imprinted; that if the wicked go on to persecute the godly, Selah, assuredly God will have them in derision; Selah, assuredly God shall shiver their bones, shake their best actions, and discover their impurity; Selah, assuredly God's hand shall be heavy upon them, and they shall not discern it to be his hand till they are consumed. Selah, assuredly, verily, amen, this is a faithful, an infallible truth; as the Lord liveth it shall be so. Abraham Wright. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 13 (last clause). God as the God of the church, his government as such, known in all human history. Psalms 59:14* Ver. 14. Here verse six is repeated, as if the songster defied his foes and revelled in the thought of their futile search, their malice, their disappointment, their rage, their defeated vigilance, their wasted energy. He laughs to think that all the city would know how they were deceived, and all Israel would ring with the story of the image and the goats' hair in the bed. Nothing was more a subject of Oriental merriment than a case in which the crafty are deceived, and nothing more makes a man the object of derision than to be outwitted by a woman, as in this instance Saul and his base minions were by Michal. The warrior poet hears in fancy the howl of rage in the council of his foes when they found their victim clean escaped from their hands. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 14. Dog. Is it the influence of Christianity extending its law of kindness to the lower animals, or something in the nature of northern dogs and northern men which makes dogs among us Anglo Saxons, and all the associations connected with them, so entirely different from what they are in the East? Imagine the effigy of an Oriental saint reposing with its feet on a dog, like that of William the Silent, the heroic Prince of Orange, on the faithful spaniel which rescued his life in the night attack of the Spanish troops, and like so many a sculptured knight of medieval times! The very presence of such an image would, in Oriental eyes, be the greatest desecration an enemy could inflict on a sacred edifice. And in the Bible how exceedingly contemptuous, and how inapplicable to English dogs, are the terms employed in describing canine habits. "They grin like a dog, and go about the city, and grudge if they be not satisfied; " "Without are dogs." What possible resemblance is there between such a description and the grave dignity of a Newfoundland; the sagacious, acute expression of a terrier; the wistful, almost human eyes of our house spaniels? But here at Tyre, as in most Eastern towns, the familiar words came to us with all their true and forcible meaning. The wolfish, hungry, masterless dogs which "go about the cities (of Alexandria, for instance), gathering in packs like jackals, prowling about for offal, and grudging if they be not satisfied; "or the famished outcasts, like our dogs at Tyre, prowling "outside" the city. To these we may apply the highly unfavourable definitions of Scripture, which every Englishman and Englishwoman must indignantly disclaim on behalf of the loyal, faithful, patient creatures who watch beside our homes like sentinels, and guard our flocks like shepherds, and welcome us with ecstatic joy when we come home again, and sometimes will even die rather than desert a master's grave. From "Wanderings over Bible Lands and Seas, "1862. Ver. 14. Those that repent of their sins when they are in trouble, mourn like doves; those whose hearts are hardened when they are in trouble, make a noise like dogs. Matthew Henry. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 59:15* This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ Moab is My Washpot by C. H. (1834-1892) "Moab is my washpot."— Psalms 60:8 . Moab, which had threatened Israel, was to be so completely subdued, and become so utterly contemptible as to be likened to a washpot or basin in which men wash their feet. More than this, however, may have been intended—nay, we feel sure was intended by the expression. Let us explain exactly what the language literally means. In the East the general mode of washing the hands and the feet is with a basin and ewer; water is poured upon the hands or feet from the ewer, and it falls into the basin. No Oriental, if he can help it, will wash in standing water; he prefers to have it clear and running. He puts his feet into the washpot, into the bath, into the basin, and then the clear, cool liquid is poured upon his feet; the washpot answering the sole purpose of holding the dirty water which has already passed over the man's flesh. Wearing no completely covering shoes, as we do, but only sandals, the feet of an eastern traveler in a long journey become very much defiled; the water, therefore, when it runs off from them, is far from clean, and the washpot is thus put to a very contemptible use by being only the receptacle of dirty water. When Moab thus became a washpot, it was far other than when it was said, "Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed." "We have heard the pride of Moab (he is exceeding proud), his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart." What does Moab represent to you and to me? We are the children of Israel by faith in Christ, and in him we have obtained by covenant a promised land. Our faith may cry, "I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valles of Succoth." All things are ours in Christ Jesus; "Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine." Now Moab was outside of Canaan. It was not given to Israel as a possession, but in course of time it was subdued in warfare, and became tributary to the Jewish king. Even thus our faith overcometh the world, and enables us to say, "this world is ours"—ours for a useful, needful purpose. We set but small store by it; it is nothing but our washpot, but we are content to use it as far as we may make it subserve a holy end. The best possessions we have outside of the spiritual heritage we put under our feet, desiring to keep them in their proper inferior position; they are not the crown of our head, nor the comfort of our heart, nor the girdle of our loins, nor the staff of our support; they are put to baser uses far. They yield us some comfort, for which we are grateful to God, but it is only for our feet or lower nature; our head and heart find nobler joys. The whole world put together, with all its wealth, is but a mess of potage for Esau, and nothing more. God's Jacob has a better portion, for he has the birthright. Our worst is better than the world's best, for the reproach of Christ is greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. "We trend the world beneath our feet, With all that earth calls good or great." "Moab is my washpot," nothing more—a thing contemptible and despicable as compared with the eternal realities of covenant blessings; yet, for all that, there was a use for Moab, a use to be rightly understood. A washpot has its necessary function; and even this base world may be made by faith, in the hands of God, to be the means of aiding the purity of the saints; its afflictions and troubles may work our present and lasting good. The world and its trials can never be compared to the water which cleanses our feet; for that purifying stream we look to a far higher source; but it may be likened to the basin in which our feet are placed while they are being washed. If we regard Moab as representative of the unregenerate people among whom we dwell, we do well, like the children of Israel, on their march to Canaan, to let them alone, for their heritage is not our heritage, neither are their joys our joys. The less communion we have with them the better. If we ask of them, as Israel did of Moab, simply to be allowed to go on our way in peace, it is all we need. Moses sent his messenger, who said, "Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the highway, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the Lord our God giveth us." Like the pilgrims in Vanity Fair, we only ask a clear passage through the place, for we have no inheritance in it, no, not so much as we can set our foot upon. Yet, inasmuch as we cannot altogether separate ourselves from the sinful, for then must we needs go out of the world, we are compelled to feel the influence of their conduct, and it will become our wisdom to watch that this become not injurious to us, but be made under God rather to be of service to us than a hindrance. My object will be to show that, contrary to the ordinary course of nature, but not contrary to faith, even this ungodly world may be made to assist our advance in holiness. As of old the men of Israel went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his axe and his courter, so may we derive some sharpening from our enemies. We may gather honey from the lion, take a jewel from the toad's head, and borrow a star from the brow of night. Moab may become our washpot. While this is contrary to nature, it is also unusual in history. In the Book of Numbers we read that Balak, son of Zippor, desired to vanquish Israel, and therefore he sent for Balaam, the son of Beor, saying, "Curse me Israel, and peradventure I shall prevail against them." Balaam was not able to curse Israel by word of mouth, but he cursed them in very deed when he counselled the king to make them unclean in God's sight by sending the daughters of Moab among them, who not only led them into lasciviousness, but invited them to the sacrifices of their gods. Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and the plague would have devoured them, had not the holy zeal of Phinehas turned away the divine anger. Thus it is clear that Moab of old was foremost in polluting and defiling Israel. It is a great feat of faith when the thing which naturally defiles is turned into a washpot. Behold the transformations of grace! This ungodly world outside the church, the world of wicked men, would naturally pollute us, but faith turns them into a washpot, and finds in them motives for watchfulness and holiness. We sigh, in the words of the old psalm— "Woe's me that I in Mesech am A sojourner so long; That I in tabernacles dwell To Kedar that belong." As we cannot sing the Lord's song in a strange land, so neither can we very readily keep our garments unspotted in a land deluged with uncleannees. With difficulty do we save ourselves from this untoward generation. And yet faith learns the secret of overcoming the ordinary tendency of things, and of making that which might injure us subsidiary to our advantage; fulfilling that ancient promise, "And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers." The defiling world may be made helpful to us in the following ways. I. First of all, ungodly men, if we are in a gracious spirit, may be of solemn service to us, because WE SEE IN THEM WHAT SIN IS. They are beacons upon the rocks to keep us from danger. The lives of many men are recorded in Scripture, not as excuses for our sins, much less as examples, but the very reverse. Like murderers in the olden times hung in chains, they are meant to be warnings. Their lives and deaths are danger-signals, bidding those who are pursuing a career of sin, to come to a pause, and reverse the engine forthwith. They are our washpot in that respect, that they warn us of pollution, and so help to prevent our falling into it. When we learn that pride turned angels into devils, we have a lesson in humility read to us from heaven and hell. When we read of profane Esau, obstinate Pharaoh, disobedient Saul, apostate Judas, or vacillating Pilate, we are taught thereby to shun the rocks upon which they made eternal shipwreck. Trangressors of our own race are peculiarly suitable to act as warnings to us, for we ought ever to remember when we see the sins of ungodly men, that "such were some of us." Whenever thou seest a drunkard, if thou wast once such, it will bring the tears to thine eyes to remember when thou too wast a slave to the ensnaring cup, and thou wilt thank God that his grace has changed thee. Not as the Pharisee wilt thou pretend to thank God, whilst thou art flattering thine own self, but with deep humiliation thou wilt confess what grace has done. When we read in the newspaper a sad case of lasciviousness, or any other breach of the laws of God and man, if we were aforetime guilty of the like and have now been renewed in heart, it will make us blush; it will humble us, and cause us to admire the power and sovereignty of divine grace. Now the blush of repentance, the shamefacedness of humility, and the tear of gratitude, are three helpful things, and all tend under God's grace to set us purging out the old leaven. Remember, O believer, that there is no wretch upon earth so bad, but what thou wast once his equal in alienation from God and death in sin. In untoward acts there may have been much difference, but in the inner man how little! The seed of all the sin which thou seest in him lies in thy corrupt nature, and needs only a fit season to bring forth and bud. Thou wast once in that fire of sin, in which he is consumed by his passions; thou hast been plucked as a brand from the burning, else hadst thou been there still. Yonder is a prodigal, all bespattered from head to foot, but we also once were plunged into the ditch, until our own clothes abhorred us, and we should be sinking in the mire even now, if the mighty hand of grace had not lifted us up from the horrible pit, and washed us in the Savior's blood. We were "heirs of wrath even as others." "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Our sins are different, but we were all without exception shapen in iniquity, and as in water, face answereth unto face, so the heart of man to man. When you see the wickedness of an ungodly man, make him your washpot, by remembering that you also, though you are regenerate, are encompassed with "the body of this death." Remember the words of the Apostle: "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." The old nature so remains in us, that, if we were to be deserted by God, we should even yet become such as the ungodly are. Need I quote to you the speech of John Bradford, one of the godliest of men? When he saw a wretch taken out to Tyburn to be hanged, the tears were in his eyes, and when they asked him why, he said, "There goes John Bradford, but for the grace of God." Ah, and when we see a prodigal plonging into excess of riot, there goes the best among us, if we are not preserved in Christ Jesus. Ay, and when the damned go down to hell, there must I go, unless the same grace which restrains me now from sin, shall uphold me to my last day; and keep me from falling. Brother Christian, you carry much combustible matter in your nature, be warned when you see your neighbour's house on fire. When one man falls, the next should look to his steps. You are a man of like passions, remember yourself, lest you also be tempted. In these days of epidemics, if we knew that a certain house was tainted with disease, and if we saw a person who had come from it with the marks of the disease in his face; what should we feel? Should we not take it as a warning to keep clear, both of the house and of him; because we ourselves are as likely to take the disease as He was? So when we see a sinner transgressing we should say to ourselves, "I also am a man, and a fallen man, let me abhor every evil way, and guard myself jealously, lest I also fall into sin." In this way Moab may be a washpot. By remembering what we are, and what we were, we may, by taking warning from the evil courses of others, avoid the like condemnation. There are certain sins which we readily detect in others, which should serve as loud calls to us to us to correct the same things in ourselves. When a man sees the faults of others, and congradulates himself that he is far superior to such, he evidently knows not how to extract good from evil; he is proud, and knows nothing. But when we perceive errors in others, and immediately set a diligent watch against falling into the like, then Moab is rightly used, and becomes our washpot. For instance, as to the matter of bodily indulgence? The sinner is a man who puts his body before his soul, and his head where his feet should be; he is therefore a monster in nature. Instead of the world being under his feet, as it is with every good man, he inverts himself, and places his head and his heart in the dust. He lives for the body which is to die, and forgets the soul which lives for ever. When therefore you see a drunkard, or an unchaste person, say to yourself, "I must mortify my members, and give my Spiritual nature the predominance. For this I must cry mightily to God, the Eternal Spirit, lest the body of this death prevail over me. I must keep under my body, as the Apostle saith, and bring it into subjection, lest I too become a prey to the same animal passions, which lead sinners captives." I see the ungodly man putting this poor fleeting world before the eternal world to come; therein he is a fool; but let me take heed that I in no measure imitate him. Let me never in my business live as though to make money; to get a competence, to earn the wherewithal to eat and drink, were the first thing with me. Let me not fall into his error, but ever seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and believe that other things shall be added to me. The ungodly man disregards God. God is not in all his thoughts. He saith in his heart, "No God." Now when I know that the ungodly man does that, it should be a warning to me not to forget the Lord, or depart from him in any measure. Alas, we are all of us more or less atheistic. How little of our life is given to God! You who love and fear him are not always near to him, though he is always near to you. Do you never enter upon your enterprises without him? When you begin your business with him, are you not apt to forget him in the middle passage of it? Or when you have gone on to the very center of a work with him, are you not liable to leave him ere you close? Is not this to learn the way of the wicked and to be like them in wandering away from the living God? To have God always with us, to lean hourly upon him, and to feel each moment that he is all in all to us—this is the true condition in which our minds ought to be continually. The atheism of the outside world should warn us against the inward godlessness of our naturally atheistic hearts. We select these sins as specimens of the general principle, but it is applicable to all forms of evil. Did you ever meet with a vain man, who boasted loudly, and evermore talked about his own beloved self? Was not that a lesson for you? Surely it will help to preserve you from acting so ridiculous a part. Did not I hear you, the other night, laughing at the boaster for his folly? Let us hope, then, you will never set others laughing at yourself. You know another person who is morose, he always speaks sharply, and makes enemies. Be you of another spirit; be courteous, cultivate the grace of cheerfulness and good temper as a Christian. The moroseness of the churl should enforce upon you the duty of godly gentleness. Moab will be your washpot. You know a certain person whose hands appear to be paralysed if they are required to bestow a contribution. How unlovely his meanness makes him! Will not the miserable exhibition of stinginess, which he presents, lead you to avoid all covetousness? Another person of your acquaintance is very soon irritated. You can hardly say a word to displease him but he makes a crime of it immediately, and falls into the temporary insanity of anger. Well, then, learn yourself to be slow to wrath. Seek that charity which is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. May be your friend's blood is warmer than yours, and there is some excuse for him; but since you see how unwise and wicked it is in him, seek much grace wherewith to overcome the propensity in your own case. If a man should fall into a pit through walking unwarily along a dangerous path, his fall should be my safety, his experience should be my instruction; there can be no need for me to roll over the same precipice in order to know experimentally how dangerous it is. How sad a fact it is that very few of us ever do learn by the experience of other people! Dame Experience must take each one of us into her school, and make us personally smart under her rod—we will not learn else. Warnings are neglected by the foolish. The young slaggard sees the huge thorns and thistles in the older sluggard's garden and yet he follows the same lazy habits. One step follows another into the shambles. Flies see their brethren perishing, in the sugared trap, and yet rush into it themselves. The Lord make us wise and prudent, and from the errors of others may we learn to steer our own course aright; then may we truly say, "Moab is my washpot." II. Another illustration of this practical principle lies in the fact, that WE SEE IN THE UNGODLY THE PRESENT EVIL RESULTS OF SIN. We frequently have the opportunity of beholding in them, not only sin, but some of its bitter fruits, and this should still further help us to shun it, by God's grace. Evil is now no longer an unknown seed of doubtful character; we have seen it planted, and have beheld sinners reaping the first sheaves of its awful harvest. This poison is no longer an uncertain drug, for its deadly effects are apparent in those around us. If we sin, it is no longer through the want of knowing what sin will lead to, for its mischief is daily before our eyes. First, are you not very certain, those of you who watch unconverted and ungodly people, that they are not solidly happy? What roaring boys they are sometimes! How vociferous are their songs! How merry their dances! How hilarious their laughter! You would think that there were no happier people to be found under the sun; but as, on many a face, beauty is produced by art rather than by nature, and a little paint creates a transient comeliness, so, often the mirth of this world is a painted thing, a base imitation, not so deep even as the skin. Ungodly men know nothing of heart-laughing; they are strangers to the deep, serene happiness which is the portion of believers. Their joy comes and goes with the hour. See them when the feast is over—"Who hath woe? Who hath redness of the eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; the men of strength to mingle strong drink." Mark them when alone: they are ready to die with dulness. They want to kill time, as if they had an overplus of it and would be glad to dispose of the superfluity. A man's face must be very ugly when he never cares to look at it, and a man's state must be very bad indeed in when he is ashamed to know what it is; and yet in the case of tens of thousands of people, who say they are very happy, there is a worm inside the apple; the very foundation-stone has been removed from the edifice; and you may be sure it is so, for they dare not examine into matters. Ungodly men at bottom are unhappy men. "The way of trangressors is hard." "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Their Marah is never dry, but flows with perennial waters of bitterness. What says their great poet Byron:— "Count o'er the joys thine hours have seen, Count o'er the days from anguish free; And know whatever thou hast been, Tis something better not to be." Now then, if things be so—if sin brings after all an unsatisfactory result to the mind, if a man is not rendered happy by an evil course—then let me choose another path, and, by God's grace, keep to wisdom's ways of pleasantness and paths of peace, into which my Lord by his love has drawn me and by his grace has led me. I am happy in his bosom, I drink living waters out of his fountain. Why should I go to those broken cisterns, which I clearly see can hold no water? Why should I wish to wander over the dreary waste of waters? Noah's hand is warm, and the peaceful ark is near: "Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee." When I read of aching hearts, and hear that great worldling, who had all the world could give him, sum it all up with this sentence, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity," does not my heart say at once, "Oh, empty world, thou temptest me in vain, for I see through the cheat." Madam Bubble we have seen with her mask off, and are not to be fascinated by so ugly a witch. We follow not after yonder green meads and flowing brooks, because they are not real, and are only a mirage mocking the traveler. Wherefore should we pursue a bubble or chase the wind? We spend our money no more for that which is not bread. Moab is our washpot; if others have found earthly things to be unsatisfactory, we wash our hands of their disappointing pursuits. Dear Savior, we would follow thee whithersoever thou goest, till we come to dwell with thee for ever. But it is not merely that ungodly men are not happy; there are times when they are positively wretched through their sins. Sometimes fear cometh upon them as a whirlwind, and they have no refuge or way of escape. I have been now and then called to witness the utter anguish of a man who has lost his gods. His great idols have been broken, and he has been in despair. His darling child is dead, or his wife is a corpse, and he knows not how to endure life. Did you ever see a godless man when he had lost all his money in a speculation which once promised fair? Did you mark his woe? Did you ever see the countenance of a gambler who had staked his last and lost his all? See him in an agony which can find no alleviation. He rises from the table, he rushes to imbrue his hands in his own blood. Poor soul, he has lost his all! That never happens to a Christian—never! If all he had on earth were gone, it would be only like losing a little of his spending-money, but his permanent capital would be safe in the Imperial exchequer, where Omnipotence itself stands guard. Even when no very great calamity puts out the candle of the worldling, Yet, as years revolve, a gathering cloud darkens his day. Hear again the world's master songster. The confession will suit many:— "My days are in the yellow leaf, The flowers and fruits of love are gone; The worm, the canker, and the grief— Are mine alone. The fire that in my bosom plays Alone as some volcanic isle; No torch is kindled at its blaze— A funeral pile." This is the world's treatment of its old servants: it dishonors them in old age; but it is not so with aged believers: "they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright." When all our wealth on earth is gone, our treasure is still safe in heaven, where moth corrupts not, and thieves break not through nor steal. When we think of the despair of men, of blasted hopes, Moab may become our washpot, and may keep us from setting our affection upon their fleeting joys. Here and there, in the Moab of sin, you meet with men who are in their garments, their trembling limbs, their penury, and their shame, living monitors and standing proves that the way of transgressors in hard. There are sins whose judgment hastens as a whirlwind—sins of the flesh, which eat into the bones and poison the blood; sins of appetite, that degrade and destroy the frame. If young men knew the price of sin, even in this life, they would not be so but to purchase pleasurable moments at the price of painful years. Who would coin his life into iniquity to have it returned to him in this life, red-hot from the mint of torment! Mark well the spendthrift, void of understanding! I have seen him at my door. I knew his relatives; people of reputable character and good estate. I have seen him in rags which scarcely covered him, piteously weeping for a piece of bread. Yet a few short years ago he inherited a portion which most men would have thought wealth. In a mad riot, into which he could not crowd enough of debauchery, he spent all that he had. He was soon penniless, and then loathsome and sore sick. He was pitied by his friends, but pity has been lost on him, and now none of his kith or kin dare own him. I too fed him, clothed him, and found him a place of labor. The garments which charity had supplied him, within the next few hours, were sold for drink, and he was wallowing in drunkenness. The work was deserted almost as soon as attempted. He will die of starvation, if he be not already dead, for he has abandoned himself to every vicious excess, and already trembles from head to foot, and looks to be on the borders of the grave. Nothing keeps him sober but want of another penny to buy drink; not even that can restrain him from uncleanness. Hunger, and cold, and nakedness he knows full well, and prefers to endure them rather than earn honest bread and abandon his licentiousness. Tears have been wept over him in vain, and many must have been his own tears of misery when he has been in want. The workhouse is his best shelter and its pauper clothing his noblest livery. Away from that retreat he is a mass of rags and indescribable filth. Young Christian professor, if you are tempted by the strange woman, or by the wine which moveth itself aright in the cup, look on the victims of these destroyers ere you dally with them. See the consequences of sin even in this life, and avoid it, pass not by it, look not on it, but flee youthful lusts which war against the soul. Thus make filthy Moab to become your washpot from this time forth. The unconverted when they go not thus far may yet be beacons to us. Observe, for instance, the procrastinating hearer of the gospel, how certainly he becomes hardened to all rebukes. Early sensibility gives way to indifference. Let us also beware lest we, by trifling with convictions and holy impulses, lose tenderness of conscience. They advance in evil, and at last commit with impunity sins which, years ago, would have struck them with unaffected horror; let us be cautious lest a similarly blunting process should be carried on upon our hearts. But time would fail me to show you in detail how readily the evil results of sin in others may preserve us from falling into the like; how, in a word, Moab may be our washpot. III. A third point suggests itself. Men of this world are made useful to us since they IN US OUR WEAK PLACES. Their opposition, slander, and persecution, are a rough pumice-stone, to remove some of our spots. When young men come to college, one of the chief benefits they obtain is the severe criticism to which they are subjected from their tutors and fellow students. Sharp ears hear their slips of speech, and they are made conscious of them. Now in a certain sense the outside world often becomes a college to the Christian. When we are with our dear Christian brethren, they do not look for our faults—at least, they should not—neither do they irritated us and so bring our infirmities to the surface, but they treat us so lovingly and gently that we do not know our weak side. Young Christians would be like plants under glass cases in a conservatory, and become tender and feeble, but the rough world tries them, and is over-ruled by God to their strengthening and general benefit. Men's lynx eyes see our shortcomings, and their merciless tongues inform us of them; And, for my part, I see much advantage brought out of this maliciousness of theirs; they are our monitors, and help to keep us humble, and make us careful. If we cannot bear a little shake from men, how shall we bear the shaking of heaven and earth at the last day? The world often tries us as with fire, and the things which we reckoned to be gold and silver perish in the ordeal it they are but counterfeit, but we are gainers by such a loss. In the world our temper is tried, and too often we become irritated. What then? Why just this; if sanctification has regulated our emotions, patience will have her perfect work, and charity will suffer long; but if we are soon angry and find it hard to forgive, let us not so much find fault with those who try us as with ourselves, because we cannot bear the ordeal. Our pride must go down, we must become slow to wrath, we must be content to be as our Lord, the meek and lowly Savior. These irritations show us how far we are from the model, and should excite in us a desire for progress towards his complete image. Perhaps you had fondly said in your heart, "I could bear a great deal. I could act the Christian under the worst abuse;" but now you sing another song, and find how great your weakness is. Moab thus again becomes your washpot, for now you will go to God in prayer, and ask to be subdued to his will. Do not worldly men in some cases frighten professors out of their testimony for Christ? I mean, has it never happened that our cheek has blanched, and our tongue failed us in the presence of cavillers, and blasphemers, and sceptics, and have we not been silent when we ought to have avowed our Lord? That also shows how cowardly we are at heart, and how cold is our love. We are to blame for not having more courage; for if we were strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, as we ought to be, we should be ready to go with Christ to prison and to death, and never think of shunning his service. Do you not find that ungodly men, when you are obliged to be in their company in business, will occasionally utter remarks which shake your faith about truths which you imagined you firmly believed? Too many are content with a superficial creed. Their faith is not rooted deep in their hearts, and therefore a little wind rocks the tree to and fro, but ere long the very motion of the tree tends to root it, and it becomes all the more firm. God over-rules for good the evilness of men against the truth. Besides, do not ungodly men drive us from loving the world! We might think of finding our rest here below, but when we hear their tongues cruelly and unkindly slandering us, there we are sick of their company. "My soul distracted mourn and pines To reach that peaceful shore, Where all the weary are at rest, And troubles vex no more." An extreme case of the way in which evil treatment may tend to our sanctification, may be found in the life of one of the old ministers in the north of Scotland. "A cold, unfeeling, bold, unheeding, worldly woman was the wife of Mr. Fraser, one of the ministers of Ross-shire," writes my beloved friend, Mr. John Kennedy, in his interesting book, entitled, "The Days of the Fathers in Ross-shire." "Never did her godly husband sit down to a comfortable meal in his own home, and often would he have fainted but for the considerate kindness of some of his parishioners. She was too insensate to try to hide her treatment of him, and well was it for him, on one account, that she was. His friends thus knew of his ill-treatment, and were moved to do what they could for his comfort. A godly acquaintance arranged with him to leave a supply of food in a certain place, beside his usual walk, of which he might avail himself when starved at home. Even light and fire in his study were denied to him on the long, cold winter evenings; and as his study was his only place of refuge from the cruel scourge of his wife's tongue and temper, there, shivering and in the dark, he used to spend his winter evenings at home. Compelled to walk in order to keep himself warm, and accustomed to do so when preparing for the pulpit, he always kept his hands before him as feelers in the dark, to warn him of his approaching the wall at either side of the room. In this way he actually wore a hole through the plaster at each end of his accustomed beat, on which some eyes have looked that glistened with light from other fire than that of love, at the remembrance of his cruel wife. But the godly husband had learned to thank the Lord for the discipline of this trial. Being once at a Presbytery dinner, alone, amidst a group of moderates, one of them proposed, as a toast, the health of their wives, and turning to Mr. Fraser, said, as he winked at his companions, 'You, of course, will cordially join in drinking to this toast.'—'So I will, and so I ought,' Mr. Fraser said, 'for mine has been a better wife to me than any of yours has been to you.' 'How so?' they all exclaimed.—'She has sent me,' was his reply, 'seven times a day to my knees, when I would not otherwise have gone, and that is more than any of you can say of yours.'" Ah, this is the way to make Moab our washpot, that is to say, to make those who grieve us most, act but as rough waves to hurry us on to the rock, or as biting winds that drift as the faster into port. If the birds of paradise will keep to the nest, their ungodly relatives or neighbors shall be a thorn therein to make them mount into their native element—the heaven of God. The attacks of the ungodly upon the church have been overruled by God to make his people leave the camp and foresake ungodly associations, so as to be separate. I know a beloved sister in Christ who was baptised; she had moved in high circles, but they told me that after her baptism she received the cold shoulder. When I heard it, I said, "Thank God for it," for half her temptations are gone. If the world has turned its back upon her, she will be all the more sure to turn her back on the world and live near to her Lord. The friendship of the world is enmity to God—why should we seek it? "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." If any man will follow Christ he must expect persecution, and one of the cardinal precepts of the Christian faith runs thus: "Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters." "Let us go forth, therefore, unto him, without the camp, bearing his reproach." IV. Lastly, IN TO THE WORLD TO COME, the terrible doom of the ungodly is a most solemn warning to us. My heart fails me to speak concerning the destiny of the ungodly in another world. Dying without hope, without a Savior, they go before the throne uncleansed, unforgiven, to hear that awful sentence, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Pursue them for a moment in your thoughts, down to the deeps of wrath, whither God's judgment shall pursue them. My Lord, I pray thee of thy grace, save me from the sin which brings such a result at the end of it. If the wages of sin be such a death as this, Lord save me from so accursed a service. Will not the sight of their destruction drive us to watchfulness, and cause us to make our calling and election sure? Will it not make us anxious lest we also come into this place of torment? O the wrath to come! The wrath to come whereof this Book speaks in so many terrible tones and dreadful images! Remember Lot's wife "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." In this way Moab becomes our washpot, by showing us what sin grows to when it has developed itself. This consideration will surely cause us more heartily to love the Savior, who can deliver us from it. Dear friends, if you are not in Christ, much of what I have said bears upon you. Bethink yourself, and pray to escape from the wrath to come. I would not have you be made a mere washpot to be used and broken as a potter's vessel. Neither should you wish to be a vessel without honor, a thing of no esteem; but may you have faith in Jesus—life in him, and then you shall be a royal diadem, a crown of glory in the hand of our God. May you have a heritage among those who fear the Lord, and are reconciled to him by faith in the total sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Psalms 611. To the Chief Musician— on a stringed instrument (or with an instrumental accompaniment)— of David. The peculiar form of the original construction cannot be reproduced in English, but seems to connect the name of David both with the Hebrew word preceding, as the owner or conductor of the music, and with the psalm itself as the author. That is to say, the words are so combined as to convey both these ideas— a stringed instrument of David— and a psalm of David. The musical term used here is the same as in the titles of Psalms 4, 6, 54, 55, but in the singular number and the construct form. The psalm itself consists of a prayer with an expression of strong confidence, Psalms 61:1-4, and an appeal o the divine promise, as the ground and object of that confidence,Psalms 61:5-8. 2. (Psalms 61:1). Hear, O God, my cry; attend unto my prayer! The psalm opens with an introductory petition to be heard. See above, on Psalms 5:1-2; Psalms 17:1; Psalms 55:1, and compare Psalms 39:12. The word translated cry, which sometimes means a joyful shout or thankful song—Psalms 30:5; Psalms 42:4; Psalms 47:1— is here determined by the parallelism and the context to denote a cry for help or mercy. 3. (Psalms 61:2). From the end of the earth unto thee will I call, in the covering of my heart (when it is covered, i.e. overwhelmed, or covered with darkness). To a rock (that) is high from me (i. e. higher than I, or too high for me), thou wilt lead me. To the saints of the Old Testament exclusion or involuntary distance from the sanctuary seemed equivalent to exile in the remotest countries, sometimes called the end of the earth (Deuteronomy 28:64), sometimes the end of heaven (Deuteronomy 4:32), although this last phrase may be understood to mean the sensible horizon or boundary of vision (Isaiah 13:5). A rock, often mentioned as a place of refuge. See above, on Psalms 18:2; Psalms 40:2. Too high for me to reach without assistance. In the last clause an earnest prayer is latent under the form of a confident anticipation. The feelings here expressed, and the terms used to express them, are peculiarly appropriate to David's situation during Absalom's rebellion. See above, on Psalms 3:1; Psalms 42:1. 4. (Psalms 61:3). For thou hast been a refuge to me, a tower of strength (or strong tower), from before (from the face or presence of) the enemy. He appeals to former mercies as a ground for his present expectation. The verb of existence is here emphatic, and cannot, without a violation of usage, be translated as a present, which is almost invariably suppressed in Hebrew. The enemy is a collective term, or one denoting an ideal person, including many real individuals. 5 (Psalms 61:4). I will sojourn (or abide) in thy tent (or tabernacle) ages (or eternities, i.e. for ever); I will trust (take refuge or find shelter) in the shadow of thy wings. The first verb is in the paragogic form, expressing strong desire or fixed determination. See above, on Psalms 2:3. To dwell in God's tent or house is to be a member of his family, to enjoy his bounty and protection, and to live in intimate communion with him. See above, on Psalms 15:1; Psalms 23:6; Psalms 27:4-5. David here tacitly appeals to the promise recorded in 2 Samuel 7. See above, on Psalms 21:4. The beautiful figure for protection in the last clause is the same as in Psalms 17:8; Psalms 36:7. 6. (Psalms 61:5). For thou, O God, hast heard (or hearkened to) my vows (and the prayers which they accompanied); thou hast given me the heritage of those fearing (or the fearers of) thy name, i.e. the reverential worshippers of thy revealed perfections. See above, on Psalms 54:1. The heritage here mentioned is participation in the honours and privileges of the chosen people, with particular though tacit reference to the vicarious royalty conferred on David, and ensured to his posterity in answer to his prayers. See above, on Ps. x21:2-4, and compare 2 Samuel 7:16. 7. (Psalms 61:6). Days to the days of the king thou wilt add; his years (shall be, or, thou wilt multiply) like generation and generation. The preposition in the first clause strictly means upon, and suggests the idea not of mere addition but accumulation, which would also be conveyed in English by the literal translation, days upon days. His use of the third person shews that he does not mean himself alone, but the king of Israel as an ideal or collective person, comprehending his posterity. The life of this ideal person would of course not be restricted to a single generation, but continued through many, which is the meaning of the idiomatic expression in the last clause. 8. (Psalms 61:7). He shall sit (enthroned) to eternity before God; mercy and truth do thou provide; let them preserve him (or they shall preserve him). The first verb suggests the two ideas of continuance or permanence and regal exaltation. Compare 2 Samuel 7:29. Before God, in his presence and under his protection. See above, on Psalms 56:13. Provide, prepare, afford, or have in readiness. Mercy and Truth are personified, as in Psalms 40:11; Psalms 57:3. Compare Psalms 43:3. They seem to be here represented as God's messengers or agents in preserving his Anointed. 9. (Psalms 61:8). So will I celebrate thy name for ever, that I may pay my vows day (by) day. The so at the beginning may mean, on this condition, when this prayer is granted; or more probably, in this assurance, in the confident expectation of this issue. Celebrate musically, both with instrument and voice. See above, on Psalms 57:7, and compare Psalms 59:17. That I may pay, literally to (or for) my paying, or, as some explain it, by my paying, which, however, is a rare and dubious use of the infinitive. Day (by) day or day (and) day, i.e. one day with or after another, implying not only frequency but regularity. The Vulgate version of this idiomatic phrase is de die in diem. TITLE. To the Chief Musician upon Neginah, a Psalm of David. The original indicates that both the hymn and the musical instrument were David's. He wrote the verses and himself sang them to the stringed instrument whose sound he loved so well. We have left the Psalms entitled Michtam, but we shall still find much precious meaning though the golden name be wanting. We have met with the title of this Psalm before, in Psalms 4:1-8; Psalms 6:1-10; Psalms 54:1-7; Psalms 55:1-23, but with this difference, that in the present case the word is in the singular number: the Psalm itself is very personal, and well adapted for the private devotion of a single individual. SUBJECT AND . This Psalm is a pearl. It is little, but precious. To many a mourner it has furnished utterance when the mind could not have devised a speech for itself. It was evidently composed by David after he had come to the throne, --see Psalms 61:6. The second verse leads us to believe that it was written during the psalmist's enforced exile from the tabernacle, which was the visible abode of God: if so, the period of Absalom's rebellion has been most suitably suggested as the date of its authorship, and Delitzsch is correct in entitling it, "Prayer and thanksgiving of an expelled King on his way back to his throne." We might divide the verses according to the sense, but it is preferable to follow the author's own arrangement, and make a break at each SELAH. Ver. 1. Hear my cry, O God. He was in terrible earnest; he shouted, he lifted up his voice on high. He is not however content with the expression of his need: to give his sorrows vent is not enough for him, he wants actual audience of heaven, and manifold succour as the result. Pharisees may rest in their prayers; true believers are eager for an answer to them: ritualists may be satisfied when they have, "said or sung" their litanies and collects, but living children of God will never rest till their supplications have entered the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth. Attend unto my prayer. Give it thy consideration, and such an answer as thy wisdom sees fit. When it comes to crying with us, we need not doubt but that it will come to attending with God. Our heavenly Father is not hardened against the cries of his own children. What a consoling thought it is that the Lord at all times hears his people's cries, and is never forgetful of their prayers; whatever else fails to move him, praying breath is never spent in vain! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Title. The word Neginah (the singular of Neginoth) may be understood to be synonymous with the kinnor or harp: that is to say, the instrument of eight strings, probably played with a bow or plectrum. John Jess. Ver. 1. Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. Aquinas saith that some read the words thus, Intende ad cantica mea, attend unto my songs--and so the words may be safely read, from the Hebrew word hgr ranah, which signifies to shout or shrill out for joy-- to note that the prayers of the saints are like pleasant songs and delightful ditties in the ears of God. No mirth, no music, can be so pleasing to us as the prayers of the saints are pleasing to God. Son 2:14 Psalms 141:2. Thomas Brooks. Ver. 1. My cry. There is a text in Job where the "hypocrites in heart" are spoken of condemningly, because "they cry not when he bindeth them." I like to feel that no hard fortitude is required of the chastened child of God, but that it ought to feel, and may cry, under the rod, without a single rebellious thought. Mary B. M. Duncan. Ver. 1-2. One ejaculation begetteth another. Hear my cry; attend unto my prayer (yet no words thereof mentioned); and Psalms 61:2. From the end of the earth will I cry: he had thus cried, and he will therefore cry again and again. As billows of temptation ever and anon stop his mouth and interrupt him, so as he now and then doth but peep above water, and get breathing space, he will thus cry, Lead me, or "guide me, "or carry me to yonder rock which is higher than I. Thomas Cobbet (1608-1686), on Prayer. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Whole Psalm. The progressive I wills. I. I will cry. II. I will abide in thy tabernacle. III. I will trust. IV. I will sing praise. Ver. 1. Answers to prayer to be earnestly sought. I. What hinders the answer of prayer? II. What is our duty when answers are denied? III. What encouragements we have to believe that the delay is only temporary. Psalms 61:2* Ver. 2. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee. He was banished from the spot which was the centre of his delight, and at the same time his mind was in a depressed and melancholy condition; both actually and figuratively he was an outcast, yet he does not therefore restrain prayer, but rather finds therein a reason for the louder and more importunate cries. To be absent from the place of divine worship was a sore sorrow to saints in the olden times; they looked upon the tabernacle as the centre of the world, and they counted themselves to be at the fag end of the universe when they could no longer resort to the sacred shrine; their heart was heavy as in a strange land when they were banished from its solemnities. Yet even they knew right well that no place is unsuitable for prayer. There may be an end of the earth, but there must not be an end to devotion. On creation's verge we may call upon God, for even there he is within call. No spot is too dreary, no condition too deplorable; whether it be the world's end or life's end, prayer is equally available. To pray in some circumstances needs resolve, and the psalmist here expresses it, I will cry. It was a wise resolution, for had he ceased to pray he would have become the victim of despair; there is an end to a man when he makes an end to prayer. Observe that David never dreamed of seeking any other God; he did not imagine the dominion of Jehovah to be local: he was at the end of the promised land, but he knew himself to be still in the territory of the Great King; to him only does he address his petitions. When my heart is overwhelmed: --when the huge waves of trouble wash over me, and I am completely submerged, not only as to my head, but also my heart. It is hard to pray when the very heart is drowning, yet gracious men plead best at such times. Tribulation brings us to God, and brings God to us. Faith's greatest triumphs are achieved in her heaviest trials. It is all over with me, affliction is all over me; it encompasses me as a cloud, it swallows me up like a sea, it shuts me in with thick darkness, yet God is near, near enough to hear my voice, and I will call him. Is not this brave talk? Mark how our psalmist tells the Lord, as if he knew he were hearing him, that he intended to call upon him: our prayer by reason of our distress may be like to a call upon a far off friend, but our inmost faith has its quiet heart whispers to the Lord as to one who is assuredly our very present help. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. I see thee to be my refuge, sure and strong; but alas! I am confused, and cannot find thee; I am weak, and cannot climb thee. Thou art so steadfast, guide me; thou art so high, uplift me. There is a mint of meaning in this brief prayer. Along the iron bound coast of our northern shores, lives are lost because the rocks are inaccessible to the shipwrecked mariner. A clergyman of one of the coast villages has with immense labour cut steps up from the beach to a large chamber, which he has excavated in the chalk cliffs; here many mariners have been saved; they have climbed the rock, which had else been too high for them, and they have escaped. We have heard of late, however, that the steps have been worn away by the storms, and that poor sailors have perished miserably within sight of the refuge which they could not reach, for it was too high for them: it is therefore proposed to drive in iron stanchions, and to hang up chain ladders that shipwrecked mariners may reach the chambers in the rock. The illustration is self interpreting. Our experience leads us to understand this verse right well, for the time was with us when we were in such amazement of soul be reason of sin, that although we knew the Lord Jesus to be a sure salvation for sinners, yet we could not come at him, by reason of our many doubts and forebodings. A Saviour would have been of no use to us if the Holy Spirit had not gently led us to him, and enabled us to rest upon him. To this day we often feel that we not only want a rock, but to be led to it. With this in view we treat very leniently the half unbelieving prayers of awakened souls; for in their bewildered state we cannot expect from them all at once a fully believing cry. A seeking soul should at once believe in Jesus, but it is legitimate for a man to ask to be led to Jesus; the Holy Spirit is able to effect such a leading, and he can do it even though the heart be on the borders of despair. How infinitely higher that we are is the salvation of God. We are low and grovelling, but it towers like some tall cliff far above us. This is its glory, and is our delight when we have once climbed into the rock, and claimed an interest in it; but while we are as yet trembling seekers, the glory and sublimity of salvation appal us, and we feel that we are too unworthy ever to be partakers of it; hence we are led to cry for grace upon grace, and to see how dependent we are for everything, not only for the Saviour, but for the power to believe on him. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 1-2. See Psalms on "Psalms 61:1" for further information. Ver. 2. From the end of the earth. This may be taken two ways: either naturally, and then it is an allusion to men that are far distant and remote from help, relief and comfort: or, as I may say, ecclesiastically, with reference to the temple of God, which was "in medio terrae, ""in the midst and heart of the land, "where God manifested and gave tokens of his gracious presence and favour: as if he had said, "I am at the end of the earth; far from any tokens, pledges, or manifestations of the love and favour of God, as well as from outward help and assistance." John Owen. Ver. 2. The end of the earth. What place was this, the end of the earth, referring the expression to the writer of the Psalm? We know that the centre of the affections and devotions of the pious Israelite was the "holy city, Jerusalem; whither the tribes went up, even the tribes of the Lord, to testify unto Israel, and to give thanks unto the name of the Lord." The country of which this city was the capital, was to the Jew the world; it was the world within the world; the earth within the earth; the whole globe besides was to him a waste, a place out of the world; an extraterrestrial territory, beyond the limits set up by the Lord Almighty. Thus in Holy Writ what is called the world, or the earth, frequently signifieth only that part thereof which was the heritage of the chosen people... The end of the earth, then, as referred to the psalmist, would signify any place of bodily absence from the temple where the Deity had taken up his special abode, or any place whence his spiritual affections were unable to reach that temple. As referred to us, the expression signifies any sensible distance from God: for as God is the centre of life, hope, love, and joy, distance from him, of whatsoever degree, is the antipodes of the soul, a region of sterility and darkness; the Iceland of man's spirit. Alfred Bowen Evans, 1852. Ver. 2. I will cry unto thee. There is in this expression an endeavour to approach unto God; as you do when you cry after one whom you see at a distance, and are afraid he will go farther from you. It is the great work of faith to cry out after God, at a distance, when you are afraid lest at the next turn he should be quite out of sight. Crying to the Lord supposes him to be withdrawing or departing. John Owen. Ver. 2. Cry. No matter how abrupt the prayer be, so it be the representation of our hearts. Thus did David. Where doth he pray? In banishment. When? When his spirit is overwhelmed. How does he pray? He cried. Thus Hannah prayed herself into a composed state of mind. Remember, resignation is the work of the Spirit of God; and therefore you must plead for it before you have it. John Singleton(-1706), in "The Morning Exercises." Ver. 2. Cry. Crying is a substitute for speech; and also the expression of earnestness. William Jay. Ver. 2. When my heart is overwhelmed. Troubles are of various kinds; some are provoking, some are gnawing, some are perplexing, and some are overwhelming; but whatever form they assume, they are troubles, and are part of the wear and tear of life. ...Overwhelming troubles are such as sweep over a man, just as the mighty billows of the ocean sweep over and submerge the sands. These are troubles which struggle with us, as it were, for life and death; troubles which would leave us helpless wrecks; troubles which enter into conflict with us in our prime, which grapple with us in our health and strength, and threaten to conquer us by sheer force, no matter how bravely we may contend. Such trouble the psalmist knew. Philip Bennett Power, in "The I wills of the Psalms, "1861. Ver. 2. Heart. The heart is here represented to us as being overwhelmed, or, as it is otherwise translated, "covered over; "it is smothered in, unable to perform its functions with proper action, unable to throw out the blood to the extremities, to give them needed vitality and power for necessary effort. When the action of the heart is paralysed, even temporarily, it will tell upon all the members, a chill there send its cold vibration through every limb; Satan knows this well, and so all his dealings are heart dealings, efforts to paralyse the very spring of life itself. This is precisely what we ourselves have experienced; we have partially felt death within us, we have felt a gradual numbing of our heart; a gradual diminution in the quickness of its beat; a gradual closing in, and pressure of a weight upon it, and this was the overwhelming process. Philip Bennett Power. Ver. 2. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. The tower, in Psalms 18:2, is "an high tower, "and the rock is here an high rock, the rock higher than I; and yet there is a way to get into the highest towers; by scaling ladders a man may get over the high walls of towers. This tower and rock were too high for David himself to get into, and therefore he sets to the scaling ladder. "Lead me to the rock, and into the tower that is higher than I. Hear my cry, attend unto my prayer." So he makes prayer the scaling ladder to get upon that rock and into that tower that otherwise had been too high for him; he gets that safety and deliverance which otherwise but by prayer unto God had been impossible to have been obtained. Jeremiah Dyke. Ver. 2. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. The language is very remarkable. It gives us the idea of a man suffering shipwreck. The vessel in which he has been sailing has sunk. He has been plunged into the mighty ocean; and there he is buffeting the waves, struggling for life, panting for breath, and just about to give up all for lost. Suddenly he discovers a rock towering above him. If he can but climb up to the top of it, and get sure footing upon it, the billows will not be able to reach him, and he will be safe. Now, the prayer in our text is the cry of that poor wretch for help. He is so spent and exhausted, that he cannot reach the rock himself. He shouts aloud for the friendly hand of some one stronger than himself, or for a rope that may be flung to him by those who are already safe on the rock, if by these helps he may gain it. Lead me to the rock, cries the poor perishing wretch. "O, lead me, guide me, direct me to it; for I am so worn and spent, that I cannot reach it otherwise. I am at the point to die; and I must sink, and be no more seen for ever, if there is none to help me." Thus he calls for some one to rescue him from the deep, and to place him on the rock. But what rock? He knows that unless the rock be a high one, he will not be in safety, though he should be on it. The rock, he says, "must be higher than I, or the waves will reach me, and wash me off again." It is not a rock, the top of which just shows itself above the sea, no higher than a man's own body, that will save the life of a shipwrecked mariner. Such a rock may occasion the wreck, but it will not afford any help to the sufferers afterwards; it is a rock to split upon for destruction, not to stand upon for safety. Lead me to the rock, or as it is in the Prayer book version, "Set me upon the rock that is higher than I!" ...The text having shown us the danger of sin, does not leave us comfortless; it shows us the security of the refuge. We have before remarked, that the prayer of David, as a shipwrecked man, is, to be "led to, "and set upon a rock, that is higher than himself. The expression seems to imply much. The rock that is higher than he, must be higher than any man; for David was a mighty monarch. He implies, therefore, that the refuge he seeks must be more than any "arm of flesh" can afford him; it must be therefore divine. Condensed from a Sermon by Fountain Elwin, 1842. Ver. 2. It is more the image of one overtaken by the tide, as he is hastening onwards to get beyond its reach, and yet with every step he sees it rolling nearer and nearer to him; he hears its angry roar, the loosening sand sinks beneath his tread--a few minutes more, and the waves will be around him; despair hath "overwhelmed his heart; "when in the very depths of his agony he sees a point of rock high above the waves. "O that I could reach it and be safe!" And then comes the cry, the agonizing cry, to him that is mighty to save, Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. It is the sinner's cry to the sinner's Saviour! Barton Bouchier, A.M., in "Manna in the Heart; or, Daily Comments on the Book of Psalms, "1855. Ver. 2. Lead me to the rock. If we would find ourselves upon the rock, and enjoy the realisation of being so, we must be dependent upon another's hand. And that hand can do everything for us, even in our worst of times. When we are so blinded by the salt waves that dash in our eyes, so reeling in brain that we perhaps cannot think, much less make continuous efforts, there is a hand which can lead us, which can draw us out of the waters, which can set our feet upon the rock. Surely we have already experienced the power and tenderness of that hand? and it may be that in the reader's case, the waves, as they made sure of their prey, found it supernaturally drawn forth from them, that it might be set upon a rock, immoveable amid all the waters, and sufficient amid all storms! Philip Bennett Power. Ver. 2. The rock that is higher than I. The rock of our salvation, then, is "higher than we." Here we have the Deity of Christ, the Rock, set forth; in this he is "higher than we." And except as he is thus higher, as he is God, he could not be a Saviour; for "He is a just God, as well as a Saviour." A being no higher than we, or but a little higher, as the angels (for we are but "a little lower than they"), though he might teach us, or warn us, or console us, could never save us. The prey is in the hands of the mighty, and the Almighty alone is mightier. But a rock is not only high, but deep; it not only erects its front above the waves, but its base is fixed in the ocean's bed. "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find our the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." Job 11:7. Here we have the humanity of him who is the rock; that humanity by which he was able to go down to the deeps, as well as ride triumphantly on the bosom of the waters--those deeps, whereof David speaking experimentally of himself, spake prophetically of him; the depths of our fall and degradation--that humanity in which he went down into the grave, into the recesses of the intermediate state, and "preached to the spirits in prison." This is our rock, both deep and high; the rock of our salvation; to which those whose sons have set them at "the end of the earth, "desire to be brought, that they may find a place of safe standing. Let not those fear who feel the bitterness of distance from God, for they shall be brought nigh; desolate may be the coast to which they are driven, but over against it is the Paradise of God; clouds and darkness may gather at the base of this rock of safety, but "eternal sunshine settles in its head." Alfred Bowen Evans. Ver. 2. Higher. A hiding place must be locus exelsissimus. Your low houses are soon scaled. Jesus Christ is a high place; he is as high as heaven. He is the Jacob's ladder that reacheth from earth to heaven. Genesis 28:12. He is too high for men, too high for devils; no creature can scale these high walls. Ralph Robinson (1614-1655), in "Christ All and in All." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. Lead me. I. Show me the way: reveal Jesus. II. Enable me to tread it: work faith in me. III. Uplift me when I cannot tread: do for me what is beyond me. Ver. 2. Higher than I. Jesus greater than our highest efforts, attainments, desires, expectations, conceptions. Ver. 2. God, the saint's rock. John Owen's Two Sermons. Works. Vol. 9, pp. 237-256. Ver. 2. The heart's cry and desire. I. A recognition of a place of safety; then, II. We have this place brought before us, as abundantly sufficient, when personal weakness has been realised. III. This place cannot be attained without the help of another's hand. IV. The character of this refuge, and the position of a believer when availing himself of it: the place of refuge is "a rock, "and the position of the believer is "upon a rock." P. B. Power. Ver. 2-3. I. How would he pray? I will cry unto thee. II. Where would he pray? From the ends of the earth. III. When would he pray? When my heart is overwhelmed. IV. For what would he pray? Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. V. Whence does he derive his encouragement to pray? For thou hast been, etc. (Psalms 61:3). William Jay. Psalms 61:3* Ver. 3. For thou hast been a shelter for me. Observe how the psalmist rings the changes on, Thou hast, and I will, -- Psalms 61:3-6. Experience is the nurse of faith. From the past we gather arguments for present confidence. Many and many a time had the persecutions of Saul and the perils of battle imperilled David's life, and only by miracle had he escaped, yet was he still alive and unhurt; this he remembers, and he is full of hope. And a strong tower from the enemy. As in a fort impregnable, David had dwelt, because surrounded by omnipotence. Sweet is it beyond expression to remember the lovingkindnesses of the Lord in our former days, for he is unchangeable, and therefore will continue to guard us from all evil. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS None. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2-3. I. How would he pray? I will cry unto thee. II. Where would he pray? From the ends of the earth. III. When would he pray? When my heart is overwhelmed. IV. For what would he pray? Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. V. Whence does he derive his encouragement to pray? For thou hast been, etc. (Psalms 61:3) William Jay. Ver. 3. A shelter from the rain of trouble, the storm of persecution, the floods of Satanic temptation, the heat of divine wrath, the blast of death. The ark, Lot's mountain, the blood stained door in Egypt, the city of refuge, the cave Adullam. A strong tower: lasting in itself, impregnable against foes, secure for the occupant. Psalms 61:4* Ver. 4. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever. Let me once get back to thy courts, and nothing shall again expel me from them: even now in my banishment my heart is there; and ever will I continue to worship thee in spirit wherever my lot may be cast. Perhaps by the word tabernacle is here meant the dwelling place of God; and if so, the sense is, I will dwell with the Lord, enjoying his sacred hospitality, and sure protection. "There would I find a settled rest, While others go and come; No more a stranger or a guest, But like a child at home." He who communes with God is always at home. The divine omnipresence surrounds such a one consciously; his faith sees all around him the palace of the King, in which he walks with exulting security and overflowing delight. Happy are the indoor servants who go not out from his presence. Hewers of wood and drawers of water in the tents of Jehovah are more to be envied than the princes who riot in the pavilions of kings. The best of all is that our residence with God is not for a limited period of time, but for ages; yea, for ages of ages, for time and for eternity: this is our highest and most heavenly privilege, I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever. I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Often does our sweet singer use this figure; and far better is it to repeat one apt and instructive image, than for the sake of novelty to ransack creation for poor, strained metaphors. The chicks beneath the hen how safe, how comfortable, how happy! How warm the parent's bosom! How soft the cherishing feathers! Divine condescension allows us to appropriate the picture to ourselves, and how blessedly instructive and consoling it is! O for more trust; it cannot be too implicit: such a covert invites us to the most unbroken repose. SELAH. Rest we well may when we reach this point. Even the harp may be eloquently silent when deep, profound calm completely fills the bosom, and sorrow has sobbed itself into a peaceful slumber. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. I will abide in thy tabernacle. Some render it, I shall dwell in thy tent or pavilion royal, making it a metaphor from warfare, where those that are in the king's own tent must needs be in greatest safety. And this sense suits well with the following words: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. John Trapp. Ver. 4. Covert of thy wings. To a person who should penetrate the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, the most conspicuous object would be the outspread wings above the mercyseat: under their shelter and upon the mercyseat David would abide in quiet confidence. C. H. S. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4,7. I. My privilege, I will abide (Psalms 61:4). II. The ground of it, He shall abide, etc. (Psalms 61:7). Ver. 4. (first clause). Where the priest has presented the sacrifice; where the law is laid up in the ark as fulfilled; where the light of the Spirit's candlestick shines; where the manna abides; where the glory is above the mercyseat; where no enemy can enter; where I commune with a covenant God. Psalms 61:5* Ver. 5. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows. Proofs of divine faithfulness are to be had in remembrance, and to be mentioned to the Lord's honour. The prayer of Psa 61:1 is certain of an answer because of the experience of Psa 61:5, since we deal with an immutable God. Vows may rightly be joined with prayers when they are lawful, well considered, and truly for God's glory. It is great mercy on God's part to take any notice of the vows and promises of such faithless and deceitful creatures as we are. What we promise him is his due already, and yet he deigns to accept our vows as if we were not so much his servants as his free suitors who could give or withhold at pleasure. Thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. We are made heirs, joint heirs with all the saints, partakers of the same portion. With this we ought to be delighted. If we suffer, it is the heritage of the saints; if we are persecuted, are in poverty, or in temptation, all this is contained in the title deeds of the heritage of the chosen. Those we are to sup with we may well be content to dine with. We have the same inheritance as the Firstborn himself; what better is conceivable? Saints are described as fearing the name of God; they are reverent worshippers; they stand in awe of the Lord's authority; they are afraid of offending him, they feel their own nothingness in the sight of the Infinite One. To share with such men, to be treated by God with the same favour as he metes out to them, is matter for endless thanksgiving. All the privileges of all the saints are also the privileges of each one. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5. (first clause). About this time I began to know that there is a God who hears and answers prayer. John Newton, in his Journal. Ver. 5. Thou, O God, hast heard my vows: that is, his prayers, which are always to be put up with vows. Indeed, that prayer is a blank which hath not a vow in it. Is it a mercy thou prayest him to give? If sincere, thou wilt vow to praise him for it, and serve him with it. Is it a sin thou prayest against? Except you juggle with God, thou wilt vow as well as pray against it. William Gurnall. Ver. 5. The heritage. Eternal life is called an inheritance. Theodoret remarks: "The true inheritance is eternal life, concerning which Christ saith to the sheep on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world. This inheritance the Lord giveth to them that fear him." In Ephesians 1:14, the Spirit is called "the earnest of our inheritance." In Colossians 1:12, the apostle exhorts them "to give thanks unto the Father, who hath made them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." On this verse we have the golden comment of Chrysostom, reiterated by Theophylact. He calls it an inheritance, to show that no man obtaineth the kingdom by his own good works; for no man hath so lived as to render himself worthy of the kingdom, but all is of the grace of God. Wherefore he saith, "When ye have done all, say that we are unprofitable servants, for we have only done that which we ought to have done." John Caspar Suicer's "Thesaurus, "1728. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. (second clause). Enquire whether or no it fares with us as with the saints. Ver. 5,8. I. Vows heard in heaven. II. Vows to be carefully fulfilled on earth. Ver. 5. (second clause). I. They that fear God have a "heritage." II. This heritage is "given." III. We may know that we possess it. William Jay. Psalms 61:6* Ver. 6. Thou wilt prolong the king's life; or, better, "days to the days of the King thou wilt add." Death threatened, but God preserved his beloved. David, considering his many perils, enjoyed a long and prosperous reign. And his years as many generations. He lived to see generation after generation personally; in his descendants he lived as king through a very long period; his dynasty continued for many generations; and in Christ Jesus, his seed and son, spiritually David reigns on evermore. Thus he who began at the foot of the rock, half drowned, and almost dead, is here led to the summit, and sings as a priest abiding in the tabernacle, a king ruling with God for ever, and a prophet foretelling good things to come. (Psalms 61:7.) See the uplifting power of faith and prayer. None so low but they may yet be set on high. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6. Thou wilt prolong the king's life, etc. David cannot be considered as using these words of gratulation with an exclusive reference to himself. It is true that he lived to an extreme old age, and died full of days, leaving the kingdom in a settled condition, and in the hands of his son, who succeeded him; but he did not exceed the period of one man's life, and the greater part of it was spent in continued dangers and anxieties. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the series of years, and even ages, of which he speaks, extends prospectively to the coming of Christ, it being the very condition of the kingdom, as I have often remarked, that God maintained them as one people under on head, or when scattered, united them again. The same succession still subsists in reference to ourselves. Christ must be viewed as living in his members to the end of the world. To this Isaiah alludes when he says, "Who shall declare his generation or age?" --words in which he predicts that the church would survive through all ages, notwithstanding the incessant danger of destruction to which it is exposed through the attacks of its enemies, and the many storms assailing it. So here David foretells the uninterrupted succession of the kingdom down to the time of Christ. John Calvin. Ver. 6. The king's life: and his years. David speaks designedly of the days of the king instead of his own days, as might have been expected from what had been said, for the purpose of showing that he considered the promise of eternal dominion as relating not to himself personally, but to his family--the royal family of David. E. W. Hengstenberg. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6. Our King, his eternal existence, our personal joy in this, and our joy for our descendants. Psalms 61:7* Ver. 7. He shall abide before God for ever. Though this is true of David in a modified sense, we prefer to view the Lord Jesus as here intended as the lineal descendant of David, and the representative of his royal race. Jesus is enthroned before God to eternity; here is our safety, dignity, and delight. We reign in him; in him we are made to sit together in the heavens. David's personal claim to sit enthroned for ever is but a foreshadowing of the revealed privilege of all true believers. O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. As men cry, "Long live the king, "so we hail with acclamation our enthroned Immanuel, and cry, "Let mercy and truth preserve him." Eternal love and immutable faithfulness are the bodyguards of Jesus' throne, and they are both the providers and the preservers of all those who in him are made kings and priests unto God. We cannot keep ourselves, and nothing short of divine mercy and truth can do it; but these both can and will, nor shall the least of the people of God be suffered to perish. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 7. O prepare mercy. David having declared in his own behalf the purpose of God towards him for everlasting salvation, he, speaking of himself, shall abide before God for ever: he withal considering what he was to run through in this life, and what it might require to keep him unto the end, and so for ever, doth presently thereupon, in way of prayer, subjoin prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve me. As if he had said, I have yet a long journey to go, and through many hazards, and thy promise is, I shall abide before thee for ever. Lord, thou hast need lay up and aforehand prepare an abundance of mercy and truth to preserve me for time to come. Thomas Goodwin. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4,7. I. My privilege, I will abide (Psalms 61:4). II. The ground of it, He shall abide, etc. (Psalms 61:7). Psalms 61:8* Ver. 8. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever. Because my prayer is answered, my song shall be perpetual; because Jesus for ever sits at thy right hand, it shall be acceptable; because I am preserved in him, it shall be grateful. David had given vocal utterance to his prayer by a cry; he will now give expression to his praise by a song: there should be a parallel between our supplications and our thanksgivings. We ought not to leap in prayer, and limp in praise. The vow to celebrate the divine name for ever is no hyperbolical piece of extravagance, but such as grace and glory shall enable us to carry out to the letter. That I may daily perform my vows. To God who adds days to our days we will devote all our days. We vowed perpetual praise, and we desire to render it without intermission. We would worship God de die in diem, going right on as the days roll on. We ask no vacation from this heavenly vocation; we would make no pause in this sacred service. God daily performs his promises, let us daily perform our vows: he keeps his covenant, let us not forget ours. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth, even for evermore. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 8. They that are godly are oppressed and vexed in the church or congregation for this purpose: that when they are pressed, they should cry; and when they cry, that they should be heard; and when they are heard, that they should laud and praise God. Augustine. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5,8. I. Vows heard in heaven. II. Vows to be carefully fulfilled on earth. In this Psalm the royal singer casts himself entirely on God. Here we see the foundation of his expectation laid bare. He has no confidence anywhere but in God. The Psalm begins in the original with the word “Only.” I always call it “The ‘only’ Psalm” because it harps upon that word. David had no mixed reliance; he had not built upon a foundation partly of iron and partly of clay; it was all in harmony throughout; his trust was in the Lord alone.Psalms 62:1. Truly-Or, as it is in the margin, “Only” —Psalms 62:1. My soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.It is a blessed thing to wait truly and only upon God. You have proved everything else to be a failure, and now you hang upon the bare arm of God alone. There is certainly enough for you to depend upon there. Most people want something to see, something tangible to the senses, to be the object of their confidence; but David says, “Only my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.” It is already on the road; it is coming now; it is a salvation from present trouble and from present temptation. A complete salvation is on the road for all those whose souls are waiting only upon God.Psalms 62:2. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. “Though I have no other shelter, yet,” says he, “God, but God alone, is my rock fortress. Though I have no other deliverer he is my salvation, and though thousands seek to do me hurt, and none will stand up for me, yet he is my shield and my defense.” Then he adds, “I shall not be greatly moved.’ I shall be like a well-anchored ship; I may suffer some tossing, but I cannot drift far away, my grace holds me fast.”Psalms 62:3. How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence.See how he laughs at his enemies. He tells them they are like a wall that came over, bulges out, and shakes and totters, with a push, it will go over. “You think that you will destroy me,” says he, “but you will yourselves be destroyed.”Psalms 62:4. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.It is a sure proof that they delight in lies because they are guilty of telling them. They can speak soft oily words all the while that they are harboring curses in their hearts. God save us from having a tongue that talks in a different way from that in which our heart feels! But those that delight in lies are never better pleased than when they can find a man of God upon whom they can spit their venom; and of all cruel things slander is the worst, and it deserves the worst punishment. Well did the psalmist ask, “What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.” Such punishment as that a slanderer’s tongue well deserves to feel.Psalms 62:5. My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.First he said that his salvation came from the Lord, and now he says that his exultation comes from him. All that he needs, and all that he wishes for, he gets from his God. “Let my foes slander me,” he seems to say, “but, O my soul, do thou wait upon God! Let their tongues keep on inventing their diabolical falsehoods; but, O my soul, take thou no notice of them! Sit thou down at Jehovah’s feet, and patiently wait then he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.’”Psalms 62:6. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved. Notice how David’s faith grows. In verse 2, he says, “I shall not be greatly moved;” but now he says, “I shall not be moved at all.” What strength faith gives to a man, and what strength prayer gives to a man! We may begin our supplication tremblingly, but as we draw near to God we become confident in him, and filled with holy boldness. Psalms 62:7-8. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times;-I cannot tell what “times” you may be passing through just now, yet I can repeat David’s exhortation, “Trust in him at all times.” In your darkest hours, in the most terrible times that you ever have, when all seems lost, when the dearest object of your heart’s love is taken from you, or when you yourself are coming to the swellings of Jordan, still trust in the Lord: “Trust in him at all times;” —Psalms 62:8. Ye people, pour out your heart before him:- That is the way to get rid of all your troubles; take your heart, and turn it upside down, and pour out all that is in it. Do not save a drop or a drag: try not to hide one secret sorrow from your God, nor one slight grief that nestles in a corner of your spirit. “Pour out your heart before him.” It will not be wise for you to pour it out before your fellows, for they will misunderstand you and misrepresent you; but “pour out your heart before him:” — Psalms 62:8-9. God is a refuge for us. Selah. Surely men of low degree are vanity, There is nothing in them; they are only the very essence of vanity.Psalms 62:9. And men of high degree-They must surely be better. No, they are even worse: “Men of high degree” — Psalms 62:9. Are a lie:Their presence of being better because they are of high degree is mere presence. Well but, if we mix them up, and get some poor men and some rich ones, some peasants and some peers, can we not make something solid out of this mixture? Oh, no!Psalms 62:9. To be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. The men of low degree alone were vanity, but when the men of high degree were put with them, they became lighter than vanity; so that there seems to be a propensity in the men of high degree to make those that are of low degree even lighter than they are by nature; and whether men are high or low, if we trust in them, we shall be deceived. He who tries to base his happiness upon the good opinion of his neighbours, he whose happiness depends upon human esteem, builds not on sand, but on mere breath, which is no more solid than the bubble that our children blow.Psalms 62:10. Trust not in oppression,-An ungodly man says, “Well, if I cannot trust in others, I will trust in myself; my own stout arm shall win me the victory, and I will tread others down beneath my feet.” “I will get money,” says another; “somehow or other, I will get money.” To both of these, David says, “Trust not in oppression,” —Psalms 62:10. And become not vain in robbery: if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.If you do, they will either fly away from your heart, or else they will fly away with your heart, which would be the greater evil of the two, for, when riches carry a man’s heart away from God, his greatest gains are his heaviest losses. He is poor indeed who prizes his gold more than his God.Psalms 62:11. God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.Where ought we to put our confidence? Why, where true power is. If there were any power elsewhere, we might put a measure of confidence elsewhere; but when twice the heavenly message declares that power belongs to God, our wisdom will be shown in putting our trust in God.Psalms 62:12. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy:-Almighty power would be terrible if it were separated from infinite mercy; but it is not so.Psalms 62:12. For thou renderest to every man according to his work.Thou givest him enough strength with which to do his work. Thou dost not send him to do a work beyond his power, and leave him to fail; but unto all thy children thy mercy brings thy power to help in every time of need. Thy faithful promise is, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Come, my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us be of the same mind as David was when he wrote the first verse of this Psalm, and let each one of us say, “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.” I will read the 63rd Psalm first, as somewhat representing the state of heart into which I would we could all come tonight.Psalms 63:1. O God, thou art my God; —Read that sentence how you will, it is unspeakably precious. If we say “O God, thou art my God,” it brings out the possession which the believer has in God. If we say “O God, thou art my God,” it shows the greatness of the possession which we thus have in having this God to be our God forever and ever. And if we say “O God, thou art my God, it leads us to think of God and not of his gifts as our chief good.Psalms 63:1-2. Early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.Long after the old times over again — for those times of heaven upon earth — those special seasons when the Lord made the vail between us and heaven to be very thin indeed, and allowed us almost to see his face. “To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” Well, then, let us go to the sanctuary again, or make the place where we are a sanctuary. Even the stony pillar may mark the site of Bethel, and every spot may be hallowed ground.Psalms 63:3-5. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: Satisfaction, absolute satisfaction; satiety of every desire, full to the brim to the running over only because God’s is our God; we want nothing beyond that to make our mouth praise with joyful lips.Psalms 63:6-7. When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. If I cannot see thy face the shadow of thy wing shall be enough for me, for that shall shelter me from all harm and I will, yea I will rejoice. Under the wings we are near the heart of God, and he who knowest God’s heart of love must needs be glad.Psalms 63:8-10. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword: they shall be a portion for foes.All our sins, and all other things or beings that are the enemies of our soul, Christ has overcome, and he will leave them upon the field.Psalms 63:11. But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.Now a short passage in the New Testament, about Mary, the sister of Martha. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 63.; Luke 10:38-42; and John 12:1-8. Psalms 641. To the Chief Musician, A Psalm by David. The correctness of this title is abundantly established by the marked internal similarity between this and other psalms of David. Its very structure is Davidic, exhibiting the two familiar elements of a prayer for deliverance from wicked enemies, Psalms 64:1-5, and a confident anticipation of a favourable answer, Psalms 64:6-10. 2. (Psalms 64:1). Hear, O God, my voice in my complaint; from fear of the enemy thou wilt preserve my life. Here, as in Psalms 51, the expression of confidence insinuates itself into the prayer itself. Complaint, literally musing, meditation, but with special reference to suffering and danger. See above, on Psalms 55:2. Fear of the enemy, that which I have reason to fear from him. 3. (Psalms 64:2). Thou wilt hide me from the secret of evil doers, from the tumult of the workers of iniquity. By secret we are here to understand their confidential consultations and the devices there matured. See above, on Psalms 25:14. The participle doing evil, used as a noun (evil doers) to describe the whole class of wicked men, is a favourite expression of David's. See above, Psalms 22:16; Psalms 26:5; Psalms 27:2; Psalms 37:1; Psalms 37:9. As secrecy belongs, to the formation of the plot, so does noise or tumult to its execution. The same figures are combined, but in a very different application, Psalms 55:14. 4. (Psalms 64:3). Who have sharpened, like the sword, their tongue, have strung their arrow, bitter speech. The figure in the first clause is a favourite with David. See above, on Psalms 52:2; Psalms 57:4; Psalms 59:7. Strung their arrow, literally trod (i.e. bent) it, which must either be explained as an ellipsis--bent their (bow to shoot their) arrow— or as a poetical transfer to the arrow of what is strictly applicable only to the bow. See above, on Psalms 58:7. The figure of an arrow is peculiarly appropriate to the poignant pain produced by insult and calumny, which is also well expressed by the epithet bitter. Compare Deuteronomy 32:24, 1 Samuel 15:32. 5. (Psalms 64:4). To shoot in secret places (at) the perfect; suddenly they will shoot him, and will not fear. With the first clause compare Psalms 10:8; Psalms 11:2. The perfect, the sincere and upright servant of God, who is free from all fatal and essential defect of character. See above, on Psalms 15:2; Psalms 18:23; Psalms 25:21; Psalms 26:1; Psalms 26:11; Psalms 37:37, in the last of which places the Hebrew adjective has the same form as in the case before us. And will not fear, i.e. without being deterred by the fear of God or man. See above, on Psalms 55:19. 6. (Psalms 64:5). They will strengthen for themselves an evil word; they will tell abouthiding snares; they have said, who will see to them? To strengthen is to make strong, to construct so as to be strong. An evil word is an idiomatic phrase for a malignant plot, so called because it is the fruit of mutual discourse and consultation. See above, on Psalms 41:8. Tell about, count and recount their various devices, past and present. See above, on Psalms 59:12. The interrogation in the last clause is an indirect one; the equi valent direct form would be, who will see to us, i.e. regard us? Compare Psalms 10:11; Psalms 39:7. 7. (Psalms 64:6). They search out iniquities; (they say) We are ready— a consummate plan! and the inward thought and heart of (every) man (is) deep. They rack their invention and ransack their memory for modes of doing mischief. We are ready, literally finished, just as we might say in English, we are done. The next phrase consists of a passive participle, derived from the verb at the beginning of the sentence, and a cognate noun. The participle here corresponds to exquisite, recherché, something not to be had without laborious search, and the noun describes the product of the search itself. The last clause is added to enhance the danger, by representing the device as springing, not from shallow, superficial, but profound contrivance. Inward thought, literally inside, an equivalent to heart, often used by David. See above, on Psalms 5:9; Psalms 49:11; Psalms 55:15; Psalms 62:4. 8. (Psalms 64:7). But God has shot them— with an arrow— suddenly— the wounds are theirs. By an abrupt but beautiful transition he describes the tables as completely turned upon the enemy. The antithesis is rendered very striking by the repetition of the verb, noun, and adverb used in Psalms 64:3-4. Just as they are about to shoot an arrow suddenly at the righteous, God shoots an arrow suddenly at them. The wounds which they intended to inflict on others have become their own. When they thought to strike others, they were struck themselves. The general idea is the same as in Psalms 7:11-16; Psalms 53:5; Psalms 57:6. The adversative particle at the beginning is substituted for the simple copulative of the Hebrew, to make the transition or antithesis more obvious in English. See above, on Psalms 52:8; Psalms 55:13. 9. (Psalms 64:8). And he has cast them down; upon them (comes) their own tongue; all shall flee gazing at them. Cast down, literally made to fall or stumble. See the use of the same verb in historical prose, 2 Chronicles 25:8, and compare the original in 2 Chron. 27. The construction is indefinite, as in Psalms 63:10, they have cast him down, i.e. he is cast down, meaning the enemy as an ideal person, who, according to the usage of these psalms, is immediately afterwards referred to in the plural number. Their tongue, i.e. the consequences of their false, malignant speeches, and their mischievous deliberations. The verb in the last clause is an intensive form of the one used in Psalms 31:11; Psalms 55:7. Gazing at them, not simply seeing them, but seeing with emotion, whether that of wonder, joy, or terror. See above, on Psalms 54:7; Psalms 59:10. The clause seems to contain an allusion to the flight of the people, when the earth opened to devour Korah and his company, Numbers 16:34. 10. (Psalms 64:9). And all men fear, and pronounce (it) God's doing, and his work they understand. The conversive futures spew the dependence of the sentence upon that which goes before it, and describe the action, not as actually past, but as directly consequent upon the great catastrophe described in the preceding context. And declared the work of God, i. e. pronounced it to be such. Compare Exodus 8:19. His work they understand, i.e. no longer foolishly ascribe it to mere chance or human agency. 11. (Psalms 64:10). Glad shall the righteous be in Jehovah, and shall trust in him; and (in him) shall boast (or glory) all the upright in heart. Having described the effect of the divine interposition on the wicked, and on men in general, he now shews how it will affect the righteous. In Jehovah means, as usual, in union with him and possession of him. The word translated trust is that which seems originally to denote the act of seeking shelter under an overshadowing object. See above, on Psalms 63:7. With the last clause compare Psalms 58:10; Psalms 63:11. TITLE. To the Chief Musician. The leader of the choir, for the time being, is charged with this song. It were well if the chief musicians of all our congregations estimated their duty at its due solemnity, for it is no mean thing to be called to lead the sacred song of God's people, and the responsibility is by no means light. A Psalm of David. His life was one of conflict, and very seldom does he finish a Psalm without mentioning his enemies; in this instance his thoughts are wholly occupied with prayer against them. . From Psalms 64:1-6 he describes the cruelty and craftiness of his foes, and from Psalms 64:7-10 he prophesies their overthrow. Ver. 1. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer. It often helps devotion if we are able to use the voice and speak audibly; but even mental prayer has a voice with God which he will hear. We do not read that Moses had spoken with his lips at the Red Sea, and yet the Lord said to him, "Why criest thou unto me?" Prayers which are unheard on earth may be among the best heard in heaven. It is our duty to note how constantly David turns to prayer; it is his battle axe and weapon of war; he uses it under every pressure, whether of inward sin or outward wrath, foreign invasion or domestic rebellion. We shall act wisely if we make prayer to God our first and best trusted resource in every hour of need. Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. From harm and dread of harm protect me; or it may be read as an expression of his assurance that it would be so; "from fear of the foe thou wilt preserve me." With all our sacrifices of prayer we should offer the salt of faith. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. This Psalm is applied by R. Obadiah to Haman and Mordecai. The enemy is Haman, the perfect man shot at is Mordecai; about whom Haman communed with his friends to lay snares for him, and search diligently for occasions against him and his people, which issued in his own destruction. The ancient Midrash of the Jews applies it to Daniel, when cast into the den of lions; and Jarchi supposes that David, by a spirit of prophecy, foresaw it, and prayed for him who was of his seed; and that everything in the Psalm beautifully falls in with that account. Daniel is the perfect man aimed at; the enemy are the princes of Darius's court, who consulted against him, communed of laying snares for him, and gained their point, which proved their own ruin. But the Psalm literally belongs to David, by whom it was composed. John Gill. Whole Psalm. A cry of God's elect, when persecuted for righteousness' sake, to their Deliverer and sure Avenger. The general principle stated is very clear. The Psalm will adjust itself, as an experimental utterance, to the lips of Christian faith wherever brought into contact with the evil forces of the prince of this world, so as to suffer affliction for the gospel's sake; for it expresses the condition and the hope of one actually imperilled for the truth. How aptly a portion of this Psalm applies to the suffering Truth Himself in the days of his affliction, when, pierced in his spirit by lying words, he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, needs not be pointed out. Arthur Pridham, in "Notes and Reflections on the Psalms, "1869. Ver. 1. Preserve my life. Hebrew, lives; so called for the many faculties, operations, revolutions, and commodities of life. John Trapp. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. I. The preservation of life desired. 1. The desire expressed. 2. Qualified--from violent death, from fear of, etc. II. The preservation of life prayed for. 1. For self improvement. 2. For usefulness. 3. For the divine glory. G. R. Psalms 64:2* Ver. 2. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked. From their hidden snares hide me. Circumvent their counsel; let their secrets be met by thy secret providence, their counsels of malice by thy counsels of love. From the insurrection of the workers of iniquity. When their secret counsels break forth into clamorous tumults, be thou still my preserver. When they think evil, let thy divine thoughts defeat them; and when they do evil, let thy powerful justice overthrow them: in both cases, let me be out of reach of their cruel hand, and even out of sight of their evil eye. It is a good thing to conquer malicious foes, but a better thing still to be screened from all conflict with them, by being hidden from the strife. The Lord knows how to give his people peace, and when he wills to make quiet, he is more than a match for all disturbers, and can defeat alike their deep laid plots and their overt hostilities. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS None. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. (first clause). Applied to Satan. I. The danger considered. 1. The enemy, wicked, mighty, malicious, experienced. 2. His counsel. He tempts cunningly, and with deliberation. 3. The secrecy of it. He may be exciting others against me, or sowing evil in myself. II. The deliverance implored. Hide me. 1. Keep me from being tempted. 2. Keep me from evil when tempted. 3. Bring me out of it all unharmed. 4. Meanwhile, let me be in thy secret place. III. The consolation of faith. 1. God does preserve praying ones. 2. Our enemy is his enemy. 3. He has preserved us. 4. We are his own. 5. His honour is involved. Psalms 64:3* Ver. 3. Who whet their tongue like a sword. Slander has ever been the master weapon of the good man's enemies, and great is the care of the malicious to use it effectively. As warriors grind their swords, to give them an edge which will cut deep and wound desperately, so do the unscrupulous invent falsehoods which shall be calculated to inflict pain, to stab the reputation, to kill the honour of the righteous. What is there which an evil tongue will not say? What misery will it not labour to inflict? And bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words. Far off they dart their calumnies, as archers shoot their poisoned arrows. They studiously and with force prepare their speech as bent bows, and then with cool, deliberate aim, they let fly the shaft which they have dipped in bitterness. To sting, to inflict anguish, to destroy, is their one design. Insult, sarcasm, taunting defiance, nicknaming, all these were practised among Orientals as a kind of art; and if in these Western regions, with more refined manners, we are less addicted to the use of rough abuse, it is yet to be feared that the less apparent venom of the tongue inflicts none the less poignant pain. However, in all cases, let us fly to the Lord for help. David had but the one resource of prayer against the twofold weapons of the wicked, for defence against sword or arrow he used the one defence of faith in God. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. Who whet their tongue, etc. The verb means, says Parkhurst, "to whet, sharpen, "which is performed by reiterated motion of friction; and by a beautiful metaphor it is applied to a wicked tongue. It has, however, been rendered, vibrate, as it is certain a serpent does his tongue. Richard Mant. Ver. 3. The ingenuity of man has been wonderfully tasked and exercised in two things, inventing destructive weapons of war, and devising various methods of ruining men by wicked words. The list of the former is found in military writings. But the various forms of evil speaking can hardly be catalogued. Evil speakers have arrows, sharp, barbed, dipped in poison. They have "swords, flaming swords, two edged swords, drawn swords, drawn in anger, with which they cut, and wound, and kill the good name of their neighbour." Sins of the tongue are commonly very cruel. When slander is secret, as it commonly is, you cannot defend yourself from its assaults. Its canons are infernal. One of them is, "If a lie will do better than the truth, tell a lie." Another is, "Heap on reproach; some of it will stick." William S. Plumer. Ver. 3-4. We saw in the Museum at Venice an instrument with which one of the old Italian tyrants was accustomed to shoot poisoned needles at the objects of his wanton malignity. We thought of gossips, backbiters, and secret slanderers, and wished that their mischievous devices might come to a speedy end. Their weapons of innuendo, shrug, and whisper, appear to be as insignificant as needles: but the venom which they instil is deadly to many a reputation. C. H. Spurgeon, in "Feathers for Arrows; or, Illustrations for Preachers and Teachers, "1870. Ver. 3-4. David, upon sad experience, compares a wicked, reviling tongue to three fatal weapons--a razor, a sword, and an arrow. To a razor, such a one as will take off every little hair: so a reviling tongue will not only take advantage of every gross sin committed by others, but those peccadilloes, the least infirmities which others better qualified cannot so much as discern; secondly, to a sword that wounds: so the tongues of reproaching men cut deeply into the credits and reputations of their brethren, but a sword doth mischief only near hand, not afar off; and, therefore, it is in the third place compared to an arrow, that can hit at a distance: and so revilers do not ill offices to those only in the parish or town where they live, but to others far remote. How much, then, doth it concern every man to walk circumspectly; to give no just cause of reproach, not to make himself a scorn to the fools of the world; but, if they will reproach (as certainly they will), let it be for forwardness in God's ways, and not for sin, that so the reproach may fall upon their own heads, and their scandalous language into their own throats. Jeremiah Burroughs. Ver. 3,7-8. The most mischievous weapons of the wicked are words, even bitter words; but the Word is the chief weapon of the Holy Spirit: and as with this sword the great Captain foiled the tempter in the wilderness, so may we vanquish "the workers of iniquity" with the true Jerusalem blade. J. L. K. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. Bitter words. An excellent topic in reference both to the sinner and to professed saints. Ver. 3. The whetting of the tongue. Fresh faults discovered, evil motives imputed, exaggerations invented, lies forged, innuendoes suggested, old slanders furnished, and ancient hatreds rekindled. Psalms 64:4* Ver. 4. That they may shoot in secret at the perfect. They lie in ambush, with bows ready bent to aim a coward's shaft at the upright man. Sincere and upright conduct will not secure us from the assaults of slander. The devil shot at our Lord himself, and we may rest assured he has a fiery dart in reserve for us; He was absolutely perfect, we are only so in a relative sense, hence in us there is fuel for fiery darts to kindle on. Observe the meanness of malicious men; they will not accept fair combat, they shun the open field, and skulk in the bushes, lying in ambush against those who are not so acquainted with deceit as to suspect their treachery, and are to manly to imitate their despicable modes of warfare. Suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. To secrecy they add suddenness. They give their unsuspecting victim no chance of defending himself; they pounce on him like a wild beast leaping on its prey. They lay their plans so warily that they fear no detection. We have seen in daily life the arrow of calumny wounding its victim sorely; and yet we have not been able to discover the quarter from which the weapon was shot, nor to detect the hand which forged the arrowhead, or tinged it with the poison. Is it possible for justice to invent a punishment sufficiently severe to meet the case of the dastard who defiles my good name, and remains himself in concealment? An open liar is an angel compared with this demon. Vipers and cobras are harmless and amiable creatures compared with such a reptile. The devil himself might blush at being the father of so base an offspring. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 64:3" for further information. Ver. 3-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 64:3" for further information. Ver. 4. That they may shoot in secret. The wicked are said to shoot their arrows in secret at the perfect; and then "they say, Who shall see them?" Psalms 64:5. Thus Satan lets fly a temptation so secretly, that he is hardly suspected in the thing. Sometimes he useth a wife's tongue to do his errand; another while he gets behind the back of a husband, friend, servant, etc., and is not seen all the while he is doing his work. Who would have thought to have found a devil in Peter, tempting his Master, or suspected that Abraham should be the instrument to betray his beloved wife into the hands of a sin? yet it was so. Nay, sometimes he is so secret, that he borrows God's bow to shoot his arrows from, and the poor Christian is abused, thinking it is God chides and is angry, when it is the devil tempts him to think so, and only counterfeits God's voice. William Gurnall. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 64:5* Ver. 5. They encourage themselves in an evil matter. Good men are frequently discouraged, and not infrequently discourage one another, but the children of darkness are wise in their generation and keep their spirits up, and each one has a cheering word to say to his fellow villain. Anything by which they can strengthen each other's hands in their one common design they resort to; their hearts are thoroughly in their black work. They commune of laying snares privily. Laying their heads together they count and recount their various devices, so as to come at some new and masterly device. They know the benefit of cooperation, and are not sparing in it; they pour their experience into one common fund, they teach each other fresh methods. They say, Who shall see them? So sedulously do they mask their attacks, that they defy discovery; their pitfalls are too well hidden, and themselves too carefully concealed to be found out. So they think, but they forget the all seeing eye, and the all discovering hand, which are ever hard by them. Great plots are usually laid bare. As in the Gunpowder Plot, there is usually a breakdown somewhere or other; among the conspirators themselves truth finds an ally, or the stones of the field cry out against them. Let no Christian be in bondage through fear of deep laid Jesuitical schemes, for surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, nor divination against Israel; the toils of the net are broken, the arrows of the bow are snapped, the devices of the wicked are foiled. Therefore, fear not, ye tremblers; for the Lord is at your right hand, and ye shall not be hurt of the enemy. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS None. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. The mutual encouragements of sinners a rebuke to professors who dishearten each other. Psalms 64:6* Ver. 6. They search out iniquities. Diligently they consider, invent, devise, and seek for wicked plans to wreak their malice. These are no common villains, but explorers in iniquity, inventors and concoctors of evil. Sad indeed it is that to ruin a good man the evil disposed will often show as much avidity as if they were searching after treasure. The Inquisition could display instruments of torture, revealing as much skill as the machinery of our modern exhibitions. The deep places of history, manifesting most the skill of the human mind, are those in which revenge has arranged diplomacy, and used intrigue to compass its diabolical purposes. They accomplish a diligent search. Their design is perfected, consummated, and brought into working order. They cry "Eureka; "they have sought and found the sure method of vengeance. Exquisite are the refinements of malice! hell's craft furnishes inspiration to the artistes who fashion deceit. Earth and the places under it are ransacked for the material of war, and profound skill turns all to account. Both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. No superficial wit is theirs; but sagacity, sharpened by practice and keen hatred. Wicked men have frequently the craft to hasten slowly, to please in order to ruin, to flatter that ere long they may devour, to bow the knee that they may ultimately crush beneath their foot. He who deals with the serpent's seed has good need of the wisdom which is from above: the generation of vipers twist and turn, wind and wiggle, yet evermore they are set upon their purpose, and go the nearest way to it when they wander round about. Alas! how dangerous is the believer's condition, and how readily may he be overcome if left to himself. This is the complaint of reason and the moan of unbelief. When faith comes in, we see that even in all this the saints are still secure, for they are all in the hands of God. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6. They search out iniquities, etc. It is a sign that malice boils up to a great height in men's hearts, when they are so active to find matter against their neighbours. Love would rather not see or hear of others' failings; or if it doth and must, busieth itself in healing and reforming them to the utmost of its power. John Milward(--1684), in "Morning Exercises." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6. (two first clauses). The fault hunter; his motive, his character, his pretences, and his punishment. Psalms 64:7* Ver. 7. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow. They shot, and shall be shot. A greater archer than they are shall take sure aim at their hearts. One of his arrows shall be enough, for he never misses his aim. The Lord turns the tables on his adversaries, and defeats them at their own weapons. Suddenly shall they be wounded. They were looking to surprise the saint, but, lo! they are taken at unawares themselves; they desired to inflict deadly wounds, and are smitten themselves with wounds which none can heal. While they were bending their bows, the great Lord had prepared his bow already, and he let slip the shaft when least they looked for such an unsparing messenger of justice. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." The righteous need not learn the arts of self defence or of attack, their avenging is in better hands than their own. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3,7-8. See Psalms on "Psalms 64:3" for further information. Ver. 7. With an arrow suddenly. As was Ahab, and the rich fool (Luke 16:1-31): while he sat pruning himself like a bird on a bough, death fetched him off suddenly by his shaft, shot at him, and down he came tumbling. See 1 Thessalonians 5:3. John Trapp. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 64:8* Ver. 8. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves. Their slander shall recoil. Their curses shall come home to roost. Their tongue shall cut their throats. It was both sword, and bow and arrow; it shall be turned against them, and bring home to them full punishment. All that see them shall flee away. Afraid, both of them and their overthrow, their former friends shall give them wide space, lest they perish with them. Who cares to go near to Herod when the worms are eating him? or to be in the same chariot with Pharaoh when the waves roar round him? Those who crowded around a powerful persecutor, and cringed at his feet, are among the first to desert him in the day of wrath. Woe unto you, ye liars! "Who will desire fellowship with you in your seething lake of fire?" NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3,7-8. See Psalms on "Psalms 64:3" for further information. Ver. 8. (first clause). In these cases, We still have judgment here, that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague the inventor: This even handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips. William Shakespeare. Ver. 8. Their own tongue to fall upon themselves. That is, their own words shall be brought as a testimony against them, and condemn them. "The tongue is a little member" (James 3:5), and therefore a light member; yet it falls heavy, as heavy as lead. A man were better have his house fall upon him, than that, in this sense, his tongue should fall upon him. Some have been pressed to death because they would not speak, but stood mute before the judge; but more have been pressed to death by their sinful freedom, or rather licentiousness in speaking; this hath brought them to judgment, and cast them in judgment... A strange thing, that the fall of a man's tongue should oppress his body and whole estate; yet so it is, the weight of a man's tongue falling upon him crushes him to powder. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 8. Their own tongue to fall upon themselves. The arrows of idle words, though shot out of sight, and possibly quite forgotten, will hereafter drop down upon the heads of such as drew the bow. Words are but wind, is the common saying, but they are such wind as will either blow the soul to its haven of rest, if holy, wholesome, savoury, spiritual, and tending to edification, or else sink it into the Dead Sea and bottomless gulf of eternal misery, if idle, profane, frothy, and unprofitable. Edward Reyner (1600-1670) in "Rules for the Government of the Tongue." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 64:9* Ver. 9. And all men shall fear. They shall be filled with awe by the just judgments of God, as the Canaanites were by the overthrow of Pharaoh at the Red Sea. Those who might have been bold in sin shall be made to tremble and to stand in awe of the righteous Judge. And shall declare the work of God. It shall become the subject of general conversation. So strange, so pointed, so terrible shall be the Lord's overthrow of the malicious, that it shall be spoken of in all companies. They sinned secretly, but their punishment shall be wrought before the face of the sun. For they shall wisely consider of his doing. The judgments of God are frequently so clear and manifest that men cannot misread them, and if they have any thought at all, they must extract the true teaching from them. Some of the divine judgments are a great deep, but in the case of malicious persecutors the matter is plain enough, and the most illiterate can understand. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS None. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 9. I. The subject for consideration --Judgments upon the wicked. 1. As Judgments. 2. As judgments from God--that work of God-- his doing. II. The consideration of the subject. 1. They are intended to be considered by others. 2. They are to be considered wisely. III. The effect of this consideration. 1. Fear of God. 2. Praise to God; shall declare, etc. G. R. Ver. 9-10. I. An act of God; something of his doing. II. Its effect upon men in general: All men shall fear, and shall declare, etc. III. A special duty resulting from it, incumbent on good men: The righteous, etc. H. Dove. Psalms 64:10* Ver. 10. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord. Admiring his justice and fully acquiescing in its displays, they shall also rejoice at the rescue of injured innocence yet, their joy shall not be selfish or sensual, but altogether in reference to the Lord. And shall trust in him. Their observation of providence shall increase their faith; since he who fulfils his threatenings will not forget his promises. And all the upright in heart shall glory. The victory of the oppressed shall be the victory of all upright men; the whole host of the elect shall rejoice in the triumph of virtue. While strangers fear, the children are glad in view of their Father's power and justice. That which alarms the evil, cheers the good. Lord God of mercy, grant to us to be preserved from all our enemies, and saved in thy Son with an everlasting salvation. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 10. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in him. That is, if they have failed in their trust heretofore, and not given God honour by confiding in him, yet these wonderful works of God (of which he speaks in the Psalm) work this hope. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 10. All the upright in heart. The word of this text, jashar, signifies rectitudinem, and planitiem, it signifies a direct way; for the devil's way was circular, compassing the earth; but the angel's way to heaven upon Jacob's ladder was a straight, a direct way. And then it signifies, as a direct and straight, so a plain, a smooth, an even way, a way that hath been beaten into a path before, a way that the fathers and the church have walked in before, and not a discovery made by our curiosity, or our confidence, in venturing from ourselves, or embracing from others, new doctrines and opinions. The persons, then, whom God proposes to be partakers of his retributions, are first, recti (that is, both direct men, and plain men), and then recti corde, this qualification, this straightness and smoothness must be in the heart; all the upright in heart shall have it. Upon this earth, a man cannot possibly make one step in a straight and a direct line. The earth itself being round, every step we make upon it must necessarily be a segment, an arc of a circle. But yet, though no piece of a circle be a straight line, yet if we take any piece, nay, if we take the whole circle, there is no corner, no angle in any place, in any entire circle. A perfect rectitude we cannot have in any way in this world; in every calling there are some inevitable temptations. But, though we cannot make up one circle of a straight line (that is impossible to human frailty), yet we may pass on without angles and corners, that is, without disguises in our religion, and without the love of craft, and falsehood, and circumvention, in our civil actions. A compass is a necessary thing in a ship, and the help of that compass brings the ship home safe, and yet that compass hath some variations, it doth not look directly north; neither is that star which we call the north pole, or by which we know the north pole, the very pole itself; but we call it so, and we make our uses of it, and our conclusions by it, as if it were so, because it is the nearest star to that pole. He that comes as near uprightness as infirmities admit, is an upright man, though he love some obliquities. John Donne. Ver. 10. All the upright in heart shall glory. The Psalm began in the first person singular, Hear my voice, O God, but it ends by comprehending all the righteous. He who is most anxious about his own salvation will be found to be the man of the truest and widest love to others; while he who talks most of unselfishness in religion is generally the most selfish. We cannot take a more efficient method for benefiting others than by being earnestly prayerful for ourselves that we may be preserved from sin. Our example will in itself be useful, and our godliness, by putting power into our testimony, will increase the value of every rebuke, exhortation, or encouragement we may utter. Our sin is or will be the church's sorrow, and the way to make all the upright rejoice is to be upright ourselves. C. H. S. Ver. 10. Shall glory. This retribution is expressed in the original in the word halal; and halal, to those translators that made our Book of Common Prayer, presented the signification of gladness, for so it is there: They shall be glad. So it did to the translators that came after, for there it is, They shall rejoice; and to our last translators it seemed to signify glory, They shall glory, say they. But the first translation of all into our language (which was long before any of these three), calls it praise, and puts it into the passive: All men of rightful heart shall be praised. And so truly jithhalelu, in the original, bears it, nay, requires it; which is not of praise which they shall give to God, but of a praise that they shall receive for having served God with an upright heart; not that they shall praise God in doing so, but that godly men shall praise them for having done so. All this shall grow naturally out of the root; for the root of this word is lucere, splendere, to shine out in the eyes of men, and to create in them a holy and a reverential admiration; as it was John Baptist's praise, that he was "A burning and a shining lamp." Properly it is, by a good and a holy exemplary life, to occasion others to set a right value upon holiness, and to give a due respect for holy men... Shall glory. It is so far from diminishing this glory, as that it exalts our consolation that God places this retribution in the future; if they do not yet, certainly they shall glory, and if they do now, that glory shall not go out, still they shall, they shall for ever glory. John Donne. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 9-10. I. An act of God; something of his doing. II. Its effect upon men in general: All men shall fear, and shall declare, etc. III. A special duty resulting from it, incumbent on good men: The righteous, etc. H. Dove. Ver. 10. I. The persons. 1. What they are, in distinction from others; the righteous; the justified. 2. What they are in themselves; upright in heart; not perfect, but sincere. II. Their privilege. 1. Amidst all their persecutions to joy in God. 2. Amidst all their dangers to trust in God. G. R. Praises and Vows Accepted in Zion by C. H. (1834-1892) "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh more."— Psalms 65:1-2 . Upon Zion there was erected an altar dedicated to God for the offering of sacrifices. Except when prophets were commanded by God to break through the rule, burnt offering was only to be offered there. The worship of God upon the high places was contrary to the divine command: "Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee." Hence the tribes on the other side of Jordan, when they erected a memorial altar, disclaimed all intention of using it for the purpose of sacrifice, and said most plainly, "God forbid that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn this day from following the Lord, to build an altar for burnt offerings, for meat offerings, or for sacrifices, beside the altar of the Lord our God that is before his tabernacle." In fulfillment of this ancient type, we also "have an altar whereof they have no right to eat that serve the tabernacle." Into our spiritual worship, no observers of materialistic ritualism may intrude; they have no right to eat at our spiritual altar, and there is no other at which they can eat and live for ever. There is but one altar Jesus Christ our Lord. All other altars are impostures and idolatrous inventions. Whether of stone, or wood, or brass, they are the toys with which those amuse themselves who have returned to the beggarly elements of Judaism, or else the apparatus with which clerical jugglers dupe the sons and daughters of men. Holy places made with hands are now abolished; they were once the figures of the true, but now that the substance has come, the type is done away with. The all-glorious person of the Redeemer, God and Man, is the great center of Zion's temple, and the only real altar of sacrifice. He is the church's head, the church's heart, the church's altar, priest, and all in all. "To him shall the gathering of the be." Around him we all congregate even as the tribes around the tabernacle of the Lord in the wilderness. When the church is gathered together, we may liken it to the assemblies upon Mount Zion, whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel. There the song went up, not so much from each separate worshipper as from all combined; there the praise as it rose to heaven was not only the praise of each one, but the praise of all. So where Christ is the center, where his one sacrifice is the altar whereon all offerings are laid; and where the church unites around that common center, and rejoices in that one sacrifice, there is the true Zion. If we this evening —gathering in Christ's name, around his one finished sacrifice, present our prayers and praises entirely to the Lord through Jesus Christ, we are "come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven." This is Zion, even this house in the far-off islands of the Gentiles, and we can say indeed and of a truth, "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion; and unto thee shall the vow be performed." We shall, with devout attention, notice two things: the first is our holy worship, which we desire to render; and then the encouragement, the stimulative encouragement, which God provides for us: "O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." I. First, let us consider the HOLY OF WORSHIP WHICH WE DESIRE TO PRESENT TO GOD. It is twofold: there is praise, and there is also a vow, a praise that waiteth, and a vow of which performance is promised. Let us think, first of all, of the praise. This is the chief ingredient of the adoration of heaven; and what is thought to be worthy of the world of glory, ought to be the main portion of the worship of earth. Although we shall never cease to pray as long as we live here below, and are surrounded by so many wants, yet we should never so pray as to forget to praise. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is heaven," must never be left out because we are pressed with want, and therefore hasten to cry, "Give us this day our daily bread." It will be a sad hour when the worship of the church shall be only a solemn wail. Notes of exultant thanksgiving should ever ascend from her solemn gatherings. "Praise the Lord O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion." "Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King." Let it abide as a perpetual ordinance, while sun and moon endure, "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion." Never think little of praise, since holy angels and saints made perfect count it their life-long joy, and even the Lord himself saith, "Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me.'' The tendency, I fear, among us has been to undervalue praise as a part of public worship, whereas it should be second to nothing. We frequently hear of prayer-meetings, and but seldom of praise-meetings. We acknowledge the duty of prayer by setting apart certain times for it; we do not always so acknowledge the duty of praise. I hear of "family prayer;" do I always hear of "family praise?" I know you cultivate private prayer: are you as diligent also in private thanksgiving and secret adoration of the Lord? In everything we are to give thanks; it is as much an apostolic precept as that other, "In everything, by prayer and supplication, make your requests known unto God." I have often said to you, dear brethren, that prayer and praise are like the breathing in and out of the air, and make up that spiritual respiration by which the inner life is instrumentally supported. We take in an inspiration of heavenly air as we pray: we breathe it out again in praise unto God, from whom it came; if, then, we would be healthy in spirit, let us be abundant in thanksgiving. Prayer, like the root of a tree, seeks for and finds nutriment; praise, like the fruit, renders a revenue to the owner of the vineyard. Prayer is for ourselves, praise is for God; let us never be so selfish as to abound in the one and fail in the other. Praise is a slender return for the boundless favors we enjoy; let us not be slack in rendering it in our best music, the music of a devout soul. "Praise the Lord; for the Lord is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant." Let us notice the praise which is mentioned in our text, which is to be so large a matter of concern to the Zion of God whenever the saints are met together. You will observe, first, that it is praise exclusively rendered to God. "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion." "Praise for thee, and all the praise for thee," and no praise for man or for any other who may be thought to be, or may pretend to be, worthy of praise. Have I not sometimes gone into places called houses of God where the praise has waited for a woman—for the Virgin, where praise has waited for the saints, where incense has smoked to heaven, and songs and prayers have been sent up to deceased martyrs and confessors who are supposed to have power with God? In Rome it is so, but in Zion it is not so. Praise waiteth for thee, O Mary, in Babylon; but praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion. Unto God, and unto God alone, the praise of his true church must ascend. If Protestants are free from this deadly error, I fear they are guilty of another, for in our worship, we too often minister unto our own selves. We do so when we make the tune and manner of the song to be more important than the matter of it. I am afraid that where organs, choirs, and singing men and singing women are left to do the praise of the congregation, men's minds are more occupied with the due performance of the music, than with the Lord, who alone is to be praised. God's house is meant to be sacred unto himself, but too often it is made an opera-house, and Christians form an audience, not an adoring assembly. The same thing may, unless great care be taken, happen amid the simplest worship, even though everything which does not savor of gospel plainness is excluded, for in that case we may drowsily drawl out the words and notes, with no heart whatever. To sing with the soul, this only is to offer acceptable song! We come not together to amuse ourselves, to display our powers of melody or our aptness in creating harmony we come to pay our adoration at the footstool of the Great King, to whom alone be glory for ever and ever. True praise is for God—for God alone. Brethren, you must take heed lest the minister, who would, above all, disclaim a share of praise, should be set up as a demi-god among you. Refute practically the old slander that presbyter is only priest writ large. Look higher than the pulpit, or you will be disappointed. Look far above an arm of flesh, or it will utterly fail you. We may say of the best preacher upon the earth, "Give God the praise, for we know that this man is a sinner." If we thought that you paid superstitious reverence to us, we would, like Paul and Silas at Lystra, rend our clothes, and cry, "Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein." It is not to any man, to any priest, to any order of men, to any being in heaven or earth beside God, that we should burn the incense of worship. We would as soon worship cats with the Egyptians, as popes with the Romanists: we see no difference between the people whose gods grew in their gardens and the sect whose deity is made by their baker. Such vile idolatry is to be loathed. To God alone shall all the praise of Zion ascend. It is to be feared that some of our praise ascends nowhere at all, but it in as though it were scattered to the winds. We do not always realize God. Now, "he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek trim;" this is as true of praise as of prayer. "God is a Spirit," and they that praise him must praise him "in spirit and in truth," for "the Father seeketh such" to praise him, and only such; and, if we do not lift our eyes and our hearts to him, we are but misusing words and wasting time. Our praise is not as it should be, if it be not reverently and earnestly directed to the Lord of Hosts. Vain is it to shoot arrows without a target: we must aim at God's glory in our holy songs, and that exclusively. Note, next, that it should be continual. "Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion." Some translators conceive that the main idea is that of continuance. It remains; it abides; for Zion does loot break up when the assembly is gone. We do not leave the holiness in the material house, for it never was in the stone and the timber, but only in the living amenably of the faithful. "Jesus, where'er thy people meet, There they behold thy mercy-seat; Where'er they seek thee, thou art found, And every place is hallow'd ground, For thou within no walls confined, Inhabitest the humble mind; Such ever bring thee where they come, And going, take thee to their home." The people of God, as they never cease to be a church, should maintain the Lord's praise perpetually as a community. Their assemblies should begin with praise and end with praise, and ever be conducted in a spirit of praise. There should be in all our solemn assemblies a spiritual incense altar, always smoking with "the pure incense of sweet spices, mingled according to the art of the apothecary": the thanksgiving which is made up of humility, gratitude, love, consecration, and holy joy in the Lord. It should be for the Lord alone, and it should never go out day nor night. "His mercy endureth for ever:" let our praises endure for ever. He makes the outgoings of the morning to rejoice, let us celebrate the rising of the sun with holy psalm and hymn. He makes the closing in of the evening to be glad, let him have our vesper praise. "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." Could his mercy cease, there might be some excuse for staying our praises: but, even should it seem to be so, men who love the Lord would say with Job, "Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not also receive evil? The Lord gave, end the Lord hath taken away; and blessed be the name of the Lord." Let our praise abide, continue, remain, and be perpetual. It was a good idea of Bishop Farrar, that, in his own house he would keep up continual praise to God, and as, with a large family and household, he numbered just twenty-four, he set apart each one for an hour in the day to be engaged specially in prayer and praise, that he might girdle the day with a circle of worship. We could not do that. To attempt it might on our part be superstition; but to fall asleep blessing God, to rise in the night to meditate on him, and when we wake in the morning to feel our hearts leap in the prospect of his presence during the day, this is attainable, and we ought to reach it. It is much to be desired that all day long, in every avocation, and every recreation, the soul should spontaneously pour forth praise, even as birds sing, and flowers perfume the air, and sunbeams cheer the earth. We would be incarnate psalmody, praise enshrined in flesh and blood. From this delightful duty we would desire no cessation, and ask no pause. "Praise waits for thee, O God, in Zion;" thy praise may come and go, from the outside world, where all things ebb and flow, for it lies beneath the moon, and there is no stability in it; but amidst thy people, who dwell in thee, and who possess eternal life—in them thy praise perpetually abides. A third point, however, is clear upon the surface of the words. "Praise waiteth for thee"—as though praise must always be humble. The servants "wait" in the king's palace. There the messengers stand girt for any mission; the servitors wait, prepared to obey; and the courtiers surround the throne, all eager to receive the royal smile and to fulfill the high command. Our praises ought to stand, like ranks of messengers, waiting to hear what God's will is; for this is to praise him, Furthermore, true praise lies in the actual doing of the divine will, even this,—to pause in sacred reverence until God the Lord shall speak, whatever that will may be; it is true praise to wait subserviently on him. Praises may be looked upon as servants who delight to obey their master's bidding. There is such a thing as an unholy familiarity with God; this age is not so likely to fall into it as some ages have been, for there is little familiarity with God of any sort now; public worship becomes more formal, and stately, and distant. The intense nearness to God which Luther enjoyed—how seldom do we meet with it! But, however near we come to God, still he is God, and we are his creatures. He is, it is true, "our Father," but be it ever remembered that he is "our Father which art in heaven." "Our Father"—therefore near and intimate: "our Father in heaven," therefore we humbly, solemnly bow in his presence. There is a familiarity that runs into presumption: there is another familiarity, is so sweetly tempered with humility that it doth not intrude. ''Praise waiteth for thee" with a servant's livery on, a servant's ear to hear, and a servant's heart to obey. Praise bows at thy foot-stool, feeling that it is still an unprofitable servant. But, perhaps, you are aware, dear friends, that there are other translations of this verse. "Praise waiteth for thee," may be read, "Praise is silent unto thee"—"is silent before thee." One of the oldest Latin commentators reads it, "Praise and silence belong unto thee;" and Dr. Gill tells us, that in the King of Spain's Bible, it runs "The praise of angels is only silence before thee, O Jehovah," so that when we do our best our highest praise is but silence before God, and we must praise him with confession of shortcomings. Oh, that we too, as our poet puts it, might, "Loud as his thunders speak his praise, And sound it lofty as his throne!" But we cannot do that, and when our notes are most uplifted, and our hearts most joyous, we have not spoken all his praise. Compared to what his nature and glory deserve, our most earnest praise has been little more than silence. Oh, brethren, have you not often felt it to be so? Those who are satisfied with formal worship, think that they have done well when the music has been correctly sung; but those who worship God in spirit, feel that they cannot magnify him enough. They blush over the hymns they sing, and retire from the assembly of the saints mourning that they have fallen far short of his glory. O for an enlarged mind, rightly to conceive the divine majesty; next fur the gift of utterance to clothe the thought in fitting language; and then for a voice like many waters, to sound forth the noble strain. Alas! as yet, we are humbled at our failures to praise the Lord as we would. "Words are but air, and tongues but clay, And his compassions are divine; How, then, shall we proclaim to men God's glory? When we have done our best, our praise is but silence before the merit of his goodness, and the grandeur of his greatness. Yet it may be well to observe here, that the praise which God accepts, presents itself under a variety of forms. There is praise for God in Zion, and it is often spoken; but there is often praise for God in Zion, and it is silence. There are some who cannot sing vocally, but perhaps, before God, they sing best. There are some, I know, who sing very harshly and inharmoniously—that is to say, to our ears; and yet God may accept them rather than the noise of stringed instruments carefully touched. There is a story told of Rowland Hill's being much troubled by a good old lady who would sit near him and sing with a most horrible voice, and very loudly— as those people generally do who sing badly—and he at last begged her not to sing so loudly. But when she said, "It comes from my heart," the honest man of God retracted his rebuke, and said, "Sing away, I should be sorry to stop you." When praise comes from the heart, who would wish to restrain it. Even the shouts of the old Methodists, their "hallelujahs" and "glorys," when uttered in fervor, were not to be forbidden; for if these should hold their peace, even the stones would cry out. But there are times when those who sing, and sing well, have too much praise in their soul for it to enclose itself in words. Like some strong liquors which cannot use a little vent, but foam and swell until they burst each hoop that binds the barrel; so, sometimes, we want a larger channel for our soul than that of mouth and tongue, and we long to have all our nerves and sinews made into harpstrings, and all the pores of our body made mouths of thankfulness. Oh, that we could praise with our whole nature, not one single hair of our heads, or drop of blood in our veins, keeping back from adoring the Most High! When this desire for praise is most vehement, we fall back upon silence, and quiver with the adoration which we cannot speak. Silence becomes our praise. "A sacred reverence cheeks our songs, And praise sits silent on our tongues." It would be well, perhaps, in our public service, if we had more often the sweet relief of silence. I am persuaded that silence, ay, frequent silence, is most beneficial; and the occasional unanimous silence of all the saints when they bow before God would, perhaps, better express, and more fully promote, devout feeling than any hymns which have been composed or songs that could be sung. To make silence a part of worship habitually might be affectation and formalism, but to introduce it occasionally, and even frequently into the service, would be advantageous and profitable. Let us, then, by our silence, praise God, and let us always confess that our praise, compared with God's deserving, is but silence. I would add that there is in the text the idea that praise waits for God expectantly. When we praise God, we expect to see more of him by and by, and therefore wait for him. We bless the King, but we desire to draw nearer to him. We magnify him for what we have seen, and we expect to see more. We praise him in his outer courts, for we shall soon be with him in the heavenly mansions. We glorify him for the revelation of himself in Jesus, for we expect to be like Christ, and to be with him where he is. When I cannot praise God for what I am, I will praise him for what I shall be. When I feel dull and dead about the present, I will take the words of our delightful hymn and say, "And a near song is in my mouth, To long-loved music set; Glory to thee for all the grace I have not tasted yet." My praise shall not only be the psalmody of the past, which is but discharging a debt of gratitude, but my faith shall anticipate the future, and wait upon God to fulfill his purposes; and I will begin to pay my praise even before the mercy comes. Dear brethren and sisters, let us for a moment present our praise to God, each one of us on his own account. We have our common mercies. We call them common, but, oh, how priceless they are. Health to be able to come here and not to be stretched on a bed of sickness, I count this better than bags of gold. To have our reason, and not to be confined in yonder asylum; to have our children still about us and dear relatives spared still to us—to have bread to eat and raiment to put on—to have been kept from defiling our character—to have been preserved to-day from the snares of the enemy! These are godlike mercies, and for all these our praises shall wait upon God. But oh! take up the thoughts suggested by the psalm itself in the next verse, and you will doubly praise God. "Iniquities prevail against me. As for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away." Infinite love has made us clean every whit!—though we were black and filthy. We are washed —washed in priceless blood. Praise him for this! Go on with the passage, "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee." Is not the blessing of access to God an exceeding choice one? Is it a light thing to feel that, though once far off, we are made nigh through the blood of Christ; and this because of electing love! "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest." Ye subjects of eternal choice, can you be silent? Has God favored you above others, and can your lips refuse to sing? No, you will magnify the Lord exceedingly, because he hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. Let us read on, and praise God that we have an abiding place among his people—"That he may dwell in thy courts."—Blessed be God we are not to be cast forth and driven out after a while, but we have an entailed inheritance amongst the sons of God. We praise him that we have the satisfaction of dwelling in his house as children. "We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." But I close the psalm, and simply say to you, there are ten thousand reasons for taking down the harp from the willows; and I know no reason for permitting it to hang there idle. There are ten thousand times ten thousand reasons for speaking well of "him who loved us, and gave himself for us." "The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad." I remember hearing in a prayer-meeting this delightful verse mutilated in prayer, "The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we desire to be glad." Oh, brethren, I dislike mauling, and mangling, and adding to a text of Scripture. If we are to have the Scriptures revised, let it be by scholars, and not by every ignoramus. "Desire to be glad," indeed? This is fine gratitude to God when he hath done great things for us." If these great things have been done, our souls must be glad, and cannot help it; they must overflow with gratitude to God for all his goodness. 2. So much on the first part of our holy sacrifice. Attentively let us consider the second, namely, the vow. "Unto thee shall the vow be performed." We are not given to vow-making in these days. Time was when it was far oftener done. It may be that had we been better men we should have made more vows; it may possibly be that had we been more foolish men we should have done the same. The practice was so abused by superstition, that devotion has grown half-ashamed of it. But we have, at any rate, most of us bound ourselves with occasional vows. I do confess to-day a vow I have not kept as I should desire; the vow made on my first conversion. I surrendered myself, body, soul, and spirit, to him that bought me with a price, and the vow was not made by way of excess of devotion or supererogation, it was but my reasonable service. You have done that. Do you remember the love of your espousals, the time when Jesus was very precious, and you had just entered into the marriage bond with him? You gave yourselves up to him, to be his for ever and for ever. O brethren and sisters, it is a part of worship to perform that vow. Renew it to-night, make another surrender of yourselves to him whose you are and whom you serve. Say to-night, as I will, with you, "Bind the sacrifice with cords, even with cords to the horns of the altar." Oh, for another thong to strap the victim to the altar-horn! Does the flesh struggle? Then let it be more fastly bound, never to escape from the altar of God. Beloved, many of us did, in effect, make a most solemn vow at the time of our baptism. We were buried with Christ in baptism unto death, and, unless we were greatly dissembling, we avowed that we were dead in Christ and buried with him; wherein, also, we professed that we were risen with him. Now, shall the world live in those who are dead to it, and shall Christ's life be absent from those who are risen with him? We gave ourselves up there and then, in that solemn act of mystic burial. Recall that scene, I pray you; and as you do it blush, and ask God that your vow may yet be performed, as Doddridge well expresses it:— "Baptised into your Savior's death Your souls to sin must die; With Christ your Lord ye live anew, With Christ ascend on high." Some such vow we made, too, when we united ourselves to the church of God. There was an understood compact between us and the church, that we would serve it, that we would seek to honor Christ by holy living, increase the church by propagating the faith, seek its unity, its comfort, by our own love and sympathy with the members. We had no right to join with the church if we did not mean to give ourselves up to it, under Christ, to aid in its prosperity and increase. There was a stipulation made, and a covenant understood, when we entered into communion and league with our brethren in Christ. How about that? Can we say that, as unto God and in his sight, the vow has been performed? Yes, we have been true to our covenant in a measure, brethren. Oh, that it were more fully so! Some of us made another vow, when we gave ourselves, as I trust, under divine call, altogether to the work of the Christian ministry; and though we have taken no orders, and received no earthly ordination, for we are no believers in man-made priests, yet tacitly it is understood that the man who becomes a minister of the church of God is to give his whole time to his work—that body, soul, and spirit should be thrown into the cause of Christ. Oh, that this vow were more fully performed by pastors of the church! You, my brethren, elders and deacons, when you accepted office, you knew what the church meant. She expected holiness and zeal of you. The Holy Ghost made you overseers that you might feed the flock of God. Your office proves your obligation. You are practically under a vow. Has that vow been performed? Have you performed it in Zion unto the Lord? Besides that, it has been the habit of godly men to make vows occasionally, in times of pain, and losses, and affliction. Did not the psalm we just now sang it so?— "Among the saints that fill thine house, My offerings shall be paid; There shall my zeal perform the vows My soul in anguish made. Now I am thine, for ever thine, Nor shall my purpose move! Thy hand hath loosed my bands of pain, And bound me with thy love. Here in thy courts I leave my vow, And thy rich grace record; Witness, ye saints, who hear me now, If I forsake the Lord." You said, "If I am ever raised up, and my life is prolonged, it shall be better spent." You said, also, "If I am delivered out of this great trouble, I hope to consecrate my substance more to God." Another time you said, "If the Lord will return to me the light of his countenance, and bring me out of this depressed state of mind, I will praise him more than ever before." Have you remembered all this? Coming here myself so lately from a sick bed, I at this time preach to myself. I only wish I had a better hearer; I would preach to myself in this respect, and say, "I charge thee, my heart, to perform thy vow." Some of us, dear friends, have made vows in time of joy, the season of the birth of the first-born child, the recovery of the wife from sickness, the merciful restoration that we have ourselves received, times of increasing goods, or seasons when the splendor of God's face has been unveiled before our wondering eye. Have we not made vows, like Jacob when he woke up from his wondrous dream, and took the stone which had been his pillow, and poured oil on its top, and made a vow unto the Most High? We have all had our Bethels. Let us remember that God has heard us, and let us perform unto him our vow which our soul made in her time of joy. But I will not try to open the secret pages of your private note-books. You have had tender passages, which you would not desire me to read aloud: the tears start at their memory. If your life were written, you would say, "Let these not be told; they were only between God and my soul"—some chaste and blessed love passages between you and Christ, which must not be revealed to men. Have you forgotten how then you said, "I am my beloved's, and he is mine," and what you promised when you saw all his goodness made to pass before you. I have now to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, and bid you present unto the Lord to-night the double offering of your heart's praise and of your performed vow. "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together." II. And now, time will fail me, but I must have a few words upon THE BLESSED afforded us in the text for the presentation of these offerings unto God. Here it is,—"O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come?" Observe, here, that God hears prayer. It is, in some aspects, the lowest form of worship, and yet he accepts it. It is not the worship of heaven, and it is, in a measure, selfish. Praise is superior worship, for it is elevating; it is the utterance of a soul that has received good from God, and is returning its love to him in acknowledgment. Praise has a sublime aspect. Now, observe, if praiser is heard, then praise will be heard too. If the lower form, on weaker wing as it were, reaches the throne of the majesty on high, how much more shall the seraphic wing of praise bear itself into the divine presence. Prayer is heard of God: therefore our praises and vows will be. And this is a very great encouragement, because it seems terrible to pray when you are not heard, and discouraging to praise God if he will not accept it. What would be the use of it? But if prayer and yet more praise be most surely heard, ah, brethren, then let us continue and abide in thanksgiving. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me, saith the Lord." Observe too according to the text, that all prayer, if it be true prayer, is heard of God, for so it is put—"Unto thee shall all flesh come." Oh, how glad I am at that word. My poor prayer—shall God reject it? Yes, I might have feared so if he had said, "Unto thee shall all spirits come." Behold, my brethren, he takes the grosser part as it were, and looks at prayer in his infinite compassion, perceiving it to be what it is—a feeble thing—a cry coming from poor fallen flesh, and yet he puts it, "Unto thee shall all flesh come. My broken prayer, my groaning prayer shall get to thee, though it seems to me a thing of flesh, it is nevertheless wrought in me by thy Spirit. And, O my God, my song, though my voice be hoarse and oftentimes my notes most feeble, shall reach thee. Though I groan because it is so imperfect, yet even that shall come to thee. Prayer, if true, shall be received of God, notwithstanding all its faultiness, through Jesus Christ. Then so it will be with our praises and our vows. Again, prayer is always and habitually received of God. "O thou that hearest prayer." Not that didst hear it or on a certain occasion may have heard it, but thou that ever hearest prayer. If he always hears prayer, then he always hears praise. Is not this delightful to think of my praise, though it be but that of a child or a poor unworthy sinner—God does hear it, does accept it, in spite of its imperfections, and does accept it always? Oh, I will have another hymn to-morrow, I will sing a new song to-morrow. I will forget my pain, I will forget for a moment all my care, and if I cannot sing aloud by reason of those that are with me, yet will I set the bells of my heart ringing, I will make my whole soul full of praise. If I cannot let it out of my mouth, I will praise him in my soul, because he always hears me. You know it is hard to do things for one who never accepts what you do. Many a wife has said, "Oh! it is hard. My husband never seems pleased. I have done all I can, but he takes no notice of little deeds of kindness." But how easy it is to serve a person who, when you have done any little thing, saw, "How kind it was of you" and thinks much of it. Ah, poor child of God, the Lord thinks much of thy praises, much of thy vows, much of thy prayers. Therefore, be not slack to praise and magnify him unceasingly. And this all the more, because we have not quite done with that word, "Unto thee shall all flesh come." All flesh shall come because the Lord hears prayer. Then all my praises will be heard and all the praises of all sorts of men, if sincere, come unto God. The great ones of the earth shall present praise, and the poorest of the poor also, for thou shalt not reject them. And, Lord, wilt thou put it so; "Unto thee shall all flesh come," and wilt thou say, "but not such a one?" Wilt thou exclude me? Brethren, fear not that God will reject you. I remind you of what I told you the other night concerning a good earnest believing woman, who in prayer said, "Lord, I am content to be the second thou shalt forsake, but I cannot be the first." The Lord says all flesh shall come to him, and it is implied that he will receive them when they come—all sorts of men, all classes and conditions of men. Then he cannot reject me if I go, nor my prayers if I pray, nor my praise if I praise him, nor my vows if I perform them. Come then, let us praise the Lord, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. I have done when I have said this. Dear brethren and sisters, there may be difficulties in your way; iniquities may hinder you, or infirmities; but there is the promise, "thou shalt purge them away." Infirmities may check you, but note the word of divine help, "Blessed is the man whom thou causest to approach unto thee." He will come to your aid, and lead you to himself. Infirmities, therefore, are overcome by divine grace. Perhaps your emptiness hinders you: "He shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house." It is not your goodness that is to satisfy either God or you, but God's goodness is to satisfy. Come, then, with thine iniquity, come with thine infirmity; come with thy emptiness. Come, dear brethren, if you have never come to God before. Come and confess your sin to God, and ask for mercy; you can do no less than ask. Come and trust his mercy, which endures for ever; it has no limit. Think not hardly of him, but come and lay yourself down at his feet. If you perish, perish there. Come and tell your grief; pour out your hearts before him. Bottom upwards turn the vessel of your nature, and drain out the last dreg, and pray to be filled with the fullness of his grace. Come unto Jesus; he invites you, he enables you. A cry from that pew will reach the sacred ear: "You have not prayed before," you say. Everything must have a beginning. Oh that that beginning might come now. It is not because you pray well that you are to come, but because the Lord hears prayer graciously, therefore, all flesh shall come. You are welcome; none can say you nay. Come! 'tis mercy's welcome hour. May the Lord's bands of love be cast about you; may you be drawn now to him. Come by way of the cross; come resting in the precious atoning sacrifice, believing in Jesus; and he has said, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." The grace of our Lord be with you. Amen. Psalms 66:1-2. Make a joyful noise unto God all ye lands: sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.In a company of advanced saints, silence may be sometimes profitable. The first verse of the previous Psalm should read, according to the Hebrew, “Praise is silent for thee, O God, in Zion.” Full-grown saints may have their times of waiting in silence before the Lord, but when the heathen are to be brought in, and when new hearts are to be taught new songs, then there must be a noise, and not merely a noise, but a noise that is full of joy: “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands.” This should be the chief point about it, that it should be a joyful noise. Many of the newly invented tunes, which have put the good old tunes out of favor, appear to have been made to rattle through the hymn as quickly as possible, as though the composer had written, “Let us praise God at express speed and get it done; and the quicker, the better.” But I prefer those tunes in which we can sometimes repeat the words, and roll them under the tongue until our heart gets thoroughly saturated with the spirit of them. “Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands;” but let that joyful noise be orderly, not like the shouts of those who cry around the ear of Juggernaut. Let it be joyful singing unto the Lord: “Sing forth the honour of his name.” God is worthy of the highest honour, so let our praise of him be given in such a way that it shall really honour him. “Make his praise glorious.” It is only giving back to God what rightly belongs to him when we give him glory, and it is our highest earthly glory to be giving glory to God; we are never so near to the condition of the glorified saints above as when we are, with heart, and soul, and voice, glorifying God.Psalms 66:3. Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works!Our praises should be directed to God: “Say unto God.” Our hymns should be a form of speaking unto the Most High, and an ascription unto him of his own glory. The first attribute of God that influences men is the attribute of power, which fills them with terror of his awful majesty and might. Afterwards, they perceive more of his love, and goodness, and wisdom, and other attributes; but, at first,-ay, and perhaps at last,-there is a time in which there is much solemn stately music in this utterance, “How terrible art thou in thy works!”Psalms 66:3-4. Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name.From the marginal reading of the 3rd verse, it appears that God’s enemies will only “yield feigned obedience” to him; but whether the submission is feigned or real, it shall not be possible for any man or any power finally to resist his omnipotence, and the day shall come when all the earth shall worship him, and sing unto him.Psalms 66:4. Selah.Here is a little pause for the lifting up of the heart and of the spirit and well there may be, for what a joyful thing it is to think of all the earth worshipping God, and singing unto him! I know of no topic that is more calculated to excite the admiring gratitude of God’s servants than the prospect of the universal supremacy of one God and of his Christ.Psalms 66:5-6. Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. He turned the sea into dry land:-You must often have noticed that the sweet singers of Israel are never singing very long unto God without mentioning that wonderful deliverance that he wrought at the Red Sea. What God did when he brought his people out of Egypt will be the subject of joyous and grateful song unto God forever, for even in heaven “they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” The Red Sea as the grand type of redemption, and the Lamb as the great Worker of redemption are joined together in that triumphant song of “them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” Here, the psalmist sings of what God did for his people at the Red Sea: “He turned the sea into dry land:” —Psalms 66:6. They went through the flood on foot; there did we rejoice in him.Perhaps some of you say, “But we were not there.” No, we were not personally there; but do you not remember what the prophet Hosea says about God meeting with Jacob at Bethel? It is written, “There he spake with us.” We were not personally there, yet believers have been everywhere in the Bible where other representative believers have been before them. “No prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.” What God spoke to any one of his people he has spoken to all of whom that one was typical. Paul tells us that the Lord hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” yet it was to Joshua that he said that; but, as he said it to Joshua, he virtually said it to me, for I am a believer even as he was. All the promises belong to us who are in Christ Jesus, for the heavenly inheritance is left to all the spiritual seed; and if we are in the Lord’s family, we shall share alike with all the rest of the children. ‘There did we rejoice in him.” Then, if we rejoiced in the Lord there, let us rejoice in him here. Brethren and sisters in Christ, let us rest assured that, when our turn to go through the sea shall come, we shall find that the Lord has “turned the sea into dry land” for us, whether it be a sea of troubles or the sea of death. “They went through the flood on foot;” and so shall we. The God who made a way for them through the sea, virtually made a way for us also, for the army of God is one, and when the first ranks of the innumerable host passed through the flood, the army itself began to pass through, and that army can never be divided. So we are passing through the flood at this moment, and rejoicing in the God who cleaveth the sea in twain to make a highway for his people.Psalms 66:7. He ruleth by his power forever;What he did in the past, he is still doing in the present, and he will do in the future.Psalms 66:7. His eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves.The rebellious may for a while exalt themselves; but they will, sooner or later, be pulled down. These eagles may fly as high as they will, but God’s arrow can always reach them. The Lord pulled down the haughty Pharaoh from his throne, but he lifted up the people whom the proud monarch had trodden down and oppressed. The Lord overthrew the hosts of Egypt; but as for his people, he led them forth like sheep, and guided them through the wilderness, even as he is doing at this very moment.Psalms 66:7. Selah.That is, pause again, and lift up the heart and the sacred strain too; and when all the strings of your heart and of your harp are screwed up, then go on with your music again.Psalms 66:8-9. O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.I do bless God for this verse, and as many of you as have found it true should also praise and bless him. Observe the two things that are mentioned here,-living and standing: “Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.” There are some who have a certain standing in the church, and who keep up their reputation among their fellow-members, yet they are not spiritually alive. It is a dreadful thing to be standing, and yet not living; like those in Sardis who were only living in name. Then there are those who are living, but not standing,-at least, not standing fast. They are often caught tripping, and falling, and wounding themselves. They go with broken bones on their way towards heaven by reason of their many falls. But what a blessing it is to be kept both living and standing, and what reason there is to bless God for this great mercy,-not congratulating ourselves on our steadfastness, and being exalted and proud, but magnifying the Lord for his grace in granting to us this double blessing,-living and standing!Psalms 66:10. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.That is, with fierce furnaces, and with carefully graduated heat, for silver needs delicate refining. Christ still sits as the Refiner of silver, patiently watching until the process is complete.Psalms 66:11. Thou broughtest us into the net;-Did not our enemies entangle us? Oh, yes; but God often uses our enemies to carry out his divine purposes; he over-rules all things; so, when you are caught in the net, do not sit down, and say that such-and-such a person did it, or that the devil did it. No; but look to the Great First Cause. If you strike a dog with a stick, he tries to bite the stick because he does not know any better. But you are not a dog, so do not you look at the second cause of your troubles, but learn to sing, as the psalmist does here, “Thou broughtest us into the net;” —Psalms 66:11. Thou laidst affliction upon our loins.Not merely upon our backs, where we might be better able to bear it, but right on our loins, so that we were pressed and squeezed almost out of our very life.Psalms 66:12. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;And when they mount their high horse, they vow and exalt themselves over God’s afflicted servants.Psalms 66:12. We went through fire and through water:They were subjected to double that, for what fire does not burn water will drown, yet God’s people “went through fire and through water.” There is no fire that can burn them. Nebuchadnezzar tried it, and failed. And there is no water that can drown them. Even though their bodies may be burned or drowned, their real selves shall still survive, and stand upon the sea of glass mingled with fire, triumphant over both fire and water.Psalms 66:12. But thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.That is to say, the Lord brought the Israelites out from all manner of oppression under Pharaoh, and brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey. Nothing that Pharaoh could do could destroy the chosen nation, he tried to kill all the male children that were born, yet the Israelites still increased and multiplied, and they came at last to Canaan. It will be just so with God’s people in all times and all climes, they shall not die, but live, and shall ultimately come into that most wealthy of all places, even the heavenly and better Canaan. We cannot fully tell what joy awaits us there. We cannot measure the height of our joy by the depth of our sorrows, for, after all, our sorrows are shallow, but the glory of God, which the saints are to share, is a depth unfathomable, a height that no man can measure. O Lord, bring us into that wealthy place right speedily if it be thy holy will!Psalms 66:13. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings:Here is one worshipper breaking away from the rest,-a child of God who is not satisfied by merely joining in the general praise of the whole assembly, so he brings his own personal thanksgiving and thankoffering to God. Dear brother, dear sister, try to do this. Break away from all the rest of us, and say to the Lord, “I will go into thy house with burnt offerings.”Psalms 66:13-15. I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, “I will give thee the best that I have.”Psalms 66:15. With the incense of rams;Not only one of the best, but the best of two kinds of offerings.Psalms 66:15. I will offer bullocks with goats.“I will present to thee great services and smaller sacrifices. I will obey thee in the great ordinances and in the lesser ordinances also. I will bring both bullocks and goats. I will make an all-round offering. I will try to do all that I can for thee, my God, since thou hast done so much for me.”Psalms 66:15. Selah.Here the psalmist pauses again while the smoke of the sacrifice ascends; let us also pause, and meditate upon the better sacrifice which Christ offered for the sins of all who put their trust in him.Psalms 66:16-17. Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried unto him with only mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.“I mixed crying and singing together. I cried when I was in trouble, and I extolled the Lord as soon as he delivered me from it. Nay, by faith expecting to be delivered, I began to extol him even while I was yet crying unto him.” Psalms 66:18-19. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: but verily God hath heard me;It is a blessed thing to be able to say that; and if you can truthfully say it, I pray you to say it: “Verily God hath heard me.” Some people tell us that there is no such thing as an answer to prayer; they say that it is a piece of superstition on our part. Well, I believe that I am as honest a man as anyone who denies the power of prayer, and I can truthfully say, “God hath heard me.” There are scores of us-there are hundreds of us-there are thousands of us who can stand in the witness-box, and each one of us can say, “Verily God hath heard me.” If our testimony is not accepted by unbelieving men, we cannot help that. We know what we do know, and we know that God has heard and answered our prayers again and again.Psalms 66:19-20. He hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 66.; and Romans 8:1-9. Psalms 671. To the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments. A Psalm. a Song, i.e. a psalm of praise. See above, on Psalms 66:1. For the meaning of the second clause of this inscription, see above, on Psalms 55:1, and compare Psalms 1. The psalm before us, like the sixty-fifth, seems to have special reference to the manifestation of God's goodness in the gift of fruitful seasons and abundant harvests. See below, Psalms 67:6, and above, on Psalms 65:1. But from this the Psalmist, or the church, of which he is the spokesman, takes occasion to anticipate the extension of God's covenanted gifts, both temporal and spiritual, to all the nations of the earth. This expectation is indeed the burden of the psalm, its immediate occasion being only mentioned incidentally near the close, yet not so obscurely as to make it doubtful. Any formal division of this short and simple composition can only tend to mar its beauty. 2. (Psalms 67:1). God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us! The form of expression is evidently borrowed from the sacerdotal benediction, Numbers 6:24-25, but with a substitution of the first person plural for the second singular, so as to convert the authoritative blessing upon others into an expression of desire for themselves. The optative meaning of the sentence is determined by the form of the second verb in Hebrew. Upon us, literally with us, a form of speech probably intended to suggest the idea of the divine presence and communion. As to the figure in the last clause, see above, on Psalms 4:6; Psalms 31:16. 3. (Psalms 67:2). That thy way may be known in the earth, in all nations thy salvation. The original construction of the first clause is, to know in the earth thy way; but the sense can only be made clear in English by a passive form. Thy way, i.e. thy mode of dealing with thy people, referring more particularly here to providential favours, the knowledge of which he hopes to see extended to all nations, as a means to the promotion of still higher ends. The pleonastic phrase, saving health, retained in the authorised version from an older one, has nothing corresponding to it in the Hebrew but the single word which always means salvation, and is commonly so rendered. 4. (Psalms 67:3). The nations shall acknowledge thee, O God, the nations shall acknowledge thee— all of them. The common version of the verb here twice used (praise) is too wide. As it is commonly applied to the acknowledgment of benefits, a nearer equivalent is thank. See above, on Psalms 57:9. 5. (Psalms 67:4). Nations shall joy and triumph, because thou shalt judge peoples (in) rectitude, and nations in the earth— thou shalt guide them. The divine guidance implies protection and control. Compare Isaiah 58:11. The anticipation of universal happiness, as springing from the judicial acts of the Messiah, is not unusual in prophecy. See below, on Psalms 62:12-12, and compare Isaiah 3. The word translated rectitude occurs above, Psalms 45:6. 6. (Psalms 67:5). The nations shall acknowledge thee, O God, the nations shall acknowledge thee— all of them. This repetition spews the anticipation here expressed to be the principal though not the primary subject of the psalm. The position of the universal terms, at the close of this verse and Psalms 67:3, is highly emphatic, and precludes, in the most explicit manner, all restriciton 7. (Psalms 67:6). The earth (or land) has yielded her produce; God will bless us, (even) our God. The translation of the first verb as a future is entirely gratuitous, and therefore ungrammatical. Correctly rendered, it affords a hint of the immediate occasion of the psalm itself. The mutual relation of the clauses is that of a thankful acknowledgment for gifts received already to a joyful and believing expectation of the same hereafter. God has blessed us, and since he is our own God, he will bless us still. 8. (Psalms 67:7). God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. The God who has bestowed this harvest on us will continue to afford us tokens of his covenant love and faithfulness; and the day is coming when the intimate relation which we now sustain to him will be extended to all nations. Ends of the earth, even the remotest countries, but of course without excluding those at hand. It is really tantamount to saying, all lands or the whole earth. See above, on Psalms 2:8. TITLE. To the Chief Musician. Who he was matters not, and who we may be is also of small consequence, so long as the Lord is glorified. On Neginoth, or upon stringed instruments. This is the fifth Psalm so entitled, and no doubt like the others was meant to be sung with the accompaniment of "harpers harping with their harps." No author's name is given, but he would be a bold man who should attempt to prove that David did not write it. We will be hard pushed before we will look for any other author upon whom to father these anonymous odes which lie side by side with those ascribed to David, and wear a family likeness to them. A Psalm or Song. Solemnity and vivacity are here united. A Psalm is a song, but all songs are not Psalms: this is both one and the other. Ver. 1. God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us. This is a fit refrain to the benediction of the High Priest in the name of the Lord, as recorded in Numbers 6:24-25. "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee." It begins at the beginning with a cry for mercy. Forgiveness of sin is always the first link in the chain of mercies experienced by us. Mercy is a foundation attribute in our salvation. The best saints and the worst sinners may unite in this petition. It is addressed to the God of mercy, by those who feel their need of mercy, and it implies the death of all legal hopes or claims of merit. Next, the church begs for a blessing; bless us --a very comprehensive and far reaching prayer. When we bless God we do but little, for our blessings are but words, but when God blesses he enriches us indeed, for his blessings are gifts and deeds. But his blessing alone is not all his people crave, they desire a personal consciousness of his favour, and pray for a smile from his face. These three petitions include all that we need here or hereafter. This verse may be regarded as the prayer of Israel, and spiritually of the Christian church. The largest charity is shown in this Psalm, but it begins at home. The whole church, each church, and each little company, may rightly pray, bless us. It would, however, be very wrong to let our charity end where it begins, as some do; our love must make long marches, and our prayers must have a wide sweep, we must embrace the whole world in our intercessions. Selah. Lift up the heart, lift up the voice. A higher key, a sweeter note is called for. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. How admirably balanced are the parts of this missionary song! The people of God long to see all the nations participating in their privileges, "visited with God's salvation, and gladdened with the gladness of his nation" (Psalms 106:5). They long to hear all the nationalities giving thanks to the Lord, and hallowing his name; to see the face of the whole earth, which sin has darkened so long, smiling with the brightness of a second Eden. This is not a vapid sentiment. The desire is so expressed as to connect with it the thought of duty and responsibility. For how do they expect that the happy times are to be reached? They trust, in the first instance, to the general diffusion of the knowledge of God's way, the spreading abroad of the truth regarding the way of salvation. With a view to that, they cry for a time of quickening from the presence of the Lord, and take encouragement in this prayer from the terms of the divinely appointed benediction. As if they had said, "Hast thou not commanded the sons of Aaron to put thy name upon us, and to say: The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord cause his face to shine on thee and be gracious to thee? Remember that sure word of thine. God be gracious unto us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us. Let us be thus blessed, and we shall in our turn become a blessing. All the families of the earth shall, through us, become acquainted with thy salvation." Such is the church's expectation. And who shall say it is unreasonable? If the little company of a hundred and twenty disciples who met in the upper chamber at Jerusalem, all of them persons of humble station, and inconspicuous talents, were endued with such power by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that within three hundred years the paganism of the empire was overthrown, one need not fear to affirm that, in order to the evangelisation of the world, nothing more is required than that the churches of Christendom be baptised with a fresh effusion of the same Spirit of power. William Binnie. Whole Psalm. There are seven stanzas; twice three two line stanzas, having one of three lines in the middle, which forms the clasp or spangle of the septiad, a circumstance which is strikingly appropriate to the fact that the psalm is called "the Old Testament Paternoster" in some of the old expositors. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 1. God be merciful unto us, and bless us, etc. God forgives, then he gives; till he be merciful to pardon our sins through Christ, he cannot bless or look kindly on us sinners. All our enjoyments are but blessings in bullion, till gospel grace and pardoning mercy stamp and make them current. God cannot so much as bear any good will to us, till Christ makes peace for us; "On earth peace, good will toward men." Lu 2:14. And what joy can a sinner take, though it were to hear of a kingdom fallen to him, if he may not have it with God's good will. William Gurnall. Ver. 1. God be merciful unto us. Hugo attributes these words to penitents; Bless us, to those setting out in the Christian life; Cause his face to shine upon us, to those who have attained, or the sanctified. The first seek for pardon, the second for justifying peace, the third for edification and the grace of contemplation. Lorinus. Ver. 1-2. Connect the last clause of Psa 67:1 with the first of Psa 67:2, and observe that God made his face to shine upon Moses, and made known to him his way. "He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel, "as if the common people could only see the deeds of the Lord, but his way, his plans, his secrets were revealed only to him upon whom the light of God's face had shone. C. H. S. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. I. Here is mercy in God the Father. II. Here is blessing as the fruit of that mercy in God the Son. III. Here is the experience of that blessing in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Ver. 1. The need of seeking a blessing for ourselves. Ver. 1-2. The prosperity of the church at home, the hope for missions abroad. WORKS UPON THE SIXTY-SEVENTH PSALM In "The Works of JOHN BOYS, "1626, folio, pp. 42-45, there is an Exposition of this Psalm. Psalms 67:2* Ver. 2. That thy way may be known upon earth. As showers which first fall upon the hills afterwards run down in streams into the valleys, so the blessing of the Most High comes upon the world through the church. We are blessed for the sake of others as well as ourselves. God deals in a way of mercy with his saints, and then they make that way known far and wide, and the Lord's name is made famous in the earth. Ignorance of God is the great enemy of mankind, and the testimonies of the saints, experimental and grateful, overcome this deadly foe. God has set a way and method of dealing out mercy to men, and it is the duty and privilege of a revived church to make that way to be everywhere known. Thy saving health among all nations, or, thy salvation. One likes the old words, "saving health, "yet as they are not the words of the Spirit but only of our translators, they must be given up: the word is salvation, and nothing else. This all nations need, but many of them do not know it, desire it, or seek it; our prayer and labour should be, that the knowledge of salvation may become as universal as the light of the sun. Despite the gloomy notions of some, we cling to the belief that the kingdom of Christ will embrace the whole habitable globe, and that all flesh shall see the salvation of God: for this glorious consummation we agonize in prayer. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 1-2. See Psalms on "Psalms 67:1" for further information. Ver. 2. That thy way may be known, etc. The psalmist here supposes that there are certain rules or principles, in accordance with which God bestows blessings on mankind; and he prays that those rules and principles may be everywhere made known upon the earth. Albert Barnes. Ver. 2. That thy way may be known, etc. By nature we know little of God, and nothing of Christ, or the way of salvation by him. The eye of the creature, therefore, must be opened to see the way of life before he can by faith get into it. God doth not use to waft souls to heaven like passengers in a ship, who are shut under the hatches, and see nothing all the way they are sailing to their port; if so, that prayer might have been spared which the psalmist, inspired of God, breathes forth in the behalf of the blind Gentiles: That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. As faith is not a naked assent, with affiance and innitency (Act of leaning on) on Christ; so neither is it a blind assent, without some knowledge. If, therefore, you continue still in thy brutish ignorance, and knowest not so much as who Christ is, and what he hath done for the salvation of poor sinners, and what thou must do to get interest in him, thou art far enough from believing. If the day be not broke in thy soul, much less is the Sun of Righteousness arisen by faith in thy soul. William Gurnall. Ver. 2. That thy way may be known. The sinful Jew, obstinate in his unbelief, shall see and hate. He shall see, and be enraged at the salvation of the Gentiles; but let us see and know, that is, love. For to know is often put for to love, as in the passages-- "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them: I know mine, and am known of mine; "that is, I love my own sheep, and they love me... There is here a sudden transition from the third person to the second, that in speaking of God he might not say, "His way, "or "his salvation, "but Thy way, and Thy salvation setting forth the vehemence of an ardent suppliant, and the grace of God as he reveals himself to that suppliant while still pouring forth his prayers. Gerhohus (1093-1169). Ver. 2. That thy way may be known, etc. As light, so the participation of God's light is communicative: we must not pray for ourselves alone, but for all others, that God's way may be known upon earth, and his saving health among all nations. Thy way; that is, thy will, thy word, thy works. God's will must be known on earth, that it may be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Except we know our Master's will, how shall we do it? Ergo, first pray with David here: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth; and then, Let all the people praise thee. God's will is revealed in his word, and his word is his way wherein we must walk, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. Or, Thy way; that is, thy works, as David elsewhere (Psalms 25:10): "All thy ways of the Lord are mercy and truth." Or, as others (Augustine; Jerome; Hilary) most fitly: Thy way, that is, thy Christ; "Thy saving health, "that is, thy Jesus: for "I am the way, "saith our Saviour (John 14:6): "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me; " wherefore, "Let thy Son be known upon earth; thy Jesus among all nations." John Boys. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1-2. The prosperity of the church at home, the hope for missions abroad. Ver. 2. I. The way of God towards the earth. 1. A way of mercy. 2. Of blessing. 3. Of comfort. II. The knowledge of that way. 1. By outward means. 2. By inward teaching. III. The effect of that knowledge. Salvation among all nations. Ver. 2. What is the true health of men? Psalms 67:3* Ver. 3. Let the people praise thee, O God. Cause them to own thy goodness and thank thee with all their hearts; let nations do this, and do it continually, being instructed in thy gracious way. Let all the people praise thee. May every man bring his music, every citizen his canticle, every peasant his praise, every prince his psalm. All are under obligations to thee, to thank thee will benefit all, and praise from all will greatly glorify thee; therefore, O Lord, give all men the grace to adore thy grace, the goodness to see thy goodness. What is here expressed as a prayer in our translation, may be read as a prophecy, if we follow the original Hebrew. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. Let the people praise thee. Mark the sweet order of the blessed Spirit: first, mercy; than, knowledge; last of all, praising of God. We cannot see his countenance except he be merciful to us; and we cannot praise him except his way be known upon earth. His mercy breeds knowledge; his knowledge, praise. John Boys. Ver. 3. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. What then? "Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us." We have comforts increased, the more we praise God for what we have already received. The more vapours go up, the more showers come down; as the rivers receive, so they pour out, and all run into the sea again. There is a constant circular course and recourse from the sea, unto the sea; so there is between God and us; the more we praise him, the more our blessings come down; and the more his blessings come down, the more we praise him again; so that we do not so much bless God as bless ourselves. When the springs lie low, we pour a little water into the pump, not to enrich the fountain, but to bring up more for ourselves. Thomas Manton. Ver. 3. This verse is exceedingly emphatic. 1. First, by an apostrophe to God, in the pronoun, Thee. As if he said: Let the people praise thee, not strange gods; for thou art the only true God. 2. Secondly, inasmuch as it is not said, Let us praise thee, O God; but let the people praise thee, and let all the people. For here is expressed the longing of the pious heart, and its fond desire that God should be praised and magnified throughout all lands and by all people of the round earth. 3. Thirdly, by the iteration, in which the same particle is repeated in this and the fifth verse no less than four times, as if the duty could not be sufficiently inculcated. It is not enough to have said it once; it is delightful to repeat it again. Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563). HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Verse 3. Viewed, I. As the desire of every renewed heart. II. As a prayer. III. As a prophecy. Psalms 67:4* Ver. 4. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy, or, they shall joy and triumph. When men know God's way and see his salvation, it brings to their hearts much happiness. Nothing creates gladness so speedily, surely, and abidingly as the salvation of God. Nations never will be glad till they follow the leadership of the great Shepherd; they may shift their modes of government from monarchies to republics, and from republics to communes, but they will retain their wretchedness till they bow before the Lord of all. What a sweet word is that to sing for joy! Some sing for form, others for show, some as a duty, others as an amusement, but to sing from the heart, because overflowing joy must find a vent, this is to sing indeed. Whole nations will do this when Jesus reigns over them in the power of his grace. We have heard hundreds and even thousands sing in chorus, but what will it be to hear whole nations lifting up their voices, as the noise of many waters and like great thunders. When shall the age of song begin? When shall groans and murmurs be exchanged for holy hymns and joyful melodies? For thou shalt judge the people righteously. Wrong on the part of governors is a fruitful source of national woe, but where the Lord rules, rectitude is supreme. He doeth ill to none. His laws are righteousness itself. He rights all wrongs and releases all who are oppressed. Justice on the throne is a fit cause for national exultation. And govern the nations upon earth. He will lead them as a shepherd his flock, and through his grace they shall willingly follow, then will there be peace, plenty, and prosperity. It is a great condescension on God's part to become the Shepherd of nations, and to govern them for their good: it is a fearful crime when a people, who know the salvation of God, apostatize and say to the Lord, "Depart from us." There is some cause for trembling lest our nation should fall into this condemnation; may God forbid. Selah. Before repeating the chorus, the note is again elevated, that full force may be given to the burst of song and the accompaniment of harps. "Strings and voices, hands and hearts, In the concert bear your parts; All that breathe, your Lord adore, Praise him, Praise him, evermore!" NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. For thou shalt judge the people righteously, etc. The Psalmist may here seem to contradict himself; for if mercy make men rejoice, then judgment occasions men to tremble. Answer is made, that all such as have known the ways of the Lord, and rejoice in the strength of his salvation, all such as have the pardon of their sins assured and sealed, fear not that dreadful assize, because they know the judge is their advocate. Or, (as Jerome,)let all nations rejoice, because God doth judge righteously, being the God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews. Acts 10:34. Or, let all nations rejoice, because God doth govern all nations; that whereas theretofore they wandered in the fond imaginations of their own hearts, in wry ways, in byways; now they are directed by the Spirit of truth to walk in God's highway, which leads unto the celestial Jerusalem; now they shall know Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. For judging is often used for ruling. 1 Samuel 7:15 2 Corinthians 1:10. So David doth here expound himself: thou shalt judge. that is, thou shalt govern the nations. John Boys. Ver. 4. Govern. Lead and guide them as the shepherd his flock. Benjamin Boothroyd. Ver. 4. And lead(margin) the nations. God now overrules the nations in their ways, but surely they are led by another guide. There is a bridle in their jaws causing them to err. They are held and shaken in the sieve of vanity, until he come to whom the government pertains. Arthur Pridham. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. I. The reign of God in the world: it is not left to itself. II. The joy of the world on that account: Let the nations, etc. III. The reason of that joy: He will judge righteously. 1. As faithful to his law. 2. Faithful to his promises of mercy. Psalms 67:5* Ver. 5. These words are no vain repetition, but are a chorus worthy to be sung again and again. The great theme of the psalm is the participation of the Gentiles in the worship of Jehovah; the psalmist is full of it, he hardly knows how to contain or express his joy. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5-6. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee! What then? Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless us. Our unthankfulness is the cause of the earth's unfruitfulness. While man is blessing God for his mercies, He is blessing man with his mercies. William Secker, in "The Nonsuch Professor, " 1660. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5-7. I. The prayer (Psalms 67:5). II. The promise (Psalms 67:6). 1. Of temporal good. 2. Of spiritual good. III. The prediction (Psalms 67:7). Psalms 67:6* Ver. 6. Then shall the earth yield her increase. Sin first laid a curse on the soil, and grace alone can remove it. Under tyrannical governments lands become unproductive; even the land which flowed with milk and honey is almost a wilderness under Turkish rule; but, when the principles of true religion shall have elevated mankind, and the dominion of Jesus shall be universally acknowledged, the science of tillage shall be perfected, men shall be encouraged to labour, industry shall banish penury, and the soil shall be restored to more than its highest condition of fertility. We read that the Lord turneth "a fruitful land into barrenness, "for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, and observation confirms the truth of the divine threatening; but even under the law it was promised, "The Lord shall make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land for good." There is certainly an intimate relation between moral and physical evil, and between spiritual and physical good. Alexander notes that the Hebrew is in the past tense, and he concludes that it is ungrammatical to render it in the future; but to us it seems that the prophet bard, hearing the nations praise the Lord, speaks of the bounteous harvest as already given in consequence. On the supposition that all the people praise Jehovah, the earth has yielded her increase. The future in the English appears to be the clearest rendering of the Hebrew. And God, even our own God, shall bless us. He will make earth's increase to be a real blessing. Men shall see in his gifts the hand of that same God whom Israel of old adored, and Israel, especially, shall rejoice in the blessing, and exult in her own God. We never love God aright till we know him to be ours, and the more we love him the more we long to be fully assured that he is ours. What dearer name can we give to him than "mine own God." The spouse in the song has no sweeter canticle than "my beloved is mine and I am his." Every believing Jew must feel a holy joy at the thought that the nations shall be blessed by Abraham's God; but every Gentile believer also rejoices that the whole world shall yet worship the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is our Father and our God. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5-6. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee! See Psalms on "Psalms 67:5" for further information. Ver. 6. Then shall the earth yield her increase. An increase of wealth is but the natural result of increased piety and intelligence. There are certain qualities essential to temporal prosperity. These are industry, economy, moderation; and such are the qualities begotten of godliness... Nor is it an unreasonable expectation that our globe should, under the reign of righteousness, yield all those temporal advantages of which it is capable. Science, favoured by piety, may greatly add to the earth's fruitfulness; and mechanical genius may still farther abbreviate human toil, and increase human comforts. The great inventions and discoveries of science, by which toil is lessened and comfort enhanced, are all the product of Christian minds... Can we, then, doubt that in the era to which we look forward, labour shall cease to be a burden? Can we believe that the life of the labouring classes is to continue to be all but a ceaseless round of toil and vexation--every hand stretched out to procure something that is needed, or to ward off something that is feared? Scripture predicts the mitigation of the curse; and, in the discoveries of science, and the inventions of mechanics, we see the means by which the prediction is to be accomplished. This consummation may still be in the distant future; but if we do not grudge the oak years for its growth, the glory to be revealed is surely worthy of a process as gradual. William Reid, in "Things to Come Practically Considered, "1871. Ver. 6. God, even our own God, shall bless us. What a rapturous expression is that: God, even our own God, shall bless us! and that, "Thy God, thy glory!" Upon interest in God follows their interest in his glory and blessedness; which is so much the dearer and more valuable, as it is theirs; their glory from their God. They shall be blessed by God, their own God; "drink waters out of their own well." How endearing a thing is propriety! Another man's son is ingenuous, comely, personable; this may be a matter of envy; but mine own is so, this is a joy. I read in the life of a devout nobleman of France, (Monsieur de Renti) that receiving a letter from a friend in which were inserted these words: "Deus meus et omnia, "my God and my all, he thus returns back to him: "I know not what your intent was to put into your letter these words, `Dues meus et omnia, My God and my all:' only you invite me thereby to return the same to you, and to all creatures. `My God and my all: my God and my all; my God and my all.' If, perhaps, you take this for your motto, and use it to express how full your heart is of it, think you it possible I should be silent upon such an invitation, and not express my sense thereof? Likewise be it known unto you, therefore, that he is `my God and my all; 'and, if you doubt of it, I shall speak of it a hundred times over. I shall add no more, for anything else is superfluous to him that is truly penetrated with `my God and my all; 'I leave you, therefore, in this happy state of jubilation, and conjure you to beg for me, of God, the solid sense of these words." And do we think, "my God and my all." or, "my God and my glory, "will have lost its emphasis in heaven? or that it will be less significant among awakened souls? These things concur, then, concerning the object; it is more excellent, even divine, entire, permanent, and theirs: how can it but satisfy? John Howe, in "The Blessedness of the Righteous." Ver. 6. Our own God. How inexpressible was the inward pleasure wherewith we may suppose those words to have been uttered. How delightful an appropriation! as if it were intended to be said, the blessing itself were less significant, it could not have that savour with it, if it were not from our own God. Not only, therefore, allow but urge your spirits thus to look towards God, that you may both delight in him as being in himself the most excellent one, and also as being yours; for know, you are not permitted only, but obliged to eye, accept, and rejoice in him as such. John Howe. Ver. 6-7. The promise refers directly to the visible fertility of the renewed earth at the time of Israel's recovery, but it includes a fuller reference to higher things; for the true increase yielded by any of God's works is the revenue of praise which redounds to his holy name. Such, then, is the promise I have to bring before you. In its widest sense, the lower creation is now made subject to vanity, because of man's sin; but in the kingdom of Christ this curse will be removed, and all God's works will yield their full increase--a tribute of unmingled honour and praise to his name. Let us consider 1. The preparation for this increase. 2. The increase itself. 3. The blessing of God, which will crown it. I. THE FOR THIS . What are the means? What is the way of its accomplishment? Whence does it proceed? Our Psalm is full of instruction. Consider-- 1. Its fountain: the free mercy of God. The Psalm begins, God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us. Whatever the details and steps of the work of redemption, all must be traced up to this original fountain, the sovereign grace and mercy of our God... The eternal, free, unchangeable, inexhaustible mercy of our God revealed through his dear Son Jesus Christ; this is the fountain head of the blessed increase here foretold... 2. The order in which this increase is granted may next be considered. Salvation is given to the Jew first, and then also to the Greek. The prayer of this Psalm is, Cause his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. It is the divine plan first to choose his people and bless them, and then to make them a blessing, as we see in Abraham, the father of the faithful. It is through his church that God blesses the world... The same principle is true in every revival of pure religion... But all this order of divine mercy has yet to be more fully seen in what is before us; in the restoration of Israel, and in its effect upon the world at large... 3. The immediate precursor of this increase is the return of our Lord from heaven, the coming of Christ to judge the earth and reign over all nations. The Psalm calls all nations to rejoice in this: O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. ... The world craves, and will crave more and more for righteous government. The Lord has promised to supply this natural want of the human heart, though he take vengeance on his hardened enemies. Even in the coming of the Lord to judgment, goodness will so finally triumph that the nations are to be glad and sing for joy... It is the Lord judging the people and governing the nations, and all the people praising him, that prepares directly and immediately for the promised blessedness. Then shall the earth yield her increase. II. THE ITSELF. This increase has many aspects. Let us view them in a climax of benefits. 1. Natural fertility. The first sentence of curse and barrenness, of thorns and thistles, was pronounced on Adam's fall, and renewed on Cain's murder. It seems to have been specially removed after the deluge... Even now, two thirds of our world are ocean, incapable of increase; half of the rest, and perhaps more, is almost desert, and of the remainder the largest part is very imperfectly tilled. There is room, even in the latter, for a vast increase, when the whole earth might become like the garden of the Lord. 2. The redemption of art. Its activity, its talent, and discoveries are now great and wonderful; but it is mainly turned to human self sufficiency and vanity, and bears little fruit to God's glory and the highest benefit of man. But in the period predicted in this Psalm, every creature, when redeemed to man's use, shall be also reclaimed to God's glory... 3. The redemption of science.... 4. Society will yield its increase to God.... Men now live as without God in the world, full though it be of proofs of his wisdom and love... What a change when every social circle shall be a fellowship of saints, and all bent to one great purpose, the divine glory and the blessedness of each other. 5. The soul shall yield its increase. The earth is only the figure of the human heart, a soil ever fertile for good or evil. Thus the apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, regards it: "For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God; but that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak." Then the thorns and briers of a crooked and perverse generation will cease... The fruits of righteousness will abound from the human race to the glory of God. Much praise, much zeal, much reverence, much humility, will distinguish his servants. Faith, hope, and love will all be in the fullest exercise. Christ will be all and in all, and every power will be consecrated to him. This is the best increase the earth yields to God. 6. The large number of God's true servants, thus yielding themselves to him, is another part of this blessedness... 7. The perpetuity of this increase has to be added to this glory. This is according to the promise made to the Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Condensed from Edward Bickersteth's Sermon in the "Bloomsbury Lent Lectures, "1848. Ver. 6-7. Double blessings from God--temporal and spiritual, blessings peculiar to the Jews, and blessings suited to Christians. O Lord, I refuse not the temporal blessings it pleases thee to send me; I will receive them with humble gratitude as the gift of thy goodness: but I entreat from thee especially for spiritual blessings; and that thou wouldest treat me rather as a Christian than as a Jew. Pasquier Quesnel (1634-1719), in "Les Psaumes de David avec des Reflexions Morales." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5-7. I. The prayer (Psalms 67:5). II. The promise (Psalms 67:6). 1. Of temporal good. 2. Of spiritual good. III. The prediction (Psalms 67:7). Ver. 6-7. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 819: "The Minstrelsy of Hope." Psalms 67:7* Ver. 7. God shall bless us. The prayer of the first verse is the song of the last. We have the same phrase twice, and truly the Lord's blessing is manifold; he blesses and blesses and blesses again. How many are his beatitudes! How choice his benedictions! They are the peculiar heritage of his chosen. He is the Saviour of all men, but specially of them that believe. In this verse we find a song for all future time. God shall bless us is our assured confidence; he may smite us, or strip us, or even slay us, but he must bless us. He cannot turn away from doing good to his elect. And all the ends of the earth shall fear him. The far off shall fear. The ends of the earth shall end their idolatry, and adore their God. All tribes, without exception, shall feel a sacred awe of the God of Israel. Ignorance shall be removed, insolence subdued, injustice banished, idolatry abhorred, and the Lord's love, light, life, and liberty, shall be over all, the Lord himself being King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen, and Amen. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 67:6" for further information. Ver. 6-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 67:6" for further information. Ver. 7. Note, how joy in God, and fear of God, are combined. By joy the sadness and anxiety of diffidence are excluded, but by fear contempt and false security are banished. So Psalms 2:1-12, "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." Wolfgang Musculus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5-7. I. The prayer (Psalms 67:5). II. The promise (Psalms 67:6). 1. Of temporal good. 2. Of spiritual good. III. The prediction (Psalms 67:7). Ver. 6-7. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 819: "The Minstrelsy of Hope." Ver. 7. I. God to man: shall bless us. II. Man to God: shall fear him. This was a Psalm sung, at the removing of the ark, when it was taken up to its resting-place on Mount Zion. All the tribes were gathered together, and, in full pomp, they marched along, bearing the sacred chest. As they tramped forward, the trumpets sounded, and this Psalm rose up to God.Psalms 68:1. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.That is the way to move,—God first, and his people following closely after him. That is the true order of revival,—the Lord in the lead, then all his children, quick of step, to follow where he leads. The psalmist seems to take it for granted that there would be no fighting if God should arise, for all his enemies would be put to flight by his presence.Psalms 68:2-3. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.The courtiers of God ought to be clad in the silks of joy, and to be bright with the jewelry of rejoicing.Psalms 68:4-5. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.In the wilderness, the Israelites were like a company of fatherless people: but God was their Protector, and in all their trials and dangers he was their Defender.Psalms 68:6. God setteth the solitary in families he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. They had been in a sad condition in Egypt, scattered and driven hither and thither. God promised to bring them all together, in great families, and richly to bless them.Psalms 68:7-8. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah: the earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.If the translators had given us the original words, we should have valued this Psalm much more, for it contains nearly every name of God. This verse would run, “Even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of Elohim, the ‘Elohim of Israel.Psalms 68:9-10. Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.It rained manna, and it rained quails. There are no difficulties about the commissariat of an army when God is the Commander-in-chief. All shall be provided for those who put their trust in him.Psalms 68:11. The Lord—Or, Adonai— Psalms 68:11. Gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.When God speaks, he always has publishers of his message. Our Lord found a woman at the well, and sent her back to the men of the city as his messenger, and he will find many others before his work is all done.Psalms 68:12-13. Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. Though ye have lien among the pots,—Grimy among the brick kilns, covered with clay, and black with smoke,—despised, rejected, earthbound,—“ Though ye have lien among the pots,”—Psalms 68:13. Yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. There are good times ahead for God’s people. Rich and rare blessings are laid up in store for them that fear him. Therefore, let us rejoice in him even now.Psalms 68:14. When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.Driven from the bare, bleak mountain-side in gusts like feathers, the snow flies before the wind; and so, when God scatters the mighty, they cannot resist him: “It was as snow in Salmon.”Psalms 68:15. The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.This hill of Zion is not high at all, it is a mere knoll compared with the lofty peaks; yet it was highly favored. So, to carnal eyes, Christ’s kingdom on earth was little in comparison with the kingdoms of this world; yet, in the sight of God, it is greater than all of them.Psalms 68:16. Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the LORD will dwell in it forever.There are grander places than Zion, but if God chooses to dwell there, his presence gives her a glory and a greatness that no other spot can have. The forces at the disposal of Zion’s King are boundless; note how the psalmist enumerates some of them.Psalms 68:17-18. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them.As the ark went up the hill of Zion, so has Christ ascended to the eternal glory. He is the true Ark of the covenant, and he is also the true Mercy-seat; wherefore, let our hearts rejoice in our ascended Saviour, who has “led captivity captive “ “Thou hast received gifts for men”; yea, for the rebellious also.” “In due time, Christ died for the ungodly.” “He made intercession for the transgressors.” Let rebellious sinners catch, at this great truth; and, touched by the love and grace of God, let them cease to rebel any longer.Psalms 68:19-20. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah. He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.All glory be to his thrice-blessed name for all that this verse includes!Psalms 68:21-22. But God shall wound the head: of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses. The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea:Wherever his people may have gone, God will bring them all together again, “from Bashan,” or “from the depths of the sea.”Psalms 68:23-35. That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of the dogs in the same. They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after, among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel. There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah, the their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali. Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war. Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: to him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.The Psalm ends with an ascription of praise unto God. So let our reading end, and our worship, and our lives: “Blessed be God.” We shall read together at this time a part of the 69th Psalm, and afterwards two passages in the New Testament. Although there is no doubt that this Psalm is intended to describe a very large class of sufferers, but we think it never had its full meaning perfectly carried out, until our blessed Lord and Master suffered at the hands of men. We shall read the Psalm believing that it is full of Christ. It is absolutely certain that we have references here to his advent, his passion, and his resurrection. To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, a Psalm of David.Psalms 69:1. Save me, O God; for the waters are come into my soul.The waves have not only teased the bank, but they have dashed over the bulwarks, and there is a flood within, as well as a flood without.Psalms 69:2. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.We had this text explained to us last Friday night, when the traveler told us he saw a man sink in the mud, almost swallowed up by it, till by a very desperate grasp of the beat he made his escape. Christ was, as it; were, sucked in by the great deeps of his afflictions, as if he would be swallowed up quickly.Psalms 69:3. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried:He had been so long in the garden in that awful agony, with strong crying and tears.Psalms 69:3-4. Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: him now in the street being led away to Mount Calvary; a vast multitude has congregated there, all eager to see him die.Psalms 69:4. They that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty:They have the Roman soldiers at their backs, while the mob applauds them.Psalms 69:4. Then I restored that which I took not away.Christ did not take away our innocence, nor our safety, nor our honour, but he restored them all to us. He hath made us clean; he hath made us accepted in the Beloved; he hath put a crown of pure gold upon our heads, and set our feet upon a rock.Psalms 69:5. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.These words are not applicable to our Lord, except so far as they may refer to our foolishness and to our sin, which we know were all laid on him; except that one commentator says that he is here speaking according to the manner of the people. They called him foolish; they charged him with sin, but he appeals to heaven, “Lord, thou knowest whether I have been foolish, whether I have any sins or not.” In that sense we might apply it literally to the Saviour.Psalms 69:6. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those who seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.“Let not the shame of my cross destroy their faith; grant unto them such confidence in me that they may take up thy cross daily, and follow me: that they may even learn to say with my apostle, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”Psalms 69:7. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.It was for his Father’s sake, that he might bring honour to Jehovah, that he thus suffered reproach. “Shame hath covered my face”—that face which is brighter than the sun, and which angels desire to gaze upon.Psalms 69:8. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, “Peter says he knows me not; all of them have forsaken me.”Psalms 69:8-9. And an alien unto my mother’s children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.Every hard word that was spoken of the Father fell upon the Son: the iniquities which were rebellions against Jehovah all fell upon the Man of Nazareth.Psalms 69:10. When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.That was scandal unto them.Psalms 69:11. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb unto them.Just as Michael said of David, “How glorious did the King of Israel become in the eyes of his handmaidens.” out of mockery, so did they reproach Christ, “How glorious was the King of Israel, so daintily arrayed in a peasant’s robe, or stripped naked upon his cross.”Psalms 69:12. They that sit in the gate speak against me;The judges who there dispensed justice, the merchants who there trade their wares, the idlers who were there to loiter, to hear the news, these speak against me.Psalms 69:12. And I became the song of the drunkard.They made ballads of him, we may understand that to mean; they issued lampoons; every now and then there came out a caricature.Psalms 69:13-14. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude or thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.Think you hear your Master as he silently prays this prayer in the streets of Jerusalem; the mob is hooting, but he is praying; women are weeping, and he is weeping, too.Psalms 69:15-20. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for if am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. Thou hast known my reproach and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.Reproach hath broken my heart. This is one of the most extraordinary verses in Holy Writ.Psalms 69:20-21. And I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.Now, let us read the incidents in the history of Christ, of which this Psalm is a sort of prophecy and exposition. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 69:1-21. Mark 15:15-23. Luke 23:26-33. 4 Our Watchword October 1st, 1871 by C. H. (1834-1892) "Let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified."— Psalms 70:4 . These words occur at least three times in the book of Psalms, and therefore we may regard them as especially important. When God speaks once, twice, thrice, he doth as it were awaken us to peculiar attention, and call for prompt obedience to what he saith. Let us not be deaf to the divine voice, but let each one say, "Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth." You will observe that in this, and in the fortieth Psalm, this holy saying is put in opposition to the ungodly speeches of persecutors. The wicked say, "Aha, aha," therefore let those who love God's salvation have a common watchword with which to silence the malicious mockeries of the ungodly; let them say, "LET GOD BE ." The earnestness of the wicked should be a stimulus to the fervency of the righteous. Surely, if God's enemies do not spare blasphemy and profanity, if they are always upon the watch to find reasons for casting reproach upon the name and church of Christ, we ought to be more than equally vigilant and diligent in spreading abroad the knowledge of the gospel, which magnifies the name of the Lord. Would to God his church were half as earnest as the synagogue of Satan! Oh that we had, in our holy cause, a tithe of the indefatigable spirit of those Scribes and Pharisees, who compass sea and land to make one proselyte! Even the archfiend shames us by his preserving industry, for he goeth up and down in the earth seeking whom he may destroy! The clause which we have selected for our text also follows immediately after another which may be looked upon as a stepping-stone to it. Before we can love God's salvation, we must be seekers of it; hence we read, "Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee." There is a duty peculiar to seekers, let them see to it; and then there follows a further obligation peculiar to those who have found what they sought for. Let joy and rejoicing be first realised by the seeker through his receiving personally the grace of God, and then let us go on to a stage further. The fresh convert has his business mainly within; it will be well for him if his heart can, in sincerity, be glad in the Lord. When believers are young and feeble they are not fit for the battle; therefore, let them tarry at home awhile, and under their vine and fig-tree eat the sweet fruits of the gospel, none making them afraid. We do not send our children to hard service; we wait till their limbs are developed, and then appoint them their share in life's labors. Let the newly called be carried like lambs in the Savior's bosom, and borne as on eagles' wings. "Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee." But when men have advanced beyond the earliest stage, when they are persuaded that Christ is theirs, and that they have been adopted into the family of God, then let them cheerfully accept active service. Let it not be now the main concern with them to possess a joyous experience on their own account, but let them studiously seek the good of their fellow creatures, and the glory of God. Strong men have strength given them that they may bear burdens and perform labors; light is this burden and blessed is this labor. Let them "say continually, Let God be magnified." I shall, therefore, hope that anything of earnest exhortation which shall be addressed to believers at this time, will come with double power to those of you who are advanced in the divine life. The more you know of God's salvation the more you will love it, and the more you love it the more are you bound to recognize the sacred duty and privilege of saying continually, "Let God be magnified." May each one of you here be willing to take up the obligation if you have enjoyed the benefit. It may simplify our discourse this morning if we arrange it under three heads. Here is, first, the character: "They that love thy salvation. Here is secondly, the saying: "Let them say continually, Let God be magnified. And here is, thirdly, the wish, the wish of the psalmist and of the psalmist's master, that all who answer to the character shall use the watchword, and say continually, Let God be magnified." I. We will begin, then, by discriminating THE . The individuals here spoken of are those who love God's salvation. Then it is implied that they are persons who are saved, because it is not according to nature to love a salvation in which we have no part. We may admire the salvation which is preached, but we shall only love the salvation which is experienced. We may hold orthodox views as to salvation, though not ourselves saved; but we shall not have earnest affection towards it unless we are ourselves redeemed by it from the wrath to come. Saved ones, then, are meant here, and we may add that they are so saved as to be assured of it, and consequently to feel the warm glow of ardent, grateful love. They love God's salvation because they have grasped it; they possess it, they know they possess it, and, therefore, they prize it, and their hearts are wedded to it. Beloved, I hope that the large proportion of this congregation could say before the heart searching God, "We are saved; we have come all guilty and heavy laden to the foot of the cross; we have looked up, we have seen the flowing of the Savior's precious blood, we have trusted in him as our atoning sacrifice, and by faith we have received full pardon through his precious blood." Happy people who have this blessing and know it! May no doubts ever becloud your sky! May you clearly read your titles to the mansions in the skies, written legibly and indelibly in the precious blood of Jesus Christ your Savior. You are the persons to whom we speak to-day; you know, and therefore love the salvation of God. But, more than this, to sustain and bring to perfection in the renewed heart an ardent affection towards the divine salvation of a sort that will continue, and become practically fruitful, there must be an intelligent consideration, and an instructed apprehension as to the character of this salvation. It is a great pity that so many professors have only a religion of feeling, and are quite unable to explain and justify their faith. They live by passion, rather than by principle. Religion is in them a series of paroxysms, a succession of emotions. They were stirred up at a certain meeting, excited, and carried away, and let us hope they were really and sincerely converted: but they have failed to become to the fullest extent disciples or learners. They do not sit at Jesus' feet, they are not Bereans who search the Scriptures daily to see whether these things be so: they are content with the mere rudiments, the simple elements: they are still little children and have need to be fed with milk, for they cannot digest the strong meat of the kingdom. Such persons do not discern so many reasons for admiring and loving the salvation of God, as the intelligent enlightened Spirit-taught believer. I would to God that all of us, after we have received Christ, meditated much upon his blessed person, and the details of his work, and the various streams of blessings which leap forth from the central fount of Calvary's sacrifice. All Scripture is profitable, but especially those Scriptures which concern our salvation. Some things lose by observation, they are most wondered at when least understood; but the gospel gains by study: no man is ever wearied in meditating upon it, nor does he find his admiration diminished, but abundantly increased. Blessed is he who studies the gospel both day and night, and finds his heart's delight in it. Such a man will have a steadier and intenser affection for it, in proportion as he perceives its excellence and surpassing glory. The man who receives the gospel superficially, and holds it as a matter of impression and little more, being quite unable to give a reason for the hope that is in him, lacks that which would confirm and intensify his love. Now, let me show you, beloved, what it is in salvation that the thoughtful believer loves; and I may begin by saying that he loves, best of all, the Savior himself. Often our Lord is called Salvation, because he is the great worker of it, the author and finisher, the Alpha and the Omega of it. He who has Christ has salvation; and, as he is the essence of salvation, he is the center of the saved ones' affection. Have you, beloved, carefully considered that Jesus is divine, that he counts it not robbery to be equal with God, being our Creator and Preserver, as well as our Redeemer? Do you fully understand that our Lord is infinite, eternal, nothing less than God; and yet for our sakes he took upon himself our nature, was clothed in that nature with all its infirmities, sin alone excepted, and in that nature agonized, bled, and died, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Oh, marvel of marvels, miracle of miracles! The immortal Lord stoops to death; the Prince of glory bows to be spit upon. Shame and dishonor could not make him start back from his blessed purpose, but to the death of the cross he surrendered himself. O, you who are saved, do you not love Christ, who is your salvation ? Do you not feel a burning desire to behold him as he is ? Is not his presence, even now, a nether heaven to you ? Will not a face to face view of his glory be all the heaven that your utmost stretch of imagination can conceive ? I know it is so. Your heart is bound to Jesus, his name is set as a seal upon it; therefore, I charge you to say continually, "Let God be magnified." Glory be to the Father who gave his Son, to the Son who gave himself, to the Spirit who revealed all this to us. Triune God, be thou extolled for ever and ever. But you love not only the Savior's person, but I am sure you delight in the plan of salvation. What is that plan? It is summed up in a single word— substitution. "He bore, that we might never bear, His Father's righteous ire." Sin was not pardoned absolutely, else justice had been dishonored; but sin was transferred from the guilty to the innocent One. "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." When our iniquity was found upon the innocent Lamb of God, he was "smitten of God and afflicted," as if he had been a sinner; he was made to suffer for transgressions not his own, as if they had been his own; and thus mercy and justice met together, righteousness and grace kissed each other. Alas! there are many who fight against this plan, but I rejoice that I am surrounded by warm hearts who love it, and would die for it. As for me, I know no other gospel, and let this tongue be dumb rather than it should ever preach any other. Substitution is the very marrow of the whole Bible, the soul of salvation, the essence of the gospel, we ought to saturate all our sermons with it, for it is the life-blood of a gospel ministry. We must daily show how God the Judge can be "just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth." We must declare that God has made the Redeemer's soul a sacrifice for sin, making him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Our plain testimony must be, that "he was made a curse for us;" that "he his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree;" that "he was once offered to bear the sins of many;" and that "he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many." About this we must never speak with bated breath, lest we be found unfaithful to our charge. And why, brethren, should we not joyfully proclaim this doctrine? for is it not the grandest, noblest, most divine, under heaven. The plan so adorns all the attributes of the Godhead, and furnishes such a safe footing for a trembling conscience to rest upon, such a fortress, castle, and high tower for faith to rejoice in, that we cannot do otherwise than love it. The very way and plan of it is dearer to our souls than life itself. Oh, then let us always say, "Let God be magnified," since he devised, arranged, and carried out this Godlike method of blending justice with mercy. But, beloved, we also love God's salvation when we consider what was the object of it. The object of it towards us was to redeem unto Christ a people who should be zealous for good works. The sinner loves a salvation from hell, the saint loves a salvation from sin. Anybody would desire to be saved from the pit, but it is only a child of God who pants to be saved from every false way. We love the salvation of God because it saves us from selfishness, from pride, from lust, from worldliness, bitterness, malice, sloth, and uncleanness. When that salvation is completed in us we shall be "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing," and shall be renewed in holiness after the image of Christ Jesus our Lord. That its great aim is our perfection in holiness is the main beauty of salvation. We would be content to be poor, but we cannot be content to be sinful; we could be resigned to sickness, but we could not be satisfied to remain in alienation from God. We long for perfection and nothing short of it will content us, and, because this is guaranteed to the believer in the gospel of Christ, we love his salvation, and we would say continually, "Let God be magnified." I might thus enlarge upon every part of this salvation, and say that it endears itself to us under every aspect, and from every point of view. We love his salvation because of one or two characteristics in it which especially excite our delight. Foremost is the matchless love displayed in it. Why should the Lord have loved men, such insignificant creatures as they are, compared with the universe? Why should he set his heart upon such nothings? But more, how could he love rebellious men who have wantonly and arrogantly broken his laws? Why should he love them so much as to give up his only begotten? These are things we freely speak of, but who among us knows what is their weight.; "God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." I believe that even in heaven, with enlarged faculties, it will be a subject of perpetual wonder to us that ever God could love and save us. And shall we not love the salvation which wells up from the deep fount of the Father's everlasting affection? O brethren, our hearts must be harder than adamant, and made of hell-hardened steel, if we can at once believe that we are saved and yet not love, intensely love the salvation which was devised by Jehovah's heart. We love his salvation, again, because, in addition to the display of wondrous love, it is so safe a salvation, so real, so true: we have not given heed to cunningly devised fables; we have not chanced our souls upon a fiction. We run no risk when we trust the Savior. Though one of our hymns puts it:— "Venture on Him, venture wholly, Let no other trust intrude." This is only a condescension to the feelings of trembling unbelievers, for there is no venture in it; it is sure and certain. Did God lay on Christ my sin? Was it really punished in him? Then there cannot exist a reason why I should be condemned, but there are ten thousand arguments why I should for ever be "accepted in the beloved." "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Substitution is a basis for intelligent confidence; it satisfies both the demand of the law and the fears of conscience; and gives to believers a deep, settled, substantial peace, which cannot be broken. We love this salvation because we feel that it places a foundation of granite beneath our feet instead of the quicksand of human merit. Justice being satisfied is as much our friend as even mercy herself; in fact, all the attributes unite to guarantee our safety. We love God's salvation, too, because it is so complete. Nothing remains unfinished which is necessary to remove sin from the believer and give him righteousness before God. As far as atonement for sin is concerned, the expiation is most gloriously complete. Remember that remarkable expression of the apostle, where he describes the priests as continually standing at the altar, offering sacrifice year by year, and even day by day, because atonement by such means could never be finished. Such sacrifices could never take away sin; therefore must they be perpetually offered, and the priest must always stand at the altar. "But," saith the apostle, "this man (our great Melchisedec), after he had offered one sacrifice for sin for ever, sat down (for the work was accomplished), sat down at the right hand of God." Jesus has performed what the Aaronic priesthood, in long succession, had failed to do. Though streams of blood might flow from bullock, and from goat, like Kishon's mighty river, and though incense might smoke till the pile thereof was high as Lebanon, with all her goodly cedars, what was there in all this to make propitiation for sin? The work was but shadowed, the real expiation was not offered; it was a fair picture, but the substance itself was not there. But, when our Divine Lord went up to Calvary, and on the cross gave up his body, his soul, his spirit, a sacrifice for sin, he finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness. Herein, my brethren, we have strong consolation, the immutable things wherein it is impossible for God to lie, his word and oath, are our immovable security. By the atonement we are infallibly, effectually, eternally saved, for he has become the "author of eternal salvation, unto all them that obey him." How we love this salvation! Our inmost heart rejoines in it! I rejoice to preach it, brethren, and I delight to muse upon it, appropriating it to myself by faith in solitary thought. How it makes the tears stream down one's cheeks with joy, to think "He loved me, and gave himself for me: he took my sins, and he destroyed them, they have ceased to be, they are annihilated, they are blotted out like a cloud, and like a thick cloud have they vanished." Surely, we should have lost sanity, as well as grace, if we did not love this salvation, beyond the choicest joys of earth. II. Thus I have described the character, and now, secondly, we will meditate on THE SAYING. Every nation has its idiom, every language has its shibboleth, almost every district has its proverb. Behold the idiom of gracious souls, listen to their household word, their common proverb,—it is this, "Let God be magnified! Let God be magnified!" Let us proceed at once to the consideration of it, I trust it belongs to us, it certainly does if we love his salvation. Observe that this is a saying which is founded upon truth and justice. "Let God be magnified," for it is he that saved us, and not we ourselves. We trace our salvation not to our ministers, nor to any pretentious priesthood. None can divide the honors of grace, for the Lord alone hath turned our captivity. He decreed our salvation, planned it, arranged it, executed it, applied it, and secures it. From beginning to end salvation is of the Lord, therefore, let God be magnified. Moreover, the Lord wrought salvation that he might be magnified thereby. It was God's object in salvation to glorify his own name. "Not for your sakes do I this, O house of Israel." Truly we desire that the Lord's end and purpose should be fully subserved, for it is his well-deserved due. O thou who hast bled upon the cross, may thy throne be glorious! O thou who wast despised and rejected of men, be thou extolled, and be thou very high. Thou deservest all glory, great and merciful God. Such a gift, such a sacrifice, such a work; thou oughtest indeed to be lauded and had in honor by all the intelligent universe. The saying is settled deep in truth, and established in right. This saying is naturally suggested by love. It is because we love his salvation that we say, "The Lord be magnified." You cannot love God without desiring to magnify him, and I am sure that you cannot know that you are saved without loving him. For here is a wonder, a central wonder of wonders to many of us, that ever we in particular were saved. I do not think I could be so wonder-struck and amazed at the salvation of you all as at my own. I should know it to be infinite mercy that saved any one of you, or all of you, I say I should know it, but in my own case I feel it is an unspeakable and inconceivably great mercy which has saved me; and I suppose each brother here, each sister here will feel a special love to Christ from the fact of being himself or herself an object of his love. We never sing, I am sure, with warmer hearts any hymn in our hymn-book than that one— "What was there in us that could merit esteem, Or give the Creator delight? Twas even so Father, we ever must sing, For so it seemed good in thy sight." The Lord might have left as he has left others to carry out their own wills, and wilfully to reject the Savior, but since he has made us willing in the day of his power, we are for ever beyond measure under obligations to him. Let us say continually, "The Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servants." Moreover, this saying of our text is deeply sincere and practical. I am sure David did not wish to see hypocrites multiplied; but such would be the case if men merely said, "Let God be magnified," and did not mean it. No doubt there is a great deal among professors of mere expression without meaning; it is sadly evident that much godly talk is only talk, but it ought not so to be. You know, how often charity is assumed, and men say to the naked and hungry, "Be ye warmed, and be ye filled;" but they give nothing to the poor, except vain words, which cannot profit them. So, too, often professors will sing:— "Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel, Win and conquer, never cease; May thy lasting wide dominion Multiply and still increase." and so on; but there it ends; they have said it, but they have done nothing for it. Now, as he is condemned as a hypocrite who merely utters words of charity without deeds, so is he who shall say, "Let God be magnified," but who does not put forth his hand and throw in all his energies to promote that which he professes to desire. The wish must be, and oh! if we are saved by grace, it will be sincere, intense, and fervent in every believing heart. Moreover, it must not only be sincere, but it must be paramount. I take it that there is nothing which a Christian man should say continually, except this, "Let God be magnified." That which a man may say continually is assuredly the master-thought of his mind. Listen to the cherubim and seraphim; they continually do cry, "Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Hosts!" Why cry they thus continually? Is it not because it is their chief business, their highest delight? So should it be with us; our end and aim should ever be to glorify him who redeemed us by his most precious blood. You are a citizen, but you are more a Christian. You are a father, but you are more a child of God. You are a laborer, but you are most of all a servant of the Most High. You are wealthy, but yet more enriched by his covenant. You are poor, but you are most emphatically rich if Christ is yours. The first, chief, leading, lordly, master-thought within you must be this, "Let God be magnified." And, brethren, the text tells us this must be continual. How earnest you feel about the cause of Christ when you have heard an inspiriting sermon, but how long does it last? Ah, those old days of mission enterprise, when Exeter Hall used to be crowded because missionaries had interesting stories to tell of what God was doing—what enthusiasm there used to be—where is it now? Where is it now? Echo might well answer "where is it now?" To a great degree it has departed. The zeal of many rises and falls like a barometer. They are hot as fire, and cold as ice, in the shortest space; their fervor is as transient as the flame of thorns, and hence it is very hard to turn it to any practical account. Oh, for more of the deep-seated principle of intense love to God's salvation, steady and abiding, which shall make a man say continually, "Let God be magnified." We would desire to wake up in the morning with this on our lips. We would begin with the enquiry, "What can I do to magnify God this day?" We would be in business in the middle of the day, and yet never lose the one desire to magnify God. We would return to our family at night, urged by the same impulse, "How can I magnify God in my household?" If I lie sick, I would feel that I must magnify God by patience; if I rise from that bed, I would feel the sweet obligation to magnify him by gratitude; if I take a prominent position, I am doubly bound to magnify him who makes me a leader to his dock, and, if I be unknown and obscure in the church, I must with equal zeal magnify him by a conscientious discharge of the duties of my position. Oh, to have one end always before us, and to press forward towards it, neither turning to the right hand nor to the left. As though we were balls shot out of a rifled cannon we would rush on, never hesitating or turning aside, but flying with all speed towards the center of the target. May our spirits be impelled by a divine energy towards this one only thing. The Lord be magnified! whether I live or die, may God be glorified in me! According to the text, this saying should be universal among the saints. It should be the mark of all those that love God's salvation, pertaining not to a few who shall be chosen to minister in public, but to all those whom grace has renewed. All of us, women as well as men, illiterate as well as learned, poor as well as rich, silent as well as eloquent, should after our own ability say, "Let God be magnified." Oh, would to God we were all stirred up to this! Our churches seem to be half alive. It is a dreadful thing to read of the punishment practiced by ancient tyrants when they tied a living man to a corpse, and he had to go about with this corpse strapped to him, and rotting under his nostrils, and yet that is too often the condition of the living ones in our churches: they are bound by ties of church union to a portion of the church which is spiritually dead, though not so manifestly corrupt as to render it possible for us to cut it off. The tares, which we may not root up, hamper and dwarf the wheat. O God, the Holy Ghost, make the church alive right through, from the crown of its head to the sole of its foot, so that the whole church may cry continually, "Let God be magnified." You will notice that the cry is an absolute one. It does not say, let God be magnified by me if he will please to make me successful in business, and happy, and healthy, but it leaves it open. Only let God be magnified, and he may do what he wills with me. As a poor soldier in the regiment of Christ, I only care for this that HE may win the day, and if I see him riding on his white horse and know that he is conquering, though I lie bleeding and wounded in a ditch, I will clap my hands and say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Though I be poor, and despised, and reproached, this shall compensate for all, if I can only hear that "him hath God highly exalted, and given him a name that is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." I would close my eyes in death, and say, my soul is satisfied with favor and hath all she wants if Jesus be exalted. Remember how David put it: when he had said "Let the whole earth be filled with his glory," he added, "Amen and amen. The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended." He desired no more than that; that was the ultimatum of his wishes. Beloved, I trust it is the same with us. Nor is there any limit as to place or persons. My heart says, "Let God be magnified among the Wesleyans! The Lord be magnified among the Independents! The Lord be magnified among the Episcopalians! The Lord be magnified among the Baptists!" We pray very earnestly, "Let God be magnified in the Tabernacle," but we would not forget to cry, "Let God be magnified in all parts of London, in all counties of England, and Scotland, and Ireland." We desire no restriction as to race—let God be magnified both in France and in Prussia; in Turkey and in Italy; in the United States and in Australia; among any and every people! So that God's name be magnified, what matters it how or where? We know no politics but this, "Let God be magnified." All nationalities sink before our relation to our God. Christians are cosmopolitan; we are burgesses of the New Jerusalem—there is our citizenship; we are freemen of the entire new creation. What is all else to God's glory! So long as the Lord is glorified, let the empires go and the emperors with them; let nations rise or fall, so long as he comes whose right it is to reign; let ancient dynasties pass away, if his throne is but exalted. We would never dictate to the God of history; let him write out as he pleases the stanzas of his own august poem, but let this always be the close of every verse, "The Lord be magnified! The Lord be magnified! The Lord be magnified!" This is the continual saying of all them that love his salvation. III. We had much to say under our second head, but time will not tarry for us; therefore we must proceed to the last, which is THE WISH. Holy David, and David's perfect Lord both wish that we may say, "Let God be magnified." This wish is promoted by an anxiety for God's glory; it is a most holy wish, and it ought to be fulfilled. I shall ask your attention only for a minute or two to the reasons of the wish. Why should it be wished? First, because it always ought to be said, "Let God be magnified." It is only right, and according to the fitness of things, that God should be magnified in the world which he himself created. Such a handiwork deserves admiration from all who behold it. But when he new-made the world, and especially when he laid the foundation of his new palace in the fair colors of Jesus' blood, and adorned it with the sapphires of grace and truth; he had a double claim upon our praise. He gave his Son to redeem us, and for this let his praise be great and endless. Things are out of joint if God the Redeemer be not glorified. Surely the wheels of nature revolve amiss, if God the loving and gracious be not greatly magnified. As every right-hearted man desires to see right and justice done, therefore does he wish that those who love God's salvation may say continually, "Let God be magnified." But, we wish it next, because it always needs saying. The world is dull and sleepy, and utterly indifferent to the glory of God in the work of redemption. We need to tell it over and over and over again, that God is great in the salvation of his people. There are many, Who will rise up and deny God's Glory; revilers of all sorts abound in rage; but over and above their clamor, let the voice of truth be heard, "Let God be magnified." They cry, "the Bible is worn out." They doubt its inspiration, they question the deity of Christ, they set up new gods that have lately come up, that our fathers knew not. Let us confront them with the truth, let us oppose them with the gospel, let us overcome them through the blood of the Lamb, using this one only war-cry, "Let God be magnified." Everywhere in answer to all blasphemy, in direct conflict with profanity, let us lift up this voice with heart and soul. "Let God be magnified." And, again, we desire this, because the saying of this continually does good to the sayers. He who blesses God blesses himself. We cannot serve God with the heart without serving ourselves most practically. Nothing, brethren, is more for your benefit than to spend and be spent for the promotion of the divine honor. Then, again, this promotes the welfare of God's creatures. We ought to desire to spread the knowledge of God, because the dark places of the earth will never cease to be the habitation of cruelty till they become the temple of the Lord of hosts. Myriads are dying, while we are sitting complacently here souls are passing into eternity unforgiven. The wrath of God is abiding still upon the sons of men, for they know not Christ. What stronger motive could there be for desiring that God's name should continually be magnified. I have been told, and I believe it is the general impression, that at this particular time there is a great cessation of the zealous spirit which once ruled among Christians. We have passed over the heroic age, the golden period of missions, and we have come to the time in which the church rests upon her oars, takes matters quietly, what if I say regards them hopelessly? Very few young men are now coming forward, at least in our denomination, to offer themselves for missionaries; the funds are barely sustained and nothing more. I fear there is among those who conduct the affairs of missions too little of faith, and too much of bastard prudence, which last had better be banished to the bottomless pit at once, for it has long been the clog upon the chariot wheels of the gospel. Faith is too much cast into the background, and the work is viewed in a mercantile light, as though it were a rule of three sum—so much money and so many men, and then so many conversions, whereas it is not so. God worketh not according to arithmetical rules and calculations. There is, I fear, on the whole, a general backsliding from the right state; and what a sad thing it is that it should be so, since at our best we were never too zealous. Few can bring the charge of fanaticism against the English Baptists: we have been too solid, if not stolid, for that. I almost wish it were possible for us to err in that direction, for if an evil it would at any rate be a novelty, if not an improvement. Why is this, and whence comes it? Years ago our fathers compassed this Jericho, they passed round it according to the Master's bidding, and are we about, after having done the same these many years, to relinquish the task, and lose the result? Do we fear that the walls will never fall to the ground? Brethren, I believe it is the duty of the Christian church to go on working quite as earnestly and zealously and believingly, if there be no conversions, as if half the world were transformed in a twelve month. Our business is not to create a harvest but to sow the seed; if the wheat does not come up, if we have sown it aright, our Master does not hold us responsible. If missions had been an utter failure it would be no sort of reason why we should give them up. There was a great failure when the hosts of Israel, on the first occasion, went round Jericho; a dreadful failure when they marched round the city twice, and the walls shook not; it was an aggravated failure when they had compassed it four times; it was a most discouraging defeat when they had tramped round it five times; and, on the whole, a breakdown, almost enough to drive them to despair, when they had performed the circuit six times and not a single brick had stirred in the wall. Yes; but then the seventh day made amends, when the people shouted and all the walls fell flat to the ground. Brethren, it is not yet time to shout, but we must continue marching and say, "Let God be magnified." The longer the walls stand, and the longer we wait, the louder will be our shout when they lie prostrate before us, as they shall; for, "Verily, verily, I say unto you there shall not be one stone left upon another that shall not be cast down." Remember the Greeks when they attacked old Troy: ye have the record in ancient story. They waited many years till their ships had well nigh rotted on the seas, but the prowess of Hector and the armed men of Troy kept back the "King of men," and all the hosts of the avengers. Suppose that after nine years had dragged along their weary length, the chiefs of the Greeks had said, "It is of no avail, the city is impregnable! O Pelasgi, back to your fair lands washed by the blue Aegean, you will never subdue the valor of Ilium." No.; but they persevered in the weary siege, with feats of strength and schemes of art, till at last they saw the city burned and heard the dire lament: "Troy was, but is no more" Let us still continue to attack the adversary. We are few, but strength lies not in numbers. The Eternal One has used the few where he has put aside the many. In our weakness lies part of our adaptation to the divine work; only let us gather up fresh faith, and renew our courage and industry, and we shall see greater things than these. "Pshaw," says one, "Protestant Christianity is in a miserable minority, it is ridiculous to suppose it will ever be the dominant religion of the world." We reply, that it is ridiculous, nay blasphemous, to doubt when God has sworn with an oath that "all flesh shall see the salvation of God." God's oath is better evidence than appearances; for, in a moment, if he wills it, he can give such an impetus to the Christian church, that she shall in her enthusiasm spread the gospel, and at the same time he can give such a turn to the human mind, that it shall be as ready to accept the gospel as the church is to spread it. Observe how the church grew during the first few centuries. After the apostles had died you do not find in the next century the name of any very remarkable man, but all Christians then were earnest, and the good cause advanced. They were mostly poor, they were generally illiterate, but they were all missionaries, they were all seeking to glorify God, and, consequently, before long, down went Jupiter, Saturn lost his throne, even Venus was abjured, and the cross, at least nominally, became supreme throughout all Europe. It shall be done again. In the name of the Eternal, let us set up our banners. Oh, ye that love the Lord and his salvation, vow it in your souls, determine it in your hearts, and, God the Holy Spirit being with you, if you have but faith in him, it will be no empty boast, no vain vaunting. God shall speak and it shall be done. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge; and such being the case, nothing is impossible to us. May the Lord stir us up with these thoughts, and fling us like firebrands into the midst of his church and the world, to set both on a blaze with love through the love that burns in our hearts. "Let God be magnified." Amen and Amen. Two Sermons The Plea of Faith 2 Samuel 7:25 Pleading Psalms 70:5 The Plea of Faith June 22, 1856 by C. H. (1834-1892) "Do as thou hast said.'— 2 Samuel 7:25 . Nathan had been giving to David, on God's behalf, sundry exceeding great and precious promises. David expresses his gratitude to God for having so promised, and he says, "Now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.' It is a prayer to God. Those words naturally flowed from his lips: after hearing such precious promises, he was anxious for their fulfilment. Such words will be equally in place, if they shall be adopted by us in these modern times, and if, after reading a promise, on turning to God's Word, we should finish by saying, "Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope," it will be a practical application of the text, "Do as thou hast said." I shall not commence my sermon to-night by endeavoring to prove that this Bible is what God has said; I do not come here to give you arguments to prove the inspiration of Scripture; I assume that I speak to a Christian congregation, and I assume, therefore, at starting, that this is God's word and none other. Leaving that matter, then, altogether, permit me to proceed at once to the text, understanding by what God has said, the Scriptures of his truth; and I trust there are some here who will be led, to-night, to cry to God in behalf of some promise made to their souls, "O Lord, do as thou hast said." I. Our first remark shall be HOW IT IS TO KNOW WHAT GOD HAS SAID, for unless we know what God has said, it will be folly to say, " do as thou hast said." Perhaps there is no book more neglected in these days than the Bible. I do verily believe there are more mouldy Bibles in this world than there are of any sort of neglected books. We have stillborn books in abundance; we have innumerable books which never see any circulation except the circulation of the butter shop, but we have no book that is so much bought, and then so speedily laid aside, and so little used, ad the Bible. If we buy a newspaper, it is generally handed from one person to another, or we take care to peruse it pretty well; indeed some go so far as to read advertisements and all. If a person purchases a novel, it is well known how he will sit and read it all the way through, till the midnight candle is burnt out; the book must be finished in one day, because it is so admirable and interesting; but the Bible, of course, in the estimation of many, is not an interesting book; and the subjects it treats of are not of any very great importance. So most men think; they think it is a very good book to carry out on a Sunday, but never meant to be used as a book of pleasure, or a book to which one could turn with delight. Such is the opinion of many; but no opinion can be more apart from the truth; for what book can treat of truths one-half so important as those that concern the soul. What book can so well deserve my attention as that which is written by the greatest of all authors, God himself? If I must read a valuable book with attention, how much more ought I to give my mind to the study of that book which is invaluable, and which contains truth without the slightest admixture of error? And if books upon my health, or books which only concern the doings of my fellow creatures occupy some of my time, and deservedly so, how much more time should I spend in reading that which concerns my everlasting destiny; which reveals to me worlds hitherto unknown; which tells me how I may escape from hell and fly to heaven? But I must remark, that even among Christian people, the Bible is one of the least read books that they have in their house. What with our innumerable magazines, our religious newspapers, and our perpetual controversies about the Bible, it is too seldom that people read the Bible. There certainly is not that reading of it that there used to be. Our predecessors, the ancient Puritans, would scarcely read any book but that; and if a book was not concerning the Bible, they did not care about reading it at all. Perhaps therein they may have been too strait and narrow, and may somewhat have cramped their minds; but I would rather have a little truth, and have a mind filled with that, though that mind should only be as large as a nutshell, than have the most gigantic intellect, and have that crammed with error. It is not the greatness of our intellect, it is the rightness of it, that makes us men in this world, and right men before God. I beseech you, therefore, you who are members of Christian churches, if you have but little time, do not expend it in reading ephemeral books, but take your Bible and read it constantly; and I promise you one thing, that if you are already Christians, the more you read the Bible the more you will love it. You may find it hard, perhaps, at present, to read a short passage and meditate upon it all day; but as you proceed you will see such depths unfathomable, such heights beyond your ken; and you will discover such unutterable sweetness in this precious honey-comb dropping with drops of honey, that you will say, "I must have more of it," and your spirit will always cry, "Give, give;" nor will it be content until you can have God's statutes upon your mind daily, to be your songs in the house of your pilgrimage. The errors of this present age have sprung from a non-reading of the Bible . Do you think, my brethren, that if we all read the Scriptures with judgment, and desired to know them rightly, there would be so many sects as there are? Heresies and schisms have sprung from this; one man has gone a little astray upon a point; another man, without referring to Scripture, has endorsed all he has said; another one has added something else to it; and then another one, being cunning, full of subtlety of the devil, has twisted passages of Scripture, and has woven them into a system, which has been fashioned in the first place by mistake, has accumulated and become more colossal by sundry other mistakes which naturally accrued to it, and at last has been perfected by the craft of designing heretics. And, again: bigotry, ill feeling, and uncharitableness, must all be traced, in a large degree, to our want of reading the Bible . What is the reason why yon man hates me, because I preach what I believe to be right? If I do speak the truth am I responsible for his hating me? Not in the least degree. I am sometimes told by my people that I attack certain parties very hard. Well, I cannot help it; if they are not right, it is not my fault—if they come in my way, that I am compelled to run over them. Suppose two of you should be driving in the road to-morrow, and one of you should be on the right side of the road, and some accident should occur, you would say, "Sir, the other man ought to have pulled up, he must pay the damages, for he had no business there at all on his wrong side." And it will be the same with us if we preach God's truth; we must go straight on; if the greatest ill-feeling in the world rise up we have nothing to do with it. God's truth will sometimes bring about warfare; Jesus Christ, you know, said himself that he came to put warfare between man and man; to set the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against mother-in-law; and that a man's foes should be those of his own household. But if there be ill-feeling, if there be clamouring of sects, to whom is it due? Who is responsible for it? Why, the man who makes the new sects, not the man who abides fast and firm by the old one. If I am safely moored by a good strong anchor of fundamental truth, and some other shall strike my vessel and sink himself, I will not pay the damages. I stand firm: if others chose to go away from the truth, to cut their cables and slip their moorings; then let them. God grant that we may not do the same. Hold the truth, my friends, and hold it as the easiest method of sweeping away heresies and false doctrines. But now-a-days, you know, you are told, "Oh, it does not matter what you believe; doctrines are nothing;" ad they have tried lately to make a very happy family of us, like the happy family near Waterloo Bridge, where all kinds of creatures are shut up together; but they are only kept in order by a lath which the man, when we turn our heads, applies between the bars of the cage. Just so with denominations; they want to amalgamate us all. We differ in various doctrines, and therefore some of us must be wrong, if we hold doctrines which are directly hostile to each other. But we are told, "It does not signify; doubtless, you are all right." Now, I cannot see that. If I say one thing, and another man says another, how, by all that is holy, can both speak the truth? Shall black and white be the same colour? Shall falsehood and truth be the same? When they shall be, and fire shall sleep in the same cradle with the waves of the ocean, then shall we agree to amalgamate ourselves with those who deny our doctrines, or speak evil of what we believe to be the gospel. My brethren, no man has any right to absolve your judgment from allegiance to God; there is liberty of conscience between man and man, but there is none between God and man. No man has a right to believe what he likes; he is to believe what God tells him; and if he does not believe that though he is not responsible to man, or to any set of men, or to any government, yet mark you, he is responsible to God. I beseech you, therefore, if you would avoid heresies, and bring the church to a glorious union, read the Scriptures. Read not so much man's comments, or man's books, but read the Scriptures, and keep your faith on this,—"God has said it." If you cannot make all God's truths agree, yet remember God has not made two sets of truth opposite to each other; that were an impossibility which even God himself could not accomplish mighty though he be. My brethren, always stand by what God has said, and do not be turned aside from it by all the arguments that can be brought to bear against you. "Search the Scriptures, for they testify of Christ." II. And now for our second point, ALL THAT FAITH WANTS TO BUILD UPON IS WHAT GOD HAS SAID. "Do as thou hast said." The only solid foothold that faith has is, " It is written , God hath said it." When a sinner comes to God he must have nothing else to rely upon except this, "Do as thou hast said." There is a tendency in most men's minds to bring before God something which he did not say. Many of you, I dare say, will go and ask God in prayer for something for which you cannot prove a positive promise that he will ever give it to you. You go to God and say, "Lord, do as John Bunyan said, do as Whitfield said, let me have an experience like theirs." Now, that is all wrong. We must, when we come to God, say only, "Lord, do as thou hast said." And then, again, I do believe that many of those who are members of our churches have not put their faith simply in what God has said. If I were to go round to some of you and ask you why you believe yourselves to be Christians, it is marvellous what strange reasons many of you would bring. It is very singular what strange views persons often have as to the way of salvation. It is hard to bring a sinner to God simply with this,—"Lord, do as thou hast said." I know some who think themselves to be God's children, because they dreamed they were. They had a very remarkable dream one night, and if you were to laugh at them they would be unutterably indignant; they would cut you at once out of the family of God, and call you an "accuser of the brethren." They do not rely upon what God has said in the Bible; but they had some singular vision, when deep sleep had fallen upon them, and because of that vision, they reckon they are children of God. In the course of my seeing persons who come to me, I hear every now and then a story like this, "Sir, I was in such-and-such a room, and suddenly I thought I saw Jesus Christ, and heard a voice saying such-and-such a thing to me, and that is the reason why I hope I am saved." Now, that is not God's way of salvation; the sinner is not to say, "Lord, do as I dreamed, do as I fancy;" but "Do as thou hast said." And if I have any one here who has never had a dream, or vision, he does not want to have, if he goes to God with this, "Lord, thou hast said Christ died to save sinners, I am a sinner, save me," that is faith, "Do as thou hast said." But there are other persons far more rational, who if they were asked the reason for their supposing that they are saved, would speak of some remarkable rhapsody which, on a particular occasion they had when hearing a certain minister; or of a particular text which struck them suddenly, and transported them to the seventh heaven, and they had such thoughts as they never had before. "Oh! sir," they say, "it is marvellous, I thought my heart would break, it was so full of joy and gladness; I never felt so before in all my life; and when I went out of the house, I felt so light and so ready to run home, I thought I should sing al the way; so I know I must be a child of God." Well, you may know it, but I don't, because there are many persons who have been deluded by the devil in that fashion, who never had faith in Christ. Faith in Christ never rests in rhapsody; it rests on a "thou hast said it." Ask faith whether it will ever take its standing on anything but a "thou hast said," and faith will answer, "No; I cannot climb to heaven on a ladder made of dreams, they are too flimsy to bear my feet." Faith, why dost thou not march on? Why dost thou not cross that bridge? "No," says faith, "I cannot; it is made up of rhapsodies, and rhapsodies are intoxicating things, and I cannot place my feet upon them." Faith will stand on a promise, though it be no bigger than grain of mustard seed; but it could not stand on a rhapsody if it was as large as the everlasting mountains. Faith can build on a "thou hast said it;" but it cannot build on frames and feelings, on dreams and experiences—it only relies on this—"Thou hast said it." Let me caution my hearers against suppositions, which some of them have as to salvation. Some persons think that the Holy Spirit is a kind of electric shock working in the heart; that there is some mysterious and terrible thing they cannot understand, which they must feel, not only very different from what they ever felt before, but even superior to anything described in God's Word. Now, I beg to tell you, that so far from the effectual operation of the Holy Spirit being a dark thing in its manifestation, it is, because it is the Holy Spirit, a thing of simplicity and light. The way of salvation is no great mystery, it is very plain; it is "believe and live." And faith needs no mysteries to hang itself upon; it catches hold of the bare naked promise, and it says, "Lord, do as thou hast said." My faith can on this promise live; I know that on this promise it never can die. But faith wants neither testimonies of man, nor learning of philosophers, nor eloquence of orators, nor rhapsodies, nor visions, nor revelations. It wants nothing else but what God has said applied to the heart; and it goes to God, and says, "Lord, do as thou hast said." III. And now for the third remark. We see that faith is a very bold thing; when God says a thing it goes to God, and says, "Lord, do as thou hast said." My third remark is, that FAITH IS QUITE RIGHT IN SO DOING. The Lord always meant, when he said a thing, that we should remind him of it. God's promises were never meant to be waste paper; he meant that they should be used. Whenever God gives a promise, if a man does not use that promise, the promise fails in effect to that man, and God's great intention therein is in some measure frustrated. God sent the promise on purpose to be used. If I see a Bank of England note, it is a promise for a certain amount of money, and I take it and use it. But oh! my friend, do try and use God's promises; nothing pleases God better than to see his promises put in circulation; he loves to see his children bring them up to him, and say, "Lord, do as thou hast said." And let me tell you that it glorifies God to use his promises. Do you think that God will be any the poorer for giving you the riches he has promised? Do you think he will be any the less holy for giving holiness to you? Do you think he will be any the less pure for washing you from your sins? And he has said, "Come now, let us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool; though they be red, they shall be whiter than snow." Faith gets hold of that promise, and it does not stand saying, "this is a precious promise, I will look at it;" it goes right up to the throne, and says, "Lord, here is the promise, do as thou hast said." And God says, "Oh! faith, I am as glad to see the promise brought to me, as thou art to bring it; I meant my promise to be used, and the using of it glorifies me." Why, if any one gave us a cheque, and we did not go to have it cashed, though we might want the money badly enough, suppose we said, "I don't like to go," there would be some slur cast upon the character of the man whose signature had made it valid. And so when a Christian gets a promise, if he does not take it to God, he dishonors him. But when faith in all its raggedness and poverty, and sickness about it, goes to God and says, "Lord, I have nothing to recommend me but this, 'thou hast said it:' there is the promise, Lord, give me the fulfilment." God smiles, and says, "Ay, my child, I love to see thee trust me; there, take back the fulfilment, and go on thy way rejoicing." Never think that God will be troubled by your asking him about his promises so much. God likes to be troubled, if I may use such an expression; he likes you to go to his door, and say, "Great Banker, cash this note; great Promiser, fulfil this promise; great covenant God, fulfil thy covenant, and send me not empty away." "Do as thou hast said," is a legitimate request; we ought to say it; it honors God, and God meant that we should so use his promises, "Do as thou hast said." Another remark. Faith has very good reasons for appealing to God to do as he has said . If you should say to faith, "Faith, why do you expect God to do as he has said it, why do you expect it?" Faith would answer, "I have a whole bundle of reasons that justify the act. And in the first place, I have a right to expect him to do as he has said, because he is a true God; I know he cannot lie. He has said he will give me such-and-such a thing; if he was not a truthful God, I would not say, 'do as thou hast said!' but since he is a true God, and never was known to break his promise, and since, moreover, by two immutable things, wherein it is impossible for God to lie—his oath and his promise—he has made the thing secure; and since I know that in Christ all the promises are yea and amen, I think I have good reason enough for going to him and saying, 'do as thou hast said.' If he were some fallible being who promised and would not perform, I might hesitate somewhat; but since he is always true and constantly precious, I will go and say to him, 'Lord, do as thou hast said.'" Poor sinner! God has said, "He that confesseth his sin shall find mercy." Now, if you go to God, you want no other plea than this,—"Lord, do as thou hast said;' 'I have confessed my sins;' 'do as thou hast said.'" "But, sinner, why should I do as I have said? you do not deserve it." "Lord, thou art a true God." "Thou hast promised to forgive, All who on thy Son believe; Lord I know thou canst not lie, Give me Christ or else I die." Go, poor sinner, tell the Lord that, and as truly as he is God, he will never send you empty away. Faith has good reasons to feel that God is true, and therefore he will do as he has said. And not only so, but he is able to do it; his ability is infinite. His intentions also are the same , his promises never get worn out by being circulated, and they become all the more sure for being tried. Poor sinner, here again is a joyful thought: thou canst go to God, and say, "Lord thou hast promised to wash away all our iniquities, and cast them into the depths of the sea. Lord, if thou hadst been a changeable God, I might have thought thou wouldst not wash away mine, but thou didst wash Manasseh, and thou didst wash Paul; now, Lord, because thou art unchangeable, 'do as thou hast said.' For thou art just the same now, just as merciful, just as powerful, and just as kind as ever thou wert. What, wilt thou break thy promise, Lord? 'Do as thou hast said.'" But faith puts it on stronger ground than this: it says, "Lord, if thou dost not do as thou hast said, thou wilt be dishonored, thou wilt be disgraced." If a man does not carry out his promise, he is cashiered; men care not to associate with on who breaks his promise; and what would become of God's great name if he were to break his promise? Poor black sinner! thou art coming to the fountain; God has given the promise that he will wash every sinner that comes to the fountain. Now, with reverence, let me speak it poor sinner; if Christ did not wash you, it would be a dishonor to his truth. If you were to go to Christ, and he were to cast you out, surely the devils in hell would despise the name of him who breaks his promise. Beloved, to suppose that God could violate his promise, is to suppose him divested of his Godhead. Take away God's honour from him, and he becomes less than man. Take away the honour which even man holds dear, and what do you make of God? "Oh! sir," you say, "but I do not deserve it; I am such a poor worthless creature, he will not keep his promise to me." I tell you that does not make a whit difference in God's promise; if he has promised, he is divinely bound to perform his promise, in whatever state you may be. Though you have slandered God, though you may have hated him and despised him, and run away from him, and in every way ill-treated him—if he has made a promise to you here, I will be bound for my God. He would keep a promise to the devil if he had made one; and if he has made a promise to you who are ever so vile, he will keep that promise to you. Hear the promise, then, once more, Are you a sinner? "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinner, even the chief." And, again: "He is able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him." And, again: "Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And let me say again, with the profoundest reverence, that if Christ did not give rest to every weary heavy laden sinner that came to him, he would be un-Christed, he would lose his truthfulness, he would be undeified, he would lose his veracity, and the loss of one poor believing sinner would be the loss of God's own godhead; it would be the dethroning of the immortal; it would be the pulling down of heaven, the breaking asunder of the universe, and the dissolution of creation's own earth, and of creation's self. Faith may well go to God, and say, "Lord, do as thou hast said; for if thou dost not, it will be a dishonor to thyself." And now let us conclude by asking, what has God said ? I cannot tell you all that he has said to you, because I cannot mark out all the different characters here. But, my dear friends, whatever may be your character, from the earliest stage of religion up to the last, there is always some special promise to you; and you have only to turn your Bible over and find it out, and then go to God with "Do as thou hast said." Let me just select a few characters. There is one here, exceeding faint in the ways of the Lord. "Oh!" he says, "I am faint, though I hope I am pursuing." Now, here is the promise,—"He giveth power unto the faint;" When you get such a promise, stick hard and fast to it; do not let the devil cheat you out of it, but keep on saying, "Lord, thou hast said, He giveth power unto the faint." "Do as thou hast said." Let it ring and ring again in the ears of the promiser, and he will be a performer yet. "Ah!" says another, "I am not faint; I am afraid I scarcely have life at all; I am a hungry and thirsty soul; I want Christ, but I cannot get at him." Hear this: "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Take that promise to God, and keep to it: do not plead anything else, but go to God over and over again with this,—"Lord, thou hast said it; do as thou hast said." Are you covered all over with sin, and under a deep sense of your iniquities? Go and tell him this: "Thou hast said, 'I will cast their iniquities into the depths of the sea.' Lord, I know I have these sins; I do not deny it; but thou hast said, 'I will pardon them.' I have no reason why thou shouldst pardon them; I cannot promise that I shall be better; but, Lord, thou hast said it, and that is enough; 'Do as thou hast said.'" Another one here is afraid lest he should not be able to hold on to the end, and lest after having been a child of God he should be a cast-away. Then, if that be thy state, go and take this to God: "The mountains may depart, and the hills may be removed, but the covenant of my love shall not depart from you;" and when you are thinking that Saviour is going away, catch hold of his skirts, and say, "Jesus, do as thou hast said. Thou hast said, 'I will never leave thee;' 'do as thou hast said.'" Or, if thou hast lost his presence, remember the promise, "I will come again to you." Go and say, "Lord, I have lost the sweet comfort of thy presence in my heart, but thou hast said, 'I will come again to you.'" And if Satan says, "He is gone away, and will never come back again," tell Satan he has nothing to do with it; God has said it, and keep to this, "Do as thou hast said." If you do that, you will want no other argument and no other reason. Let us suppose a case, and having tried to illustrate the truth by it, we will have done. There is a desperate ruffian; he has been concerned in twenty burglaries; it is said he has committed several murders; the police are on his track, they are hunting after him; he cannot be discovered. The principal point is to discover him, for it is hoped that by his discovery and his pardon more good might be done than even by his execution. Persons come to this desperately bad fellow, and they tell him, "If you give yourself up, I dare say you will get a free pardon." "I do not give myself up on daresays," he says. Another comes, and says, "If you were to give yourself up, I would intercede for you; I know my lord so-and-so, and such a man, member of parliament, would intercede for you." "No," he would say, "let well alone. I am pretty safe now; I am not going to give myself up on the mere speculation that some one will intercede for me." But by-and-bye there comes out a huge placard, "V.R. Free pardon to such a man if he surrenders himself." He walks straight up to the place. Some one says to him, "Stop, my dear fellow; they will hang you, perhaps." "No," says he, "they won't." Some one says, "They have been many years looking after you; you do not think that if you get into the fangs of the law now the Queen will pardon you?" "Yes," he says, "I can trust her? she has never given a free pardon, and then executed anyone." He goes to the office, and they say, "We are astonished to see this fellow; he might have kept away; he had no necessity to give himself up." "See," says one, "there is a policeman, are you not afraid? There are the handcuffs; are you not afraid that they will be put on your wrists and that you will be put into jail?" "No," he says, "I will walk all through the prison, but there is not a cell in which I may be locked up. The Queen has said she will pardon me, and I do not want any thing else." "But look at your conduct; you know you deserve to be hanged." "I know I do, but I have received a free pardon, and I will surrender myself." "But who can tell how many buglaries you will commit if you are allowed to go free." "Never mind," she has promised to pardon me, and I know well that her word will not be violated. Sure the majesty of England will not lie against such an offender as I am." Now, you would not wonder at that, would you? It would be no very marvellous thing, because we can trust her Majesty pretty fairly. But it is the hardest thing to get sinners to come to God. "No," says one, "I have been a drunkard, God will not forgive me." My dear fellow, it is said, "All manner of sin and iniquity shall be forgiven to man." "Oh," says another, "I have been a swearer, I have been an infidel, I have blasphemed God, and broken all his statutes." My dear fellow-creature, it is said, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men," Cannot you believe it? God means what he says; and can you not come to God, trembling, though you be, and cast yourself before his feet, and say, "Lord, if thou dost damn me, I deserve it; if thou shouldst cast me down to hell, I know thou wouldst be just: but then Lord thou hast said, 'Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.'" I tell you God will do as he has said. If you have but faith to believe that promise, you never need fear. Worthless, vilest of the vile, sweepings of the universe, the very offal of creation, if you come to God he will take you in, for his promise is not to be broken by reason of your vileness; he will receive you, if you can but plead a promise of your own case, and say to him, "Do as thou hast said." Now, then, I will say in conclusion, it will be easy enough for every poor sinner, for every penitent sinner, for every weak saint, to go home, and turn his Bible over; and by a little diligence he will be able to find out a promise that will exactly suit his case; and if he does not find such a promise, it will be because he did not look long enough, for there is one that just fits, and when he has got hold of it let him go to God, and say, "Lord, do as thou hast said," and let him keep to that; and the heavens would sooner fall than one of God's promises should be broken. Oh! trust my Master! oh! trust my Master; trust your souls to him! trust your bodies to him, I beseech you; do it, for his own name's sake! Amen and Amen. Pleading October 29th, 1871 by C. H. (1834-1892) "But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: Thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying."— Psalms 70:5 Young painters were anxious, in olden times, to study under the great masters. They concluded that they should more easily attain to excellence if they entered the schools of eminent men. Men have paid large premiums that their sons may be apprenticed or articled to those who best understood their trades or professions; now, if any of us would learn the sacred art and mystery of prayer, it is well for us to study the productions of the greatest masters of that science. I am unable to point out one who understood it better than did the psalmist David. So well did he know how to praise, that his psalms have become the language of good men in all ages; and so well did he understand how to pray, that if we catch his spirit, and follow his mode of prayer, we shall have learned to plead with God after the most prevalent sort. Place before you, first of all, David's Son and David's Lord, that most mighty of all intercessors, and, next to Him, you shall find David to be one of the most admirable models for your imitation. We shall consider our text, then, as one of the productions of a great master in spiritual matters, and we will study it, praying all the while that God will help us to pray after the like fashion. In our text we have the soul of a successful pleader under four aspects: we view, first, the soul confessing: "I am poor and needy." You have next, the soul pleading, for he makes a plea out of his poor condition, and adds, "Make haste unto me, O God!" You see, thirdly, a soul in it's urgency, for he cries, "Make haste," and he varies the expression but keeps the same idea: "Make no tarrying." And you have in the fourth and last view, a soul grasping God, for the psalmist puts it thus: "Thou art my help and my deliverer"; thus with both hands he lays hold upon His God, so as not to let Him go till a blessing is obtained. I. To begin with, then, we see in this model of supplication, A SOUL . The wrestler strips before he enters upon the contest, and confession does the like for the man who is about to plead with God. A racer on the plains of prayer cannot hope to win, unless, by confession, repentance, and faith, he lays aside every weight of sin. Now, let it be ever remembered that confession is absolutely needful to the sinner when he first seeks a Saviour. It is not possible for thee, O seeker, to obtain peace for thy troubled heart, till thou shalt have acknowledged thy transgression and thine iniquity before the Lord. Thou mayest do what thou wilt, ay, even attempt to believe in Jesus, but thou shalt find that the faith of God's elect is not in thee, unless thou art willing to make a full confession of thy transgression, and lay bare thy heart before God. We do not usually think of giving charity to those who do not acknowledge that they need it: the physician does not send his medicine to those who are not sick. The blind man in the gospels had to feel his blindness, and to sit by the wayside begging; if he had entertained a doubt as to whether he were blind of not, the Lord would have passed him by. He opens the eyes of those who confess their blindness, but of others, He says, "Because ye say we see, therefore, your sin remaineth." He asks of those who are brought to Him, "What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" in order that their need may be publicly avowed. It must be so with all of us: we must offer the confession, or we cannot gain the benediction. Let me speak especially to you who desire to find peace with God, and salvation through the precious blood: you will do well to make your confession before God very frank, very sincere, very explicit. Surely you have nothing to hide, for there is nothing that you can hide. He knows your guilt already, but He would have you know it, and therefore He bids you confess it. Go into the details of your sin in your secret acknowledgments before God; strip yourself of all excuses, make no apologies; say, "Against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." Acknowledge the evil of sin, ask God to make you feel it; do not treat it as a trifle, for it is none. To redeem the sinner from the effect of sin Christ Himself must needs die, and unless you be delivered from it you must die eternally. Therefore, play not with sin; do not confess it as though it were some venial fault, which would not have been noticed unless God had been too severe; but labour to see sin as God sees it, as an offence against all that is good, a rebellion against all that is kind; see it to be treason, to be ingratitude, or be a mean and base thing. Do not think that you can improve your condition before God by painting your case in brighter colours than it should be. Blacken it: if it were possible blacken it, but it is not possible. When you feel your sin most you have not half felt it; when you confess it most fully you do not know a tithe of it; but oh, to the utmost of your ability make a clean breast of it, and say, "I have sinned against heaven, and before thee." Acknowledge the sins of your youth and your manhood, the sins of your body and of your soul, the sins of omission and of commission, sins against the law and offenses against the gospel; acknowledge all; neither for a moment seek to deny one portion of the evil with which God's law, your own conscience, and his Holy Spirit justly charge you. And oh, soul, if thou wouldst get peace and approval with God in prayer, confess the ill desert of thy sin. Submit thyself to do whatever divine justice may sentence thee to endure: confess that the deepest hell is thy desert, and confess this not with thy lips only, but with thy soul. Let this be the doleful ditty of thine inmost heart— "Should sudden vengeance seize my breath, I must pronounce thee just in death And, if my soul were sent to hell, Thy righteous law approves it well." If thou wilt condemn thyself, God will acquit thee; if thou wilt put the rope about thy neck, and sentence thyself, then he who otherwise would have sentenced thee will say, "I forgive thee, through the merit of my son." But never expect that the King of heaven will pardon a traitor, if he will not confess and forsake his treason. Even the tenderest father expects that the child should humble himself when he has offended, and will not withdraw his frown from him till with tears he has said, "Father, I have sinned." Darest thou expect God to humble Himself to thee, and would it not be so if He did not constrain thee to humble thyself to Him? Wouldst thou have Him connive at thy faults and wink at thy transgressions? He will have mercy, but He must be holy. He is ready to forgive, but not to tolerate sin; and, therefore, He cannot let thee be forgiven if thou huggest thy sins, or if thou presumest to say, "I have not sinned." Hasten, then, O seeker, hasten I pray thee, to the mercy seat with this upon thy lips: "I am poor and needy, I am sinful, I am lost; have pity on me." With such an acknowledgment thou beginnest thy prayer well, and through Jesus thou shalt prosper in it. Beloved hearers, the same principle applies to the church of God. We are praying for a display of the Holy Spirit's power in this church, and, in order to successful pleading in this matter, it is necessary that we should unanimously make the confession of our text, "I am poor and needy." We must own that we are powerless in this business. Salvation is of the Lord and we cannot save a single soul. The Spirit of God is treasured up in Christ, and we must seek Him of the great head of the church. We cannot command the Spirit, and yet we can do nothing without Him. He bloweth where He listeth. We must deeply feel and honestly acknowledge this. Will you not heartily assent to it my brethren and sisters at this hour. May I not ask you unanimously to renew the confession this morning? We must also acknowledge that we are not worthy that the Holy Spirit should condescend to work with us and by us. There is no fitness in us for his purposes, except he shall give us that fitness. Our sins might well provoke him to leave us: he has striven with us, he has been tender towards us, but he might well go away and say, "I will no more shine upon that church, and no more bless that ministry." Let us feel our unworthiness, it will be a good preparation for earnest prayer; for mark you, brethren, God will have His church before He blesses it know that the blessing is altogether from Himself. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord." The career of Gideon was a very remarkable one, and it commenced with two most instructive signs. I think our heavenly Father would have all of us learn the very same lesson which He taught to Gideon, and when we have mastered that lesson, He will use us for His own purposes. You remember Gideon laid a fleece upon the barn floor, and in the morning all round was dry and the fleece alone was wet. God alone had saturated the fleece so that he could wring it out, and its moisture was not due to its being placed in a favourable situation, for all around was dry. He would have us learn, that, if the dew of His grace fills any one of us with its heavenly moisture, it is not because we lie upon the barn-floor of a ministry which God usually blesses, or because we are in a church which the Lord graciously visits; but we must be made to see that the visitations of His Spirit are fruits of the Lord's sovereign grace, and gifts of His infinite love, and not of the will of man, neither by man. But then the miracle was reversed, for, as old Thomas Fuller says, "God's miracles will bear to be turned inside out and look as glorious one way as another." The next night the fleece was dry and all around was wet. For sceptics might have said, "Yes, but a fleece would naturally attract moisture, and if there were any in the air, it would be likely to be absorbed by the wool." But, lo, on this occasion, the dew is not where it might be expected to be, even though it lies thickly all around. Damp is the stone and dry is the fleece. So God will have us know that He does not give us His grace because of any natural adaptation in us to receive it, and even where He has given a preparedness of heart to receive, He will have us understand that His grace and His Spirit are most free in action, and sovereign in operation: and that He is not bound to work after any rule of our making. If the fleece be wet He bedews it, and that not because it is a fleece, but because He chooses to do so. He will have all the glory of all His grace from first to last. Come then, my brethren, and become disciples to this truth. Consider that from the great Father of lights every good and perfect gift must come. We are His workmanship, he must work all our works in us [ Isaiah 26:12 ]. Grace is not to be commanded by our position or condition: the wind bloweth where it listeth, the Lord works and no man can hinder; but if He works not, the mightiest and most zealous labour is but in vain. It is very significant that before Christ fed the thousands, He made the disciples sum up all their provisions. It was well to let them see how low the commissariat had become, for then when the crowds were fed they could not say the basket fed them nor that the lad had done it. God will make us feel how little are our barley loaves, and how small our fishes, and compel us to enquire, "What are they among so many?" When the Saviour bade His disciples cast the net on the right side of the ship, and they dragged such a mighty shoal to land, He did not work the miracle till they had confessed that they had toiled all the night and had taken nothing. They were thus taught that the success of their fishery was dependent upon the Lord, and that it was not their net, nor the way of dragging it, nor their skill and art in handling their vessels, but that altogether and entirely their success came from their Lord. We must get down to this, and the sooner we come to it the better. Before the ancient Jews kept the passover, observe what they did. The unleavened bread is to be brought in, and the paschal lamb to be eaten; but there shall be no unleavened bread and no paschal lamb, till they have purged out the old leaven. If you have any old strength and self-confidence; if you have anything that is your own, and is, therefore, leavened, it must be swept right out; there must be a bare cupboard before there can come in the heavenly provision, upon which the spiritual passover can be kept. I thank God when He clears us out; I bless His name when He brings us to feel our soul poverty as a church, for then the blessing will be sure to come. One other illustration will show this, perhaps, more distinctly still. Behold Elijah with the priests of Baal at Carmel. The test appointed to decide Israel's choice was this—the God that answereth by fire let him be God. Baal's priests invoked the heavenly flame in vain. Elijah is confident that it will come upon his sacrifice, but he is also sternly resolved that the false priests and the fickle people shall not imagine that he himself had produced the fire. He determines to make it clear that there is no human contrivance, trickery, or maneuver about the matter. The flame should be seen to be of the Lord, and of the Lord alone. Remember the stern prophet's command, "Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time; and they did it a second time. And he said, Do it a third time; and they did it a third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water." There could be no latent fire there. If there had been any combustibles or chemicals calculated to produce fire after the manner of the cheats of the time, they would all have been damped and spoiled. When no one could imagine that man could burn the sacrifice, then the prophet lifted up his eyes to heaven, and began to plead, and down came the fire of the Lord, which consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood, and the altar stones and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. Then when all the people saw it they fell on their faces, and they said, "Jehovah is the God; Jehovah is the God." The Lord in this church, if He means greatly to bless us, may send us trial of pouring on the water once, and twice, and thrice; He may discourage us, grieve us, and try us, and bring us low, till all shall see that it is not of the preacher, it is not of the organization, it is not of man, but altogether of God, the Alpha and the Omega, who workest all things according to the council of His will. Thus I have shown you that for a successful season of prayer the best beginning is confession that we are poor and needy. II. Secondly, after the soul has unburdened itself of all weights of merit and self-sufficiency, it proceeds to prayer, and we have before us A SOUL . "I am poor and needy, make haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help and my deliverer: O Lord, make no tarrying." The careful reader will perceive four pleas in this single verse. Upon this topic I would remark that it is the habit of faith, when she is praying, to use pleas. Mere prayer sayers, who do not pray at all, forget to argue with God; but those who would prevail bring forth their reasons and their strong arguments and they debate the question with the Lord. They who play at wrestling catch here and there at random, but those who are really wrestling have a certain way of grasping the opponent—a certain mode of throwing, and the like; they work according to order and rule. Faith's art of wrestling is to plead with God, and say with holy boldness, "Let it be thus and thus, for these reasons." Hosea tells us of Jacob at Jabbok, "that there he spake with us"; from which I understand that Jacob instructed us by his example. Now, the two pleas which Jacob used were God's precept and God's promise. First, he said, "Thou saidst unto me, Return unto thy country and to thy kindred": as much as if he put it thus:—"Lord, I am in difficulty, but I have come here through obedience to thee. Thou didst tell me to come hither, into the very teeth of my brother Esau, who comes to meet me like a lion, Lord, Thou canst not be so unfaithful as to bring me into danger and then leave me in it." This was sound reasoning, and it prevailed with God. Then Jacob also urged a promise: "Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good." Among men, it is a masterly way of reasoning when you can challenge you opponent with his own words: you may quote other authorities, and he may say, "I deny their force"' but, when you quote a man against himself, you foil him completely. When you bring a man's promise to his mind, he must either confess himself to be unfaithful and changeable, or if he holds to being the same, and being true to his word, you have him, and you have won your will of him. Oh brethren, let us learn thus to plead the precepts, the promises, and whatever else may serve our turn; but let us always have something to plead. Do not reckon you have prayed unless you have pleaded, for pleading is the very marrow of prayer. He who pleads well knows the secret of prevailing with God, especially if he pleads the blood of Jesus, for that unlocks the treasury of heaven. Many keys fit many locks, but the master-key is the blood and the name of Him that died but rose again, and ever lives in heaven to save unto the uttermost. Faith's pleas are plentiful, and this is well, for faith is placed in diverse positions, and needs them all. She hath many needs, and having a keen eye she perceives that there are pleas to be urged in every case. I will not, therefore, tell you all faith's pleas, but I will just mention some of them, enough to let you see how abundant they are. Faith will plead all the attributes of God. "Thou art just, therefore spare thou the soul for whom the Saviour died. Thou art merciful, blot out my transgressions. Thou art good, reveal thy bounty to thy servant. Thou art immutable—thou hast done thus and thus to others of thy servants, do thus unto me. Thou art faithful, canst thou break thy promise, canst thou turn away from thy covenant?" Rightly viewed, all the perfections of Deity become pleas for faith. Faith will boldly plead all God's gracious relationships. She will say to Him, "Art Thou not the creator? Wilt Thou forsake the work of thine own hands? Art Thou not the Redeemer, Thou hast redeemed thy servant, wilt Thou cast me away?" Faith usually delights to lay hold upon the fatherhood of God. This is generally one of her master points: when she brings this into the field she wins the day. "Thou art a Father, and wouldst Thou chasten us [as] though thou wouldst kill? A Father, and hast Thou no sympathy and no bowels of compassion? A Father, and canst Thou deny what Thine own child asks of Thee?" Whenever I am impressed with the divine majesty, and so, perhaps, a little dispirited in prayer, I find the short and sweet remedy is to remember that, although He is a great King, and infinitely glorious, I am His child, and no matter who the father is, the child may always be bold with his father. Yes, faith can plead any and all of the relationships in which God stands to His chosen. Faith too, can ply heaven with the Divine Promises. If you were to go to one of the banks in Lombard Street, and see a man go in and out and lay a piece of paper on the tables and take it up again and nothing more; if he did that several times a day, I think there would soon be orders issued to the porter to keep the man out, because he was merely wasting the clerk's time, and doing nothing to purpose. Those city men who come to the bank in earnest present their cheques, they wait till they receive their money and then they go, but not without having transacted real business. They do not put the paper down, speak about the excellent signature and discuss the correctness of the document, but they want their money for it, and they are not content without it. These are the people who are always welcome at the bank, and not the triflers. Alas, a great many people play at praying, it is nothing better. I say they play at praying, they do not expect God to give them an answer, and thus they are mere triflers, who mock the Lord. He who prays in a businesslike way, meaning what he says, honours the Lord. The Lord does not play at promising, Jesus did not sport at confirming the word by His blood, and we must not make a jest of prayer by going about it in a listless unexpecting spirit. The Holy Spirit is in earnest, and we must be in earnest also. We must go for a blessing, and not be satisfied till we have it; like the hunter, who is not satisfied because he has run so many miles, but is never content till he takes his prey. Faith, moreover, pleads the performances of God, she looks back on the past and says, "Lord, thou didst deliver me on such and such an occasion; wilt thou fail me now?" She, moreover, takes her life as a whole, and pleads thus:— "After so much mercy past, Wilt thou let me sink at last?" "Hast thou brought me so far that I may be put to shame at the end?" She knows how to bring the ancient mercies of God, and make them arguments for present favours. But your time would all be gone if I tried to exhibit, even a thousandth part of faith's pleas. Sometimes, however, faith's pleas are very singular. As in this text, it is by no means according to the proud rule of human nature to plead: "I am poor and needy, make haste unto me, O God." It is like another prayer of David: "Have mercy upon mine iniquity, for it is great." It is not the manner of men to plead so, they say, "Lord, have mercy on me, for I am not so bad a sinner as some. But faith reads things in a truer light, and bases her pleas on truth. "Lord, because my sin is great, and thou art a great God, let Thy great mercy be magnified in me." You know the story of the Syrophenician woman; that is a grand instance of the ingenuity of faith's reasoning. She came to Christ about her daughter, and He answered her not a word. What do you think her heart said? Why, she said in herself, "It is well, for He has not denied me: since He has not spoken at all, He has not refused me." With this for an encouragement, she began to plead again. Presently Christ spoke to her sharply, and then her brave heart said, "I have gained words from Him at last, I shall have deeds from Him by-and-by." That also cheered her; and then, when He called her a dog. "Ah," she reasoned, "but a dog is a part of the family, it has some connection with the master of the house. Though it does not eat meat from the table, it gets the crumbs under it, and so I have thee now, great Master, dog as I am; the great mercy that I ask of Thee, great as it is to me, is only a crumb to Thee; grant it then I beseech Thee." Could she fail to have her request? Impossible! When faith hath a will, she always finds a way, and she will win the day when all things forebode defeat. Faith's pleas are singular, but, let me add, faith's pleas are always sound; for after all, it is a very telling plea to urge that we are poor and needy. Is not that the main argument with mercy? Necessity is the very best plea with benevolence, either human or divine. Is not our need the best reason we can urge? If we would have a physician come quickly to a sick man, "Sir," we say, "it is no common case, he is on the point of death, come to him, come quickly!" If we wanted our city firemen to rush to a fire, we should not say to them, "Make haste, for it is only a small fire"; but, on the contrary, we urge that it is an old house full of combustible materials, and there are rumours of petroleum and gunpowder on the premises; besides, it is near a timber yard, hosts of wooden cottages are close by, and before long we shall have half the city in a blaze." We put the case as bad as we can. Oh for wisdom to be equally wise in pleading with God, to find arguments everywhere, but especially to find them in our necessities. They said two centuries ago that the trade of beggary was the easiest one to carry on, but it paid the worst. I am not sure about the last at this time, but certainly the trade of begging with God is a hard one, and undoubtedly it pays the best of anything in the world. It is very noteworthy that beggars with men have usually plenty of pleas on hand. When a man is hardly driven and starving, he can usually find a reason why he should ask aid of every likely person. Suppose it is a person to whom he is already under many obligations, then the poor creature argues, "I may safely ask of him again, for he knows me, and has been always very kind." If he never asked of the person before, then he says, "I have never worried him before; he cannot say he has already done all he can for me; I will make bold to begin with him." If it is one of his own kin, then he will say, "Surely you will help me in my distress, for you are a relation"; and if it be a stranger, he says, "I have often found strangers kinder than my own blood, help me, I entreat you." If he asks of the rich, he pleads that they will never miss what they give; and if he begs of the poor, he urges that they know what want means, and he is sure they will sympathize with him in his great distress. Oh that we were half as much on the alert to fill our mouths with arguments when we are before the Lord. How is it that we are not half awake, and do not seem to have any spiritual senses aroused. May God grant that we may learn the art of pleading with the eternal God, for in that shall rest our prevalence with Him, through the merit of Jesus Christ. III. I must be brief on the next point. It is A SOUL URGENT: "Make haste unto me, O God. O Lord, make no tarrying." We may well be urgent with God, if as yet we are not saved, for our need is urgent; we are in constant peril, and the peril is of the most tremendous kind. O sinner, within an hour, within a minute, thou mayest be where hope can never visit thee; therefore , cry, "Make haste, O God, to deliver me: make haste to help me, O Lord!" Yours is not a case that can bear lingering: you have not time to procrastinate; therefore, be urgent, for your need is so. And, remember, if you really are under a sense of need, and the Spirit of God is at work with you, you will and must be urgent. An ordinary sinner may be content to wait, but a quickened sinner wants mercy now. A dead sinner will lie quiet, but a living sinner cannot rest till pardon is sealed home to his soul. If you are urgent this morning, I am glad of it, because your urgency, I trust, arises from the possession of spiritual life. When you cannot live longer without a Saviour, the Saviour will come to you, and you shall rejoice in Him. Brethren, members of this church, as I have said on anoher point, the same truth holds good with you. God will come to bless you, and come speedily, when your sense of need becomes deep and urgent. Oh, how great is this church's need! We shall grow cold, unholy and worldly; there will be no conversions, there will be no additions to our numbers; there will be diminutions, there will be divisions, there will be mischief of all kinds; Satan will rejoice, and Christ will be dishonoured, unless we obtain a larger measure of the Holy Spirit. Our need is urgent, and when we feel that need thoroughly, then we shall get the blessing which we want. Does any melancholy spirit say, "We are in so bad a state that we cannot expect a large blessing"? I reply, perhaps if we were worse, we should obtain it all the sooner. I do not mean if we were really so, but if we felt we were worse, we should be nearer the blessing. When we mourn that we are in an ill state, then we cry the more vehemently to God, and the blessing comes. God never refused to go with Gideon because he had not enough valiant men with him; but he paused because the people were too many. He brought them down from thousands to hundreds, and he diminished the hundreds before he gave them victory. When you feel that you must have God's presence, but that you do not deserve it, and when your consciousness of this lays you in the dust, then shall the blessing be vouchsafed. For my part, brethren and sisters, I desire to feel a spirit of urgency within my soul as I plead with God for the dew of His grace to descend upon this church. I am not bashful in this matter, for I have a license to pray. Mendicancy is forbidden in the streets, but, before the Lord I am a licensed beggar. Jesus has said, "men ought always to pray and not to faint." You land on the shores of a foreign country with the greatest confidence when you carry a passport with you, and God has issued passports to His children, by which they come boldly to His mercy seat; He has invited you, He has encouraged you, He has bidden you come to Him, and He has promised that whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Come, then, come urgently, come importunately, come with this plea, "I am poor and needy; make no tarrying, O my God," and a blessing shall surely come; it will not tarry. God grant we may see it, and give Him the glory of it. IV. I am sorry to have been so brief where I had need to have enlarged, but I must close with the fourth point. Here is another part of the art and mystery of prayer—THE SOUL GOD. She has pleaded, and she has been urgent, but now she comes to close quarters; she grasps the covenant angel with one hand, "Thou art my help." and with the other, "Thou art my deliverer." Oh, those blessed "my's," those blessed potent "my's." The sweetness of the Bible lies in the possessive pronouns, and he who is taught to use them as the psalmist did, shall come off a conqueror with the eternal God. Now sinner, I pray God thou mayest be helped to say this morning to the blessed Christ of God, "Thou art my help and my deliverer." Perhaps you mourn that you cannot get that length, but, poor soul, hast thou any other help? If thou hast, then thou canst not hold two helpers with the same hand. "Oh, no," say you, "I have no help anywhere. I have no hope except in Christ." Well, then, poor soul, since thy hand is empty, that empty hand was made on purpose to grasp thy Lord with: lay hold on Him! Say to Him, this day, "Lord, I will hang on thee as poor lame Jacob did; now I cannot help myself, I will cleave to Thee: I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me." "Ah, it would be too bold," says one. But the Lord loves holy boldness in poor sinners; He would have you be bolder than you think of being. It is an unhallowed bashfulness that dares not trust a crucified Saviour. He died on purpose to save such as thou art; let Him have His way with thee, and do thou trust Him. "Oh," saith one, "but I am so unworthy." He came to seek and save the unworthy. He is not the Saviour of the self-righteous: He is the sinners' Saviour—"friend of sinners" is His name. Unworthy one, lay hold on Him! "Oh," saith one, "but I have no right." Well, since you have no right, your need shall be your claim: it is all the claim you want. Methinks I hear one say, "It is too late for me to plead for grace." It cannot be: it is impossible. While you live and desire mercy, it is not too late to seek it. Notice the parable of the man who wanted three loaves. I will tell you what crossed my mind when I read it: the man went to his friend at midnight; it could not have been later; for if he had been a little later than midnight, it would have been early in the morning, and so not late at all. It was midnight, and it could not be later; and so, if it is downright midnight with your soul, yet, be of good cheer, Jesus is an out of season Saviour; many of His servants are "born out of due time." Any season is the right season to call upon the name of Jesus; therefore, only do not let the devil tempt thee with the thought that it can be too late. Go to Jesus now, go at once, and lay hold on the horns of the altar by the venturesome faith, and say, "Sacrifice for sinners, Thou art a sacrifice for me. Intercessor for the graceless, Thou art an intercessor for me. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ Psalms 71:1-8. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteous, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me. Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For thou art my hope, O Lord God thou art my trust from my youth. By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother bowels my praise shall be continually of thee.David had enjoyed the mercy of God from his very birth. We are apt to forget the tender care of God over our infancy, but we ought to remember it: and it will be a great comfort to us, if we come to a second childhood, to remember how kindly God took care of us in the first.Psalms 71:7-11. I am at a wonder unto many, but thou art my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day. Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. For mine enemies speak against me, and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together, saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there it none to deliver him.Surely that ought to have been the reason for letting him alone. With right-minded persons it would have been so, but the devil and his children are arrant onwards, and their argument is, “Persecute and take him: for there is none to deliver him.” You might as well expect tenderness in a wolf as anything like bravery and chivalry in a persecutor.Psalms 71:12-14. O God be not far from me: O my God, make haste for my hell. Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will yet raise thee more and more. How was he going to do it? Already his mouth was filled with God’s praise, so, surely, he would fill his whole life with it, and his actions which would speak more loudly than his words, should bear daily testimony to the goodness of God.Psalms 71:15-16. My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of the Lord God:-“This shall be my praise; my very movements, my goings, my progress shall be in the ‘strength of the Lord God’”Psalms 71:16-17. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth.Here is the same kind of argument again: “ O Lord, I went to school to thee, so I must teach others what thou hast taught me.”Psalms 71:17. And hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.“Thou madest me a preacher, and I have stuck to my word. Hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.’”Psalms 71:18-20. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to every one that is to come. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee! Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, “Thou shalt not merely deliver me from my great and sore troubles, but thou shalt give me more life, thou ‘Shalt quicken me again.’” Divine quickening is the best remedy for a troubled heart.Psalms 71:20. And shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.“Though I seem to be like a man buried in the depth of the earth thou wilt bring me up again.”Psalms 71:21-22. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. I will also praise thee-God blessing us, and we in return blessing him, so it ought to be. The more God does for us, the more we ought to do for him, is it not so, brother? Is not this good argument? Art thou carrying it out? Let thy conscience answer.Psalms 71:22-23. With the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp. O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee.Singing unto God ought to be the gladdest of exercises, when it is done in a doleful, dolorous way, it is not singing, but groaning.Psalms 71:23. And my soul, which thou hast redeemed.“The sprinkled blood is on my soul, and therefore it shall leap for joy. Rescued from captivity, bought back from slavery, “my soul, which thou hast redeemed; shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee.”Psalms 71:24. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt. A Psalm for Solomon. This was David’s dying bequest to his son Solomon, but a greater than Solomon is here, for this Psalm concerns the reign, triumph, and everlasting dominion of our Lord Jesus Christ.Psalms 72:1-2 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king’s son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.It is the distinguishing mark of Christ’s kingdom that he cares so much for the poor, whereas in other kingdoms they are generally pushed to the wall, and men of great estate and consequence get all the good positions. In Christ’s kingdom the poor are exalted.Psalms 72:3. The mountains shall bring peace to thee people and the little hills, by righteousness.Those mountains, in whose caves robbers lurked, and from whose heights enemies often came down, and swept away the little estates of the lowlanders, even these shall bring peace and comfort. “No strife shall vex Messiah’s reign.” When Jesus Christ comes a second time to this earth, we shall see these prophecies literally fulfilled; and until then we delight to know that the reign of Christ is a reign of peace.Psalms 72:4-6. He shall judge the poor of the people shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.After being mown the grass is tender; should there be a long period of burning sunshine, the roots left exposed might soon be dried up, and the lower portion of the stem, bereft of moisture, might become hard. Never does rain seem so refreshing to the grass as just after the mowing; so is it in Christ’s kingdom. Upon you whose broken hearts are like mown grass, upon you who have been cut down by the sharp scythe of affliction, and who have seen your hopes withered before your eyes, Jesus shall come on gently like rain upon the mown grass; and as the showers fertilize the barren earth, so shall the presence of Christ make your hearts to be fertile and fruitful. If any of us are like the parched earth or the mown grass, may we have this gracious promise fulfilled to us.Psalms 72:7. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.Under other kings sinners have flourished, and great oppressors have walked in public, but in Christ’s days the righteous shall flourish; “and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.” There have been some times of truce, there have been some periods when the temple of Janus has been shut; but when Christ comes, the Lord shall break the bow, and cut the spear in sunder; not lay them by in store for days of warfare in the future, but break them up as there will be no further use for them.Psalms 72:8-9. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.The Arabs, the wandering Bedouin tribes, unconquered and untamable, “shall bow before him;” and his enemies shall not merely be beaten once or twice, but they “shall lick the dust,” they shall be so entirely broken that there shall be no fear of their rebelling in the future.Psalms 72:10. The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents:Britain and some of her sister islands shall do homage to this great Solomon.Psalms 72:10. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God, and men of swarthy skin shall own the King of the Jews as Lord over all.Psalms 72:11. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him.There is a great future for you, Christians, a glorious future for our holy religion. The handful by the side of the lake shall yet become an all conquering host. As it was when that cake of barley bread fell into the midst of the camp of Midian, and overthrew the tent, so that it lay along, and as it was when the shout was heard, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon,” so shall it be with us ere long. God’s people having no strength of their own, shall nevertheless break the power of their enemy, when the war- cry shall be heard, “The sword of Christ and of the Lord of Hosts !”.Psalms 72:12-13. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. Now, needy one, here is a promise for thee. Is there one here that hath no helper? Then let that one know that Christ is the Friend of the friendless, and the Helper of the helpless.Psalms 72:14-16. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. There shall be an handful of corn on the earth- Only a handful! O ye birds of the air, how ye long to eat it all up! O ye thorns, how soon would ye choke it to death! It is only a handful of corn.Psalms 72:16. Upon the top of the mountains;That is a bad place for corn; surely it will die there; the winter snows will chill it; and, exposed to every stormy blast it will never fill the arm of the reaper. But is it so? Listen: —Psalms 72:16. The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon:Just as there are peculiar noises heard in a great forest when the wind sweeps through it, — there is an allusion to this in the Hebrew, — there should be such an abundance of fruit from this handful of corn that, as when the forest bows its head before the whirlwind, so shall there be heard a sound as of God rushing among the multitude of his saints.Psalms 72:16. And they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. They shall be so many that one might as well attempt to count the blades of grass as to reckon the number of God’s saints.Psalms 72:17-20. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended. He had nothing more to pray for. He had his heart’s highest and best wish, and therefore he closes his prayer where God had given him all that he could ask. “A Psalm Of Asaph.” He was a great singer, but he could not always sing. In the first part of the Psalm he felt rather like groaning than singing; and you shall find that those who sing the sweetest the praises of God sometimes have to hang their harps upon the willows, and are silent. The strong temptation through which Asaph passed is one which is very common. You find another account of it in the 37th Psalm. It may help your memory to notice that it is the 37th and the 73rd Psalm (transpose the figures) which are both upon the same subject—the temptation caused to the people of God by the prosperity of the wicked.Psalms 73:1. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.It must be so. Whatever argument my son may hold about it, I will set that down, to begin with, as a certainty—“Truly, God is good to Israel.” He cannot be unkind or unfaithful to his own people. It cannot be possible, after all—however things may look—that God is an ill-God and an ill-Master to his own servants.Psalms 73:2. But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh dipped. Am I, then, one of his people or not? I know he is good to them; but how about myself? Perhaps some here will never question themselves in that way, and if they were led to do so, they would think it was of the devil. I do not think so. I think it is rather of the devil to keep us from questioning ourselves. I remember what Cowper said:—“He that hath never doubted of his state, He may—perhaps he may too late.” Let us delight in full assurance, but let us keep very clear of presumption; and that assurance which cannot bear self-examination is presumption, depend upon it. When a man declines to search himself and test himself, there is something doubtful, if not rotten in his estate; and it is time he did begin to say, “As for me, my feet were almost gone: my steps had well nigh slipped.” This is how it came about:—Psalms 73:3. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. I know that wicked men are fools.Asaph and David had often said that before. Yet says he, “I was a greater fool, still, that I was envious of these fools—when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”Psalms 73:4-5. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.Many of them keep up a hypocritical profession through a long life, and die in a stupefaction, so that conscience never awakens, and they pass out of the world loaded with guilt, and yet talk about being accepted before God. How can this be? Where is the justice of it?Psalms 73:6. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain;As kings wear chains of gold, so is their pride to them.Psalms 73:6. Violence covereth them as a garment,They are not ashamed of it. They get to be so bold in sin that they wear it as an outside cloak.Psalms 73:7. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.Superfluities. They never have to ask where a meal will come from. They have more than they want.Psalms 73:8-9. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, Such big mouths—such blasphemous words—have they, that they attack God himself. There is nothing too high for them to drag it down—nothing too pure for them to slander. “They set their mouth against the heavens.”Psalms 73:9. And their tongue walketh through the earth.Like the lion seeking its prey, they take long walks in their slander. Nobody is safe from them.Psalms 73:10-11. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?God’s sorrowing children have to drink of the bitter cup, while these proud ones are eating of the fat of the land.Psalms 73:12-14. Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.When Asaph got into this unbelieving state of mind, it did look as if all his care of his character and all his desire to serve God was wasted, for the wicked prospered, while he was chastened. It is a strong description which he gives of his state. “All the day long have I been plagued.” Not by the half-hour, but by the whole day, plagued, and weeping as soon as he was out of bed—chastened every morning. He seemed almost to be sorry that he was a child of God, to be so roughly handled. He almost, but not quite, wished that he could take the portion of the wicked, that he might enjoy himself as they did, and might prosper in the world as they did.Psalms 73:15. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.That was very wise of Asaph. He thought but he did not speak. Some persons say, “You may as well out with it.” You may as well keep it in; nay, a great deal better. If you have it in your own heart, it will grieve yourself, but if you speak it out, you will grieve others. If you wear sackcloth, brethren, wear it round your own loins, but do not wear it as your outside garment. There is enough sackcloth in the world without your flaunting it before everybody else’s face. If you must fast, remember your Master’s words, “Thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast.” He gave us that precept in order to avoid pharisaic ostentation; but we may also follow it from another motive, namely, that we may not spread sorrow in the world. There is enough of depression of spirit, enough of despondency, enough of heartbreak, without our saying a word to increase it among the sons of men. “Bear and forbear, and silent be: Tell no man thy misery,” Lest thou bring another into it, unless, indeed, thou meet with a strong man who can help thee. Then thou mayest tell thy sorrow to get relief. But tell it not to the children.Psalms 73:16. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me.“Too painful” to keep it: “too painful” to speak it out and grieve other people.Psalms 73:17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood their end.Asaph went to his God. He got to Christ, whom he foresaw, for the person of Jesus Christ is the sanctuary of God. Some people call these buildings sanctuaries. They have no authority for so doing. “God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” He may have done so under the old covenant, but not now. Christ is the sanctuary of God, and when we get to him and come into fellowship with God in him, then we begin to learn something. “Then understood I their end.”Psalms 73:18. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places:There they are—on a mountain of ice, bright and glittering: up aloft, where others see, admire, and wonder at them. But oh! how dangerous their pathway!Psalms 73:18. Thou casteth them down into destruction.They are not left to slip, but a hand overthrows them—flings them down from the heights of their prosperity to the depths of unutterable woe.Psalms 73:19-20. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.As if God slept today, and let these images of prosperity exist as in a dream; but by-and-by he wakes. His time of judgment comes, and where are these prosperous men? They have gone. The “baseless fabric of a vision” has melted into thin air, and “left not a wreck behind.” It is not. It is gone.Psalms 73:21. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.I felt a heart-pain. I felt my whole nature go amiss, as if there had been calculi causing the deepest possible misery in my reins.Psalms 73:22. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.I saw no farther than a goose. Like a beast that cannot look into the future, I judged these men by today—by the pastures in which they fed, and the fatness which they gathered there. “I was as a beast before thee.” Now notice the splendid connection of these two verses. I will read them again—the 22nd and the 23rd. “So foolish was I and ignorant, I was as a beast before thee.”Psalms 73:23. Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.What a strange mixture a man is! And a godly man is the strangest conglomerate of all. He is a beast, and yet continually with God. View him from one side, he is ignorant: view him from the other, and he hath an unction from the Holy One, and he knows all things. View him from one point of the compass, and he is naked, and poor, and miserable: view him from another quarter, and behold he is complete in Christ and “accepted in the Beloved. “ They know not man who do not know that every true man is two men.Psalms 73:24. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.I, the fool that envied fools, yet “thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”Psalms 73:25. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.Now he has got out of the temptation. He is not going to seek for prosperity that he may rival the wicked in their wealth. No! He sees that, in having God, he has all he wants. Even though he should continually be plagued all the day long, and chastened every morning, his portion in God is quite enough for him. He will not murmur any more.Psalms 73:26. My flesh and my heart faileth:I see what a poor thing I am. I allowed my flesh and my heart to get the mastery over me, and I got caught in this trap.Psalms 73:26-27. But God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. A strong word, but none too forcible; for every heart that seeks delight away from God is an unchaste heart. It has got away from true purity even for a moment in pouring out its love upon the creature.Psalms 73:28. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 73; Psalms 37:1-10. Psalms 74THE church prays for deliverance from extreme distress, enforcing the petition, first by a description of the actual state of things, Psalms 74:1-12, and then by an appeal to former mercies, Psalms 74:13-23. The historical occasion is not given, but the terms of the description seem peculiarly appropriate to the state of Judah after the destruction of the temple and the holy city by the Babylonians, as described in Jeremiah 52:12-34. Psalms 74:1. Maschil. By Asaph. Why, 0 God, hast thou cast off for ever, smokes thy wrath at the flock of thy pasture? The description of the psalm as a didactic one shows that it was not meant to be used in reference to its original occasion merely, but in every emergency resembling it. For this reason the question, what that occasion was, is of little exegetical importance, although not without interest in connection with the critical inquiry as to the date of composition. The state of things assumed, and indeed described, is so unlike that which existed in the time of David, that we must either make the psalm prophetical, which is arbitrary and without analogy, or no less arbitrarily reject the title as a spurious addition to the text, or understand by Asaph the descendants of David's Chief Musician, among whom the gift and office of their ancestors were hereditary. See above, on Psalms 1:1, and compare 2 Chronicles 35:15, Ezra 2:41; Ezra 3:10, Nehemiah 7:44; Nehemiah 11:22. That this title indicates the author, and not merely the performer, can only be inferred from the general fact, that where a single name is given it is usually that of the writer. See above, on Psalms 42:1; Psalms 72:1. The interrogation in this verse does not involve a disavowal of guilt or ill-desert, but is rather a passionate expostulation and indirect petition for deliverance. Cast off, a verb implying abhorrence and disgust. See above, on Psalms 43:2; Psalms 44:9; Psalms 44:23; Psalms 60:1; Psalms 60:10. As the object is easily supplied, namely, us or thy people, its omission adds to the strength of the expression. Cast off for ever, as it seems to us and others. Why past thou cast us off with what appears to be a final and perpetual rejection? See above, on Psalms 13:1. The interrogation is continued throughout the sentence. (Why) smokes or will smoke? The future form suggests the same idea as the for ever in the other clause. "Why is thy wrath to continue smoking?" The presence of smoke presupposes that of fire; but the former is particularly mentioned, perhaps for the purpose of adding to the primary idea of distress or destruction the secondary one of gloom and terror. At or against thy people, literally in, among them. See below, on Psalms 80:4, and compare Deuteronomy 29:20. The sheep (or flock) of thy pasture, those who feed upon thy pasture, or are fed by thee, a favourite designation of the chosen people, as the occupants of the Land of Promise. The figurative form of the description was originally furnished by the pastoral experience of David, but from him was borrowed by other sacred writers. See below, Psalms 79:13; Psalms 100:3. Psalms 74:2. Remember thy congregation thou hast purchased of old, (and) redeem the rod of thine inheritance, this mount Zion thou hast dwelt in. The ellipsis of the relative in both the clauses of this verse is common to the Hebrew and the English idiom. The word translated congregation is one of those applied in the Old Testament to Israel as an organised body and the people of Jehovah. See above, on Psalms 1:5. Purchased, acquired, made thine own. The word translated of old is an noun meaning antiquity, but here used as an adverb of time. The full phrase occurs below in Psalms 74:12. The next verb contains a specification of the first, to wit, that he purchased by redeeming them from bondage, with particular reference to the exodus from Egypt. The rod of thine inheritance is a phrase which, to any Hebrew reader, would suggest the twofold idea of a chieftain's staff, the badge of authority in the several tribes, and that of a measuring rod, here put for the portion of land measured. The whole sense conveyed by these associations is that of a definite province, with its population, of which God is the possessor and the sovereign. The last clause applies what had been said of the people and the land still more specifically to the central point of the theocracy. Mount Zion may be understood as a description of the whole of Jerusalem, including the temple upon mount Moriah. This mount Zion, with which the speakers were familiar, and at or near which they are supposed to be speaking. The explanation of this as a relative is gratuitous, nor could the idea (this mount Zion) have been well expressed in any other form of Hebrew words. The grand distinction of mount Zion, in the wide sense just explained, was the inhabitation of Jehovah, which is therefore here expressly mentioned in the closing words. Psalms 74:3. Lift thy steps to the perpetual ruins, all the enemy has ill done in the holy place. The first phrase is a poetical expression meaning simply advance, draw near, for the purpose of inspection. The word translated ruins occurs only here and in Ps. lxxiii. 18. The whole phrase strictly means ruins of perpetuity, i.e. such as appears likely to continue for ever, and will certainly do so, unless God comply with this request to draw near. The construction of the second clause adopted by some writers, the enemy has destroyed all (or every thing) in the holy place, is scarcely grammatical. To express that idea, the word all would have the article, as in Psalms 14:3, or a suffix, as in Psalms 29:9, whereas its intimate connection here with the following verb in Hebrew is equivalent to a relative construction. Ill done, injured or destroyed, done mischief. Psalms 74:4.Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly; they have set their signs (as) signs. The tumultuous violence of the destroyers is described in the first clause by a figure borrowed from the habits of wild beasts, and elsewhere used as an expression of extreme distress. See above, on Psalms 22:1; Psalms 32:3; Psalms 38:8. The word translated assembly is not the same that is rendered congregation in Psalms 74:2, but one that strictly means a meeting by mutual agreement or appointment, and is specially applied to the meeting between God and his people at the sanctuary, which was therefore designated in the law as the tent of meeting, not merely the tent where the people assembled, but the place where they met with God by previous appointment. See Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:42-43; Exodus 29:45-46, Numbers 17:4. The ideas suggested by themeeting consequent upon it, the persons met, and the place where they assemble. The full sense, therefore, of the phrase here used is, "In the midst of thy people assembled at the appointed time and place to meet thee." The exclusive local meaning put by some upon the words is quite gratuitous. The plural form which some assume (thine assemblies) varies the meaning only by suggesting the idea of repeated convocations, "In the midst of thy people, whenever (or as often as) they meet thee thus," but without at all conveying the idea of numerous or even different places. Set, fixed, established; or set up, exhibited, exposed to view. See above, on Psalms 18:43; Psalms 39:8; Psalms 44:13-14. The common version of the last words, ensigns for signs, conveys a false impression of the form of the original, in which the two nouns are identical. The word signs does not necessarily denote either military or religious ensigns, but rather signifies in general the insignia of sovereignty. For all that once marked the presence and authority of God the impious enemy had substituted the signs or tokens of their own ascendancy. In other words, they had usurped God's place in his very sanctuary, the spot which he had chosen for his earthly residence. Psalms 74:5. He is known (or shall be known) as (one) raising on high, in the thicket of the wood, axes. The most probable sense of this obscure verse is as follows: the ruthless enemy is known or recognised as dealing with the sanctuary no more tenderly than a woodman with the forest which he fells. On high seems to be added to suggest the force of the blow, and the sweep of the arm which deals it. The thicket may be mentioned for the purpose of contrasting the delicate and complicated wood-work of the temple with the worthless undergrowth which the woodman cuts away without scruple or discrimination. The word translated wood is often used as a collective, meaning trees. Psalms 74:6. And now the carvings thereof together (or at once) with sledge and hammers they beat (down). This completes the comparison begun in the preceding verse, with which the one before us is connected by the phrase and now, i.e. in this case. As in the case supposed the woodman deals with trees and thickets, so in the real ease the spoiler deals with the costly fruits of art and skill. The word translated carvings is expressly used in the description of the temple. See 1 Kings 6:29, and compare Exodus 28:11; Exodus 39:6. The suffix (thereof) has no grammatical antecedent in the sentence; the form was probably determined by a word not expressed, though present to the writer's mind. At once does not mean quickly, suddenly, without delay, but all together, indiscriminately, in confusion. Psalms 74:7. They have set on fire thy holy place; to the earth they have profaned the dwelling of thy name. The literal translation of the first clause is, they have sent (or cast) into the fire thy holy place. The construction in the last clause is a pregnant one, profaned to the earth, i.e. profaned by casting to the ground a sacred edifice. This form of expression would be inappropriate to mere profanation by defilement, without actual prostration of the edifice itself. Psalms 74:8. They have said in their heart, let us destroy them together (or at once); they have burned all the assemblies of God in, the land, by burning the only place where such assemblies could be held (Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:11). Others, with less probability, suppose that the Hebrew word itself denotes the place of assembly, and that all such places means the only such place. The translation synagogues has no authority from Hebrew usage, or the ancient versions (LXX.; Vulg. dies festos. Jer. solennitates), and has been abused to prove that the psalm was written after the Babylonish exile, before which synagogues are commonly supposed to have had no existence. Psalms 74:9. Our signs we see not; there is no more (any) prophet, and (there is) not with us (any one) knowing until what time, or how long, these things are to last. By signs we are here to understand the tokens of God's presence, and of Israel's peculiar relation to him. One of these is then specified, to wit, the gift of prophecy, which seemed to cease at the time of the Babylonian conquest, although afterwards renewed. Even Jeremiah's ministry may be considered as then closing. The complaint of this, as of a recent loss, shews that the period meant is not that of the persecutions under Antiochus Epiphanes, when the gift of prophecy had been withdrawn for many generations. Psalms 74:10. Till when, 0 God, shall the foe revile, the enemy contemn thy name for ever? By making the last clause a distinct interrogation (shall the enemy despise thy name for ever?) we avoid the solecism of combining how long and for ever; but this can occasion no more difficulty here than in Psalms 74:1, and in Psalms 13:1). The verb in the last clause means to treat contemptuously, to shew contempt by word or deed. Blaspheme expresses only one mode of doing this, and that too strongly. Psalms 74:11. Why wilt thou withdraw thy hand and thy right hand From the midst of thy bosom (draw it and) consume (them). The future here includes the present (why dolt thou withdraw thy hand?) with the additional idea of continuance or perseverance in so doing. The hand, and especially the right hand, is the seat and symbol of strength. The and between them is equivalent to the English even. To make the hand return, or draw it back, is to cease from action, the continuance of which cessation is described as hiding it in the bosom. Psalms 74:12. And God (is) my king of old, working salvations in the midst of the land. Having pleaded the greatness of the danger and distress as a reason for imploring the divine interposition, the church now pleads her covenant relation to him as her Sovereign and her Saviour in former emergencies, with particular reference to the plagues of Egypt, which makes it probable that land, and not earth, is the true translation of the last word. The very form of expression is borrowed from the narrative of Moses. See Exodus 8:22. Doing, working, as opposed to a mere promise or prediction. The participle signifies continued action, and extends the description beyond the particular occasion specially, referred to. God is described as He who, then and ever, works salvations or deliverances, the plural form implying fulness and variety. See above, on Psalms 18:50, Psalms 28:8; Psalms 42:5; Psalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5, Psalms 53. Psalms 74:13. Thou hast burst, with thy strength, the sea; thou hast broken the heads of dragons on the water. The word translated dragons is applied to the largest class of aquatic animals. Some suppose these to be here emblematic of Egypt and other hostile powers, as in Ezekiel 29:3-4, Isaiah 51:9-10. Others, with more probability, explain the verse as a description of God's power over nature, and particularly over the sea, as specially maniested in the passage of the Red Sea. The dragons or sea-monsters are then added merely to complete the picture. As if he had said, "Thou hast subdued and crushed the sea, and its most terrible inhabitants." This is described as taking place, not in or under the waters, the abode of the sea-monsters, but on the surface, where the contest becomes visible. The pronoun at the beginning is emphatic: "it is thou that hast done all this, and not another." Psalms 74:14. (It is) thou (that) hast crushed the heads of Leviathan, (that) wilt give him (as) food to the people, to the wild men, or the dwellers in the desert. See above, on Psalms 72:9. Leviathan, according to its etymology, denotes a coiled or crooked serpent, but like dragon in ver. 13, is used as a generic term for huge aquatic animals. Having no plural form, it is here used in a collective sense, as appears from the expression heads, unless we understand this as denoting a many-headed monster, to which, however, there is no analogy in Scripture. In the last clause, people seems to mean men in general, and is then rendered definite by the use of the specific erm which follows. By the people of the desert some understand the savage beasts, by whom the Egyptians were devoured after the overthrow of Pharaoh; others, with more probability, the wild men living on the shores of the Red Sea, and subsisting on its fish, and hence called by the Greeks the Ichthyophagi. The transition from the past tense to the future seems to represent the scene as actually passing, or the act as one that may be frequently repeated. "It is thou that hast done all this, and wilt do it again." Psalms 74:15. (It is) thou (that) didst cleave fount and flood, (that) didst dry up rivers ever flowing. Fountain and flood is a kind of proverbial expression for smaller and greater bodies of water. The primary historical allusion here is to the passage of the Jordan. The original construction of the last phrase is streams of perpetuity, perennial or unfailing streams, as distillguished from the winter torrents of the Holy Land, which disappear in summer. The common version, rivers of strength or mighty rivers, is not sustained by etymology or usage. Psalms 74:16. To thee (belongs) day, yea, to thee night; THOU hast prepared light and sun. From the mention of God's actual control over the elements, as exercised in certain memorable cases, the Psalmist here proceeds to assert his sovereignty by right of creation. Not only day but night, which seems to sense beyond the reach of government or regulation, is subject to God's power. Thou, and no other, as in the three preceding verses. Prepared for the place which they now fill and the work which they perform. Light and sun are related as the genus and the species, like hand and right hand in Psalms 74:11, signs and prophet in Psalms 74:9. Light, in the local sense of luminary, which the same Hebrew word has in Genesis 1:14-16. Psalms 74:17. THOU hast set (or established) all the bounds of earth; summer and winter— thou hast formed them. This is the seventh emphatic repetition of the pronoun thou. The bounds of earth are supposed by some to be the limits of the land, by which it is separated from the sea. See above, on Psalms 24:2. The description of God's power over nature is completed by referring to it the revolution of the seasons as not only appointed but created by him. He is not only the ordainer of the change itself, but the author of the causes which produce it. Psalms 74:18. Remember this; an enemy has reviled Jehovah, and a foolish people have contemned thy name. For the meaning of the verbs see above on Psalms 74:10, where the same facts are alleged, but are here recalled to God's remembrance as a reason for his interposition. Jehovah may also be construed as a vocative, which makes the parallelism more exact. Foolish, in the strong sense of that word, as used in Scripture, to denote the irrationality of sin. See above, on Psalms 14:1, and compare Deuteronomy 32:6, from which place the whole phrase is borrowed. Psalms 74:19. Give not to the greedy herd thy turtle-dove: the herd of thy afflicted (ones) forget not for ever! The general import of this prayer is obvious, and the only doubtful point is the precise sense of the Hebrew word, twice translated herd above. It usually means an animal or living thing, and more especially a wild beast, as distinguished from domesticated cattle. This would yield a good sense in the first clause (greedy beast), but is inadmissible in the other. The same objection lies against the explanation of the first as meaning life, and the last as meaning flock. The only meaning equally admissible in both parts of the sentence is the one just mentioned, that of animal collectively, and then a flock or herd of animals, from which it is sometimes transferred to human subjects. See above, on Psalms 68:10. Greedy herd, literally herd of appetite. See above, on Psalms 27:12; Psalms 41:2. The turtle-dove is here used as an emblem of innocence and helplessness, as well as an expression of affectionate endearment. Psalms 74:20. Look to the covenant; for filled are the darknesses of earth with homes of violence (or cruelty). The prayer in the first clause is equivalent to aying, Remember thy promise, fulfil thy covenant engagements. The reason assigned is, that the existing state of things is such as to require this fulfilment. The word translated darknesses has the form of a local noun, and may therefore mean dark places, not in the sense of hiding places, but in that of gloomy, dismal places. The same idea, of distress and gloom, which is always included in the sense of the word elsewhere, may be obtained by making it an obstract, darkness, or supposing the plural form to be emphatic, profound darkness, not as an attribute of certain places, but of the whole earth. As if he had said, the darkness of the earth, or this dark world, is filled with homes of cruelty. This word used here as elsewhere, comprehends the two ideas of injustice and violence. See above, on Psalms 7:16; Psalms 18:48. The use of the word homes (or habitations) indicates that violence or cruelty is there domesticated, permanently resident. See above, on Psalms 25:13. The meaning of the whole verse thus explained is, that the permanent establishment and prevalence of "wrong and outrage" in the darkness of the world may be urged as a reason for the fulfilment of God's promise, nay, his solemn oath, hat the whole earth shall be filled with his glory (Numbers 14:21). Psalms 74:21. Let not the oppressed turn back confounded; let the sufferer and the poor (man) praise thy name. The word translated oppressed means strictly broken, bruised, or crushed. See above, on Psalms 9:9; Psalms 10:18. Turn back, abandon his pursuit, retire in despair. Confounded, disappointed, put to shame, by the frustration of his hopes and wishes. See above, on Psalms 35:4; Psalms 40:14; Psalms 69:6; Psalms 70:2. Psalms 74:22. Arise, 0 God! Plead thine own cause! Remember thy reviling by the fool all day! The first prayer is the common one, that God would put an end to his apparent inaction and indifference to the sufferings of his servants. See above, on Psalms 3:7; Psalms 7:6; Psalms 9:19; Psalms 10:12; Psalms 17:13; Psalms 35:2; Psalms 44:26. Plead thine own cause, literally strive thy strife. See above, on Psalms 43:1. "Remember how thou art reviled by the irrational transgressor, and arouse thyself to silence his reproaches." Psalms 74:23. Forget not the voice of thy foes, the noise of thy assailants, ascending always. The voice and noise here meant are the clamorous revilings and blasphemies of wicked men, continually going up into the ears of God, and calling down his wrath upon them. This striking figure, representing gross sin as a vocal and audible witness against him who commits it, is a common one in Scripture, from the earliest books downwards. See Genesis 4:10; Genesis 18:21; Genesis 19:13, and compare Jonah 1:2. Thy assailants, or more literally thy insurgents, those who rise up against thee, in the way not only of attack but of rebellion. See above, on Psalms 3:1; Psalms 18:40,. Psalms 18:39; Psalms 18:48; Psalms 44:5, and compare Exodus 15:7, Deuteronomy 33:11, 2 Samuel 22:49. All this the Psalmist, or rather the Church, in whose behalf he speaks, recalls to the divine remembrance, as a ground or reason for immediate interference. TITLE. Maschil of Asaph. An instructive Psalm by Asaph. The history of the suffering church is always edifying; when we see how the faithful trusted and wrestled with their God in times of dire distress, we are thereby taught how to behave ourselves under similar circumstances; we learn moreover, that when fiery trial befalls us, no strange thing happened unto us, we are following the trail of the host of God. . From Psalms 74:1-11 the poet pleads the sorrows of the nation, and the despite done to the assemblies of the Lord; then he urges former displays of divine power as a reason for present deliverance (Psalms 74:12-23). Whether it is a prophetic Psalm, intended for use in troubles foreseen, or whether it was written by a later Asaph, after the invasion by Sennacherib or during the Maccabean wars, it would be very hard to determine, but we see no difficulty in the first supposition. Ver. 1. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? To cast us off at all were hard, but when thou dost for so long a time desert they people it is an evil beyond all endurance--the very chief of woes and abyss of misery. It is our wisdom when under chastisement to enquire, "Show me wherefore thou contendest with me?" and if the affliction be a protracted one, we should more eagerly enquire the purport of it. Sin is usually at the bottom of all the hiding of the Lord's face; let us ask the Lord to reveal the special form of it to us, that we may repent of it, overcome it, and henceforth forsake it. When a church is in a forsaken condition it must not sit still in apathy, but turn to the hand which smiteth it, and humbly enquire the reason why. At the same time, the enquiry of the text is a faulty one, for it implies two mistakes. There are two questions, which only admit of negative replies. "Hath God cast away his people?" (Romans 11:1); and the other, "Will the Lord cast off for ever?" (Psalms 77:7). God is never weary of his people so as to abhor them, and even when his anger is turned against them, it is but for a small moment, and with a view to their eternal good. Grief in its distraction asks strange questions and surmises impossible terrors. It is a wonder of grace that the Lord has not long ago put us away as men lay aside cast off garments, but he hateth putting away, and will still be patient with his chosen. Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? They are thine, they are the objects of thy care, they are poor, silly, and defenceless things: pity them, forgive them, and come to their rescue. They are but sheep, do not continue to be wroth with them. It is a terrible thing when the anger of God smokes, but it is an infinite mercy that it does not break into a devouring flame. It is meet to pray the Lord to remove every sign of his wrath, for it is to those who are truly the Lord's sheep a most painful thing to be the objects of his displeasure. To vex the Holy Spirit is no mean sin, and yet how frequently are we guilty of it; hence it is no marvel that we are often under a cloud. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. There is one singularity in this Psalm which reminds one strongly of Psa 44:1-26 : there is not one mention of national or personal sin throughout, no allusion to the Lord's righteous dealing in their punishment, no supplication for pardon and forgiveness; and yet one can hardly doubt that the writer of the Psalm, be he who he may, must have felt as keenly as Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, or any other prophet of the captivity, the sins and iniquities which had brought all this sore evil upon them. But still, though there be expostulations, there is no complaint; though there be mourning, there is no murmuring; there is far more the cry of a smitten child, wondering why, and grieving that his father's face is so turned away from him in displeasure, and a father's hand so heavy on the child of his love. Or, as we might almost say, it is like the cry of one of those martyred ones beneath the altar, wondering at the marauder and oppressor, and exclaiming, "How long, O Lord, how long?" And yet it is the appeal of one who was still a sufferer, still groaning under the pressure of his calamities, "Why has thou cast us off for ever? We see not our signs, there is no more any prophet among us." Barton Bouchier. Whole Psalm. The peculiarity of this Psalm is marred by the very frequent use of the xeg, for ever: Psalms 74:1; Psalms 74:3; Psalms 74:10. E. W. Hengstenberg. Ver. 1. This Psalm, and particularly these words, do contain the church's sad lamentation over her deep affliction, together with her earnest expostulations with God about the cause. Two things there are that the church in these words doth plead with God. First, The greatness of her affliction: secondly, the nearness of he relation. 1. The greatness of her affliction. And there were three things in her affliction that did make it lie very heavy upon her. First, the root of this affliction; and that was God's anger: Why doth thine anger smoke, etc. Secondly, the height of this affliction; God was not only angry, but he did smoke in his anger. Thirdly, the length of this affliction: it was so long that God did seem to cast them off for ever. 2. The nearness of her relation: Against the sheep of thy pasture; as if they should have said, Lord, if thou hadst done this against thine enemies, it had been no wonder; if thou hadst poured out thy wrath against the vessels of wrath, it had not been so much. But what! wilt thou draw out thy sword against the sheep of thy pasture? It were no wonder that thou shouldest take the fat and the strong, and pour out thy judgments upon them; but wilt thou do it to thy sheep? There be several doctrines that I may raise from these words; as, First doctrine: That God's people are his sheep. Second doctrine: That God may be sorely angry with his own people, with his own sheep. Third doctrine: That when God is angry with his people, it becomes them carefully to enquire into the cause. Fourth doctrine: That when God's people are under afflictions, they ought to take notice of, and be much affected with, his anger, from which they do proceed. Fifth doctrine: That God's people under affliction are, or should be, more affected with his anger than with their smart. This is that which the church doth complain of, not that the church did so smart, but that God was displeased and angry; that did most affect them. Sixth doctrine: That God's people are apt to have misgiving thoughts of God when they are in sore afflictions. God was angry with his people, and their hearts did misgive them, as if God did cast off his people. Seventh doctrine: That God may be angry with his people, so sore, and so long, that in the judgment of sense it may seem that they are for ever cast off. Eighth doctrine: That though the people of God may not murmur against his proceedings, yet they may humbly expostulate with him about the cause. Joseph Alleine. 1633-1668. Ver. 1. Why doth thine anger smoke, etc. Anger is a fire; and in men, and other creatures enraged, a smoke seemeth to go out of their nostrils. Xenophon saith of the Thebans, when they are angry they breathe fire. This then is spoken of God, after the manner of men. John Trapp. Ver. 1. The sheep of thy pasture. There is nothing more imbecile than a sheep: simple, frugal, gentle, tame, patient, prolific, timid, domesticated, stupid, useful. Therefore, while the name of sheep is here used, it is suggested how pressing the necessity is for divine assistance, and how well befitting the Most High it would be to make their cause his own. Lorinus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. I. The divine displeasure a fact. II. It is but in measure, and we are very liable to exaggerate it. III. Even while it lasts our relation to him is unaffected: Sheep of thy pasture. IV. Our business is to enquire the reason of it, and act accordingly. Ver. 1. (second clause). The Lord's anger with his people compared to smoke. I. It is not a consuming fire. II. It suggests fear of the fire. III. It darkens the light of joy. IV. It blinds the eyes of faith. V. It checks the breath of life. VI. It blackens the beauty of our worldly comforts. Psalms 74:2* Ver. 2. Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old. What a mighty plea is redemption. O God, canst thou see the blood mark on thine own sheep, and yet allow grievous wolves to devour them? The church is no new purchase of the Lord; from before the world's foundation the chosen were regarded as redeemed by the Lamb slain; shall ancient love die out, and the eternal purpose become frustrate? The Lord would have his people remember the paschal Lamb, the bloodstained lintel, and the overthrow of Egypt; and will he forget all this himself? Let us put him in remembrance, let us plead together. Can he desert his blood bought and forsake his redeemed? Can election fail and eternal love cease to glow? Impossible. The woes of Calvary, and the covenant of which they are the seal, are the security of the saints. The rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed. So sweet a plea deserved to be repeated and enlarged upon. The Lord's portion is his people--will he lose his inheritance? His church is his kingdom, over which he stretches the rod of sovereignty; will he allow his possessions to be torn from him? God's property in us is a fact full of comfort: his value of us, his dominion over us, his connection with us are all so many lights to cheer our darkness. No man will willingly lose his inheritance, and no prince will relinquish his dominions; therefore we believe that the King of kings will hold his own, and maintain his rights against all comers. This mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt. The Lord's having made Zion the especial centre of his worship, and place of his manifestation, is yet another plea for the preservation of Jerusalem. Shall the sacred temple of Jehovah be desecrated by heathen, and the throne of the Great King be defiled by his enemies? Has the Spirit of God dwelt in our hearts, and will he leave them to become a haunt for the devil? Has he sanctified us by his indwelling, and will he, after all, vacate the throne? God forbid. It may be well to note that this Psalm was evidently written with a view to the temple upon Zion, and not to the tabernacle which was there in David's time, and was a mere tent; but the destructions here bewailed were exercised upon the carved work of a substantial structure. Those who had seen the glory of God in Solomon's peerless temple might well mourn in bitterness, when the Lord allowed his enemies to make an utter ruin of that matchless edifice. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 2. Remember thy congregation. It is not without reason that they do not say, Remember us, but Remember thy congregation, not ours, but thine; nor that because it has now begun to be thine, but which thou hast purchased of old, the rod of thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed: likewise, this Mount Zion; not wherein we, but wherein thou hast dwelt. They had nothing which they could bring before an angry God with greater confidence, than the ancient lovingkindness shown to their fathers in former days. Musculus. Ver. 2. The rod of thine inheritance. hlxg jbv, the inheritance rod is the staff with which the inheritance is measured; jkv hdmh hgq, the land surveyor's rod (Ezekiel 40:3); and this is used as lrwg, the lot, is for the portion, for the inheritance itself. E. W. Hengstenberg. Ver. 2. Thine inheritance. It signifies a nation, which through all successions God had a peculiar right and title to. Henry Hammond. Ver. 2. Thou hast redeemed, i.e., the purchased people, by restoring them when they had been alienated, and had fallen into the hands of others: like a goel, or near kinsman, who ransoms a brother hurried into captivity, and regains an inheritance that has been sold. Hermann Venema. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. I. The Lord's relation to his people. 1. Election. 2. Redemption. 3. Indwelling. II. The prayer arising from it: Remember. Psalms 74:3* Ver. 3. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations. The ruin made had already long been an eyesore to the suppliant, and there seemed no hope of restoration. Havoc lorded it not only for a day or a year, but with perpetual power. This is another argument with God. Would Jehovah sit still and see his own land made a wilderness, his own palace a desolation? Until he should arise, and draw near, the desolation would remain; only his presence could cure the evil, therefore is he entreated to hasten with uplifted feet for the deliverance of his people. Even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. Every stone in the ruined temple appealed to the Lord; on all sides were the marks of impious spoilers, the holiest places bore evidence of their malicious wickedness; would the Lord for ever permit this? Would he not hasten to overthrow the foe who defied him to his face, and profaned the throne of his glory? Faith finds pleas in the worst circumstances, she uses even the fallen stones of her desolate palaces, and assails with them the gates of heaven, casting them forth with the great engine of prayer. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. Lift up thy feet. Or, thy hammers, that is, "thy strokes, "to "stamp" or "beat down" the enemy "unto perpetual desolations." Thus the "feet" are used to "tread down with, " Isaiah 26:6; and so the Greek taketh it here, changing the metaphor, and translating it, "Thy hands, "which are also instruments to strike down with. Or, lift up thy feet, that is, come quickly to see the perpetual desolations, which the enemy hath made. Henry Ainsworth. Ver. 3. Lift up thy feet. Abu Walid renders it, Tread hard upon thine enemies. The Jewish Arab, Shew forth thy punishment, adding in a note that the lifting up the feet implies punishment, the bringing under by force being usually expressed by treading under the feet. Henry Hammond. Ver. 3. Lift up thy feet, etc. To these desolations they seek that God would lift up his footsteps, that is, that he would approach. In Genesis 29:1, there occurs the phrase, to lift the feet; here the expression is much more marked--to lift up the footsteps --and must be taken to mean a swift, impetuous, majestic, and powerful approach; like a hero, who strikes the ground with heavy tread, and advances rapidly with far sounding footsteps. Hermann Venema. Ver. 3. In the sanctuary. Their cities had been laid waste, their provinces, their farms, their vineyards, their oliveyards. They themselves had been everywhere cut down without striking a blow in defence, and their means of life had been snatched away without resistance. Yet they speak not of these things; not because things of this sort ought not to cause grief, nor yet because the saints are not touched with a sense of their loss; but because those things which threatened the extinction of religion and the worship of God, overtopped the feeling of all these other misfortunes with an intolerable sorrow. Musculus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. Church mischief. I. The church has enemies. II. Wickedness in the church is their great weapon. III. This causes much desolation to weak saints, to enquirers, to peace, to prayer, to usefulness. IV. The cure for it is God's interposition. Ver. 3-4. The power of prayer. I. On one side were, 1. Desolation: perpetual, etc. 2. Desecration. 3. Declamation: enemies roar. 4. Demonstration: they set up. II. On the other side is, 1. Supplication. 2. This brings God to the rescue effectually and quickly. Psalms 74:4* Ver. 4. Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations. Where thy people sang like angels, these barbarians roar like beasts. When thy saints come together for worship, these cruel men attack them with all the fury of lions. They have no respect for the most solemn gatherings, but intrude themselves and their blasphemies into our most hallowed meetings. How often in times of persecution or prevalent heresy has the church learned the meaning of such language. May the Lord spare us such misery. When hypocrites abound in the church, and pollute her worship, the case is parallel to that before us; Lord save us from so severe a trial. They set up their ensigns for signs. Idolatrous emblems used in war were set up over God's altar, as an insulting token of victory, and of contempt for the vanquished and their God. Papists, Arians, and the modern school of Neologians, have, in their day, set up their ensigns for signs. Superstition, unbelief, and carnal wisdom have endeavoured to usurp the place of Christ crucified, to the grief of the church of God. The enemies without do us small damage, but those within the church cause her serious harm; by supplanting the truth and placing error in its stead, they deceive the people, and lead multitudes to destruction. As a Jew felt a holy horror when he saw an idolatrous emblem set up in the holy place, even so do we when in a Protestant church we see the fooleries of Rome, and when from pulpits, once occupied by men of God, we hear philosophy and vain deceit. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. Thine enemies roar, etc. The word gav is used especially of the roar of the lion... In this place we may justly extend the application of the verb to those noisy words, whether mirthful or boastful, blasphemous against God and calamitous to his people (Psalms 74:10), breathing terror and threatenings through edicts; or rude and senseless, as in their idolatrous worship; or in their prayers and thoughtless songs. As in Isaiah 52:5, its meaning is to howl. Hermann Venema. Ver. 4. They set up their ensigns for signs. The meaning is, that the enemy, having abolished the signs of the true God, of his people and religion, such as circumcision, the feasts, sacrifices, the other ordinances of religion, and other marks of liberty, substituted his own idolatrous signs, as the signs of his authority and religion. Hermann Venema. Ver. 4-7. (The persecution under Antiochus. B.C. 168.) Athenaeus proceeded to Jerusalem, where, with the assistance of the garrison, he prohibited and suppressed every observance of the Jewish religion, forced the people to profane the Sabbath, to eat swine's flesh, and other unclean food, and expressly forbade the national rite of circumcision. The Temple was dedicated to Jupiter Olympus: the statue of that deity was erected on part of the altar of burnt offerings, and sacrifice duly performed... As a last insult, the feasts of the Bacchanalia, the license of which, as they were celebrated in the later ages of Greece, shocked the severe virtue of the older Romans, were substituted for the national festival of Tabernacles. The reluctant Jews were forced to join in these riotous orgies, and to carry the ivy, the insignia of the god. So near was the Jewish nation, and the worship of Jehovah, to total extermination. Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868), in "A History of the Jews." (Under Titus.) And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings lying round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple, and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator, with the greatest acclamation of joy. Josephus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3-4. The power of prayer. I. On one side were, 1. Desolation: perpetual, etc. 2. Desecration. 3. Declamation: enemies roar. 4. Demonstration: they set up. II. On the other side is, 1. Supplication. 2. This brings God to the rescue effectually and quickly. Ver. 4. Ensigns for signs. The craft of Satan is supplanting truth with deceptive counterfeits. Psalms 74:5* Ver. 5. A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees. Once men were renowned for felling the cedars and preparing them for building the temple, but now the axe finds other work, and men are as proud of destroying as their fathers were of erecting. Thus in the olden times our sires dealt sturdy blows against the forests of error, and laboured hard to lay the axe at the root of the trees; but, alas! their sons appear to be quite as diligent to destroy the truth and to overthrow all that their fathers built up. O for the good old times again! O for an hour of Luther's hatchet, or Calvin's mighty axe! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 74:4" for further information. (Under Titus.) And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings lying round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple, and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator, with the greatest acclamation of joy. Josephus. Ver. 5. A man was famous, etc. It enhances the cruelty of the enemy that the temple which had been at the cost of so much treasure, adorned with such great elegance and splendour, and finished with untiring industry and consummate skill, was not saved thereby from their barbarous hands, but was utterly overthrown. There is a simile in these verses. The enemies breaking to pieces with great violence and casting down the altars and beams of the temple, are compared to the woodman, who with axe in hand cuts down the strong trees of the wood. Mollerus. Ver. 5. A man was famous, etc. That is, very renowned were the workmen, who, by Hiram's order, cut down the rough cedars and firs in the thick Tyrian forests, for the building of thy Temple, and thereby they did an acceptable service to thee. Thomas Fenton. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. True fame. To build for God with labour, daring, diligence, skill, etc. Psalms 74:6* Ver. 6. But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers. The invaders were as industrious to destroy as the ancient builders had been to construct. Such fair carving it was barbarous to hew in pieces, but the Vandals had no mercy and broke down all, with any weapon which came to hand. In these days men are using axes and sledgehammers against the gospel and the church. Glorious truths, far more exquisite than the goodliest carving, are cavilled over and smashed by the blows of modern criticism. Truths which have upheld the afflicted and cheered the dying are smitten by pretentious Goths, who would be accounted learned, but know not the first principals of the truth. With sharp ridicule, and heavy blows of sophistry, they break the faith of some: and would, if it were possible, destroy the confidence of the elect themselves. Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans are but types of spiritual foes who labour to crush the truth and the people of God. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 74:4" for further information. Ver. 6. The carved work thereof. Even barbarian invaders are wont to spare the more splendid buildings for art's sake. Demetrius, when he had taken a picture painted by Protogenes in the suburbs of Rhodes, was besought by the Rhodians to be lenient towards art, lest he should destroy the painting. He replied that he would sooner burn the statues of his father than so great a work of art. The ferocity of these enemies, therefore, outdoes the barbarity of others, for they ruthlessly cast down an edifice sculptured and polished with the greatest skill. Mollerus. Ver. 6. The carved work. Mywtb Pittuchim: used in 1 Kings 6:29, of the "carved figures of cherubim, and palm trees, and open flowers, "which were on the Temple walls. William Kay. Ver. 6. With axes and hammers. It is noted by a learned interpreter, that the words in the original rendered in our translation, with axes and hammers, are not properly Hebrew, but Syriac words, purposely to hint thereby the time when and the persons by whom this was done. Arthur Jackson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6. Vandal work against the truth of God. Ver. 6-7. Things feared by a church. I. Injury to her doctrines or ordinances: carved work. II. The fire of strife, division, etc. III. The defilement of sin. Either of these three will throw a church down; let her guard and pray against them. Psalms 74:7* Ver. 7. They have cast fire into thy sanctuary. Axes and hammers were not sufficient for the purpose of the destroyers, they must needs try fire. Malice knows no bounds. Those who hate God are never sparing of the most cruel weapons. To this day the enmity of the human heart is quite as great as ever; and, if providence did not restrain, the saints would still be as fuel for the flames. They have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground. They made a heap of the temple, and left not one stone upon another. When the Lord left Mount Zion, and the Roman gained entrance, the military fury led the soldiers to burn out and root up the memorial of the famous House of the Lord. Could the powers of darkness have their way, a like fate would befall the church of Christ. "Rase it, "say they, "rase it even to the foundation thereof." Defilement to the church is destruction; her foes would defile her till nothing of her purity, and consequently of her real self, remained. Yet, even if they could wreak their will upon the cause of Christ, they are not able to destroy it, it would survive their blows and fires; the Lord would hold them still like dogs on a leash, and in the end frustrate all their designs. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 74:4" for further information. (Under Titus.) And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the holy house itself, and of all the buildings lying round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple, and set them over against its eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and there did they make Titus imperator, with the greatest acclamation of joy. Josephus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6-7. Things feared by a church. I. Injury to her doctrines or ordinances: carved work. II. The fire of strife, division, etc. III. The defilement of sin. Either of these three will throw a church down; let her guard and pray against them. Psalms 74:8* Ver. 8. They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together. It was no idle wish, their cruelty was sincere, deep seated, a matter of their inmost heart. Extirpation was the desire of Haman, and the aim of many another tyrant; not a remnant of the people of God would have been left if oppressors could have had their way. Pharaoh's policy to stamp out the nation has been a precedent for others, yet the Jews survive, and will: the bush though burning has not been consumed. Even thus the church of Christ has gone through baptism of blood and fire, but it is all the brighter for them. They have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land. Here is no allusion to places called synagogues, but to assemblies; and as no assemblies for worship here held in but one place, the ruin of the temple was the destruction of all the holy gatherings, and so in effect all the meeting places were destroyed. One object of persecutors has always been to put an end to all conventicles, as they have called them. Keep them from meeting and you will scatter them, so have the enemy said; but, glory be to God, saints are independent of walls, and have met on the hill side, by the moss, or in the catacombs, or in a boat at sea. Yet has the attempt been almost successful, and the hunt so hot, that the faithful have wandered in solitude, and their solemn congregations have been, under such circumstances, few and far between. What sighs and cries have in such times gone up to the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth. How happy are we that we can meet for worship in any place we choose, and none dare molest us. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 8. The synagogues of God. It is the opinion of Spencer, Vitringa, and of the learned in general, that the institution of synagogues for worship originated in the reading of the law publicly after the collection of its volumes by Ezra, and that, consequently, there were no such places of solemn assembly previous to the Babylonish captivity. Some of the Jews themselves have expressed a conviction that this is the fact, and the Scriptures give no intimation of their existence antecedently to that time. We are aware, however, that one of the first Hebraists of the present day, the Rev. Dr. Macaul, inclines to the opinion of an earlier origin than that generally adopted. We quote his words: "The existence of such places before the Babylonish captivity has been much disputed"; and most writers, arguing from the silence of the Old Testament, incline to the opinion that they originated in Babylon, and that after the restoration similar oratories were opened in the land of Israel; and hence some infer that the Seventy-fourth Psalm, which says in the eighth verse, They have burned up all the synagogues in the land, was written in the post Babylonian times. The argument from silence is, however, far from conclusive. The translation of yrewm as synagogues, in the verse just cited, might fairly lead to a similar translation in some other passages which were confessedly written before the captivity; and the circumstances, character, and necessities of the Israelites, the great body of whom were far removed from the temple, prove indisputably that in their towns and villages they must have had some locality where they assembled on their sabbaths, new moons, and other solemn days, for the purpose of receiving instruction in the law, and for public prayer. That locality, however different from subsequent arrangements, was the origin of the synagogue. How such assemblies were conducted before the captivity it is now impossible to say. F. A. Cox. Ver. 8. Synagogues. Dr. Prideaux affirms that they had no synagogues before the Babylonish captivity; for the main service of the synagogue, says he, being the reading of the law unto the people, where there was no book of the law to be read, there certainly could be no synagogues. But how rare the book of the law was through all Judaea, before the Babylonish captivity, many texts of Scripture tell us. When Jehoshaphat sent teachers through all Judaea, to instruct the people in the law of God, they carried a book of the law with them (2 Chronicles 17:9), which they needed not have done if there had been any copies of the law in those cities to which they went; which certainly there would have been had there been any synagogues in them. And when Hilkiah found the law in the temple (2 Kings 22:8), neither he nor king Josiah needed to have been so surprised at it, had books of the law been common on those times. Their behaviour on that occasion sufficiently proves they had never seen it before, which could not be the case had there then been any other copies of it to be found among the people; and if there were no copies of the law at that time among them, there could then be most certainly no synagogues for them to resort to for the hearing of it read unto them. From whence he concludes there could be no synagogues among the Jews, till after the Babylonish captivity. Cruden's Concordance. Ver. 8. Synagogues. The assertion of those who are in favour of the Maccabean origin of the Psalm, that these words describe the destruction of the synagogues, is met by the remark, that in all the copious accounts which we have of the transactions of these times, there is nothing said of any such work of destruction. E. W. Hengstenberg. Ver. 8. Synagogues. In the Old Testament we find no traces of meetings for worship in synagogues. Temporary altars, groves, and high places were used alike by the Jewish saints and sinners for the worship of God and idols. The only pre-exile instance which seems to indicate that the devout in Israel were in the habit of resorting to pious leaders for blessings and instruction on stated occasions, is to be found in 2 Kings 4:23, where the Shunammite's husband asks, "Wherefore wilt thou go to him (Elisha) today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath." Yet 2 Kings 22:8, etc.; 2 Chronicles 34:14, etc., testify undoubtedly against the existence of places of worship under the monarchy. It is during the exile, whilst the temple worship was in abeyance, that we find indubitable proof of the systematic meetings on fasts for devotion and instruction (Zechariah 7:3-5 8:19). Religious meetings were also held on Sabbaths and fasts, to instruct the exiles in the divine law, and to admonish them to obey the divine precepts, (Ezra 10:1-9 Ne 8:1-3 9:1-3 13:1-3). These meetings, held near the temple and in other localities, were the origin of the synagogue, and the place in which the people assembled was denominated the house of assembly. Hence, also, the synagogue in the temple itself... These synagogues soon became very popular, so that the psalmist in depicting worship in the time of the Maccabees declares that the many meeting places of God--or the Synagogues of God as the A.V. rightly renders it--have been laid waste. Christian D. Ginsburg, in Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature. Ver. 8. (second clause). The sense seems to be, they (the Chaldaean invaders) have abolished all the solemnities in the land. They have taken away the daily sacrifice; they have put an end to the festivals and feasts of our holy ritual. Compare Lamentations 2:6: "He hath violently taken away his tabernacle; he hath destroyed his places of the assembly, "(or rather, his assembly, his moed). "The Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion." Christopher Wordsworth. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 8. The destruction of rural churches, the aim of our enemies: the injury they would so do, and our duty to prevent it: the means the destroyers use: bribery, oppression, etc. Our proper method for sustaining such churches. Psalms 74:9* Ver. 9. We see not our signs. Alas, poor Israel! No Urim and Thummim blazed on the High Priest's bosom, and no Shechaniah shone from between the cherubim. The smoke of sacrifice and cloud of incense no more arose from the holy hill; solemn feasts were suspended, and even circumcision, the covenant sign, was forbidden by the tyrant. We, too, as believers, know what it is to lose our evidences and grope in darkness; and too often do our churches also miss the tokens of the Redeemer's presence, and their lamps remain untrimmed. Sad complaint of a people under a cloud! There is no more any prophet. Prophecy was suspended. No inspiring psalm or consoling promise fell from bard or seer. It is ill with the people of God when the voice of the preacher of the gospel fails, and a famine of the word of life falls on the people. God sent ministers are as needful to the saints as their daily bread, and it is a great sorrow when a congregation is destitute of a faithful pastor. It is to be feared, that with all the ministers now existing, there is yet a dearth of men whose hearts and tongues are touched with the celestial fire. Neither is there any among us that knoweth how long. If someone could foretell an end, the evil might be borne with a degree of patience, but when none can see a termination, or foretell an escape, the misery has a hopeless appearance, and is overwhelming. Blessed be God, he has not left his church in these days to be so deplorably destitute of cheering words; let us pray that he never may. Contempt of the word is very common, and may well provoke the Lord to withdraw it from us; may his long suffering endure the strain, and his mercy afford us still the word of life. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 9. We see not our signs. As if they had said, heretofore God was wont to give us signs and tokens, he would even work miracles for us, or he would send a prophet to instruct and advise us what to do; we had those who could tell us how long, that is, how long our troubles should last, and when we should have our expected end of them; but now we are in trouble, and no man can tell us how long, now we are left to the wide world, to shift for ourselves as well as we can; the Lord will not advise us what to do, nor give us his mind what's best to be done, or how to proceed; thus deplorable was their condition upon the hiding of God's face from them. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 9. We see not our signs. These signs, which he mourned that he did not see, were certain outward marks of God's special favour, certain testimonies of his presence, certain memorials that he was with them to bless them. And it is said that there were five things in Solomon's temple destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, which were not in the second temple, which was erected after the Babylonish captivity. Five memorials or tokens of God's special presence were then wanting. One was the ark of the covenant; another, the fire from heaven upon the brazen altar; the third, the Shechaniah, or cloud that rested upon the mercyseat; the fourth, the Urim and Thummim which were in the breastplate of the high priest; and the fifth, the spirit of prophecy. For though there were the prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, at the time of, and shortly after, the restoration; yet the spirit of prophecy ceased with Malachi, and did not reappear until John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus... The lamentation of the church here, then, was, that she saw not her signs. So now, the church of the living God, the regenerate family of Zion, have often reason to pour out the same melancholy complaint. Signs of God's favour, marks and testimonies of his work of grace upon their souls, are often so out of sight, so buried in obscurity, so enveloped in clouds of darkness, that the living family are compelled, from soul feeling, to take up the language of lamentation here expressed, and say, We see not our signs. J. C. Philpot. 1802-1869. Ver. 9. Our signs. The ordinary signs of Israel being God's peculiar people are the passover (Exodus 12:13), the Sabbath (Exodus 21:13), the temple, the altar, the sacrifices; the extraordinary ones are God's miracles wrought in his people's behalf (Psalms 78:43). A. R. Fausset. Ver. 9. There is no more any prophet. By us it ought to be observed what they do not say: It is not, --here is no more any giant or warlike leader who may deliver us from the adversary: but, there is no more any prophet. And yet when the prophets were with them, they were contemptible in the eyes of all, maltreated by the wicked and put to death. Musculus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 9. (first clause). I. There are such things as signs, that is, tokens and marks of God's special favour to the soul. II. There is also a seeing those signs when God, the Holy Ghost, is pleased to shine upon them. III. There is a third state, where there is not seeing the signs, those signs being enveloped in darkness, dimness, and obscurity. J. C. Philpot. Psalms 74:10* Ver. 10. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Though we know not how long yet thou dost. The times and seasons are with thee. When God is reproached, there is hope for us, for it may be he will hearken and avenge his dishonoured name. Wickedness has great license allowed it, and justice lingers on the road; God has his reasons for delay, and his seasons for action, and in the end it shall be seen that he is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness. Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? He will do so for ever, unless thou dost give him his quietus. Wilt thou never defend thyself, and stop slanderous tongues? Wilt thou always endure the jeers of the profane? Is there to be no end to all this sacrilege and cursing? Yes, it shall all be ended, but not by and by. There is a time for the sinner to rage, and a time in which patience bears with him; yet it is but a time, and then, ah, then! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 10. Shall the enemy blaspheme the name for ever? The sinner never leaves his sin till sin first leaves him: did not death put a stop to his sin, he would never cease from sin. This may be illustrated by a similitude thus: A company of gamesters resolve to play all night, and accordingly they sit down to chess tables, or some other game; their candle, accidentally or unexpectedly, goes out, or is put out, or burnt out; their candle being out, they are forced to give over their game, and go to bed in the dark; but had the candle lasted all night, they would have played all night. This is every sinner's case in regard of sin: did not death put out the candle of life, the sinner would sin still. Should the sinner live for ever, he would sin for ever; and, therefore, it is a righteous thing with God to punish him for ever in hellish torments. Every impenitent sinner would sin to the days of eternity, if he might live to the days of eternity. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? For ever, and evermore; or for ever and yet--for so the Hebrew loves to exaggerate: as if the sinner, the blasphemer, would set a term of duration longer than eternity to sin in. The psalmist implicitly saith, Lord, if thou dost but let them alone for ever, they will certainly blaspheme thy name for ever and ever. I have read of the crocodile, that he knows no maximum quod sic, he is always growing bigger and bigger, and never comes to a certain pitch of monstrosity so long as he lives. Quamdiu vivit crescit. Every habituated sinner would, if he were let alone, be such a monster, perpetually growing worse and worse. Thomas Brooks. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 10. A prayer for revival. I. How God is reproached. II. What are the ill effects of it. III. When we may expect him to arise. Psalms 74:11* This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ Psalms 751. To the Chief Musician. Al-tashheth. A Psalm by Asaph. A song (of praise). See above, on Psalms 68:1. In this psalm the ancient church expresses a confident anticipation of divine assistance and deliverance from the domination of some great hostile power, the catastrophe of which is here foretold. The immediate historical occasion we have no direct means of determining; but the one to which the psalm itself seems most appropriate is the destruction of the Assyrian host in the reign of Hezekiah. See above, on Psalms 46:1, and below, on Psalms 76:1, and compare Isaiah 36 and Isaiah 37. That the psalm has reference to a period of imminent and extraordinary danger, is moreover indicated by the phrase al-tashheth, or destroy not. See above, on Psalms 57:1. 2. (Psalms 75:1). We give thanks to thee, 0 God, we give thanks; and (near) is thy name; they recount thy wonders. The thanksgiving is in anticipation of some great event, and implies a strong faith in the certainty of its occurrence. Thy name is near, a signal manifestation of thine attributes is just at hand, so that men begin already to recount thy wondrous works, as if actually past. Or this may mean that they recount God's former dealings with them, as a reason for expecting like or greater things to come. Another construction of the last clause, perhaps still more natural, is that adopted in the English Bible: thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare. For the sense and usage of the last word in Hebrew, see above, on Psalms 9:1; Psalms 26:7; Psalms 40:5; Psalms 71:17. 3. (Psalms 75:2). For I will take a set time; I will equitably judge. The best interpreters are now in favour of explaining these as the words of God himself, containing the promise upon which was built the hope expressed in the preceding verse. Take then includes the two ideas of choosing and using for the end proposed. The word translated set time is the same that means assembly in Psalms 74:4; Psalms 74:8. The idea of constituted time, which is included even there, is here predominant. The same use of the word occurs in Psalms 102:13, Habakkuk 2:3, Daniel 8:19; Daniel 11:27; Daniel 11:35. There is here an obvious allusion to the stated times at which justice is publicly administered. Compare Acts 19:38. As if he had said, I will appoint a time, and when it comes, I will ascend the judgment-seat. The parties to be tried are the foes and oppressors of God's people. The pronoun is emphatic; I, and no other, will be judge. See above, on Psalms 1:6. Equitably, literally equities or rectitudes. See above, on Psalms 17:2; Psalms 58:1. The use of the plural, as an abstract, and that of the noun in an adverbial sense, are both familiar Hebrew idioms. The judging of the wicked at God's bar implies their condemnation, and, as a necessary consequence, the deliverance of those whom they oppress or injure. 4. (Psalms 75:3). Melted (are) the earth and all dwelling on it; I have weighed the pillars of it. Selah. Dissolved with fear, enfeebled, or reduced to nothing. See above, on Psalms 46:6. The figure in the last clause is obscure. The act of weighing may be intended to suggest that of raising, bearing up. Compare Isaiah 40:12-13; Isaiah 40:15. Some suppose, however, that it means to measure, estimate, or value, and implies not only perfect knowledge but creative power. As a part of the promise or encouraging assurance begun in the preceding verse, the one before us must mean that God himself will prevent or rectify the evils caused or threatened by his enemies. 5. (Psalms 75:4). I said to the boasters, Boast not, and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn! Some regard these as the words of the psalmist, speaking again in the person of the church. The sense will then be that, encouraged by God's promise of protection and deliverance, his people warn their adversaries not to triumph. It seems more natural, however, to explain them as a continuation of the words of God himself, whose very assurance of protection to his people was in fact a warning of destruction to his enemies. The objection, that what follows must then be referred to the same speaker, is of little weight, as the transition from one person to another, in the psalms of a dramatic structure, is not commonly a marked one, and is often quite insensible. The concluding metaphor is borrowed from the habits of horned animals, and nearly equivalent to the act of holding the head high, as a sign of human pride. For a different application of the figure, see above, on Psalms 18:2. 6. (Psalms 75:5). Do not raise on high your horn (and) speak with a proud neck, or speak with (outstretched) neck proudly. The last word is an adjective meaning insolent or arrogant. See above, on Psalms 31:18. It may either agree with neck, and signify a position and carriage of the neck indicative of pride (Psalms 73:6), or constitute the object of the verb, in which case with the neck may mean with outstretched or prolonged neck, not projecting forwards but inclining backwards. See Isaiah 3:16, and compare Job 15:26 in Hebrew. For a similar ellipsis, see below, Psalms 77:15. 7. (Psalms 75:6). For not from east, and (not) from west, and not from the wilderness of mountains, is the judgment on these sinners to proceed, but from a verydifferent quarter. The word translated east means properly the sunrise, or rather the place of his coming forth; the parallel term the sunset, or the place of evening. A third point of the compass is denoted by the wilderness, the great Arabian desert lying to the south of Palestine. The last word in Hebrew admits of two entirely different explanations. One of these, given in the English Bible, makes it the infinitive of the verb translated raise in Psalms 75:4-5, and supposes it to mean the act of raising, or a state of exaltation. The sense will then be that promotion cometh not from any quarter upon earth, but from God and God alone. Others object that the question here is not one of promotion but of judg-ment, as appears from the foregoing and the following context. They accordingly adhere to the ancient versions in making the plural of the common Hebrew word for hill or mountain, and explain the whole phrase to mean a hilly desert or a wilderness of mountains, a description eminently applicable to Idumcea and Arabia Petraea. The essential idea is still that of the south, here added to the east and west, as a general description of the countries contiguous to Palestine. The south is mentioned last, perhaps for the sake of an emphatic reference to Egypt, as the foreign power, on which the Jews were supposed by the Assyrians to rely with special confidence. Compare Isaiah 36:4-6. The omission of the north may either be fortuitous or (as some suppose) intended to suggest that this was the quarter from which the hostile incursion had proceeded, as it was in fact, invaders even from the furthest east commonly entering the country from that side. The meaning of the whole verse then is, that the danger which impended from one quarter could not be averted by mere human aid from any other, but only by the means referred to in the next verse. 8. (Psalms 75:7). For God (is) judge (or actually judging); this (one) he will humble, and this (one) will exalt. The for at the beginning introduces the reason of the negative statement in the verse preceding. It is not man, for it is God, who can perform this. The same relation of the sentences is commonly expressed in our idiom by but. The act of judging, or the office of a judge, here implies absolute sovereignty. This and this is the idiomatic Hebrew phrase answering to one and another in English. See above, on Psalms 20:7). 9. (Psalms 75:8). For a cup (is) in the hand of Jehovah, and the wine ferments, and it is full of mixture, and he pours out from this (cup); only its dregs shall they wring (or suck) out, shall they drink— all the wicked of the earth (or land). This is a common figure in the Scriptures for the wrath of God. See above, on Psalms 11:6. The cup contains the prescribed or allotted portion of the sinner to whom it is administered. Ferments or has fermented, implying that it is real wine and strong wine. The translation it is red is now supposed to rest upon a doubtful etymology. Some interpreters explain the phrase, it foams with wine; but this construction is not only in itself less simple, but puts a sense upon the verb not entirely authorised by usage, and requires the noun cup, which is elsewhere feminine, to be construed as a masculine. It (the wine) is full of mixture, i.e. mixed with spices to increase its strength and stimulating power. Only its dregs is an idiomatic Hebrew phrase, which does not mean, as it may seem to do in English, that they shall drink nothing but the dregs. The meaning rather is, that they shall have nothing left for it, no resource, or no alternative, except to drain the cup to the very dregs, i. e. to suffer God's wrath to the uttermost (1 Thessalonians 2:16). The position given to the subject of the sentence at its close makes it more emphatic. See above on Psalms 11. 10. (Psalms 75:9.) And I will declare for ever, I will sing praise to the God of Jacob. The emphatic pronoun puts him in opposition to the wicked of the earth or land. "While they are thus destroyed, I will declare," etc. The object of the verb in the first clause is determined by the second. Sing praise, make music, as a means of celebrating the divine praise. See above, on Psalms 9:11; Psalms 30:4; Psalms 47:6; Psalms 66:4. To the God of Jacob, to him who has proved himself to be such, by fulfilling the promise made of old to Israel. The personal name of the patriarch is poetically substituted for the one which properly belonged to him as founder of the nation. See above, on Psalms 24:6. 11. (Psalms 75:10). And all horns of wicked ones will I cut of; lifted up shall be the horns of the righteous. The same noun and verb, that were used in Psalms 75:4-5, to denote the self-exaltation of the wicked, are here used in a good sense to denote God's gracious exaltation of the righteous. Compare Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11; Luke 23:14. In the first clause, to the simple correlative idea of humiliation is superadded that of violent destruction. While the horns of the righteous are to be exalted, those of the wicked are not only to be lowered but cut off. The change from the plural (wicked men) to the singular (a righteous man), if meant to be significant at all, may have reference to the speaker as an ideal individual. The construction of these words as those of God himself is a gratuitous and harsh one. They are rather uttered by the Church, as representing him, or acting in his strength and under his authority. TITLE. To the Chief Musician. Here is noble work for him, for the cry of the last Psalm is about to be heard, and the challenge of the foes of Israel taken up by God himself. Here the virgin daughter of Zion despises her foe, and laughs him to scorn. The destruction of Sennacherib's army is a notable illustration of this sacred song. Al-taschith. Here is another of the "destroy not" Psalms, and the title may be intended as a check upon the natural fierceness of the oppressed, or a taunt for the savage foe, who is here bitterly bidden to destroy not, because the nation is well aware that he cannot. Here, in holy faith, the sucking child plays at the hole of the asp, and the weaned child puts his hand on the cockatrice den. A Psalm or Song of Asaph. For reading or singing. A hymn to God and a song for his saints. Happy were the people who having found a Milton in David had an almost equal songster in Asaph: happiest of all, because these poets were not inspired by earth's Castalian fount, but drank of "the fount of every blessing." . The people's song of gratitude and adoration begins the hymn in Psalms 75:1. In the next four Psalms 75:2-5, the Lord reveals himself as ruling the world in righteousness. Then follows a warning voice from the church to her enemies, Psalms 75:6-8, and a closing song anticipatory of the glory due to God and the utter defeat of the foe. Ver. 1. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks. Not to ourselves, for we were helpless, but to Elohim who heard our cry, and replied to the taunt of our foes. Never let us neglect thanksgiving, or we may fear that another time our prayers will remain unanswered. As the smiling flowers gratefully reflect in their lovely colours the various constituents of the solar ray, so should gratitude spring up in our hearts after the smiles of God's providence. Unto thee do we give thanks. We should praise God again and again. Stinted gratitude is ingratitude. For infinite goodness there should be measureless thanks. Faith promises redoubled praise for greatly needed and signal deliverances. For that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare. God is at hand to answer and do wonders--adore we then the present Deity. We sing not of a hidden God, who sleeps and leaves the church to her fate, but of one who ever in our darkest days is most near, a very present help in trouble. "Near is his name." Baal is on a journey, but Jehovah dwells in his church. Glory be unto the Lord, whose perpetual deeds of grace and majesty are the sure tokens of his being with us always, even unto the ends of the world. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Title. Al-taschith. Destroy not. This seems to have been used by David as a maxim during the violent persecutions of Saul, as if to remind himself to forebear revenge, though it was often in his power to inflict it, upon his unnatural enemy. F. G. Hubbard, in "The Psalms Chronologically arranged, with Historical Introductions". New York. 1856. Whole Psalm. As these words are really a prayer, while at the same time the Psalm is thrown into the form, not of petitions, but of a thanksgiving, it ought to be considered as a thank prayer, uttered beforehand, and containing petitions within it. Berleb. Bible. Ver. 1. Thy name is near. The name of God is said to be near, because it had come into public notice, and was in every mind and every tongue--opposed to what is unknown and obscure, which is said to be far remote. Compare Deuteronomy 30:11. Hermann Venema. Ver. 1. The psalmist doubles this duty in the practice of the saints; Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, we give thanks, we do it; as if none else did it but they, or as if they had done noting else. Joseph Caryl, in "A Sermon before the House of Commons, "entitled, "The Saints' Thankful Acclamation." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. The unceasing thanksgiving of the church, her grand cause for adoration: the nearness of her God, and the evident proof thereof in the displays of his power. Ver. 1. I. Do we give thanks? II. We do give thanks. III. What thanks do we give.? IV. When do we give thanks? V. Let us give thanks again. Psalms 75:2* Ver. 2. When I shall receive the congregation I will judge uprightly. This is generally believed to be the voice of God, who will, when he accepts his people, mount his judgment seat and avenge their cause in righteousness. It is rendered by some, "I will take a set time; "and by others, "I will seize the moment." "God never is before his time, He is never too late." He determines the period of interposition, and when that arrives swift are his blows and sure are his deliverances. God sends no delegated judge, but sits himself upon the throne. O Lord, let thy set time come for grace. Tarry no longer, but for the truth and the throne of Jesus be thou speedily at work. Let the appointed assize come, O Jesus, and sit thou on thy throne to judge the world in equity. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS None. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Good resolutions commendable, how they should be made, strengthened, and performed. Psalms 75:3* Ver. 3. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. When anarchy is abroad, and tyrants are in power, everything is unloosed, dissolution threatens all things, the solid mountains of government melt as wax; but even then the Lord upholds and sustains the right. I bear up the pillars of it. Hence, there is no real cause for fear. While the pillars stand, and stand they must for God upholds them, the house will brave out the storm. In the day of the Lord's appearing a general melting will take place, but in that day our covenant God will be the sure support of our confidence. "How can I sink with such a prop As my eternal God, Who bears the earth's huge pillars up, And spreads the heavens abroad." Selah. Here may the music pause while the sublime vision passes before our view; a world dissolved and an immutable God uplifting all his people above the terrible commotion. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 3. I bear up the pillars of it. I prevent it from falling to pieces, as a house, supported by columns too weak to bear its weight, would do. Daniel Cresswell. Ver. 3. I bear up the pillars of it. Learn to whom the glory of bearing up the world is due. God's providence is the true Atlas which supports the world, and doth shoulder up the world, whilst it treads on sin and sinners. Upon a serious view taken of providence on this wise displayed, we may say as they said of old, "The Lord, he is the God; the Lord he is the God, "1 Kings 18:39. Thomas Crane. Ver. 3. We can imagine a monarch, and especially an eastern monarch, in the plenitude of his power, and the arrogance of his pride, as he casts his haughty glance over the ensign of his might, saying to himself, "I bear up the pillars of the earth." But one could never imagine such a thought arising in the heart, or proceeding from the lips of David or Hezekiah. I know not who of the sons of Adam, frail and feeble at their best estate, could have ever said, The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it. I know of none but him who said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth, "and who, as he said these words, ascended up into heaven to exercise that sovereignty, and repair that mighty ruin which had been wrought on earth when Satan triumphed in Paradise. Barton Bouchier. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. The Lord the stay of his people under the worst circumstances. Ver. 3. Teacheth us that no disorder or confusion should hinder us from doing that which God requireth of us; nay, rather, the more things are out of order the more readily should we labour to redress them. Thomas Wilcocks. Psalms 75:4* Ver. 4. I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly. The Lord bids the boasters boast not, and commands the mad oppressors to stay their folly. How calm is he, how quiet are his words, yet how divine the rebuke. If the wicked were not insane, they would even now hear in their consciences the still small voice bidding them cease from evil, and forbear their pride. And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn. He bids the ungodly stay their haughtiness. The horn was the emblem of boastful power; only the foolish, like wild and savage beasts, will lift it high; but they assail heaven itself with it, as if they would gore the Almighty himself. In dignified majesty he rebukes the inane glories of the wicked, who beyond measure exalt themselves in the day of their fancied power. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 4. Fools. The ungodly are spiritual fools. If one had a child very beautiful, yet if he were a fool, the parent would have little joy in him. The Scripture hath dressed the sinner in a fool's coat: and let me tell you, better be a fool void of reason, than a fool void of grace: this is the devil's fool. Proverbs 14:9. Is not he a fool who refuseth a rich portion? God offers Christ and salvation, but the sinner refuseth this portion: "Israel would none of me." Psalms 81:11. Is not he a fool who prefers an annuity before an inheritance? Is not he a fool who tends his mortal part, and neglects his angelical part? As if one should paint the wall of his house, and let the timber rot. Is not he a fool who will feed the devil with his soul? As that emperor who fed his lion with a pheasant. Is not he a fool who lays a snare for himself? Proverbs 1:18. Who consults his own shame? Habakkuk 2:10. Who loves death? Proverbs 8:36. Thomas Watson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. I. Who spoke to them? I. II. Who were they? Fools, wicked. III. What did you say? IV. What was the good of it? Or, Rebuke of sin, a duty. Ver. 4. The unhallowed trio: --wickedness, folly, pride. Psalms 75:5* Ver. 5. Lift not up your horn on high. For their abounding pride there is a double rebuke. A word from God soon abases the lofty. Would to God that all proud men would obey the word here given them; for, if they do not, he will take effectual means to secure obedience, and then woe will come upon them, such as shall break their horns and roll their glory in the mire for ever. Speak not with a stiff neck. Impudence before God is madness. The outstretched neck of insolent pride is sure to provoke his axe. Those who carry their heads high shall find that they will be lifted yet higher, as Haman was upon the gallows which he had prepared for the righteous man. Silence, thou silly boaster! Silence! or God will answer thee. Who art thou, thou worm, that thou shouldest arrogantly object against thy Maker's laws and cavil at his truth? Be hushed, thou vainglorious prater, or vengeance shall silence thee to thine eternal confusion. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 5. Horn. The word horn was used in the Hebrew metaphorically to express either honour, as Psalms 112:9 132:18, etc.; or strength, Micah 4:13, "I will make thine horn iron." Deuteronomy 33:17, etc. To humble and cast down was often represented by the figure of breaking or cutting off the horn, as here (Psalms 75:10). Lamentations 2:3, "Cut off all the horn of Israel." To exalt the horn of any one was to bestow honour and dignity upon him; so also, to make it bud. Psalms 132:17 89:18 Ezekiel 29:21. Here, to lift up the horn betokens presumption. It was also somewhat later a symbol for kingdom, Zechariah 1:18, and Daniel. "Four Friends." Ver. 5. Speak not with a stiff neck. Mr. Bruce has observed that the Abyssinian kings have a horn on their diadem; and that the keeping it erect, or in a projecting form, makes them appear as if they had a stiff neck; and refers to this passage for the antiquity of the usage, and the appearance also. Adam Clarke. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. Arguments against pride in heart, appearance, and speech. Psalms 75:6* Ver. 6. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. There is a God, and a providence, and things happen not by chance. Though deliverance be hopeless from all points of the compass, yet God can work it for his people; and though judgment come neither from the rising or the setting of the sun, nor from the wilderness of mountains, yet come it will, for the Lord reigneth. Men forget that all things are ordained in heaven; they see but the human force, and the carnal passion, but the unseen Lord is more real far than these. He is at work behind and within the cloud. The foolish dream that he is not, but he is near even now, and on the way to bring in his hand that cup of spiced wine of vengeance, one draught of which shall stagger all his foes. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6. For promotion cometh neither from the east, etc. The word promotion here is used in a very expressive way; it means the desire of self advancement, Myrh (harim), and would teach us that all our inward schemes, and outward plans, cannot gain for us advancement, unless based upon the fear and love of God; we look forward to improve our circumstances, like to the ascending of a mountain, and nerve ourselves to the effort of ascent, fondly thinking that no eye watches our efforts; but as "shame is the promotion of fools, "so disappointment is often the return of rashness... From the east promotion doth not come; the word east here is very expressive, auwmm (mimmotza), the rising of the sun, the outgoing of light, the dawning of the day, and the manifesting or revealing of God. We look around; and in the early dawning of youth, with high hopes, mental energies, and perhaps superior talents, anticipate victory over our compeers, and a course of worldly success and prosperity; but alas! how often are all these hopes blighted and a succession of reverses humbles our spirits. Promotion cometh not from the west. The original is bremmw (umimmagnarab) and it means duskiness, darkness, and the setting sun, --hence the west. When the clouds of years press upon us, and darkened shadows overtake us in various ways, such as loss of dear and early friends, the buoyancy of youth gone by, hopes softened down to personal ease, and the power of the constitution reduced; then God often wills that promotion shall not come. We now approach to the last point from whence promotion cometh not, that is from the south, rbrm (mid bar) a waste place, the Arabian desert; hence the south. In dry and solitary places like the sandy desert little advancement can be looked for; like the human intellect, unless cultivated and improved by care and education it is barren as the desert to all holy feelings and improvement, the natural passions like sand choke up every patch susceptible of cultivation, and close up all the avenues to thought and devotion. A godless man is like the Arabian desert, of no profit to himself or his neighbours; like ever shifting sands being tossed to and fro by his own wayward passions; heated with the suns of turbulence, self will, and recklessness, he is a desert, a waste where God will not vouchsafe the light of his countenance for promotion. Like the disobedient Jews of old, Psalms 78:49, we may speak of this man saying, "How oft did he provoke him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert!" Let us then cultivate the higher part of our being, and then we may produce fruit unto holiness; let us not wreck so noble a ship as the soul by careless steering and neglect, but trim its sails with early good instruction, and then may we arrive at the haven where we would be. Having now illustrated the three points mentioned in our text, let us turn to the one (the north) where promotion or advancement may be looked for. Coldness is emblematical of purity, and coldness is an attribute of the north. The pure in heart shall see God. God is the northern light that gleams over the stillness of life's night. "He giveth snow like wool; he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes; he casteth forth his ice like morsels." Be it ours to be humbly dependent upon God; for whatever station he may choose to keep us in, godliness alone will prove our promotion and true riches. If our anxieties are directed toward pleasing him, then shall we prosper, and he will shew us "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and the Lamb." (Revelation 22:1.) Condensed from a Sermon by Gregory Bateman, preached March 16th, 1862, on his entering upon the Vicarage of Ulrome. Ver. 6. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. Here are three of the four winds specified, and it is said, "promotion" comes from neither of them. But why is it not also said that promotion comes not from the north? that's the question. I answer; --it were answer enough to say, that we ought not to put questions curiously about such things; it should satisfy us that the Spirit of God is pleased to say it is so, and no more. Yet some tell us, the reason why it is not said promotion cometh not from the north, is because indeed it cometh out of the north, which, say they, is intimated in the Hebrew word for the north, which signifies hidden or secret. Promotion comes not from the east, nor west, nor south, but from the north. It comes from the north in a figure or mystery, that is, it comes from some hidden providence, or secret hand, which many take no more notice of than we do of the furthest part of the north. God promotes many in this world to power, and sends them great prosperity, we see not how or which way: the causes and contrivances of it are hidden close, and in the breast of God. This also is a truth; in that sense we may say, "Fair weather cometh from the north." Promotion is visible, but the manner of it is a secret; we see not the causes for which, nor the ways in which it cometh. It is enough to touch these niceties, and to touch them can do no hurt, while the matter arising from them hath the clear consent of, and is harmonious with other plain places of Scripture. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 6. Promotion; or, lifting up. The word is evidently an emphatic word in the Psalm; it is the same which occurs in verses four and five, and again in verse seven and verse ten. I have, therefore, given the same rendering of it throughout. The rendering of the authorized version promotion, besides losing sight of the manifestly designed repetition of the same word, is peculiarly unfortunate in conveying a wrong idea. Lifting up, in its Hebrew sense, does not mean promotion, as we commonly understand it, but deliverance from trouble, safety, victory. The image, in particular, of lifting up the head or the horn (the last borrowed from wild beasts, such as buffaloes, etc., in whom the horn is the symbol of strength), denotes courage, strength, and victory over enemies. J. J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 6. Nor from the south. "From the wilderness, "the great wilderness lying in that direction. Three quarters are mentioned, the north only being omitted. This may be accounted for, supposing the Psalm to refer to Sennacherib, by the fact that the Assyrian army approached from the north; and therefore it would be natural to look in all directions but that for assistance to repel the invader. J. J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 6-7. "I thought to promote thee to great honour, "said the king of Moab to Balaam; and yet that promotion ended in a dishonoured and a bloody death. I have often thought of many of the Lord's servants on earth, so superciliously passed by and passed over in man's catalogue of worthies, with what glad and grateful surprise they will at length receive that promotion denied on earth, when their own Master shall say to them, "Friend, come up higher; "and then, as they sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, shall they have honour of them that sit at meat with them. Barton Bouchier. Ver. 6-10. The rise and fall of nations and empires are in this Psalm ascribed to God. He exalts one and puts down another at his pleasure. In this he generally uses instrumentality, but that instrumentality is always rendered effectual by his own agency. When nations or individuals are prosperous, and glorious, and powerful, they usually ascribe all to themselves or to fortune. But it is God who has raised them to eminence. When they boast he can humble them. In these verses God is considered as the governor of the world, punishing the wicked, and pouring out judgment on his enemies. The calamities of war, pestilence, and famine, are all ministers of providence to execute wrath. Alexander Carson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6-7. The changes of providence not the tricks of fortune. Psalms 75:7* Ver. 7. But God is the judge. Even now he is actually judging. His seat is not vacant; his authority is not abdicated; the Lord reigneth evermore. He putteth down one, and setteth up another. Empires rise and fall at his bidding. A dungeon here, and there a throne, his will assigns. Assyria yields to Babylon, and Babylon to the Medes. Kings are but puppets in his hand; they serve his purpose when they rise and when they fall. A certain author has issued a work called "Historic Ninepins, "(Timbs), a fit name of scorn for all the great ones of the earth. God only is; all power belongs to him; all else is shadow, coming and going, unsubstantial, misty, dream like. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6-7. See Psalms on "Psalms 75:6" for further information. Ver. 6-10. See Psalms on "Psalms 72:9" for further information. The rise and fall of nations and empires are in this Psalm ascribed to God. He exalts one and puts down another at his pleasure. In this he generally uses instrumentality, but that instrumentality is always rendered effectual by his own agency. When nations or individuals are prosperous, and glorious, and powerful, they usually ascribe all to themselves or to fortune. But it is God who has raised them to eminence. When they boast he can humble them. In these verses God is considered as the governor of the world, punishing the wicked, and pouring out judgment on his enemies. The calamities of war, pestilence, and famine, are all ministers of providence to execute wrath. Alexander Carson. Ver. 7. "Here he exalts neglected worms To sceptres and a crown; Anon the following page he turns, And treads the monarch down." Isaac Watts. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6-7. The changes of providence not the tricks of fortune. Ver. 7. God acts as a judge and not arbitrarily in his providential arrangements. Psalms 75:8* Ver. 8. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup. The punishment of the wicked is prepared, God himself holds it in readiness; he has collected and concocted woes most dread, and in the chalice of his wrath he holds it. They scoffed his feast of love; they shall be dragged to his table of justice, and made to drink their due deserts. And the wine is red. The retribution is terrible, it is blood for blood, foaming vengeance for foaming malice. The very colour of divine wrath is terrible; what must the taste be? It is full of mixture. Spices of anger, justice, and incensed mercy are there. Their misdeeds, their blasphemies, their persecutions have strengthened the liquor as with potent drugs; "Mingled, strong, and mantling high; Behold the wrath divine." Ten thousand woes are burning in the depths of that fiery cup, which to the brim is filled with indignation. And he poureth out of the same. The full cup must be quaffed, the wicked cannot refuse the terrible draught, for God himself pours it out for them and into them. Vain are their cries and entreaties. They could once defy him, but that hour is over, and the time to requite them if fully come. But the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. Even to the bitter end must wrath proceed. They must drink on and on for ever, even to the bottom where lie the lees of deep damnation; these they must suck up, and still must they drain the cup. Oh the anguish and the heart break of the day of wrath! Mark well, it is for all the wicked; all hell for all the ungodly; the dregs for the dregs; bitters for the bitter; wrath for the heirs of wrath. Righteousness is conspicuous, but over all terror spreads a tenfold night, cheerless, without a star. Oh happy they who drink the cup of godly sorrow, and the cup of salvation: these, though now despised, will then be envied by the very men who trod them under foot. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6-10. See Psalms on "Psalms 75:6" for further information. Ver. 8. In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red (which notes fierce wrath); and it is full of mixture. This mixture is of judgments, plagues, and punishments; "this is the portion of their cup" (Psalms 11:1-7). But what will the Lord do with this mixed cup? Who shall sip at the top of the cup he tells us not; but he is express whose the bottom is: he poureth out of the same --some drops are spilt here and there--but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. Alas, they loathe it, their stomachs turn at it; they have not been brought up to drink dregs; they have had their wine well refined, and sparkling with spirits in crystal glasses; and how can they get this down? They who have drunk so willingly and freely of the cup of sin, shall be forced, whether they will or no, to drink the cup of judgment. And it is not a sip or two shall serve their turns; they must drink all, dregs and all, they shall drink it to the bottom and yet they shall never come to the bottom; they have loved long draughts, and now they shall have one long enough; there is eternity to the bottom. If a cup of affliction, which, in the effect, is a cup of salvation, be sometime, or for a time, nauseous to the godly, how deadly sick will the ungodly be, who must for ever, drink a cup of wrath and death. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 8. In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, etc. It is a cup: well, there is a cup that David thirsts for: "I will take the cup of salvation." Psalms 116:13. There is wine in it: better; for wine cheers the hearts, and puts alacrity into the spirits. That wine is red: better still; so it should be; this argues the lustre and goodness of it: "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, "Proverbs 23:31 : the colour adds to the pleasure. But now it is full of mixture: alas, this mixture spoils all. It is compounded, brewed, made unwholesome: this changeth the condition of the cup, of the wine, of the colour, of all. It is mixed with the wrath of God, the malice of Satan, the anguish of soul, the gall of sin, the tears of despair: it is red, that is, of a sanguine colour, the wine of blood. But yet so long as it is in the cup, they need not meddle with it: nay, but the Lord will pour it out; he shall hold their mouths to it, and make them drink it: the rankest poison in the world, the gall of dragons, and venom of asps, is pleasant and healthful to it. Yet be it a little of the top, let them but taste it; nay, they must drink it off, to the very bottom, the sediments, dreg, lees, and all; even the very filth of vengeance. And lest any drops should be left behind, they shall wring them out, and suck them down to their confusion. The cup is all bitter, and full of sorrow, saith Augustine: the godly do often taste the top, and feel the bitterness, but then it is suddenly snatched from them; but the ungodly shall drink the very grounds, and most extreme poison. Thomas Adams. Ver. 8. In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; red with wrath, in the day of God's wrath. It is full of mixture: it hath no mixture of good, no sweetness at all in it, but all sorts of evil are mingled in out of the world; but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink: they have not only the cup, but the dregs of the cup, that is, the worst of the cup; for as in a good cup, the deeper the sweeter; so in an evil cup, the deeper the worse: the dregs and the worst, the bottom is the bitterest of a bitter cup. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 8. A cup. There seems to be here an allusion to the cup of malediction, as the Jews called that "mixed cup of wine" and frankincense, which used to be given to condemned criminals before their execution, in order to take away their senses. Richard Mant. Ver. 8. The wine is red, or "the wine foameth, "i.e. as it is poured into the cup from the wine jar, as is expressed in the next member of the verse. Mixture, i.e. the aromatic herbs, &c., which were put into the wine to make it more intoxicating. J. J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 8. The wine is red. The remedy is suitable to the disease, and the punishment to the sin: Sanguinem sitisti sanguinem vitis (as he once says); Thou hast thirsted after blood, and blood thou shalt drink. Because men delight in blood, therefore blood shall be poured out unto them; yea, their own blood shall be poured out. This is the way of God's providence, and the manner of his dealings in the world; which because it is filled with cruelty shall be therefore filled with blood. Thomas Horton. Ver. 8. Red. The Hebrew word rmx rather means turbid: and it probably contains a further allusion to the particulars above mentioned; the wine being rendered turbid by stirring up the lees, and by the mixture of intoxicating drugs. Richard Mant. Ver. 8. Full of mixture. There are some who think that mixture is here named because they rarely drink pure wine in those regions, since they are so warm; and because the wine is there more generous than in these colder quarters. But a different signification is intended; it is that spices are mingled with the wine. Francis Vatablus. 1547. Ver. 8. Mixture. In all the afflictions of God's people there's an intermixture and temperament of love and favour, which shows itself in them. As, first of all, there's a mixture of strength and patience for the bearing of it. Secondly, there's a mixture of comfort and goodness as to the things themselves. God is not altogether in affliction, but he is very much in mercy with it; and as he is pleased to exercise his servants with several troubles, so he does likewise vouchsafe them many blessings together with them, which he does comfort them withal. And then, thirdly, there's another thing also which is much observable in the afflictions of God's people, which makes this mixture complete, and that is, a mixture of improvement and edification. Thomas Horton. Ver. 8. The dregs. (We quote this for its singularity rather than its value. It is a notable instance of the force of party zeal. Thus the Evangelical Anglican, in his ardour against Ritualistic errors, finds aid in a passage which would not ordinarily be understood to relate to the question. Any stick is good enough to beat a dog with.) Now, as the cup of red wine is the Christian doctrine which converts the soul, and in which the true believer spiritually luxuriates, so the dregs thereof are those merely outward, formal, and ceremonious circumstances, which are nothing in themselves more than the dregs and leavings of the signified reality and spiritual substance. And when the text says that the wicked shall wring out the dregs of Christian doctrine, and shall drink of them, we are led to fix our attention upon the main peculiarity of Pharisaical religion. As God satisfies his people with the true spiritual refreshment of genuine Christian doctrine; so does he leave to the unenlightened spirit, who will not seek him as he ought to do, the mere outside formalities, which being indeed to religion necessarily, but of it form no vital part. They are but the refuse of the magnificent heaven realising substance. T. D. Gregg. 1855. Ver. 8. All the wicked. They shall all do it too, we may not omit that: all the wicked of the earth. As there's an universality of the judgment, so there's universality of the sufferers; they shall drink all of it, and they shall all of them drink it, that so no man may favour or flatter himself with hope of escape. Thomas Horton. Ver. 8. Shall wring them out. Here's the necessity also of it; it is unavoidable; They shall drink it, that is, even against their minds, whether they will or no. It is very likely that wicked men would be very loath to come to this condition: they can be content to sin, but they cannot endure to be punished for sin... This cup shall not pass from them, but they shall drink of it, even against their stomachs, where they never so much loath it. Yea, and which is more, they shall suck it up; God will turn the cup up to them, and will make them to take it every jot; he will not spare them one drop of it, which they shall be suffered to leave behind... The Lord himself (as I may say) will stand over them, and see them do it without any favour or indulgence. Thomas Horton. Ver. 8. When God's people have drunk the red wine in the cup, the wicked must drink the dregs: the cup passeth from place to place till all be drank off. William Greenhill. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 8. In the hand of the Lord there is a cup, etc. I. As to matter of preparation, consider it so, and thus it is in the hand of the Lord. II. By way of qualification: it is he that tempers it; it was full of mixture. III. By way of distribution, as giving to every one his share and portion in it. Thomas Horton. Ver. 8. The cup of wrath. Where it is, what it is, how full it is, who brings it, who must drink it. Ver. 8. Full of mixture. Wrath of God, remorse, memory of lost joy, fear of future, recriminations, despair, shame, etc., all these are ingredients of the mingled cup. Ver. 8. (last clause). I. "The dregs" of the cup: the wrath of wrath, the gall of bitterness. II. The dregs of the people: "all wicked." Psalms 75:9* Ver. 9. But I will declare for ever. Thus will the saints occupy themselves with rehearsing Jehovah's praises, while their foes are drunken with the wine of wrath. They shall chant while the others roar in anguish, and justly so, for the former Psalm informed us that such had been the case on earth, --"thine enemies roar in the sanctuary, " --the place where the chosen praised the Lord. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. The covenant God, who delivered Jacob from a thousand afflictions, our soul shall magnify. He has kept his covenant which he made with the patriarch, and has redeemed his seed, therefore will we spread abroad his fame world without end. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6-10. See Psalms on "Psalms 75:6" for further information. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 9. Our life work: to declare and to sing. Psalms 75:10* Ver. 10. All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off. Power and liberty being restored to Israel, she begins again to execute justice, by abasing the godless who had gloried in the reign of oppression. Their power and pomp are to be smitten down. Men wore horns in those days as a part of their state, and these, both literally and figuratively, were to be lopped off; fir since God abhors the proud, his church will not tolerate them any longer. But the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. In a rightly ordered society, good men are counted great men, virtue confers true rank, and grace is more esteemed than gold. Being saved from unrighteous domination, the chief among the chosen people here promises to rectify the errors which had crept into the commonwealth, and after the example of the Lord himself, to abase the haughty and elevate the humble. This memorable ode may be sung in times of great depression, when prayer has performed her errand at the mercyseat, and when faith is watching for speedy deliverance. It is a song of the second advent, THE OF THE JUDGE WITH THE CUP OF WRATH. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Ver. 6-10. See Psalms on "Psalms 75:6" for further information. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 761. To the Chief Musician. With (or on) stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song (of praise). The resemblance of this title to that of the preceding psalm, their juxtaposition in the Psalter, and their internal similarity, all favour the opinion that they had respect originally to the same historical occasion, with this difference, that the first is rather an anticipation of the great deliverance as certain but still future, and the other a commemoration of the same as actually past or really experienced. In this, as in the other case, the event is ascribed to a wonderful divine interposition, and described as one affecting the whole world or the nations generally, which was emphatically true of the great stroke, by which the power of Assyria was broken. 2. (Psalms 76:1). Known in Judah (is) God; in Israel great (is) his name. Known as God, and as the God of Israel, his chosen people, which, after the great schism in the time of Rehoboam, continued to exist in the kingdom of Judah. It was only in the ancient church that his name was fully known, his perfection clearly manifested. 3. (Psalms 76:2). And in Salem was his tabernacle, and his home in Zion. This is explanatory of the first verse(Psalms 76:1). He was best known there because it was his chosen earthly residence. Salem is evidently used poetically for Jerusalem. The former name means peaceful and secure, and some suppose it to be one of the elements of which the other name is composed, so as to signify a peaceful or secure possession. The same interpreters identify the Salem of Gen 14:18 with Jerusalem. The word translated tabernacle properly means a booth or shed composed of leaves and branches, in allusion to the moveable and temporary form of the first sanctuary. 4. (Psalms 76:3). Thither he shattered the bolts of the bow— buckler and sword and battle. Selah. Some translate the first word there, but there is no clear instance of the Hebrew adverb being so used, and the best interpreters suppose the sense to be that he destroyed them on their way there, while in motion towards the Holy City. The word translated shattered is an intensive species of the common verb which means to break. Both forms occur together in Psalms 29:5. See also Psalms 3:7. The ambiguous word bolts is used to represent a Hebrew one, which properly means thunderbolts or flashes of lightning, but is here applied to the flight of arrows, with or without allusion to the practice of igniting them (Ephesians 6:16). To the shield and sword, as the most important pieces of offensive and defensive armour, he adds, by a bold and striking figure, war itself, perhaps as a residuary aggregate of all other arms and weapons. 5. (Psalms 76:4). Bright (art) thou, glorious, more than the mountains of prey. The object of address is God, who had been previously spoken of, in the third person. The first word in Hebrew is a participle, meaning illumi-nated, made to shine, and therefore bearing some affinity to our word illustrious. The other epithet means grand, glorious, sublime. See above, on Psalms 8:1. The common version (excellent) seems to restrict the praise to moral qualities. As mountains are standing symbols of states and kingdoms, mountains of prey, i. e. mountains occupied by robbers, may denote oppressive powers, such as that of Assyria, to which the prophets apply similar descriptions. See Nahum 2:11-12; Nahum 3:1. To all such hostile powers God is here represented as superior. 6. (Psalms 76:5). Spoiled are the stout of heart; they have slept their sleep; and all the men of might have not found their hands. The meaning of the first clause seems to be, that the spoilers are themselves spoiled, by a signal providential retribution. Some, however, explain the first word to mean snatched away, caused to disappear, or vanish. They have slept their own sleep, i.e. they, like others, in their turn, sleep the sleep of death. See above, on Psalms 13:3, and compare Nahum 3:18, 2 Kings 19:35. Stout of heart suggests the two distinct ideas, courageous and hard-hearted. The same expression is used, in an unfavourable sense, by Isaiah (Isaiah 46:12). All have not found does not imply that some have found, but on the contrary, that none have found, or in other words that the negative proposition is true of all without exception. Found their hands is understood by some to mean regained their strength. But the direct sense of the word is, that they have not found the use of their hands, or been able to employ them with advantage. 7. (Psalms 76:6). At thy rebuke, 0 God of Jacob, put to sleep (is) both chariot and horse. The particle at the beginning is both temporal and causal, post hoc et propter hoc. After and because of thy rebuke. This noun denotes not merely a verbal but a real or practical expression of the divine displeasure. See above, on Psalms 9:5; Psalms 68:30. God of Jacob, see above, on Psalms 76:9. Put to sleep is here used to translate a passive participle, denoting not a mere state or condition, but the violence by which it is produced. The sleep meant is of course the sleep of death. The application of this figure to the chariot as well as to the horse, is less paradoxical in Hebrew, where the noun used is sometimes a collective meaning cavalry. See my note on Isaiah 21:7. At the same time there is beauty in the figure, as suggesting that the noisy rattle of the wheels is hushed in death-like silence. 8. (Psalms 76:7). Thou (art) to be feared, (even) thou, and who shall stand before thee, when once thou art angry? The Hebrew passive participle often has the force of the future passive or gerundive in Latin. See above, on Psalms 18:3. The repetition of the pronoun wades it highly emphatic and even exclusive, thou and no other, thou and only thou. Who shall stand? includes the kindred question, who may or can stand? To stand before God means, in this connection, to stand one's ground in opposition to him, or in independence of him. See above, on Psalms 1:5. The common version of the last words, which is retained above, conveys correctly the idea, but without the peculiar form of the original, which is highly idiomatic, and not susceptible of literal translation. The last word strictly means thy anger and the one before it from then or from that time. The nearest approach to it in English would be since thy anger, a construction which is actually given in the latest German versions. 9. (Psalms 76:8). From, heaven thou halt caused judgment to be heard; the earth feared and rested, or, the earth was afraid and was still. From his throne in heaven God had pronounced judgment on his wicked enemies, the sound of which had struck the dwellers upon earth with awe and calmed their tumult. The last Hebrew verb is especially applied to repose after the noise and agitation of war. See Joshua 14:15, Judges 5:31, Isaiah 14:7. 10. (Psalms 76:9). In God's arising for the judgment, to save all the humble of the earth. This completes the sentence begun in the preceding verse, by assigning the date, and at the same time the cause, of the effect there recorded. The earth was awe-struck and reduced to silence when God arose to judgment, i.e. to act as judge or sovereign arbiter. In the last clause, as in many other places, the judgments of God upon his enemies are represented as occasions of deliverance to his people, here described by one of their characteristic qualities, not merely as the meek in temper, but as the lowly in spirit, the humble in the strong religious sense. See above, on Psalms 9:12; Psalms 10:12; Psalms 10:17; Psalms 22:26; Psalms 25:9; Psalms 34:2; Psalms 37:11; Psalms 69:32. The last word in the verse has here a kind of double sense, since the promise made directly to the humble of the land, i. e. the spiritual Israel, was really intended to include all the humble of the earth, i.e. all the truly pious, whether Jews or Gentiles. 11. (Psalms 76:10). For the wrath of man shall praise thee (or acknowledge thee); the remainder of wraths thou shalt gird (about thee). The very passions which excite men to rebel against God shall be used as instruments and means of coercion. See above, on Psalms 32:9. And so complete shall be this process, that even the remnant of such passionate excitement, which might be expected to escape attention, will be nevertheless an instrument or weapon in the hands of God. This last idea is expressed by the figure of a girdle, here considered as a sword-belt. So too in other cases the verb to gird is absolutely used in the sense of girding on a sword, or the still more general one of arming one's self. See above, on Psalms 45:3, and compare Judges 18:11, 1 Kings 20:11, 2 Kings 3:21. Others, with less probability, suppose the figure to denote the act of attaching to one's self, as in Ps. cix. 19, Isaiah 11:5, Jeremiah 13:11, and apply it to the future conversion of all remaining enemies. The plural in the last clause (wraths or angers) seems to be an emphatic designation of abundance or success. See above, on Psalms 18:50. 12. (Psalms 76:11). Vow and pay unto Jehovah your God, all (ye that are) round about him; let them bring tribute to the Dread (One). The first clause may be understood to mean, pay now what you have vowed before, i.e. before the great deliverance and during the impending danger. The addition of your God shews that the object of address is Israel. Compare Deuteronomy 23:21. According to the masoretic interpunction, all that are round about him belongs to the first clause, and denotes the host of Israel, in the midst of whom Jehovah's tent was pitched (Numbers 2:2). The English Bible, following the ancient versions, throws these words into the last clause, as the subject of the verb that follows, let all that are round about him bring presents, or they shall bring presents. This last word in Hebrew denotes tribute from the conquered or dependent to the conqueror or sovereign. See above, on Psalms 68:29, and compare Isaiah 18:7. This was literally verified in the case of Hezekiah's rescue from the power of Sennacherib. See 2 Chronicles 32:23. God is here called Fear or Terror, as an object to be reverenced or dreaded. Compare the similar expressions in Isaiah 8:12-13. 13. (Psalms 76:12). He cuts off the spirit of princes; he is feared (or to be feared) by the kings of earth. The first verb is specially applied to the pruning or cutting of vines. See Jeremiah 6:9; Jeremiah 25:30; Jeremiah 49:9, and compare Revelation 14:18-19. Its future form includes a potential sense. He can do it when he will, and he will do it when he sees occasion. Spirit or breath is here put for the life or vital principle, to cut which is to kill. He who possesses this alarming power is or ought to be an object of religious fear, not only to ordinary men, or to certain great men in particular, but to all the kings of the earth. Compare Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:5. These expressions shew that the historical occasion of the psalm was not an event of merely local interest, but a great historical and national catastrophe, such as the blow inflicted on the power of Assyria by the sudden destruction of Sennacherib's host. TITLE. To the Chief Musician on Neginoth. The Precentor is here instructed to perform this song to the music of stringed instruments. The master of the harpers was called for his most skilful minstrelsy, and truly the song is worthy of the sweetest sounds that strings can yield. A Psalm or Song of Asaph. The style and matter indicate the same hand as that which wrote the preceding; and it is an admirable arrangement which placed the two in juxtaposition. Faith in the 75th Psalm sung of victories to come, and here it sings of triumphs achieved. The present Psalm is a most jubilant war song, a paean to the King of kings, the hymn of a theocratic nation to its divine ruler. We have no need to mark divisions in a song where the unity is so well preserved. Ver. 1. In Judah is God known. If unknown in all the world beside, he has so revealed himself to his people by his deeds of grace, that he is no unknown God to them. His name is great in Israel. To be known, in the Lord's case, is to be honoured: those who know his name admire the greatness of it. Although Judah and Israel were unhappily divided politically, yet the godly of both nations were agreed concerning Jehovah their God; and truly whatever schisms may mar the visible church, the saints always "appear as one" in magnifying the Lord their God. Dark is the outer world, but within the favoured circle Jehovah is revealed, and is the adoration of all who behold him. The world knows him not, and therefore blasphemes him, but his church is full of ardour to proclaim his fame unto the ends of the earth. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid.) iv. 1, a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 1. In Judah is God known. God is truly and savingly known only in and through his Son; God indeed is obscurely and darkly known in his works, as a God of power; in his providence, as a God of authority, wisdom, and order; in his common mercies, as a God of bounty; and in his punishments and judgments, as a God of justice; but in Christ opened and preached in the gospel, God is known with a clear, a comfortable, and saving knowledge, as a father of grace and singular mercy and lovingkindness. In Judah (saith the psalmist) is God known: his name is great in Israel. In Judah, in his church, where his word and ordinances are, where Christ is preached and the mystery of man's salvation is opened, there God is known truly without error, perspicuously without obscurities, and savingly without uncertainties; there he is known as a King in his courts, for the glory and beauty which he there manifests; as a teacher in his school, for the wisdom and knowledge which he there dispenses; as a dweller in his house, for the holy orders he there prescribes, and gracious rule and dominion he there erects and beareth in the souls of his servants; as a bridegroom in the banqueting house, for the spiritual dainties he there maketh, for the clear and open manifestation of himself, and love and comforts he there ministereth to his spiritual friends and guests; and his name is great in Israel; his power, wisdom, truth, love, and goodness is much magnified and very glorious in their apprehensions who know him in Christ Jesus. Alexander Grosse. Ver. 1. His name. By the name of God here, God himself is understood; for in so many good effects as God uttereth himself towards his kirk, so many names he giveth to himself whereby he may be praised of her. As for example, when he promises unto his kirk freely grace and mercy, his kirk giveth him a name, and calleth him merciful. When he keepeth his promise, and uttereth himself a faithful God to his kirk, his kirk giveth him a name, and calleth him a true God. When he delivereth his kirk out of danger, and sheweth him a mighty God, and terrible against his enemies, the kirk giveth him a name, and calleth him a potent God, and so forth in the rest of his effects: so that by the name of God is understood here God himself, as God maketh himself to be known in his wonderful works. Robert Bruce. Ver. 1. His name is great in Israel. Properly the great name in Israel, that is, the church, is the name of Jesus, which is great, first, by its efficacy: for it signifies Saviour. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. Secondly, it is great in dignity: for it is the name that is above every name... Thirdly, it is great in the breadth if its range, Psalms 8:1 : How excellent is thy name in all the earth. Thomas Le Blanc. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. Reverence for God's name proportionate to true knowledge of it. Psalms 76:2* Ver. 2. In Salem also is his tabernacle. In the peaceful city he dwells, and the peace is perpetuated, because there his sacred tent is pitched. The church of God is the place where the Lord abides and he is to her the Lord and giver of peace. And his dwelling place in Zion. Upon the chosen hill was the palace of Israel's Lord. It is the glory of the church that the Redeemer inhabits her by his Holy Spirit. Vain are the assaults of the enemy, for they attack not us alone, but the Lord himself. Immanuel, God with us, finds a home among his people, who then shall work us ill? NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. 4,1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 2. In Salem also is his tabernacle. It is not without meaning that Jerusalem has the appellation of Salem; for it is thereby insinuated that the tabernacle of God, notwithstanding the assault of foes, in the very heart of the tumults of war remained in peace. How much more now that the invaders had been overthrown, would prosperity be enjoyed? Hermann Venema. Ver. 2. In Salem also is his tabernacle. God the Holy Ghost is a spirit of peace, he is the comforter; he seals up peace (2 Corinthians 1:22). This blessed dove brings the olive branch of peace in his mouth: now a peaceable disposition evidences something of God in a man, therefore God loves to dwell there. "In Salem is God's tabernacle:" Salem signifies peace; God dwells in a peaceable spirit. Thomas Watson. Ver. 2. In Salem also is his tabernacle, etc. All the old versions, as well as the two English ones, have missed one especial force of this passage. There is no direct reference in words to any human habitation, but to the lair of the Lion of Judah. The word wkm does not only mean his tabernacle, but his covert, and is so translated in another place (Jeremiah 25:38): "He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion; "and the vaguer word wtgwem which succeeds may well be translated by "den, "or some equivalent phrase. Psalms 10:9. Simon De Muis. Ver. 2-3. The care of Salem, or Zion, lies at the bottom of all God's powerful acting and workings among the sons of men. Every mighty work of God throughout the world may be prefaced with these two verses. The whole course of affairs in the world in steered by Providence in reference to the good of Salem. John Owen. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. The peculiar relation of God to his church. Ver. 2. (first clause). A peaceful church the tabernacle of God. The benefits peace confers, the evils of strife, the causes of dissension, and the means of promoting unity. Psalms 76:3* Ver. 3. There brake he the arrows of the bow. Without leaving his tranquil abode, he sent forth his word and snapped the arrows of his enemies before they could shoot them. The idea is sublime, and marks the ease, completeness, and rapidity of the divine action. The shield, and the sword, and the battle. Every weapon, offensive and defensive, the Lord dashed in pieces; death bearing bolts and life preserving armour were alike of no avail when the Breaker sent forth his word of power. In the spiritual conflicts of this and every age, the like will be seen; no weapon that is formed against the church shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against her in judgment, she shall condemn. Selah. It is meet that we should dwell on so soul stirring a theme, and give the Lord our grateful adoration, --hence a pause is inserted. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 2-3. The care of Salem, or Zion, lies at the bottom of all God's powerful acting and workings among the sons of men. Every mighty work of God throughout the world may be prefaced with these two verses. The whole course of affairs in the world in steered by Providence in reference to the good of Salem. John Owen. Ver. 3. There. Observe how it is said, There he brake, namely, in his temple, his habitation there. For unto that his temple doth the coherence in the verse afore carry it, for that was last in mention, and with the greatest emphasis. In the story we read how that Sennacherib's overthrow was from Hezekiah's prayer in the temple; for upon Sennacherib's letter, and Hezekiah's hearsay of the blasphemy, he took himself thither, went instantly into the temple, and began his prayer thus: "O thou God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims." He invocates him under that style of his dwelling in the holiest, and so hearing prayers there. Thus you have it recorded both in Isaiah and in 2 Kings 19:15. And how suitably, in answer hereunto, it is said here in the Psalm, that God gave forth sentence presently out of his tabernacle, yea, and that so suddenly too, as that the very execution is said to be done there, that is, from thence. And yet again, in the eighth verse of the Psalm, it is said to be a sentence from heaven too; Thou didst cause judgment (so called because it was the sentence of God as a judge) to be heard from heaven. Thus Hezekiah prayed, and thus God heard; and both as in the temple. Thomas Goodwin. Ver. 3. There. These men, to wit the King of Asshur and his accomplices, came to cast out God out of his dwelling place; but he stood to the defence of his own house, and showed them that he would not remove for their pleasure. Robert Bruce. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. Christian glories, or the victories vouchsafed to the church over heathenism, heresy, persecution, etc. Ver. 3. I. Where enemies are conquered; "There; "not on the battlefield so much as in the house of God; as Amalek by Moses on the Mount; Sennacherib by Hezekiah in the Sanctuary. II. How there? 1. By faith. 2. By prayer. "The weapons of our warfare, "etc. Psalms 76:4* Ver. 4. Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. Far more is Jehovah to be extolled than all the invading powers which sought to oppress his people, though they were for power and greatness comparable to mountains. Assyria had pillaged the nations till it had become rich with mountains of spoil, this was talked of among men as glory, but the psalmist despised such renown, and declares that the Lord was far more illustrious. What are the honours of war but brags of murder? What the fame of conquerors but the reek of manslaughter? But the Lord is glorious in holiness, and his terrible deeds are done in justice for the defence of the weak and the deliverance of the enslaved. Mere power may be glorious, but it is not excellent: when we behold the mighty acts of the Lord, we see a perfect blending of the two qualities. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 4. God was not known in Babylon, in Egypt, in other nations, his tabernacle and dwelling place was not amongst them, therefore they were not glorious. But see what is in the fourth verse, Thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey; thou Judah, thou Israel, thou Salem, thou Zion, that hast spiritual mercies and blessings, art more glorious than they, whatever their glory be. Have the nations abroad goodly towers? thou hast the temple; have they stately cities? thou hast Jerusalem, the city of God; have they wise men? thou hast the prophets; have they gods of gold, silver, and stones; thou hast the true living God, Jehovah, to be thy God; have they human laws that are good? thou hast divine laws that excel; have they temporal excellencies? thou hast spiritual; have they the glory of the world? thou hast the glory of heaven. William Greenhill. Ver. 4. The mountains of prey. Why are they called the mountains of prey? There is a reference to the lairs of the lions in the mountains, whence they rush forth upon those who come that way, and tear them in pieces. In the same way the dwelling place of God was represented above under the title of a tabernacle or lair. Moreover, this is a mystic epithet of the mountains of Judah, by which it is hinted that the enemies who venture to approach that lair are wont to be torn in sunder: a terrible example of which had just been shown in the case of the Assyrian, there overthrown, torn, and spoiled. Compare Isaiah 31:4. Hermann Venema. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. The Lord, our portion, compared with the treasures of empires. Ver. 4. I. What the world is, compared with the church: Mountains of prey. 1. Cruelty instead of love. 2. Violence instead of peace. II. What the church is compared with the world. 1. More glorious, because more excellent. 2. More excellent, because more glorious. Both are more real and abiding. G. R. Psalms 76:5* Ver. 5. The stouthearted are spoiled. They came to spoil, and lo! they are spoiled themselves. Their stout hearts are cold in death, the angel of the pestilence has dried up their life blood, their very heart is taken from them. They have slept their sleep. Their last sleep--the sleep of death. And none of the men of might have found their hands. Their arms are palsied, they cannot lift a finger, for the rigour of death has stiffened them. What a scene was that when Sennacherib's host was utterly destroyed in one night. The hands which were furious to pull down Jerusalem, could not even be raised from the sod, the most valiant warriors were as weak as the palsied cripples at the temple gate, yea, their eyes they could not open, a deep sleep sealed their vision in everlasting darkness. O God, how terrible art thou! Thus shalt thou fight for us, and in the hour of peril overthrow the enemies of thy gospel. Therefore in thee will we trust and not be afraid. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 5. The stouthearted are spoiled. There is indicated in these words that consternation of mind which deprives of judgment and power. The valiant are spoiled of their heart: that is, they who at other times were wise and courageous have now lost their heart, and have been reduced to foolishness and stupidity. Hermann Venema. Ver. 5. The stouthearted are spoiled. After the breaking of their weapons their spoliation is recorded, for that follows the slaughter of foes. Nor is mention made of that without reason. They had come to spoil, therefore are they deservedly spoiled. Musculus. Ver. 5. The stouthearted are spoiled. Some translate it, They are spoiled of their stout heart. The stouthearted, the strong, are spoiled. The strong man may be spoiled by a stronger; that's a good sense, but it is more elegantly rendered, they are spoiled of their stout heart; that is, the Lord takes their heart out of their bosom. Daring men, who fear nothing, are turned into Magor-missabibs--fear round about; their stout hearts are taken from them, and they are so far from being a terror to other men, that they run from the shadow of a man; their courage is down; they cannot give a child a confident look, much less look dangers or enemies in the face. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 5. (last clause). The strength and power of a man is in his hands; if they be gone, all his hope is gone. If a man's sword be taken from him, he will do what he can with his hands; but if his hands be gone, he may go to sleep for any disturbance he will work. For men not to find their hands, is not to have that power for the execution of their designs which formerly they had. John Owen. Ver. 5. (last clause). As we say of a man that goes lamely or lazily, "he cannot find his feet; "so of a man that acts lamely or lazily, or of a soldier that fights faintly and cowardly, he cannot find his hands. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 5-6. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever were still! And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride: And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock breaking surf. And there lay the rider distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail; And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown. George Gordon, Lord Byron. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. They have slept their sleep. Divers kinds of deaths or sleeps for the various classes of men. Psalms 76:6* Ver. 6. At thy rebuke. A word accomplished all, there was no need of a single blow. O God of Jacob. God of thy wrestling people, who again like their father supplant their enemy; God of the covenant and the promise, thou hast in this gracious character fought for thine elect nation. Both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep. They will neither neigh nor rattle again; still are the trampings of the horses and the crash of the cars; the calvary no more creates its din. The Israelites always had a special fear of horses and scythed chariots; and, therefore, the sudden stillness of the entire force of the enemy in this department is made the theme of special rejoicing. The horses were stretched on the ground, and the chariots stood still, as if the whole camp had fallen asleep. Thus can the Lord send a judicial sleep over the enemies of the church, a premonition of the second death, and this he can do when they are in the zenith of power; and, as they imagine, in the very act of blotting out the remembrance of his people. The world's Rabshakahs can write terrible letters, but the Lord answers not with pen and ink, but with rebukes, which bear death in every syllable. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 5-6. See Psalms on "Psalms 76:6" for further information. Ver. 6. Cast into a deep sleep. It is observable that the verb here used is the same as is used in the narrative of the act of Jael, and of the death of the proud enemy of Israel, Sisera, cast into a deep sleep, by God's power, working by the hand of a woman. Christopher Wordsworth. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 76:7* Ver. 7. Thou, even thou, art to be feared. Not Sennacherib, nor Nisroch his god, but Jehovah alone, who with a silent rebuke had withered all the monarch's host. "Fear him, ye saints, and then ye shall Have nothing else to fear." The fear of man is a snare, but the fear of God is a great virtue, and has great power for good over the human mind. God is to be feared profoundly, continually, and alone. Let all worship be to him only. And who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? Who indeed? The angels fell when their rebellion provoked his justice; Adam lost his place in Paradise in the same manner; Pharaoh and other proud monarchs passed away at his frown; neither is there in earth or hell any who can abide the terror of his wrath. How blest are they who are sheltered in the atonement of Jesus, and hence have no cause to fear the righteous anger of the Judge of all the earth. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 7. Thou, even thou, art to be feared. The emphasis in the word thou, redoubled, implies as much as if he had said, Not principalities, not powers, not hell, not death, nor anything for themselves, but thou, O Lord, alone art to be feared. Arguments and reasons to confirm it are two, here laid down in the text: the first is drawn from God's anger, who hath decreed, and accordingly executes vengeance upon all the proud. The second is drawn from his power; not princes, not armies, not men, not angels, are able to endure the breath of his fury; for, Who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?... The anger of God is a terrible, unspeakable, unsupportable, intolerable, burden. Every word in the text hath a special emphasis to prove this. Who may stand? Who? Shall angels? They are but like refracted beams or rays, if God should hide his face, they would cease to shine. Shall man? His glory and pomp, like the colours in the rainbow, vanish away, when God puts forth in anger the brightness of his face. Shall devils? If he speak the word, they are tumbled down from heaven like lightning. Stand in thy sight. Stand. What! a reed against a cedar, a thistle in Lebanon against a cedar in Lebanon; a feather against a flame; a grasshopper against an Almighty, a head of glass against a rod of brass? When once thou art angry. Angry. By sending out his wrath, that it wounds like arrows; angry, in pouring it out, that it drowns like water; angry, in kindling of it, that it burns like fire; a consuming fire, but you tell me such a fire may be quenched; an unquenchable fire, but since that may cease to burn, when it lacks matter, it is in one word an everlasting fire, that never goes out. That, that's it; such anger as is never fully shown, but in punishment of reprobates; in no punishment, but that in hell; in none in hell, but that eternal. John Cragge's "Cabinet of Spiritual Jewells." 1657. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 7. The anger of God. A very suggestive subject. Psalms 76:8* Ver. 8. Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven. So complete an overthrow was evidently a judgment from heaven; those who saw it not, yet heard the report of it, and said, "This is the finger of God." Man will not hear God's voice if he can help it, but God takes care to cause it to be heard. The echoes of that judgment executed on the haughty Assyrian are heard still, and will ring on down all the ages, to the praise of divine justice. The earth feared and was still. All nations trembled at the tidings, and sat in humbled awe. Repose followed the former turmoils of war, when the oppressor's power was broken, and God was reverenced for having given quiet to the peoples. How readily can Jehovah command an audience! It may be that in the latter days he will, by some such miracles of power in the realms of grace, constrain all earth's inhabitants to attend to the gospel, and submit to the reign of his all glorious Son. So be it, good Lord. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 8-9. I. The characters described: the meek of the earth. II. The need implied. 1. To be vindicated. 2. To be saved. III. The divine interposition on their behalf: Thou didst cause, etc. When God arose, etc. IV. The effect of their deliverance: The earth feared, etc. G. R. Psalms 76:9* Ver. 9. When God arose to judgment. Men were hushed when he ascended the judgment seat and actively carried out the decrees of justice. When God is still the people are in tumult; when he arises they are still as a stone. To save all the meek of the earth. The Ruler of men has a special eye towards the poor and despised; he makes it his first point to right all their wrongs. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." They have little enough of it now, but their avenger is strong and he will surely save them. He who saves his people is the same God who overthrows their enemies; he is as omnipotent to save as to destroy. Glory be unto his name. Selah. Here pause, and let devout contemplation adore the God of Jacob. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 9. God arose to judgment. This great judgment was wrought upon the enemies when God rose: it was not done when God sat; for the whole time when he sat his enemies were aloft, stirring their time, raging in murder, oppression, and blood... He bringeth in God here after the manner of earthly judges, after the custom of our judges; for first they sit down, they try, seek out, and advise, and after consideration they resolve, and after resolution they rise up, give forth judgment, and pronounce the sentence; even so the prophet bringeth in God after the same manner; sitting, and after sitting, rising and pronouncing the sentence. Robert Bruce. Ver. 9. To save all the meek. We see from this passage what care God takes of the afflicted. When he is angry with the ungodly, he is angry with them chiefly because they have oppressed the poor and the innocent. Although he detests all iniquity, yet he is most indignant with that which is committed against the needy and guiltless. So in Psalms 12:1-8, "For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord." So in this verse, when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Musculus. Ver. 9. Is not this the day when the Saviour comes to reign? the day when the results of things shall best be seen; the day when every saint with anointed eye shall see that events all tended to the glory of God; the day when they shall sing better far than now. "Surely the wrath of man praiseth thee. Thou girdest thyself with the remnant of wrath." Andrew A. Bonar. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 8-9. I. The characters described: the meek of the earth. II. The need implied. 1. To be vindicated. 2. To be saved. III. The divine interposition on their behalf: Thou didst cause, etc. When God arose, etc. IV. The effect of their deliverance: The earth feared, etc. G. R. Psalms 76:10* Ver. 10. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee. It shall not only be overcome but rendered subservient to thy glory. Man with his breath of threatening is but blowing the trumpet of the Lord's eternal fame. Furious winds often drive vessels the more swiftly into port. The devil blows the fire and melts the iron, and then the Lord fashions it for his own purposes. Let men and devils rage as they may, they cannot do otherwise than subserve the divine purposes. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Malice is tethered and cannot break its bounds. The fire which cannot be utilised shall be damped. Some read it "thou shalt gird, "as if the Lord girded on the wrath of man as a sword to be used for his own designs, and certainly men of the world are often a sword in the hand of God, to scourge others. The verse clearly teaches that even the most rampant evil is under the control of the Lord, and will in the end be overruled for his praise. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 10. Surly the wrath of man shall praise thee. Persecutions tend to correct the failings of good men, and to exercise and illustrate their several graces and virtues. By these, good men are usually made much better and more approved, while they tend to exercise our patience, to quicken our devotion, to evidence out zeal and Christian fortitude, and to show to the whole world what love we bear to the truth, and how much we are willing to undergo for the honour of God. Till they have suffered something for it, truth is too apt to grow cheap and be less prized many times, even by those that are good men in the main; whereas we are apt on the contrary, never to value it at a higher rate, or to be more zealous for it, or to make better use of it, than when it is opposed and persecuted. What more truly beneficial therefore, or tending to the divine glory, than for God, who useth to bring good out of evil, to make use also of the opposers of his truth, to rouse up his servants whom he sees growing more remiss and negligent than they should be, and to suffer such temptations to assault them, by which their drowsy minds may be spurred on into a greater love and zeal for the truth, and a deeper sense of the divine benefit in it, and in general, excited to the more diligent performance of their duty. Richard Pearson. 1684. Ver. 10. The wrath of man shall praise thee. In the Septuagint it is, The wrath of man shall keep holy day to thee, shall increase a festival for thee. God many times gets up in the world on Satan's shoulders. When matters are ravelled and disordered, he can find out the right end of the thread, and how to disentangle us again; and when we have spoiled a business, he can dispose it for good, and make an advantage of those things which seem to obscure the glory of his name. Thomas Manton. Ver. 10. The wrath of man shall praise thee. The wrath of wicked men against the people of God is very tributary to his praise. 1. It puts them upon many subtle devices and cunning stratagems, in frustrating of which the wisdom of God and his care of his Church is very much illustrated. 2. The wrath of wicked men impels them to many violent and forcible attempts upon the people of God to destroy them, and so gives him occasion to manifest his power in their defence. 3. It makes them sometimes fit to be his instruments in correcting his people, and so he vindicates himself from the suspicion of being a patron to sin in them that are nearest to him, and makes them that hate holiness promote it in his people, and them that intend them the greatest hurt, to do them the greatest good. 4. It administers occasion to him for the manifestation of the power of his grace in upholding the spirits of his people and the being of his church in despite of all that enemies can do against them. 5. It serves very much to adorn God's most signal undertakings for his people in the world. 6. It serves to manifest the glory of God's justice upon his people's enemies in the day when he rises up to avenge himself upon them, when he shall stand over them, lashing them with scorpions, and at every blow mind their former cruelties. Here, take that for your inhuman rage against my people at such a place, and that for your barbarous usage of them at such a time. Now see how good it is to be imprisoned, beaten, tortured, burnt, and sawn asunder. Thus the enemies themselves are often constrained to acknowledge with Adoni Bezek the righteous hand of God upon them in the day of inquisition. Condensed from John Warren's Sermon before Parliament. 1656. Ver. 10. The wrath of man. Wrath is anger accented unto the highest pitch, or blown up into a flame. The wrath of man, (in the original it is The wrath of Adam, or the wrath of clay, weak, impotent man) shall praise thee, i.e., it shall turn to the praise and glory of God through his overruling providence, though quite otherwise intended. God will bring honour to himself, and serve his own holy and wise designs out of it... This expression, the wrath of man, imports the weakness and impotence of it; it is but the wrath of Adam, or of red clay. How contemptibly doth the Spirit of God speak of man, and of the power of man, in Scripture? "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?" The wrath of man, when it is lengthened out to its utmost boundaries, can only go to the length of killing the body, or in the breaking the sheath of clay in which the soul lodges, and then it can do no more. Ebenezer Erskine. Ver. 10. Shall praise thee. God turns the wrath of man to the praise of his adorable sovereignty. Never have the Lord's people had such awful impressions of the sovereignty of God, as when they have been in the furnace of man's wrath, then they become dumb with silence. When the Chaldean and Sabean robbers are let loose to plunder and spoil the substance of Job, he is made to view adorable sovereignty in it, saying, "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord." It is in such a case as this that God says to his own people, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen." What work of God about the church is advanced by the wrath of men? 1. His discovering work; for by the wind of man's wrath he separates between the precious and the vile, betwixt the chaff and the wheat. In the day of the church's prosperity and quiet, hypocrites and true believers are mingled together, like the chaff and the wheat in the barn floor: but the Lord, like the husbandman, opens the door of his barn, and puts the wind of man's wrath through it, that the world may know which is which. O, sirs, much chaff is cast up already, both among ministers and professors; but it is like the wind and sieve may cast up much more yet ere all be done. 2. God's purging work is advanced among his own children by the wrath of men: there is much of the dross of corruption cleaves to the Lord's people while in the wilderness. Now, the Lord heats the furnace of man's wrath, and casts his people into it, that when he has tried them, he may bring them forth as gold. 3. God's uniting work is hereby advanced. In a time of peace and external tranquillity the sheep of Christ scatter and divide among themselves; but God lets loose the dogs upon them, and then the flock runs together; or like pieces of metal cast into the fire, they run together in a lump. 4. God's enlarging work, or his work of spreading the gospel, is sometimes advanced by the wrath of man. Acts 8:1-5. The gospel, like the chamomile, the more it is trodden upon, the more it spreads. Ebenezer Erskine. Ver. 10. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. The remainder of wrath, i.e. what is left behind of the wrath of men, when God has glorified himself thereby. Even after God has defeated the purposes of wicked men, and made them contribute to his glory, yet there is abundance of wrath remaining. But what becomes of that wrath that is left? God shall restrain it. The word signifies to gird up. However God may see fit to slacken the bridle of his providence, and suffer wicked men to vent their wrath and enmity, as far as it shall contribute to his glory; yet the super abounding and the remainder of his wrath that is not for his glory and his people's profit, God will gird it up, that they shall not get it vented... If any wrath of man remain beyond what shall bring in a revenue of praise unto God, he will restrain it, and bind it up like the waters of a mill: he will suffer as much of the current of water to run upon the wheel, as serves to carry it about and grind his corn, but the remainder of the water he sets it off another way: so God will let out as much of the current of man's wrath as shall serve the ends of his glory and our good, but the remainder of the stream and current he will restrain, and turn another way. In Isaiah 28:1-29 we are told that God will not be aye "threshing his corn, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. This cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." All this comfort is sure and certain, there is not the least peradventure about it, that the flame of man's wrath shall praise the Lord, and the superfluous fire shall be quenched, or hemmed in; for here we have God's parole of honour for it: Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Ebenezer Erskine. Ver. 10. The remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. twmh Chemoth, "wrath, "in the plural number, seems to be put in opposition to chamoth, the single wrath of man in the former part of the verse; to shew there is more wrath which God is to restrain, than merely that of man. There is also more pride which needs a like restraint; namely, that of the first Lucifer, who sinned, and, as is thought, fell by aspiring to ascend, and to be like the Most High. There are finally, other counsels also, as well as other wrath and pride, besides human, which God confounds. There is a wisdom that descendeth not from above (no, nor grows on earth) but is devilish, James 3:15. And both wrath, pride, and wisdom, of devils as well as men, shall God restrain, when he pleases not to turn them to his praise. Let there be hellish plots, yet our God shall confound them. From "A Sermon preached"... before the Queen... By Edward (Wetenhall) Lord Bishop of Corke and Rosse. 1691. Ver. 10. Thou shalt restrain. This, in the Hebrew, is expressed in one word, rygxt, which imports the girding or binding of it on every side, that it shall by no means break out, but shall be kept in, as a dog in a chain, as a lion in his den, how violent soever. Cornelius Burges, in "Another Sermon preached to the Honourable House of Commons... November the fifth, 1641." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 10. I. Evil permitted for good: the wrath, etc. II. Restrained for good: The remainder, etc. Or, I. Ruled. II. Overruled. G. R. Psalms 76:11* Ver. 11. Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God. Well may we do so in memory of such mercies and judgments. To vow or not is a matter of choice, but to discharge our vows is our bounden duty. He who would defraud God, his own God, is a wretch indeed. He keeps his promises, let not his people fail in theirs. He is their faithful God and deserves to have a faithful people. Let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. Let surrounding nations submit to the only living God, let his own people with alacrity present their offerings, and let his priests and Levites be leaders in the sacred sacrifice. He who deserves to be praised as our God does, should not have mere verbal homage, but substantial tribute. Dread Sovereign, behold I give myself to thee. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 11. Round about him. A description of his people, as the twelve tribes pitched round about the tabernacle, Numbers 2:2; and the twenty-four elders were round about God's throne, Revelation 4:4. So the Chaldee expounds it; --Ye that dwell about his sanctuary. Henry Ainsworth. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 11. I. To whom vows may be made. Not to man, but God. II. What vows should be thus made. 1. Of self dedication. 2. Of self service. 3. Of self sacrifice. III. How kept: Vow and pay. 1. From duty. 2. From fear of his displeasure. G. R. Ver. 11. The propriety, obligation, pleasure, and profit of presenting gifts unto the Lord. Psalms 76:12* Ver. 12. He shall cut off the spirit of princes. Their courage, skill, and life are in his hands, and he can remove them as a gardener cuts off a slip from a plant. None are great in his hand. Caesars and Napoleons fall under his power as the boughs of the tree beneath the woodman's axe. He is terrible to the kings of the earth. While they are terrible to others, he is terrible to them. If they oppose themselves to his people, he will make short work of them; they shall perish before the terror of his arm, "for the Lord is a man of war, the Lord is his name." Rejoice before him all ye who adore the God of Jacob. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. No Psalm has a greater right to follow Psalms 75:1-10 than this, which is inscribed To the Precentor, with accompaniment of stringed instruments (vid. iv. 1), a Psalm by Asaph, a song. Similar expressions (God of Jacob, Psalms 75:10 77:7; saints, wicked of the earth, Psalms 75:9 76:10), and the same impress throughout speak in favour of unity of authorship. In other respects too, they form a pair: Psalms 75:1-10 prepares the way for the divine deed of judgments as imminent, which Psalms 76:1-12 celebrates as having taken place. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 12. Cut off. He deals with princes as men deal with a vine. An axe is too strong for a cluster of grapes, or a sprig of a vine; it easily cuts them off: so God by a judgment easily cuts off the spirit of princes; they are not able to stand against the least judgments of God: when he puts strength into worms, or any other creature they fall. William Greenhill, in a Sermon, entitled, "The Axe at the Root." Ver. 12. The Lord cuts off the spirit of princes; the word is, he slips off, as one should slip off a flower between one's fingers, or as one should slip off a bunch of grapes from a vine, so soon is it done. How great uncertainty have many great ones, by their miserable experience, found in their outward glory and worldly felicity! What a change hath a little time made in all their honours, riches, and delights! That victorious emperor Henry the Fourth, who had fought fifty-two pitched battles, fell to that poverty before he died, that he was forced to petition to be a prebend in the church of Spier, to maintain him in his old age. And Procopius reports of King Gillimer, who was a potent king of the Vandals, who was so low brought, as to intreat his friends to send him a sponge, a loaf of bread, and a harp; a sponge to dry up his tears, a loaf of bread to maintain his life, and a harp to solace himself in his misery. Philip de Comines reports of a Duke of Exeter, who though he had married Edward the Fourth's sister, yet he saw him in the Low Countries begging barefoot. Bellisarius, the chief man living in his time, having his eyes put out, was led at last in a string, crying, "give a halfpenny to Bellisarius." Jeremiah Burroughs. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 77:1. I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.The writer was in very deep trouble. The trouble forced from him a loud and bitter cry. His heart was wrung with anguish, but the cry which was the weakness of the flesh was, by divine grace, turned upward, and so became the strength of his grace. He cried, but it was to God, not to men, as many of us do. “Unto God,” says he twice over, “did I cry.” But God hears when others hear not, and, blessed be his name, he answers when others cannot. There are so many instances in which God has heard the prayer of persons in deep trouble, that the most troubled of all men ought to be encouraged to pray. Did not Jonah pray, even out of the belly of the whale, and God delivered him? Did not Manasseh pray out of the low dungeon? Great sinner as he was, God delivered him — Oh! let us believe that there is power in prayer, for God hearkens to the request of those that seek his face.Psalms 77:2. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.He would not take the common comfort which friendly words would have yielded him: his case was so desperate that he must have divine comfort, and nothing else. I will not be comforted till Jesus comfort me, and this is a very good and holy resolution. I wish that some who snatch at comfort —unhealthy comfort — too soon, would resolve upon this, “My cry shall go to God, and God only, and I will take no comfort till God the Holy Spirit bring it to me.”Psalms 77:3. I remembered God, and was troubled:Yet it was the right thing to do to remember God — the most comfortable thing in the world, and though it failed at first, it did not fail in the long run,Psalms 77:3. I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.It is no new thing, then, for the best of God’s people to be in the deepest trouble. The path which you are traveling, O mourner, is well marked with footprints.Psalms 77:3-5. Selah. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.Turned through the experience of thy people written in thy Word to see if ever thou didst forsake one of them.Psalms 77:6. I call to remembrance my song in the night:To see whether thou didst forsake me in days gone by — marked my past experience of thy faithfulness.Psalms 77:6-9. I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Will he be favorable no more? Very proper questions to put. They answer themselves when we put them plainly, but while they lie festering in our spirits, misshapen things like ghosts that haunt our heart, then they alarm us. It is well to come to plain dealings, with our soul and to say, “Why art thou cast down, O my soul; why art thou disquieted within me?”Psalms 77:9-10. Selah. And I said,When I came to reckon all up, and make a righteous judgment; when I bid my fears lie still awhile, and let me listen to reason, I said: —Psalms 77:10. This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember God’s faithfulness in the past, in years when I lived at his right hand and basked in the sunlight of his love: I will snatch firebrands from the altars of the past to light up the fires of today.Psalms 77:11-13. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary:Or better, “Thy way is in holiness.” What thou doest is right, my God. I feared and trembled, but now I know it is so.Psalms 77:13-14. Who is so great a God as our God? Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.Oh! if we could all tell out what God has done for us, we could prove it true that God has declared his strength among us; the might of his grace has he displayed in our case.Psalms 77:15. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob an Joseph.Saints in the olden times were very fond of falling back upon the redemption of Israel out of Egypt. It was a favorite subject of their contemplation; it yielded them great comfort, and very, very frequently they turned it into sacred song. Now in heaven we shall do the same, for we shall sing the song of Moses end the Lamb. Let not the Church in modern times forget to draw consolation out of that well. Here the Psalmist gives us a description, as I think it is, of the passage of the Red Sea — giving it as a sort of type of the way in which God will always deliver his people to the world’s end.Psalms 77:16-20. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled. The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known. Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.For one moment just look at this picture. You will be delivered, and God will be glorified in your deliverance just as he was in the coming out of Egypt, but it will be by a mysterious way, perhaps — way little guessed at by you. God’s path will be in the great waters. You will see the power, but before you see it you will little guess how it will be displayed. Only follow where he leads, for as amidst the thunder and the lightning he led his people as calmly on as a shepherd leads his flock, so shall you, whatever happens, with Jehovah for your shepherd, be led safely on till you come to the celestial city. Let us sing the song of the Red Sea. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 77; Revelation 1:15-20. This story of the children of Israel, after they came out of Egypt, is like a looking-glass in which we may, with great sadness, see ourselves reflected.Psalms 78:9. The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They had every opportunity of serving their God; he had provided them with fit weapons for the war, but they were cowardly, so they “turned back in the day of battle.”Psalms 78:10-11. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; and forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.Let each one of us ask, “Does the psalmist describe me?”Psalms 78:12-13. Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.What a marvelous miracle that dividing of the Red Sea was! Did it not make an abiding impression upon them? I will be bound to say that many of them said, “We shall never doubt God again.” Yet, soon they did doubt, and murmur, and rebel against him!Psalms 78:14-16. In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.It seemed as if there was nothing that the Lord would not do for them; all that they needed for food and refreshment was given to them freely.Psalms 78:17-18. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.He had given them food for their necessities, but now they must have meat for their lusts.Psalms 78:19. Yea, they spoke against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?So you see, dear friends, what speaking against God really is; I am afraid that we also have often done that. To question God’s power, is to speak against him. Perhaps you have thought lightly of your unbelieving speeches, but God does not think lightly of them; to my mind it seems that there is hardly anything that so grieves him as the doubts of his people concerning him.Psalms 78:20. Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?There ought to have been no question as to the Lord’s power; the God who could fetch water out of a rock could, if he pleased, make loaves of bread out of the sand under their feet, or cause the very stars to drop with meat for them if necessary.Psalms 78:21. Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth:He was really angry with his people because they doubted him. He loved them, and because he loved them, it cut him to the quick that they should have questioned his power to bless them.Psalms 78:21-23. So a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel; Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, Unbelief is very hard to kill. God opens the doors and windows of heaven to feed his people; yet, nevertheless, the next time they are in trouble, they begin to stagger at the promise. Oh, shameful unbelief!Psalms 78:24-29. And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven : and by his power he brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: and he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;Yet that was not a blessing to them; and, brethren, let us ever be afraid of our own desire, unless that desire comes from the Lord. You know how David puts it in the 37th Psalm: “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” If, however, thou findest thy delight in any earthly thing, it shall be a plague to thee to have the desire of thy heart: “He gave them their own desire; “ —Psalms 78:30. They were not estranged from their lust.For the more last gets, the more lust wants. It is like the daughter of the horse-leech, that always cries, “Give! Give!” God can satisfy the longing soul, but all the world cannot satisfy the cravings of lust.Psalms 78:30-31. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.They received what they pined for, but they had a curse with it. Affliction with a blessing is far better than prosperity with a curse.Psalms 78:32. For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.They were dyed ingrain with unbelief, so that it seemed as if it could not be washed out of them.Psalms 78:33. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.A great part of our trouble is the fruit of our own unbelief. It is like hemlock in the furrows of the field. They who distrust God are making a rod for their own back; and before they have done with it, they will have to rue the day in which they thought themselves wiser than God.Psalms 78:34-36. When he slew them, then they sought him : and they returned and inquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.Some men are like dull animals that will not go without the whip. Many of us cannot be kept right without constant affliction; if our God gives us a little smooth walking, we go half-asleep, or we trip and stumble; so he is compelled, as it were, to make our way very rough, and often to strike us with the rod, to keep us from falling altogether into sinful slumber. How many there are who, when they do seem to turn to God, in times of sickness, are not truly penitent! A death-bed repentance may be true; but, oh, what a risk there is that it may be false!Psalms 78:37-51. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan : and had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; and smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham:This is what God did with their enemies who had oppressed them, that he might set his people at liberty. After all that, ought they not to have trusted him as a little child trusts its mother, without ever a question or a doubt While he thus overthrew their enemies, see what he did for his own people.Psalms 78:52-56. But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. Be cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies; This sad note seems to come over and over again, as if they never could have too much of grieving God; yet the Lord was still tender towards them. Well may we sing, — “Who is a pardoning God like thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?”Psalms 78:57-64. But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand. He gave his people over also unto the sword; and was wroth with his inheritance. The fire consumed their young men; and their maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword; and their widows made no lamentation. They were dumb with excess of grief. When God chastises his children, he does not play at it. Sometimes, when be is angry at their sin, he lays on the blows fast and heavily, till their very bones are broken, so that they may hate sin as God hates it, and seek after holiness even as God loves it. So, dear friends, I pray that, if any of us have lost the consolations of God, and are feeling the weight of his rod, we may begin to inquire what secret thing it is in us which has angered him, and go back to him, and seek to stand before him as once we did; for, otherwise, he will smite, and smite, and smite yet again and again. But, notice, that the Lord never delights in chastening his children; he is glad to have done with the necessary correction. So, when their enemies were most cruel with them, —Psalms 78:65-69. Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts: he put them to a perpetual reproach. Moreover he refused the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: but chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever.You see that we are getting into clear water now; it was all broken water, storm and hurricane, while we heard of what Israel did; but when we come to deal with God in Christ, of whom David is the type, then how sweetly everything goes!Psalms 78:70-72. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: from following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.Blessed be God who puts away the sin of his people, because he delighteth in mercy! --- Turning Back in the Day of Battle by C. H. (1834-1892) "The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle."— Psalms 78:9 . I do not think that it has ever been clearly ascertained to what particular historical event Asaph here refers, but I do not find that any of the commentators mention a very obscure passage in the First Book of Chronicles, which I venture to suggest may give us the explanation. In the first Book of Chronicles, the seventh chapter and the twentieth verse, you read:—"And the sons of Ephraim, Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tabath his son, and Eladah, and Tabath his son, and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him." This event appears to have occurred while the children of Israel were still in Egypt. It has been supposed by some that these sons of Ephraim made a raid upon the promised land, and attacked the men of Gath. Believing the land to be theirs by promise they went to take it before they had divine authority so to do. They made God's decrees the rule of their life instead of God's revealed will, and so they soon fell into trouble,—as those people always do who make that mistake,—and their father Ephraim mourned over them many days. But it appears to have been rather an attack made upon them by some men of Gath. The people seem some of them to have been of Egyptian origin, and they probably made an attack upon the cattle of the men of Ephraim. These young men defended their cattle for a time, but at last—if this be the event, which this Psalm refers to—it would appear they turned their backs and so fell slain. That may or may not be. Still there are other passages in history, which might serve to illustrate the text. You are aware that Joshua was of the tribe of Ephraim, and probably on account of this, the ark of God was first placed at Shiloh. On the occasion when Hophni and Phineas were slain, the children of Israel, we are told, fled. It appears to have been the peculiar duty of the men of Ephraim, in whose tribe Shiloh was, to guard the ark. It may be possible that they were set around the ark as a body-guard to it, but fled at the approach of the Philistines, or fell slain together with Hophni and Phineas on that terrible and disastrous day. If this is the event alluded to you will find the history of it in the fourth chapter of the First Book of Samuel. Perhaps, however, reference is made to the whole history of the tribe of Ephraim, that though they were well armed and were dexterous men in the use of the bow, yet on many occasions they turned their backs in the day of battle. Whether any of these explanations interpret the historical reference or not, the subject in itself will furnish us with a theme for meditation. I. We will first consider for a little while WHAT THESE MEN DID. They turned their backs. When the time for fighting came they ought to have shown their fronts. Like bold men they should have kept their face to the foe and their breast against the adversary, but they dishonorably turned their backs and fled. This, I am sorry to say, is not an unusual thing amongst professing Christians. They turn back; they turn back in the day of battle. Some do this at the first appearance of difficulty. "There is a lion in the way," saith the slothful man, "I shall be slain in the streets." They hear that there is some trouble involved in Christian service, or that some persecution may be met with in the pursuit of truth, and straightway they look before they leap, as the world hath it, and turn back from the way which they supposed to be that of safety. Timorous and Mistrust come running down the hill crying, "The lions! the lions!" and thus may a pilgrim turn back towards the City of Destruction. Others are somewhat braver. They bear the first brunt. When the skirmishers begin these are as bold as any; they can return blow for blow, and you bear them boast, as they buckle on their armor, at such a rate, that you would suppose, if you did not know that boasters are seldom good at fighting, that they must certainly be victorious. During the first thrust they stand like martyrs and behave like heroes, but very soon, when the armor gets a little battered, and the fine plume on their helmet a little stained, they turn back in the day of battle. Some professors bear the fight a little longer. They are not to be laughed out of their religion; they can stand the jeers and jests of their old companions. When they find that they have got the cut direct in the society which once loved them so much they can put up with that, and they are very much complimented by themselves on having done it. "Cowards," say they, "are those who flee; but we shall never do this." But by and by the skirmishers have done their work, and it comes to a hand-to-hand fight; the struggle begins to be somewhat more arduous, and now shall we see what metal they are made of. The enemy gets hold of them, and "That desperate tug their soul might feel Through bars of brass and triple steel." Then they find that they are being hugged in the wrong place; they are touched in a tender part, and so they also turn back in the day of battle! And, alas! sad as it is to say it—firmly as we believe that every child of God is safe, yet is it true that many who profess to be so, after having fought so long that you would suppose the next thing would be for them to rest upon their laurels and receive their crown, just at the very last they fall and turn hack! We have seen grey-headed apostates as well as juvenile ones. There have been those who seemed to wear well for a time, but at last one crushing blow came which they could not bear, and they gave way before it! Oh, brethren, it is only those who persevere to the end that will be saved, and only those who have a true faith in Jesus Christ have a sure evidence of their election of God; these be they who shall be clothed with white raiment, and shall sit down upon his throne for ever. But, how many who bade fair to do this, after all turn back! I may be describing—I hope I am not—some actual case here. Some of you may say as you turn the thought over in your minds,— "My feet had almost gone; My steps had well nigh slipped." That young man over yonder was so much jeered at the other day by those with whom he works, that he felt it was very unkind, and he did think something about renouncing his religion altogether. And my other brother yonder, who has had so many losses, has lately had such a time as he never had before, and he thinks nobody else ever had; and he cries, "God has forsaken me." He cannot just now say, "Though he slay me yet will I trust in him;" but he thinks, "Surely I had better turn to the world; I had better leave my religion and give it up, for I am encompassed about with such a terrible conflict that I shall never win the victory!" Ah! brethren, these are often the trials that God sends, and it is by these that he separates the chaff from the wheat, and lets us see who are true soldiers, and who are only the lacqueys who wear regimentals, but have not the soldier's heart pulsing beneath the scarlet. God grant us grace to be found at last men that turned not back in the day of battle. If I take the history of the children of Ephraim, I should say that they turned their backs and failed to defend the ark. There are some who, when they are defending the truth, shun controversy. They are of such a timid disposition—a loving disposition they call it—that as soon as ever the war-trumpet sounds they find it to be their duty to attend to the baggage in the rear. They are very brave men indeed in that particular quarter of the conflict where it does not happen to rage; but there in the van, where the corpses are piled on heaps, and where the battle-axes drip with gore, they never will be found, because they have not the courage to fight and to conquer for Jesus. As far as they are concerned the ark of God may be taken by the Philistines, because they turn their backs. These Ephraimites ought, too, as Joshua had set them the example, to have conquered Canaan, and to have driven out the Canaanites still left. Ah! my brethren, there are some of you whose sins still live, because you have turned your backs upon them, but not in the right sense, for you have turned your backs against contending with sin. There is that bad temper of yours—you have given up trying to curb it now. You say, "Well, you know many of God's children have bad tempers," whereas you know that this is very wicked talking. You ought to slay that Agag. You have no business to tolerate a bad temper. You must never have any peace with that spiteful temper, or that hasty temper of yours; you must down with it, or else it will down with you, and if you do not overcome it, it will overcome you. Rest assured that you are guilty, and that you turn your back if you do not fight with it. So too with that worldliness of yours and that want of a prayerful spirit. If you say, "Well, I will be content to be as I am; I will not try after a high state of piety," you turn your backs, my brethren. You ought to slay all these Canaanites, and you must in Christ's name do it, and not spare so much as one of them, but say, "they compass me about, like bees, yea, they compass me about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them." And then, when these people turned their backs, Canaan was not won. So it is with you. The Lord's kingdom is not yet fully extended, and just when you ought to be pushing far and wide the conquests of the cross, and be letting this great city of ours know that the King reigneth mighty to save, you turn back in the day of battle. There are some Christians here who are doing nothing. I should not say this, perhaps, if I were preaching on Sunday, for I thank God that I could not in my own heart say it of my own members; the most of them are doing, I believe, as much as lieth in them, or if not, I hope they very soon will be. But I am persuaded that there are many other Christians who are not doing what they should do, but are shrinking from practical service. They come in here, perhaps, on a Thursday night, and get a little bit, and they go elsewhere on other evenings of the week and pick up sweet morsels and crumbs. They like feeding very well, but they do not like work so much. There is a certain little company that come here on week-day evenings, into whose ears I should like to whisper, and ask them what they are doing for Christ. They are spiritual vagrants who go from one place to another, but have no settled home where they work for the Master, and they are of very little credit to anybody. We must all of us have a sphere of labor, and though I am glad to see all of you, as many as like to come, yet I pray you do have your own place for your own work, and do not be like the children of Ephraim who "turned back in the day of battle." II. Having thus observed what these men of Ephraim did, we come to look at the inopportune time WHEN THEY DID IT. They turned back, and their doing so would not have mattered much had they done it in a day of feasting. They could always be spared then, but that was not when they did it. They always had their faces to the front when there was any feasting to be done. They turned back; when? On holidays, when the banners waved high and the silver trumpets sounded? No; they were in the front then! Exeter Hall! May meetings! How many people are in the front there and then? When there is something sweet to feed upon they do not think of turning back. But these people turned back on rather a different occasion; they turned back in the day of battle. They turned back, it seems then, just when they were to be tried. Ah! how much there is we do that will not stand trial! How much there is of godliness which is useful for anything excepting that which it is meant for! It is all in vain for me to say, if I have bought a water-proof coat, that it is good for everything except keeping the water out. Why, then it is good for nothing, and so there are some Christians who have got a religion that is good for every day except the day when it has to be tested, and then it is good for nothing. An anchor may be very pretty on shore, and it may be very showy as an ornament when it lies on the ship's deck or hangs from the side, but what is the good of it if it will not hold when the wind blows and the vessel needs to be held fast? So, alas! there is much of religion and of godliness, so called, that is no good when it comes to the day of trial. The soldier is truly proved to be a soldier when the war-trumpet sounds and the regiment must go up to the cannon's mouth. Then shall you know, when the bayonets begin to cross, who has the true soldier's blood in him; but ah! how many turn back when it really comes to the conflict, for then the day of trial is too much for them! They turned back at the only time when they were of any sort of use. A man who has to fight is not of any particular use to his country, that I know of, except when there is fighting to be done. Like a man in any other trade, there is a season when he is wanted. Now, if the Christian soldier never fights, of what good is he at all? That is a very remarkable passage in one of the prophets, where the Lord compares his people to a vine, and then he says of them, in words of which I will give the sense, "If the vine bears fruit it is very valuable, but, if it bears no fruit, then it is good for nothing at all." An oak without fruit is valuable for its timber, and even thorns are useful, for you may make a hedge of them. Smaller plants may be used for some medicinal purposes, but the vine, if it bear no fruit, is absolutely good for nothing. "Will a man even make a peg of it, whereon to hang a vessel?" saith the prophet. No, it is of no service whatever. So is it with the Christian. If he be not thorough and true he is no good at all; you can make nothing of him whatever; he is, to use Christ's expressive words, "Neither fit for the land nor even for the dunghill, and men cast him out." Who would enlist a soldier that knew he would turn back? and who amongst us would like to be in his regiment? Take off his colors, play "The Rogue's March," and turn him out of the barracks! And this is what will come to some professors who turn back in the day of battle! Their regimentals will be torn off, and they will be excluded from the church of God because they turned back in the day of trial and at the time when they were needed. They turned their backs, too, like fools, in the day when victory was to be won. The soldier wants to distinguish himself; he wants to rise out of the ranks; he wants to be promoted. He hardly expects an opportunity of doing this in time of peace; but the officer rises when in time of war he leads a successful charge. And so it is with the Christian soldier. I make no advance while I am not fighting. I cannot win if I am not warring. My only opportunity for conquering is when I am fighting. If I run away when there is a chance of winning the crown, then I am like the ship that does not come out of harbour when there is a fair wind, or like the man who does not avail himself of the high tide to get his vessel over the bar at the harbour's mouth. I cannot win without fighting, and therefore I thank God when the trial comes, and count it a joy when I fall into manifold temptations, because now I may add to my faith one virtue after another, till my Christian character is all complete. To throw away the time of conflict is to throw away the crown. Oh simple heart! Oh silly heart! to be afraid of suffering for Jesus! You are, in fact, afraid of reigning with him, for you must do the one if you would do the other. You, young woman, who are so alarmed at a little laughing, recollect you cannot go to heaven without being laughed at sometimes in the circle in which you move, or the family in which you live. He that will live a godly life in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution. Since, then, this is the way to heaven, why do you turn from it? Be not like these children of Ephraim who turned back when there was a crown to be won. They turned back, once more, when turning back involved the most disastrous defeat. The ark of God was taken. "Ichabod," the enemy cried, for the glory was departed from Israel, because the children of Ephraim turned back in the day of battle. And so, dear friends, unless God gives you preserving grace to stand fast to the end, do you not see that you are turning back to—what? To perdition. You do not turn back merely to the world. That is what it looks like, perhaps, to you, but you really turn back to hell. If, after having once put your hand to the plough, you look back, you are unworthy of the kingdom; but what are you worthy of? Why, those "reserved seats" in hell! Did you ever think of that? There are such, and let me quote a passage, which proves it. We are told in one place of darkness "reserved" for some who were "wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever!" When you turn back you turn back to those reserved places where the darkness is more black and the pain more terrible. Oh! may God save you from ever turning back in the day of battle! This, then, is when they did it—they turned back in the day of battle. III. But now let us notice, WHO THEY WERE THAT TURNED BACK. They were "children of Ephraim," and they are described as "being armed and carrying bows," or bows throwing forth sharp arrows. They were men of a noble parentage. They were the children of Ephraim. Joshua was of that line, and he was the greatest of conquerors, who led the people into the promised laud. And you professors, you profess to be descended from our Joshua,—Jesus the Conqueror, and will you turn back? Are you followers of the Savior who gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair, and are you afraid or ashamed of anything? He gave his face to be spat upon, and will you hide your faces at the mention of his name, because fools choose to laugh at you? Followers of Joshua, and vet afraid? Followers of Jesus, and yet blush? God grant that we may never blush, except when we think that we ever blushed at the thought of his Son! Oh! thou dear, despised, and persecuted One, I see thee on thy way amidst the scoffers. One plucks thy beard; another pulls thy hair; a third casts his accursed spittle into thy face; another beats thee; another cries, "Let him be crucified." They mock thee with all forms of mockery. Taunt and jeer they heap upon thee. They fill thy mouth with vinegar, and give thee gall to drink. They pierce thy hands and thy feet, and yet thou goest on along thy way of kindness and of mercy! And I—what have I ever suffered compared with thee? And these thy people—what have any of these endured, or what can they endure, compared with all thy griefs? Thy martyrs follow thee. Up from their fiery stakes they mount to their thrones. Confessors follow thee; from dungeons and from racks their testimony sounds. And, shall we, upon whom the ends of the earth are come, in these softer and gentler times, shall we turn back, and say we know not the Man? O God, forbid! but do thou keep us faithful unto thee, that we, the sons of Ephraim, may not turn back in the day of battle. Then, again, they were armed, and had proper weapons, weapons which they knew how to use, and good weapons for that period of warfare. And as Christians, what weapons have we? Here is this "Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." Here is a quiver, filled with innumerable arrows, and God has put into our hands the bow of prayer, by which we may shoot them, drawing that bow by the arm of faith against our innumerable foes. What weapons of holy warfare do you want better than those which this sacred armoury supplies? Read the last chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, and see how the apostle, with a triumphant glorying, takes you through God's armoury, and bids you look at the various pieces of armor, and the various weapons that are provided for you. If you lose the battle, it is not for want of being armed, and if you desert from the ranks, it is not for the want of bows. But what is more. Another translation seems to show that these Ephraimites were very skillful in the use of the bow, and yet they turned back. Oh! may God grant that none of us who have preached to others, and preached to others with fluency and zeal may ever have our own weapons turned against us. I may make a confession here now. I have read some of my own utterances and have trembled as I have read them, and afterwards I have wept over them, not wanting to alter them, not regretting them, but fearing and trembling lest I should have my own words used in judgment against me at the last great day, for there can be no more dreadful thing that for a man to have known and taught the Word to others, and then to hear the Master say,—just listen to it,—"Thou wicked servant! Out of thine own mouth will I condemn thee!" O God! Condemn me out of anybody's mouth rather than out of my own. It will be a dreadful thing to have known how to use the bow, and yet not to win the victory one's-self; to have been a sort of drill-sergeant to God's people, showing them how to use the weapons, and then not to have fought the battle one's-self! This will be a terrible thing! Some of you know how to use this Bible. You are acquainted with it, you have studied its doctrines, you know the points of divinity and theology, you are well read up in the teachings of God's Word; you know how to use the bow. And some of you pray very sweetly at prayer-meeting. Ah! beloved, what I said about myself may well apply to you. Some of you are Sunday-school teachers and others tract distributors, and you all know how to use the bow. I hope I can say to you who sit here that I have, like Saul, taught you to use the bow. We have sought to teach you young men to use God's Word both in prayer and in other exercises of your holy faith; but, beloved, if you turn back, the art, which you have learned, shall rise up in judgment against you to condemn you! If as professors taught the use of God's Word you are marched out to fight, but have not courage enough for the conflict, and turn your backs and slink into inglorious ease or into vain-glorious self-righteousness, or into false glorious pleasure, oh! how terrible must be your ruin at the last! May you not be like the children of Ephraim, who, though skilled in the use of the bow, yet turned back in the day of battle! This, then, is who they were. IV. And ask ye now—WHY DID THEY DO IT? Why did they, indeed? We might well have been at a loss to tell, for they were armed and carried bows. What then was the reason? The Word of God tells us and gives us three reasons. You will find them in the verses following the text. "They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk in his law, and forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them." "They kept not the covenant." Oh! that great covenant, "ordered in all things and sure," when you can fall back upon that how it strengthens you! When you can read in it eternal thoughts of divine love to you, and can hear Jesus say, "I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." How it encourages you to go forward! You cannot be killed, you are invulnerable, you have been dipped in the covenant stream that makes you invulnerable from head to foot. Why, then, should you fear to face the foe? If you forget that covenant you will soon turn back, and so prove that you are not in it; but the remembrance of it gives strength to God's people to persevere, since they feel that God's purpose is that they shall persevere, and so win the victory. The covenant, however, not only secures safety, but it also provides all sorts of blessings. If a Christian always had his eye on the covenant storehouse he could never desert his God for the world. Will a man leave a treasury that is full of gold to go to a beggar's cottage for money? Will a man turn from the flowing stream that comes cool and fresh from Lebanon's melting snow to go and drink of some filthy stagnant pool? No, not he, and when a man knows the treasures of grace that are in Christ Jesus, and remembers that it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell, and that he hath made him a covenant for the people, will such a man turn back? Assuredly not, but every promise of the covenant will enable him to face his foes and prevent his turning back in the day of battle. Perhaps, however, the covenant which we forget is the covenant we feel we made with Christ in the day when we said, "My beloved is mine, and I am his," when we give ourselves up in a full surrender, body, soul, and spirit, to God. Oh! let us never forget that covenant! Supposing we should lose our character for Christ's sake? Did we not give Christ our character to begin with? You are of no use in the ministry, my dear brother, if you are not quite willing to be called a fool, to be called a thief, or even to be called a devil! You will never be successful if you are afraid of being pelted. The true minister often finds his pulpit to be a place but little preferable to a pillory, and he is content to stand there, feeling that all the abuse and blasphemy which may come upon him are only the means by which the world recognises and proves its recognition of a God-sent man. Oh! to rest upon the covenant which is made in grace, and to hold fast the covenant which Christ has compelled us to make with him, resolved that even should he take all away, our joy, our comfort, and our ease, we will still stand to it, and still keep the covenant. Another reason why they turned back was that "they refused to walk in his law." When we get a proud heart we very soon get beaten, for with the face of a lion, but the heart of a deer, such an one is afraid of the world. If I am willing to do what God tells me, as he tells me, when he tells me, and because he tells me, I shall not turn back in the day of battle. They also seem to have turned back because they had bad memories. "They forgat his works, and the wonders that he had showed them." My dear friends, we the members of this church have seen many of God's wonders, and have rejoiced in them, and if we were to forget these we should lack one means of comfort in our own darkness. Some of you have had very wonderful manifestations of the Lord's kindness, and if you forget all these I should not wonder if you should prove to be a mere professor and turn your back, for God's true people are like that Mary, whom all generations call "blessed," they treasure these things in their hearts. We ought to stir up our remembrances of God's loving-kindness, for if we do not it will soon he a powerful reason for our turning back in the day of battle. Oh! have we not fought in days gone by, and shall we now be afraid? Have we not slain old Giant Grim? Did we not fight with dragons and with lions? Have we not gone through the Valley of the Shadow of Death? Have we not had a conflict with Apollyon himself foot to foot, and shall Giant Despair or his wife Mrs. Diffidence make us afraid? No, in the name of God we will use the good old sword, the true Jerusalem blade that we wielded aforetime, and we shall yet again be more than conquerors through him that loved us. Let us, then, not forget God's works in the days of yore, lest we fail to trust him in the days that are to come. This was why they turned back. V. And now the last enquiry is—WHAT WAS THE RESULT OF THEIR TURNING BACK? One result of their turning back was, that their father mourned over them. We are told, in the passage I quoted first, that "Ephraim their father mourned for them many days." What a lamentation it brings into the Christian church when a professor falls! There is one heart, which feels it with peculiar poignancy—the heart of him who thought he was the spiritual father of the person so falling. There are no griefs connected with our work like the grief of mourning over fallen professors, especially if these happen to be ministers, men who are armed and carry bows, for when they turn back, well accoutred and well skilled in war, it is heart breaking work indeed! I do not exaggerate, but I know I only speak the sober truth, when I say that if I could submit to any form of corporeal torture that I have ever heard of, I would be willing to bear it sooner than submit to the torture I have sometimes felt over members of this church, or what is worse, over young men educated in our College, or what is worse still, over ministers who have been for some time settled over their flocks. If at any time you desire to be malicious towards the man whom you look upon as your spiritual father; if you would send an arrow through his very liver and smite him with a dagger in the core of his heart, you have nothing to do but I to turn back in the day of battle and you have done it. It were better that you had never been born than that you should go back to the world. It were better that you should be taken out of this house a corpse than that you should live to disgrace the profession which you have espoused, especially those of you who stand in a prominent place. O God, keep us who witness before the multitude, keep us by thine eternal power, keep us as the apple of thine eye, hide us beneath the shadow of thy wings, or else we who are chief and foremost, though armed and carrying bows, shall yet turn back in the day of battle. Another result, which you perhaps will think more important far, was that owing to their turning back the enemy remained. Owing to many Christians not doing what they ought to do in the day of battle, Romanism is still in this land, and infidelity is rife. If in the days of Elizabeth and Cranmer men had acted up to the light they then had, we should not be as we now are, a semi-Popish nation. Had Luther himself been faithful to some of the light to which he shut his eyes, he might have inaugurated a more perfect Reformation than that for which we are still devoutly grateful to God and for which we always cherish his memory. There was a want of thoroughness even in that day. And at the present moment, if some of our brethren were but faithful to their own convictions, they would not be bolstering up an alliance of the State with a depraved Church; they would not dare to perform some ceremonies which are atrociously bad, and many of us, if we acted according to our inward monitor, would not do many things which we are now doing. Oh! may God give us grace to smite the foe! What has sin to do in this world? Christ has bought the world with his blood, and oh! for grace to clear sin out of Christ's heritage! The earth is the Lord's, and the kingdoms thereof, the world and they that dwell therein; and if we were but faithful to God we should not turn back in the day of battle, and Rome and all our foes would be slain. Then, again, if we did not turn our backs, the country would be conquered for Christ. I do not like the way in which some brethren say, that if we were more faithful half London would be saved. I say that I believe God's purpose is achieved, but still we are bound to speak of our sins according to their tendencies, and the tendency of our want of confidence in God, and our not boldly persevering, is to destroy souls. Paul talked once of destroying with meat him for whom Christ died, that being the tendency to destroy such souls if they could be destroyed. So humanly speaking, the darkness of the world at present is owing to the unfaithfulness of the church, and if the church had been as true to Christ as she was in the first century, long ere this there would not have been a village without the gospel, nor a single empire in the world in which the truth had not been proclaimed. It is our turning back in the day of battle that leaves Canaan unconquered for our Lord. But, worse than this, the ark itself was actually taken. My dear friends, those of you who are armed and carry bows, men of learning, men who understand the Scriptures, 1 do pray you, do not turn back just now, for just now seems to be a time when the ark of God will be taken. It can never really be so, but still we must mind that it be not the tendency of our actions. We are in great danger from what some people will not believe, but what is most certainly a fact, and that is the marvellous increase of Popery in this land. There are certain brethren who are always harping upon this one string, till we have grown sick of the theme, but, without at all endorsing their alarm, I believe there is quite enough for the most quiet and confident spirit to be alarmed at. The thing has become monstrous, and there is need to awaken the anxious care and the earnest efforts of God's church. You need not be long without good evidence of this. Every nerve is being strained by Rome to win England to itself, and, on the other hand, while we have less neology, and less of all sorts of scepticism throughout the whole country, I am afraid that we have more of it than we used to have inside the church itself. There are many doctrines that are now matters of question, which I never heard questioned ten years ago. I am not altogether sorry for this, but rather glad, because there are some doctrines which are not preached now, but which will be preached more in future in consequence of doubts being thrown upon them. But it is a very ominous sign of the times, that most of those truths which we have been accustomed to accept as being the received and orthodox faith of Christendom are now being questioned, and questioned too by men who are not to be despised, men who from their evident earnestness, from their deep knowledge, and from their close attention to the matter, deserve a hearing in the forum of common sense, even if they do not deserve it from spiritual men. We must all of us hold fast the truth now. If there is a man who has got a truth, let him draw his bow and shoot his arrows now, and not turn back in the day of battle. Now for your arrows! Now for your arrows! The more our foes shall conspire against Christ, the more do you make war against them. Give them double for their double; reward them as they reward you. Spare no arrows against Babylon. "Happy shall he be that taketh thy little ones and dasheth them against the stones." Happy shall he be who slays the little errors, who kills the minor falsehoods, who does battle against Popery in every shape and form, and against, infidelity in all its phases! If we do not come to the front now, the ark of God, as far as we are concerned, will be taken! And then, worst of all, we shall hear the Philistines shouting while God's church is weeping! The Philistines are good hands at shouting. They shout rather loudly about nothing, but when they get a little they bark loudly enough then. If they see but one Christian turn back what rejoicing there is! They ring the bells and make great mirth over the fall of the very least among us, but if those of us who are armed and carry bows should turn back in the day of battle, oh "Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters of Philistia rejoice, lest the sons of the uncircumcised triumph!" God grant that we may never make mirth for hell. If Satan must have merriment may he find it anywhere rather than in us. Oh! may we stand at last, and, having done all, may we still stand. To conclude, brethren. If we do not stand fast, you know what will come of it. Supposing the churches of which we are members do not stand fast, what will come of you and what of me? What became of Shiloh? What became of Ephraim? Instead of the ark being any longer in the custody of Ephraim it was taken away from Shiloh, and God transferred the custody of it to Judah, and it rested upon Mount Zion under the government of King David. So, mark you, whenever a church becomes unfaithful, and turns back in the day of battle, God takes away from it the keeping of his ark and entrusts it to others. "I have looked upon a neighbor of thine," saith he, "who is better than thou," and so he takes the sword and gives it to David, and thus perhaps may he do with us. There are many churches that were once flourishing but now are deserted altogether. So it may be with us individually, and with the churches at large unless we are faithful to God. Now, I have said nothing to the unconverted. My drift seemed to be to speak to professing believers. Some of you say you never went to this war, and therefore you will not turn back; you never made a profession. Ah! dear friends, it will be a very poor excuse at the last great day to say, "I never made a profession." Did you ever hear of a thief being brought up at the Mansion House before the Lord Mayor who said, when he was accused of being a thief, "Why, my Lord, I am not a very honest man; I never professed to be; I never professed that I would not pick people's pockets; I never professed that I would not steal a watch if I had the chance; I was regularly known as a thief; I never professed to be anything else, therefore you cannot blame me." If a man should make such a defense as that, I should think it very likely that the Lord Mayor would give him an extra six months, and I think it would serve him very well right. You smile at this, but the very same argument may be applied to you. "Well," you say, "you know I do not make any profession of religion;" that is to say, you do not make any pretense of serving and loving the God who made you, who gave you life, and has kept and preserved you in it; you do not make any profession of being washed in the precious blood of Christ; you do not make a profession of being on the road to hell. Well, may God save you from that excuse, and may he give you grace to look it in the face and say, "Well, I do not dare even to hope that I am saved; I know I am not." Then, my brother, if you are not saved, you are lost. I would like to stop while you turn that thought over, and when you have done so I would say, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." May God's eternal mercy seek and save you, and, if it be his will, may he find you, and lead you to put your trust in Jesus Christ, and resting upon him, and looking to his cross, you shall not, as the children of Ephraim did, "turn back in the day of battle." The story of how the children of Israel behaved themselves towards their gracious God.Psalms 78:10-16. They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law; and forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them. Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through, and he made the waters to stand as an heap. In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire. He clave the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.In such a scene of miracles, surrounded by such prodigies of goodness, what did they do?Psalms 78:17. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.What a fierce fire must sin be that it is even fed by the rivers of God’s goodness, and burns by means of that which ought to have quenched every spark of it. Yet there is such a fire as that raging in our hearts, and even God’s mercies will make us more sinful unless his abounding grace comes with them to teach us how to use them aright.Psalms 78:18. And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.Not for their needs, but “for their lust.” It is a dreadful thing when prayer itself is prostituted, and the mercy-seat becomes a place for the expression of sinful desires which ought never to have been in our hearts. It was so, however, with these children of Israel.Psalms 78:19. Yea, they spake against God;As you read that “they spake against God,” you naturally suppose that they uttered some blasphemy, or some denial of his Deity. Listen and learn: —Psalms 78:19. They said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?That is speaking against him, — to speak unbelievingly, — to speak in a questioning way concerning his power. I am afraid that there are very few of us who can plead innocence on this score.Psalms 78:20. Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people?These things, which they lusted after, they also turned into subjects for unbelief; and they even misused the miracle, which they dared not deny.Psalms 78:21-22. Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israe;. Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:This was the provoking sin. The Lord would not endure such wanton and wicked unbelief as this. After he had turned the rocks into rivers, could he not turn the stones into bread, and the dust of the desert into flesh, if he chose to do so?Psalms 78:23-32. Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: and he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; they were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. For all this they sinned still, Mercy failed to move them, and judgment failed too. The right hand of God’s gifts and the left hand of his chastisement were equally ignored.Psalms 78:32-34. And believed not for his wondrous works. Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble. When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God. Perhaps some of them fought him even while they were dying; and the remnant that survived trembled, and “returned and enquired early after God.”Psalms 78:35-36. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues.Oh, this is terrible! One would have thought that they would have been sincere when they were broken down with sorrow, but it was not so. And I fear that the kind of religion which has to be whipped into us is never good for much. It must have in it the element of spontaneousness if it is to be sincere; it was not so with these people.Psalms 78:37-41. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. In their unbelieving imagination, they circumscribed his power; they thought that he could do something, but not everything; they believed him one day, and doubted him the next.Psalms 78:42-45. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy. How he had wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan: and had turned their rivers into blood; and their floods, that they could not drink. He sent divers sorts of flies among them, which devoured them; and frogs, which destroyed them.All these judgments fell upon their enemies, but they failed to remember them,Psalms 78:46-56. He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar, and their labour unto the locust. He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts. He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them. He made a way to his anger; he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence; and smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham: but made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased. He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies:Oh, these terrible “yets”! Though God was faithful to the end, and kept his covenant, and brought them into the land which he swore to their fathers that he would give them. Yet they tempted and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies.”Psalms 78:57-61. But turned back, and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers: they were turned aside like a deceitful bow. For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: so that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; and delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 78:10-61; and 1 Peter 4:1-13. Psalms 79THIS psalm belongs to the same period with Ps. lxxiv., perhaps that of the Babylonish conquest, and contains a description of the sufferings of the chosen people, Psalms 79:1-4, a prayer for deliverance, Psalms 79:5-12, and a promise of thanksgiving, Psalms 79:13. 1. (Psalms 79:1) A Psalm. By Asaph. 0 God, gentiles have come into thy heritage;they have defiled thy holy temple; they have turned Jerusalem to heaps. The intrusion of heathen into the sanctuary was its worst dishonour, They have placed Jerusalem for heaps, or as a heap of ruins. This includes the destruction of the temple. Compare Psalms 74:4. 2. (Psalms 79:2) They have given the corpse of thy servants (as) food to the bird of the heavens, the flesh of thy saints to the (wild) beast of the earth. A common description of extensive and promiscuous carnage. The words translated corpse, bird, beast, are all collectives. The last has here its most specific and distinctive sense as denoting beasts of prey. See above, on Psalms 68:10; Psalms 74:19. 3. (Psalms 79:3) They have shed their blood like water round about Jerusalem, and there is none burying, or none to bury them. There is no period in the history of ancient Israel to which these terms can be applied without extravagance, except that of the Babylonian conquest. 4. (Psalms 79:4) We have been (or become) a contempt to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to those round about us. See above, on Psalms 44:13, where the very same expressions are employed. 5. (Psalms 79:5) Unto what (point), until when, how long, Jehovah, wilt thou be angry for ever, will burn like fire thy zeal (or jealousy)? With the first clause compare Psalms 13:1; Psalms 74:1; Psalms 74:10; with the second, Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 29:20, Psalms 78:58. 6. (Psalms 79:6) Pour out thy wrath against the nations which have not known thee, and upon kingdoms which thy name have not invoked. This is commonly explained as a prayer for divine judgments on the nations which combined for the destruction of Judah (2 Kings 24:2). But it seems to be rather an expostulation and complaint that God had made no difference between his own people and the heathen. As if he had said, If thou must pour out thy wrath, let it rather be on those who neither know nor worship thee than on thine own peculiar people. 7. (Psalms 79:7) For he hath devoured Jacob, and his dwelling (or his pasture-ground) they have laid waste. The singular verb in the first cause relates to the chief enemy, the plural in the last to his confederates. The wide sense of dwelling and the narrower one of pasture are both authorised by usage. See above, on Psalms 23:2; Psalms 65:12; Psalms 74:20. 8. (Psalms 79:8) Remember not against us the iniquities of former (generations); make haste, let thy compassions meet us, for we are reduced exceedingly. Against us, literally, as to us, respecting us, which, in this connection, must mean to our disadvantage or our condemnation. Former iniquities is scarcely a grammatical construction of the Hebrew words usually so translated. The adjective, when absolutely used, always refers to persons, and means ancestors or ancients. Personal and hereditary guilt are not exclusive but augmentative of one another. The sons merely fill up the iniquities of their fathers. The verb for hasten may be either imperative or infinitive. If the latter, it qualifies the following verb, as in the English version, let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us. For the meaning of this last verb, see above, on Psalms 21:3. Reduced, weakened, brought low, both in strength and condition. See above, on Psalms 40:1, where the cognate adjective is used. It was probably the verse before us that determined the position of this psalm, in close connection with Psalms 78, the great theme of which is the iniquity of former generations. 9. (Psalms 79:9) Help us, 0 God of our salvation, on account of the glory of thy name; and set us free and pardon our sins for the sake of thy (own) name. The title, God of our salvation, is expressive of a covenant obligation to protect his people, as well as of protection and deliverance experienced already. On, account, literally for the word, or as we say in English, for the sake, which is used above, however, to translate a different Hebrew word. The glory of thy name, to maintain and vindicate the honour of thy attributes as heretofore revealed in act. See above, on Psalms 5:11; Psalms 23:3. Set us free, deliver us, from our present sufferings and the power of our enemies. Pardon our sins, literally make atonement for them, i.e. forgive them for the sake of the expiation which thou hast thyself provided. See above, on Psalms 78:38. It is characteristic of the ancient saints to ask God's favour, not for their own sake merely, but for the promotion of his glory. 10. Wherefore should the nations say, Where (is) their God ? Known among the nations, in our sight, be the avenging of the blood of thy servants, the (blood) poured out, (or shed), as was described above, in Psalms 79:3. This argument in favour of God's interposition, founded on the false conclusions which his enemies would draw from his refusal, is of frequent occurrence in the Pentateuch. See Exodus 32:12, Numbers 14:13-16, Deuteronomy 9:28, and compare Joe 2:17, from which the words before us are directly borrowed. Where is their God, the invisible, spiritual being whom they worship, but who cannot save them from external dangers? Or the meaning may be, Where is the proof of that almighty power, and that love for his own people, of which they have so often and so loudly boasted? The English Bible makes the verb in the second clause agree with God (let him be known), and supplies a preposition before vengeance (by the revenging). But the ancient versions, followed by the Prayer Book and the best modern interpreters, construe the verb and noun together (known be the avenging). The diversity of gender may be easily reduced to the general law of Hebrew syntax, that when the verb precedes its subject, and especially when separated from it, the former may assume the masculine form, not as such, but as the primitive and simplest form. In our sight, literally to our eyes, just as we say in English, to our faces. This aggravating circumstance is borrowed from Deuteronomy 6:22, and the idea of avenging blood from Deuteronomy 32:43. 11. (Psalms 79:11) Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee, according to the greatness of thine arm, suffer to survive the sons of death (or of mortality). The nation is here viewed as an individual captive, not without reference to the literal captivity and exile occasioned by the Babylonian conquest, and with evident historical allusion to the bondage of Israel in Egypt, from the account of which (Exodus 23-25) some of the expressions here are borrowed. Come before thee, reach thee, and attract thy notice. Compare the opposite expression in Isa.i. 23. The arm, as usual, is the symbol of exerted strength. See above, on Psalms 10:15; Psalms 37:17; Psalms 44:3. The whole phrase is a Mosaic one. See Exodus 15:16, and compare Numbers 14:19, Deuteronomy 3:24. The last verb in the sentence means to leave behind or over, to cause or suffer to remain. See Exodus 10:15; Exodus 12:10, Isaiah 1:9. The last noun in Hebrew occurs only here, but is an obvious derivative from (tUm) death, bearing perhaps the same relation to it that mortalitas sustains to mors. According to a well-known oriental idiom, the whole phrase denotes dying men, or those about to die, or more specifically, those condemned or doomed to death. 12. (Psalms 79:12) And render to our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their contempt (with) which they have contemned thee, Lord! The first verb is a causative, and means to bring back or cause to return. See above, on Psalms 72:10. The neighbours are those mentioned in Psalms 79:4, and the allusion here at least includes the expression of contemptuous incredulity in Psalms 79:10. Sevenfold, a common idiomatic term denoting frequent repetition or abundance. See above, on Psalms 12:6. Into the bosom, an expression which originally seems to have had reference to the practice of carrying and holding things in the lap or the front fold of the flowing oriental dress, has in usage the accessory sense of retribution or retaliation. See my note on Isaiah 65:6-7, and compare Jeremiah 32:18, Luke 6:38. The cognate noun and verb, translated contempt and contemned, denote not the mere internal feeling, but the oral expression of it by revilings, scoffs, and insults. See above, on Psalms 42:10; Psalms 49:9. The Lord at the conclusion is by no means a mere expletive, but aggravates the sin of these despisers by describing it as 9committed against their rightful sovereign. 13. (Psalms 79:13) And we, thy people and flock of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee for ever, to generation and generation will we recount thy praise. Some interpreters needlessly make two distinct propositions, we (are) thy people (and therefore) will give thanks, etc. The flock of thy pasture, that which thou feedest, that of which thou art the shepherd. See above, on Psalms 74:1; Psalms 78:70-72. For ever, literally to eternity. The following words, though thrown into the first clause by the masoretic interpunction, belong to the second, as appears from the parallel structure of the sentence. Title and Subject. A Psalm of Asaph. A Psalm of complaint such as Jeremiah might have written amid the ruins of the beloved city. It evidently treats of times of invasion, oppression, and national overthrow. Asaph was a patriotic poet, and was never more at home than when he rehearsed the history of his nation. Would to God that we had national poets whose song should be of the Lord. Division. From Psalms 79:1-4 the complaint is poured out, from Psalms 79:5-12 prayer is presented, and, in the closing verse, praise is promised. Ver. 1. O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance. It is the cry of amazement at sacrilegious intrusion; as if the poet were struck with horror. The stranger pollutes thine hallowed courts with his tread. All Canaan is thy land, but thy foes have ravaged it. Thy holy temple have they defiled. Into the inmost sanctuary they have profanely forced their way, and there behaved themselves arrogantly. Thus, the holy land, the holy house, and the holy city, were all polluted by the uncircumcised. It is an awful thing when wicked men are found in the church and numbered with her ministry. Then are the tares sown with the wheat, and the poisoned gourds cast into the pot. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. After devouring and defiling, they have come to destroying, and have done their work with a cruel completeness. Jerusalem, the beloved city, the joy of the nation, the abode of her God, was totally wrecked. Alas! alas! for Israel! It is sad to see the foe in our own house, but worse to meet him in the house of God; they strike hardest who smite at our religion. The psalmist piles up the agony; he was a suppliant, and he knew how to bring out the strong points of his case. We ought to order our case before the Lord with as much care as if our success depended on our pleading. Men in earthly courts use all their powers to obtain their ends, and so also should we state our case with earnestness, and bring forth our strong arguments. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. This Psalm is, in every respect, the pendant of Psa 74:1-23. The points of contact are not merely matters of style (Psalms 79:5, "how long for ever?" with Psalms 74:1,10 79:10, edwy, with Psalms 74:5 79:2, the giving over to the wild beasts, with Psalms 74:19,14 79:13, the conception of Israel as of a flock, in which respect Psalms 79:1-13 is judiciously appended to Psalms 78:70-72, with Psalms 74:1 and also with Psalms 74:19.) But the mutual relationships lie still deeper. Both Psalms have the same Asaphic stamp, both stand in the same relation to Jeremiah, and both send forth their complaints out of the same circumstances of the time, concerning a destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem, such as only the age of the Seleucidae (1 Maccabees 1:31 3:45 2Ma 8:3), together with the Chaldean period can exhibit, and in conjunction with a defiling of the Temple and a massacre of the servants of God, of the Chasidim (1 Maccabees 7:13 14:6), such as the age of the Seleucidae exclusively can exhibit. The work of the destruction of the Temple which was in progress in Psalms 74:1-23, appears in Psalms 79:1-13 as completed, and here, as in the former Psalm, one receives the impression of the outrages, not of some war, but of some persecution: it is straightway the religion of Israel for the sake of which the sanctuaries are destroyed and the faithful are massacred. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 1. Thy holy temple have they defiled. This was not only the highest degree of the enemy's inhumanity and barbarity, ...but also a calamity to the people of God never to be sufficiently deplored. For by the overthrow of the temple the true worship of God, which had been instituted at that temple alone, appeared to be extinguished, and the knowledge of God to vanish from among mankind. No pious heart could ponder this without the greatest grief. Mollerus. Ver. 1. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. They have made Jerusalem to be nothing but graves. Such multitudes were cruelly slain and murdered, that Jerusalem was, as it were, but one grave. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 1-4. In the time of the Maccabees, Demetrius, the son of Seleuces, sent Bacchides to Jerusalem; who slew the scribes, who came to require justice, and the Assideans, the first of the children of Israel who sought peace of them. Bacchides "took of them threescore men, and slew them in one day, according to the words which he wrote, the flesh of thy saints have they cast out, and their blood have they shed round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them." And in that last and most fearful destruction, when the eagles of Rome were gathered round the doomed city, and the temple of which God had said, "Let us depart hence; "when one stone was not to be left upon another, when the fire was to consume the sanctuary, and the foundations of Sion were to be ploughed up; when Jerusalem was to be filled with slain, and the sons of Judah were to be crucified round her walls in such thick multitudes that no more room was left for death; when insult, and shame, and scorn was the lot of the child of Israel, as he wandered an outcast, a fugitive in all lands; when all these bitter and deadly things came upon Jerusalem, it was as a punishment for many and long repeated crimes; it was the accomplishment of a warning which had been often sent in vain. Yea, fiercely did thy foes assault thee, O Jerusalem, but thy sins more fiercely still! "Plain Commentary." Ver. 1,4-5. Entering the inhabited part of the old city, and winding through some crooked, filthy lanes, I suddenly found myself on turning a sharp corner, in a spot of singular interest; the "Jews' place of Wailing." It is a small paved quadrangle; on one side are the backs of low modern houses, without door or window; on the other is the lofty wall of the Haram, of recent date above, but having below five courses of bevelled stones in a perfect state of preservation. Here the Jews are permitted to approach the sacred enclosure, and wail over the fallen temple, whose very dust is dear to them, and in whose stones they still take pleasure. Psalms 102:14. It was Friday, and a crowd of miserable devotees had assembled--men and women of all ages and all nations dressed in the quaint costumes of every country of Europe and Asia. Old men were there, --pale, haggard, careworn men tottering on pilgrim staves; and little girls with white faces, and lustrous black eyes, gazing wistfully now at their parents, now at the old wall. Some were on their knees, chanting mournfully from a book of Hebrew prayers, swaying their bodies to and fro; some were prostrate on the ground, pressing forehead and lips to the earth; some were close to the wall, burying their faces in the rents and crannies of the old stones; some were kissing them, some had their arms spread out as if they would clasp them to their bosoms, some were bathing them with tears, and all the while sobbing as if their hearts would burst. It was a sad and touching spectacle. Eighteen centuries of exile and woe have not dulled their hearts' affections, or deadened their feelings of devotion. Here we see them assembled from the ends of the earth, poor, despised, down trodden outcasts, --amid the desolations of their fatherland, beside the dishonoured ruins of their ancient sanctuary, --chanting now in accents of deep pathos, and now of wild woe, the prophetic words of their own psalmist, --O God the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled...We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? J. L. Porter, in "The Giant Cities of Bashan." 1865. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. WORK UPON THE SEVENTY-NINTH PSALM "Prodromus, or the Literal Destruction of Jerusalem as it is described in the 79th Psalm...1613" (By JOHN DUNSTER.) Psalms 79:2* Ver. 2. "The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth." The enemy cared not to bury the dead, and there was not a sufficient number of Israel left alive to perform the funeral rites; therefore, the precious relics of the departed were left to be devoured of vultures and torn by wolves. Beasts on which man could not feed fed on him. The flesh of creation's Lord became meat for carrion crows and hungry dogs. Dire are the calamities of war, yet have they happened to God's saints and servants. This might well move the heart of the poet, and he did well to appeal to the heart of God by reciting the grievous evil. Such might have been the lamentation of an early Christian as he thought of the amphitheatre and all its deeds of blood. Note in the two verses how the plea is made to turn upon God's property in the temple and the people: --we read "thine inheritance, ""thy temple, ""thy servants, "and "thy saints." Surely the Lord will defend his own, and will not suffer rampant adversaries to despoil them. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. This Psalm is, in every respect, the pendant of Psa 74:1-23. The points of contact are not merely matters of style (Psalms 79:5, "how long for ever?" with Psalms 74:1,10 79:10, edwy, with Psalms 74:5 79:2, the giving over to the wild beasts, with Psalms 74:19,14 79:13, the conception of Israel as of a flock, in which respect Psalms 79:1-13 is judiciously appended to Psalms 78:70-72, with Psalms 74:1 and also with Psalms 74:19.) But the mutual relationships lie still deeper. Both Psalms have the same Asaphic stamp, both stand in the same relation to Jeremiah, and both send forth their complaints out of the same circumstances of the time, concerning a destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem, such as only the age of the Seleucidae (1Ma 1:31; 1Ma 3:45, 2Ma 8:3), together with the Chaldean period can exhibit, and in conjunction with a defiling of the Temple and a massacre of the servants of God, of the Chasidim (1Ma 7:13, 1Ma 14:6), such as the age of the Seleucidae exclusively can exhibit. The work of the destruction of the Temple which was in progress in Psalms 74:1-23, appears in Psalms 79:1-13 as completed, and here, as in the former Psalm, one receives the impression of the outrages, not of some war, but of some persecution: it is straightway the religion of Israel for the sake of which the sanctuaries are destroyed and the faithful are massacred. Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 1-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 2. "The dead bodies of thy servants, "etc. It is a true saying of S. Augustine, The care of our funeral, the manner of our burial, the exequial pomp, all these magis sunt vivorum solatia quam subsidia mortuorum, are rather comforts for the living than any way helps for the dead. To be interred profiteth not the party deceased; his body feels it not, his soul regards it not; and we know that many holy martyrs have been excluded from burial, who in a Christian scorn thereof bespoke their persecutors in words of those which were slain at Pharsalia: "You effect nothing by this anger; what matters it whether disease dissolve the body, or the funeral pile!" But yet there is an honesty (i.e. a right, a proper respect) which belongeth to the dead body of man. Jehu commanded Jezebel to be buried; David thanked the people of Jabesh Gilead for burying of Saul. Peter, who commanded Ananias and Sapphira, those false abdicators of their patrimony, to die, commanded to have them buried being dead. It is an axiom of charity, Mortuo non prohibeas gratiam, withhold not kindness from the dead. It shows our love and regard for men in our own flesh to see them buried; it manifests our faith and hope of the resurrection; and therefore when that body which is to rise again, and to be made glorious and immortal in heaven, shall be cast to the fowls of the air or beasts of the field, it argues in God great indignation against sin (Jeremiah 22:19, of Jehoiakim, "He shall be buried as an ass is buried, and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem"); in man inhuman and barbarous cruelty. John Dunster, in "Prodromus." 1613. Ver. 2-3. (The following extract is from the writings of a godly monk who applies the language of the Psalm to the persecutions of his time. He wrote at Rome during the period of the Reformation, and was evidently a favourer of the gospel.) At this day what river is there, what brook, in this our afflicted Europe, (if it is still ours) that we have not seen flowing with the blood of Christians? And that too shed by the swords and spears of Christians? Wherefore there is made a great wailing in Israel; and the princes and elders mourn; the young men and virgins are become weak, and the beauty of the women is changed. Why? The holy place itself is desolate as a wilderness. Hast thou ever seen so dire a spectacle? They have piled up in heaps the dead bodies of thy servants to be devoured by birds: the unburied remains of thy saints, I say, they have given to the beasts of the earth. What greater cruelty could ever be committed? So great was the effusion of human blood at that time, that the rivulets, yea, rather, the rivers round the entire circuit of the city, flowed with it. And thus truly is the form of our most beautiful city laid waste, and its loveliness; and so reduced is it, that not even the men who carry forth dead bodies for burial can be obtained, though pressed with the offer of large rewards; so full of fear and horror were their minds: and this was all the more bitter, because "We are become a reproach to those round about us, "and are spoken of in derision by the infidels abroad and by enemies at home. Who is so bold as to endure this and live? How long therefore shall this most bitter disquietude last? Giambattista Folengo. 1490-1559. Ver. 2. "Dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls." With what unconcern are we accustomed to view, on all sides of us, multitudes, "dead in trespasses and sins, "torn in pieces, and devoured by wild passions, filthy lusts, and infernal spirits, those dogs and vultures of the moral world! Yet, to a discerning eye, and a thinking mind, the latter is by far the more melancholy sight of the two. George Horne. Ver. 2. "Thy servants." "Thy saints." No temporal wrath, no calamities whatsoever can separate the Lord's children from God's love and estimation of them, nor untie the relation between God and them: for here, albeit their carcases fall, and be devoured by the fowls of heaven and beasts of the earth, yet remain they the Lord's servants and saints under these sufferings. David Dickson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 79:3* Ver. 3. "Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem." The invaders slew men as if their blood was of no more value than so much water; they poured it forth as lavishly as when the floods deluge the plains. The city of holy peace became a field of blood. "And there was none to bury them." The few who survived were afraid to engage in the task. This was a serious trial and grievous horror to the Jews, who evinced much care concerning their burials. Has it come to this, that there are none to bury the dead of thy family, O Lord? Can none be found to grant a shovelful of earth with which to cover up the poor bodies of thy murdered saints? What woe is here! How glad should we be that we live in so quiet an age, when the blast of the trumpet is no more heard in our streets. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 1-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 2-3. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:2" for further information. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 79:4* Ver. 4. "We are become a reproach to our neighbours." Those who have escaped the common foe make a mockery of us, they fling our disasters into our face, and ask us, "Where is your God?" Pity should be shown to the afflicted, but in too many cases it is not so, for a hard logic argues that those who suffer more than ordinary calamities must have been extraordinary sinners. Neighbours especially are often the reverse of neighbourly; the nearer they dwell the less they sympathize. It is most pitiable it should be so. "A scorn and a derision to them that are round about us." To find mirth in others' miseries, and to exult over the ills of others, is worthy only of the devil and of those whose father he is. Thus the case is stated before the Lord, and it is a very deplorable one. Asaph was an excellent advocate, for he gave a telling description of calamities which were under his own eyes, and in which he sympathized, but we have a mightier Intercessor above, who never ceases to urge our suit before the eternal throne. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 1-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 1, 4-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 4. "We are become a reproach." If God's professing people degenerate from what themselves and their fathers were, they must expect to be told of it; and it is well if a just reproach will help to bring us to a true repentance. But it has been the lot of the gospel Israel to be made unjustly a reproach and derision; the apostles themselves were "counted as the off scouring of all things." Matthew Henry. Ver. 4. "A scorn and derision to them that are round about us." This was more grievous to them than stripes or wounds, saith Chrysostom, because these being inflicted upon the body are divided after a sort betwixt soul and body, but scorns and reproaches do wound the soul only. Habet quendam aculeum contumelia, they leave a sting behind them, as Cicero observeth. John Trapp. Ver. 4. It is the height of reproach a father casts upon his child when he commands his slave to beat him. Of all outward judgments this is the sorest, to have strangers rule over us, as being made up of shame and cruelty. If once the heathen come into God's inheritance, no wonder the church complains that she is "become a reproach to her neighbours, a shame and derision to all round about her." Abraham Wright. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 4. Saints the subject of derision to sinners. When justly so. When unjustly. What do they see to excite ridicule; what shall we do under the trial; how will it end? Psalms 79:5* Ver. 5. "How long, Lord?" Will there be no end to these chastisements? They are most sharp and overwhelming; wilt thou much longer continue them? "Wilt thou be angry for ever?" Is thy mercy gone so that thou wilt for ever smite? "Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?" There was great cause for the Lord to be jealous, since idols had been set up, and Israel had gone aside from his worship, but the psalmist begs the Lord not to consume his people utterly as with fire, but to abate their woes. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 1, 4-5. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 5. "How long, Lord? Wilt thou be angry for ever?" The voice of complaint says not, How long, Lord, shall this wickedness of our enemy endure? How long shall we see this desolation? But, How long, O Lord? Wilt thou be angry for ever? We are admonished, therefore, in this passage, that we should recognize the anger of God against us in all our afflictions, lest as the nations are accustomed, we only accuse the malice of our enemies, and never think of our sins and the divine punishment. It cannot be that he who acknowledges the anger of God that is upon him, should not at the same time acknowledge his fault also, unless he wishes to attribute the iniquity to God of being angry and inflicting stripes upon the undeserving. Musculus. Ver. 5. The word "jealousy" signifies not mere revenge but revenge mingled with love, for unless he loved, says Jerome, he would not be jealous, and after the manner of a husband avenge the sin of his wife. Lorinus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. I. The cause of anger: jealousy. II. The moderation of it. If it continued for ever, the people would perish, the promises be unfulfilled, the covenant fail, and the Lord's honour be impeached. III. The staying of it. By prayer; by pleading his name, his glory, and the blood of Jesus. Psalms 79:6* Ver. 6. "Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee." If thou must smite look further afield; spare thy children and strike thy foes. There are lands where thou art in no measure acknowledged; be pleased to visit these first with thy judgments, and let thine erring Israel have a respite. "And upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name." Hear us the prayerful, and avenge thyself upon the prayerless. Sometimes providence appears to deal much more severely with the righteous than with the wicked, and this verse is a bold appeal founded upon such an appearance. It in effect says--Lord, if thou must empty out the vials of thy wrath, begin with those who have no measure of regard for thee, but are openly up in arms against thee; and be pleased to spare thy people, who are thine notwithstanding all their sins. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 6. Neglect of prayer by unbelievers is threatened with punishment. The prophet's imprecation is the same in effect with a threatening, see Jeremiah 10:25, and same imprecation, Psalms 79:6. The prophets would not have used such an imprecation against those that call not upon God, but that their neglect of calling on his name makes them liable to his wrath and fury; and no neglect makes men liable to the wrath of God but the neglect of duty. Prayer, then, is a duty even to the heathen, the neglect of which provokes him to pour out his fury on them. David Clarkson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 79:7* Ver. 7. "For they have devoured Jacob." The oppressor would quite eat up the saints if he could. If these lions do not swallow us, it is because the Lord has sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths. "And laid waste his dwelling place, "or his pasture. The invader left no food for man or beast, but devoured all as the locust. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. See Psalms on "Psalms 79:1" for further information. Ver. 7. "They have devoured Jacob." Like wolves who cruelly tear and devour a flock of sheep. For the word which follows signifies not only a habitation in general, but also a sheepcote. Mollerus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 80:1-3. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.To whom could Israel go, in times of distress, but unto her God? It was well that her psalmists should teach her thus to pray. Notice the form of this prayer: “Come and save us. Turn us again, O God.” We cannot be saved except by being turned from the ways of sin into the path of holiness. But who shall turn us? What power can reverse the current of the human soul? As well might Niagara begin to ascend of its own accord as for man to turn to God except as God turns him.Psalms 80:4-7. O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.Israel was evidently in very deep distress, yet still God’s own. It is no evidence of our having ceased to be God’s people that we are made to drink deep draughts of tears. We are not to imagine that God has cast us off because he chastens us; nay, rather are we to argue the other way, “for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.”Psalms 80:8-15. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; and the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.Notice how a soul, in deep distress, usually gets to God. Under some aspect or other, by some way or another, the heart gropes its way till it finds him out. If poor Israel be as a vineyard given up to the wild boar of the wood, there is still hope through that “righteous Branch” of whom the Lord said to Jeremiah, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.”Psalms 80:16-17. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.“If thou wilt not hear us, yet hear him. If thou wilt put no honour upon us, we will ask thee to put the highest honours upon him. Save us for his sake. Deliver thy vineyard from the wild boar and restore the hedges that have been broken down, for is not this the vineyard of red wine which all belongs to him?”Psalms 80:18-19. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 80; and Matthew 9:36-38; Matthew 10. Psalms 81:1. Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. In these days, the Psalm would have to be altered if they are to suit the dogmas of modern thought, for “the God of Jacob” is altogether rejected by those wondrous thinkers who think they know so much. The God of the New Testament, they say, is a very different Being from the God of the Old Testament. According to them, the Old Testament God is too stern; but the New Testament God is far softer, quite effeminate, indeed, if they rightly describe him. But we do not hesitate to say, over and over again that the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,-the immutable and unchangeable One,-the God of Sinai, is as much our God as the God of Calvary, so we delight “to make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.”Psalms 81:2-6. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob. This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not. I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.Child of God, have you forgotten the time of your deliverance? God has not; and here he reminds his people Israel of their deliverance out of Egypt. So he says concerning you, “I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.” Do you not remember the joy of that glad moment when the burden of sin was taken away from you, and the pots of your own self-salvation lay broken at your feet? Glory be to him who brought us out from that terrible house of bondage!Psalms 81:7. Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.But how sadly did they stand the test! You and I, too, have not only received much mercy at the hand of God, but we also have had our testing-times. We can look back to the waters of strife with deep regret that there we failed so sadly.Psalms 81:8-10. Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me; there shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god. I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.What a wondering verse this is! We have been so accustomed to hear the expression, “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt,” followed by the law; but here it is followed by a gracious encouragement to us to pray: “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Whatever force the law derived from that preface, this exhortation derives the same force, and no child of God ought to forget that. He who delivered you from the burden of sin bids you open your mouth wide, and he will fill it; and after your deliverance from guilt, do you not feel that you may well ask great things of such a gracious God?Psalms 81:11-15. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own heart lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued the enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.Alas, poor Israel! Through what sufferings and captivities didst thou go because thou wouldst not trust in the Lord, and how often some of God’s children have had to go through years of sorrow and spiritual captivity because of their lack of close walking with their God, and complete obedience to him! May we learn from the sins of others, and be helped to walk closely with our Master!Psalms 81:16. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee. If the Word of God does not seem to feed us as once it did, it will surely be because we have not hearkened to our Lord, or walked in his ways. May he give us grace to render complete obedience to his holy will! “So shall thy choicest gifts, O Lord, Thy faithful people bless, For them shall earth its stores afford and heaven in happiness.” Psalms 82A BRIEF but pregnant statement of the responsibilities attached to the judicial office under the Mosaic dispensation. After declaring the relation which the judges bore to God, Psalms 82:1, he rebukes their malversation, Psalms 82:2, and exhorts them to a better practice, Psalms 82:3-4, and in case of their persistency in evil, Psalms 82:5, notwithstanding their acknowledged dignity, Psalms 82:6, threatens them with condign punishment, Psalms 82 :, to which the church responds by praying God himself to appear as the universal judge and sovereign, Psalms 82:8. 1. (Psalms 82:1) A Psalm. By Asaph. God stands in the assembly of the Mighty; in the midst of the gods he judges. There is no reason for doubting that the Asaph mentioned in this title was the Asaph of the reign of David, in whose times the necessity for such a warning must already have existed, if not in the person of the king, who, perhaps on that account, is not particularly mentioned, yet in his chiefs or nobles, the exalted though inferior magistrates who executed justice under him. The judicial appearance of Jehovah here presented is like that in Psalms 1:1. Stands, or, as the participle strictly means, (is) standing, stationing himself, assuming his position. The word translated assembly is one commonly applied to the congregation of Israel, as an organised whole or body politic. See Exodus 12:3; Exodus 16:1, Leviticus 4:15, Numbers 27:17. Mighty is singular, not plural, in Hebrew, being one of the divine names, and qualifies the congregation or assembly as belonging to God himself, i.e. instituted by him, and held under his authority. The parallel expression, in the midst of the gods, superadds to this idea an allusion to a singular usage of the Pentateuch, according to which the theocratical magistrates, as mere representatives of God's judicial sove reignty, are expressly called Elohim, the plural form of which is peculiarly well suited to this double sense or application. See Exodus 21:6; Exodus 22:8-9, and compare Deuteronomy 1:17; Deuteronomy 19:17, 2 Chronicles 19:6. Even reverence to old age seems to be required on this principle (Leviticus 19:32), and obedience to parents in the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12), which really applies to all the offices and powers of the patriarchal system, a system founded upon natural relations, and originating in a simple extension of domestic or parental government, in which the human head represents the original and universal parent or progenitor. The remarkable use of the name God in Exodus, above referred to, is concealed from the reader of the English Bible, by the arbitrary use of the word judges, as a translation of the Hebrew, which of course it cannot be. He judges, will judge, is about to judge, The idea is,would be a judge to them. Compare Isaiah 3:13-15, Micah 3:1-4, Jeremiah 22:1-4. 2. (Psalms 82:2) How long will ye judge wrong, and the faces of wicked men accept? Selah. The question implies that they had done so long enough, nay, too long, since it was wrong from the beginning. Wrong, in the strongest moral sense, injustice, wickedness. Wrong, in Hebrew as in English, may be construed either as an adverb or a noun, or both, i.e. as a noun adverbially used to qualify the verb. See the similar construction of its counter-part or converse, Psalms 58:1. The last clause exemplies one of the most peculiar Hebrew idioms. The combination usually rendered respect persons in the English Bible, and applied to judicial partiality, means literally to take (or take up) faces. Some suppose this to mean the raising of the countenance, or causing to look up from deep dejection. But the highest philological authorities are now agreed, that the primary idea is that of accepting one man's face or person rather than another's, the, precise form of expression, though obscure, being probably derived from the practice of admitting suitors to confer with governors or rulers face to face, a privilege which can sometimes only be obtained by bribes, especially though not exclusively in oriental courts. The Selah commends the implied charge of official malversation to the serious reflection of the accused parties. 3. (Psalms 82:3) Judge the weak and fatherless, (to) the sufferer and the poor do justice. The indirect censure of their evil deeds is followed by a direct exhortation to do well. Compare Isaiah 1:16-17. The verb of the first clause is explained by that of the second, which is a technical forensic term, meaningto make innocent or righteous, i.e. to recognise or declare as such by a judicial act. See Exodus 23:7, Deuteronomy 25:1, and compare 2 Samuel 15:4, Isaiah 5:23; Isaiah 5:18. The word translated weak is applied to the defect of bodily strength and of property or substance. See above, on Psalms 41:1. It is used by Moses in the same connection, Exodus 23:3. The fatherless or orphans are continually spoken of, as proper objects both of mercy and of justice. See above, on Psalms 10:14; Psalms 68:5, and compare Exodus 22:22. The word translated poor seems strictly to denote one who has grown poor or become impoverished. See the verbal root in Psalms 34:10. 4. (Psalms 82:4) Deliver the weak and the needy (man), front the hand of wicked (men) free (him). The first verb means originally to suffer or cause to escape; the second to extricate or disembarrass. From the hand of the wicked implies from their power, as actually exercised for coercion. The structure of the sentence may be made more regular by disregarding the pause-accent and attaching the needy to the last clause, and the poor from the hand of the wicked set free. 5. (Psalms 82:5) They know not and they will not understand; in darkness they will (still) walk; shaken are all the foundations of earth. This is the Lord's complaint of their incorrigible ignorance and indocility, which rendered even his divine instructions unavailing. The object of the first verbs is suggested by the context, as in Psalms 14:4. What they did not know and would not understand was their judicial duty and responsibility, the end for which they were invested with authority. Darkness is a figure both for ignorance and wickedness. See Proverbs 2:13. The denial or perversion of justice is described as disorganising society. Compare the figures in Psalms 11:3; Psalms 75:3. 6. (Psalms 82:6) I have said, Gods (are) ye, and sons of the Highest all of you. Their sin did not consist in arrogating to themselves too high a dignity, but in abusing it by malversation, and imagining that it relieved them from responsibility, whereas it really enhanced it. They were God's representatives, but for that very reason they were bound to be pre-eminently just and faithful. I have said, not merely to myself or in secret, but in my law; referring to the passages in Exodus already cited. See above, on Psalms 82:1. Ye are gods, or God, i.e. ye occupy his place and are entrusted with his honour as a just and holy God. The pregnant significancy of the plural form is here the same as in Psalms 82:1 above. The parallel expression, sons of the Most High, denotes the closest and most intimate relation to Jehovah, as the Supreme or Sovereign God. See above, on Psalms 2:7. This verse is cited by our Lord (John 10:34-35), to shew that if the divine name had been applied by God to mere men, there could be neither blasphemy nor folly in its application to the incarnate Son of God himself. 7. (Psalms 82:7) (Yet) verily like mankind shall ye die, and like one of the princes shall ye fall. Our idiom requires an adversative particle at the beginning, to bring out the antithetical relation of the sentences. But the first word in Hebrew is properly a particle of strong asseveration, certainly, assuredly. See above, on Psalms 31:22, and compare my note on Isaiah 53:4. Like mankind, or men collectively, or like a man indefinitely, i.e. any other man. So in the other clause, like one of the princes, i.e. any other prince, or person holding an exalted station. The clauses constitute a climax. The first merely describes them as sharers in the general mortality of man. The second threatens them with death, i.e. violent or untimely death, as a special punishment. Ye shall fall, by the sword (Jeremiah 39:18), or in some analogous manner. The verb is often absolutely used in this way to denote a violent and penal loss of life. See above, Psalms 20:8, and below, Psalms 111:7, and compare Exodus 19:21, Jeremiah 8:12. The general meaning of this verse, when taken in connection with the one before it, is that notwithstanding their exalted dignity, bestowed and recognised by God himself, they were not thereby exempted from the common mortality of men, nor even from those signal and destructive strokes, with which God often visits men as highly favoured and exalted as themselves. 8. (Psalms 82:8) Arise, 0 God, judge the earth; for thou art to possess all nations. This is not, as some interpreters suppose, a mere wish that God would do what he had just threatened; for this would make the psalm end with a feeble anti-climax. It is rather a petition that, since the representative or delegated judges had proved so unfaithful, God would appear in person and reclaim the powers which had been so wickedly abused. And this he is besought to do, not only in Israel, where the proximate occasion of the prayer was furnished, but throughout the earth, over all whose nations he possessed, and was one day to make good, the same hereditary right, i.e. a right continuing unchanged through all successive generations. Title and Subject. A Psalm of Asaph. This poet of the temple here acts as a preacher to the court and to the magistracy. Men who do one thing well are generally equal to another; he who writes good verse is not unlikely to be able to preach. What preaching it would have been had Milton entered the pulpit, or had Virgil been an apostle. Asaph's sermon before the judges is now before us. He speaks very plainly, and his song is rather characterised by strength than by sweetness. We have here a clear proof that all psalms and hymns need not be direct expressions of praise to God; we may, according to the example of this psalm, admonish one another in our songs. Asaph no doubt saw around him much bribery and corruption, and while David punished it with the sword, he resolved to scourge it with a prophetic psalm. In so doing, the sweet singer was not forsaking his profession as a musician for the Lord, but rather was practically carrying it out in another department. He was praising God when he rebuked the sin which dishonoured him, and if he was not making music, he was hushing discord when he bade rulers dispense justice with impartiality. The Psalm is a whole and needs no formal division. Ver. 1. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. He is the overlooker, who, from his own point of view, sees all that is done by the great ones of the earth. When they sit in state he stands over them, ready to deal with them if they pervert judgment. Judges shall be judged, and to justices justice shall be meted out. Our village squires and country magistrates would do well to remember this. Some of them had need go to school to Asaph till they have mastered this psalm. Their harsh decisions and strange judgments are made in the presence of him who will surely visit them for every unseemly act, for he has no respect unto the person of any, and is the champion of the poor and needy. A higher authority will criticise the decision of petty sessions, and even the judgments of our most impartial judges will be revised by the High Court of heaven. He judgeth among the gods. They are gods to other men, but he is GOD to them. He lends them his name, and this is their authority for acting as judges, but they must take care that they do not misuse the power entrusted to them, for the Judge of judges is in session among them. Our puisne judges are but puny judges, and their brethren who administer common law will one day be tried by the common law. This great truth is, upon the whole, well regarded among us in these times, but it was not so in the earlier days of English history, when Jeffries, and such as he, were an insult to the name of justice. Oriental judges, even now, are frequently, if not generally, amenable to bribes, and in past ages it was very hard to find a ruler who had any notion of justice apart from his own arbitrary will. Such plain teaching as this psalm contains was needful indeed, and he was a bold good man who, in such courtly phrases, delivered his own soul. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria Thomasius. 1649-1713. Ver. 1. God standeth. He is said to stand, because of his immutability, his power, his abiding presence, and also because of his promptness in act, to decide for the right, and to help the poor, as he did S. Stephen. But one commentator draws a yet deeper lesson from the word stand. He reminds us that it is for the judge to sit, and for the litigants or accused to stand; as it is written, Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning until the evening. Exodus 18:13. It is then a solemn warning for judges to remember, that whatever cause is before them is God's cause, since right and wrong are at stake in it, and that by acquitting the guilty, or condemning the innocent, they pass sentence against God himself. Albertus Magnus, Le Blanc, and Agellius, quoted by Neale and Littledale. Ver. 1. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty, or, of God. These words are exegetical, and help to illustrate what he had said before: God standeth in the congregation of God. What is that? Why he judgeth as supreme amongst the judges of the world. He stands not as a cipher, or a bare spectator, but he himself makes one amongst them. 1. He judgeth actively amongst them. We look upon men, and think the judgment is theirs, but it is God that exerciseth judgment amongst them. 2. Passively, he is so in the midst of these earthly gods, that if they do unjustly he will execute justice on them, and judge the judges of the world; for though they be great, yet there is a greater than they, to whom they must shortly give an account. Thomas Hall. 1659-60. Ver. 1. In the congregation. Rulers must understand that they are not placed over stocks and stones, nor over swine and dogs, but over the congregation of God: they must therefore be afraid of acting against God himself when they act unjustly. Martin Luther. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 1. The sovereignty of God over the most powerful and exalted. How that sovereignty reveals itself, and what we may expect from it. Ver. 1. The Lord's presence in cabinets and senates. WORK ON THE EIGHTY-SECOND PSALM "The Beauty of Magistracy. An Exposition of Psa 82:1-8." By THOMAS HALL, B.D. 1659-60. (In 'S WORKS. Vol. 4. Nichol's Edition.) Psalms 82:2* Ver. 2. How long will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? It is indirectly stated that the magistrates had been unjust and corrupt. They not only excused the wicked, but even decided in their favour against the righteous. A little of this is too much, a short time too long. Some suitors could get their claims settled at once, and in their own favour, while others were wearing out their lives by waiting for an audience, or were robbed by legal process because their opponents had the judge's ear: how long were such things to be perpetuated? Would they never remember the Great Judge, and renounce their wickedness? This verse is so grandly stern that one is tempted to say, "Surely an Elijah is here." Selah. This gives the offenders pause for consideration and confession. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria Thomasius. 1649-1713. Ver. 2. And accept the persons of the wicked. The last clause exemplifies one of the most peculiar Hebrew idioms. The combination usually rendered respect persons in the English Bible, and applied to judicial partiality, means literally to take (or take up) faces. Some suppose this to mean the raising of the countenance, or causing to look up from dejection. But the highest philological authorities are now agreed, that the primary idea is that of accepting one man's face or person rather than another's, the precise form of expression, though obscure, being probably derived from the practice of admitting suitors to confer with governors or rulers, face to face, a privilege which can sometimes only be obtained by bribes, especially, though not exclusively, in oriental courts. Joseph Addison Alexander. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 2. A common sin. Regard for the persons of men often influences our judgment of their opinions, virtues, vices, and general bearing; this involves injustice to others, as well as deep injury to the flattered. Psalms 82:3* Ver. 3. Defend the poor and fatherless. Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Look not to the interests of the wealthy whose hands proffer you bribes, but protect the rights of the needy, and especially uphold the claims of orphans whose property too often becomes a prey. Do not hunt down the peasant for gathering a few sticks, and allow the gentlemanly swindler to break through the meshes of the law. Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Even they can claim from you as judge no more than justice; your pity for their circumstances must not make you hold the scales unfairly: but if you give them no more than justice, at least be sure that you give them that to the full. Suffer not the afflicted to be further afflicted by enduring injustice, and let not the needy long stand in need of an equitable hearing. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria Thomasius. 1649-1713. Ver. 3. It is said of Francis the First, of France, that when a woman kneeled to him to beg justice, he bade her stand up; for, said he, Woman, it is justice that I owe thee, and justice thou shalt have; if thou beg anything of me, let it be mercy. A happy place and people surely, where justice (as it seemeth), was not extorted, but dropt as kindly as honey from the comb; where there was no sale of offices, no exchanging of fees, no subtleties of delay, no trucking for expedition, no making snares of petty and penal statutes: where Justice had scales in her hand, not to weigh gold, but equity: where judges and magistrates were as Noah's ark, to take in weary doves, and as the horns of the altar, for oppressed innocency to betake himself unto; where lawyers, advocates, pleaders, did not call evil good, or good evil, bitter sweet, etc., where plaintiffs and accusers did not inform or persecute through malice, envy, or for advantage; where subordinate officers durst not help potent delinquents out of the briars, nor suffer poor men, tempest tossed in law, to languish in their business within ken of harbour for want of giving a sop to Cerberus, or sacrificing to the great Diana of expedition; where those setting dogs, such as base, promoting informers, were not countenanced, and severely punished upon any false, unjust, or malicious information. To close up all, where the magistrate owed justice to the people, and paid it; where the people begged for mercy and had it. William Price. 1642. Ver. 3-4. The touchstone of magistrates' justice is in the causes and cases of the poor, fatherless, afflicted, and needy, who are not able to attend long their suits of law, have no friends nor money to deal for them; to whom, therefore, the mighty should be eyes to direct them, and a staff to their weakness, to support and help them in their right. David Dickson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 3. A plea for orphans. Psalms 82:4* Ver. 4. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. Break the nets of the man catchers, the legal toils, the bonds, the securities, with which cunning men capture and continue to hold in bondage the poor and the embarrassed. It is a brave thing when a judge can liberate a victim like a fly from the spider's web, and a horrible case when magistrate and plunderer are in league. Law has too often been an instrument for vengeance in the hand of unscrupulous men, an instrument as deadly as poison or the dagger. It is for the judge to prevent such villainy. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria Thomasius. 1649-1713. Ver. 3-4. See Psalms on "Psalms 82:3" for further information. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 82:5* Ver. 5. They know not, neither will they understand. A wretched plight for a nation to be in when its justices know no justice, and its judges are devoid of judgment. Neither to know his duty nor to wish to know it is rather the mark of an incorrigible criminal than of a magistrate, yet such a stigma was justly set upon the rulers of Israel. They walk on in darkness. They are as reckless as they are ignorant. Being both ignorant and wicked they yet dare to pursue a path in which knowledge and righteousness are essential: they go on without hesitation, forgetful of the responsibilities in which they are involved, and the punishment which they are incurring. All the foundations of the earth are out of course. When the dispensers of law have dispensed with justice, settlements are unsettled, society is unhinged, the whole fabric of the nation is shaken. When injustice is committed in due course of law the world is indeed out of course. When "Justices' justice" becomes a byword it is time that justice dealt with justices. Surely it would be well that certain of "the great unpaid" should be paid off, when day after day their judgments show that they have no judgment. When peasants may be horsewhipped by farmers with impunity, and a pretty bird is thought more precious than poor men, the foundations of the earth are indeed sinking like rotten piles unable to bear up the structures built upon them. Thank God we have, as an almost invariable rule, incorruptible judges; may it always be so. Even our lesser magistrates are, in general, most worthy men; for which we ought to be grateful to God evermore. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria Thomasius. 1649-1713. Ver. 5. They know not, neither will they understand, etc. Every judge must have in him (as Baldus actually said) two kinds of salt; the first is sal scientiae, that he may know his duty; the second is sal conscientiae, that he may do his duty. Such as fail in the first, are censured here with a nescierunt, and non intellexerunt; such as fall in the second, are branded here with an ambulant in tenebris. The dangers upon this neglect of these duties are two: the one concerning the whole commonwealth, All the foundations of the earth are out of course; the other especially touching the private persons of the judges, at the seventh verse, Ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes, and after death comes judgment, Psalms 82:8 : Arise, O God, judge the earth. Almighty God "standeth in the congregation of princes, and is a judge among gods; "he sits Chief Justice in every session and assize, to mark what matters pass, and how they pass, ready to judge those righteously, who judge others unjustly, "giving wrong judgment, and accepting the persons of the wicked." Psalms 67:4 pros to krithrion tou yeou. Thus I have made the way plain before you; God infinitely rich in mercy grant, that both I in speaking, and you in hearing, may walk therein (as the blessed Apostle phraseth it, Galatians 2:14) "with a right foot." They know not, neither will they understand. That is, they neither know God, who made them gods; nor yet understand his law, which is a lantern to their feet, and a light to their paths. Or, as Placidus Parmensis upon the place, — They neither consider how they that be called gods, as commissioners and ministers of God, ought to judge others; nor yet remember how they shall be judged themselves at the last day, when "all the foundations of the world shall be moved, "and God himself shall "arise to judge the earth." Or, they be so corrupt and abominable, that they will neither learn what is their office from others, nor yet understand it by themselves. Or briefly, to give that gloss (which fits best I think the text, I am sure the time), Nescierunt quid facti, non intelexerunt quid juris; they were both ignorant in the matter of fact, as not searching out the cause; and ignorant in the matter of law, sitting (as Paul said of Ananias) to give judgment according to the law, and yet commanding that which is contrary to the law. The first concerns a good deal the jury, the second a great deal the judges; in both are condemned, as the nurses of all confusions in a commonwealth, ignorantia simplex, and affectata; simple ignorance, when as they be so shallow that they cannot; affected ignorance, when as they be so deep, that they will not understand what is right and reason. John Boys, in "The Judge's Charge, "1618. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 5. I. The characters of wicked princes. 1. Ignorance: They know not. 2. Wilful blindness: Neither will they, etc. 3. Unrestrained perverseness: They walk on, etc. II. The consequences to others: All the foundations, etc. 1. Of personal security. 2. Of social comfort. 3. Of commercial prosperity. 4. Of national tranquillity. 5. Of religious liberty; all are out of course. G. R. Ver. 5. (middle clause). A description of the pilgrimage of presumptuous sinners. Psalms 82:6* Ver. 6. I have said, ye are gods. The greatest honour was thus put upon them; they were delegated gods, clothed for a while with a little of that authority by which the Lord judges among the sons of men. And all of you are children of the Most High. This was their ex-officio character, not their moral or spiritual relationship. There must be some government among men, and as angels are not sent to dispense it, God allows men to rule over men, and endorses their office, so far at least that the prostitution of it becomes an insult to his own prerogatives. Magistrates would have no right to condemn the guilty if God had not sanctioned the establishment of government, the administration of law, and the execution of sentences. Here the Spirit speaks most honourably of these offices, even when it censures the officers; and thereby teaches us to render honour to whom honour is due, honour to the office even if we award censure to the officer bearer. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria Thomasius. 1649-1713. Ver. 6. Ye are gods, etc. It is, of course, to civil governors, especially those entrusted with the administration of justice, that the prophet addresses this stern admonition. He calls them "the gods, "and "the sons of the Most High." To the people of Israel this kind of appellation would not seem over bold: for it was applied to judges in well known texts of the Law of Moses. Thus, in the code of civil statutes delivered at Sinai, it is said, Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people. Exodus 22:28. Nor is that the only instance of the kind. In two other passages of the same code (Exodus 21:6 22:8-9), the word which our translators have rendered "the judges" is in the Hebrew, "the gods, "or "God." Since the ordinary Hebrew word for God (Elohim) is almost always used in the plural form, it is hard to say whether it ought to be rendered in these passages in the singular or plural. The meaning is the same either way. It is a matter of indifference, for example, whether the law in Exodus 21:6, be rendered thus, His (the bondman's) master shall bring him to the gods; or with the Septuagint, his master shall bring him to the judgment seat of God. (prosto krithrion tou Teou). In either case the terms used are plainly meant to imply that the Majesty of God is present in the place of judgment. As it is said of Solomon that he sat on the throne of the LORD as King, 1 Chronicles 29:23, so it may be said of every magistrate that he sits in God's seat. God has put upon him a portion of his own dominion and authority; and has ordained that he is to be obeyed, not for wrath's sake only, but for conscience sake. The civil magistrate, in discharging his high function, may justly claim to govern with a divine right. No one needs to be told that this old doctrine of the divine right of rulers has been woefully abused. Sycophantic divines have often made of it a flattering unction for the care of princes; teaching them that they owed no obedience to the laws; that they were responsible to none but God for their administration; that any attempt on the part of the people to curb their tyranny, or to depose them from their seats when milder measures failed, was rebellion against God whose Viceregents they were. Even now, the same doctrine occasionally makes itself heard from the pulpit and the press; and thus men attempt to subject the consciences of the people to the caprices of tyrants. Let it be carefully observed that the harp of Asaph lends no sanction to this "right divine of kings to govern wrong." If the prophet testifies that princes are gods, he includes in the honour the humblest magistrate. The elders administering justice in the gate of Bethlehem, though their town be little among the thousands of Judah, sit in God's seat as truly as King Solomon on his ivory throne in the porch of judgment at Jerusalem. The common saying that "the divine right of kings is the divine right of constables, "is a rough way of expressing a Bible truth. Let this be borne in mind, and no one will allege Scripture in defence of royal claims to indefeasible and irresponsible authority, or claim for such authority the sanction of divine right. But while care ought to be taken to guard the divine right of civl government from abuse, the right itself is not to be forgotten. The state is an ordinance of God, having, like the family, its foundations in the very constitution of human nature. The officers of the state, whether supreme or subordinate, have a divine right to administer justice in the community over which Providence has placed them. They who resort to the civil magistrate for judgment, resort to the judgment seat of God; just as they who resort to the Ministry of the Word resort to the Great Prophet of the Church. Unless the magistrate had received a commission from God, he could not lawfully bear the sword. To take the life of an unarmed fellow man, without a commission from the Most High warranting the act, would be to commit murder. William Binnie. Ver. 6. In his Lex Rex, Rutherford argues from this psalm that judges are not the creatures of kings, to execute their pleasure, and do not derive their power from the monarch, but are authorized by God himself as much as the king, and are therefore bound to execute justice whether the monarch desires it or no. Ver. 6. I have said, ye are gods. Princes and judges are gods (Elohim), on the ground that unto them the word of God came (John 10:35), constituting them such. Even here, where God is about to pass sentence on them, he begins with recognizing their divinely appointed dignity on which they presumed, as if giving them absolute power to do as they pleased, right or wrong; forgetting that high office has its duties as well as its dignities. Sonship is closely allied to kingship and judgeship. These combined dignities, which by all others have been abused, shall be realized in all their grandest ideal by the coming King, Judge, and Son of the Most High (Psalms 2:6-7; Psalms 2:10-12.) A. R. Fausset. Ver. 6. I have said, ye are gods. As parasites in base flattery and compliance with their pride, have vainly called some of them so, and as some princes have most wickedly and blasphemously affected to be called, yea to be adored, as gods, (God will take highest vengeance upon all those who take his name upon them, or submit to it when given them), so God himself hath put his own name upon magistrates, to mind them of their duty, or for a twofold end: First, that being called gods, they should judge and rule as God doth, or with a mind like God, free from the mixture of a private or passionate spirit, and filled with a love to, and a delight in, impartial judgment and righteousness. Secondly, that being called gods, all men might learn their duty, freely to submit to them and duly to honour them; seeing any dishonour done to them reflects upon God whose name they bear. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 6. Gods. It is not Jah or Jehovah, a name of essence, but Eloah or Elohim, a name of office that is given them. Thomas Gataker. Ver. 6-7. Ye are gods; there he considered their pomp and dignity: But ye shall die like men; there he minds their end, that with the change of his note they might also change countenance. He tells them their honour, but withal their lot. In power, wealth, train, titles, friends, they differ from others; in death they differ not from others. They are cold when winter comes, withered with age, weak with sickness, and melt away with death, as the meanest: all to ashes. All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower, 1 Peter 1:24 : the glory, that is, the best of it, but a flower. No great difference, the flower shows fairer, the grass stands longer, one scythe cuts down both. Beasts fat and lean, fed in one pasture, killed in one slaughter. The prince in his lofty palace, the beggar in his lowly cottage, have double difference, local and ceremonial height and lowness; yet meet at the grave, and are mingled in ashes. We walk in this world as a man in a field of snow; all the way appears smooth, yet cannot we be sure of any step. All are like actors on a stage, some have one part and some another, death is still busy amongst us; here drops one of the players, we bury him with sorrow, and to our scene again: then falls another, yea all, one after another, till death be left upon the stage. Death is that damp which puts out all the dim lights of vanity. Yet man is easier to believe that all the world shall die, than to suspect himself. Thomas Adams. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 6. Ye are gods. The passage in the Old Testament which involves the doctrine of the divinity of Christ. J. P. Lange. Psalms 82:7* Ver. 7. But ye shall die like men. What sarcasm it seems! Great as the office made the men, they were still but men, and must die. To every judge this verse is a memento mori! He must leave the bench to stand at the bar, and on the way must put off the ermine to put on the shroud. And fall like one of the princes. Who were usually the first to die: for battle, sedition, and luxury, made greater havoc among the great than among any others. Even as princes have often been cut off by sudden and violent deaths, so should the judges be who forget to do justice. Men usually respect the office of a judge, and do not conspire to slay him, as they do to kill princes and kings; but injustice withdraws this protection, and puts the unjust magistrate in personal danger. How quickly death unrobes the great. What a leveller he is. He is no advocate for liberty, but in promoting equality and fraternity he is a masterly democrat. Great men die as common men do. As their blood is the same, so the stroke which lets out their life produces the same pains and throes. No places are too high for death's arrows: he brings down his birds from the tallest trees. It is time that all men considered this. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria Thomasius. 1649-1713. Ver. 6-7. Ye are gods; See Psalms on "Psalms 82:7" for further information. Ver. 7. Ye shall die like men, etc. Even you which glisten like angels, whom all the world admires, and sues and bows to, which are called honourable, mighty and gracious lords, I will tell you to what your honour shall come: first, ye shall wax old like others, then ye shall fall sick, like others, then ye shall die like others, then ye shall be buried like others, then ye shall be consumed like others, then ye shall be judged like others, even like the beggars which cry at your gates: one sickens, the other sickens; one dies, the other dies; one rots, the other rots: look in the grave, and shew me which was Dives and which was Lazarus. This is some comfort to the poor, that once he shall be like the rich; one day he shall be as wealthy, and as glorious as a king: one hour of death will make all alike; they which crowed over others, and looked down upon them like oaks, others shall walk upon them like worms, and they shall be gone as if they had never been. Henry Smith. Ver. 7. Ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. The meditation of death would pull down the plumes of pride; thou art but dust animated; shall dust and ashes be proud? Thou hast a grassy body, and shall shortly be mowed down: I have said, ye are gods; but lest they should grow proud, he adds a corrective: ye shall die like men; ye are dying gods. Thomas Watson. Ver. 7. And fall like one of the princes. Tyrants seldom go to their graves in peace. Most of the Caesars fell by the hands of the people, q.d. If you be like tyrants in sin, expect to be like them in punishment; as I cast them out of their thrones for their insolence and violence, so will I cast you out, and you shall fall like one of these tyrannical princes. Thomas Hall. Ver. 7. 1. Ye shall fall from the highest pinnacle of honour and reputation. The place of magistracy, which knoweth you now, will know you no more. One of the ancients, standing by Caesars tomb, crieth out, Ubi nunc pulchritudo Caesaris? quo abiit magnificentia ejus? Where is now the beauty; what is become of the magnificence; where are the armies now; where the honours, the triumphs, the trophies of Caesar? All was gone when Caesar was gone. You honours and your worships, your power, and your places, all die with you, if not before you. 2. Ye fall from your greatest treasures and possessions. As ye brought nothing into the world, so it is certain ye shall carry nothing out of the world. 1 Timothy 6:7. Saladin, the mighty monarch of the east, is gone, and hath carried no more along with him than ye see—i.e., a shirt hung up for that purpose — said the priest that went before the bier. 3. Ye fall from all your friends and relations; when ye die, they that were near and dear to you will leave you. George Swinnock. Ver. 7. Impressiveness is a leading characteristic of the "death" or "fall" of "princes:" such incidents, from a variety of causes, are most striking. But can the same remark be commonly made respecting the decease of the children of poverty? Regard being had to the startling effect which the demise of the potentate is calculated to produce, — has the departure of the peasant, for example, in itself, the same tendency to beget solemnity and awe, so that, even under this point of view, the peasant might be justly affirmed to fall like one of the princes Indeed, if you think of the outward circumstances attending his last moments; and then, immediately afterwards, of those which belong to the close of the life of the dweller in regal or stately halls, there would seem to be hardly any ground here for instituting the slightest comparison: but I would have you to associate the man, as he lies on the eve of dissolution, not with others, his superiors in rank, in a similar case, but with himself, when, in the full vigour of existence, he walked to and fro, and performed his own humble but laborious share of this world's business; and, as you subsequently mark how the great Destroyer has crushed all his energies, and left but a corpse behind, you will surely admit that there is as wide a difference between the individual as he was and as he is, as there can possibly be between the scenes at the death beds, respectively, of princes and of the poor. Yes, and as impressive a difference too; so that you have only to allow the exhibition of the striking change to have its legitimate effect upon the mind, and then, so far as that effect will be concerned, you may declare of the rural labourer, that "he has fallen like one of the princes; "seeing that he has given a lesson every whit as awakening and as emphatic in its admonitions as could the other. Hugh B. Moffatt, 1861. Ver. 7-8. Your day is coming! The saints are raising the loud cry of Psa 82:8, inviting Messiah, the true God, the Son of the Most High (John 10:34), the Mighty One, the Judge and Ruler, to arise and take his inheritance, for he is the heir of all things, and to be the true Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Barak, Gideon, Tola, Jair, Jephthah, Samson, and Samuel, who will judge, or govern and rule, a mismanaged earth. We sing this song of Zion in his ears, urging him to come quickly; and we sing it to one another in joyful hope, while the foundations of earth seem out of course, because here we find Messiah the true Judge of a misgoverned world. Andrew A. Bonar. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE None. Psalms 82:8* Ver. 8. Arise, O God, and judge the earth. Come thou Judge of all mankind, put the bad judges to thy bar and end their corruption and baseness. Here is the world's true hope of rescue from the fangs of tyranny. For thou shalt inherit all nations. The time will come when all races of men shall own their God, and accept him as their king. There is one who is "King by right divine, "and he is even now on his way. The last days shall see him enthroned, and all unrighteous potentates broken like potter's vessels by his potent sceptre. The second advent is still earth's brightest hope. Come quickly, even so, come, Lord Jesus. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS Whole Psalm. Asaph, who has written so much in the previous Psalms of the coming of Christ in the flesh, now speaks of his second coming to judgment. Josephus Maria Thomasius. 1649-1713. Ver. 7-8. See Psalms on "Psalms 82:7" for further information. Ver. 8. Arise, O God. A metaphor taken from the common gesture of judges, whose usual manner is to sit while they are hearing of cases; to arise and stand up when they come to give sentence. Thomas Gataker. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE Ver. 8. I. The invocation: Arise, etc. II. The prediction: For thou shalt, etc. G. R. This is a Psalm that is not often read, and very seldom expounded, I should think. According to the title, it is “A Song or Psalm of Asaph.” Asaph is one of a little group of poets who flourished side by side with David. This is a patriotic hymn. The nation was about to be attacked by many adversaries; so, like a true patriot, the poet desired that God would give the victory to his people, and deliver them. You may regard this Psalm as a prophecy, it reads like a prayer or wish of the writer, and no doubt it is so; but it may also be read as a prophecy of what will happen to the enemies of God’s people.Psalms 83:1-2. Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.God’s enemies are making a noise, and the psalmist’s prayer is that the Lord himself will speak and answer them. God’s voice made the heavens and the earth: “He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” A single word from him will win the day. The poet’s prayer is not, “Grant a leader bold and brave,” but, “Lord, speak, speak!” “For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult.” The enemies of Israel were the enemies of God. If they were our enemies only, we might keep silence; but as they are also the enemies of God, our loyalty to the Lord compels us to cry unto him to speak against them.Psalms 83:3. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.Craft goes with power in plotting against God’s people. The seed of the serpent are like him from whom they came, and of him it is said, “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made;” and the seed of the serpent are very full of crafty counsel and subtlety. This the psalmist mentions in his prayer, and then he looks to God to countermine their mines, to baffle their craft, and by his wisdom to save his people.Psalms 83:4. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.So terrible was the anger of these nations against God’s people that nothing would content them but the destruction of Israel, the blotting out of its very name from the memory of men; and I am sure that, if the world could have its way, it would extinguish the Church of Christ. You notice, in these days of boasted liberality and pretended charity, that the charity is only for error; but for the old gospel there is no charity. The cry concerning it is, “Let it be cut to pieces; let it be destroyed. It is an old nuisance, put it out of the way.” This is how the enemies of God would have it, “that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.”Psalms 83:5. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:There were many nations of heathens, and they were agreed in nothing except in their hatred of Israel. There they were agreed, as Herod was the friend of Pilate while Christ was under examination, but not at any other time. The psalmist mentions ten different nations which had banded themselves together against God’s chosen people Israel. Ten against one is long odds but then God was on the side of Israel. One man with God is in the majority, however many there may be on the other side, for God counts for more than all who can be against him.Psalms 83:6. The tabernacles of Edom,These descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, ought to have been the best friends of Israel, but they were the worst of their enemies. How often does it happen that kinship in blood makes no kinship in grace! “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”Psalms 83:6. And the Ishmaelites;These again were near akin to the seed of Abraham and Isaac; but the Ishmaelites were always among the most bitter enemies of Israel.Psalms 83:6. Of Moab,Moab was descended from a daughter of Lot.Psalms 83:6. And the Hagarenes;Perhaps descended from Hagar by some other husband.Psalms 83:7. Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;All these were hereditary enemies of Israel, Amalek especially so, for God had determined that there should be war with Amalek throughout all generations.Psalms 83:7. The Philistines —These were the old enemies of Israel. Remember how Samson fought with them, and what tugs of war David had with them.Psalms 83:7. With the inhabitants of Tyre;What were they about in warring against God’s people? They were merchants, shippers. Yes; but it sometimes happens that, when worldly craft is in danger, men of trade and commerce can be as bitter against true religion as anybody else.Psalms 83:8. Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.Here is a mention of the growing power of Assyria. What a host there was, what a band of enemies against God’s people! Oh, dear friends, I trust that none of us will have our names written in this black list! Be not enemies of God and of his truth; for, if so, you will wage a losing battle. Let the tow fight with the flame, or the dust with the wind, they will speedily be overcome, and woe be unto the man who contends with his Maker! What can he do? Let us, brethren, be on God’s side. God grant, of his grace, that we may never lift a hand against his cause! Now comes the prayer or prophecy of the poet.Psalms 83:9-10. Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kison: which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.In those great battles the enemies of the Lord and his people were utterly cut in pieces. Mighty men as they were, they left their corpses to manure the soil.Psalms 83:11. Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yea, all their princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna.These were four princes who were slain by Gideon and his allies; two of them bore the names of wolf and raven, — cruel names, and war is ever a cruel thing. But what had they done, these men of arms, these mighty warriors? The psalmist tells us: —Psalms 83:12. Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.They were not content with their own houses, they wanted God’s houses; and there are some men who can never rest except when they are doing mischief to the cause and cross of Christ. Woe unto them, for the fate of Oreb and Zeeb shall be theirs in due time!Psalms 83:13. O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind.Or rather, “Thou shalt make them a wheel,” never still. The real translation, I think, would be, “Make them like those light dry flowers which are blown by the wind across the plains.” Mr. Thomson, in his Land and the Book, speaks of the branches of the wild artichoke which form a sphere or globe a foot or more in diameter, and he says that he has seen thousands of them come wheeling along. Isaiah calls them, “a rolling thing before the whirlwind.” A puff of wind would come and take them in one direction, and then a contrary wind would drive them in quite another direction, they are so light, downy, gossamer-like, that they never can rest. Now this is just what happens to many men who set themselves against God and his grace. They are like rolling things never at rest, believing nothing, knowing nothing, hoping nothing, comforted by nothing, they are like a wheel. Oh, that we may never know by personal experience what this means, “Make them like a wheel, as the stubble before the wind”! You know how that is; the stubble is blown up, down, to the right, to the left, whichever way the wind blows. Are any of you like that tonight? Have you no stability? Have you no good hope for the future? When you think about death and eternity, are you like the stubble before the wind? If so, God have mercy upon you, and bring you to the only place where you can obtain salvation and stability!Psalms 83:14. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire;Travelers tell us that they have sometimes seen the sides of mountains all ablaze where the timber, growing old, and everything being dry in the heat of summer, a chance spark has set the whole on a flame. This is what God will do with his enemies. He will as certainly and as readily destroy them as the wood is burnt with fire, or the mountain’s side is consumed by the raging flames. Who will stand against God then? Who will dare attempt it? Consider his great might, and flee from his wrath.Psalms 83:15. So persecute them with thy tempest,Or, “Thou wilt so follow them up with thy tempest.”Psalms 83:15-16. And make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek thy name, O LORD.That is the prayer which we might pray tonight for all those who are denying the Godhead of Christ, and his great sacrifice of the Cross, and for all who reject the inspiration of Scripture and the blessed doctrines of grace. “O Lord, fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name!” Oh, that men did but know their own character! If they did but feel ashamed of their own sin, they might be led to seek the name of God.Psalms 83:17. Let them be confounded and troubled for ever;Or rather, “They shall be confounded and troubled for ever.” That is an awful passage, “Confounded and troubled for ever.”Psalms 83:17-18. Yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the most high over all the earth.You notice that, when I read the Scriptures, wherever I find the word LORD in capital letters, I read it as Jehovah, for so it should be. I wish that the translators of the Revised Version had had the courage of their convictions, and had so translated it, for we want that grand name back, Jah, Jehovah. Let me entreat you never to trifle as some do with that sacred word Hallelujah, or Hallelujah, praise to Jehovah. To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. It is thought, by some interpreters, that Gittith signifies the winepress. They must have been a very godly people who sang such songs as this in the time of the treading out of the grapes. Oh, that the day were come when the common places of our ordinary industries should be sanctified by psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs! Alas, at the winepress, men too often sing loose and lascivious songs; but these ancient people of God did not so. This Psalm is a song to the chief musician, and it is mainly concerning the house of God and the pilgrimage to it. Every sacred song should be sung at its best, we should call out the chief musician in every hymn that is dedicated to the service of the Lord. “To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.” I have often reminded you that these sons of Korah owed their continued existence to an act of special sovereign grace. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all their company, were swallowed up alive, they went down to the pit because of their rebellion; but in the Book of Numbers we read, “Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.” Why they were spared, we cannot tell; but, ever after, they were made to be the singers of the sanctuary. They who are saved by sovereign grace are the most fit to praise the name of the Lord. The sons of Korah also became door-keepers to the house of the Lord; and hence, probably, is the allusion to a doorkeeper which we find in this Psalm.Psalms 84:1. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!“How amiable “ — how lovely “are thy tabernacles!” The temple was not then built; the Lord’s house was as yet only a tent, so that it is not the glory of architecture that makes the house to be lovely, the glory of it is the indwelling God. “How amiable are thy tabernacles!” That is to say, every part of it is lovely. The outer court, the inner court, the Holy of Holies, all the different parts in that ancient sacred shrine were lovely to the psalmist’s eye. He does not tell us how lovely they were; he leaves off with a note of exclamation, as if he could not measure with his golden rod this city of the great King. “’How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts,’ —lovely because they are thine! They are our tabernacles if we gather in them; but they are thine because thou art there, and therefore are they most lovely to our eyes.”Psalms 84:2. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.His soul longed until, as it were, it grew pale, — for so the Hebrew may be rendered, — it grew white with faintness in the intensity of his desire to get up to the courts where God was to be found. God is a King, his ancient tabernacle was one of his royal palaces, so David longed to be a courtier there, that he might dwell in the courts of Jehovah. When he says that his flesh cried out for the living God, he does not mean flesh in the sense in which Paul uses the term, for in that flesh there dwelleth no good thing; but the psalmist means to express here the whole of his nature, “My soul, my heart, and my flesh.” The combination of his entire malehood, spirit, soul, and body, was moved with such intense agony of desire that it must express itself, and it could only express itself in a cry: “My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.” If it be so with you, my brethren, at this time, you shall have a feast of fat things. He who cometh to God’s table with a good appetite shall never go away unsatisfied. It is want of desire which often hinders us from spiritual delight; but when the desire is set upon God, it shall be satisfied. I fear that we often come to the wells of salvation, and yet get nothing, because merely coming to the wells is nothing. We read in Isaiah, “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” It is not the wells, but the water out of them, which will refresh the weary one. Do not be content with being here, in your pew, in the midst of this great congregation; but long after the living God himself, for he alone can refresh and revive your soul and spirit. Say, with David, “My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.”Psalms 84:3. Yea. the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.These little birds, so insignificant in themselves, were full of holy courage, and with sweet familiarity they came even into the sacred place. They hung upon the caves of God’s house, they even dared to make their nests there. “O make me like the sparrows blest, To dwell but where I love!” O my Lord, give me the privilege of the swallow; not only to dwell with thee, but to see my young ones, too, all round thine altars, that I may find with thee, my God, a nest where I may lay my young! Is not this your desire, my brother, my sister, to have God for yourself, and God for your boys, and God for your girls, — to be yourself God’s servant, and to have all your children his children, too? If so, God grant you the desire of your heart! How sweetly does David address the Lord: “O Jehovah of hosts, my King, and my God!” The people of God are very fond of my’s, they love possessive pronouns: “my King, and my God.” God is good, but what is another man’s God to me if he be not mine? I must have him for my King, and my God, or else I shall not really long for him, or cry out after him, or delight in him.Psalms 84:4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.The nearer to God you are in your life, the sweeter and more constant will be your song to him. They who dwell with God dwell where there must be singing. “Where God doth dwell, sure heaven is there, And singing there must be: Since, Lord, thy presence makes my heaven, Whom should I sing but thee?” Blessed are they who always dwell where thou dwellest, O my God! “They will be still praising thee.”Psalms 84:4. Selah.Screw up the harp strings, set the music to a higher key; lift up the heart also, let the soul rise to something sweeter still in praise of Jehovah.Psalms 84:5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways —Or,” Thy ways.” It is not every man who is in God’s house who is blessed; the blessed man is the one who has brought his heart with him. It is not every man who is in God’s ways who is blessed; but the man whose strength is in those ways, who throws his whole heart and soul into the worship. Half-hearted worship is dreary work, it is like a blind horse going round in a mill; but when the heart is in the service, we feel then as if we could dance for joy in the presence of the Lord our God: “Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are thy ways.”Psalms 84:6-7. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.We do not know at this date what that valley of Baca was, for the land has been to so large an extent destroyed. This ancient song retains the name of the valley of Baca, but it does not explain to us where or what the place was. Peradventure, it was a dry and thirsty valley in which, in order to pass through it at all, the pilgrims digged wells that there might be refreshment for their journey. There are many such valleys on the road to heaven, —dark and lonesome, dry and barren, — but God’s people learn to dig wells there. Only mark that, though we dig the wells, the water to fill them does not rise up from the bottom, it falls down from above: “The rain also filleth the pools.” In the kingdom of heaven, there are some analogies with the kingdom of nature; but there are a great many heavenly things that have no earthly analogy at all, and you cannot with any accuracy argue from natural laws into the spiritual world. For instance, we have “an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,” and we throw that anchor up: “which entereth into that within the vail.” Whereas earthly mariners drop their anchors down into the sea, we fling ours up into heaven. That is odd, but it is true; so, we dig a well, but it does not get filled from the bottom: “The rain also filleth the pools.” This is a new kind of well, and it teaches us that we must use the means, but that everything depends upon God. We have not to depend upon the means, but upon the God of the means: “The rain also filleth the pools.” See, further, brethren, what the way to heaven is; it is a growing way, an increasing way: “They go from strength to strength.” Those who begin in their own strength go from weakness to weakness; but (hose who know their own weakness, and trust in the Almighty God, shall go from strength to strength. In the natural world, as we grow older, we get weaker; but in the moral and spiritual world, when it is as it should be, the older we grow, the stronger we become in God and in the power of his might. What a mercy it is to be on the road to heaven, which is a road ever upwards! From step to step, from hill to hill, from mount to mount, they climb who shall ultimately end their pilgrimage in the King’s palace above: “Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.”Psalms 84:8-9. O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.See what a rise there is in the music here, from “Hear my prayer,” to “Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed.” “When thou canst not look on me, look on thine Anointed.” “Him, and then the sinner see, Look through Jesus’ wounds on me.” When God looks at us, he may well be angry; but when he looks upon Christ, he must be glad and full of love.Psalms 84:10. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.That is, better than a thousand spent anywhere else. You see, we have not yet come to the country where we can keep at God’s public worship all the year together, we have to get it a day at a time. Have you not often wished that there were seven Sundays in the week? I am sure that you have when God has fed your souls, and made your spirits merry in the house of prayer. Then have you sighed for the land — “Where congregations ne’er break up, And Sabbaths have no end.” If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall come there by-and-by; but, at present, you must be satisfied with a day at a time in the courts of the Lord, yet the Lord can crowd mercies into one day with such a marvellous compression of grace that we shall seem to get three years’ food in a single day. The Lord make this day to be a sort of millennial day “A day in thy courts is better than a thousand” spent anywhere else.Psalms 84:10. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.As I said before, the sons of Korah were door-keepers to the house of the Lord, and this Psalm is for them. You know that our poor door-keepers generally have many to find fault with them, somebody or other is sure to feel disobliged; door-keeping is no very remunerative work, no very easy and pleasing task; “yet,” says David, King David himself, — “I would take off my crown of gold, and turn pew-opener; I would wish to be even a door-keeper in the house of the Lord, so long as I might but be with my God; and that position would be far better than feasting and rioting in royal pavilions with the wicked.”Psalms 84:11. For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.Take notice of the whole of that last sentence; do not go and quote half of it, and say, “God has promised that he will withhold no good thing.” It is only promised to “them that walk uprightly”; and if you walk crookedly, the promise does not belong to you. It is upright walking that brings downright blessing. You shall lack no good thing from God, when your whole heart is made good towards God.Psalms 84:12. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.May all of us know this blessedness! Amen. In my brief comments upon this Psalm, I shall not feel bound to keep to the immediate occasion for which it was written, but shall seek to find a use for it in the present circumstances of God’s saints.Psalms 85:1. Lord, thou hast been favourable unto the land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.Whenever you are in a low state of mind or heart, remember God’s past lovingkindnesses. Recall the record of what he has done for his people in ages long gone by, for he is the same God for ever and ever, and, therefore, what he has done in the past, he will do in the future. As the wise man said, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the Sun.” It is certainly so concerning God’s dealings “Lord thou hast been favorable unto thy land,” even when it was stoned with ‘sin’ “thou hast brought Back the captivity of Jacob.” even when that captivity was brought upon the people by their own fault. Lord, bring back my captivity! Be favourable unto me; Deliver me from my spiritual declensions, and give me back my joy and peace:Psalms 85:2. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.What a sweet subject for our meditation we found, last Lord’s-day morning, in those words of the psalmist, “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities”! Now, if God has indeed blotted out the sin of his people, at a plea this is to use with him for all that we still need from him! Will he pardon us, and yet leave us to perish? Will he pay such a ransom price as the blood of his well-beloved Son to set us free from the bondage of sin, and then will he not help us even to the end? Will he not lift up our heavy heart, and revive our drooping spirit? Ah! that he will if we know how to plead his former mercy, and to urge upon him that, because he has forgiven our iniquity, and covered all our sin, he should now heal our diseases, redeem our life from destruction, and crown us with loving-kindness and tender mercies.Psalms 85:3-4. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.“Let us have a special application of the general mercy. Thy wrath to thy children has passed away; so let us no longer sit down, and cower beneath it, fearful of its terrors. Lord, bring us back to thee! Our heart desires conversion, but thou alone canst give it to us to the full. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and we shall be turned.”Psalms 85:6. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?“Thou mightest well do so if thou wert dealing with us only according to the strict requirements of thy righteous law; but we are thy children, Lord; and is a father always angry with his children? Thou hast forgiven us our iniquity; and, therefore, the great cause of thy wrath against us is gone. Now, O Lord, reveal thy love to us! Let us not any longer be under the sense of our guilt, or feel the absence of the joy and peace which thou givest unto those whom thou forgivest.”Psalms 85:6. Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?“We have got down very low, great God. We have been, these last six days, mixing with the world, and perhaps we have forgotten thee. Come to us, we pray thee. Give us fresh life; ‘revive us again.’ Many a time hast thou, spiritually, raised us up as from the grave’s mouth; wilt thou not do it again? All that thou hast done for us in the past will be lost if thou dost not continue thy mercy to us. ‘Wilt thou not revive us again?’ Thou lovest to see us happy, and thou art thyself the happy God; oh, make us happy, too, by reviving us, ‘that thy people may rejoice in thee’!”Psalms 85:7. Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.So far, the Psalm is a prayer. Now the psalmist seems to stop, and wait for the answer to his supplication. Beloved, always do that when you pray. When you have spoken to God, wait for him to speak to you. Do not let it appear that your prayer needs no answer; but really expect a reply to it, and then, in patience and in silence, wait for it.Psalms 85:8. I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.For, if they do, their darkness will return, and they will again have to mourn their Lord’s absence. Peradventure, the rod will fall more heavily upon them, and their souls will sink into a deeper despondency. For a Christian to be a fool once, is a sad thing; but for him to turn again to folly, is a multiplied form of iniquity which God will surely punish.Psalms 85:9. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.O beloved brethren and sisters, lay hold on that salvation which is nigh unto you, and exalt in it; and, even now, let your spirits feel the glow of his glory shining in your soul!Psalms 85:10. Mercy and truth are met together;But only at one place,—the cross of Calvary, where Jesus died; there, “mercy and truth are met together;”Psalms 85:10. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.Through Christ’s death, sin has been punished, sinners are saved, God’s law is vindicated, and the depths of his mercy are displayed: “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”Psalms 85:11. Truth shall spring out of the earth;-- Promises, which lay hidden in God’s Word, like seeds buried in the earth, shall spring up before our eyes, like flowers carpeting the earth with beauty: “Truth shall spring out of the earth;”—Psalms 85:11. And righteousness shall look down from heaven.As if so pleased with the state of things brought about by the atoning sacrifice of Christ that it flung up the windows of heaven to look down and see this great sight: “Righteousness shall look down from heaven.”Psalms 85:12-13. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.May God thus revive us, by his Holy Spirit, for Christ’s sake! Amen. "Ready, Ay, Ready!" Winter of 1861-1862 by C. H. (1834-1892) "Ready to perish."— Isaiah 27:13 . "Ready to forgive."— Psalms 86:5 . "The graves are ready for me."— Job 17:1 . When attempting to prepare for this service, I found it impossible to fix my mind upon any one subject. This afternoon, I had to take rather a long journey to visit a friend who is sick unto death, and at his bedside I trust I have learned some lessons of encouragement, and have been animated by witnessing the joy and peace which God grants to his children in their declining hours. Finding that I could not fix upon any one subject, I thought that I would have three. It may be that, out of the three, there will be one intended by divine grace for a third of the audience, the second for another third, and the other for the rest, so that there will be a portion of meat in due season for all. You know, dear friends, that the motto of our navy is, "Ready, ay, ready! "That is something like my present subject, for I have three texts in which the word "Ready" occurs, each time in a different connection. I. The first text will be specially addressed to those who are under concern of soul, having been led, by the enlightening influence of the Divine Spirit, to see their state by nature, and to tremble in the prospect of their deserved doom. The text which will suit their case is in Isaiah 27:13 : "READY TO PERISH, "They shall come which were ready to perish." By nature, all men, whether they know it or not, are ready to perish. Human nature is, like a blind man, always in danger; nay worse than that, it is like a blind man upon the verge of a tremendous cliff, ready to take the fatal step which will lead to his destruction. The most callous and proud, the most careless and profane, cannot, by their indifference or their boasting, altogether evade the apprehension that their state, by nature, is alarming and defenseless. They may try to laugh it away from their minds, but they cannot laugh away the fact. They may shut their eyes to it; but they shall no more escape, by shutting their eyes, than doth the silly ostrich escape from the hunter by thrusting its head into the sand. Whether thou wilt have it so, or no, fast young man in the dawn of thy days;—whether thou wilt have it so, or no, blustering merchant in the prime of thine age;—whether thou wilt have it so, or no, hardened old man in the petrified state of thy moral conscience;—it is so: thou art ready to perish. Thy jeers cannot deliver thee; thy sarcasms about eternal wrath cannot quench it; and all thy contemptuous scorn and thine arrogant pride cannot evade thy doom, they do but hasten it. There are some persons, however, who are aware of their danger; to them I speak. They are fitly described by the Spirit of God in these words of the prophet: "The great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish." Having passed through this anguish myself, I think I can describe, from experience, what some of you are now suffering. You are ready to perish, in the first place, because you feel sure that you will perish. You did not think so once, but you do now. Once, you could afford to put away the thought, with a laugh, as a matter which might, or might not, be true; but, anyhow, it did not much concern you. But, now, you feel that you will be lost as surely as if it could be demonstrated to you by logic. In fact, the divine logic of the law has thundered it into your soul, and you know it. You feel it to be certain that you shall, ere long, be driven from the presence of God with that terrible sentence, "Depart, ye cursed." If any unbeliever should tell you that there is no wrath to come, you would reply, "There is, for I feel it is due to me. My conscience tells me that I am condemned already, and ere long I am quite certain to drink of the wormwood and the gall of the wrath of God." You have signed your own death-warrant, you have put on the black cap, and condemned yourself; or, rather, you have pleaded guilty before your Judge, you have said, "Guilty, my Lord;" and now you think you see before your eye the scaffold, and yourself ready to be executed. You feel it to be so sure that you even anticipate the judgment day; you dreamed of it, the other night, and you thought you heard the trumpet of the archangel opening all the graves, and wakening all the dead. You have already, in imagination, stood before the bar of God; you feel your sentence to be so certain that conscience has read it over in your hearing, and anticipated its terrors. You are among those who are ready to perish, so permit me to say that I am glad you have come here, for this is the very spot where God delights to display his pardoning grace. He is ready to save those who are thus ready to perish. Those who write themselves down as lost are the special objects of our Savior's mission of mercy, for "the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." You are ready to perish, in another sense, for you feel as if your perishing was very near. You are like the dying man who gasps for breath, and thinks that each gasp must be his last; his pulse is feeble, his tongue is dry with feverish heat, the clammy sweat is on his brow. The valley of the shadow of death casts its gloomy shade on his pale cheeks, and he feels that he must soon die. Is it not thus that some of you feel just now? You feel that you are coming near to the wrath of God. I have known the day when, as I lay down to rest, I dreaded the thought that, perhaps, I should never awake in this world; or, at mid-day, I have walked in the fields, and wondered that the earth did not open, and swallow me up. A terrible noise was in my ears; my soul was tossed to and fro; I longed to find a refuge, but there seemed to be none; while ever ringing in my ears were the words, "The wrath to come!" "The wrath to come!" "The wrath to come! "Oh, how vividly is the wrath to come pictured before the eyes of the awakened sinner! He does not look upon it as a thing that is to come in ten, twelve, or twenty years, but as a thing that may be before long, yea, even today. He looks upon himself as ready to perish because his final overthrow appears to be so close. I am glad if any of you are in this plight, for God does not thus alarm men unless he has purposes of mercy concerning them, and designs for their good. He has made you fear you are perishing that you may have no perishing to fear. He has brought it home to you in this life that he may remove it for ever from you in the life that is to come. He has made you tremble now that you may not tremble then. He has put before you these dreadful things that, as with a fiery finger, they may point you to Christ, the only refuge, and, as with a thundering voice, they may cry to you, as the angels cried to Lot, "Escape for thy life, look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed." It may be that I am also addressing some, who not only realize the sureness and the nearness of their destruction, but they have begun to feel it. "Begun to feel it," says someone; "is that possible?" Yes, that it is; when day and night God's hand is heavy upon us, and our moisture is turned into the drought of summer, we begin to know something of what a sinner feels when justice and the law are let loose upon him. Did you ever read John Bunyan's "Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners"? There was a man who had, even here, foretastes of the miseries of the lost; and there are some of us who can, even now, hardly look back to the time of our conviction without a shudder. I hope there is not a creature alive who has had deeper convictions than I had, or five years of more intolerable agony than those which crushed the very life out of my youthful spirit. But this I can say, that terror of conscience, that alarm about the wrath of God, that intense hatred of past sin, and yet consciousness of my inability to avoid it in the future, were such combinations of thought that I can only describe them in George Herbert's words,— "My thoughts are all a case of knives Breaking my poor heart." Oh, the tortures of the man who feels his guilt, but does not know the remedy for it! To look leprosy in the face, but not to know that it may be healed! To walk the lazar-house, and hear that there is no physician there! To see the flame, but not to know, that it can be quenched! To be in the dungeon, but never to know the rescue and deliverance! O ye that are ready to perish, I sympathize with you in your present sufferings, but I do not lament them! This is the way in which God begins with those whom he intends to bless;—not to the same degree in all, but yet after the same kind. He destroys our confidence in our own works, and then gives us confidence in Christ's work. You know how Bunyan describes Christian as being much tumbled up and down in his mind; and when his wife and children came round about him, he could only tell them that the city in which they lived was to be destroyed; and though his easy-going neighbors told him not to believe it, and not to make such a fuss about it, the truth had come home to him with too much power to be put away. Atheist might say it was all a lie, and Pliable might give slight heed to it, and pretend to believe it for a season; but Christian knew it to be true, so he ran to the wicket gate, and the cross, that he might escape from the wrath to come. To the careless, these words, "Ready to perish," should sound an alarm. May God the Holy Spirit, while I preach upon the second text, enable me to blow the great trumpet of the jubilee! May the gladsome sound reach the heart of him that is ready to perish! May he know that divine mercy brought him here that he might find a God ready to pardon! II. My second text is in Psalms 86:5 : "READY TO FORGIVE." Does not that ring like a silver bell? The other was a doleful note, like that of St. Sepulchre's bell when it tolls the knell of a criminal about to be executed: "Ready to perish." But this rings like a marriage peal: "Ready to forgive. Ready to forgive." What meaneth it when it saith that God is ready to forgive? "Ready" means, as you all know, prepared. A man is not ready to go by railway until his trunk is packed, and he is about to start. A man cannot be said to be ready to emigrate till he has the means to pay his passage, and the different things needed for his transit, and for his settling down when he gets to his destination. No road is ready till it is cleared; nothing is ready, in fact, till it is prepared. Sinner, God is ready to forgive; that is, everything is prepared by which you may be forgiven. The road used to be blocked up; but Jesus Christ hath with his cross, tunnelled every mountain, filled every valley, and bridged every chasm, so that the way of pardon is now fully prepared. There is no need for God to say, "I would pardon this sinner, but how shall my justice be honored? "Sinner, God's justice has been satisfied, the sin of all who believe, or who ever will believe, was laid upon Christ when he died upon the tree. If thou believes in him, thy sin was punished upon him, and it was for ever put away by the great atonement which he offered; so that, now, the righteous God can come out of the ivory palace of his mercy, stretch out his hands of love, and say, "Sinner, I am reconciled to thee; be thou reconciled to me." "Sprinkled now with blood the throne, Why beneath thy burdens groan? All the wrath on him was laid Justice owns the ransom paid." In the case of the ancient Israelites, it was necessary that the sacrifice should be slain, and be burned upon the altar. So, the Divine Victim has been slain upon Calvary. Once for all, the sacrifice for sin has been offered by Jesus, accepted by the Father, and witnessed by the Holy Spirit. God is ready—that is to say, he is prepared—to forgive all who will believe in Jesus Christ. You think that much preparation is needed on your part, but you are greatly mistaken. All things are ready; the oxen and the fatlings are killed, the feast is spread, the servants are sent with the invitations to the banquet; all thou hast to do, poor penitent, is to come, and sit down, and eat with thankfulness to the great Giver of the feast. The bath is filled, O black sinner, so come and wash! The garment is woven from the top throughout, O ye naked, so come and put it on! The price is paid, O ye ransomed ones, so take your blood-bought liberty! All is done. "It is finished," rings from Calvary's summit; God is ready to forgive. But the word "ready" means something more than prepared; we sometimes use the term to indicate that a thing can be easily done. We ask, "Can you do such-and-such a thing?" "Oh, yes!" you reply, "readily." Or perhaps we remind you of a promise you have given, and ask if you can carry it out; and you say, "Oh, yes! I am quite ready to fulfill my engagement. Sinner, it is an easy thing for God to forgive thee. "Indeed," say you; "but you don't know where I was last night." No, and I don't want to know; but it is easy for God to pardon anybody who is not in hell. But you ask, "How can he do it? He speaks, and it is done. He has but to say to you, "Thy sins which are many, are all forgiven;" and it is done. Pardon is an instantaneous work justification is rapid as a lightning flash. You may be black one moment, and as white as alabaster the next; guilty,—absolved; condemned,—acquitted; lost,—found; dead,—made alive. It takes the Lord no time to do this, he does it easily. O brethren, if he could make a world with a word; if he could say, a Let there be light," and there was light;—surely, now that Christ has offered up himself as a bleeding sacrifice for sin, God hath but to speak, and the pardon is given! As soon as he saith, "I will; be thou clean;" the most leprous sinner is perfectly cleansed. O sinner, wilt thou not offer the prayer, "Save, Lord, or I perish? Wilt thou not ask the Lord to forgive thee? Since he can so readily forgive, wilt thou not cry, "Jesus, save me, or I die"? Stretch forth thine hand, poor trembling woman up yonder, and touch the hem of his garment, and thou shalt be made whole, for he is ready to forgive; that is, he can do it with ease. Again, the word "ready" frequently means promptly or quickly. In this sense also, God is ready to forgive. I know that some of you imagine that you must endure months of sorrow before you can be forgiven. There is no necessity that you should wait even another hour for this great blessing. After what I have been saying concerning the experience through which others have passed, some of you may fancy that you must be for four or five years floundering about in the Slough of Despond; but there is no need for you to do that. The plan of salvation is this: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall be saved." Let me give you a picture; Paul and Silas have been thrust into the inner prison at Philippi and their feet made fast in the stocks. Though they have been brutally beaten, they are singing at midnight, singing of pardon bought with blood, singing of the dying and risen Lamb of God; and, as they sing, suddenly there is an earthquake. The foundations of the prison shake, the doors fly open, and the gaoler, fearing that his prisoners have escaped, leaps out, draws his sword, and is about to kill himself when he hears a voice crying, "Do thyself no harm; we are all here." He calls for a light, springs in, and falls tremblingly at his prisoners' feet, and says, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" What would some of you have said in reply to that question? "Well, you must first believe the guilt of your sin more than you do at present; you had better go home, and pray about the matter." That was not Paul's answer; he said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." And, to prove that he was saved, the apostle baptized him, and all his, straightway, and we are expressly told that they all believed. What do you say to that, you old deacons, who say, as many country deacons still do, that the young converts ought to be "summered and wintered" before they are baptized? I have known scores of good old souls, in the country, who have said, "We must not take Mrs. So-and-so into the church; we have not had time to prove her enough." But the apostle knew that, as they had believed, they were fit to be baptized because they were pardoned. "The moment a sinner believes, And trusts in his crucified God, His pardon at once he receives, redemption in full through his blood." If the Lord fills, you may be pardoned this very moment. Jehovah needs not months and years in which to write out the charter of your forgiveness, and put the great seal of heaven to it. He can speak the word, and swifter than the lightning flash the message shall come to thee, "Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven;" and thou shalt say, "I'm forgiven,— "'A monument of grace A sinner saved by blood; The streams of love I trace Up to the Fountain, God; And in his sacred bosom see Eternal thoughts of love to me.'" The word "ready" is also frequently used to signify cheerfulness. When a person says to you, "Will you give me your help?" you say, "Oh, certainly, with readiness! That means with cheerfulness. The Lord loveth a cheerful giver, and I am sure that he is himself a cheerful Giver. You do not know, poor soul, how glad God is when he forgives a soul. The angels sang when God made the world, but we do not read that he sang then; yet, in the last chapter of the prophecy of Zephaniah, we read: "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." Only think of it,—the Triune God singing! What a thought,—the Deity bursting out into song! And what is this about? It is over his pardoned people, his blood-bought chosen ones. O soul, thou thinkest, perhaps, that God will be hard to be entreated, and that he will give his mercy grudgingly! But the mercy of the Lord is as free as the air we breathe. When the sun shines, it shines freely else it were not the sun; and when God forgives, he forgives freely else he were not God. Never did water leap from the crystal fount with half such freeness and generous liberality as grace cows from the heart of God. He giveth forth love, joy, peace, and pardon, and he giveth them as a king gives to a king. Thou canst not empty his treasury, for it is inexhaustible. He is not enriched by withholding, nor is he impoverished by bestowing. Soul, thou dost libel him when thou thinkest that he is unwilling to forgive thee. I once had, as thou now hast, that hard thought of my loving Lord, that he would not forgive me. I thought he might, perhaps, do so one day, yet I could hardly think so well of him as to believe that he would. I came to his feet very timidly, and said, "Surely, he will spurn me hence. "I supposed that he would say to me, "Get thee gone, thou dog of a sinner, for thou haste doubted my love." But it was not so. Ah! you should see with what a smile he received the prodigal, with what fond tenderness he clasped him to his breast, with what glad eyes he led him to his house, and with what a radiant countenance he set him by his side, at the head of the table, and said, "Let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again: he was lost, and is found." I would that I could write upon every heart here and grave upon every memory, those sweet words, "Ready to forgive." Are there any of you who do not want to be forgiven? The day will come when you will want this blessing. Sailor, are you in this building? Within a little while, you may be out upon the lonely sea, the waves may have swallowed up your vessel, and you may be just clinging to an oar. When the waters surge around you, how gladly you will remember that God is ready to forgive; but how much better it would be to trust your soul to him now! Some, whom I am now addressing, will probably die this week; I am not making a rash assertion, my statement is based upon the statistics of mortality. O soul, thou sayest that it is nothing to thee now; but when thou art in the article of death,—and that may be before another Sabbath's sun shall rise,—how might this note ring like music in thy dying ears, "Ready to forgive"! Am I speaking to some abandoned woman who thinks that she will destroy herself? See thou do it not for God is ready to forgive. Am I addressing some man who is cast out of society, as a reprobate for whom nobody cares? Soul, give not up hope, for God is ready to forgive. Though thy father hath shut the door against thee, and thy mother and sister shun thee because of thy vices and sins, yet God is ready to forgive thee if thou wilt repent, and turn from thine iniquity. Turn thee, burn thee, 'tis a brother's voice that entreats thee to turn. By the love with which he pardoned me; by the mercy which made him pass by my innumerable transgressions, I beg thee to turn, nay, more, linking my arm in thine, I say to thee, "Come, and let us return unto the Lord, and let us say unto him, 'Receive us graciously, and love us freely, so will we render unto thee the calves of our lips'" Ready to perish art thou, but ready to forgive is he, blessed be his holy name! III. My third text is intended as a hammer to drive home the last nail. This sentence, in Job 17:1 , is most solemnly true of each one of us: THE GRAVES ARE READY FOR ME. About three years ago, I gazed into the eternal world. It then pleased God to stretch me upon a bed of the most agonizing pain, and my life hung in jeopardy, not merely every hour, but every moment. Eternal realities were vivid enough before my eyes; but it pleased God, for some purpose which is known to him, to spare my life, and I went to spend a little season, that I might fully recover, with a beloved friend who seemed then far more likely to live than I was. This day, it is his turn to lie upon the borders of the grave, and mine to stand by his bedside. The grave then seemed ready for me; it now seems ready for him. As I stood talking to him, this afternoon, he said, with greater force than Addison, "See how a Christian can die." When I asked him about his worldly goods and possessions, he said that he had been content to leave them all, some time ago. "And what about your wife and your little ones?" I asked; and he replied, "I have left them all with God." "And how about eternal things? "I enquired. "Oh!" said he, "you know that God's love is everlasting and his grace is unchanging, so why should we fear?" He had no doubt about his acceptance in the Beloved, or about the power of Christ to carry him through his dying moments. "When I said, The battle's fought, the victory's won for ever, "I saw his eyes sparkle as though he heard the melodious voice of the great Captain of our salvation saying to him, "Well done; enter into thy rest." I never saw a bride, at her marriage, look more happy than this man upon the eve of death. I never saw a saint more peaceful, when retiring at eventide, than he was when about to undress himself that he might stand before his God. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "remember what you said to me, 'Sudden death, sudden glory!'" and his eyes sparkled again at the prospect of soon beholding his Lord. "One gentle sigh, the fetter breaks,"— and thou art gone, O earth, and my soul is in heaven! One gasp, and thou haste melted, O shadowy Time, and I have come to thee, thou welcome substance of Eternity! Blessed be God that the graves are ready for us. Christian men, does the idea of a long life charm you? Do you want to remain long in this prison? Would you cling to these rags of mortality, to this vile body, whose breath is corrupt, whose face is so often marred with weeping, and upon whose eyelids hangs the shadow of death? Would you long to creep up and down this dunghill world, like some poor worm that ever leaves a slimy track behind it? Or wouldst thou not rather— "Stretch thy wings, O soul, and fly Straight to yonder world of joy." Were we wise, we should— "Long for evening, to undress, That we might rest with God." "The graves are ready for me." Young men and young women, and all of you who are here, can you look upon the grave which is ready for you with as much complacency as my friend did this afternoon? O Death, thou dost not need to furbish up thy darts, or whet thy scythe! Thou art always ready to slaughter the sons of men. O Eternity, thy gates need not to be unlocked, and thrown back on their hinges with long and tedious toil, for they are ever on the jar! O world to come, thou dost not need long intervals to make thyself ready to receive the pilgrims who have finished their journey! Thou art an inn whose doors are always open; thou art whose gates are never closed. Our grave is ready for us. The tree is grown that shall make our coffin; perhaps the fabric that shall make our windingsheet is already woven, and they, carry us to our last home, are ready and waiting for us. "The graves are ready for us;" are we ready for the graves? Are we prepared to die,—prepared to rise again,—prepared to be judged,—prepared to plead the blood and righteousness of Christ as our ground of acceptance before the eternal throne? What is your answer, my hearer? Do you reply, in the words I quoted at the beginning of my discourse, "Ready, ay, ready"? Didst thou say Death, that I was wanted? Here I am, for thou didst call me. Didst thou say, O Heaven, that thou needest to receive another blood-bought one? "Ready, ay, ready! "O Christian men, always keep your houses in such good order that you will ever be "Ready, ay, ready! "Always keep your heart in such a state, your soul so near to Christ, and your faith so fully fixed on him, that, if you should drop dead in the street, or some accident should take away your life, you would be able cheerfully to say, "Ready, ay, ready! Ready for thee, O Death; ready to triumph over thee, and to pluck away thy sting! Ready for thee, O Grave, for where is now thy victory? Ready for thee, O Heaven, for, with thy wedding garment on, we are ready, ay, ready!" The Lord make us ready, for Christ's sake! Amen. Psalms 871. (Psalms 87:1) To (or by) the Sons of Korah. A Psalm. A Song. His foundation (is) in the hills of holiness. The first title decides nothing as to the date of composition. See above, on Psalms 42:1; Psalms 46:1; Psalms 48:1. It is not only a psalm, a religious lyric, but a song, i. e. a song of praise or triumph. See above, on Ps.xiii. 1. This agrees well with the tone of the composition, which seems to indicate some great deliverance as its historical occasion. The only one that can be fixed upon with any great degree of probability is that of Hezekiah from the power of Assyria. See above, on Psalms 46:1; Psalms 75:1; Psalms 76:1. In view of some such signal intervention in behalf of Israel, the psalm celebrates the actual security of Zion, Psalms 87:1-3, and anticipates its future honours as the spiritual birth-place of the nations, Psalms 87:4-7. His foundation, that which he has founded, meaning his sanctuary and his theocratical kingdom. The plural expression, hills of holiness, means Zion in the wide sense, including all the heights on which Jerusalem was built. It was peculiarly appropriate in this case, if the psalm was written in the reign of Hezekiah, because at that time Zion, in the strict sense, was no longer the exclusive residence of God on earth. At the same time, there is particular reference to Zion as the citadel, in which the strength of the royal city was concentrated. 2. (Psalms 87:2) Jehovah loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. This description of Jehovah's choice of Zion as his dwelling-place is similar to that in Psalms 78:68. The gates of a walled city give access to it and power over it, and are therefore naturally here put for the whole. The Hebrew participle (loving) implies constant and habitual attachment. 3. (Psalms 87:3) Glorious things (have been) spoken in thee, 0 City of God. Selah. Glorious or honourable things, in the way of prophecy and promise, the fulfilment of which is here implied. As if he had said, the promises respecting thee are great, but they are or shall be fully verified. So too in the other clause the meaning is, thou art well called the city of God, for he is in thee, to protect and honour thee. See above, on Psalms 46:4; Psalms 48:1; Psalms 48:8. Instead of in thee some read of thee, but the former is entitled to the preference: first, because it is the strict sense, and therefore not to be rejected without reason; then, because it really includes the other, but is not included in it; lastly, because it suggests the additional idea of the holy city as the scene, no less than the theme, of the prophetic visions. 4. (Psalms 87:4) I will mention Rahab aad Babylon as knowing me. Lo, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia ! This (one) was born there. Interpreters are commonly agreed, that these are the words of God himself, though not expressly so announced. The first verb in Hebrew is a causative, I will make to be remembered, celebrate, commemorate. See above, Psalms 20:7), 45:17, 71:15, 77:11. It here means to announce or proclaim. To know God is to love him and to be his servant. See above, on Psalms 36:10, and compare Isaiah 19:21. Those knowing him in this sense are his people. As knowing me, literally to those knowing me, i.e. belonging to their number. Or the sense may be, for knowers of me, I will recognise and reckon them for such. Compare the Hebrew of Exo 21:2, he shall go out free, literally for free, i.e. as free. The nations thus announced as belonging to God's people are mere samples of the whole gentile world, those being chosen for the purpose, who were or had been most connected with the history of Israel, and were at the same time ruling powers of antiquity. Rahab is an enigmatical name given to Egypt by the Prophet Isaiah. See below, on Psalms 89:10, and compare my notes on Isaiah 30:7; Isaiah 51:9. Babylon is named instead of Assyria, perhaps because in Hezekiah's reign the former began to supersede the latter as the dominant power of Western Asia. See my note on Isaiah 39:1. Compare the prophecy respecting Egypt and Assyria in Isaiah 19:23-24. Philistia and Tyre are put together, as in Psalms 83:7. As to the latter, see above, on Psalms 45:12, and compare Isaiah 23:18. The conversion of Cush or Ethiopia had already been foretold by David, Psalms 68:31, and by Solomon, Psalms 72:10. The last words are obscure but may be rendered clearer by supplying before them, as to each of these it shall be said. The pronoun (this) is then to be referred not to individual men, but to the nations as ideal persons. The idea of regeneration or spiritual birth, applied in the New Testament to individuals, is here applied to nations, who are represented as born again, when received into communion with the church or chosen people. 5. (Psalms 87:5) And of Zion it shall be said, (This) man and (that) man was born in her, and He will establish her, the Highest. The strict translation of the first words is to Zion, but the subsequent use of the third person (in her) shews that the act described is that of speaking of a person in his presence, yet not directly to him, or, as we sometimes say in English, talking at him. See above, on Psalms 3:2; Psalms 71:10. The idiomatic phrase man and man means every one or each one severally. See the Hebrew of Est 1:8, and compare that of Lev 17:10; Leviticus 17:13. The clause may then be understood as asserting of individuals what had just been said of whole communities, or as repeating the latter, in a more emphatic form, for the purpose of connecting it with an additional promise, namely, that the church thus enlarged by the accession of the Gentiles, shall be permanently established and secured. The pronoun is emphatic, and is rendered more so by the epithet attached to it. He the Highest, or the Highest himself. The protector of the church is neither man nor angel, but the supreme and sovereign God. See above, on Psalms 47:2; Psalms 48:8. 6. (Psalms 87:6) Jehovah shall count, in enrolling the nations: This (one) was born there. Selah. The theme or idea of the whole psalm, that Zion should yet be the birth-place of all nations, is again repeated, under a new figure, that of registration. Compare Ezekiel 13:9. The meaning is that, as he counts the nations, he shall say of each, in turn or one by one, this one was also born there. In enrolling, literally writing, i.e. inscribing in a list or register. The common version (when he writeth up the people) not only fails to reproduce the plural form of the last word, or to shew in any way that more than a single nation is referred to, but ascribes the act of writing to the Lord himself, which, though not so inadmissible in a figurative passage as some writers think it, is not necessarily implied in the original, where the form of expression is in the writing, i.e. at the time or in the act of doing so, whether the act be that of God himself or merely done by his authority and under his direction. 7. (Psalms 87:7) And singers as well as well as players (shall be heard saying), All my springs are in thee. The construction in the first clause is peculiar, singers as players. See above, on Psalms 48:5. The image present to the Psalmist's mind seems to be that of a procession or triumphal march, composed of the nations on their way to Zion. At the head of this procession are the minstrels, who, as the spokesmen of the rest, acknowledge that the source of their happiness is henceforth to be sought in Zion, not as a mere locality, but as the place where God was pleased to manifest his gracious presence. It matters little, therefore, whether the closing words (in thee) be referred to God directly, or to Zion, as the channel through which he imparted spiritual blessings to the gentiles. Compare the figure of a spring or stream in Joe 3:18, Zechariah 13:1; Zechariah 14:8, Ezekiel 47:1, and see above, on Psalms 84:6. The word joined with singers admits of a twofold derivation, and may either mean players upon instruments, or still more definitely, pipers, as the players on stringed instruments are named in the same connection, Psalms 68:25; or as some of the latest interpreters prefer, it may mean dancers, as this indication of joy was commonly practised, in connection with singing, not only by women but by men. See above, on Psalms 30:11, and below, on Psalms 150:4. and compare Exodus 15:20, 2 Samuel 6:16. The Selah at the end of the preceding verse shews that the variations of the main theme are concluded, and separates the body of the psalm from this verse, which contains the words neither of the Psalmist nor the Church nor God himself, but of the converted Gentiles. TITLE. — A Psalm or Song for the sons of Korah. A sacred hymn and a national lyric. A theocracy blends the religious and the patriotic ideas in one; and in proportion as nations become Christianized, their popular songs will become deeply imbued with pious sentiments. Judged by this standard, our own land is far in arrears. This "Psalm or song" was either composed by the sons of Korah, or dedicated to them: as they kept the doors of the house of the Lord, they could use this beautiful composition as a Psalm within the doors, and as a song outside. SUBJECT AND . — The song is in honour of Zion, or Jerusalem, and it treats of God's favour to that city among the mountains, the prophecies which made it illustrious, and the honour of being a native of it. Many conceive that it was written at the founding of David's city of Zion, but does not the mention of Babylon imply a later date? It would seem to have been written after Jerusalem and the Temple had been built, and had enjoyed a history, of which glorious things could be spoken. Among other marvels of God's love in its later history, it had been untouched by Sennacherib when other cities of Israel and Judah had fallen victims to his cruelty. It was in Hezekiah's reign that Babylon became prominent, when the ambassadors came to congratulate the king concerning his recovery, at that time also Tyre would be more famous than at any period in David's day. But as we have no information, and the point is not important, we may leave it, and proceed to meditate upon the Psalm itself. We have no need to divide so brief a song. Ver. 1. His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Psalm begins abruptly, the poet's heart was full, and it gained vent on a sudden. "God's foundation stands forever On the holy mountain towers; Sion's gates Jehovah favours More than Jacob's thousand bowers." Sudden passion is evil, but bursts of holy joy are most precious. God has chosen to found his earthly temple upon the mountains; he might have selected other spots, but it was his pleasure to have his chosen abode upon Zion. His election made the mountains holy, they were by his determination ordained and set apart for the Lord's use. The foundation of the church, which is the mystical Jerusalem, is laid in the eternal, immutable, and invincible decrees of Jehovah. He wills that the church shall be, he settles all arrangements for her calling, salvation, maintenance and perfection, and all his attributes, like the mountains round about Jerusalem, lend their strength for her support. Not on the sand of carnal policy, nor in the morass of human kingdoms, has the Lord founded his church, but on his own power and godhead, which are pledged for the establishment of his beloved church, which is to him the chief of all his works. What a theme for meditation is the founding of the church of God in the ancient covenant engagements of eternity; the abrupt character of this first verse indicates long consideration on the part of the writer, leading up to his bursting forth in wonder and adoration. Well might such a theme cause his heart to glow. Rome stands on her seven hills and has never lacked a poet's tongue to sing her glories, but more glorious far art thou, O Zion, among the eternal mountains of God: while pen can write or mouth can speak, thy praises shall never lie buried in inglorious silence. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 1. Title. — A Psalm or Song for the Sons of Korah. The title prefixed is "A Psalm to be sung by the sons of Korah", i.e. of fallen man. Korah signifies the state in which trees are during winter, when stript of their verdure and fruit. In the same sense it is used for the bald head, when age or sickness has deprived it of its glory and left it without hair. This is a lively description of fallen man. He has lost his pristine beauty and fruitfulness. When he left God and turned to his own ways, he became like the trees of the field in winter, from which the genial warmth of the sun is withdrawn, or like the head, which by the abating of the natural heat and rigour is left naked and bald. But being brought to a light sense of this, and finding himself stript of all the glory which the first Adam had in paradise, he has been led to seek the restoration of his nature, and has obtained of the second Adam, the Lord from heaven, a much better state than he had lost. Every such person is entitled to sing this sacred hymn, and he is called upon to do it. The name of the person whom he is to celebrate is not mentioned at first, but is soon discovered by the character given of him. —William Romaine. Whole Psalm — Bishop Bruno entitles this Psalm, "The voice of prophecy concerning the heavenly Jerusalem", that is, the Church of Christ. Ver. 1. — His foundation is in the holy mountains. The foundation that God has given his city is in "the holy mountains." What are these holy mountains? What can they be but the eternal purpose of Jehovah— the purpose out of which the being of the Church and the whole dispensation of Divine love have sprung? What but those attributes of mercy, justice, holiness, and sovereignty, from the ineffable embrace and holy cooperation of which it comes to pass that his chosen people are redeemed? What but the promise of life that was given in Christ to the elect before the world began? What but the everlasting covenant, "ordered in all things and sure" from which grace and salvation proceed? What but these things, and Christ himself, the Rock of Ages, on which rock we know that the Church is so firmly founded, that the gates of hell cannot prevail against her? Yes, these are the holy mountains, whereon the city of God is built, and in which its deep and sure foundations are laid. The sure decree, the divine perfections, the promise of him that cannot lie, the oath and covenant of God, and the incarnate Son himself, are the holy mountains, the perpetual hills, whose summits are gloriously crowned by the city of the Great King. There the city sits securely, beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth. —Andrew Gray. Ver. 1. Mountains. The situation of Jerusalem is in several respects singular amongst the cities of Palestine. Its elevation is remarkable, occasioned, not from its being on the summit of one of the numerous hills of Judaea, like most of the towns and villages, but because it is on the edge of one of the highest table lands of the country. Hebron, indeed, is higher still, by some hundred feet; and from the south, accordingly, the approach to Jerusalem is by a slight descent. But from every other side, the ascent is perpetual; and, to the traveller approaching Jerusalem from the west or east, it must always have presented the appearance, beyond any other capital of the then known world— we may add, beyond any important city that has ever existed on the earth— of a mountain city; breathing, as compared with the sultry plains of the Jordan or of the coast, a mountain air; enthroned, as compared with Jericho or Damascus, Gaza or Tyre, on a mountain fastness. In this respect it concentrated in itself the character of the whole country of which it was to be the capital— the "mountain throne", the "mountain sanctuary", of God. "The `mount' of God is as the `mount' of Bashan; an high mount as the mount of Bashan. Why leap ye so, ye high `mountains'?this is the `mountain' which God desireth to dwell in" ...It was emphatically the lair of the lion of Judah, of "Ariel", the Lion of God. "In Judah is God known; his name is great in Israel. In Salem is his `leafy covert', and his `rocky den' in Zion...Thou art more glorious and excellent than the `mountains of the robbers'". And this wild and fastness like character of Jerusalem was concentrated yet again in the fortress, the "stronghold" of Zion. That point, the highest in the city, the height which most readily catches the eye from every quarter, is emphatically the "hill fort", the "rocky hold" of Jerusalem — the refuge where first the Jebusite, and then the Lion of God, stood at bay against the hunters. —Arthur Penrhyn Stanley. Ver. 1-2. — If we suppose the Psalm to have been composed in the days of Hezekiah, it will appear quite intelligible that the Psalmist should break out so suddenly at the beginning with praise of the security of Sion: he merely lends his mouth in this case to the full heart of the people; The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob, is seen in its true light, for this preference for Sion was at that time verified — its gates remained closed upon the enemies, while all the rest of the country was subject to their sway.— E.W. Hengstenberg. Psalms 87:2* . Ver 2. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. The gates are put for the city itself. The love of God is greatest to his own elect nation, descended from his servant Jacob, yet the central seat of his worship is dearer still; no other supposable comparison could have so fully displayed the favour which Jehovah bore to Jerusalem, — he loves Jacob best and Zion better than the best. At this hour the mystical teaching of these words is plain, God delights in the prayers and praises of Christian families and individuals, but he has a special eye to the assemblies of the faithful, and he has a special delight in their devotions in their church capacity. The great festivals, when the crowds surrounded the temple gates, were fair in the Lord's eyes, and even such is the general assembly and church of the first born, whose names are written in heaven. This should lead each separate believer to identify himself with the church of God; where the Lord reveals his love the most, there should each believer most delight to be found. Our own dwellings are very dear to us, but we must not prefer them to the assemblies of the saints; we must say of the church— "Here my best friends, my kindred dwell: Here God, my Saviour reigns." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. The Lord loveth the gates, etc. The gates of a walled city give access to it and power over it, and are therefore naturally here put for the whole. The Hebrew participle (loving) implies constant and habitual attachment. —J.A. Alexander. Ver. 2. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion. Because of the going out and coming in of the people of God. Thus indeed the disposition of lovers is shown, that they are filled with a remarkable affection of love towards those places through which those whom they love frequently pass, as doors and gates, and those ways which they daily traverse. What other reason could God have for loving the gates of Zion? —Musculus. Ver. 2. The gates of Zion are the doctrines of the Gospel, the tabernacles of Jacob are the teachings of the law, the law was accomplished in the gospel; therefore it is said that "the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." — "Plain, Commentary", 1859. Ver. 2. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more, etc. No doubt the prayers which the faithful put up to heaven from under their private roofs were very acceptable unto him; but if a saint's single voice in prayer be so sweet to God's ear, much more the church choir, his saints' prayers in concert together. A father is glad to see any one of his children, and makes him welcome when he visits him, but much more when they come together; the greatest feast is when they all meet at his house. The public praises of the church are the emblem of heaven itself, where all the angels make but one concert. —William Gurnall. Ver. 2. The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all, etc. It is here assumed that the Lord loves the dwellings of Jacob— he loves those that are true Israelites. These are succeeded by the name Christian, for the Christian Church is now become the true Israel of God. He loves his saints on account of that image of himself which they bear; he loves them on account of those graces which are infused into them when they are renewed by the Spirit; he loves them on account of the relation they stand in to him as his people, and as his church, who are qualified for the duties of the relation by that love of their Father, that reliance upon his care, that delight in his person, that enjoyment in his service, which belongs to dutiful and affectionate children. He loves them because they imitate his perfections in some humble measure— because they receive the word of his mouth— because they are ready to obey every call of his providence, setting themselves in the paths of his testimony wherever he may direct— because they yield themselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and their bodies as instruments of righteousness, no longer walking after the deeds of the flesh, but after the will of God. He takes a delight in them; the Lord delighteth in the righteous; he knoweth their way; he loves, approves, and confirms them. The most common occupations of life— the honest industry of the servants of God, is looked upon by him with approbation. By these they show forth their Father, and the praises of him who called them from darkness to light. The most ordinary duties of our calling become sacrifices to God, and religious duties, when performed in the Spirit, and directed to the great end of glorifying God. He looks with peculiar complacency on the dwellings of his people on account of those domestic devotional acknowledgments of his majesty which are there maintained, when the head walks before his family as a priest to offer praise and thanksgiving; this attracts peculiar approbation and delight. He loves to see his people training up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and their children walking after them in the paths of that obedience which he has enjoined. He delights to see the course of purity which runs in Christian families. He loves to see the progress which the younger parts of religious families make in piety, while they grow in grace, and in favour with God and man. He looks down with peculiar delight on such circles as these: there he deigns his presence, and bestows peculiar blessings. However obscure the dwellings of Jacob may be, to him they are open and manifest at all times; and whether in cottages or in palaces, his eye rests there with complacency; and he says of such places, "Here will I dwell forever and ever." Prayer and devotion sanctify every family, and diffuse a spirit of piety through all the avocations of life, so that we need not retire from the world, but are rather called to show forth the virtues of the Christian life in it. But it is said, that, although "he loves the dwellings of Jacob", yet "he loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob" — that nothing in the dwellings of Jacob so much attracts his attention as the people of God connected together in a spiritual capacity. (1.) In the first place, the Divine Being regards with peculiar complacency the worship of his saints on its own account. (2.) On account of that union of mind and consent of heart, evinced in the assembling of God's people together, and constituting themselves into a church. (3.) Because of the testimony which the church bears toward the truth. (4.) Upon account of that deference to his authority, which is evinced by maintaining and keeping up the practice of those institutes which rest entirely on that authority. (5.) By making the assembly of the saints the grand means of conversion. (6.) That peculiar presence of God is generally vouchsafed to his saints, and made manifest to them, although it be hidden from the world, which induces the conviction that God is present of a truth. (7.) The Divine Being shows his preference of the gates of Zion to the dwellings of Jacob, by continually maintaining in operation those gifts which are for the edification of the saints, and without which the union of the saints would be with difficulty maintained. (8.) The Divine Being shows his preference to Zion by that marvellous protection which is afforded to the interests of the church of God: whereby, though weak, and frequently reduced to a handful of disciples, yet they have been protected, and their society on earth continued. —Robert Hall. Ver. 2. Some absent themselves from public worship, under pretence that they can serve the Lord at home as well in private. How many are apt to say, they see not but their time may be as well spent at home, in praying, reading some good book, or discoursing on some profitable subject, as in the use of ordinances in public assemblies! They see not but private prayer may be as good to them as public, or private reading and opening the Scripture as profitable as public preaching; they say of their private duties, as Naaman of the waters of Damascus, 2 Kings 5:12 : May I not serve the Lord as acceptably, with as much advantage, in private exercises of religion? May I not wash in these and be clean? They see not the great blessings God has annexed to public worship more than to private. Oh, but if it be thus, if one be as good as the other, what means the Lord to prefer one before the other? To what purpose did the Lord choose the gates of Zion, to place his name there, if he might have been worshipped as well in the dwellings of Jacob? How do men of this conceit run counter to the Lord? He prefers the gates of Zion, not only before one or some, but before all the dwellings of Jacob; and they prefer one such dwelling before the gates of Zion. —David Clarkson. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver 2-3. 1. The foundation of Zion. (a) It is but one: "foundation." (b) It is the Lord's: "his." (c) It is in conformity with holiness: "holy mountains." (d) It consists of eternal purposes. (e) It is built up on immutable principles. (f) It is situated in a glorious position. 2. The favour enjoyed by Zion. (a) God "loves the dwellings of Jacob." He led, fed, guarded, lighted, visited them. (b) He loves Zion "better"; and gives all those blessings in a richer form. (c) There are more to love. (d) Their occupations are more spiritual. (e) Their songs and worship are more enthusiastic. (f) Their testimony is more powerful. (g) Their knowledge of truth is more clear. (h) Their fellowship is on a scale more heavenly. Let us be in the Church, and love her. 3. The fame of Zion. "Glorious things are spoken", (a) of her in history; (b) in her by ministry; (c) for her by Jesus; (d) about her in prophecy. Here is a fruitful theme. Psalms 87:3* . Ver 3. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. This is true of Jerusalem. Her history, which is the story of the nation of which she is the capital, is full of glorious incidents, and her use and end as the abode of the true God, and of his worship, was preeminently glorious. Glorious things were taught in the streets, and seen in her temples. Glorious things were foretold of her, and she was the type of the most glorious things of all. This is yet more true of the church: she is founded in grace, but her pinnacles glow with glory. Men may glory in her without being braggarts, she has a lustre about her brow which none can rival. Whatever glorious things the saints may say of the church in their eulogies, they cannot exceed what prophets have foretold, what angels have sung, or what God himself has declared. Happy are the tongues which learn to occupy themselves with so excellent a subject, may they be found around our fire sides, in our market places, and in all the spots where men most congregate. Never let thy praises cease, O thou bride of Christ, thou fairest among women, thou in whom the Lord himself hath placed his delight, calling thee by that pearl of names, Hephzibah, — "for my delight is in her." Since the Lord has chosen thee, and deigns to dwell in thee, O thou city of beauty, none can rival thee, thou art the eye of the world, the pearl, the queen of all the cities of the universe; the true "eternal city", the metropolitan, the mother of us all. The years to come shall unveil thy beauties to the astonished eyes of all peoples, and the day of thy splendour shall come to its sevenfold noon. Selah. With the prospect before him of a world converted, and the most implacable foes transformed into friends, it was meet that the Psalmist should pause. How could he sing the glories of new born Tyre and Ethiopia, received with open arms into union with Zion, until he had taken breath and prepared both voice and heart for so divine a song. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. Glorious things are spoken of the people of God. Take the church for a visible congregation, a mixed congregation; glorious things are spoken of that. It is the house of God. Take it as visible, `the vessels of honour and dishonour', 2 Timothy 2:20, and the field, the `tares and the wheat', Matthew 13:1 etc., it is God's field. Though we take the church as visible, it hath a glorious name for the good that is in it, especially for the wheat. But take the church of God for the company of his children that are gathered by the means of grace, dwelling in the visible church, enjoying the ordinances: so they are the house and temple of Christ, `the temple of the Holy Ghost, the body of Christ, the spouse of Christ.' They are God's delight, they are spiritual kings and priests, etc. The most glorious things that can be, all other excellencies in the world are but titular things, mere shadows of things. There is some little reality in earthly things, but it is nothing in comparison, it is scarce worth the name of reality, but Solomon calls them "vanity of vanities." In comparison of the excellencies of the church all is nothing. I might be large in these particulars. It is enough to give you the generals of the delights and excellencies of God's house, "the beauty of the Lord." —Richard Sibbes. Ver. 3. The glories of the wilderness are in thee. The Schechinah, which appeared upon Sinai, and marshalled the army of the Israelites upon their journey through the wilderness, has now fixed its residence in thee, O city of God. Compare Psalms 68:17. —Samuel Horsley HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 3. The idea of the text presents the Church as "the city of God": let us touch upon some of the "glorious things" that are spoken of it. 1. There are glorious things with respect to the erection of the city. (a) There is the plan of its erection. There was never a plan so faultless, so complete, so wonderful for its beauty and grandeur. The gates, the walls, the buildings, the streets, the monuments, the fountains, the gardens, unite to proclaim it a master piece of skill. The Architect was he who built the skies. (b) There is the site where the city is erected. See Psalms 87:1. (c) There is the date of the city's erection. A halo and a glory attach, in a case like this, to great antiquity. Now it is long since the city was built. It was standing in the days of Paul "Ye are come unto the city of the living God." Hebrews 12:22. David was well acquainted with it. Psalms 46:1-11. (d) It was standing before the flood. Noah, Enoch, Abel, dwelt in it. It is almost as old as the creation. 2. There are glorious things to tell of the defences of the city. It has been besieged ever since it was a city at all, and it is not taken to this hour. "We have a strong city", etc. 3. There are glorious things in connection with the stores and supplies on which the city depends; (a) their excellence; (b) their abundance; (c) their source. 4. There are glorious things respecting the King of the city; his name, person, character, etc. 5. There are glorious things in connection with the citizens of the day. —Andrew Gray, 1805-1861. Ver. 3. 1. Observe, that a city is not like a flower, a tree, or a plant— something that grows out of the earth, and is nourished from the earth, and dependent wholly on its juices. It is an artificial thing, constructed by wisdom and raised by power, as it was designed by genius and forethought. 2. A city upon earth is surrounded generally by walls. 3. Jerusalem (the most celebrated of cities, from which this figure is obviously drawn) was built upon the brow of a hill, an extremely conspicuous and beautiful object. 4. In a city there are various buildings, and structures of various shapes, materials and value: illustrate by the different denominations, &c. 5. A city has municipal laws. 6. It has also trade, traffic, &c. 7. The figure, as applied to the Church of Christ, involves the idea of safety or security, honour, &c. 8. There is also the idea of fewness. —John Cumming, 1843. Ver. 3. The things "spoken" of the city of God. 1. It shall be the permanent and the peculiar residence of God. 2. It shall be the scene of delightful privileges and blessings. 3. It shall be invested with absolute and inviolable security. 4. It shall possess renown and empire throughout the whole world. 5. Its institutions and existence shall be perfected in the celestial state. —James Parsons, 1839. Psalms 87:4* . Ver. 4. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. This shall be a glorious subject to speak of concerning Zion, that her old foes are new born and have become her friends, worshipping in the temple of her God. Rahab or Egypt which oppressed Israel shall become a sister nation, and Babylon in which the tribes endured their second great captivity, shall become a fellow worshipper; then shall there be mention made in familiar talk of the old enmities forgotten and the new friendships formed. Some consider that these are the words of God himself, and should be rendered "I will mention Rahab and Babylon as knowing me": but we feel content with our common version, and attribute the words to the Psalmist himself, who anticipates the conversion of the two great rival nations and speaks of it with exultation. Behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia. These also are to bow before the Lord. Philistia shall renounce her ancient hate, Tyre shall not be swallowed up by thoughts of her commerce, and distant Ethiopia shall not be too far off to receive the salvation of the Lord. This man was born there. The word man is inserted by the translators to the marring of the sense, which is clear enough when the superfluous word is dropped, — "Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this was born there" — i.e., this nation has been born into Zion, regenerated into the church of God. Of the new births of nations we will make mention, for it is at once a great blessing and a great wonder. It is a glorious thing indeed when whole nations are born unto God. "Mark ye well Philistia's legions, Lo, to seek the Lord they came; And within the sacred regions Tyre and Cush have found a home." Many understand the sense of these verses to be that all men are proud of their native country, and so also is the citizen of Zion, so that while of one it is said, "he was born in Egypt" and of another, "he came from Ethiopia", it would be equally to the honour of others that they were home born sons of the city of God. The passage is not so clear that any one should become dogmatical as to its meaning, but we prefer the interpretation given above. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 4. — I will make mention, etc. As if he had said, I do not deny the due praises which belong to other places and countries, but rather am wont to make honourable mention of them among my acquaintance; and to allow that this man, that is, some notable person, though comparatively of no great value, was born in them. —Thomas Fenton. Ver. 4. Rahab, a poetical name of Egypt. The same word signifies "fierceness, insolence, pride"; if Hebrew when applied to Egypt, it would indicate the national character of the inhabitants. —Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. Ver. 4. — It should comfort the church that God is able to make her chiefest enemies to become converts, and that he hath done it sundry times, and will yet do it more; and that he can take order with those enemies which shall not be converted, as he did with Rahab and Babylon; for, I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me, signifieth a mention making of them; viz., to the edification of the church's children, both concerning what God had done in those nations in justice; and what he would do to them in mercy, or unto other enemies like unto them. —David Dickson. Ver. 4. Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia. This is the glory of the Church, that into her the fulness of the nations shall enter, — the proud from Egypt, who for her haughtiness is called Rahab, — the worldly from Babylon, the city of confusion, — the wrathful from Philistia, so long the enemies of Israel, — the covetous from Tyre, the rich city of the traders, — and the slaves of ignorance from Cush, and from the land of Ham, — all these shall learn the love of Christ and confess his truth, and shall enter into that all glorious city, and be admitted and acknowledged as citizens of the celestial Sion. —"Plain Commentary". Ver. 4.— By this testimony of the nations here mentioned, we may understand the testimony of the Gentile Christians in general, though, perhaps, a special reference is had to that extraordinary scene which took place at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost: "And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in his own tongue, wherein we were born?" Acts 2:5-8. The reader will find that there is a remarkable agreement between the nations specified in the book of the Acts, and the nations pointed out in the Psalm before us. Rahab, that is, Egypt, is first mentioned; and in the Acts we find enumerated, "Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene"; next Babylon is in the record; and the Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, were inhabitants of what once was the Babylonian empire: Philistia is also mentioned; and "dwellers in Judea" are spoken of in the Acts— "dwellers in Judea" speaking a different language from what was common at Jerusalem. Who could these be, so probably, as the inhabitants of the ancient Philistia, which was in the precincts of the allotment of Judah? Here, too, perhaps, on account of its port of Joppa, was a grand resort of "Cretes and Arabians", and "strangers of Rome". The Grecian settlements of Asia Minor are the only ones specified in the Acts of the Apostles, which we have not noticed in the Psalm— "Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia": but what could so probably indicate these countries, and all who spoke the dialects of the Grecian tongue, as the great mart of Tyre, in frequenting which, the Jews would have the most frequent opportunity of intercourse with these nations? —John Fry. Ver. 4. Born in her. The Missionary Society set forth in the Prophets, by our Lord and by his apostles, is, the Church; and so, whereas our natural state, after Adam's fall, was alienation from God, and disunion among ourselves, would He restore "glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will towards men", by binding us up in one holy fellowship, and making the continuance of his blessings dependent upon that unity, which he imparted and preserves. To adduce the whole proof for this, would be to go through the whole Old Testament; for the Old Testament is direct prophecy and type, is one large prophecy of the Redeemer and his Kingdom or Church. No sooner had disunion multiplied with the multiplying of men, but in the second generation from Adam, he formed union through a Church, and "Men began to call upon the name of the Lord" (Genesis 4:26), i.e., they began to unite in worshipping the Lord, and amid the growing corruption, religion was no longer entrusted to the insulated care of single families, but concentrated in a church. And when, after the flood, one righteous man was called out of the fast corrupting world, unity was preserved, in that one only was called, but in that one a church was founded; for this was the reason assigned by God himself: "All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord", (Genesis 18:18-19). "God called Abraham alone, and blessed him, and increased him" (Isaiah 51:2), and formed the Jewish Church out of him, that however largely it might spread, it might be bound in one by its origin of one; and he gave it also outward marks and signs between him and it, which by severing it from others, might keep it one in itself. The temporal people had their union through a temporal birth of one, and outward signs; the Christian Church has its unity by a spiritual birth, and inward graces, through the power deposited in her to give spiritual birth, so that through one mother, we are all born of one Father, God, and amongst ourselves are brethren, by being members of One, our ever blessed Lord. The unity of the Christian Church and her office of gathering all nations unto the Lord, are set forth, in many ways, in prophecy. Thus, in our Psalm, Zion is set forth as the special object of God's love, as having (in language which anticipates the Gospel) been "founded" by him "on the holy mountains", as the "city of God", whereof "glorious things are spoken." And what are these? That she should be the spiritual birthplace of all nations. It is not merely said, as in other places, that they should "come to her", should "flow into her", but that they should be "born in her." "Of Zion it shall be said, This and that man (i.e. all, one by one) was born in her; "and whence? all the nations of the earth, Rahab or Egypt, Babylon, Tyre, Ethiopia, Philistia, the most learned, the most powerful, the wealthiest, the furthest, and her nearest, oldest and bitterest enemy Philistia, all, being already born after the flesh, as Egyptians, Babylonians, Ethiopians, Tyrians, Philistines, should be "born in her", and by being "born there", should become children of God, citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, written by God in the roll of his book. "The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there"; he shall account them as his, being reborn in his Church. In like manner, with regard to every prophecy, whereat men's hearts beat, as an encouragement to Missionary labours. Throughout, it is the Lord and Saviour of the Church, or the Church itself, filled with his Spirit, and restored and enlarged, and widening herself by his favour, and gathering his people into herself, his fold. —E.B. Pusey, in a Sermon entitled, "The Church the Converter of the Heathen." 1838. Ver. 4-6. — It is made the honour and dignity of Sion, that is, of the true Church of God, to have such and such born in it: "this and that man was born in her." There are two things signified in this expression, as branches of their honour; the one is the quality of the persons; and the other is the number of them. For the quality of them, this; for the number of them, this and that. To have both of these born in Sion, persons of note and eminency, and a multitude and plurality of such persons; this is a part of that dignity and renown which belongs unto it... And so for the noun, man; the Hebrew word vya which is here used for a man, except qualified by some other word as joined with it, signifies a man of worth, not a common or ordinary person. The Church brings forth such as these, Mvh yvna, men of renown, famous and eminent men, and that in all kinds of perfections, whether natural, or civil, or spiritual; men of parts, or men of power, or men of piety. There are those in all these excellencies which have been and still are born in her. First, take it for natural or acquired abilities; men of parts, and knowledge, and wisdom, and improved understandings; the church is not without these: this man, i.e., this learned man, or this wise man was born in Sion. All are not idiots who are Christians; no, but there are some of very rare and admirable accomplishments in all kinds and pieces of learning and secular knowledge, which are graciously qualified. There's Paul with his parchments, and Peter with his fisher's net. So also secondly, take it for civil or secular qualifications; men of dignity, and power, and estate: "this man", i.e., this honourable man, Mynp awvn, eminent in countenance, as he is called, Isaiah 3:2, he is likewise born in Sion; the mighty man, and the man of war. The Syriac interpreter was so far sensible of this, as that he expresses it in the very text; and therefore instead of saying, "This man was born there", he says, "A potent man was born there, `and he has established it; '"whereby (as I conceive), he takes in the word highest, which follows afterwards in the verse, and refers it here to this place...And again, the Chaldee paraphrast in the text, "This King was born there", understanding thereby Solomon, as most conceive and apprehend it. Thirdly, take it for spirituals, and for these accomplishments especially; This man, i.e., this godly man; this is that which is most proper and essential to Sion, and to the being born in it; yea, it is that which makes Sion itself, in the sense we now take it. It is the highest perfection of it, and the greatest commendation to it of any thing else. This is the great honour of the church, that it forms men to such qualities and dispositions as those are, which no other place does beside...As for other places, they may perhaps now and then reach to some other principles, and those likewise very glorious in the eyes of the world — morality, and civility, and ingenuity, and smoothness of behaviour. The school of nature and common reason may sometimes come up to these, and that in a very great measure; yea, but now go a little higher, to brokenness of heart, to self denial, to love of enemies, to closing with Christ, the frame and spirit of the gospel; this is to be found nowhere but only in Sion. And here it is: "This man was born there." Behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there. Here's the excellency of the ordinances, and that power and energy which is stirring in the Church of Christ; that it is able to work such a miraculous alteration as this; to bring men from darkness to light, from Satan to God, from a state of sin and corruption and unregeneracy, to a state of grace and holiness and regeneration; yea, from the lowest degree of the one to the highest degree of the other. That Philistia should turn into Palestina, Tyre into, Jerusalem, Ethiopia into Judea;here's the wonder of all; the reconciling of these two opposite terms thus both together. That "princes should come out of Egypt", and that Ethiopia should stretch out her hands to God, as it is in Psalms 68:31; that the blackamoor should change his skin, and that the leopard should change his spots; and that this Ethiopian should become this Christian; "that he which was born there, should be born here." Thomas Horton, in "Zion's Birth Register unfolded in a Sermon to the native citizens of London." 1656. Ver. 4-6. — Foreign nations are here described not as captives or tributaries, not even as doing voluntary homage to the greatness and glory of Zion, but as actually incorporated and enrolled, by a new birth, among her sons. Even the worst enemies of their race, the tyrants and oppressors of the Jews, Egypt and Babylon, are threatened with no curse, no shout of joy is raised at the prospect of their overthrow, but the privileges of citizenship are extended to them, and they are welcomed as brothers. Nay more, God himself receives each one as a child newly born into his family, acknowledges each as his son, and enrols him with his own hand on the sacred register of his children. It is the mode of anticipating a future union and brotherhood of all the nations of the earth, not by conquest, but by incorporation into one state, and by a birthright so acquired, which is so remarkable. In some of the prophets, more especially in Isaiah, we observe the same liberal, conciliatory, comprehensive language towards foreign states, as Tyre and Ethiopia, and still more strikingly toward Egypt and Assyria (Isaiah 19:22-25). But the Psalm stands alone amongst the writings of the Old Testament, in representing this union of nations as a new birth unto the city of God ...It is the first announcement of that great amity of nations, or rather of that universal common citizenship of which heathen philosophers dreamt, which was "in the mind of Socrates when he called himself a citizen of the world", which had become a common place of Stoic philosophy, which Judaism tried finally to realize by the admission of proselytes, through baptism, into the Jewish community; which Rome accomplished, so far as the external semblance went, first by subduing the nations, and then by admitting them to the rights of Roman citizenship. But the true fulfilment of this hope is to be found only in that kingdom which Christ has set up. He has gathered into his commonwealth all the kingdoms of the earth. He has made men one, members of the same family, by teaching them to feel that they are all children of the same Father. He has made it evident that the hope of the Jewish singer is no false hope; that there is a Father in heaven who cares for all, whatever name they bear. Thus the Psalm has received a better and higher fulfilment than that which lies on the surface of its words. It was fulfilled in Christ. —J. J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 4-7. — The main thought is that contained in Psalms 87:4-7, the glorifying of Sion by the reception of the heathen into the number of its citizens; and a well defined form and arrangement of this thought forms the proper kernel of the Psalms 87:1-7, "Sion, the birth place of the nations", which occurs in every one of the three verses (Psalms 87:4-6), which are bounded by a Selah behind and before. —E. W. Hengstenberg. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 4. (last clause). 1. Behold what the "man" was: a native of "Philistia", a heathen, and an enemy to God. 2. Behold what happened to him: he "was born there", i.e. new born in Zion. 3. Behold what he became— he became by his new birth a freeman and burgess of Zion, &c. Ver. 4-5. 1. What is not the most honourable birth place— not Rahab nor Egypt, nor Babylon, nor any earthly palace or kingdom. 2. What is? "Of Zion", &c. (a) Because it is a nobler birth; a being born again of the Spirit of God. (b) Because it is a nobler place; the residence of the Highest, and established for ever. (c) Because it brings nobler rank and privileges. —G.R. Ver. 4-7. 1. Zion shall produce many good and great men. 2. Zion's interest shall be established by divine power. 3. Zion's sons shall be registered with honour. 4. Zion's songs shall be sung with joy and triumph. —Matthew Henry. Ver. 4-7. 1. The excellence of the church is here stated. 2. Her enlargement is here promised. —J. Scholefield, 1825. Psalms 87:5* . Ver. 5. And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her. Not as nations only, but one by one, as individuals, the citizens of the New Jerusalem shall be counted, and their names publicly declared. Man by man will the Lord reckon them, for they are each one precious in his sight; the individual shall not be lost in the mass, but each one shall be of high account. What a patent of nobility is it, for a man to have it certified that he was born in Zion; the twice born are a royal priesthood, the true aristocracy, the imperial race of men. The original, by using the noblest word for man, intimates that many remarkable men will be born in the church, and indeed every man who is renewed in the image of Christ is an eminent personage, while there are some, who, even to the dim eyes of the world, shine forth with a lustre of character which cannot but be admitted to be unusual and admirable. The church has illustrious names of prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, reformers, missionaries and the like, which bear comparison with the grandest names honoured by the world, nay, in many respects far excel them. Zion has no reason to be ashamed of her sons, nor her sons of her. "Wisdom is justified of her children." And the highest himself shall establish her — the only establishment worth having. When the numbers of the faithful are increased by the new birth, the Lord proves himself to be the builder of the church. The Lord alone deserves to wear the title of Defender of the Faith; he is the sole and sufficient Patron and Protector of the true church. There is no fear for the Lord's heritage, his own arm is sufficient to maintain his rights. The Highest is higher than all those who are against us, and the good old cause shall triumph over all. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 5. This man. The word rendered "Man" is generally used for a person of eminence; and the clause "this and that man", is simply, "a Man and a Man", which some think is used as a peculiar superlative, and means, the most eminent of men, even the Lord Jesus Christ, and they suppose that He, in his divine nature, is the Highest who "shall establish the church." No doubt he is the glory of the church, and of his people Israel; but his crucifixion was the deepest disgrace imaginable to Jerusalem itself. —Thomas Scott. Ver. 5. This man. It is well to observe that the word for man, used here, is not Mda adam, the common name for man, but vya ish, which is usually employed when a name is introduced to be designated with distinction and honour. There are in Hebrew, in fact, three words to designate man, with varied signification— Mda adam, the common name; vya ish, the name of excellency and honour; and vwna enosh, man in his weak and inferior character, as liable to misfortune, misery, and death. The illustrative discrimination with which these words are respectively employed, gives to many passages of the Hebrew Scriptures a force and significance which cannot be preserved in translation into a language which has but one word to represent all these meanings— or indeed has no word for man but the one answering to Adam, unless indeed our "male", in a sense of dignity and strength, answers in some measure to ish. —John Kitto, in "The Pictorial Bible." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 5. The renowned men of the church of God. 1. Great warriors, who have fought with temptation. 2. Great poets, whose lives were Psalms. 3. Great heroes, who have lived and died for Jesus. 4. Great kings, who have ruled themselves, &c. Apostles, martyrs, confessors, reformers, men renowned for virtues such as only grace can produce. Ver. 5. This and that man. The individuality of true religion. 1. Each soul sins for itself. 2. Rejects or accepts the Saviour for itself. 3. Must be judged, and 4. Saved or lost individually. The consequent need of personal piety; the temptations to neglect it; and the habits which promote it. Ver. 5. (last clause). — The Established Church of God— her Head, her protection, her power. &c. Psalms 87:6* . Ver. 6. The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there. At the great census which the Lord himself shall take, he will number the nations without exception and make an exact registry of them, whether they were by their natural descent Babylonians or Tyrians, or other far off heathen. May it be our happy lot to be numbered with the Lord's chosen both in life and death, in the church roll below, and in the church roll above. Jehovah's census of his chosen will differ much from ours; he will count many whom we should have disowned, and he will leave out many whom we should have reckoned. His registration is infallible. Let us pray then for that adoption and regeneration which will secure us a place among the heaven born. It was thought to be a great honour to have one's name written in the golden book of the Republic of Venice, kings and princes paid dearly for the honour, but the book of life confers far rarer dignity upon all whose names are recorded therein. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 6. — The Lord will count (rpoy) record it in a book, when he writes up the people (Myme bwtkb) registers the several nations of the earth; that "this man, was born in" Sion. The Psalmist here describes the peculiar regard of God to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and figuratively represents him, as keeping a register of all the nations of the earth, and marking, as it were, in that register every one that was a citizen of Jerusalem, as thereby entitled to his distinguishing favour and protection. —Samuel Chandler. Ver. 6. — This man was born there. When events shall be traced to their principles at the last day, many a scene will come forth into prominence, which now is of little regard. Humble churches will then prove to have been the birthplace, and stately palaces the graves of many an immortal soul, while every saved soul will ascribe its springs of glory to its Redeemer, through the instrumentality of that church, which he has ordained. —Edward Garrard Marsh. Ver. 6. —Selah. The Hebrew text addeth "Selah", which St. Jerome translates semper (always). For the Church, as a bride glorious in her husband, shall evermore be preached of; glorious things shall be spoken of her, and in her shall be continually sung the ineffable glory of the everlasting grace of God in Christ our Lord. And so the Jews for the most part interpret the word "Selah" by "everlasting". This is evident in their epitaphs, even as the Jewish epitaph is in Hebrew at Basle— "His soul continues in Paradise, Amen, Amen, Amen, forever and ever." —Urbanus Regius (Le Roi) (1541) in "The Solace of Sion." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 6. — 1. "The Lord" will make the Census. 2. He will "count" whether a man be rightly there or no. 3. Every man truly born in Zion shall be admitted on the register. Ver. 6. 1. The time referred to. "When he writeth up", &c.; when all the true Israel is saved. 2. The account to be taken: "When he writeth up", &c., i.e. revises and reenters the names in the Lamb's Book of Life. Compares the called with the chosen. 3. The test to be applied. (a) Their being in Zion, or having the means of grace. (b) Their being born there. 4. The completion of their number: "The Lord shall count." An exact number of stones in a perfect building and of members in a perfect body. So in Christ's Church. All make one bride. 5. The notice taken of each one: "This man was born there." Men fell as a whole; they are saved individually. —G.R. Psalms 87:7* . Ver. 7. In vision the Psalmist sees the citizens of Zion rejoicing at some sacred festival, and marching in triumphant procession with vocal and instrumental music: — As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there. Where God is there must be joy, and where the church is increased by numerous conversions the joy becomes exuberant and finds out ways of displaying itself. Singers and dancers, Psalmists and pipers, united their efforts and made a joyful procession to the temple, inspired not by Bacchus, or by the Castalian fount, but by draughts from the sacred source of all good, of which they each one sing All my springs are in thee. Did the poet mean that henceforth he would find all his joys in Zion, or that to the Lord he would look for all inspiration, comfort, strength, joy, life and everything. The last is the truest doctrine. Churches have not such all sufficiency within them that we can afford to look to them for all, but the Lord who founded the church is the eternal source of all our supplies, and looking to him we shall never flag or fail. How truly does all our experience lead us to look to the Lord by faith, and say "all my fresh springs are in thee." The springs of my faith and all my graces; the springs of my life and all my pleasures; the springs of my activity and all its right doings; the springs of my hope, and all its heavenly anticipations, all lie in thee, my Lord. Without thy Spirit I should be as a dry well, a mocking cistern, destitute of power to bless myself or others. O Lord, I am assured that I belong to the regenerate whose life is in thee, for I feel that I cannot live without thee; therefore, with all thy joyful people will I sing thy praises. "With joy shall sing the choral train, The minstrels breathe the answering strain: `O Zion, Zion fair, I see The fountains of my bliss in thee.'" NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 7. The singers; the players on instruments. Song and music were prominent features of Divine worship in David's time. This is evident from the large number of two hundred and eighty-eight Levites who were expressly appointed for singing and the performance of music. Not less than two hundred and fifty-five singing men and singing women returned from the exile...The chief instruments used by the Levites were, according to the records of the Books of Chronicles, cymbals, harps, and lutes: according to Psalms 5:1-12 (title), we should add the flute, which is frequently noticed on Egyptian monuments. —Augustus F. Tholuck. Ver. 7. — (First clause). For all its inhabitants are expert musicians; lit. Sing like flute players. The Hebrews seem to have surpassed all nations in the skill of poetry and music; and every citizen could sing and dance. This preeminence the Psalmist seems to hint at. —Alexander Geddes. Ver. 7. All my springs are in thee. The original word ynyem, which we render "springs", is used in a figurative sense, to denote any one's posterity. Thus Proverbs 5:16, "Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad"; i.e., thy posterity be exceeding numerous. And thus in the place before us: the inhabitants of Jerusalem should triumph and sing, "All my springs", or fountains, all my friends, my family, my children, are in thee, are thy citizens, enjoy the glorious privileges thou art favoured with, are all inserted in God's register, and entitled to his protection and favour. Thus there is a harmony and connection between all the parts of this ode, which I think is very intelligible and poetical. —Samuel Chandler. Ver. 7. All my springs are in thee. Whatever conduit pipe be used, Christ is the fountain and foundation of every drop of comfort; Christ is the God of all true consolation. It is not in the power of all the angels of heaven to give any soul one drop of comfort, nor can all on earth give you one drop of comfort. They can speak the words of comfort, but they cannot cause the soul to receive comfort. God comforts by them, 2 Corinthians 7:6. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the chief Musician upon Mahaloth Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. I think that this is the darkest of all the Psalms; it has hardly a spot of light in it. The only bright words that I know of are in the first verse the rest of the Psalm is very dark, and very dreary. Why, then, am I going to read it? Because, it may be, there is some poor heart here that is very heavy; you cannot tell out of this great crowd how many sorrowing and burdened spirits there may be amongst us; but there may be a dozen or two of persons who are driven almost to despair. My dear friend, if this is your case, I want you to know that somebody else has been just where you are. Remember how the shipwrecked man upon the lonely island all of a sudden came upon the footprints of another human being; so here, on the lone island of despondency, you shall be able to trace the footprints of another who has been there before you. Hear how he praysPsa_88:1. O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:It was only a cry, a cry as of an animal in pain, or at best the cry as of a child that has lost its mother: “I have cried day and night before thee.”Psalms 88:2. Let my prayer come before thee:“Give me an audience, O Lord. Do not shut the door in my face. My prayer has been knocking, knocking, knocking, at thy gate; open to it. ‘Let my prayer come before thee.’”Psalms 88:2. Incline thine ear unto my cry;“Stoop down to me out of heaven, O Lord. Bow that ear of thine to hear even my feeble and unworthy cry. I know that I do not deserve it. I know that it will be a great act of condescension on thy part; but do ‘incline thine ear unto my cry.’”Psalms 88:3. For my soul is full of troubles:“Full of troubles, brimming over with grief, and every drop of it is as bitter as gall.”Psalms 88:3-4. And my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit: “They put me down as a dead man. They that see the lines of fierce despair upon my face reckon that I cannot live long: ‘I am counted with them that go down into the pit.’” These were his pleas in crying unto God,-“ Distresses round me thicken, My life draws nigh the grave; Descend, O Lord, to quicken, Descend, my soul to save!”Psalms 88:4. I am as a man that hath no strength:Here is one, in the time of manhood when he should be strongest, who yet says, “I am as a man that hath no strength.” This subject may not interest some of you, just now; but it is here, so we must mention it; and it may be wanted even by you one of these days. Bright eyes are not always bright, and the earthly joy that leaps and dances does not abide for ever. The dry may come when you will turn to this Psalm with the two eights to it, and find comfort in it because it describes your case also.Psalms 88:5. Free among the dead,-A freeman of the sepulcher, at home at death’s dark door: “Free among the dead,”Psalms 88:5. Like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.This is perhaps the most awful depth of the whole Psalm. The writer bemoaned that be was not remembered even by God any more, and that he was cut off from God’s hand at least, so he thought.Psalms 88:6-7. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah,Very properly here comes a “Selah.” Such a strain upon the harp-strings had put them all out of tune; so the players had notice to retune their harps, and the singers were bidden to lift up the strain of their song. It seems to me as if the writer here lifted his head above the waves of the tempestuous sea, and still kept on swimming.Psalms 88:8. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.This is the utterance of a soul imprisoned in solitary confinement, nobody able to come to it to breathe out consolation: “Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me. They cannot come to me, and I am shut up, and I cannot come forth to them.”Psalms 88:9. Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.Now hear how the psalmist pleads with the Lord. Prayer is always best when it rises to pleading. The man who understands the sacred art of prayer becomes a special pleader with God.Psalms 88:10. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.“Shall the dead arise, and praise thee?” Not in this life, though the godly will praise the Lord in the world to come. But now, when a Christian man dies, God loses a chorister from the choirs of earth, there is one the less to sing his praises here; and the psalmist therefore pleads: “Lord, if I live, thou canst show thy wonders to me; but wilt thou show thy wonders to the dead? If I am alive, I can praise thee; but shall the dead arise, and praise thee?”Psalms 88:11-12. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shalt thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?He pleads that, if he dies, he shall not be able to tell out the mercy of the Lord. God will lose a singer from his earthly choir, a witness from his earthly courts, a testifier of his lovingkindness, and faithfulness, and righteousness.Psalms 88:13. But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer repent thee.“I will be up betimes, before thou comest to me. I will be first to approach thee. I will salute the rising sun with my rising prayer.”Psalms 88:14. LORD, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?Note again the earnestness of the psalmist’s pleadings. We have had many of them already; each verse has, I think, had at least two pleadings in it. If thou wouldst be heard with God, take care that thou dost reason with him, and press thine arguments with the Most High. He delights in this exercise of persevering supplication which will take no denial.Psalms 88:15-18. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; thy terrors have cut me off. They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together. Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.There the Psalm ends. It is a sorrowful wail, and it comes to a close when you do not expect it to finish. It really has no finish to it, as when men wind up their songs with proper finales; but it is broken off, like a lily snapped at the stalk. I have read you this eighty-eighth Psalm as an example of persevering prayer. The man who wrote it-“Heman the Ezrahite”-kept on praying even when he did not seem to be heard, and thus he is a pattern to us. Yet notice how the next Psalm begins: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.” It is not always the sorrowful sackbut that is to be in our hand; we can play the joyous harp as well. “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever.” “I will never leave off praising him.” “With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.” Psalms 89:1-2. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. Here is an eternal song concerning eternal mercy. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, so the saints’ praise for the never-ending mercy must itself be without end. The psalmist has made known God’s faithfulness to all generations, not only by speaking of it, but especially by writing of it, for that which is written abides when that which is merely spoken is soon forgotten. God’s faithfulness concerns heaven as well as earth, and he will establish it “in the very heavens.”Psalms 89:3-4. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.The complete fulfillment of this glorious covenant promise concerns, not only David and his seed, but “great David’s greater Son” and his spiritual seed, the chosen people with whom the Lord has made “an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure.”Psalms 89:5-7. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.A holy reverence is becoming in all who draw near to the thrice-holy Jehovah, whether in the upper sanctuary or in the congregation of the saints on earth. In his gracious condescension, he allows his people wondrous familiarity in their approaches to him, yet this must never make them forget the infinite distance that separates the Creator from even the highest and holiest of his creatures.Psalms 89:8-10. O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.The ruling of the raging of the sea, the stilling of the stormy waves, and the breaking and scattering of the might of Egypt are used by the psalmist to illustrate the omnipotence of Jehovah, before which the mightiest monarchy on earth had no more power than if it had been a corpse.Psalms 89:11-12. The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them. The north and the south thou hath created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.The psalmist rejoices in the Lord as the Creator and Possessor of the heavens above and the earth beneath. “All things were created by him, and for him.”Psalms 89:13. Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Amid all the varying expressions that the psalmist uses, he continues to admire and magnify God’s majestic might. Whether for the defense of his people or the overthrow of his enemies, his arm is mighty, yea, more than that, for it is almighty. No human language can adequately describe that glorious hand which has only to be opened to satisfy the desire of every living thing.Psalms 89:14. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.What blessed heralds does the Lord employ! “Mercy and truth shall go before thy face.” It is these gracious attributes, especially as they are displayed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that enable us even to welcome those sterner attributes, “justice and judgment,” which are the habitation of God’s throne.Psalms 89:15. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound:There are many that hear it, but perhaps not one out of a thousand of them that really know it. The hearing of the joyful sound is not sufficient to make people blessed, though faith cometh by hearing; it is the understanding of what is meant by the glad tidings, it is the reception of the gospel message which brings immediate and eternal blessedness.Psalms 89:15. They shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.The practical effect of a saving knowledge of the gospel is a holy walk, a walk of communion with God. Dear friends, do you walk in that way? Do you know the joyful sound? Can you discern the difference between the true and the false gospel? Can you distinguish the contrast between the harmonies of the one and the discords of the other? Do you know the inner secret of the heavenly music? Has it ever vibrated in your own souls? Happy are ye if this be the case with you. The psalmist goes on to show how such people are blessed.Psalms 89:16. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day:They shall not have mere passing fits of joy, but they shall be glad from morning to night.Psalms 89:16. And in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.They shall mount to a higher platform of joy than that on which the men of the world are standing; they shall be lifted up in soul and spirit by the righteousness of God, especially as they see how that great attribute guarantees their eternal salvation.Psalms 89:17-19. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defense; and the Holy One of lsrael is our king. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. This is the very marrow of the gospel; this is indeed “ the joyful sound “ which makes us truly blessed,-the feet that God did, of old, exalt “One chosen out of the people,” with whom he entered into an eternal covenant, pledging himself to bless us through him.Psalms 89:20. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:David was the means of bringing great blessings to the people over whom he ruled. God blessed the whole nation through him, and the covenant made with David was virtually a covenant made with all the people of Israel. In like manner, he covenant made with “great David’s greater Son” is virtually made with all those for whom he stood as Surety and Representative. The essence of the gospel lies in the covenant which God has made with his Son, Jesus Christ, on behalf of all his chosen people. Notice that God found David, and anointed him as king, even as he has taken the Lord Jesus, and anointed him with the oil of gladness above his fellows.Psalms 89:21. With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.The omnipotence of God is manifested in Christ, for he is “the power of God” as well as “the wisdom of God.”Psalms 89:22. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.“The son of wickedness” did afflict David for a while, but afterwards he came to the throne, and ruled gloriously over God’s ancient people. So is it with our covenant Lord and King. The wicked cannot now exact upon him, nor afflict him; he sits upon the throne in glory far beyond their reach.Psalms 89:23. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.Who can ever stand up in opposition to Christ? He is that stone of which he himself said, “Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.”Psalms 89:24. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.God is ever with his Son, Jesus Christ, in the plenitude of his faithfulness and mercy, to make him a continual blessing to his people.Psalms 89:25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.Our King is a great King, and he rules over sea and land; there is no bound to his dominions, and there will be no end to his righteous rule.Psalms 89:26. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.All God’s children are a praying family, and his only-begotten and well-beloved Son sets a noble example in this respect as well as in everything else. He is still the great Intercessor before the throne of his Father.Psalms 89:27. Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.Christ is indeed “higher than the kings of the earth,” for he is “King of kings and Lord of lords.” Do not your hearts rejoice as you think of this blessed King with whom God has entered into a covenant to bless all who are trusting in him, even the very poorest and feeblest of them? What a joy it is to us to see Jesus striking hands with the Eternal, and entering into an everlasting covenant on our behalf!Psalms 89:28-29. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.There can never be an end to the throne of Christ, for his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; and there can never be an end to the family of Christ, for his seed shall endure for ever.Psalms 89:30-32. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then-“Then”-what? “I will destroy them, and sweep them away for ever”? Oh, no! “Then”-Psalms 89:32. Will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. There is no sword in God’s hand to be used against his own children, but he does hold a rod, and that rod makes us smart, and causes the blueness of the wound which cleanseth away evil. We are grieved when we feel its strokes, yet there is covenant mercy in them. The rod of the covenant is one of the best things that ever comes to us, since it whips our folly out of us. God grant us grace to kiss the rod whenever we transgress against him, and he visits our iniquity with stripes!Psalms 89:33. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.Notice the use of the word “him” here, as if it was intended to teach us that God’s love to his dear Son, and to his people in him, is so great that though he may chasten us for our transgressions, he will never cast us away.Psalms 89:34-37. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. In the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the dynasty of David shall endure for ever, and the spiritual seed of Christ shall also never come to an end. By the most binding covenant, and the most solemn pledge, and the most saved oath, Jehovah has guaranteed the everlasting kingdom of his Son and the eternal endurance of “his seed.”Psalms 89:38-45. But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed. Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin. All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours. Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice. Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle. Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground. The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hath covered him with shame. Selah.Spiritually, this sad description reveals the sorrowful state of the professing church of Christ in the times in which we live.Psalms 89:46. How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?That was the wisest thing for the psalmist to do, and it is our best course also; in the darkest days of the most sinful age we can always resort to prayer, let us do so.Psalms 89:47-48. Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain? What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.The brevity of life makes it all the more important that we should waste none of it, and that we should appeal to the Lord to interpose, speedily on the behalf of the truth and those who love it.Psalms 89:49-52. Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth? Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people; wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed. Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen and Amen.The Psalm ends upon its keynote of praise unto Jehovah. There had been much to sadden the writer, as there is much to sadden us in these days; but we can unite with him in saying, “Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen and Amen.” Psalms 90 is entitled “A Prayer of Moses the man of God,” and it furnishes a suitable prayer for every man of God. Any men of God who have had experience as deep, and trying, and varied as that of Moses will be the better able to enter into the spirit of the Psalm.Psalms 90:1. LORD thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. “This world in which we live is no home for our immortal spirits. Thou givest us habitations for our bodies, but they are no dwelling places for our spirits that are of a nobler order. We dwell in thee, O Lord; thou art our home. Beneath thy wide wings we find blessed shelter, and in communion with thee our hearts are kept in perfect peace. Lord, thou art the home of thy people in all generations; — not only in the generations that are past, when Noah, and Abraham and Moses, and David, and all thine ancient servants found a refuge in thee, but even to this day thou art still our strong castle and our high tower our refuge and place of defense, our dwelling place even in this generation.”Psalms 90:2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.When compared with God, those hoary hills are but as infants of a day, and the whole round world itself is but as a new-born child. “From everlasting” has he existed, — when all created things slept in his infinite mind like unborn forests sleep in an acorn cup, and so on for ever, “to everlasting,” — when all created things shall have dissolved, when back to nothing this fair world shall have gone, — God shall still be the same. He is a rook that cannot be removed. There is no terra firma upon this earth; but while all things are whirling around us, we find a firm dwelling place beyond the stars in the ever-living and immutable Jehovah. No man’s home is safe unless it is built on something more stable than this poor trembling earth, but he who rests on God, and lives in God, has the best of all habitations wherein to dwell in safety for ever.Psalms 90:3. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.Man is mortal, conspicuously so. As we walk about our streets, how we miss our old companions one by one. They have returned to the bosom of mother earth whence they first sprang. The inhabitants of this world seem to pass in procession before our eyes; those who were here a few minutes ago are gone past, and another rank has come, and another, and another and they will soon all be gone, and we shall be gone too. He, then, who hopes to find a home amongst the sons of men will miss it, but he who makes the eternal God his habitation shall still be at home in the Lord even when wife, and child, and brother, and friend all sleep in the silence of the sepulcher.Psalms 90:4. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.Our measurements of time are nothing to God. There is nothing past and nothing future with him, all things are present in the eternal Now of God. What a wonderful truth this is of the eternal existence of God, and what boundless comfort it brings to the man who feels that this God is his God, his Father, his Friend, and his All-in-all!Psalms 90:5-6. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.Such is the best estate of man, a field bedecked with daisies, kingcups, and other frail flowers, but the mower’s scythe is near, you may hear him sharpening it; and, soon, along the sword all the sons of men shall fall, and thou who hast found thy hope, thy heaven, thy confidence here, how poor wilt thou be in the end thereof; but O thou who hast sent all thine hearts desires upwards to thy God, thou who art living in the future, living in the infinite, how secure art thou, for no rust shall fret thy gold, no moth consume thy garments! Thou art blessed indeed.Psalms 90:7. For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.Yes, if the Lord lets even a little of his wrath out for a while against his servants, how greatly do we suffer! Blessed be his name, it never is real anger against his own chosen people. He does but hide his love under the form of wrath, just as a father never really hates his child, and even though he is angry with him for his faults, and chastises him, yet there is more love than wrath in every blow of the rod. Still, it is a sad thing to lose the sense of God’s love in the heart, it consumes us and troubles us. We could bear sickness, we could bear slander or persecution, or almost anything out the absence of the light of God’s countenance; that is the worst of trials to his children.Psalms 90:8-10. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.A long life or a short life, what a little difference it makes when the last hour comes! The patriarch as well as the child descendeth to the grave and all, as they sleep in their separate graves, seem only to have lived for a little moment, and then to have passed away.Psalms 90:11. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to they fear, so is thy wrath.God grant that none of us may ever know experimentally the power of his anger; but may we know it, as a matter of faith, so as to tremble concerning it, and so as to flee to Christ to be delivered from it! But what must it be really to feel the power of God’s anger? I implore you never to believe any teaching that seems to make God’s anger less terrible than you thought it to be. It is not possible to exaggerate here, the power of God’s anger is immeasurable, and that is why the power of Christ’s atonement is infinite.Psalms 90:12. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.That is the great matter, after all, to get the heart applied to wisdom, to learn what is the right way, and to walk in it in the practical actions of daily life. It is of little use for us to learn to number our days if it merely enables us to sit down in self-confidence and carnal security; but if our hearts be applied to true wisdom, the Lord’s teaching has been effectual.Psalms 90:13-14. Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Dear young people, here is a suitable prayer for you to present to God: “O satisfy us early with thy mercy.” Believe me, there is no joy for a lad like that of loving the Lord Jesus Christ while he is yet young; and O ye maidens, there is no fairer jewel that you can ever wear than that of love to Jesus Christ. “’Twill save us from a thousand snares To mind religion young; Grace will preserve our following years, And make our virtues strong.” And each one of us may pray this prayer. “Lord, now give us thy mercy! If we are unsaved, let us not remain so! If we have lost the comfort of thy presence for a while, restore it to us now! Leave us not long in darkness, but satisfy us early with thy mercy!”Psalms 90:15. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. It is right, then, to pray for joy. Indeed, joy is so conspicuous a blessing to a Christian, it is so closely connected with the healthfulness of all his virtues that he should seek after it until he finds it.Psalms 90:16. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.“Lord, let us see thy work here! Oh, for thy name’s sake, take thy right hand out of thy bosom, and work mightily in our midst! Withdraw not the working of the Holy Ghost from us thy people! Let thy work of conversion, thy work of edification, thy work of the conquest of the world, appear unto thy servants!”Psalms 90:17. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.“Let not what we do for thee fall to the ground like a badly-built wall! Let not our work be consumed in the great testing fire, ‘but the work of our hands establish thou it!’” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 90.; and Acts 27:1-26. --- The Glorious Habitation October 14, 1855 by C. H. (1834-1892) "Lord thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations."— Psalms 90:1 . Moses was the inspired author of three devotional compositions. We first of all find him as Moses the poet, singing the song which is aptly joined with that of Jesus, in the Revelation, where it says, "The song of Moses and of the Lamb." He was a poet on the occasion when Pharaoh and his hosts were cast into the Red Sea, "his chosen captains also were drowned in the Red Sea." Further on in his life we discover him in the character of a preacher; and then his doctrine distilled as the dew, and his speech dropped like the rain, in those chapters which are full of glorious imagery, and rich with poetry, which you will find in the book of Deuteronomy. And now in the Psalms, we find him the author of a prayer: "A prayer of Moses, the man of God." Happy combination of the poet, the preacher, and the man of prayer! Where three such things are found together, the man becomes a very giant above his fellows. It often happens that the man who preaches has but little poetry; and the man who is the poet would not be able to preach and utter his poems before immense assemblies, but would be only fit to write them by himself. It is a rare combination when true devotion and the spirit of poetry and eloquence meet in the same man. You will see in this Psalm a wondrous depth of spirituality; you will mark how the poet subsides into the man of God; and how, lost in himself, he sings his own frailty, declared the glory of God, and asks that he may have the blessing of his heavenly Father always resting on his head. This first verse will derive peculiar interest if you remember the place where Moses was when he thus prayed. He was in the wilderness; not in some of the halls of Pharaoh, nor yet in a habitation in the land of Goshen; but in a wilderness. And perhaps from the summit of the hill, looking upon the tribes of Israel as they were taking up their tents and marching along, he thought, "Ah! poor travelers. They seldom rest anywhere; they have not any settled habitation where they can dwell. Here they have no continuing city;" but he lifted his eyes above, and he said, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations." Passing his eye back through history, he saw one great temple where God's people had dwelt; and with his prophetical eye rolling with sacred frenzy, he could see that throughout all futurity the specially chosen of God would be able to sing, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations." Taking this verse as the subject of our discourse this morning, we shall, first of all, explain it; and then we shall try and do what the old Puritans called "improve" it; by which they did not mean improve the text, but improve the people a little in the consideration of the verse. I. First, we will try to explain it somewhat. Here is a habitation: "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place;" and, secondly, if I may use such a common word, here is the lease of it: "Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations." First, then here is a habitation: "Lord, thou hast been our habitation." The mighty Jehovah, who filleth all immensity, the Eternal, Everlasting, Great I Am, does not refuse to allow figures concerning himself. Though he is so high that the eye of angel hath not seen him, though he is so lofty that the wing of cherub hath not reached him, though he is so great that the utmost extent of the travels of immortal spirits have never discovered the limit of himself—yet he does not object that his people should speak of him thus familiarly, and should say, "Jehovah, thou hast been our dwelling-place." We shall understand this figure better by contrasting the thought, with the state of Israel in the wilderness; and, secondly, by making mention of some things by way of comparison, which are peculiar to our house, and which we never can enjoy if we are not the possessors of a dwelling-place of our own. First, we shall contrast this thought, "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place," with the peculiar position of the Israelites as they were traveling through the wilderness. We remark, first, that they must have been in a state of great uneasiness. At nightfall, or when the pillar stayed its motion, the tents were pitched, and they laid themselves down to rest. Perhaps to-morrow, ere the morning sun had risen, the trumpet sounded, they stirred themselves from their beds and found the ark was in motion, and the fiery cloudy pillar was leading the way through the narrow defiles of the mountain up the hillside, or along the arid waste of the wilderness. They had scarcely time to arrange their little property in their tents and make all things comfortable for themselves, before they heard the sound of "Away! away! away! this is not your rest; you must still be onward journeying toward Cannan!" They could not plant a little patch of ground around their tents, they could not lay out their house in order, and arrange their furniture, they could not become attached to the spot of ground. Even though just now their father had been buried in a place where a tent had tarried for a time yet they must be off. They must have no attachment to the place, they must have nothing of what we call comfort, ease, and peace; but be always journeying, always traveling. Moreover, so exposed were they, that they never could be very easy in their tents. At one time the sand, with the hot simoom behind it, would drive through the tent and cover them almost to burial. On frequent occasions the hot sun would scorch them, and their canvas would scarce be a preservation; at another time the biting north wind would freeze around them, so that within their tents they sat shivering and cowering around their fires. They had little ease; but behold the contrast which Moses, the man of God, discerns with gratitude, "Thou art not our tent, but thou art our dwelling-place. Though we are uneasy here, though we are tossed from side to side by troubles, though we travel through a wilderness, and find it a rough pathway, though when we sit down here we know not what comfort means, O Lord, in thee we possess all the comfort which a house can afford, we have all that a mansion or palace can give the prince, who can loll upon his couch, and rest upon his bed of down. Lord, thou art to us comfort, thou art a house and habitation." Have you ever known what it is to have God for your dwelling-place in the sense of comfort? Do you know what it is, when you have storms behind you, to feel like a sea-bird, blown to the land by the very storm? Do you know what it is, when you have been caged sometimes by adversity, to have the string cut by divine grace, and like the pigeon that flies at once to its own dovecot, have you sped your way across the ether, and found yourself in God? Do you know what it is, when you are tossed on the waves, to do down into the depths of Godhead, there rejoicing that not a wave of trouble ruffles your spirit, but that you are serenely at home with God your own Almighty Father? Can you, amid all the uneasiness of this desert journey, find a comfort there? Is the breast of Jesus a sweet pillow for your head? Can you, lie thus on the breast of Deity? Can you put yourself in the stream of Providence and float along without a struggle, while angels sing around you—divinely guided, divinely led—"We are bearing thee along the stream of Providence to the ocean of eternal bliss!" Do you know what it is to lie on God, to give up all care, to drive anxiety away, and there—not in a recklessness of spirit, but in a holy carelessness—to be careful for nothing, "but in every thing by supplication to make known your wants unto God?" If so you have gained the first idea; "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place throughout all generations." Again, the Israelites were very much exposed to all kinds of noxious creatures , owing to their residing in tents, and their habits of wandering. At one time the fiery serpent was their foe. By night the wild beasts prowled around them. Unless that fiery pillar had been a wall of fire around them and glory in the midst, they might all have fallen a prey to the wild monsters that roamed the deserts. Worse foes they found in human kind. The Amalekites rushed down from the mountains; wild wandering hordes constantly attacked them. They never felt themselves secure, for they were travelers through an enemy's country. They were hasting across a land where they were not wanted, to another land that was providing means to oppose them when they should arrive. Such is the Christian. He is journeying through an enemy's land; every day he is exposed to danger. His tent may be broken down by death; the slanderer is behind him, the open foeman is before him; the wild beast that prowls by night, and the pestilence that wasteth by day, continually seek his destruction; he finds no rest where he is; he feels himself exposed. But, says Moses, "Though we live in a tent exposed to wild beasts and fierce men, yet thou art our habitation. In thee we find no exposure. Within thee we find ourselves secure, and in thy glorious person we dwell as in an impregnable tower of defense, safe from every fear and alarm, knowing that we are secure." O Christian, hast thou ever known what it is to stand in the midst of battles, with arrows flying thick around thee more than thy shield can catch; and yet thou hast been as secure as if thou wert folding thine arms and resting within the walls of some strong bastion, where arrow could not reach thee, and where even the sound of trumpet could not disturb thine ears? Hast thou known what it is to dwell securely in God, to enter into the Most High, and laugh to scorn the anger, the frowns, the sneers, the contempt, the slander and calumny of men; to ascent into the sacred place of the pavilion of the Most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, and to feel thyself secure? And mark thee, thou mayest do this. In times of pestilence it is possible to walk in the midst of cholera and death, singing— "Plagues and deaths around me fly, Till he please, I cannot die." It is possible to stand exposed to the utmost degree of danger, and yet to feel such a holy serenity that we can laugh at fear; too great, too mighty, too powerful through God to stoop for one moment to the cowardice of trembling, "we know whom we have believed, and we are persuaded that he is able to keep that which we have committed unto him." When houseless men wander, when poor distressed spirits, beaten by the storm, find no refuge, we enter into God, and shutting behind us the door of faith, we say, "Howl, ye winds; blow, ye tempests; roar, ye wild beasts; come on, ye robbers!" "He that hath made his refuge God, Shall find a most secure abode, Shall walk all day beneath his shade, And there at night shall rest his head." Lord, in this sense, thou hast been our habitation. Again, poor Israel, in the wilderness, were continually exposed to change. They were never in one place long. Sometimes they might tarry for a month in one spot—just near the seventy palm-trees. What a sweet and pleasant place to go out each morning, to sit beside the well and drink that clear stream! "Onward!" cries Moses; and he takes them to a place where the bare rocks stand our from the mountain side, and the red burning sand is beneath their feet; vipers spring up around them, and thorny brakes grow instead of pleasing vegetation. What a change have they! Yet, another day they shall come to a place that shall be more dreary still. They walk through a defile so close and narrow, that the affrighted rays of the sun dare scarce enter such a prison, lest they should never find their way out again! They must go onward from place to place, continually changing, never having time to settle, and to say, "Now we are secure, in this place we shall dwell." Here, again, the contrast casts light upon the text: "Ah!" says Moses, "though we are always changing, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place throughout all generations." The Christian knows no change with regard to God. He may be rich to-day, and poor to-morrow; he may be sickly to-day and well to-morrow; he may be in happiness to-day, to-morrow he may be distressed; but there is no change with regard to his relationship to God. If he loved me yesterday he loves me to-day. I am neither better nor worse in God than I ever was. Let prospects be blighted, let hopes be blasted, let joy be withered, let mildews destroy every thing, I have lost nothing of what I have in God. He is my strong habitation whereunto I can continually resort. The Christian never becomes poorer, and never grows richer with regard to God. "Here," he can say, "is a thing that never can pass away or change. On the brow of the Eternal there is never a furrow; his hair is unwhitened by age; his arm is unpalsied by weakness; his heart does not change in its affections; his will does not vary in its purpose; he is the immutable Jehovah, standing fast and forever. Thou art our habitation! As the house changes not, but stands in the same place, so have I found thee from my youth up. When first I was cast upon thee from my mother's breast, I found thee my God of Providence. When first I knew thee by that spiritual knowledge which thou alone canst give, I found thee a sure habitation; and I find thee such now. Yea, when I shall be old and gray-headed, I know thou wilt not forsake me; thou wilt be the same dwelling-place in all generations." One thought more in contrasting the position of the Israelites with ourselves—that is, weariness. How weary must Israel have been in the wilderness! How tired must have been the soles of their feet with their constant journeyings! They were not in a place of repose, luxury, and rest, but in a land of journeying, and weariness, and trouble. I think I see them traveling, wiping frequently the burning sweat from their brows, and saying, "O that we had a habitation where we might rest! O that we could enter a land of vines and pomegranates, a city where we might enjoy immunity from alarm! God has promised it to us, but we have not found it. There remaineth a rest for the people of God; O that we might find it." Christian! God is your habitation in this sense. He is your rest; and you will never find rest except in him. I defy a man who has no God to have a soul at rest. He who has not Jesus for his Saviour, will always be a restless spirit. Read some of Byron's verses, and you will find him—if he was truly picturing himself—to be the very personification of that spirit who "walked to and fro seeking rest and finding none." Here is one of his verses:— "I fly like a bird of the air, In search of a home and a rest; A balm for the sickness of care, A bliss for a bosom unblest." Read the lives of any men who have had no gospel justification, or have had no knowledge of God, and you will find that they were like the poor bird that had its nest pulled down, and knew not where to rest, flying about, wandering, and seeking a habitation. Some of you have tried to find rest out of God. You have sought to find it in your wealth; but you have pricked your head when you have laid it on that pillow. You have sought it in a friend, but that friend's arm has been a broken reed, where you hoped it would be a wall of strength. You will never find rest except in God; there is no refuge but in him. Oh! what rest and composure are there in him! It is more than sleep, more than calm, more than quiet; deeper than the dead stillness of the noiseless sea in its utmost depths, where it is undisturbed by the slightest ripple, and winds can never intrude. There is a holy calm and sweet repose which the Christian only knows, something like the slumbering stars up there in beds of azure; or like the seraphic rest which we may suppose beatified spirits have when they before the throne continually bow; there is a rest so deep and calm, so still and quiet, so profound, that we find no words to describe it. You have tried it, and can rejoice in it. You know that the Lord has been your dwelling-place—your sweet, calm, constant home, where you can enjoy peace in all generations. But I have dwelt too long upon this part of the subject, and I will speak of it in a different way. First of all, the dwelling-place of man is the place where he can unbend himself, and feel himself at home, and speak familiarly. In this pulpit I must somewhat check my words; I deal with men of the world who watch my speech, and are ever on the catch, men who wish to have this or that to retail—I must be on my guard. So you men of business, when you are on the exchange, or in your shops, have to guard yourselves. What does the man do at home? He can lay bare his breast, and do and say as he pleases; it is his own house, his dwelling-place; and is he not master there? Shall he not do as he will with his own? Assuredly; for he feels himself at home. Ah! my beloved, do you ever find yourself in God to be at home? Have you been with Christ, and told your secrets in his ear, and found that you could do so without reserve? We do not generally tell secrets to other people, for it we do, and make them promise that they will never tell them, they will never tell them except to the first person they meet. Most persons who have secrets told them, are like the lady of whom it is said she never told her secrets except to two sorts of persons—those that asked her and those that did not. You must not trust men of the world; but do you know what it is to tell all your secrets to God in prayer, to whisper all your thoughts to him? You are not ashamed to confess your sins to him with all their aggravations; you make no apologies to God, but you put in every aggravation, you describe all the depths of you baseness. Then, as for your little wants, you would be ashamed to tell them to another; before God you can tell them all. You can tell him your grief that you would not whisper to your dearest friend. With God you can be always at home, you need be under no restraint. The Christian at once gives God the key of his heart, and lets him turn every thing over. He says, "There is the key of every cabinet; it is my desire that thou wouldst open them all. If there are jewels, they are thine; and if there be things that should not be there, drive them out. Search me, and try my heart." The more God lives in the Christian, the better the Christian loves him; the oftener God comes to see him, the better he loves his God. And God loves his people all the more when they are familiar with him. Can you say in this sense, "Lord, thou hast been my dwelling place?" Then, again, man's home is the place where his affections are centered. God deliver us from those men who do not love their homes! Lives there a man so base, so dead, that he has no affection for his own house? If so, surely the spark of Christianity must have died entirely out. It is natural that men should love their homes; it is spiritual that they should love them better still. In our homes we find those to whom we must and ever shall be most attached. There our best friends and kindred dwell. When we wander, we are as birds that have left their nests and can find no settled home. We wish to go back and to see again that smile, to grasp once more that loving hand, and to find that we are with those to whom the ties of affection have knit us. We wish to feel—and every Christian man will feel—with regard to his own family, that they are the warp and woof of his own nature, that he has become a part and portion of them; and there he centers his affection. He can not afford to lavish his love everywhere. He centers it in that particular spot, that oasis in this dark desert world. Christian man, is God your habitation in that sense? Have you given your whole soul to God? Do you feel you can bring your whole heart to him, and say, "O, God! I love from my soul; with the most impassioned earnestness I love thee. "The dearest idol I have known— Whate'er that idol be— Help me to tear it from its throne, And worship only thee!" O God! though I sometimes wander, yet I love thee in my wanderings, and my heart is fixed on thee. What though the creature doth beguile me, I detest that creature; it is to me as the apple of Sodom. Thou art the master of my soul, the emperor of my heart; no vice-regent, but King of kings. My spirit is fixed on thee as the center of my soul. "Thou art the sea of love Where all my pleasures roll, The circle where my passions move; The center of my soul." O God! thou hast been our dwelling-place throughout all generations." My next remark is concerning the lease of this dwelling-place. God is the believer's habitation. Sometimes, you know, people get turned out of their houses, or their houses tumble down about their ears. It is never so with ours: God is our dwelling-place throughout all generations. Let us look back in times past, and we shall find that God has been our habitation. Oh, the old house at home! who does not love it—the place of our childhood, the old roof-tree, the old cottage! There is no village in all the world half so good as that particular village where we were born! True, the gates, and stiles, and posts have been altered; but still there is an attachment to those old houses, the old tree in the park, and the old ivy-mantled tower. It is not very picturesque, perhaps, but we love to go to see it. We like to see the haunts of our boyhood. There is something pleasant in those old stairs where the clock used to stand; and in the room where grandmother was wont to bend her knee, and where we had family prayer. There is no place like that house after all! Well, beloved, God has been the habitation of the Christian in years that are gone by. Christian, your house is indeed a venerable house, and you have long dwelt there. You dwelt there in the person of Christ long before you were brought into this sinful world; and it is to be your dwelling-place throughout all generations. You are never to ask for another house; you will always be contented with that one you have; you will never wish to change your habitation. And if you wished it, you could not; for he is your dwelling-place in all generations. God give you to know what it is to take this house in its long lease, and ever to have God for your dwelling-place! II. Now I come to improve this text somewhat. First, let us improve it to SELF . How may we know whether we be Christians or not, whether the Lord is our dwelling-place, and will be throughout all generations? I shall give you some hints for self-examination, by referring you to several passages which I have looked out in the first epistle of John. It is remarkable that almost the only scriptural writer who speaks of God as a dwelling-place, is that most loving apostle, John, out of whose epistle we have been reading. He gives us in the 12th verse of the 4th chapter, one means of knowing whether we are living in God: "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." And again further on, he says, "And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." You may then tell whether you are a tenant of this great spiritual house by the love you have toward others. Have you a love toward the saints? Well, then, you are a saint yourself. The goats will not love the sheep; and if you love the sheep, it is an evidence that you are a sheep yourself. Many of the Lord's weak family never can get any other evidence of their conversion except this- "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." And though that is very little evidence, yet it is such a one that the strongest faith often can not get a much better. "If I do not love God, I love his people; if I am not a Christian, I love his house." What! has the devil told thee thou art not the Lord's? Poor Faintheart, dost thou love the Lord's people? "Yes," sayest thou, "I love to see their faces, and to hear their prayers; I could almost kiss the hem of their garments." Is it so? and would you give them if they were poor? would you visit them if they were sick, and tend them if they needed assistance? "Ah! yes." Then fear not. You who love God's people must love the Master. We know we dwell in God if we love one another. In the 13th verse is another sign: "Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit." Have we ever had the Spirit of God in us? That is one of the most solemn questions I can ask. Many of you know what it is to be excited by religious feeling who never had the Spirit of God. Many of us have great need to tremble lest we should not have received that Spirit. I have tried myself scores of times, in different ways, to see whether I really am a posssessor of the Spirit of God or not. I know that the people of the world scoff at the idea, and say, "It is impossible for any body to have the Spirit of God." Then it is impossible for any body to go to heaven; for we must have the Spirit of God, we must be born again of the Spirit, before we can enter there. What a serious question is this: "Have I had the Spirit of God in me? True, my soul is at times lifted on high, and I feel I could sing like a seraph. True, sometimes I am melted down by deep devotion, and I could pray in terrible solemnity. But so could hypocrites, perhaps. Have I the Spirit of God? Have you any evidence within you that you have the Spirit? Are you sure that you are not laboring under a delusion and a dream? Have you actually the Spirit of God within you? If so, you dwell in God. That is the second sign. But the apostle gives another sign in the 15th verse: "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." The confession of our faith in the Saviour is another sign that we live in God. Oh! poor heart, canst thou not come under this sign? Thou mayest have but little boldness, but canst thou say, "I believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ?" If so, thou dwellest in God. Many of you, I know, say—"When I hear a sermon, I feel affected by it. When I am in the house of God I feel like a child of God, but the business, cares, and troubles of life take me off, and then I fear I am not." But you can say, "I do believe in Christ; I know I cast myself on his mercy, and hope to be saved by him." Then do not say you are not a child of God if you have faith. But there is one more sign whereby we ought to examine ourselves, in the 3rd chapter, 24th verse: "He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him." Obedience to the commandments of God is a blessed sign of a dwelling in God. Some of you have a deal of religious talk, but not much religious walk; a large stock of outside piety, but not much real inward piety, which develops itself in your actions. That is a hint for some of you who know that it is right to be baptized, and are not. You know it is one of the commandments of God, that "he that believeth shall be baptized," and you are neglecting what you know to be your duty. You are dwelling in God, I doubt not, but you lack one evidence of it, namely—obedience to God's commandments. Obey God, and then you will know that you are dwelling in him. But I have another word by way of improvement, and that is one of . You who dwell in God, allow me to congratulate you. Thrice happy men are ye, if ye are dwelling in God! You need not blush to compare yourselves with angels, you need not think that any on earth can share such happiness as yours! Zion, O how blessed art thou, freed from all sins! Now thou art, through Christ, made to dwell in God, and therefore art eternally secure! I congratulate you, Christians, first, that you have such a magnificent house to dwell in. You have not a palace that shall be as gorgeous as Solomon's—a mighty palace as immense as the dwellings of the kings of Assyria, or Babylon; but you have a God that is more than mortal creatures can behold; you dwell in an immortal fabric, you dwell in the Godhead—something which is beyond all human skill. I congratulate you, moreover, that you live in such a perfect house. There never was a house on earth that could not be made a little better; but the house you dwell in has every thing you want; in God you have all you require. I congratulate you, moreover, that you live in a house that shall last forever , a dwelling-place that shall not pass away; when this world shall have been scattered like a dream; when, like the bubble on the breaker, creation shall have died away; when all this universe shall have died out like a spark from an expiring brand, your house shall live and stand more imperishable than marble, more solid than granite, self-existent as God, for it is God! Be happy then. Now, lastly, a word of AND WARNING to some of you. My hearers, what a pity it is that we have to divide our congregation, that we can not speak to you in a mass as being all Christians. This morning, I would I could take God's word and address it to you all, that you all might share the sweet promises it contains. But some of you would not have them if I were to offer them. Some of you despise Christ, my blessed Master. Many of you think sin to be a trifle, and grace to be worthless, heaven to be a vision, and hell to be a fiction. Some of you are careless, and hardened, and thoughtless, without God, and without Christ. Oh! my hearers, I wonder at myself that I should have so little benevolence, that I do not preach more fervently to you. Methinks if I could get a right estimate of your souls' value that I should speak not as I do now with stammering tongue, but with flaming words. I have great cause to blush at my own slothfulness, though God knows I have striven to preach God's truth as vehemently as possible, and would spend myself in his service; but I wonder I do not stand in every street in London and preach his truth. When I think of the thousands of souls in this great city that have never heard of Jesus, that have never listened to him; when I think of how much ignorance exists, and how little gospel preaching there is, how few souls are saved, I think—O God! what little grace I must have, that I do not strive more for souls. One word by way of warning. Do you know, poor soul, that you have not a house to live in? You have a house for your body but no house for your soul. Have you ever seen a poor girl at midnight sitting down on a door-step crying? Somebody passes by, and says, "Why do you sit here?" "I have no house, sir. I have no home." "Where is your father?" "My father's dead, sir." "Where is your mother?" "I have no mother, sir." "Have you no friends?" "No friends at all." "Have you no house?" "No; I have none. I am houseless." And she shivers in the chill air, and gathers her poor ragged shawl around her, and cries again, "I have no house—I have no home." Would you not pity her? Would you blame her for her tears? Ah! there are some of you that have houseless souls here this morning. It is something to have a houseless body; but to think of a houseless soul! Methinks I see you in eternity sitting on the door-step of heaven. An angel says, "What! have you no house to live in?" "No house," says the poor soul." "Have you no father?" "No; God is not my father; and there is none beside him." "Have you no mother?" "No; the church is not my mother; I never sought her ways, nor loved Jesus. I have neither father nor mother." "Have you no house, then?" "No; I am a houseless soul." But there is one thing worse about that—houseless souls have to be sent into hell; to a dungeon, to a lake that burns with fire. Houseless soul! in a little while thy body will have gone; and where wilt thou house thyself when the hot hail of eternal vengeance comes from heaven? Where wilt thou hide thy guilty head, when the winds of the last judgment-day shall sweep on thee with fury? Where wilt thou shelter thyself, when the blast of the terrible one shall be as a storm against a wall, when the darkness of eternity comes upon thee, and hell thickens round thee? It will be all in vain for you to cry, "Rocks, hide me; mountains, fall upon me;" the rocks will not obey you, the mountains will not hide you. Caverns would be palaces if you could dwell in them, but there will be no caverns for you to hide your head in, but you will be houseless souls, houseless spirits, wandering through the shades of hell, tormented, destitute, afflicted, and that throughout eternity. Poor houseless soul, dost thou want a house? I have a house to let this morning for every sinner who feels his misery. Do you want a house for your soul? Then I will condescend to men of low estate, and tell you in homely language, that I have a house to let. Do you ask me what is the purchase? I will tell you; it is something less than proud human nature will like to give. It is without money and without price. Ah! you would like to pay some rent wouldn't you? You would love to do something to win Christ. You can not have the house then; it is "without money and without price." I have told you enough of the house itself, and therefore I will not describe its excellences. But I will tell you one thing—that if you feel that you are a houseless soul this morning, you may have the key to-morrow; and if you feel yourself to be a houseless soul to-day, you may enter it now. If you had a house of your own I would not offer it to you; but since you have no other, here it is. Will you take my Master's house on a lease for all eternity, with nothing to pay for it, nothing but the ground-rent of loving and serving him forever? Will you take Jesus, and dwell in him throughout eternity? or will you be content to be a houseless soul? Come inside, sir; see, it is furnished from top to bottom with all you want. It has cellars filled with gold, more than you will spend as long as you live; it hath a parlor where you can entertain yourself with Christ, and feast on his love; it has tables well stored with food for you to live on forever; it hath a drawing-room of brotherly love where you can receive your friends. You will find a resting room up there where you can rest with Jesus; and on the top there is a look-out, whence you can see heaven itself. Will you have the house, or will you not? Ah! if you are houseless, you will say, "I should like to have the house; but may I have it?" Yes; there is the key. The key is, "Come to Jesus." But, you say, "I am too shabby for such a house." Never mind; there are garments inside. As Rowland Hill once said— "Come naked, come filthy, come ragged, come poor, Come wretched, come dirty, come just as you are." If you feel guilty and condemned, come, and though the house is too good for you, Christ will make you good enough for the house by-and-by. He will wash you, and cleanse you, and you will yet be able to sing with Moses, with the same unfaltering voice, "Lord, thou hast been my dwelling place throughout all generations." Psalms 91:1. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.It is not every man who dwells there; no, not even every Christian man. There are some who come to God’s house; but the man mentioned here dwells with the God of the house. There are some who worship in the outer court of the temple; but “he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High” lives in the Holy of Holies; he draws near to the mercy-seat, and keeps there; he walks in the light, as God is in the light; he is not one who is sometimes on and sometimes off, a stranger or a guest, but like a child at home, he dwells in the secret place of the most High. Oh, labour to get to that blessed position! You who know the Lord, pray that you may attain to this high condition of dwelling in the inner shrine, always near to God, always overshadowed by those cherubic wings which indicate the presence of God. If this is your position, you “shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” You are not safe in the outer courts; you are not protected from all danger anywhere but within the vail. Let us come boldly there; and, when we once enter, let us dwell there.Psalms 91:2. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.This is a daring utterance, as if the psalmist would claim for himself the choicest privileges of any child of God. When you hear a glorious doctrine preached, it may be very sweet to others; but the honey lies in the particular application of it to yourself. You must, like the bee, go down into the bell of the flower yourself, and fetch out its nectar. “I will say of the Lord, He is my” — then come three my’s, as if the psalmist could grasp the Triune Jehovah, — “my refuge, my fortress, my God; in him will I trust.” What a grand word that is, “My God”! Can any language be loftier? Can any thought be more profound? Can any comfort be surer?Psalms 91:3. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, If you dwell near to God, you will not be deceived by Satan. In the light of the Lord you will see light; and you will discover the limed twigs and the nets and the traps that are set to catch you: “He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.”Psalms 91:3. And from the noisome pestilence.The pestilence is something that you cannot see. It comes creeping in, and fills the air with death before you perceive its approach; but “He shall deliver thee from the noisome pestilence.” There is a pestilence of dangerous and accursed error abroad at this time; but if we dwell in the secret place of the most High, it cannot affect us; we shall be beyond its power. “Surely,” oh, blessed word! there is no doubt about this great truth, Surely, he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.”Psalms 91:4. He shall cover thee with his feathers,The psalmist uses a wonderful metaphor when he ascribes “feathers” to God, and compares him to a hen, or some mother-bird, under whose wings her young find shelter. Yet the condescension of God is such that he allows us to speak of him thus: “He shall cover thee with his feathers.”Psalms 91:4. And under his wings shalt thou trust:God is to his people a strong defense and a tender defense. “His wings” and “his feathers” suggest both power and softness. God hides not his people in a casing of iron; their shelter is stronger than iron, yet it is soft as the downy wings of a bird for ease and comfort. As the little chicks bury their tiny heads in the feathers of the hen, and seem happy, and warm, and comfortable under their mother’s wings, so shall it be with thee if thou dwellest with thy God: “He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust.”Psalms 91:4. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.Twice is he armed who hath God’s truth to be his shield and buckler.Psalms 91:5. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;Nervous as you are, and naturally timid, when you dwell near to God, your fears shall all go to sleep. That is a wonderful promise: “Thou shalt not be afraid.” If it had said, “Thou shalt have no cause for fear,” it would have been a very comforting word; but this is even more cheering, Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night.”Psalms 91:5. Nor for the arrow that flieth by day;Both night and day thou shalt be safe. Thy God will not leave thee in the glare of the sun, nor will he forsake thee when the damps of night-dews would put thee in peril. We, dear friends, may have secret enemies, who shoot at us, but we shall not be afraid of the arrow. There may be unseen influences that would ruin us, or cause us dishonour, or distress; but when we dwell with God, we shall not be afraid of them.Psalms 91:6-7. Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. When God takes his people to dwell in nearness to himself, and they have faith in this promise, I make no doubt that, literally, in the time of actual pestilence, they will be preserved. It is not every professing Christian, nor every believer who attains this height of experience; but only such as believe the promise, and fulfill the heavenly condition of dwelling in the secret place of the most High. How could cholera or fever get into the secret place of the most High? How could any arrows, how could any pestilence, ever be able to reach that secure abode of God? If you dwell there, you are invincible, invulnerable, infinitely secure.Psalms 91:8-10. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, “There shall no evil befall thee.” It may have the appearance of evil; but it shall turn out to thy good. There shall be but the appearance of evil, not the reality of it: “There shall no evil befall thee.”Psalms 91:10-11. Neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.You remember how the devil misapplied this text to Christ. He was quite right in the application; but he was quite wrong in the. quotation, for he left out the words “in all thy ways.” God will help us in our ways if we keep in his ways. When we meet with trouble and accident, we ought to inquire whether we are in God’s way. That famous old Puritan, holy Mr. Dodd, having to cross a river, had to change from one boat into another, and being little used to the water, he fell in, and, when he was pulled out, in his simplicity and wisdom he said, “I hope that I am in my way.” That was the only question that seemed to trouble him. If I am in my way, then God will keep me. We ought to ask ourselves, “Now, am I in God’s way? Am I really moving today and acting today as divine providence leads me, and as duty calls me?” He who travels on the king’s business, by daylight, along the king’s highway, may be sure of the king’s protection. “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Come here, Gabriel, Michael, and all the rest of you,” says the great King of kings to the angels around his throne; and when they come at his call, he says, “Take care of my child. Watch over him today. He will be in peril; suffer no evil to come near him.”Psalms 91:12. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.What royal protection we have, a guard of angels, who count it their delight and their honour to wait upon the seed-royal of the universe, for such are all the saints of God!Psalms 91:13. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.Strength and mastery may be united. The young lion and the dragon, but the child of God shall overcome them. Talk of St. George and the dragon! We ought to think more of the saint and the dragon. It is he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High, who, by God’s help, treads upon the lion and adder, and of whom it is written, “The young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.”Psalms 91:14. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: Does God take notice of our poor love? Oh, yes, he values the love of his people, for he knows where it came from; it is a part of his own love; the creation of his grace!Psalms 91:14. I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.Does God value such feeble and imperfect knowledge of his name as we possess? Yes; and he rewards that knowledge: “I will set him on high.”Psalms 91:15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:Notice, that it is, “He shall,” and I will.” The mighty grace of God “shall” make us pray, and the Almighty God of grace “will” answer our prayer: “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him.” How I love these glorious shalls and wills!Psalms 91:15. I will be with him in trouble;“Whatever that trouble is, I will be with him in it. If he be dishonoured, if he be in poverty, if he be in sickness, if that sickness should drive his best friend away from his bed, still, ‘I will be with him in trouble.’”Psalms 91:15. I will deliver him, and honour him.God puts honour upon us, poor dishonourable worms that we are. One old divine calls a man “a worm six feet long”; and it is rather a flattering description of him. But God says, “I will deliver him, and honour him.”Psalms 91:16. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.He will live as long as he wants to live. Even if he should have but few years, yet he shall have a long life; for life is to be measured by the life that is in it, not by the length along which it drags. Still, God’s children do live to a far longer age than any other people in the world; they are on the whole a long-lived race. They who fear God are delivered from the vices which would deprive them of the vigor of life; and the joy and contentment they have in God help them to live longer than others. I have often noticed how long God’s people live. Some of them are speedily taken home; still this text is, as a rule, literally fulfilled, “With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” He shall see God’s salvation even here; and when he dies, and wakes up in the likeness of his Lord, he will see it to the full. May that be the portion of each of us! Amen. Psalms 92:1. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:It is good in itself; it is good for those who hear it; but it is especially good for our own hearts to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto the name of the Most High. Sometimes, when we are very heavy in spirit, if we would take care not to defraud the Lord of the revenue of praise that is due unto him, we should find that the readiest way to bring comfort to ourselves is to sing praises unto his holy name. Brother and sisters in Christ, it is not very notable work to praise God when all things go well with us; it is far grander work to praise him when everything seems to be against us. It is because the nightingale doth sing by night that he hath such excellence among the birds, and if you and I can praise God in the dark, then we shall find that it is a good thing for ourselves to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto the name of the Most High.Psalms 92:2. To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithful every night, Begin the day by setting forth the Lord’s lovingkindness. It was his lovingkindness that watched over you when you lay unconscious and defenseless, and could not therefore protect yourself; it was his lovingkindness that drew wide the curtain of the night, that touched your eyelids, and awoke you out of that sleep which was the image of death, and bade you look out upon the rising sun. Therefore take the key of the morning to open the day, and let it be the golden key of praise; show forth the Lord’s lovingkindness in the morning. And when night comes again, let us then sing of God’s faithfulness. We have experienced it through another day, let us praise him for it. Now we see how he has borne with us, pardoned us, preserved us, supplied our needs, and continued to educate us throughout another day; let us therefore praise and bless his holy name, and so close the day, and commit ourselves to sleep again under his divine protection.Psalms 92:3. Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.Under the old dispensation, instrumental music seemed more congruous than it does now with the spiritual worship into which we have been introduced. If we must ever have instrumental music in our worship, let it be the same the very same as David had; and then I for one, though I should still think it be going back to the old dispensation long since superseded, would put up with it. I could never get much further than that, I think, for what instrument is there that is equal to the human voice, what music can be compared with it? All other sound is but the poor attempt of man to rival the creation of his God; but the human voice is full of charming melodies and harmonies, and if it be controlled by a true heart, there is nothing like it even to our ears, while it seems to me that it must be far more acceptable to God than the product of mere mechanism.Psalms 92:4. For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.There is a blessed verse to come from the heart and mind of a happy man who is praising God, and who looks on all the works of the Lord, in creation, providence, and redemption, and makes them all the subject of his joyous doing.Psalms 92:5. O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.There is little that we know of the thoughts of God except as we gather them from his works or learn them from his Word, “ for what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him ? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” It is by divine revelation that we must know the thoughts of God, and the more we know of them, the more shall we realize that they are very deep.Psalms 92:6. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.He looks at nature, and as he sees its varied operations, he observes certain eternal law as he calls them, but he does not see the power at the back of those laws which makes the laws potent for the government of the world. Nay, he lives and walks where God has displayed his power to the full, yet he fails to see him. It would be a strange proceeding for anyone to go into an artist’s house, and look at his picture and his sculpture, and yet never to think of him, but this is what the brutish man does with regard to the works of God, and with regard to God himself.Psalms 92:7. When the wicked spring as the grass, —Numerous, fresh, vigorous, —Psalms 92:7. And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:That is the end to which they will surely come, no matter how much they boast, nor how they grow and flourish till they seem, like the grass in the meadow, to cover everything, that you can go nowhere without seeing them. Yet “they shall be destroyed for ever.”Psalms 92:8. But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore. The psalmist began by calling the Lord most high, and now he says that he is “most high for evermore.” Yes, this is our joy that God never passes away; he abides for ever. Myriads of the ungodly have come and gone, empires of wickedness have risen to great power, and in due time have passed away like dreams, but we can still say, with the psalmist “Thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.” Psalms 92:9-10. For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn halt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil. The believer, though he is very weak in his own consciousness, and utterly insignificant in his own esteem, shall receive fresh power from God; and when the wicked melt away, he shall grow stronger and stronger.Psalms 92:11. Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ear shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise by against me.The translators put in the words my desire in both cases they are printed in italics to show that they are not in the original. No doubt the psalmist means that his eye should see the end of his enemies, and his ears should hear of their total overthrow.Psalms 92:12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.The palm tree flourishes amidst the desert sunshine, growing straight upright towards heaven without a branch that deviates to the right or the left, and bearing its great masses of fruit as near heaven as ever it can. It is a fine type of Christian life and growth and fruitfulness A Christian should also be “like a cedar in Lebanon,” firmly rooted in his appointed place, and defying the winter’s snows which threaten to bury him out of sight.Psalms 92:13. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our Lord.Like trees planted in the courtyard, screened and protected, such are true believer; God is their defense, and they are screened within the court of the Lord’s house.Psalms 92:14. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; When worldings decay, they shall still be fruitful. They shall not feel, as so many others do, that their age is a curse; it shall be to them a blessing, ripening them for eternity, and it shall be a blessing to all by whom they are surrounded.Psalms 92:15. To shew that the LORD is upright: he is my rock,Can each one of you say that concerning the Lord, “ He is my rock, my foundation, my refuge, my shelter “?Psalms 92:15. And there is no unrightousness in him.Say that when you have lost the dearest one you ever knew. Say that when your property has melted like the hoar frost in the morning. Say that when every bone in your body is aching, and some fell disease is hastening you to an early grave. . There is no unrighteousness in him.” How long have you known him? If it be seventy years or more than that, he has never been unfaithful to you, nor suffered a single promise of his to fail. Write this down as the testimony of the experience of all God’s people, “There is no unrighteousness is him.” Psalms 93THE theme of this psalm is God's superiority to all opposing powers, and the consequent safety of his church and people. There are strong reasons for believing that it was designed, with the one before it, to form a pair or double psalm. Besides those drawn from the number of verses and of the divine names, this whole psalm may be described as an amplification of the laconic dictum in Psalms 92:8 ). There is nothing to determine its precise date; but there seem to be expressions in it, which imply the existence of imminent danger to the theocracy from some great hostile power. 1. (Psalms 93:1) Jehovah reigns; (with) majesty he clothes himself; Jehovah clothes himself with strength (and) girds himself; also established is the world, it shall not be moved. The first clause does not simply affirm Jehovah's sovereignty as a general truth, but announces the fact that he has just become king or begun to reign, i. e. manifested himself anew in his regal character. The same form of the verb is used in reference to the accession of earthly monarchs, 2 Samuel 15:10, 1 Kings 1:11; 1 Kings 1:13, 2 Kings 9:13. The word translated majesty is the one applied in Psalms 89:10 to the swelling of the sea. Its use here may be intended to suggest the superiority of God to the powers of this world. Clothes himself with, literally puts on, wears. The other verb is reflective in form. The also introduces the consequence of this exaltation. See below, Psalms 96:10; Psalms 97:1; Psalms 99:1, and compare Isaiah 24:23, Obadiah 1:21, Zechariah 14:9, Revelation 11:17; Revelation 19:6. 2. (Psalms 93:2) Fixed (is) thy throne of old; from eternity (art) thou. Fixed, firmly established, permanently settled. Compare 2 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 7:16, 1 Kings 2:45. Of old, literally from then, as in the margin of the English Bible. Compare Proverbs 8:22, Isaiah 48:3; Isaiah 48:7. With the last clause compare Psalms 90:2, and with the whole verse Revelation 1:17. 3. (Psalms 93:3) The floods have raised, Jehovah, the floods have raised their voice; the floods will raise their crash, or crashing noise. The last Hebrew word occurs only here, but its etymology is obvious and perfectly analogous to that of waves or breakers in the next verse. The idea here conveyed is that of the noise made by the dashing of waves against each other or upon the shore. The preterite and future forms include the present, but suggest the additional idea of what has been heretofore and may be expected to continue hereafter. The emphatic repetition of the verb is like that in ver. 1, and reappears in this whole series (Psalms 91— 100.) as a characteristic feature. 4. (Psalms 93:4) More than the voices of waters— many— mighty— sea-billows— mighty in the high-place (is) Jehovah. More than, literally from, away from, the particle by which comparison is commonly expressed in Hebrew. The common version of the next clause, mighty waves of the sea, is scarcely grammatical, as the adjective, according to analogy and usage, cannot agree with the noun following, but must be in apposition with the adjective before it, and agree with the same object. The word translated mighty corresponds, in part, to our epithets, sublime and grand. See above, on Psalms 8:1. Sea-billows, literally breakers of the sea. Compare Psalms 42:7; Psalms 88:7, Jonah 2:3. That the comparison was meant to be between the noise of the sea and that of thunder considered as the voice of God, is an admissible but not a necessary supposition. See above, on Psalms 29:5. 5. (Psalms 93:5) Thy testimonies are sure, very (sure); to thy house suits (or is becoming) holiness, Jehovah, unto length of days. The testimonies of God are all the provisions of his Law, as in Psalms 19:7; Psalms 25:10, but with special reference, in this as in several other cases, to its promises. See above, on Psalms 60:1; Psalms 80:1. The verb here used is a passive, meaning strictly to be founded, settled, or secured. From this clause is borrowed the form of expression in Revelation 19:9; Revelation 21:5; Revelation 22:6. The intensive adverb very or exceedingly has the same effect as when in English we use an epithet and add extremely so or very much so. The verb translated suits (or is becoming) is the root of the adjective used in Psalms 33:1. Compare my note on Isaiah 52:7. Holiness is by some understood to mean sacredness, immunity from profanation, and of course from violent intrusion. See above, on Psalms 74:3. The house of God is here referred to, as the place where he dwelt with his people, and they with him. To length of days, see Psalms 23:6. This brief Psalm is without title or name of author, but its subject is obvious enough, being stated in the very first line. It is the Psalm of Omnipotent Sovereignty: Jehovah, despite all opposition, reigns supreme. Possibly at the time this sacred ode was written, the nation was in danger from its enemies, and the hopes of the people of God were encouraged by remembering that the Lord was still King. What sweeter and surer consolation could they desire? . Ver. 1. The LORD reigneth, or Jehovah reigns. Whatever opposition may arise, his throne is unmoved; he has reigned, does reign, and will reign for ever and ever. Whatever turmoil and rebellion there may be beneath the clouds, the eternal King sits above all in supreme serenity; and everywhere he is really Master, let his foes rage as they may. All things are ordered according to his eternal purposes, and his will is done. In the verse before us it would seem as if the Lord had for a while appeared to vacate the throne, but on a sudden he puts on his regal apparel and ascends his lofty seat, while his happy people proclaim him with new joy, shouting "The Lord reigneth." What can give greater joy to a loyal subject than a sight of the king in his beauty? Let us repeat the proclamation, "the Lord reigneth, " whispering it in the ears of the desponding, and publishing it in the face of the foe. He is clothed with majesty. Not with emblems of majesty, but with majesty itself: everything which surrounds him is majestic. His is not the semblance but the reality of sovereignty. In nature, providence, and salvation the Lord is infinite in majesty. Happy are the people among whom the Lord appears in all the glory of his grace, conquering their enemies, and subduing all things unto himself; then indeed is he seen to be clothed with majesty. The LORD is clothed with strength. His garments of glory are not his only array, he wears strength also as his girdle. He is always strong, but sometimes he displays his power in a special manner, and may therefore be said to be clothed with it; just as he is always majestic essentially, but yet there are seasons when he reveals his glory, and so wears his majesty, or shows himself in it. May the Lord appear in his church, in our day in manifest majesty and might, saving sinners, slaying errors, and honouring his own name. O for a day of the Son of man, in which the King Immortal and Almighty shall stand upon his glorious high throne, to be feared in the great congregation, and admired by all them that believe. Wherewith he hath girded himself. As men gird up their loins for running or working, so the Lord appears in the eyes of his people to be preparing for action, girt with his omnipotence. Strength always dwells in the Lord Jehovah, but he hides his power full often, until, in answer to his children's cries, he puts on strength, assumes the throne, and defends his own. It should be a constant theme for prayer, that in our day the reign of the Lord may be conspicuous, and his power displayed in his church and on her behalf. "Thy kingdom come" should be our daily prayer: that the Lord Jesus does actually reign should be our daily praise. The world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. Because Jehovah reigns terrestrial things for a while are stable. We could not be sure of anything if we were not sure that he has dominion. When he withdraws his manifest presence from among men all things are out of order; blasphemers rave, persecutors rage, the profane grow bold, and the licentious increase in wantonness; but when the divine power and glory are again manifested order is restored, and the poor distracted world is at peace again. Society would be the football of the basest of mankind if God did not establish it, and even the globe itself would fly through space, like thistle down across the common, if the Lord did not hold it in its appointed orbit. That there is any stability, either in the world or in the church, is the Lord's doings, and he is to be adored for it. Atheism is the mother of anarchy; the reigning power of God exhibited in true religion is the only security for the human commonwealth. A belief in God is the foundation and cornerstone of a well ordered state. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. This is one of those magnificent psalms which describe Jehovah's reign. Even Jewish interpreters say of them: "these all treat of the things which will take place in the times of Messiah." Throughout it reads like a commentary and application of the great fundamental truth, "Jehovah reigneth." Already he hath laid the foundations of his kingdom in his Church, and anon shall he in his faithfulness and power establish it. Those elements which have hitherto resisted shall not be allowed to continue. Right royally he manifests himself. "He is clothed with majesty; clothed is Jehovah, might hath he girt about him." The present state of things is connected with Christ's humiliation. But when he puts on his royal mantle of majesty, and girds about him the sword of his might: "thus the world shall be established; it cannot be moved." And yet, though seemingly the enemy has long prevailed, "Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting." The establishment of his throne is the ground and the pledge of the establishment of the world and of his kingdom. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever." In view of all this the Church stands a wondering spectator, first struck with awe, and then filled with adoring, gratitude. "The floods have lifted up, 0 Jehovah, they have lifted up their roaring; the floods are lifting up their dashing noise." The latter term refers to the sound of the waves as they break, and in connexion with it the change of tense is very marked. The enemies of God and his kingdom have risen like the floods or waves of the sea, lashed by the storm; with roaring noise have they advanced; but as they near the vessel which bears the King, their noise is that of waves dashing into foam. Their utmost nearness is— to their destruction; their utmost noise is— in breaking. And even now, and in the height of the storm also far overtopping not only all danger, but even its threatening noise, is Jehovah. "Jehovah on high" (even there) "is mightier than the roaring of many waters and mighty, than the breaking waves of the sea" (the word here rendered "breaking waves" being literally a derivative from the verb to break). What a picture this of our safety; what an epitome of the history of God's government and of his church! Thus the calming of the storm on the lake of Galilee was not only a parabolic representation of the history of the Kingdom of God, but also typical of the final consummation of all things; a summary of the past, a prophecy of the future, a type of the end. And what applies to the Church as a whole, holds equally true of individual believers. Let us ever remember that the noise is that of the breaking wave. Our greatest dangers are only breaking waves; waves which break at his feet. The same expression is also sometimes applied to the waves of God's wrath or judgments threatening to engulf the believer, as in Psalms 42:7 88:7. These also, blessed be his name, are only breaking waves. Meanwhile, while waiting for the manifestation of his majesty and might, "we have the more sure word of prophecy." "Thy testimonies are very sure" (very reliable, literally very Amen-ed): and, so far as we are concerned, our faith and patience are tried and proved: "Holiness becometh thine house, 0 LORD, for ever." Thus we have here the history of the Church of God deduced from the text, "Jehovah reigneth." Those words are to us as "a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the daystar arise in our hearts." So long as they are left us, all that threatens us from without is only like the noise of the breaking wave. The unspeakable comfort conveyed in this assurance is ever tested in the experience of God's people. There is no truth more precious to the heart of the Christian than that "the LORD reigneth." The conviction of this must carry us far above all cares and fears. A personal God, a living God, a reigning God— alike in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth— and this God the Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, — such are the steps by which we reach a height, where, far removed from the turmoil of men, we gain a comprehensive and clear view of earth and its concerns. I would not exchange the assurance which these two words, "Jehovah reigneth, "convey, for all the wisdom, combined with all the power, of this world. Received into my heart, they are the solution of every difficulty, the end of all perplexity. It seems to me as if, after puzzling over the cross writing and hieroglyphics of men, I turned a fresh leaf, on the top of which stood these words, as the text to be preached out in all history, whether of the individual, the family, or the nation, the Church or the world. It seems as if, after revolving sorrowfully and helplessly all the difficulties and wants which distress my heart, I were at once rising above those floating clouds into clear atmosphere: as if all at once I were unburdened; as if I had reached a haven of rest; as if I had found a firm foundation, an ultimate principle. After all, in every real trial there is but this one final and full comfort. What matters the opinion of men, — who may be for and who against me; who may be with me, or who may leave me. Who would speak of prospects or probabilities, of the support to be derived from wealth or power, or of the defections of friends on whose sympathy and help we had counted? "Jehovah reigneth!" There is light here across my every path, provided I follow Christ, walking in the narrow way. Only let me be sure that, in any and every respect, I am on the Lord's side and in the Lord's way, and I ask no more. My God has all the silver and all the gold in his own hand. He holdeth the hearts of all men at his disposal; he directeth all events, from the least to the greatest. If I want power with God or with men, let me pray; for, Jehovah reigneth. Nor let me think that special interpositions are either impossible or rare. They are constant. The course of God's providence is one of constant interposition; for "all things work together for good to them that love God." Only these interpositions are not violent, and therefore not noticed by the superficial observer; they are the interpositions of all wise and almighty God, not of poor, weak man; they are the interpositions, not interferences; they are the working of the machinery by the Mastermind which designed, and the Master hand which framed it. They are not the stoppage, but the working of the machinery, whereby its real object is wrought out. Lastly, let me note in the Psalm these three things: In creation and nature:preestablished law along with continuous, personal government, — not as opposed to, but as presupposing one another (Psalms 93:1-2). In Providence:"The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters" — which would otherwise strike terror, even as their swelling would threaten constant danger. And in grace:"His testimonies are very sure." I can rest on them. Not one tittle or iota shall fall to the ground. Wherever I have a word of promise, I can safely plant my steps. The conclusion and inference from the whole matter is that "holiness" — not fear nor man serving, but separation unto the Lord—"becometh, "or is the right, wise, and proper attitude of his house and people. Alfred Edersheim, in "The Golden Diary of Heart Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms, "1866. Whole Psalm. It is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud that it was the custom of the Jews to sing this psalm on the sixth day of the week, to which it is well suited as celebrating the reestablishing and founding again of the world in the new creation (Psalms 93:1): which is confirmed by a title given to it in the Septuagint—"On the day before the Sabbath, when the earth was founded: A Psalm of thanksgiving to (or for) David" — adopted by the Vulgate and the Oriental Version in general. And thus is this Psalm identified in subject with the preceding: as also Hengstenberg observes— "The reference, which it is impossible not to notice, in which `The Lord on high is mightier, 'here (Psalms 93:4) stands to `But Thou, Lord, art most high for evermore' (Psalms 92:8) — the kernel and middle point of the whole psalm— has already led commentators to notice a near connexion between these two psalms... which is decidedly favoured by the contents; both psalms minister consolation to the Church, exposed to danger by the might of the world." He might have added— in the promise they give of "the rest the Sabbatism that remains to the people of God, "when both shall be fulfilled. W. De Burgh. Ver. 1. The LORD reigneth. It is a kind of proclamation in which God's people are invited to declare before men and angels that the Lord is King, He and He only. It is the response of the Church to the preaching of the gospel— so rapturously hailed in Isaiah— the preaching of the messenger "that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" William Binnie. Ver. 1. The LORD. He describes God by the name Jehovah, partly, to lead us to think of the God of Israel, accustomed by this name to be distinguished from the gods of the nations; partly, to call to mind the virtues of veracity, grace and justice, comprehended by this name, and now clearly made known... When he says, Jehovah reigns, without adding any restriction, or mentioning any people, it would seem that the Kingdom of Jehovah is to be taken absolutely and generally, with equal reference to the government of the world and the church. In the former sense Jehovah may be said to reign, not as if He then at last begun to reign, but because He proved himself to be the King of the world in an extraordinary way, by giving public and manifest signs; by which it was clearly established that Jehovah is the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Lord and Ruler of the whole universe, and a just and equitable judge, in inflicting notable judgements upon sinners, in casting down the idols, and vindicating the cause of true religion and virtue. This meaning I regard as contained in the general proposition: yet directly in its primary signification I understand the Kingdom of God in His Church, partly, because God is here said to vindicate the cause of religion, and of his people; partly, he is said, in Psalms 99:1 to show himself exalted in Zion, and there to undertake the Kingdom, Isaiah 24:23, and often elsewhere in the Prophetic word; and lastly, because Jehovah, the King of his people, he himself who reigns, is set forth as the ruler of the universe. He is the King therefore of his people, He has his Kingdom in their midst, but to Him all things in heaven and earth are subject as well. In this latter sense, therefore, the phrase, Jehovah has reigned, will stand for, He has undertaken the Kingdom, He is become King, as it is often used in the histories of the Kings of Judah and Israel; so also in Isaiah 28:23, and elsewhere... When He is said to have taken the Kingdom in the midst of his people, it must not be understood absolutely, but in a restricted sense, in reference partly to the manner and form of rule, being more or less theocratic;partly, to the displays of the Divine Majesty, being more or less conspicuous; and partly, to the servile or afflicted state of his people, as extending from the Babylonish exile to the time of the Maccabees. In which times God is said to have taken the Kingdom, in many other prophecies beside this, Isaiah 24:21-23, Obad., ult. Micah 4:6-8. Venema. Ver. 1. The LORD reigneth. These are the initial words of Psa 97:1 and Psalms 99:1 also. Perhaps a threefold manner of reigning is suggested, namely, over things subjected to God by a natural necessity, over those that resist his will and as far as in them lies withdraw themselves from his dominion, and over those who spontaneously and freely obey. For in this place the Kingdom is declared to be coextensive with the foundation of the world: in Psalms 97:1 it is hinted at for the exultation of the earth, and for the gladness of the isles; in Psalms 99:1 God is said to reign, although the people are angry, and the earth is filled with commotion. Zorinus. Ver. 1. The LORD reigneth. Having considered in all quarters the worldly rule of idols, and earthly deities or kings, the Psalmist at last bursts forth into the words which attribute supreme government to none other, but to Jehovah the true God. Let it be granted that the monarchs of Assyria, the kings of Egypt, and the masters of other nations, extend their empire far and wide; let it be allowed that royal majesty is ascribed to the idols by their worshippers; yet all these are as nothing to the kingdom and majesty of Jehovah. Martin Geier. Ver. 1. The LORD reigneth, i.e., the Lord has become King (Psalms 96:10 97:1 99:1). The formula proclaimed at the accession of earthly sovereigns (2 Samuel 15:10 1 Kings 1:11; 1 Kings 1:13; margin, 2 Kings 9:13, "Jehu reigneth"). The reference is not to the ordinary and constant government of God, but to his assuming a new and glorious kingdom. The arrogant proclamation of the world power was virtually "the Assyrian reigneth"; the overthrow of him was God's counter proclamation: "The Lord (Jehovah) reigneth." The antitypical sense is, the world powers under Antichrist, energized by Satan (Revelation 16:14 17:12-14,17), shall make one last desperate stroke, seemingly for the moment successful, for the dominion of the earth, in defiance of the Lord, (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12) But Christ will take his great power and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, having overthrown utterly the antichristian enemy. (Isaiah 24:23 Obadiah 1:21; Zechariah 14:9 Revelation 11:15,17 19:6.) A. R. Fausset. Ver. 1. The LORD reigneth. The very first words of this psalm seem to indicate a morning of calm repose after a night of storm, a day of stillness after the tumult of battle. "The LORD reigneth." "He hath put all enemies under his feet." Barton Bouchier. Ver. 1. The world also is established. The word world is properly taken for the habitable globe, and metonymically for the inhabitants of the earth. This is clear from Psalms 24:1-2 89:12 9:9; Psalms 96:1,3 98:9. In this passage the former signification seems to obtain, because this majestic King has fortified no tower or palace strongly, but the whole world, by the word of his power, that therein there might be a constant habitation for the men who worship Him, even to the destined day of the last judgment. Martin Geier. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Whole Psalm. Revivals of religion described. 1. God reigns. 2. His power is felt. 3. His kingdom is established. 4. Opposition is overcome. 5. The word is valued. 6. Holiness is cultivated. Ver. 1-2. The prophet in the first verse describes our King: 1. From his office. (a) He "reigns." He is the great and chief Monarch; he is no idle spectator of things below; but wisely, and justly, and powerfully administers all things. (b) He is a glorious King: "He is clothed with majesty." (c) He is a potent King: "The Lord is clothed with strength." (d) He is a warlike King: "He hath girded himself, " buckled his sword upon his armour; for offence towards his enemies, for defence of his kingdom. 2. From his kingdom. (a) It is universal: "The world." (b) It is fixed, firm, and stable: "The world also is stablished, and cannot be moved." (c) It is an everlasting kingdom: "From everlasting to everlasting; thy throne is established of old; thou art from everlasting." Adam Clarke. Ver. 1-2. Shew, 1. The royal proclamation. 2. The imperial robe. 3. The stable kingdom. 4. The ancient throne. 5. The Eternal King. C.A.D. Ver. 1-2. 1. Make the great proclamation. The right, stability, antiquity, extent, perpetuity of the Lord's dominion. 2. Note the different emotions it inspires. In the rebellious, condemned, loyal, &c. 3. Negotiate for submission to the King. C. A. D. Psalms 93:2* . Ver. 2. Thy throne is established of old. Though thou mayest just now appear in more conspicuous sovereignty, yet thine is no upstart sovereignty: in the most ancient times thy dominion was secure, yea, before time was thy throne was set up. We often hear of ancient dynasties, but what are they when compared with the Lord? Are they not as the bubble on the breaker, born an instant ago and gone as soon as seen? Thou art from everlasting. The Lord himself is eternal. Let the believer rejoice that the government under which he dwells has an immortal ruler at its head, has existed from all eternity and will flourish when all created things shall have for ever passed away. Vain are the rebellions of mortals, the kingdom of God is not shaken. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. Thy throne is established. The invariable perpetuity of the divine kingdom is celebrated in these words. No vicissitudes are apprehended there, as in earthly monarchies and kingdoms, where thrones are not infrequently shaken, either on account of the death of their kings or principal men, or by reason of the unfaithfulness of subjects or ministers, or because of the schemes or attacks of enemies; none of which can disturb the divine rule. Martin Geier. Ver. 2. Thy throne is established of old. Lest any one should suspect that the royal dignity depicted and demonstrated in the previous verse by the creation of the world, which was the effect of kingly power and majesty, was a new thing or came into existence yesterday or the day before, or that God had recently obtained the office of ruling and governing, or that by long use and experience he had acquired skill, or held a somewhat foreign throne as other kings are wont, he says that this dignity is as ancient as creation itself, so that the throne of this kingdom was founded at the very time when the foundations of the earth were laid; and as the earth was established by him as his footstool, so the heaven was his throne, (Isaiah 66:1), which endures for ever. Especially does he teach that from eternity, before the formation of the world, God always remained the same in himself, not needing creation or any creature, thereby to obtain any new perfection. Lorinus. Ver. 2. Of old. The Italian, from all eternity:Hebrew, from then;an Hebrew phrase to signify an eternity without any beginning, Proverbs 8:22 : as eternity without end is signified by another term, which is as much as, until then. Diodati. Psalms 93:3* . Ver. 3. The floods have lifted up, 0 LORD. Men have raged like angry waves of the sea, but vain has been their tumult. Observe that the psalmist turns to the Lord when he sees the billows foam, and hears the breakers roar; he does not waste his breath by talking to the waves, or to violent men; but like Hezekiah he spreads the blasphemies of the wicked before the Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. These repetitions are needed for the sake both of the poetry and the music, but they also suggest the frequency and the violence of wicked assaults upon the government of God, and the repeated defeats which they sustain. Sometimes men are furious in words— they lift up their voice, and at other times they rise to acts of violence— they lift up their waves; but the Lord has control over them in either case. The ungodly are all foam and fury, noise and bluster, during their little hour, and then the tide turns or the storm is hushed, and we hear no more of them; while the kingdom of the Eternal abides in the grandeur of its power. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. The floods have lifted up, etc. Advisedly in this place does he make mention of floods, in order better to depict the effects of war. For when rivers are raised and swollen with inundations, they burst the restraining banks, and sweep far and wide over the neighbouring plains, carrying everything in their course. Such is the manner of war; when armies are despatched into countries, they lay waste and fill all places with slaughter. Whence Virgil employs this simile (Aeneid 2) in describing the violence of the Grecian army breaking into the citadel of Priam, —rendered by Dryden thus — "In rush the Greeks, and all the apartments fill; Those few defendants whom they find, they kill. Not with so fierce a rage the foaming flood Roars, when he finds his rapid course withstood; Bears down the dittos with unresisted sway, And sweeps the cattle and the cots away." Mollerus. Ver. 3. Their waves. The word k signifies a wave; because the water being dashed against a rock, or the shore, or another wave, is broken into spray. For the central idea of the word is breaking. And this aptly serves to picture the issue of those commotions and wars which are undertaken for the overthrow of empires and the church. For as mighty waves fill the beholders with horror, so great and powerful armies fill all things with fear and terror. But as the waves striking, in a moment are broken, and disappear, so the mighty power of kings and princes is often dissolved at one glance of God. The Church dwells in this life, as a rock in the waves, beaten by the waves of every tempest; but yet remains immutable, because the Son of God confirms and sustains her. Mollerus. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 3. The voice of the floods. 1. The voice of Nature is the voice of God. 2. It is a voice from God. 3. It is a voice for God. "God hath a voice that ever is heard, In the peal of the thunder, the chirp of the bird: It comes in the torrent, all rapid and strong, In the streamlet's soft gush, as it ripples along; In the waves of the ocean, the furrows of land, In the mountain of granite, the atom of sand; Turn where ye may, from the sky to the sod, Where can ye gaze that ye see not a God?" G. R. Poetry by Eliza Cook. Psalms 93:4* . Ver. 4. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters. The utmost of their power is to him but a sound and he can readily master it, therefore he calls it a noise by way of contempt. When men combine to overthrow the kingdom of Jesus, plot secretly, and by and by rage openly, the Lord thinks no more of it than of so much noise upon the sea beach. Jehovah, the self existent and omnipotent, cares not for the opposition of dying men, however many or mighty they may be. "Loud the stormy billows spoke, Loud the billows raised their cry; Fierce the stormy billows broke, Sounding to the echoing sky. Strong the breakers tossing high, Stronger is Jehovah's might. True thy words; and sanctity Well becomes thy temple bright." Yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. When the storm raises Atlantic billows, and drives them on with terrific force, the Lord is still able to restrain them, and so also when impious men are haughty and full of rage the Lord is able to subdue them and overrule their malice. Kings or mobs, emperors or savages, all are in the Lord's hands, and he can forbid their touching a hair of the heads of his saints. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 4. The LORD on high. "On high" is not to be regarded in the sense of locality, as none compete with God in that, but in reference to dominion and glory. Martin Geier. Ver. 4. The LORD on high is mightier, etc. Therefore consider not so much thy distress, as thy Deliverer; and when men's malicious combination may affright thee, let Divine association support thee. The danger may exceed thy resistance, but not God's assistance; the enemies' power may surpass thy strength, their subtlety outwit thy prudence, but neither can excel the wisdom and might of God that is with thee. O learn therefore to try God in his strength, to trust him in difficulties; and when the merciless waves are ready to swallow thee; commit thyself to his custody. The mariner in straits looks up to heaven, do thou so; and remember that when the waters of affliction are never so high, yet "the Lord on high is mightier than they." Abraham Wright. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 4. 1. God is mighty in creation. 2. He is mightier in providence. 3. He is mightiest in redemption. G. R. Psalms 93:5* . Ver. 5. Thy testimonies are very sure. As in providence the throne of God is fixed beyond all risk, so in revelation his truth is beyond all question. Other teachings are uncertain, but the revelations of heaven are infallible. As the rocks remain unmoved amid the tumult of the sea, so does divine truth resist all the currents of man's opinion and the storms of human controversy; they are not only sure, but very sure. Glory be to God, we have not been deluded by a cunningly devised fable: our faith is grounded upon the eternal truth of the Most High. Holiness becometh thine house, 0 LORD, for ever. Truth changes not in its doctrines, which are very sure, nor holiness in its precepts, which are incorruptible. The teaching and the character of God are both unaltered. God has not admitted evil to dwell with him, he will not tolerate it in his house, he is eternally its enemy, and is for ever the sworn friend of holiness. The church must remain unchanged, and for ever be holiness unto the Lord; yea, her King will preserve her undefiled by the intruder's foot. Sacred unto the Lord is the church of Jesus Christ, and so shall she be kept evermore. "Jehovah reigns, "is the first word and the main doctrine of the psalm, and holiness is the final result; a due esteem for the great King will lead us to adopt a behaviour becoming his royal presence. Divine sovereignty both confirms the promises as sure testimonies, and enforces the precepts as seemly and becoming in the presence of so great a Lord. The whole psalm is most impressive, and is calculated to comfort the distressed, confirm the timorous, and assist the devout. O thou who art so great and gracious a King, reign over us for ever! We do not desire to question or restrain thy power, such is thy character that we rejoice to see thee exercise the rights of an absolute monarch. All power is in thine hands, and we rejoice to have it so. Hosanna! Hosanna! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 5. Thy testimonies, i.e., thy words; either, 1. Thy precepts, which are commonly called God's testimonies. And so having spoken of God's kingdom, he now showeth that the laws of that kingdom are just, and true, and holy; which is a singular commendation of it. Or, 2. Thy promises, as may be gathered from the following words, "are sure, "or true, or faithful;which attribute properly belongs, and everywhere in Scripture is ascribed, to promises rather than to precepts. And the promises no less than the precepts are God's testimonies, or the witnesses or declarations of his mind and will to mankind. And he seems here to speak of those great and precious promises concerning the erection and establishment of his kingdom in the world by the Messias; which, saith he, are infallibly true, and shall certainly be accomplished in thy time. Matthew Pool. Ver. 5. Holiness becometh thine house, O LORD. Singular things are expected of all that draw nigh to God in any duty, but especially in the office of the ministry; they must sanctify themselves with a singular care above that of the rest of the people. Those that stand in the presence of princes must be exact in their carriage. God appointed both the weights and measures of the sanctuary to be twice as large as those of the commonwealth, to shew that he expects much more of those that serve him there, than he doth of others. Holiness becomes every house well, but best God's; and every man, but most of all the minister, who is the mirror in which the people behold heaven, and the convoy to direct them thither. Now if the glass be spotted, instead of an angel they look upon a fury; and if the conduct be false, there is more danger in the guide than the way. None, therefore, are to walk so strictly as the ministry. Abraham Wright. Ver. 5. Holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever. No hangings, no tapestry become God's house so well as holiness; and no place is so proper as the house of God for this costly, comely furniture... The blind heathen were choice and devout in the service of dumb idols; they served them in white, an emblem of purity; they thought nothing too good for those false gods, for whom the worst was not bad enough. Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, enacted, that none should serve the gods obiter, or by the by, that their sacrificers should purify themselves some days beforehand. George Swinnock. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 5. 1. Faithfulness becometh the word of God. 2. Holiness becometh the house of God. G. R. Ver. 5 (last clause). 1. Holiness becometh God's typical house, the temple. 2. His greater spiritual house, the church. 3. His smaller spiritual house, the believer. 4. His eternal house, heaven. C. A. D. This is the prayer of a man of God in great trouble, standing out for God in an evil day, when the Lord’s people were greatly oppressed, and the honour of God was being trampled in the mire. The prayer wells up from an oppressed heart struggling against great difficulty.Psalms 94:1. LORD God, —“ O Jehovah, El.” Men of God in trouble delight to call upon the name of the Lord. His very name is a stronghold to them; the infinite Jehovah, the strong God, EL: “O Lord God,”-Psalms 94:1. To whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.Vengeance does not belong to us; it is not right for any private individual to attempt to avenge himself; but vengeance belongeth to the just Judge, who will mete out to all the due reward of evil or of good. Hence, my appeal is to the Court of King’s Bench, or higher still, to the King himself: “O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.” When false doctrine abounds, only God can put it down. All the efforts of the faithful will be futile apart from him.Psalms 94:2-4. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and Speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? That expression, “ How long?” repeated three times, is very sorrowful; it seems to get into a kind of howling or wailing; but a child of God, when he sees things going wrong with his Lord’s kingdom must grow somewhat impatient, and he vies out to his God, “How long ? How long ? How long wilt thou bear it ?” The very triumphs of the wicked, and the hard things they say, with which they seem to bubble over like fountains, stir the heart of the man of God to its very depths. He gets by himself alone, and grieves before God of, and out of a full heart he thus cries to him, How long shall they utter and speak hard things ? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves ?”Psalms 94:5. They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, —There is a strong plea. Hear that declaration, for the Lord of hosts says to his people, “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye.” In days of persecution the saints earnestly pray in this fashion, “They break in pieces thy people, Jehovah,”Psalms 94:5-6. And afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.This made the appeal still stronger, for God’s is “a Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows.”Psalms 94:7. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.Yet this very God of Jacob came to the troubled patriarch at Jabbok, and blessed him there, and he said to heathen kings, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm,” so can it be true that he does not see and regard what the wicked I do to his people? They dare to say so, and render themselves the more brazen in their sin because of this their infidelity.Psalms 94:8. Understand, ye brutish among the people:Here the pleader turn into a prophet, and, after having spoken to God, he now speaks to men. Understand, ye boors,” for so the word may be rendered, “ye swine among the people:”Psalms 94:9. And ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shalt he not see? You say that God does not see, that he does not regard; but how can that be? You are mad to talk so. He that gave men the sense of hearing, cannot he himself hear? He that gave them sight, cannot he see “Shall he who, with transcendent skill, Fashion’d the eye, and form’d the ear; Who modell’d nature to his will, Shall he not see ? Shall he not hear ? “Vain hope! His eye at once surveys Whatever fills creation’s space; He sees our thoughts, and marks our ways, He knows no bounds of time and place.”Psalms 94:10. He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He judges are nations, read the Book of Providence, and see how he deals out justice to nation after nation, so shall he not also correct the individual man :Psalms 94:10. He that teacheth man knowledge,If you look at your Bibles, you will see that the translators have put in here the words “shall not he know “ They are printed in italics because they are not in the original. The original is very abrupt, it is as if the psalmist had said, “There, I am tired of arguing with you. You can draw your own inference; I will leave you to do that for yourselves. Fools as you are, I need not draw the inference for you.” “He that teacheth man knowledge.” Does man really know anything unless God teaches him ? Adam was taught of God at the first, and every particle of true science that man knows has been imparted by God. I do not say that God is the author of the science of today; much of that evidently comes from man; but all true knowledge is imparted to us by God. “He that teacheth man knowledge,” do you think, do you dream that he does not himself know everything?Psalms 94:10-11. Shall not he know? The LORD knoweth the thought of man, that they are vanity.He knows that men are vanity, that they are, according to one translation, a vapor. The men themselves are but a vapor; but as for their thoughts, their intellect, their power to think, that of which many men are most proud, what does God think of this? What a wonderful thing “modern thought” seems to be ! But listen to this, “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are nothing.” Vanity is a negation, it is a bubble, a thing poked up, that has no substance in it: “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.”Psalms 94:12. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teach him out of thy law; These are two things that go well together, — a rod and a book; no man ever learns much without both rod and book. “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest.” The book is never properly understood without some touches of the rod, but the book must be there also: “and teaches” him out of thy law, “for, if it were all rod and no book, there would be plenty of sores, but there would be no learning. Have you got the two together, my dear friend ? Have you been of late very much with the book in a nook, and very much with the rod upon your bed ? Well then you are a blessed man, for the psalmist says, “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teaches” him out of thy law.”Psalms 94:13. That thou mayest give him a rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.In these days, the quiet virtues are not prized as much as they ought to be. Men are always busy, they must be ever on the trot; but blessed is the man who is so taught by the book and by the rod that he comes to a holy quietism, and learns to rest. The best rester is the best worker. He who knows how to sit at Jesus’ feet knows how to work for Jesus better than if he were continually running about, and getting cumbered with much service. We never learn the secret of this rest by the book alone, or by the rod alone; but the rod and the book together teach us to rest from the days of adversity; they teach us not to lay the present too much to heart, not to fret because of things as they are today, but to think of what is to be in that day when the righteous shall be rewarded, and when the mighty Hunter shall have trapped his adversary and ours, when the pit shall be digged for the wicked, and Satan’s power shall be for ever destroyedPsa_94:14. For the LORD will not cast off his people,He may cast them down, but he will never cast them off.Psalms 94:14. Neither will he forsake his inheritance.Even men will not give up their inheritance. This is especially the case among the Jews; you remember how Naboth would not sell his inheritance, he would sooner die. And the Lord will not forsake his inheritance, there is a sacred entail upon his people that never can be broken; and he will never give them up.Psalms 94:15. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.The wicked may be the upper spokes of the wheel just now, but they will be the lower spokes before long. Truth may be in the mire today, but she shall be upon them tomorrow. The revolutions of the wheels of providence produce strange changes. Wait; work; watch; for the Lord will set things right in his own good time.Psalms 94:16. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? The psalmist appeals for helpers, but he gets no response from man; and sometimes the man of God will have to stand alone, and that is an education for him. Blessed is he who has learned to hang on the bare arm of God; he is better off without his earthly friends than he was with them. Here is the answer to the psalmist’s question: —Psalms 94:17. Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.You may be one of the best of God’s servants, and yet that may be your experience. Here is another piece of testimony in which many of us can join: —Psalms 94:18. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.“My foot had slipped from under me, I was down; and then, even then, thou didst put underneath me thine everlasting arms. ‘Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.’”Psalms 94:19. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. “My thoughts” — so some read this verse, — “seem intertwisted and interlaced like the many boughs of a tree. I cannot make them out myself, they are in such a tangle.” But the bird has learned to sit among the boughs, and sing: “Thy comforts delight my soul.” There are thoughts of grief, thoughts of fear, thoughts of disappointment, thoughts of desertion, thoughts of a broken heart, all sorts of thoughts, but God’s comforts come in, and delight the soul. You know what it is — do you not? — to be cast down, but not destroyed, to be troubled, and yet to be happy. “As sorrowful,” says Paul, “yet always rejoicing;” whereupon an old divine remarks that it is “as sorrowful” — quasi sorrowful; but it is not “as alway rejoicing.” There is no “quasi” to that, but there is a real joy in the midst of a seeming sorrow. “In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”Psalms 94:20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?Lord, art thou on their side? Oh, no, and as thou art not on their side, I care not who is. So long as thou wilt not aid iniquity or help wrong-doing, I will fight the battle through.Psalms 94:21-22. They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defense; and my God is the rock of my refuge.He gets away unto his God as he had been accustomed to hide in the cave of Adullam out of reach of his foes; and then he sits down in peace to sing.Psalms 94:23. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off. Psalms 95:1-2. O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. There must be, there should be, joy in our worship, it is the very juice, the wine that floweth from the trodden grape. It is the cream of the soul when the heart takes delight in God and joys in him. To worship as if it were mere duty would be but the reverence of slaves before one who is dreaded, but to worship with delight, this is the adoration of children who come to whom they love. God grant us that joy while we adore the Lord. Let us, however, mingle great reverence with joy.Psalms 95:3. For the LORD is a great God, and a great king above all gods.“For the Lord is a great God.” Jehovah is a great God, “and a great King above all gods,” above all that are ever called gods, whether they be kings or magistrates, or whatever they may be.Psalms 95:4. In his hand are the deep place of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.Low and high, mysterious, sublime, the dominion of God encompasseth all nature.Psalms 95:5. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.Creation is the best ground for possession: what he made is his own, the great freeholder, the sovereign lord of all.Psalms 95:6-7. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God;“For he is our God.” Oh, that is the sweetest of it all, — “he is our God.” Let lords and lands have what masters they will, let us obey and worship our own God still.Psalms 95:7. And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.He is the shepherd, leading, feeding, protecting, guarding us every day.Psalms 95:7-10. To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation.Was not that enough? Is there any need to grieve him again. Think with sympathy of what God endured from one generation, and let not another generation follow in their evil footsteps.Psalms 95:10. And said, It is a people that do err in their heart,Not merely through ignorance, but “in their heart.” They were not alone with their feet and their tongue, but in their hearts.Psalms 95:10. And they have not known my ways:They have seen them but not understood them. He says, “They saw my work,” but you may see and yet not know, for what is merely seen with the eye but not understood by the heart is not known; they were a willful, erring people, and an ignorant people.Psalms 95:11. Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.Ah me! Psalms 96A JOYOUS celebration of the universal spread of the true religion and conversion of the Gentiles. The structure of the psalm is perfectly simple, and all attempts at artificial subdivision and arrangement are either wholly arbitrary or founded upon dubious hypotheses. The marked resemblance of the diction to that of Isaiah in his later prophecies, has been thought to fix the date of the composition as posterior to that prophet. This seems indeed to be forbidden by the fact that in 1 Chronicles 16, as commonly interpreted, this psalm, with portions of others, is said to have been sung at the dedication of the tabernacle on mount Zion in the time of David. But according to Hengstenberg, the true sense of that passage is, that David instituted the musical service of the sanctuary, of which samples are then given, taken not from the most ancient psalms, but from those most familiar to the people when the history was written. See below, the prefatory note to Psalms 105 and Psalms 106. The psalm before us seem to form a pair or double psalm with that preceding, the Jews and Gentiles being then successively addressed, as in Isaiah 2:3-5, but in an inverted order. 1. (Psalms 96:1) Sing unto Jehovah a new song; sing unto Jehovah all the earth. A new song implies fresh occasion to praise God, not for the mere repetition of his former favours, but for some new dispensation of his grace. See above, on Psalms 33:3; Psalms 40:2. The one here meant is the extension of his favour to the nations, who are therefore summoned in the last clause to celebrate his praise themselves. Compare Isaiah 42:10, Revelation 5:9-10. 2. (Psalms 96:2) Sing unto Jehovah, bless his name, proclaim from day to day his salvation. To bless his name is to praise him for the manifestation of his attributes. The verb translated proclaim is constantly applied to joyful tidings. See above, on Psalms 40:9; Psalms 68:11, and compare Isaiah 60:9; Isaiah 52:7; Isaiah 60:6. The phrase from day to day implies that the occasion of the praise required is not a transient one but permanent and perpetual. His salvation, that which he hast wrought, provided and revealed, not for the Jews only but for the Gentiles also. With this and the preceding verse compare 1 Chronicles 16:23. 3. (Psalms 96:3) Recount among the nations his glory, among all the peoples his wonders. The use of glory, to denote the special manifestation of God's attributes, is a characteristic feature of Isaiah's later prophecies. To preclude all doubt as to the extent of the invitation, the ambiguous expression all the earth, in ver. 1, is here explained to mean the nations, and then still more absolutely all the peoples. The only variation of the parallel passage (1 Chronicles 16:24) is the insertion of the objective particle in the first clause. 4. (Psalms 96:4) For great (is) Jehovah, and to be praised exceedingly; to be feared (is) He above all gods. He is not a mere local deity, as the heathen were disposed to imagine, even in reference to their own divinities. With this verse compare Psalms 47:2; Psalms 48:1; Psalms 77:13; Psalms 86:8; Psalms 95:3; Psalms 97:8; Psalms 99:2. 5. (Psalms 96:5) For all the gods of the nations are nothings, and Jehovah the heavens did make. Nothings, nonentities, a favourite description of idols in Isaiah's later prophecies. See e.g. Isaiah 41:24, and compare Leviticus 19:4; Leviticus 26:1, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6; 1 Corinthians 10:19. A less probable etymology of the Hebrew word makes it a diminutive of El, analogous to godlings, as an expression of contempt. The contrast intended is extreme and absolute. He called the world into existence; they do not even exist themselves. See above, Psalms 95:4. 6. (Psalms 96:6) Honour and majesty (are) before him, strength and beauty in his holy place. The first combination occurs above, Psalms 45:3. Before him, as his constant attendants or forerunners. Beauty, all that is lovely and admirable. See above, on Psalms 71:8. His holy place, his earthly residence, regarded as a radiating centre even to the Gentiles; or the place where God reveals himself, whatever it may be. 7. (Psalms 96:7) Give to Jehovah, ye families of nations, give to Jehovah glory and strength. Compare Psalms 29:1. Here, as there, to give is to ascribe or recognise as belonging to him. The expression families of nations is Mosaic. See Genesis 12:3. The parallel passage (1 Chronicles 16:27) has, strength and joy (are) in his place. 8. (Psalms 96:8) Give unto Jehovah the glory of his name; take an offering and come to his courts. With the first clause compare Psalms 29:2. The verb translated take includes the ideas of taking up and carrying. See above, on Psalms 68:29; Psalms 72:10; Psalms 76:12, and compare 2 Samuel 8:2. The word offering is the one used to denote the bloodless or vegetable oblation of the Mosaic ritual. His courts, see above, on Psalms 65:4; Psalms 84:2; Psalms 92:13. The parallel passage (1 Chronicles 16:29) has before him. 9. (Psalms 96:9) Bow down to Jehovah in beauty of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth? The first verb denotes the act of bowing to the ground, as practised in the East. For the meaning of the next phrase, beauty of holiness, see above, on Psalms 29:2, from which place it is borrowed here. The last clause enjoins the reverential awe due to the exhibition of the divine ma-jesty. Compare Psalms 2:11. The plural form of the verb (tremble ye) shews that the earth is put for its inhabitants. Before him, literally from his face. The parallel passage (1 Chronicles 16:30) has a double preposition, a Hebrew idiom which cannot be reproduced in English, and which does not in the least affect the sense. We also find there added to the verse before us the middle clause or member of the next verse. 10. (Psalms 96:10) Say ye among the nations, Jehovah reigns; likewise fixed is the world, it shall not be moved; He will judge the peoples in rectitude. The object of address can only be the nations themselves, as in the foregoing context. They are therefore summoned to announce the joyful news to one another. Jehovah reigns, has begun to reign, i. e. visibly. See above, on Psalms 93:1, and compare Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 52:7. As in Psalms 93:1, the conservation of the world is ascribed to God's power, so here to his justice. Compare Psalms 75:3. He will judge the nations; see above, on Psalms 7:8; Psalms 72:2; Psalms 72:4, and compare Isaiah 11:4. In equities, see above, on Psalms 75:2. It may here mean impartiality, without distinction between Jew and Gentile. This last clause is omitted in the parallel passage (1 Chron. xvi. 31) which also has instead of say ye, they shall say, and joins it to what is here the next verse. 11. (Psalms 96:11) Let the heavens rejoice and the earth exult; let the sea roar and its fulness. The optative form of the second verb determines the meaning of the other futures, which, however, really include a prediction, or what here amounts to the same thing, a confident anticipation. Its fulness, that which fills it, its contents. This verse does not necessarily imply a participation of inferior creatures in God's favour to his people (Romans 8:21), but may be understood as a strong poetical description of events so joyous that even the inanimate creation breaks forth into singing. Compare Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 55:12. The verb translated roar is a cognate form of that which means to thunder, Psalms 29:3. 12. (Psalms 96:1) Let the field exult, and all that (is) in it ; then shall sing for joy all trees of the wood (or forest). The strict sense of the future, which was latent in the preceding verse, here, by a beautiful transition, reasserts itself. See below, on Psalms 126:2, and compare Isaiah 24:5-6. The field is the cultivated and productive portion of the earth. All that is in it, with particular reference to its productions. Sing for joy is the translation of a single verb in Hebrew. See above, on Psalms 95:1. The parallel passage (1 Chronicles 16:32-33) has precisely the same sense, but with two slight variations in the words, a less familiar form being substituted in one case, and a more familiar form in the other. 13. (Psalms 96:1) Before Jehovah, for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world in righteousness, and nations in his truth (or faithfulness). The rejoicing described in the preceding verse is to take place in the presence (literally to the face) of God when he assumes his universal sovereignty, the judicial function of which is here made prominent, in order to suggest the moral perfection of his reign. In righteousness, not merely in a righteous manner, but in the exercise of his inherent and essential justice. The use of the word people, in the common version of the last clause, obscures the sense, by seeming to apply the verse to Israel, whereas it is expressly applied in the original to the nations generally. Even the truth or faithfulness of God, which commonly denotes his veracity in fulfilling his promises to the chosen people, has here a wider sense, as opposed to the dishonesty or partiality of human judges. In the parallel passage (1 Chronicles 16:33) the emphatic repetition in the first clause, and the whole of the last clause, are omitted, perhaps because so striking and sonorous a conclusion would not have been appropriate, when another psalm was to be added. SUBJECT. — This Psalm is evidently taken from that sacred song which was composed by David at the time when "the ark of God was set in the midst of the tent which David had prepared for it, and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God." See the sixteenth chapter of the first book of the Chronicles. The former part of that sacred song was probably omitted in this place because it referred to Israel, and the design of the Holy Ghost in this psalm was to give forth a song for the Gentiles, a triumphant hymn wherewith to celebrate the conversion of the nations to Jehovah in gospel times. It follows fitly upon the last Psalm, which describes the obstinacy of Israel, and the consequent taking of the gospel from them that it might be preached among the nations who would receive it, and in due time be fully won to Christ by its power. It thus makes a pair with the Ninety-fifth Psalm. It is a grand HYMN, and it is a wonder that Jeers can read it and yet remain exclusive. If blindness in part had not happened unto Israel, they might have seen long ago, and would now see, that their God always had designs of love for all the families of men, and never intended that his grace and his covenant should relate only to the seed of Abraham after the flesh. We do not wonder that the large hearted David rejoiced and danced before the ark, while he saw in vision all the earth turning from idols to the one living and true God. Had Michal, Saul's daughter, only been able to enter into his delight, she would not have reproached him, and if the Jews at this day could only be enlarged in heart to feel sympathy with all mankind, they also would sing for joy at the great prophecy that all the earth shall be fitted with the glory of the Lord. . — We will make none, for the song is one and indivisible, a garment of praise without seam, woven from the top throughout. . Ver. 1. O sing unto the Lord a new song. New joys are filling the hearts of men, for the glad tidings of blessing to all people are proclaimed, therefore let them sing a new song. Angels inaugurated the new dispensation with new songs, and shall not we take up the strain? The song is for Jehovah alone, the hymns which chanted the praises of Jupiter and Neptune, Vishnoo and Siva are hushed for ever; Bacchanalian shouts are silenced, lascivious sonnets are no more. Unto the one only God all music is to be dedicated. Mourning is over, and the time of singing of hearts has come. No dismal rites are celebrated, no bloody sacrifices of human beings are presented, no cutting with knives, and outcries of lamentation are presented by deluded votaries. Joy is in the ascendant, and singing has become the universal expression of love, the fitting voice of reverent adoration. Men are made new creatures, and their song is new also. The names of Baalim are no more on their lips, the wanton music of Ashtaroth ceaseth; the foolish ditty and the cruel war song are alike forgotten; the song is holy, heavenly, pure, and pleasant. The psalmist speaks as if he would lead the strain and be the chief musician, he invites, he incites, he persuades to sacred worship, and cries with all his heart, "O sing unto Jehovah a new song." Sing unto the Lord, all the earth. — National jealousies are dead; a Jew invites the Gentiles to adore, and joins with them, so that all the earth may lift up one common psalm as with one heart and voice unto Jehovah, who hath visited it with his salvation. No corner of the world is to be discordant, no race of heathen to be dumb. All the earth Jehovah made, and all the earth must sing to him. As the sun shines on all lands, so are all lands to delight in the light of the Sun of Righteousness. E Pluribus Unum, out of many one song shall come forth. The multitudinous languages of the sons of Adam, who were scattered at Babel, will blend in the same song when the people are gathered at Zion. Nor men alone, but the earth itself is to praise its Maker. Made subject to vanity for a while by a sad necessity, the creation itself also is to be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God, so that sea and forest, field and flood, are to be joyful before the Lord. Is this a dream? then let us dream again. Blessed are the eyes which shall see the kingdom, and the ears which shall hear its songs. Hasten thine advent, good Lord! Yea, send forth speedily the rod of thy strength out of Zion, that the nations may bow before the Lord and his Anointed. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. — What has been said of Psa 67:1-7 may be fitly applied to the present psalm. We need not hesitate to add that it is a millennial anthem. It accords with the condition of the world when Christ shall sit enthroned in the willing loyalty of our race. The nations join in an acclaim of praise to him as their rightful Judge and King. There is a unanimity in the song, as if it ascended from a world purged into a temple of holiness, and whose inhabitants were indeed a royal priesthood, with one heart to make Jesus king, with one voice to sound forth one peal of melody in praise of the name above every name. Fix the eye for a moment on the precious vision of which we thus catch a glimpse. It holds true to the deepest principles of our nature, that what we contemplate as possible, much more what we anticipate as ceertain, lends us the very hope and energy conducive to its realisation. On the contrary, despair paralyses effort. Is it on this account that everywhere in prophecy, old and new, there floats before us the ideal of a recovered and rejoicing world, at times transfigured into a loftier scene, the new heavens and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness? So largely did this thought imbue the prophetic mind, that the language of Paul warms into the animation of poetry, when even "the creature itself, "according to his own vivid personification, like some noble bird, drooping under the weight of its chain, with neck outstretched and eyeball distended, is described as looking down into the vista of coming time for its deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). He hastens to add, that "we are saved by hope." It is true of the soul individually, we are saved by hope. It is true of our race collectively, if ever a millennium is to dawn upon it, we are saved by such a hope. Our earth may be in ruins meanwhile, blackness on the sky, barrenness on the soil, because sin is everywhere; but a change is promised. What we hope for, we labour for all the more that our hope is no dream of fancy, but has its basis in the science and certainty of absolute truth. "For as the earth hinges forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." (Isaiah 61:11) The tuning of the instrument is sometimes heard before the music comes. The mother teaches her child to lisp a hymn before he comprehends its full scope and meaning. And so here, in this holy psalm, the Jerusalem from above, the mother of us all, trains us to the utterance of a song suitable to seasons of millennial glory, when the Moloch of oppression, the Mammon of our avarice, the Ashtaroth of fiery lust, every erring creed, every false religion, shall have given place to the worship of the one true and living God— to the faith and love of Christ. "Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee." W.H. Gould, in "The Mission Hymn of the Hebrew Church: a Sermon." 1865. Whole Psalm. This psalm is entitled in the Septuagint, "A Hymn of David; when the Temple was rebuilt after the Captivity, " and this appears to be a true description of it; for the substance of it is found in 1 Chronicles 16:23-33, where it is described as having been delivered by David into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord when the Ark was brought up to Zion. David's Psalm here receives a new name, and is called a new song (sir chadash), because new mercies of God were now to be celebrated; mercies greater than David had ever received, even when he brought the Ark to Zion. They who now sang the old song, which had thus become a new song, identified themselves with David, and identified him with themselves. Chr. Wordsworth. Whole Psalm. Subject. — Call to praise, in view of Christ's second advent and glorious reign. —To apply it. — Look forward to the glorious day of the Lord's coming; and realize its approach that you may prepare for it. A. R. C. Dallas. Ver. 1. 0 sing unto the LORD a new song, etc. "A new song, " unknown to you before. Come, all ye nations of the wide earth, who, up to this hour, have been giving your worship to dead gods that were no gods at all; come and give your hearts to the true and only God in this new song! Henry Cowles. Ver. 1. A new song. It must be "a new canticle, "a beautiful canticle, and elegantly composed; also a canticle for fresh favours: in like manner, a canticle befitting men who have been regenerated, in whom avarice has been supplanted by charity; and finally, a canticle not like that of Moses, or Deborah, or any of the old canticles that could not be sung outside the land of promise, according to Psalms 137:4; "How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?" but a new canticle that may be sung all over the world; and he, therefore, adds, Sing unto the LORD, all the earth, not only Judea, but the whole world. Bellarmine. Ver. 1. New. The word is used to describe that which is delightful, exquisite, precious, etc. Martin Geier. Ver. 1. New. New things are generally most approved, and especially in songs; for Pindar praises old wine and new songs. John Cocceius, 1603-1669. Ver. 1. A new song. Our old songs were those of pride, of gluttony, of luxury, in hope of gain, prosperity, or harm to others; our "new song" is of praise, reverence, and obedience, and love to God, in newness of life, in the Spirit that quickeneth, no longer in the letter that killeth, but keepeth that new commandment, that we love one another, not with the narrow patriotism and fellow feeling of a small tribe, or a mere national church, but with a citizenship which embraces all the whole earth. Neale and Littledale. Ver. 1. Sing unto the LORD. We find it thrice said, sing unto the Lord, that we may understand that we are to sing unto Him with mind, and tongue, and deed. For all these things must be joined together, and the life ought to correspond with the mouth and mind. As Abbot Absalom says, When the speech does not jar with the life, there is sweet harmony. Le Blanc. Ver. 1. All the earth. It is a missionary hymn for all ages of the church; and it becomes more and more appropriate to our times in proportion as the heathen begin to respond to the call, "Sing unto the Lord a new song, "and in proportion as we find in the melancholy condition of the church at home occasion to look with a hopeful eye towards the heathen world. E. W. Hengstenberg. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 1. The novelties of grace. 1. A new salvation. 2. Creates a new heart. 3. Suggests a new song. 4. Secures new testimonies, and these, 5. Produce new converts. Ver. 1-3. 1. The end desired— to see the earth singing unto the Lord, and blessing his name. 2. The means suggested— the showing forth his salvation from day to day; declaring his glory, etc. 3. The certainly of its accomplishment. The Lord hath said it. "O sing, "etc. When he commands earth must obey. G. R. Ver. 1-3. The progress of zeal. I. The spring of expansive desire, Psalms 96:1. 2. The streamlet of practical daily effort, Psalms 96:2. 3. The broad river of foreign missions, Psalms 96:3. C. D. Ver. 1-9. We are to honour God. 1. With songs, Psalms 96:1-2. 2. With sermons, Psalms 96:3. 3. With religious services, Psalms 96:7-9. Matthew Henry. Psalms 96:2* . Ver. 2. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name. Thrice is the name of the Lord repeated, and not without meaning. Is it not unto the Three One Lord that the enlightened nations will sing? Unitarianism is the religion of units; it is too cold to warm the world to worship; the sacred fire of adoration only burns with vehement flame where the Trinity is believed in and beloved. In other ways beside singing, the blessed Lord is to be blessed. His name, his fame, his character, his revealed word and will are to be delighted in, and remembered with perpetual thanksgiving. We may well bless him who so divinely blesses us. At the very mention of his name it is meet to say, "Let him be blessed for ever." Shew forth his salvation from day to day. The gospel is the clearest revelation of himself, salvation, outshines creation and providence; therefore let our praises overflow in that direction. Let us proclaim the glad tidings, and do so continually, never ceasing the blissful testimony. It is ever new, ever suitable, ever sure, ever perfect; therefore let us show it forth continually until he come, both by words and deeds, by songs and sermons, by sacred Baptism and by the Holy Supper, by books and by speech, by Sabbath services and weekday worship. Each day brings us deeper experience of our saving God, each day shows us anew how deeply men need his salvation, each day reveals the power of the gospel, each day the Spirit strives with the sons of men; therefore, never pausing, be it ours to tell out the glorious message of free grace. Let those do this who know for themselves what his salvation means; they can bear witness that there is salvation in none other, and that in him salvation to the uttermost is to be found. Let them show it forth till the echo flies around the spacious earth, and all the armies of the sky unite to magnify the God who hath displayed his saving health among all people. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. From day to day. Continually; always. It is a fit subject for unceasing praise. Every man should praise God every day— on each returning morning, and on every evening— for the assurance that there is a way of salvation provided for him, and that he may be happy for ever. If we had right feelings, this would be the first thought which would burst upon the mind each morning, irradiating, as with sunbeams, all around us; and it would be the last thought which would linger in the soul as we lie down at night, and close our eyes in slumber making us grateful, calm, happy, as we sink to rest, for whether we wake or not in this world, we may be for ever happy. Albert Barnes. Ver. 2. From day to day. Other news delights us only at first hearing; but the good news of our redemption is sweet from day to day, ac si in codera die redemptio fuisset opereta, saith Kimchi here, as if it were done but today. Tam recens mihi nunc Christus est, saith Luther, ac si hac hora fudisset sanguinem, Christ is now as fresh unto me as if he had shed his blood but this very hour. John Trapp. Psalms 96:3* . Ver. 3. Declare his glory among the heathen. His salvation is his glory, the word of the gospel glorifies him; and this should be published far and wide, till the remotest nations of the earth have known it. England has spent much blood and treasure to keep up her own prestige among barbarians; when will she be equally anxious to maintain the honour of her religion, the glory of her Lord? It is to be feared that too often the name of the Lord Jesus has been dishonoured among the heathen by the vices and cruelties of those who call themselves Christians; may this fact excite true believers to greater diligence in causing the gospel to be proclaimed as with a trumpet in all quarters of the habitable globe. His wonders among all people. The gospel is a mass of wonders, its history is full of wonders, and it is in itself far more marvellous than miracles themselves. In the person of his Son the Lord has displayed wonders of love, wisdom, grace, and power. All glory be unto his name; who can refuse to tell out the story of redeeming grace and dying love? All the nations need to hear of God's marvellous works; and a really living, self denying church would solemnly resolve that right speedily they fill shall hear thereof. The tribes which are dying out are not to be excluded from gospel teaching any more than the great growing families which, like the fat kine of Pharaoh, are eating up other races: Red Indians as well as Anglo Saxons are to hear of the wonders of redeeming love. None are too degraded, none too cultured, none too savage, and none too refined. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. Declare. The corresponding word is a book;and the participle is often rendered a scribe, a writer. Psalms 45:1. The verb is rendered, tell, show forth, declare. The variety of verbs used in Psalms 96:1-3, proves that we are to employ all proper means for making known the Saviour. One of these methods is by writing. W. S. Plumer. Ver. 3. Declare his glory — what a glorious person the Messiah is; the brightness of his Father's glory; having all the perfections of Deity in him; how the glory of God appears in him, and in all that he has done; and especially in the work of redemption, in which the glory of divine wisdom, power, justice, truth, and faithfulness, love, grace, and mercy, is richly displayed; say what glory he is advanced unto, having done his work, being highly exalted, set at the right hand of God, and crowned with glory and honour, and what a fulness of grace there is in him, for the supply of his people; and what a glory is on him, which they shall behold to all eternity. John Gill. Ver. 3. His glory shines from every ray of light that reaches us from a thousand stars; it sparkles from the mountain tops that reflect the earliest and retain the last rays of the rising and the setting sun; it spreads over the expanse of the sea, and speaks in the murmur of its restless waves; it girdles the earth with a zone of light, and flings over it an aureole of beauty. In the varied forms of animal tribes; in the relations of our world to other worlds, in the revolutions of planets, in the springing of flowers, in the fall of waters, and in the flight of birds; in the sea, the rivers, and the air; in heights and depths, in wonders and mysteries, — Christ wears the crown, sways the sceptre, and receives from all a tribute to his sovereignty. We cannot augment it; we cannot add one ray of light to the faintness of a distant star nor give wings to an apterous insect, nor change a white hair into black. We can unfold, but not create; we can adore, but not increase; we can recognise the footprints of Deity, but not add to them. John Cumming in "From Patmos to Paradise, "1873. Ver. 3. Declare his glory among the heathen, etc. It is a part of the commission given to the ministers of the gospel, not only to teach their congregations concerning Christ, but also to have a care that they who never did hear of him, may know what he is, what he hath done and suffered, and what good may be had by his mediation. Nothing so glorious to God, nothing so wonderful in itself, as is the salvation of man by Christ; to behold God saving his enemies by the incarnation, sufferings, and obedience of Christ the eternal Son of God: Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. David Dickson. Ver. 3. Declare his glory. It is his glory which should be proclaimed, not the learning, ability, and eloquence of the orator who professes to speak for Him; it is his glory, the loving beauty, the attractiveness of his gospel, the lavish promises to repentant sinners, the blessedness of heaven, which should be the chief themes of discourse; not threats, menaces, sermons on hell or torment to affright men, and at best make them God's trembling slaves, not his loving friends. The preaching is to be unto all people, in obscure country districts, amongst unpolished and illiterate congregations, and not to be confined, as fashionable preachers like to confine it, to the cultivated and critical audiences of the capital. Hugo, quoted by Neale and Littledale. Ver. 3. His glory. What he had before called salvation, he now names glory, and afterwards wonders. And since this salvation, whereby the human race is redeemed from eternal death and damnation, is glorious and full of wonders, it is therefore worthy of admiration and praise. Mollerus. Ver. 3. His wonders. What a wonderful person he is, for he is God manifest in the flesh; what wonderful love he has shown in his incarnation, obedience, sufferings, and death; what amazing miracles he wrought, and what a wonderful work he performed; the work of our redemption, the wonder of men and angels; declare his wonderful resurrection from the dead, his ascension to heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, and intercession for his people; the wonderful effusion of his Spirit, and the conquests of his grace, and the enlargement of his kingdom in the world; as also what wonders will be wrought by him when he appears a second time; how the dead will be raised and all will be judged. John Gill. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 3 (first clause). 1. Declare among the heathen the glory of God's perfections, that they may acknowledge him as the true God. 2. Declare the glory of his salvation, that they may accept him as their only Redeemer. 3. Declare the glory of his providence, that they may confide in him as their faithful guardian. 4. Declare the glory of his word, that they may prize it as their chief treasure. 3. Declare the glory of his service, that they may choose it as their noblest occupation. 4. Declare the glory of his residence, that they may seek it as their best home. William Jackson. Verse 3. 1. What the gospel is, "God's glory, ""his wonders." 2. What shall we do with it— declare it. 3. To whom. "Among the heathen, "all people. Ver. 3 (last clause). His wonders among the people. 1. The wonders of his Being, to inspire them with awe. 2. The wonders of his creation, to fill them with amazement. 3. The wonders of his judgments, to restrain them with fear. 4. The wonders of his grace, to allure them with love. W. Jackson. Psalms 96:4* . Ver. 4. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised. He is no petty deity, presiding, as the heathen imagined their gods to do, over some one nation, or one department of nature. Jehovah is great in power and dominion, great in mind and act; nothing mean or narrow can be found in him or his acts, in all things he is infinite. Praise should be proportionate to its object, therefore let it be infinite when rendered unto the Lord. We cannot praise him too much, too often, too zealously, too carefully, too joyfully. He deserves that nothing in his worship should be little, but all the honour rendered unto him should be given in largeness of heart, with the utmost zeal for his glory. He is to be feared above all gods. Other gods have been worshipped at great cost, and with much fervour, by their blinded rotaries, but Jehovah should be adored with far greater reverence. Even if the graven images had been gods they could not have borne comparison for an instant with the God of Israel, and therefore his worship, should be far more zealous than any which has been rendered to them. He is to be feared, for there is cause to fear. Dread of other gods is mere superstition, awe of the Lord is pure religion. Holy fear is the beginning of the graces, and yet it is the accompaniment of their highest range. Fear of God is the blush upon the face of holiness enhancing its beauty. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 4-6. Missionary sermon. 1. Contrast Jehovah of the Bible with gods of human device. 2. Decide between divine worship and idolatry. 3. Appeal for effort on behalf of idolaters. C. D. Psalms 96:5* . Ver. 5. For all the gods of the nations are idols. Mere images of wood and stone, vanities, nothings. But the Lord made the heavens. The reality of his Godhead is proved by his works, and foremost among these the psalmist mentions that matchless piece of architecture which casts its arch over every man's head, whose lamps are the light of all mankind, whose rains and dew fall upon the fields of every people, and whence the Lord in voice of thunder is heard speaking to every creature. The idol gods have no existence, but our God is the author of all existences; they are mere earthly vanities, while he is not only heavenly, but made the heavens. This is mentioned as an argument for Jehovah's universal praise. Who can be worshipped but he? Since none can rival him, let him be adored alone. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 5. For all the gods of the nations are idols. Nothings, nonentities, a favourite description of idols in Isaiah's later prophecies. See eg Isaiah 41:24, and compare Leviticus 19:4 26:1, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6 10:19. A less probable etymology of the Hebrew word makes it a diminutive of (la) El, analogous to godlings as an expression of contempt. J. A. Alexander. Ver. 5. The gods of the nations are idols. Their Elohim are elilim. See 1 Chronicles 16:26. The word elilim occurs in two places in the Psalms, here and Psalms 97:7. It is used most frequently by Isaiah, and properly signifies nothings, as St. Paul says, "an idol is nothing." (1 Corinthians 8:4.) Chr. Wordsworth. Ver. 5. The Lord made the heavens. Psalms 96:5 is a notandum. What a tribute to astronomy is it that the Lord is so often done homage to as having made the heavens! Let the theology of nature be blended with the theology of conscience— a full recognition of the strength and the glory which shine palpably forth in the wonders of creation, with the spiritual offerings of holy worship and holy service. Thomas Chalmers. Psalms 96:6* . Ver. 6. Honour and majesty are before him. Men can but mimic these things; their pompous pageants are but the pretence of greatness. Honour and majesty are with him and with him alone. In the presence of Jehovah real glory and sovereignty abide, as constant attendants. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. In him are combined all that is mighty and lovely, powerful and resplendent. We have seen rugged strength devoid of beauty, we have also seen elegance without strength; the union of the two is greatly to be admired. Do we desire to see the "sublime and beautiful" at one glance? Then we must look to the eternal throne. In the Chronicles we read strength and gladness;and the two renderings do not disagree in sense, for in the highest degree in this instance it is true that "a thing of beauty is a joy for ever." Not in outward show or parade of costly robes does the glory of God consist; such things are tricks of state with which the ignorant are dazzled; holiness, justice, wisdom, grace, these are the splendours of Jehovah's courts, these the jewels and the gold, the regalia, and the pomp of the courts of heaven. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 6. Beauty... in his sanctuary. Oh, if so much of beauty doth reveal Itself in every vein of life and nature, How beautiful must be the Source itself, The Ever Bright One! Esaias Tegner, 1782-1847. Ver. 6. In his sanctuary. That is to say (1) his ark, tabernacle, or temple, as many writers consider. Kimchi, as quoted by Muis, suggests that where joy or beauty is mentioned as being in his temple, it is set in opposition to the perpetual grief of the Philistines when the ark was in their cities. They saw the Lord's strength, but not his beauty. (2) Others refer the word sanctuary to the church of Christ, which, as Munster remarks, is adorned with heavenly ornaments, and was typified by the magnificence of Solomon's temple. Certainly it is in the church that the spiritual power and beauty of the Lord are to be most clearly seen. (3) The passage may refer to heaven, where the divine presence is more peculiarly manifest. C. H. S. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 6. Honour and majesty are before him. 1. As emanations from him. 2. As excellencies ascribed to him. 3. As characteristics of what is done by him. 4. As marks of all that dwell near him. W. Jackson. Ver. 6 (latter clause). — What we may see in God's sanctuary (strength, and beauty). What we may obtain there, Psalms 90:17 (strength and beauty). C. D. Psalms 96:7* . Ver. 7. The first six verses commenced with an exhortation to sing, three times repeated, with the name of the Lord thrice mentioned; here we meet with the expression Give unto the Lord, used in the same triple manner. This is after the manner of those poets whose flaming sonnets have best won the ear of, the people, they reiterate choice words till they penetrate the soul and fire the heart. The invocation of the sweet singer is still addressed to all mankind, to whom he speaks as Ye kindreds of the people. Divided into tribes and families, we are called in our courses and order to appear before him and ascribe to him all honour. "All worship be to God only, "is the motto of one of our City companies, and it may well be the motto of all the families upon earth. Family worship is peculiarly pleasing unto him who is the God of all the families of Israel. Give unto the LORD glory and strength, that is to say, recognise the glory and power of Jehovah, and ascribe them unto him in your solemn hymns. Who is glorious but the Lord? Who is strong, save our God? Ye great nations who count yourselves both famous and mighty, cease your boastings! Ye monarchs, who are styled imperial and puissant, humble yourselves in the dust before the only Potentate. Glory and strength are nowhere to be found, save with the Lord, all others possess but the semblance thereof. Well did Massilion declare, "God alone is great." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 7 Ye kindreds of the people. There is a peculiar force, observes an early commentator Cassiodorus, in this phrase, "kindreds of the people, "much more than if we had the word "peoples" alone; for in every nation there are at all times strangers, aliens, sojourners abiding permanently or for a time, but not reckoned among the natives; while the phrase here includes all such, and provides that none shall be shut out because of his origin. Neale and Littledale. Ver. 7. Ye kindreds of the people. He calls upon them to come in kindreds or families, in allusion to the Jewish custom of families coming by themselves, on the several festival days to worship in Jerusalem; and the Holy Ghost gives us here to understand that such custom was to serve as a model for Christians, whose families should unite in coming to the church to give glory and honour to God for all the wonderful things he accomplished in the redemption of man; for it was not by our own industry, or by our merits, that we have come to grace, and to be the adopted children of God, but through God's mercy, to whom, therefore, is due all honour and glory. Bellarmine. Psalms 96:8* . Ver. 8. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name. But who can do that to the full? Can all the nations of the earth put together discharge the mighty debt? All conceivable honour is due to our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor, and Redeemer, and however much of zealous homage we may offer to him, we cannot give him more than his due. If we cannot bring in the full revenue which he justly claims, at least let us not fail from want of honest endeavour. Bring an offering, and come into his courts. Come with an unbloody sacrifice; atonement for sin having been made, it only remains to bring thank offerings, and let not these be forgotten. To him who gives us all, we ought gladly to give our grateful tithe. When assembling for public worship we should make a point of bringing with us a contribution to his cause, according to that ancient word, "None of you shall appear before me empty." The time will come when from all ranks and nations the Lord will receive gifts when they gather together for his worship. 0 long expected day begin! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 8. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name. It is a debt; and a debt, in equity, must be paid. The honour due to his name is to acknowledge him to be holy, just, true, powerful: "The Lord, the faithful God, ""good, merciful, long suffering, "etc. Defraud not his name of the least honour. Adam Clarke. Ver. 8. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name. Is all the glory due unto God's name, and ought it, in strict justice, to have been ascribed unto him by men, ever since man began to exist? How immeasurably great then is the debt which our world has contracted, and under the burden of which it now groans! During every day and every hour which has elapsed since the apostasy of man, this debt has been increasing; for every day and every hour all men ought to have given unto Jehovah the glory which is due to his name. But no man has ever done this fully. And a vast proportion of our race have never done it at all. Now the difference between the tribute which men ought to have paid to God and that which they actually have paid constitutes the debt of which we are speaking. How vast, then, how incalculable is it! Edward Payson. Ver. 8. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name. Every glory will not serve the turn, but such glory as is proper and peculiar for that God we serve. It is a stated rule in Scripture that, respects to God must be proportioned to the nature of God. God is a spirit, therefore will be worshipped in spirit and truth. God is a God of peace, therefore lift up pure hands, without wrath and doubting. God is a holy God, therefore will be sanctified. They which worship the sun, among the heathens, they used a flying horse, as a thing most suitable to the swift motion of the sun. Well, then, they that will glorify and honour God with a glory due to his name, must sanctify him as well as honour him. Why? For "God is glorious in holiness, "Exodus 15:11. This is that which God counteth to be his chief excellency, and the glory which he will manifest among the sons of men. Thomas Minton. Ver. 8. Bring an offering. This is language taken from the temple worship, and means that God is to be worshipped, in the manner which he has prescribed, as a suitable expression of his majesty. The word here rendered "offering" — hxkm, minkhah — is that which is commonly used to denote a bloodless offering, a thank offering. Albert Barnes. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 8. Jehovah possesses a nature and character peculiar to himself; he sustains various offices and relations, and he has performed many works which he alone could perform. On all these accounts something is due to him from his creatures. And when we regard him with such affections, and yield him such services, as his nature, character, offices, and works deserve, then we give unto him the glory which is due to his name. 1. Let us inquire what is due to Jehovah on account of his nature. 2. What is due to Jehovah on account of the character he possesses. 3. What is due to God on account of the relations and offices which he sustains— that of a creator, preserver. 4. What is due to Jehovah on account of the works which he has performed, in nature, providence and redemption. E. Payson. Ver. 8. The object of worship. The nature of worship. The accompaniment of worship (an offering). The place of worship. C. D.. Psalms 96:9* . Ver. 9. 0 worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. This is the only beauty which he cares for in our public services, and it is one for which no other can compensate. Beauty of architecture and apparel he does not regard; moral and spiritual beauty is that in which his soul delighteth. Worship must not be rendered to God in a slovenly, sinful, superficial manner; we must be reverent, sincere, earnest, and pure in heart both in our prayers and praises. Purity is the white linen of the Lord's choristers, righteousness is the comely garment of his priests, holiness is the royal apparel of his servants. Fear before him, all the earth. "Tremble" is the word in the original, and it expresses the profoundest awe, just as the word "worship" does, which would be more accurately translated by "bow down." Even the bodily frame would be moved to trembling and prostration if men were thoroughly conscious of the power and glory of Jehovah. Men of the world ridiculed "the Quakers" for trembling when under the power of the Holy Spirit; had they been able to discern the majesty of the Eternal they would have quaked also. There is a sacred trembling which is quite consistent with joy, the heart may even quiver with an awful excess of delight. The sight of the King in his beauty caused no alarm to John in Patmos, and yet it made him fall at his feet as dead. Oh, to behold him and worship him with prostrate awe and sacred fear! NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 9. In the beauty of holiness, or, in the ornament of holiness, alluding to the splendid robes of eastern worshippers. W. Wilson. Ver. 9. The beauty of holiness. Shall I call holiness an attribute? Is it not rather the glorious combination of all his attributes into one perfect whole? As all his attributes proceed from the absolute, so all again converge and meet in holiness. As from the insufferable white light of the Absolute they all seem to diverge and separate into prismatic hues, so they all seem again to converge and meet and combine in the dazzling white radiance of his holiness. This, therefore, is rather the intense whiteness, purity, clearness, the infinite lustre and splendour of his perfect nature— like a gem without flaw, without stain, and without colour. All of his attributes are glorious, but in this we have a combination of all into a still more glorious whole. It is for this reason that it is so frequently in Scripture associated with the Divine beauty. The poetic nature of the psalmist is exalted to ecstasy in contemplation of the "beauty of holiness, "the "beauty of the Lord." Beauty is a combination of elements according to the laws of harmony; the more beautiful the parts or elements, and the more perfect the harmonious combination, the higher the beauty. How high and glorious, therefore, must be the beauty of this attribute which is the perfect combination of all his infinite perfections! You see, then, why this attribute is awful to us. In the ideal man all the faculties and powers, mental, moral, and bodily, work together in perfect harmony, making sweet music— the image of God is clear and pure in the human heart. But, alas! how far are we from the ideal! In the actual man the purity is stained, the beauty is defaced, the harmony is changed into jarring discord, "like sweet bells jangled out of tune." How it came so, we are not now inquiring. We all feel that it is so. Therefore is this attribute so awful to us. It is the awfulness of absolute purity in the presence of impurity; it is the awfulness of perfect beauty in the presence of deformity; it is the awfulness of honour in the presence of dishonour and shame; in one word, it is the awfulness of holiness in the presence of sinfulness. How, then, shall we approach him before whom angels bow and archangels veil their faces— him in whose sight the white radiance of heaven itself is stained with impurity? Joseph Le Coute, in "Religion and Science, "1874. Ver. 9. The beauty of holiness. The religion of the gospel of Christ is "the beauty of holiness, "as it concerns its Author, its plan, its fruits. First, As it concerns its Author. Whatever we can understand as meant by beauty or holiness, we see in the attributes of God, whether we consider them in all their harmony, or contemplate any one of them in particular... Secondly. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ Righteous Hatred August 8, 1858 by C. H. (1834-1892) "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil."— Psalms 97:10 . The Christian religion is a golden chain with which the hands of men are fettered from all hatred. The spirit of Christ is love. Wherever he governs, love reigns as a necessary consequence. The Christian man is not allowed to hate any one. Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy; but I say unto you," said Jesus, "Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you." The word "hate" must be cut out of the language of a Christian, except it be used with one meaning and intention only, and that, the meaning of my text. Thou hast no right, O Christian, to tolerate within thy bosom wrath, malice, anger, harshness, or uncharitableness, towards any creature that God's hands have made. When thou hatest the man's sins, thou art not to hate him, but to love the sinner, even as Christ loved sinners and came to seek and save them. When thou hatest a man's false doctrine, thou art still to love the man, and hate his doctrine even out of love to his soul, with an earnest desire that he may be reclaimed from his error, and brought into the way of truth. Thou hast no right to excrete thy hatred upon any creature, however fallen or debased, however much he may irritate thy temper, or injure thee in thy estate or reputation. Still hatred is a power of manhood, and we believe that all powers of manhood are to be exercised, and may every one of them be exercised as in the fear of God. It is possible to be angry, and yet sin not, and it is possible to hate, and yet not be guilty of sin, but be positively performing a duty. Christian man, thou mayest have hatred in thy heart, if thou wilt only allow it to run in one stream, then it shall not do mischief, but it shall even do good—"Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." As much as the revengeful man hates his enemy, so much hate thou evil. As much as contending despots in battle hate one another, end only seek an opportunity to meet each other face to face, so hate thou evil. As much as hell hateth heaven, and as much as heaven hateth hell, so much mayest thou hate evil. The whole of that passion which, when let loose in a wrong track, becomes as a fierce lion on its prey, thou mayest keep in leash, (like a noble lion, only destitute of ferocity) against any whom it should not hurt, and thou mayest let it slip against the enemies of the Lord thy God and do great exploits thereby. Tell me of a man who is never angry, that man has not any true zeal for God. We must sometimes be angry against sin. When we see evil, though not vindictive against the persons who commit it, yet angry against the evil we must be; we must hate wickedness always. Doth not David say, "I hate them with a perfect hatred yea, I count them mine enemies." We are to love our enemies, but we are to hate God's enemies. We are to love sinners, but we are to hate sin. As much as it is in the power of man to hate, so much are we to hate evil in every form and fashion. The duty here enjoined is a general one to all God's people. We are to hate all evi—not some evils. It was said, you know, long ago, of certain professors, that they did "Compound for sins they were inclined to By damning those they had no mind to." And there are some, I dare say, at this day, who think others extremely guilty for committing iniquities which they do not care to commit, but they themselves commit other sins with which they deal very gently. O Christian, never take hold of sin, except with a gauntlet on thy hand; never go to it with the kid-glove of friendship, never talk delicately of it; but always hate it in every shape. If it come to thee as a little fox, take heed of it, for it will spoil the grapes; if it come to thee as a warring lion, seeking whom it may devour; or if it come with the hug of a bear, seeking by a pretended affection to entice thee into sin, smite it, for its hug is death, and its clasp destruction. Sin of every kind thou art to war with—of lip, of hand, of heart. Sin, however gilded over with profit, however varnished with the seemliness of morality, however much it may be complimented by the great, or however popular it may be with the multitude, thou art to hate it everywhere, in all its disguises, every day in the week, and in every place. War to the knife with sin! We are to draw the sword, and throw away the scabbard. With all thy hosts, O hell, with every brat of thy offspring, O Satan, we are to be at enmity. Not one sin are we to spare, but against the whole are we to proclaim an utter and entire war of extermination. In endeavoring to address you upon this subject, I shall first of all begin with it at home: Christian man, hate all evil in thyself. And then, secondly, we will let it go abroad: Christian man, hate all evil in other people, wherever thou seest it. I. First, then, MAN HATE ALL EVIL IN THYSELF. I will strive now to excite thy hate against it, and then I will try to urge thee and assist thee to destroy it. Thou hast good reason to hate all evil; greater reason than ever the most injured man could bring forward for the hatred of his enemies. Consider what evil has already done thee. Oh! what a world of mischief sin has brought into thy heart! Sin stopped up your eyes, so that you could not see the beauty of the Saviour; it thrust its finger into your ears, so that you could not hear the sweet invitations of Jesus: sin turned your feet into the way of evil, and filled your hands with filthiness. nay, worse than that sin poured poison into the very fountain of your being; it tainted your heart and made it "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." Oh! what a creature thou wast when sin had done its utmost with thee before Divine grace began to mend thee! Thou wast an heir of wrath even as others; thou didst "run with the multitude to do evil;" thy mouth was an "open sepulcher." thou didst flatter with thy tongue, and there is nought that can be said of thy fellow-creature living in sin, that could not be said of thee. You must plead guilty to the charge, "such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Oh! you have good cause for hating sin when you look back to the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Such mischief did evil do you that your soul would have been everlastingly lost, had not omnipotent love interfered to redeem you. Christian, hate evil. It has been your murderer; it has put its dagger to your heart; it has thrust poison into your mouth; it has done you all the mischief that hell itself could do—mischief which would have wrought your eternal undoing, had not the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ prevented. Thou hast good reason, then, to hate sin. Again, Christian, hate evil, for it would be unbecoming if thou didst not when thou considerest thy position in life. A Christian belongs to the blood royal of the universe. Beggars' children may run about the street with unkempt hair and shoeless feet; but should princes of the blood revel in uncleanness? We do not expect to see monarchs' children apparelled in rags; we do not expect to see them rolling themselves in the mire of the streets. And thou, Christian, thou art one of God's aristocracy, a prince of the blood of heaven, a friend of angels, yea, and a friend of God. Good reason hast thou to hate all evil. Why, man, thou art a Nazarite, dedicated to God. Now, to the Nazarite it was enjoined that not only he should not drink wine, but he was not even to eat the grape, nor might he so much as taste the bark of the vine, or anything whatsoever that grew upon it; he must neither touch nor handle it, or else he would be defiled. So is it with thee; thou art the Lord's Nazarite, set apart for himself. Avoid, then, every false way. Let the appearance of evil be kept from thee: it is beneath thy dignity to indulge in the sins which disgrace other men. Thou art not snob as they are; thou art of a nobler race, thou hast sprung from the loins of the Son of God: is he not shine everlasting Father, even he who is the Prince of Peace? I beseech thee, never demean thy royal lineage, nor let thy holy ancestry be stained. You are a peculiar people, a royal generation; wherefore, then, should ye stain your garments in the dust. "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." Again, you have good reason to hate sin, because it weakens you. Go when you have committed a folly, retire to your chamber and fall upon your knees in prayer. Before the sin was committed, your prayer reached the ear of God and the blessings came down swift as the lightning-flash; but now your knees are weak, your heart refuses to desire, and your tongue refuses to express the faint desires you strive to reach. You attempt, but you fail; you groan, but heaven is shut against your cry; you weep, but your tear penetrates not so as to obtain an answer from the breast of God. There you are; you bring your wants before the throne, and you carry them away again. Prayer becomes a painful duty instead of a most gracious and excellent privilege. This is the result of sin. "Sin will make thee leave off praying, or else praying will make thee leave off sinning." Oh! thou canst never be strong in sin and strong in prayer. As long as thou indulgest in lust, or sin, or wantonness of any kind, thy power in prayer is taken away, and thy lips are shut when thou attemptest to approach thy God. Or if thou willest, try another exercise: after committing a sin, go into the world and seek to do good. Why, man, thou canst not do it; thou hast lost the power to cleanse others when them art impure thyself. What! can I with filthy fingers wash the face of others? Shall I essay to plough another man's field while my own is lying fallow, and the tall, rank thistle and weed are overspreading it? I am powerless to do good until I have first cleansed my own vessel and made that pure. An unholy minister must be an unsuccessful one, and an unholy Christian must be an unfruitful one. Unless thou desirest to have thy sinews loosed, to have the marrow of thy bones scorched from thee, unless thou willest that the sap of thy being should be dried up, I beseech thee, hate sin, for sin can debilitate and weaken thee so much that thou shalt drag along a miserable existence, the very skeleton of a soul instead of flourishing in the ways of thy God. "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil." In the next place. you will find it extremely useful if, in order to get rid of sin, you are not content with merely restraining it, but always seeking to have it taken clean away by the Holy Spirit. You know, mere moralists restrain their sins, like a river that has locks and dykes: the water is kept from flowing, but then it gradually swells upward and upward, till by-and-bye it overflows with terrible fury. Now, don't be content with mere restraining grace; that will never purge you, for the sin may be there though it break not out. Pray to God that your sin may be taken away, and that though the remnant and the root thereof remain, though the channel be there, yet the stream may be dried up like the stream of the Euphrates before the presence of the Lord your God. Again, ye have good reason to hate evil, for if you indulge in it you will have to smart for it. God will never kill his children, he has put his sword away; he sheathed that once for all in the breast of Christ, but he has a rod, and that rod sometimes he lays on with a very heavy hand, and maketh the whole body to tingle. The Lord will not be angry with his people so as to cast them off but he will be so angry with them that they shall have to cry, "Heal the bones that thou hast broken, and restore my soul. O Lord my God." Ah! you that ever have backslidden, you know what it is to be well scourged for when Christ's sheep run way from the shepherd he will not let them perish, but he will often allow the black dog to bring them back in his mouth; he will allow sore trouble and sharp affliction to lay hold upon them, so that they are cast down almost to the gates of hell. A Christian shall never be destroyed, but he shall almost be destroyed; his life shall not totally fail him, but he shall be so beaten and bruised that he shall scarcely know whether he has any life left in him at all. Hate sin, O Christian, unless thou desirest trouble. If thou wouldst strew thy path with thorns and put nettles in thy death pillow, then live in sin; but if thou wouldst dwell in the heavenly places, hearing the everlasting chimes of Paradise ringing in thine own heart, then walk in all the ways of holiness unto the end. Christian man, hate evil. So far, I have only addressed you selfishly; I have shown you how evil may hurt yourselves; now I will address you with another argument. Christian, hate evil; hate it in yourself, because evil in you will do hurt to others. What hurt the sin of a Christian does to the children of God! The sharpest trials God's church has ever had, has come from her own sons and daughters. I see her, I see her with her garments rent and defiled; I see her hands all bleeding, and her back scarred. O church of the living God, thou fairest among women, how art thou wounded! Where hast thou received these wounds? Has the infidel spit in thy face and reviled thee? Has the Arian rent thy garments? Has the Socinian cast filth upon the whiteness of thine apparel? Who hath wounded thy hands, and who hath scarred thy back? Hath this been done by the impious and profane? "No," saith she, "these are the wounds I have received in the house of my friends. Against my enemies I wear a secret armor, but my friends penetrate within it, and cut me to the very quick." The bishops of God's church, the professed leaders of the Lord's hosts, the pretended followers of the Redeemer, have done more damage to the church than all the church's enemies. If the church were not a divine thing, protected by God, she must have ceased to exist, merely through the failure and iniquity of her own professed friends. I do not wonder that the church of God survived martyrdom and death; but I do marvel that she has survived the unfaithfulness of her own children, and the cruel backsliding of her own members. O Christians, ye do not know how you cause God's name to be blasphemed, how you stain his church, and bring dishonor upon her escutcheon, when you indulge in sin. "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil" Again, hate it not only for the church's sake, but for the poor sinner's sake. How many sinners every year are driven away from all thought of religion by the inconsistency of professors! And have you ever noticed how the world always delights to chronicle the inconsistency of a professor? I saw only yesterday an account in the paper of a wretch who had committed lust, and it was said that "he had a very sanctified appearance." Ay, I thought, that is the way the press always likes to speak; but I very much question whether there are many editors that know what a sanctified appearance means; at least they will have to look a long time among their own class before they find many that have got much sanctification. However, the reporter put it down that the man had "a sanctified appearance;" and of course it was intended as a fling against all those who make a profession of religion, by making others believe that this man was a professor too. And really the world has had some grave cause for it, for we have seen professing Christians in these days that are an utter disgrace to Christianity, and there are things done in the name of Jesus Christ that it would be a shame to do in the name of Beelzebub. There are things done, too, by those who are accounted members of the church of our Lord Jesus, Methinks, so shameful that Pandemonium itself would scarcely own them. The world has had much cause to complain of the church; O children of God, be careful. The world has a lynx eye: it will see your faults; it will be impossible to hide them; and it will magnify your faults. It will slander you if you have none; give it at least no ground to work upon; "let your garments be always white;" walk in the fear of the Lord, and let this be your daily prayer, "Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe." Once more: I have one argument that methinks must touch your hearts and make you hate evil. You have a friend, the best friend you ever had. I know him, and have loved him, and he has loved me. There was a day, as I took my walks abroad, when I came hard by a spot for ever engraved upon my memory, for there I saw this friend my best, my only friend, murdered. I stooped down in sad affright and looked at him. He was basely murdered. I saw that his hands had been pierced with rough iron nails, and his feet had been rent with the same. There was misery in his dead countenance so terrible that I scarcely dared to look upon it. His body was emaciated with hunger, his back was red with bloody scourges, and his brow had a circle of wounds about it: clearly could one see that these had been pierced by thorns. I shuddered, for I had known this friend full well. He never had a fault; he was the purest of the pure, the holiest of the holy. Who could have injured him? For he never injured any man: all his life long he "went about doing good;" he had healed the sick, he had fed the hungry, he had raised the dead: for which of these works did they kill him? He had never breathed out anything else but love. And as I looked into the poor sorrowful face so full of agony and yet so full of love, I wondered who could have been a wretch so vile us to pierce hands like his. I said within myself "Where live these traitors? Where can they live? Who are these that could have smitten such an one as this?" Had they murdered an oppressor we might have forgiven them; had they slain one who had indulged in vice or villainy, it might have been his due desert; had it been a murderer and a rebel, or one who had committed sedition, we would have said, "Bury his corpse: justice has at last given him his due." But when thou wast slain, my best, my only beloved, where lodged the traitors? Let me seize them, and they shall be put to death. If there be torments that I can devise, surely they shall endure them all. Oh! what jealousy; what revenge I felt! If I might but find these murderers what would I do with them! And as I looked upon that corpse I heard a footstep, and wondered where it was. I listened, and I clearly perceived that the murderer was close at hand. It was dark, and I groped about to find him. I found that somehow or other wherever I put my hand I could not meet with him, for he was nearer to me than my hand would go. At last I put my hand upon my breast. "I have thee now," said I; for lo! he was in my own heart; the murderer was hiding within my own bosom, dwelling in the recesses of my inmost soul. Ah! then I wept indeed, that I, in the very presence of my murdered Master, should be harbouring the murderer; and I felt myself most guilty while I bowed over his corpse and sung that plaintive hymn: "'Twere you my sins, my cruel sins, His chief tormentors were: Each of my crimes became a nail And unbelief the spear." Revenge! revenge! Ye that fear the Lord, and love his name, take vengeance on your sins, and hate all evil. Now, my beloved, my next endeavor must be to urge you to put your sins to death. What shall be done in order that you and I may get rid of our sins? There is the axe of the law; shall we bring that out and smite our sins with it? Alas! they will never die under the blow of Moses. "Law and terrors do but harden All the while they work alone." I have often striven to overcome sin by the thought of the punishment attached to it but I have very seldom found myself in a frame of mind in which my heart would receive that reason. I believe that to the most of us the terrors of the law, although they ought to be exceedingly terrible, have but little power to check us from sin. I met with a story the other day which showed me, if nothing else, the utter powerlessness of terror for curbing the heart from sin. It is pretended by some that it is necessary that men who commit murder should be capitally executed in order to deter others from crime. There is not, however I believe, the shadow of a hope that the execution of a murderer will ever produce any such effect. Three traitors were once executed in this country—Thistlewood was one of them,—and when the executioner smote off the head of the first man and held it up, saying, "this is the head of a traitor," there was a shudder running through the multitude, a chill, cold feeling which was perceptible even by the executioner. When he killed the next man, and held up the head in like manner, it was evidently looked upon with intense curiosity and awe, but with nothing like so much thrilling caution as the first. And strange to say, when the third head was smitten off, the man was about to hold it up, but he let it drop, and the crowd with one voice cried, "Aha! butter fingers!" and laughed. Would you have supposed that an English crowd, on seeing a poor man die, could have become so hardened in so short a time, as actually to have made a joke of such an incident? Yet so it is; law and terrors never do and never will produce any other effect than to drive men to sin and make them think lightly of it. I would not, therefore, advise a Christian, if he would get rid of his sins, to indulge continually in the thought of the punishment; but let him adopt a better process: let him go and sit down at the cross of Christ, and endeavor to draw evangelical repentance from the atonement which Christ has offered for our guilt. I know of no cure for sin in a Christian like an abundant intercourse with the Lord Jesus. Dwell much with him, and it is impossible for you to dwell much with sin. What! my Lord Jesus, can I sit at the foot of that tree accursed, and see thy blood flowing for my guilt, and after that indulge in transgression? Yes, I may do it, for I am vile enough for anything, but still this shall be the great clog upon the wheel of my sin, and this repress my lust the most of all,—the thought that Jesus Christ hath lived and died for me. Again, if you would cheek sin, endeavor to get as much light as you can upon it. The housewife, when she is busy about her house, with curtains drawn, she may have dusted all the tables, and think everything looks clean; but she opens a little corner of the window, and in streams a ray of light, in which ten thousand grains of dust are dancing up and down. "Ah!" she thinks, "my room is not so clean as I thought it was; here is dust where I thought there was none." Now, endeavor to get, not the farthing rushlight of your own judgment, but the sunlight of the Holy Spirit, streaming upon your heart, and it will help you to detect your sin—and detection of sin is half-way towards its cure. Look well at your transgressions and endeavor to find them out. Yet another thing, when you have fallen into one sin make confession of it, and let that lead you to search for all the rest. David, you know, never wrote so abject a confession as he did after he had committed one act of sin; then he was led to search his heart, and find out all the rest of his iniquities, and he made a complete confession of them all. When thou seest one sin, be quite sure there is a host there, for they always hunt in packs; and take care when thou dischargest thy confession against one, that there is enough powder and shot in thy confession to wound all thy sins and send them limping away. Be not content with overcoming one sin or one transgression, but labor to get rid of all. Again, there are many sins by which you will be enticed unless you always take care to strip sin of its disguises. Sin will sometimes come to you, wrapped up in a Babylonish garment, like Achan's wedge: pull off the covering and you will discover its iniquity. It will sometimes come to you like the iniquity of king Saul, under the form of a sacrifice; strip it and discover that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Alas! sin is like Jezebel; it attires its head and paints its face and appears lovely to us; unmask it, see its vileness, discover its filthiness, disdain the profit with which it gilds itself, take away the applause with which it endeavors to plume itself, and let it stand in all its naked deformity, and then thou wilt not be so likely to run into it. Once again. Try always, when your mind is in a sanctified state, to estimate the weight of the evil of sin. When you are in a sinful state you will not feel the weight of the evil. A man that dives into the water may have a thousand tons of water above his head, and not feel the weight because the water is round about him; but take him out of the water, and if you put half a tubful on his head, it presses him down. Now, while you indulge in sin, you will not feel its weight; but when you are out of sin, after it is over, and the Spirit has applied the blood of sprinkling for your forgiveness, and the sanctifying work of the Spirit has begun to restore you, then labor to realize the enormity of your guilt, and by so doing you will be helped to hate it and to overcome it. With regard to some sins, if thou wouldst avoid them, take one piece of advice—run away from them. Sins of lust especially are never to be fought with, except after Joseph's way; and you know what Joseph did—he ran away. A French philosopher said, "Fly, fly, Telemaque; there remains no way of conquest but by flight." The true soldiers of Christ's cross will stand foot to foot with any sin in the world except this; but here they turn their backs and fly, and then they become conquerors. "Flee fornication," said one of old, and there was wisdom in the counsel; there is no way of overcoming it but by flight. If the temptation attack thee, shut thine eye and stop thy ear, and away, away from it; for thou art only safe when thou art beyond sight and earshot. "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil;" and endeavor with all your might to resist and overcome it in yourselves. Once again, ye that love the Lord, if ye would keep from sin, seek always to have a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, never trust yourselves a single day without having a fresh renewal of your piety before you go forth to the day's duties. We are never safe except we are in the Lord's hands. No Christian, be he who he may or what he may, though he be renowned for his piety and prayerfulness, can exist a day without falling into great sin unless the Holy Spirit shall be his protector. Old master Dyer says, "Lock up your hearts by prayer every morning, and give God the key, so that nothing can get in; and then when thou unlockest thy heart at night, there will be a sweet fragrance and perfume of love, joy, and holiness." Take care of that. It is only by the Spirit that you can be preserved from sin. Above all, let us add, avoid all preachers who endeavor in any way to palliate sin; avoid all experiences and books of experience that give you a way of getting over the fact that the sin of God's people is a vile thing. I know some folks who talk of their sins as if they were proud of them; they speak of their falls, and their backslidings, and transgressions, as if they were blessed experiences: like the dog that had a bell round his neck because he was dangerous, they are proud of that very thing which is their shame. Remember, a nettle is bad anywhere but it is never so bad as in a flower garden, and sin is bad anywhere, but never so hateful as in a Christian. If as you are going home to day you see a boy breaking windows, very likely you will speak to him; but if it is your own boy you will severely chastise him as sure as he is your own son. So likewise doth God deal with his people. When sinners do mischief he rebukes them; when his people do the same he smites them. He will not pass over sin in his own children at any time; it shall never go unchastened. Ye that fear the Lord never palliate sin, for God will not do so; he hateth it with perfect hatred. II. My second point is, HATE SIN IN OTHERS. Mark it, do not hate others, but hate sin in others. As we have only a few minutes left I will occupy them with but one or two practical remarks. If you hate sin in others, it will be necessary for you never in any way to countenance it. There is many a Christian who does more mischief than he knows of by a smile. You have heard a young man telling a story of some of his freaks; perhaps it has been in a railway carriage, and he has been very witty, and you have smiled at him. He knows you, and he seems to think he has done a brave thing—didn't he make a Christian man smile at his sins? You have sometimes heard loose, lewd conversation proceeding from ungodly men, and you have not liked it; it has grated upon your ears; but you have sat very quietly, and others have said, "Ah well, he was still enough; he was sucking it in, and it was clear he liked it." Thus it was stamped at once with the seal of your approbation. Now, never let sin have your countenance. Wherever you are, let it be known that you not only cannot endure it, but that you positively hate it. Don't let people say, "Well, I don't think he likes it;" but let them know you hate it, that you are absolutely angry with it, that you cannot smile at it, but feel your anger rise at the very mention of such shameful things. In the last century it used to be even fashionable and honorable to commit sins, which are now looked upon with scorn, and in another hundred years, some things that are done to-day will be discovered to be desperately vile, and we shall look upon them with disdain also. Christian, I say, never stamp another man's sins with approval. Again, whenever you are called upon to do it—and that will be very often—take care to let your sentiments with regard to sin come out. Sinful silence may make you a partaker in a sinner's evil ways. If I saw a man breaking into a house and I were going by late in the evening, if I passed very gently, knowing that he was doing wrong, and did not give the alarm, I think I should be an accomplice in the crime. And so, if you are sitting in company where there is evil speaking, or where Christ is blasphemed, if you do not say a word for your Master, you are committing sin in your silence, you are an accomplice in the iniquity. Speak up for your Lord and Master. What if you should get upbraided for it and be called a Puritan? It is a grand name. What if some should say, You are too precise? There is good need that some should be too precise where a great many are far too lax; or if they should never welcome you in their company again, it will be a great gain to be out of it. What if they should speak evil of you? Know you not that you are to rejoice in that day when they shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for Christ's namesake? Always by your speaking boldly, let sin be put to the blush. Then again, when you see evil in any one, always seek, if you see the slightest hope of doing good, for an opportunity of telling him privately of it. I have heard of a gentleman who was swearing, and a godly man who stood by, instead of upbraiding him for it, publicly said, "Sir, I wish to speak to you a moment." "Well," said the gentleman, "you had better come into the coffee-room." They went accordingly; and the godly man said to the other, "My dear friend, I noticed that you took the name of God in vain I know you will excuse my mentioning it. I did not say a word about it when others could hear; but really it is a great sin, and no profit can come from it. Could you not avoid it in future?" The check was thankfully received; the gentleman bowed his acknowledgments, he confessed that it was the fault of his early education, and he trusted that the rebuke might do him good. Do you not think that very often we lose an opportunity of showing our hatred of evil by not endeavoring privately to speak to those whom we discover indulging in sin? Never let slip an opportunity of having a shot at the devil, be it where it may; always let fly at him whenever you see him. If you cannot do it in public, yet if you see a man doing evil, rebuke him in private for his sin. And yet another thing. If you hate evil, do not get into it yourself, because it is of no use your talking to others about evil unless your own life be blameless. They that live in glass houses must not throw stones. Get out of your own glass house, and then throw as many as you like. Speak to other people, when you have first of all endeavored to set your own life according to the compass of the Gospel. And now, beloved fellow-men, all of you who love the Saviour, are exhorted this morning to hate evil; and I will just enlarge once more upon this exhortation. Join heart and hand in the hatred of evil, with all men who seek to put it down. Wherever you see a society endeavoring to do good, encourage it. Let this be your doctrine—preach nothing up but Christ, and nothing down but evil. Help all those that are for the spread of the Redeemer's kingdom. There is nothing else that can put evil away so quickly as the proclamation of right. Help the minister of the Gospel; pray for him; hold up his hands; endeavor to strengthen him. As for yourself, become a tract distributor, a Sunday-school teacher, or a village preacher. Show your hatred to evil by active efforts in putting it down. Distribute Bibles, scatter the Word of God broadcast over the land. Send your missionaries to foreign parts and let them penetrate the dens and alleys of London. Go among the rags and filth of our own population and seek to bring some one or two of the Lord's precious jewels who are hidden in the dunghills of the metropolis. Thus, let the Lord Jesus Christ by your means get the victory, and let the evil of this world be cast out. How shall that be done but by the combined exertions of all Christ's church? In these days we have a great many men to fight Christ's battles, if they would but fight. Our churches are increasing at a great rate. There are an immense number of Christians now alive; but I think I would rather have the one hundred and twenty men that were in the upper chamber at the day of Pentecost, than I would have the whole lot of you. I do think those one hundred and twenty men had got more blood in them, more divine Christian blood and zeal, than as many millions of such poor creatures as we are. Why, in those days every member of the church was a missionary. The women did not preach, it is true; but they did what is better than preaching. they lived out the Gospel; and all the men had something to say. They did not leave it as you do to your minister serving God by proxy; they did not set deacons up, and leave them to do all God's work while they folded their arms. Oh! no; all Christ's soldiers went to battle. There was no drafting out one or two of them, and then leaving the others to tarry at home and share the spoil. No, every one fought, and great was the victory. Now, beloved Christians, all of you, at it, and always at it. O Spirit of the living God, descend on every heart, and bid every one of thy soldiers take his sword in his hand, and go straightway up to the victory. For when Zion's children shall feel their individual responsibility, then shall come the day of her triumph. Then shall the walls of Jericho fall flat to the ground, and every soldier of the living God shall be crowned a conqueror. "Ye that love the Lord, hate evil," henceforth and for ever. The New Song December 28th, 1862 by C. H. (1834-1892) "O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory."— Psalms 98:1 . There must be new songs on new occasions of triumph. It would have been absurd for Miriam with her timbrel to conduct the music of the daughters of Israel to some old sonnet that they had learned in Egypt. Nay, an old song could not have spoken out the feelings of that generation, much less could it have served to utter a voice, the jubilant notes of which distant posterity should echo. They must have a new song while they cry the one unto the other, "Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." The like had never been known before, but henceforth father to son must show forth its fame. In after times, when Deborah and Barak had routed the hosts of Sisera, they did not borrow Miriam's song; but they had a new psalm for the new event. They said, "Awake, awake, Deborah; awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam." In after years, at the building of the temple, or on the solemn feast days, it was ever the wont of the inspired poets of the age to cry, "O come, let us sing unto the Lord a new song." Thus the grateful notes of praise have gathered volume and augmented their compass as the ages have rolled onwards; and these as it were only the rehearsals for a grand oratorio. What then, shall be the marvellous novelty and the matchless glory of that song which shall be sung at the last upon Mount Zion, when ten thousand times ten thousand of the warriors of God shall surround Jesus the conqueror, when we shall hear a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, and like great thunders, when shall be heard the voice of harpers, harping with their harps; what shall be, I say, the strange novelty of that new song which they shall sing before the throne, when the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures shall fall before God upon their faces, and worship him for ever and ever? Would that our ears could anticipate that tremendous burst of "Hallelujah! hallelujah! hallelujah! the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." I want to carry your minds, if I can, to-night, for a little season to that last and grandest, because the decisive victory, which shall tell out the name and fame of Jehovah in all his mighty attributes, and in all his majestic deeds, when the battle shall be over for ever, and the banner shall be furled and the sword shall be sheathed, because the last foe shall be destroyed, and placed beneath the feet of the Almighty victor; "His right hand, and his holy arm, hath him the victory." My text seems, however suitable it may be to other occasions, to be most fitting to that last and most splendid triumph. Three things there are in it: victory transcendent; Deity conspicuous; holiness glorified. I. First in our text we perceive very clearly VICTORY . What shall we say of that victory? The shouts thereof already greet our ears, and the anthem that celebrates it is already prepared, when all the principalities and powers of this world shall be laid low, the pride of earth shall burst like a bubble, the great globe itself shall dissolve, and the things that are seen shall be folded up like a vesture, worn out, and crumbled with decay, that victory will be transcendent; there shall be none comparable to it; it shall stand matchless and unrivalled in all the wars of God, of angels, or men. Well, we must say of that victory, there shall be none to dispute the claim of God the Most High. The most splendid victories of one army have frequently been claimed by the opposite partisans. If you stand beneath the triumphal arch in Paris, you will see the names of some battles which you simple-minded Englishmen always thought had been won by British soldiers; but you discover that our history was all a mistake, and that the Frenchmen really retired victorious from the plain. I suppose in America it is always difficult to ascertain who has been the conqueror; and where there are no generals, and the whole affair seems to be which shall kill the most and wade through the most blood, there naturally must be difficulty in ascertaining who has won the day. But in this case there shall be no dispute whatever. The dragon's head shall be so completely broken, that he can do nothing but bite his iron bonds and growl out his confession that God is stronger than he. The hosts of hell shall have been so utterly routed, that the deep groans of dismay and shrieks of terror shall be the confession that Omnipotence rules their terrible doom. As for Death, when he shall see his captives all loosed before his eyes; as for the grave, when the key shall be rent from her grip, and all her treasures plucked from her grasp—death and the grave shall both acknowledge that their victory is gone for ever; Christ has been the conqueror, the Son of God who in our nature has already taken away the sting. There may be to-day some who write their names down as Atheists; there may be others who openly avow that they are the adversaries of God; and throughout the universe there are never wanting those who are hopeful that the issue will turn out as they wish—they are hopeful that wrong will master right; that evil shall drive out good, and darkness extinguish light. But there shall not be one such being left on that great day of victory; it shall be acknowledged even by the lip of despair that the Lord God, "with his own right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." Blazoned across the sky in lightnings such as the eye of terror has never beheld before; thundered out with trumpet louder than even that which startled the sleeping dead, every tongue in earth and hell shall confess, because every ear hath heard, that the Lord reigneth, and is king for ever and ever. But further, as this victory will be certainly beyond all dispute, let me remind you it will be transcendent, because there shall be nothing that can occur to mar it. When the last shock of the dread artillery shall have been endured by the hosts of God's elect; when the last charge shall have driven the foes before them as thin clouds fly before a Biscay gale; then, as the heroes sit down to read the story of the war, they shall discover that there is nothing to mar the splendor of that glory, for it has been a victory throughout. Of all other victories we read, at one time the balance trembled—sometimes the host on this side wavered; perhaps for the first half day it seemed not only doubtful which would win, but it appeared as though the adversary at length defeated would certainly be the conqueror. But, beloved, when we shall read history in the light of heaven, we shall discover that God was never conquered—that never did the ranks reel; we shall see that even the most disastrous strokes of Providence, even the most dire calamities that ever occurred to the Church, were only the on-march, the tramp of victories yet to come. I am certain that those things we most deplore to-day will even become the subjects of the most marvellous gratitude to-morrow. We look to-day upon the black side of the question, and say, "Ah! here, indeed, goodness was foiled;" but when we look at the whole matter through, we shall see that every dark and bending line meets in the center of the divine plan, and that which seemed the most incongruous and out of place with its fellow, was the most fitting and the most necessary of the whole programme. Satan at the last shall not be able to put his finger upon any spot of the battle-field and say, "Here my hosts routed the troops of Emmanuel." Everywhere it shall be seen that, from the dawning day, when first he struck the blow at Eve and made her sin, to the very last, when Christ shall drag him up the everlasting hills, led captive at his chariot wheels, from the first to the last, the Lord's "right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." Remember, too, that this is a victory all along the line. The general's cautious eye marks that there the left wing has driven the adversary back, but for that right wing bring up the reserves, let not the ranks be broken. Stern liners, let your chivalry be seen yonder for that wing reels. Generally in the battle some part must fail, while in this portion or the other there shall be success. Ah! but at the last when Christ shall stand, and bare his brow in heaven's sunlight, and all his angels shall be with him, it shall be seen that they were everywhere triumphant. The blood on Madagascar's rocks shall not defeat the on-march of God's armies. Saints may be burned, may be sawn in sunder, may wander about in sheep skins and goat skins, but they shall be victorious everywhere. Spain may shut her gates against the gospel, and the inquisition may make that place its stronghold, but as sure as there is a God in heaven, Christ shall be conqueror there. Tyrants may pass edicts to exterminate Christians, conclaves may make decrees to drive out the religion of Jesus, but in every place, in every land, where ever foot of man has trodden this green earth, shall there be victory; from the north to the south, from the east to the west, everywhere shall be triumph—China and Japan, Brazil and Chili, the islands of the south, the frozen regions of the north, even Africa with her sable sons, the dwellers in the wilderness shall bow before him and lick the dust at his feet. There shall be victory all along the line. Not from one place merely, but from all, shall be heard the tune—"His own right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." And it shall be a victory Sustained by the news of the morrow. Not so among the embattled hosts of men. How hard to brook the morrow! Then the general's brow is dark, and his eye is heavy, for the list of the dead and wounded is brought in for inspection. "Another victory like this," says one, "and I am defeated for ever. It is dearly purchased," saith he, "with the blood of these mothers' sons. My comrades and companions in arms must bite the ground to let the country live." But in that last great battle of God the muster-roll shall be found without one missing in it; as they call their names they shall all answer, there shall not be one left dead upon the field. "How so? How so?" saith unbelief, "are they not dead and buried now? Have not their bodies lain to bleach upon the side of the Alps? Have they not been burned in the fire and scattered as ashes to the four winds? Do not the saints sleep to-day in our cemeteries, and in our grave-yards, and doth not the deep engulf full many a body that was a temple of the Holy Ghost?" I answer, yes, but they shall come again. Refrain thine eyes from weeping, O daughter of Jerusalem; refrain thine heart from sorrow, for they shall come again from the land of their captivity. We that are alive and remain shall not have the preference beyond them that sleep, "For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed; so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." "His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." And sometimes, on the morrow, the general feels the glory of the victory is marred, for there are many prisoners; they are not dead, their corpses lie not on the field, but they have been taken off by the opposite parties, and they are a prey; and who knoweth what may become of them; what dungeons may contain them; to what tortures they may be put. But in this last victory of God, there shall be no prisoners, no prisoners left in the hand of his enemy. I know there are some who say that we may be children of God, and yet fall from grace and perish. My brethren, it is a foul slander upon the faithfulness and power of the Redeemer. I know that all he undertakes to save he will save, and he will bring the troops off from the battle field, every brow crowned with laurel, not one slain, not one a prisoner; the gates of hell shall never enclose the ransomed of the Lord; amongst the groans of the lost there shall never be heard a sigh from one that was once a saint before God. There are no prisoners. March out your prisoners, Prince of Hell, bring forth, if you can, one soul that Jesus bought with blood, one soul that the Spirit quickened, one soul that the Eternal Father gave to the hands of the Great Surety to keep for ever—bring him forth. Ah! ye have none. "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?" Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, "My ransomed shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads;" then shall it be said, "His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." But, beloved, after the battle is over, the conqueror wipes his brow and says, "Ah, but the scattered hosts may rally, and they who were driven to-day like chaff before the wind, may rise again, and long may be the campaign, and fierce the struggle, before we have stamped out the sparks of war. "Sleep on your arms," saith he, "you may be attacked to-morrow, be ready for the cry of 'boot and saddle,' for there may be a charge again ere many hours are spent." But not so in this case: the victory is crushing, total, final; it is once for ever with evil, with darkness, with hell; they shall never again be able to tempt the righteous, or to cast them down, or to pale their cheeks with fear; they shall never be able again to win the world to their dominion, they are routed, routed, routed for ever. Hosts of evil, it is not your heel that is bruised—your head is broken; the Lord hath used his people as his battle-axe and his weapons of war, and he hath cleft ye and left ye without might or strength for ever and for ever. So, dear friends, this is our joy and comfort, that once the battle over, the whole campaign is ended; there shall be no further onslaughts; we rest eternally; we triumph everlastingly; no more fights to risk, no more conflicts in which to tug and strive. This shall be the note that shall ring throughout the arches of eternity—"The Lord's right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory for ever and for ever." I think these are two good reasons why I should say this victory is transcendent—there is none to dispute it, and there is nothing to mar it. But yet further we will venture to enlarge upon this victory by shewing its particulars. The ultimate triumph and victory of God in all his purposes will lie in several things. How glorious the fact that all whom he ordained to save are saved! Calling was the first work which he wrought in them; they were called every one of them, but like the rest of mankind they would not come; their wills were so desperate that they resisted long; the minister preached at them; their mother wept over them; their father entreated them; providence came and hewed them; afflictions broke them in pieces, and they were unsaved still; but not in one case where God ordains to call has the calling failed. In every case where his electing love hath set its purpose, the will is turned round, the affections yield, the judgment gives way, the man is subdued—he is called, he is quickened. There may be some such here to-night, who think, "Well, I never would be saved upon such terms as acknowledging the sovereign grace of God, even if he wills to do it." Thy will must give way before the crushing force of the will of God. He hath mysterious ways of finding an entrance into the most reluctant heart, and taking up his throne there for ever. How clearly is this victory seen in the subjugation of the lusts and passions of the called sinner! He may have been a drunkard, he thought he could not give it up, but the rod of iron "dashes in pieces the potter's vessel." He may have loved the pleasures of the flesh, they were dear to him as his right eye, but grace overcame the most darling lust, and threw to the earth the most pampered sin. Not less conspicuously will it appear in the perseverance of every saint. Not a stone will have been left unturned by the adversary to prevent the saints holding on; the caverns of hell will be emptied against God's redeemed; Satan and his myrmidons will do their utmost to cast them down to destruction, but they shall hold on their way, they shall wax stronger and stronger, and when at last the gates of heaven shall be fast closed, because there are no more to enter, it shall be proclaimed, while devils bite their iron bands in shame, that not a soul who was written in the Book of Life was lost, not one whom Jesus bought with blood has been unredeemed, not one quickened by grace suffered to die, not one who truly began the heavenly race turned aside from it, not one concerning whom it was said, "These are mine, and in the day when I make up my jewels they shall be mine;" not one of these is lost, but all saved, saved eternally. Oh! that will be a splendid victory! What can be greater? You that know the conflict through which the child of God has to pass will bear me witness that if you get to heaven, you will sing with all your might the conqueror's hymn. And I think we all should do the same. I remember saying once that if ever I got to heaven I would sing the loudest there, for I owed the most to sovereign grace. But when I came down stairs, one said to me, "You made a mistake, I shall sing more loudly than you, for I owe more than you do." And I found that was the general opinion, that each brother and each sister thought that he owed most to divine grace. Now, if we are all to sing loudest what a shout of triumph there will be! And I suppose the verse in our hymn is quite true to the apprehension of each of us— "Then loudest of the crowd I'll sing, While heaven's resounding mansions ring With shouts of sovereign grace." What a transcendent triumph! Not a few shall there be to share the triumph, but a multitude that no man can number; for the glory shall be enhanced by the salvation of so many. Heaven is none of your narrow places for narrow-hearted bigots. No, brethren, our largest imagination never yet could grasp heaven, but it will hold multitudes of multitudes. Nor will the praise be any the less, when we consider that there were so many of such varied clans and climes, some of all kindreds on the face of the earth, swarthy or white. There shall be found in heaven the vilest sinner that lived, there shall be brought thither the proudest rebel, and the stoutest hearted, and the most obstinate of sinners; there shall be such in heaven as would have made a wonder in hell, some, I say, who would have been such great sinners, had they been suffered to go to hell, that their dreadful fall would even hell itself appal, but they are in heaven, saved by sovereign grace. And, O beloved! as there are such persons, this will help to make the victory grand, that they were saved by such means, such simple means, by the simple preaching of the gospel; not by wisdom, not by science, not by eloquence, but by the simple telling out of the story of the cross. How this will tend to make the triumph brighter than it could have been in any other way. And, O beloved, this victory will excel all others in the routing of such foes, such cruel, such crafty, such mighty, such numerous foes. Sin, sin, it is a name of horror—sin o'erthrown. Death—what glooms are concentrated in that word!—death destroyed. Satan—what craft, what cruelties, what malice linger there—Satan bound hand and foot, and led captive. Such a victory over such foes. I find no words in any tongue by which I can describe its magnitude. And oh! the results of that victory, how bright! Souls knit to Christ by such love, tongues tuned to such music, hearts burning with such fire, heaven filled with such devout, such holy inhabitants, the ears of Deity regaled with such grateful music, heaven filled with such myriads of happy spirits. The peaceful results, setting aside the overthrow, will be enough to make this victory grander than all the triumphs of men or angels put together. Say now, and gather up all your enthusiasm to say it—What a victory shall that be, when there shall not be a single trophy in the hands of the adversary. The victory shall be unparalleled in this, that all the success which the enemy thought he had achieved shall only tend to make his defeat the more galling, and add lustre to the victorious King of kings. You see sometimes hanging up in old minsters tattered flags, that were taken from the adversary; sometimes when the report of battle comes in, we are told the battle was won, that so many cannon and so many flags were left with the enemy. But, O Lord God! thou hast not left a single trophy in the hands of thy foe. I said he had no prisoners, but he shall not even have a flag, not one truth rent in pieces, not one doctrine of revelation hung up to rot in the minsters of hell; not one single attribute of God that shall be trailed in the mire, not one single truth of Christianity to be laughed at, and despised by fiends, not a trophy; there shall not a hair of your head perish, not so much as that shall Satan gain, not a bone, not a fragment of the saint, either of his body or his spirit—no trophies left. And all this will make hell angry, to think that God gave him vantage-ground, let him contend with poor feeble men; but God was in man, and fought with Satan—man, a poor feeble worm, fought with Satan, and, like David, he threw the stone of faith at the giant's head, and destroyed him with his own weapons. God hath destroyed death by the death of Christ, destroyed sin by the great sin-bearer, yea he has destroyed the dragon by the seed of a woman, who bruised his head with that very seed whose heel the serpent once did bite. Glory be unto thee, O Lord! This is thy victory. The more we muse upon it, the higher doth our rapture rise, and the more prepared do our hearts grow to peal forth the words of the Psalmist, "His right hand, and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory." II. Secondly; observe that DEITY IS HERE. Man is not made mention of. There is no name of Moses, or of the prophets, or of the apostles here; I read not the names of Chrysostom and Augustine, nor of those modern fathers of the Church, such as Calvin, and Zwingle—the stars are lost in the blaze of the sun. O God! how glorious is thy right arm, and how do thy disciples, thy children, hide their heads and say, "Not unto us, but unto thy name be all the glory!" But mark, beloved, as they are not mentioned it is not because the mention need to be avoided, for the more we talk of instrumentalities, or rather think about them—(I do not say the more we think of them, but the more we think about them)—the more persuaded we shall be that it only adds to God's glory to use men, for men are such poor tools to work with. You have heard of the celebrated painter who gained renown by painting with poor brushes, when the good ones were stolen; and Quintin Matsys, who made a cover for the well without tools, when all the proper tools were taken away; he wrought the ironwork with such poor implements as he could get. So was the skill of the painter or artisan admired in that he could produce such effects under such disadvantageous conditions. Ah! then what an artist must he be! they exclaim concerning the one. And they look upon this piece of ironwork, and say of the other, "What! no graving tools, no casting, how could he do it?" So when we shall come to look at men, when we look at them in the light which eternity shall reveal, we shall say of the best of them, "How can the Lord have won such victories with such poor things as these!" So that you may mention the instruments every one of them, from righteous Abel down to the last preacher of the Word, and yet it shall be true, that the victory shall speak the sole praise of the General. No doubt, dear friends, this will be a part of the splendor of the triumph to think that he did win by man. It was in man that Satan conquered: Adam and Eve were led astray by the crafty wiles of Satan. It is by man that death came, and by man comes the resurrection of the dead. This will be gall and wormwood in the cup of the lost, when they shall see the Man Christ Jesus, the seed of the woman, sitting at the right hand of God. This is judgment's greatest terror, "Hide us from the Lamb;" and this shall be hell's greatest horror, "Hide us from the Lamb; let us not behold his face." But glory be unto thee, most gracious God, for thou hast lifted man up above all the works of thy hands, and given him dominion above all creatures, so that principalities and powers are put beneath his feet in the person of Christ. And all this only proves that "His own right-hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." I wish I might enlarge here and speak of the conspicuous glory of God in this respect, that all the persons of the Trinity will be glorified, the Father, the Son, the Spirit. All the attributes of God, his unsearchable greatness, and his unrivalled majesty, his grace, his power, his truth, his justice, his holiness, his immutability, these shall shine forth with resplendent lustre. His wondrous works and his terrible acts shall declare his praise; they shall be the theme of every tongue, and the topic of every conversation. "Men shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power." All his decrees shall be seen in their final accomplishment, every one of them fulfilled, the counsel answering to the providence. Of all that the Father willed, of all that the Son performed, of all that the Spirit revealed, not one thing is frustrated. How shall I gather up these things? O for the voice of a mighty angel! O for a seraph's lip of fire, to speak now of the splendor of that last day, when not only the great but the little, not only the abundance of God's providence, and the great deeps of his counsel, but even the small deeds of his lovingkindness shall be made to sing forth his praise, when not only the leviathian deeds of God shall make the deep to praise the Lord, but even the little fish that move therein, shall leap up to join the chorus, and everywhere from everything, for everything, there shall be heard the tune—"His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." III. We have in our text a third thought, which we can only hint at. In all this— WILL BE . Note the adjective,—"His holy arm." When we contemplate any actions of God, you will notice that the name which cherubs utter, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth," is always brought out. Where Christ bears sin, and overcomes it, I hear the cry of "Holy, holy, holy," from the cross. Where Jesus breaks the tomb, and conquers death, I seem to hear the note of "Holy, holy, holy," for it makes the day holy on which the deed was done. And when he ascends to glory, and the Father says, "Well done," we seem to hear still the note, "Holy, holy, holy." In everything, from the manger to the cross, and from the cross onward to the crown, holiness becometh God's house, and all God's acts for ever. Is it not, dear friends, after all the hinge of the struggle? Is not this the point, just as you know in great battles, there is some one mountain or hill, which is the object of struggle, not for the value of that particular hill, but because on that the battle will depend, so holiness is just the point, the rallying point between God and Satan. Here are the two war-cries. The hosts of evil cry, "Sin, sin, sin;" but the cry of the armies of the Lord of hosts is this, "Holiness, holiness, holiness." Every time we strike a blow it is "Holiness;" and every time they attack us it is "Sin." Sin is the real object of their aim. When Satan attacks, it is to stab at holiness, and when we resist, it is to guard holiness, or to drive back his sin. Mark you, this, I say, is the point of the battle, and by that ye shall be able to judge on which side you are. What is your war-cry? What is your war-cry? When Cromwell fought with the soldiers of the covenant at Dunbar, you will remember they were distinguished by their cries, on the one side, "The Covenant, the Covenant;" and on the other side, "The Lord of hosts, the Lord of hosts." And so to-night there is the cry on either side, "Sin and the pleasures thereof." Is that your war-cry, friend? You say "No,"—how is it then you were at the theater the other night? You say "No,"—how is it then you frequent the tavern? You say "No,"—how is it then you have got so many misgotten gains about you now? You say, "No,"—how is it you make appointments for deeds of sin, and perhaps to-night, or to-morrow night, intend to fulfill them? I tell you, sirs, there are many of you whose war-cry to-night is "Sin, and the pleasures thereof." On the other hand, I trust there are not a few in this vast throng, who can say, "Oh! sir, feebly though I speak it, yet my war" cry is 'Holiness, and the cross'"—that goeth with it, "Holiness, and the cross." Ah! beloved you are just now on the side that is laughed at, the world points at you and says, "There are your saints." Yes, here they are, sir, what dare you say against them? Abide your time, man, and have your jeering out; ye shall change that laugh for everlasting howlings by-and-bye. "There are your Methodists; there are your hypocritical professors." What, sir, dare you say it? The servants of the living God will know how to answer you in that day, when their king shall be revealed in the clouds of heaven, and his glory shall be manifest, and they shall share his triumph, and all flesh shall see it, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Come, we will pass that question again to-night, "What is your war-cry?" There has been a good deal of wickedness these last few days in London. I love to see holy mirth; I delight to see men well feasted. I like Christmas; I wish it came six times a-year. I like the generosity of those who give to the poor. Let it be extended. I would not stop a smile. God forbid me! But cannot men be happy without drunkenness? cannot they be mirthful without blasphemy? Is there no possibility of being happy without lasciviousness? Are there no other ways of finding true pleasure besides selling your soul to the devil? O sirs! I say there have been thousands in this huge city who have been going about the streets, and whose cry has been, "Sin, and the pleasures thereof! Where is the music-hall? Where is the Casino? Where is the Coal Hole? Where is the tavern? Where is the ball-room? Sin, and the pleasures thereof." O Satan! thou hast many soldiers, and right brave soldiers they are, and never are they afraid of thy cause, nor ashamed of thy name nor of thy unholy work. Ay, thou art well served, O prince of hell! and rich will be thy wages when thy drudges earn the fire for which they have labored. But I hope and trust there are some to-night who will change their watch-note. Ye have not nailed your colors to the mast, have you? Even if you have, by God's grace I would pull the nails out. Are ye determined to die? Will you serve the black prince for ever, and perish with him? Jesus Emmanuel, the captain of our salvation, bids me cry to you, "Enlist beneath my banner." Believe in him, trust in him, and live. Oh! trust the merit of the cross, the virtue of the blood, the tears, and the dying groans. This it is to be a Christian, and ever afterwards this shall be your war-note—"Holiness, and the cross thereof!" O take this, all! Fear not. The cross with holiness will bring the mortifying of the flesh, the shame of the world, and the reproach of men. Take both, for now the battle is raging. But, O my brethren, another crush, and another, and another, and another, and we shall gain the top of the hill, and the shout of "Holiness and the cross!" shall be answered by the echoes all round the world, for everywhere holiness shall be victorious, and men shall know the Lord. Ay, and the echoes of heaven shall answer, too, and the spirits of the sanctified shall cry, "Holiness, and the crown thereof!" Then we will change one word of our watch-note; and as our enemies have broken before us and are utterly destroyed; as they melt away like the fat of rams; as unto smoke they consume away, we will sing for ever, "Holiness, and the crown thereof! holiness, and the crown thereof!" But that shall be only one note: this shall be the song—"His own right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory." I would that some soul would believe in Jesus to-night, that it might share in the victory. I would that young man's heart would be given to Christ to-night, or yours yonder. He deserves it of you: if it were only his mercy in having spared you, he deserves it. And thou greyheaded sinner there, does he not deserve thy heart for sparing thee so long? Yield, I pray thee; his love meets thee. Yield; his terrors threaten thee. Yield; lay down thy weapons, and be for ever forgiven. May God help thee to do it. The Lord prove his sovereignty and his power to-night in the conversion of many of his chosen; and unto him shall be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. Psalms 99THE theme of this psalm, as of those immediately preceding, is the kingship of Jehovah, Psalms 99:1. The remainder falls into two stanzas of four verses each. In the first, Jehovah's goodness to his people is propounded as a subject of applause to all mankind, Psalms 99:2-5. In the second, the same duty is enforced by an appeal to historical examples, Psalms 99:6-9. The strophical arrangement is marked by the resemblance of Psa 99:5 and Psalms 99:9. The psalm is related in the closest manner to those before and after it, as forming one connected series. See below, on Psalms 100. 1. (Psalms 99:1) Jehovah reigns, the nations tremble; sitting on (or dwelling between) the cherubim (he reigns), the earth quakes. The second member of each clause describes the effect produced by the disclosure of the fact that God has begun to reign, is actually reigning. For the meaning of the phrase sitting on (or dwelling between) the cherubim, see above, on Psalms 80:1. As used in history, it always presupposes the presence of the ark as symbolising that of God himself. See 1 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 6:2, 2 Kings 19:15. Its use here, therefore, shews that the psalm before us, and by necessary consequence, the series to which it belongs (Psalms 91-100.), and by parity of reasoning, the later prophecies of Isaiah, were all composed before the Babylonian conquest, when the temple was destroyed and the ark lost sight of. The futures have their strict sense, as this is a prediction. If they were optative (let the nations tremble, etc.) one of the verbs at least would have that form. 2. (Psalms 99:2) Jehovah in Zion (is) great, and high (is) he above all nations. Compare Psalms 48:1; Psalms 95:3; Psalms 96:4; Psalms 97:9. The addition of the qualifying phrase in Zion shews that the reference is not to God's absolute essential greatness, but to some signal manifestation of his greatness to his people. The word translated high is originally a participle, and may be likened to our English towering. 3. (Psalms 99:3) They shall acknowledge thy name, great and terrible: Holy (is) He! The subject of the first verb is the nations mentioned in Psalms 99:2. See above, Psalms 96:9; Psalms 97:7; Psalms 98:1; Psalms 98:4. The verb itself means to acknowledge thankfully, to thank, to . .Psalms 107praise for benefits received. See above, on Psalms 6:4. Thy name, the evidence already furnished of thine infinite perfection. Great and feared, or to be feared, epithets derived from Deuteronomy 10:17; Deuteronomy 28:58. In the last clause some would read, Holy (is) it, i.e. thy name. But the sense is determined by the analogy of Psa 99:5; Psalms 99:9, and the obvious allusion to Isaiah 6:3. This allusion is by some supposed to be the reason of the sudden change of person, He instead of Thou. But this may be still more readily accounted for, by making these the very words in which God is acknowledged by the nations: (saying) Holy is he! Holy, in the wide sense which it has in the Old Testament, and more particularly in the Psalms. See above, on Psalms 22:3. 4. (Psalms 99:4) And the king's strength loves judgment; thou hast established equity: judgment and justice in, Jacob thou hast done. Some continue the construction from the preceding sentence; they shall acknowledge thy name and the king's strength loving judgment. But as sentences of this length are unusual in Hebrew, and is not elsewhere a participle or verbal adjective, the best construction is the old one, which makes this an independent proposition. The meaning of the first clause seems to be, that God's power is controlled in its exercise by his love of justice. To establish equity is to give it permanence by a habitually pure administration of justice. The terms of the last clause are the same by which the history describes the judicial fidelity of David, 2 Samuel 8:15, as if to indicate that it was a mere type of God's more perfect and infallible administration of impartial justice. 5. (Psalms 99:5) Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and prostrate yourselves to his footstool. Holy (is) He! With the first clause compare Psalms 30:1; Psalms 34:3; with the second, Psalms 96:9; Psalms 97:7. As in those cases, the address is to- the nations. Bow down (or prostrate) yourselves, as an act of worship. Not at his footstool, as the mere place of worship, but to it, as the object, this name being constantly given to the ark, 1 Chronicles 28:2, Lamentations 2:1, Psalms 132:7, Isaiah 60:13. Even in Isaiah 66:1, there is allusion to the ordinary usage of the terms. The ark is here represented as the object of worship, just as Zion is in Isaiah 45:14, both being put for the God who was present in them. 6. (Psalms 99:6) Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those calling on his name— calling to Jehovah, and he answers them. The structure of the sentence is elliptical, and may be completed either by supplying are or were before among, or by making the participle calling mean are calling, call. In explaining the sentence due regard must be had to its parallelstructure. As Moses and Aaron are evidently meant to be included among those who called upon the name of the Lord, so Samuel must be comprehended among his priests. Moses and Samuel are so described because they were theocratic mediators between God and the people, and as such performed occasionally what were strictly sacerdotal functions. See Leviticus 8:15-30, 1 Samuel 9:13. The prayers here referred to are their intercessions for the people. See Exodus 18:19; Exodus 32:11-30, Numbers 11:2; Numbers 14:9; Numbers 21:7, Deuteronomy 5:5; Deuteronomy 9:18-19, 1 Samuel 7:9; 1 Samuel 12:23, Psalms 106:23. The connection of this verse with the foregoing context is obscure, but the idea seems to be, that as even the chiefs of the theocracy were under the necessity of seeking the divine favour, such prayer must, to say the least, be equally necessary in the case of others. 7. (Psalms 99:7) In a pillar of cloud he speaks to them. They kept his testimonies and the statute he gave unto them. The first clause may be figuratively understood as denoting any special divine communication, or what was literally true of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 33:9, Numbers 12:5, Deuteronomy 31:15) may be here applied to all three indiscriminately. The verse contains a second lesson drawn from the history of the theocracy, to wit, the necessity of obedience no less than of prayer. It was true, God spoke to these men in an extraordinary manner; but it was for the purpose of making known his will, and that will they obeyed. For the meaning of testimonies, see above, on Psalms 93:5. The last clause may be construed as an independent proposition, and he gave a statute to them, i.e. he rewarded their obedience by revealing to them new laws. But the sense thus obtained is not so clear or natural as that afforded by the relative construction, and the statute (which) he gave them. 8. (Psalms 99:8) Jehovah our God, thou didst answer them; a forgiving God wast thou to them, and (a God) taking vengeance on their crimes. The apostrophe to God himself adds solemnity and tenderness to the discourse. The pronoun is emphatic, they called and thou didst hear or answer. The following description is borrowed from Exodus 34:7. The divine name, implies that he had infinite power to destroy, and yet forgave them. The last Hebrew word in the verse is used of God in a good sense, and of man always in a bad one. See above, on Psalms 9:11; Psalms 14:1; Psalms 77:12. There is here a beautiful transition from the representatives of the people to the people themselves. The pronoun in the first clause (them) can refer only to Moses, Aaron, and Samuel; in the second, it is applicable both to them and to the people; in the third, it relates to the latter exclusively. 9. (Psalms 99:9) Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and bow down to his holy hill; for holy (is) Jehovah our God. See above, on Psalms 99:5, from which this differs only in the substitution of the holy hill for the equivalent expression footstool, and in the more distinct assertion of God's holiness as a reason for the worship thus required. This may be called THE SANCTUS, or, THE HOLY, HOLY, HOLY PSALM, for the word "holy" is the conclusion and the refrain of its three main divisions. Its subject is the holiness of the divine government, the sanctity of the mediatorial reign. It seems to us to declare the holiness of Jehovah himself in Psalms 99:1-3; it mentions the equity of the king whom the Lord had appointed, as an illustration of the Lord's love of holiness, or more probably it describes the Lord as himself the king, in Psalms 99:4-5, and it then sets forth the severely righteous character of God's dealings with those favoured persons whom in former times he had selected to approach him on behalf of the people, Psalms 99:6-9. It is a hymn fitted for the cherubim who surround the throne, who are mentioned in Psalms 99:1; it is a Psalm most fitting for saints who dwell in Zion, the holy city, and especially worthy to be reverently sung by all who, like David the king, Moses the lawgiver, Aaron the priest, or Samuel the seer, are honoured to lead the church of God, and plead for her with her Lord. . Ver. 1. The Lord reigneth. One of the most joyous utterances which ever leaped from mortal lip. The overthrow of the reign of evil and the setting up of Jehovah's kingdom of goodness, justice, and truth, is worthy to be hymned again and again, as we have it here for the third time in the psalms. Let the people tremble. Let the chosen people feel a solemn yet joyful awe, which shall thrill their whole manhood. Saints quiver with devout emotion, and sinners quiver with terror when the rule of Jehovah is fully perceived and felt. It is not a light or trifling matter, it is a truth which, above all others, should stir the depths of our nature. He sitteth between the cherubims. In grandeur of sublime glory, yet in nearness of mediatorial condescension, Jehovah revealed himself above the mercyseat, whereon stood the likeness of those flaming ones who gaze upon his glory, and for ever cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts." The Lord reigning on that throne of grace which is sprinkled with atoning blood, and veiled with the covering wings of mediatorial love, is above all other revelations wonderful, and fitted to excite emotion among all mankind, hence it is added, Let the earth be moved. Not merely "the people, "but the whole earth should feel a movement of adoring awe when it is known that on the mercyseat God sits as universal monarch. The pomp of heaven surrounds him, and is symbolised by the outstretched wings of waiting cherubs; let not the earth be less moved to adoration, rather let all her tribes bow before his infinite majesty, yea, let the solid earth itself with reverent tremor acknowledge his presence. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. This psalm has three parts, in which the Lord is celebrated as He who is to come, as He who is, and as he who was. John Albert Bengel, 1687-1752. Whole Psalm. In each of the three strophes Jehovah is acknowledged in his peculiar covenant relation to his people. In the first he is "great in Zion"(Psalms 99:2); in the second, he has "executed righteousness in Jacob"(Psalms 99:4); and he is "Jehovah our God" (Psalms 99:5); in the third, the great examples of this covenant relationship are cited from Israel's ancient history; and again God is twice claimed as "Jehovah our God" (Psalms 99:8-9). J.J.S. Perowne. Whole Psalm. There are three psalms which begin with the words, "The Lord (JEHOVAH) reigneth." (Psalms 93:1-5; Psalms 97:1-12; Psalms 99:1-9.) This is the third and last of these Psalms; and it is remarkable that in this Psalm the words He is holy are repeated three times (Psalms 99:3; Psalms 99:5; Psalms 99:9). Thus this Psalm is one of the links in the chain which connects the first revelation of God in Genesis with the full manifestation of the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, which is revealed in the commission of the risen Saviour to his apostles: "Go ye, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, "and which prepares the faithful to join in the heavenly Hallelujah of the church glorified, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." The other links in this chain in the Old Testament are, the Aaronic benediction, in Numbers 6:24-27; and the Seraphic Trisagion, in Isaiah 6:1-3. Christopher Wordsworth. Whole Psalm. Many of the preceding Psalms, in extolling the Dominion and Supremacy of the Messiah, have spoken of him solely as the object of triumph and rejoicing. He has been represented in all the bounteousness of his mercy, and the excess of his lovingkindness; and the ideas of might and majesty, with which he has been accompanied, seem chiefly to have been regarded as the means by which these gracious designs will be carried into a sure effect. There is always a great danger in such a feeling, lest our reciprocal covenant should be too much forgotten; and we should rest on our privileges to the exclusion of our practice. This was a constant error to the Jews. "We have Abraham to our Father, "was continually on their lips; as if the given promise to their nation had been inalienable for ever. Subsequent ages have shown the existence of the same false principle amongst the Gentiles. It is a part of the weakness of human nature; and hence was the prophet inspired to warn the world of the evil, and draw their minds to a just sense of the awfulness of the Redeemer's majesty. In this view, joined as it is throughout with assertions of his readiness at all times to listen to the believer and to grant his supplication, the Psalm is at once of great power and of an exceeding consolation. William Hill Tucker. Ver. 1. Let the people tremble... let the earth be moved. That fear which proceeds from simple reverence as well as that which arises from apprehension of evil, produces bodily shaking. Thus this exhortation may concern believing as well as unbelieving nations. Amyraldus. Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. He bids a defiance, as it were, to all his enemies, orgizesywsan, irascantur, commoveantur, fremant populi;let the people be angry, fret, and be unquiet, as Psalms 2:1. Let the earth, that is, the tyrants of the earth, be moved at it; yet let them know that all their endeavours are but vain. William Nicholson. Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. Jarchi refers this to the war of Gog and Magog. John Gill. Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. Albeit the church be compassed about with enemies, as the lily among the thorns, yet because her Lord reigneth in the midst of her, she hath reason not only to comfort herself in him, but also hath ground of defying her enemies, and boasting against them: "The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble." The Lord's people do not worship an unknown God, they know who he is, and where to find him; to wit, in his ordinances, on the throne of grace, reconciling himself to the world in Christ: He sitteth between the cherubims. David Dickson. Ver. 1. The cherubims. These were figures, or representations of angels, inclining their faces one towards the other, and touching one another with their wings. Exodus 25:18. The use of these was to cover or overshadow the mercyseat with their wings, Exodus 25:20, and from this seat God used to speak unto Moses, Exodus 25:22; Numbers 7:8-9. Which may be applied unto Christ, whose mediation was signified by the mercyseat;whence it is said, that he is a propitiation or covering mercyseat, Romans 3:25 1 John 2:2 4:10, because by his obedience all our unrighteousness is covered. Thomas Wilson(-1621), in "A Complete Christian Dictionary, "1678. Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims. Our friend Mr. Charles Stanford, in his delicious work, "Symbols of Christ, "has beautifully brought out the connection between Matthew 23:37 and Matthew 23:38. The house was left desolate because Christ, who was set forth by the symbol of shelter, was rejected by them, and was not permitted to cover them with his wings. It was customary for the Jews to say of a proselyte, "He has taken refuge under the wings of the Shekinah." We now see that to take shelter under the wings of the Shekinah is to hide beneath the wings of Christ. Beneath that living shield which beats back the destroying stroke, and is broad enough to canopy a fugitive world, we take shelter, and there the promise is fulfilled, "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust." Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims. The cherubim is the seat of God, as the scripture sheweth us, a certain exalted heavenly throne, which we see not; but the word of God knoweth it, knoweth it as his own seat: and the word of God and the Spirit of God hath itself revealed to the servants of God where God sitteth. Not that God doth sit, as doth man, but thou, if thou dost wish that God sit in thee, if thou wilt be good, shalt be the seat of God; for thus is it written, "The soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom" Septuagint translation]. For a throne is in our language called a seat. For some, conversant with the Hebrew tongue, have interpreted cherubim in the Latin language (for it is a Hebrew term) by the words fulness of knowledge. Therefore, because God surpasses all knowledge, he is said to sit above the fulness of knowledge. Let there be therefore in thee fulness of knowledge, and even thou shalt be the throne of God. Augustine. Ver. 1. Let the earth be moved. Those that submit to him shall be established, and not "moved, "Psalms 96:10; but they that oppose him will be moved. Heaven and earth shall be shaken, and all nations; but the kingdom of Christ cannot be moved. The "things which cannot be shaken shall remain, "Hebrews 12:27. Matthew Henry. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 1. 1. The doctrine of divine sovereignty enunciated. 2. The apprehension of divine sovereignty demanded. It ought to be spiritually apprehended. God wants to be King in the hearts of men. All mortals must tremble before the Immortal; especially the wicked. 3. The accessories of divine sovereignty hinted at. Sovereignty never forsakes the mercyseat. Angels are represented on the mercyseat, the ministers of sovereignty, 4. The effect of divine sovereignty described. Men should be "moved" to fear and obey the King before whom angels bow. Men should be moved to seek the mercy which angels study. William Durban. Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims, etc. 1. Statement made; where God dwells, on the mercyseat. To hear prayer, and confession, and to grant salvation. 2. Effect produced— "Earth moved; "to admiration, to prayer, to sorrowful contrition, to draw near, etc. E. G. Gange. Psalms 99:2* . Ver. 2. The Lord is great in Zion. Of old the temple's sacred hill was the centre of the worship of the great King, and the place where his grandeur was most clearly beheld: his church is now his favoured palace, where his greatness is displayed, acknowledged, and adored. He there unveils his attributes and commands the lowliest homage; the ignorant forget him, the wicked despise him, the atheistical oppose him, but among his own chosen he is great beyond comparison. He is great in the esteem of the gracious, great in his acts of mercy, and really great in himself: great in mercy, power, wisdom, justice, and glory. And he is high above all the people; towering above their highest thoughts and loftiest conceptions. The highest are not high to him, yet, blessed be his name, the lowliest are not despised by him. In such a God we rejoice, his greatness and loftiness are exceedingly delightful in our esteem; the more he is honoured and exalted in the hearts of men, the more exultant are his people. If Israel delighted in Saul because he was head and shoulders above the people, how much more should we exult in our God and King, Who is as high above us as the heavens are above the earth. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. He is high above all the people. The metaphor is taken from such great objects as trees, animals, palaces, towers, which are the more valued, and are regarded as possessing the greater strength, the higher they rise above others. So Deuteronomy 1:28 2:10,21 9:2, Concerning the Canaanites and the giants. Martin Geier. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 2. 1. God is great in Zion in Himself, all his perfections are here, which cannot be said of creation, or of his Law, or of the heaven of angels. 2. Great in his works of saving sinners, which he cannot do elsewhere. 3. Great in his glory as displayed in redemption through his Son. 4. Great in his love to his redeemed. G. R. Ver. 2. The Lord is great in Zion. 1. In the condescension he displays— Zion is his "habitation, "his "rest." 2. In the glory he manifests— power and glory are in the sanctuary, Psalms 68:2. 3. In the assemblage he draws. "Every one in Zion appeareth before God, "Psalms 84:7. 4. In the blessings he imparts. 5. In the authority he exerts. W. Jackson. Psalms 99:3* . Ver. 3. Let them praise thy great and terrible name: let all the dwellers in Zion and all the nations upon the earth praise the Lord, or "acknowledge thankfully" the goodness of his divine nature, albeit that there is so much in it which must inspire their awe. Under the most terrible aspect the Lord is still to be praised. Many profess to admire the milder beams of the sun of righteousness, but burn with rebellion against its more flaming radiance: so it ought not to be: we are bound to praise a terrible, God and worship him who casts the wicked down to hell. Did not Israel praise him "who overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in tile Red Sea, for his mercy endureth for ever." The terrible Avenger is to be praised, as well as the loving Redeemer. Against this the sympathy of man's evil heart with sin rebels; it cries out for an effeminate God in whom pity has strangled justice. The well-instructed servants of Jehovah praise him in all the aspects of his character, whether terrible or tender. Grace streaming from the mercy-seat can alone work in us this admirable frame of mind. For it is holy, or He is holy. In him is no flaw or fault, excess or deficiency, error or iniquity. He is wholly excellent, and is therefore called holy. In his words, thoughts, acts, and revelations as well as in himself, he is perfection itself. O come let us worship and bow down before him. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. Let them praise thy great and terrible name, etc. Although the enemies of the Church of God are in a tumult, and the whole earth is moved, do you nevertheless with joyful spirit entrust your salvation to him, and acknowledge and diligently celebrate his power displayed in the defence of his people and the overthrow of his foes. Mollerus. Ver. 3. Thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. The FATHER'S name is "great, "for he is the source, the Creator, the Lord of all; the SON'S name is "terrible, "for he is to be our judge; the name of the HOLY GHOST is "holy, "for he it is who bestows hallowing and sanctification. The Hebrew commentators see here the mystic Tetragrammaton hwhy, whose true pronunciation was kept a profound secret by the Rabbins, owing to a feeling of awful reverence; while the Greeks are precise in bidding us take it of that name, which is "terrible" to God's enemies, "holy" to his friends, and "great" to both, the name of JESUS. Hugo Cardinalis, Genebrardus, and Balthazar Corderius, in Neale's Commentary. Ver. 3. Let them praise thy terrible name. What force the experience of a burdened conscience attaches to the expression, "Thy great and terrible name; for it is holy!" The misery of sin consists not merely in its consequences, but in its very nature, which is to separate between God and our souls, and to shut us out from God, and God from us. Yet the Spirit of God indicates, in the covenant of grace, a threefold practical influence of his holiness upon us, of which the issue is the opposite of despair. The various steps are marked as praise, exaltation, and worship (Psalms 99:3; Psalms 99:5; Psalms 99:9). Of these the last seems by far the most difficult to realise. For it is in the nature of conscious sin to prevent even our approaches to God, to keep us from all comfortable fellowship with God, and to fill us with a heavy sense of our infinite and almost hopeless distance from him. Yet we will "praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy." Great it is; most glorious and high; far above all human conceptions. Viewed in this light, even the fact otherwise so consoling, "The Lord reigneth, "leads only to the inference, "Let the people tremble; "and "He sitteth between the cherubim" (or manifesteth himself as the covenant God) to the conclusion, "Let the earth be moved, "or stagger. But his name is not only great and terrible in its manifestations, "it is holy, "and therefore we "praise" it. His greatness is all arrayed on the side of goodness, his power on that of righteousness and truth. Alfred Edersheim, in "The Golden Diary of Heart Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms, "1873. Ver. 3. Thy terrible name... holy. In acts of man's vindictive justice, there is something of impurity, perturbation, passion, some mixture of cruelty; but none of these fall upon God in the several acts of wrath. When God appears to Ezekiel in the resemblance of fire, to signify his anger against the house of Judah for their idolatry, "from his loins downward there was the appearance of fire, but from the loins upward the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber." Ezekiel 8:2. His heart is clean in his most terrible acts of vengeance; it is a pure flame wherewith he scorcheth and burns his enemies. He is holy in the most fiery appearance. Stephen Charnock. Ver. 3. It is holy. No attribute is sounded out so loftily, with such solenmity, and so frequently by angels that stand before his throne, as this. Where do you find any other attribute trebled in the praises of it as this? Isaiah 6:3 : "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory; "and Revelation 4:8 : "The four living creatures rest not day and night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, "&c. His power of sovereignty as Lord of hosts is but once mentioned, but with a ternal repetition of his holiness. Do you hear in any evangelical song any other perfection of the divine nature thrice repeated? Where do we read of the crying out, Eternal, eternal, eternal; or Faithful, faithful, faithful, Lord God of hosts! Whatsoever other attribute is left out, this God would have to fill the mouths of angels and blessed spirits for ever in heaven... As it seems to challenge an excellence above all his other perfections, so it is the glory of all the rest; as it is the glory of the Godhead, so it is the glory of every perfection in the Godhead; as his power is the strength of them, so his holiness is the beauty of them; as all would be weak without almightiness to back them, so all would be uncomely without holiness to adorn them: should this be sullied all the rest would lose their honour and their comfortable efficacy; as at the same instant that the sun should lose its light, it would lose its heat, its strength, its generative and quickening virtue. As sincerity is the lustre of every grace in a Christian, so is purity the splendour of every attribute in the Godhead. His justice is a holy justice, his wisdom a holy wisdom, his arm of power a "holy arm, " Psalms 98:1; his truth or promise a "holy promise, "Psalms 105:42. Holy and true go hand and hand, Revelation 6:10. "His name, " which signifies all his attributes in conjunction, "is holy." Stephen Charnock. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 3. The terrors of the Lord, connected with holiness, and worthy of praise. Psalms 99:4* . Ver. 4. The king's strength also loveth judgment. God is the king, the mercy-seat is his throne, and the sceptre which he sways is holy like himself. His power never exerts itself tyrannically; he is a sovereign, and he is absolute in his government, but his might delights in right, his force is used for just purposes only. Men in these days are continually arranging the Lord's government, and setting up to judge whether he does right or not; but saintly men in the olden time were of another mind, they were sure that what the Lord did was just, and instead of calling him to account they humbly submitted themselves to his will, rejoicing in the firm persuasion that with his whole omnipotence God was pledged to promote righteousness, and work justice among all his creatures. Thou dost establish equity. Not a court of equity merely, but equity itself thou dost set up, and that not for a time or upon an occasion, but as an established institution, stable as thy throne. Not even for the sake of mercy does the Lord remove or injure the equity of his moral government: both in providence and in grace he is careful to conserve the immaculate purity of his justice. Most kingdoms have an establishment of some kind, and generally it is inequitable; here we have an establishment which is equity itself. The Lord our God demolishes every system of injustice, and right alone is made to stand. Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Justice is not merely established, but executed in God's kingdom; the laws are carried out, the executive is as righteous as the legislative. Herein let all the oppressed, yea, and all who love that which is right, find large occasion for praise. Other nations under their despots were the victims and the perpetrators of grievous wrong, but when the tribes were faithful to the Lord they enjoyed an upright government within their own borders, and acted with integrity towards their neighbours. That kingcraft which delights in cunning, favouritism, and brute force is as opposite to the divine Kingship as darkness to light. The palace of Jehovah is no robber's fortress nor despot's castle, built on dungeons, with stones carved by slaves, and cemented with the blood of toiling serfs. The annals of most human governments have been written in the tears of the downtrodden, and the curses of the oppressed: the chronicles of the Lord's kingdom are of another sort, truth shines in each line, goodness in every syllable, and justice in every letter. Glory be to the name of the King, whose gentle glory beams from between the cherubic wings. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 4. The king's strength. They will remember his strength with joy, because he loveth judgment, and there is no reason, therefore, to be afraid of him in consequence of his great strength, so long as they continue to walk in the good way. George Phillips. Ver. 4-5. Our King loveth righteousness:he will execute perfect justice, tempered with perfect mercy. He will judge every man according to his works, summing up and completing the unnoticed righteousness of his providence by an open manifestation to the universe of his holiness and equity. "We believe that he will come to be our judge, "therefore let us magnify and exalt him with our lips and hearts; and let us fall down and worship the man Christ Jesus, who took our nature, even his manhood, from the earth, which is his footstool, into the eternity of the Godhead, in which he is equal to the Father. As heaven, which is the throne of God, and earth, which is his footstool, form one universe, so is God and man one Christ, the everlasting Lord, "holy and true, "in whom we sinners may appeal from the throne of eternal justice to the footstool of eternal mercy. "Plain Commentary." HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 4. 1. Trace the process of the working of right principles through three stages— Love, Establishment, Execution. 2. Illustrate from God's character and action. 3. Apply to national, and to daily, life. C. D. Psalms 99:5* . Ver. 5. Exalt ye the LORD our God. If no others adore him, let his own people render to him the most ardent worship. Infinite condescension makes him stoop to be called our God, and truth and faithfulness bind him to maintain that covenant relationship; and surely we, to whom by grace he so lovingly gives himself, should exalt him with all our hearts. He shines upon us from under the veiling wings of cherubim, and above the seat of mercy, therefore let us come and worship at his footstool. When he reveals himself in Christ Jesus, as our reconciled God, who allows us to approach even to his throne, it becomes us to unite earnestness and humility, joy and adoration, and, while we exalt him, prostrate ourselves in the dust before him. Do we need to be thus excited to worship? How much ought we to blush for such backwardness! It ought to be our daily delight to magnify so good and great a God. For he is holy. A second time the note rings out, and as the ark, which was the divine footstool, has just been mentioned, the voice seems to sound forth from the cherubim where the Lord sitteth, who continually do cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord God of Sabaoth!" Holiness is the harmony of all the virtues. The Lord has not one glorious attribute alone, or in excess, but all glories are in him as a whole; this is the crown of his honour and the honour of his crown. His power is not his choicest jewel, nor his sovereignty, but his holiness. In this all comprehensive moral excellence he would have his creatures take delight, and when they do so their delight is evidence that their hearts have been renewed, and they themselves have been made partakers of his holiness. The gods of the heathen were, according to their own votaries, lustful, cruel, and brutish; their only claim to reverence lay in their supposed potency over human destinies: who would not far rather adore Jehovah, whose character is unsullied purity, unswerving justice, unbending truth, unbounded love, in a word, perfect holiness? NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 5 (second elause). Mark the peculiar expression, Worship at his footstool. What humility and subjection does it imply! It is the worship of one whose heart has been subdued by divine grace. W. Wilson. Ver. 5. Bishop Horsley thus renders this verse: "Exalt ye Jehovah our God, And make prostration before his foostool; It is holy." Thus he connects "hory" with Jehovah's footstool, mentioned in the preceding clause. There appears to me great propriety and beauty in this construction, which divides the poem into three members. Of these the first terminates with ascribing "holiness" to the name of Jehovah: the second, with ascribing the same property to his abode:and then, at the conclusion of the hymn, "holiness, " essential holiness, is ascribed to Jehovah himself. Our Bible marginal translation recognizes this construction of the 5th verse. Richard Mant. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 5. Exalt the Lord your God. 1. Why? For what he is to you. For what he has done for you. For what he has told you. 2. How? In your affection. In your meditation. In your supplication. In your conversation. In your profession. In your consecration. In your co-operation. In your expectation. W. J. Ver. 5. 1. The loyal enthusiasln of worship, it exalts the Lord. 2. The humble diffidence of worship, not aspiring to his exaltation it kneels at his footstool. 3. The good reason for worship. — "He is holy." C. D. Psalms 99:6* . Ver. 6. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name. Though not ordained to the typical priesthood, Moses was a true priest, even as Melchizedek had been before him. God has ever had a priesthood beside and above that of the law. The three holy men here mentioned all stood in his courts, and saw his holiness, each one after his own order. Moses saw the Lord in flaming fire revealing each perfect law, Aaron full often watched the sacred fire devour the sin-offering, and Samuel witnessed the judgment of the Lord on Eli's house, because of the error of his way. These each one stood in the gap when the wrath of God broke forth, because his holiness had been insulted; and acting as intercessors, they screened the nation from the great and terrible God, who otherwise would in a dreadful manner have executed judgment in Jacob. Let these men, or such as these, lead us in our worship, and let us approach the Lord at the mercy-seat as they did, for he is as accessible to us as to them. They made it their life's business to call upon him in prayer, and by so doing brought down innumerable blessings upon themselves and others. Does not the Lord call us also to come up into the mount with Moses, and to enter the most holy place with Aaron? Do we not hear him call us by our name as he did Samuel? And do we not answer, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth"? They called upon the Lord, and he answered them. Not in vain were their prayers; but being a holy God he was true to his promises, and hearkened to them from off the mercy-seat. Here is reason for praise, for answers to the petitions of some are proofs of God's readiness to hear others. These three men asked large things, they pleaded for a whole nation, and they stayed great plagues and turned away fiery wrath; who would not exercise himself in adoring so great and merciful a God? If he were unholy he would be false to his word and refuse his people's cries; this, then, is recorded for our joy and for his glory, that holy men of old were not suffered to pray in vain. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 6. Moses and Aaron among his priests, or chief officers; as in 1 Chronicles 18:17. Moses was, if not a priest, yet a continual intercessor for the people, and a type of Christ the great Mediator of his church. Aben-Ezra called him Cohen haccohanim, the priest of priests; and Philo, writing his life, concludeth, This was the life and death of Moses the king, the lawgiver, the prophet, and the chief priest. John Trapp. Ver. 6. Moses twice performed acts essentially priestly (Exodus 24:4-8 and Exodus 40:22, compared with Leviticus 8:1-36), at the ratification of the covenant, and at the consecration of the priests. For this reason he could the more readily be placed here among the priestly mediators. C. B. Moll. Ver. 6. Priests. The word cohen is not confined as a title to the priests of the Levitical order, it is applied to Melchizedek and others. Moses is included among God's priests in accordance with the true idea of a priest, as being the official exponent of the divine love and mercy— one who represented God though acting in the interests of man. Robert JBaker Girdlestone, in "Synonyms of the Old Testament." Ver. 6. His priests. At the foundation of this there is another spiritual idiom, that, namely, according to which all are called priests who possess what constitutes the essence of the ordinary priestly office (although not the externals), inward connection with God, free access to the throne of grace, and the gift and power of intercessory prayer. This figurative idiom occurs even in the law itself, compare Exodus 19:6, where it is said to all Israel, "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." F.W. Hengstenberg. Ver 6. Priests. The word cohen, Priest, is from cahan, to plead a cause, as an intercessor, mediator, or advocate; hence the strict propriety of its use here in reference to Moses. C. H. S. Ver. 6. They that call upon his name. The Hebrew word which we translate to call upon God, notes a sort of men whose chief business or trade was to call upon or invocate the name of God, and in this instance it implies that it was the special calling of these men to call upon God. Joseph Caryl. Ver. 6-9. This third strophe is in reality a prophetical picture of the future holy worship of God, in which Moses, Aaron, and Samuel appear as the living representatives of the redeemed church, like the four and twenty elders in the more fully developed Apocalyptic scene of St. John. Revelation 5:1-14. Joseph Francis Thrupp. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 6-7. 1. Prayer offered. Moses the prophet, Aaron the priest, Samuel the ruler, "They called, "&c. 2. Prayer answered. "He answered them, ""he spake, "&c. 3. Prayer vindicated. They kept the other testimonies, &c. G. R. Psalms 99:7* . Ver. 7. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar. We have had mention of the ark and the shekinah, and now of the fiery cloudy pillar, which was another visible token of the presence of God in the midst of Israel. Responses came to Moses and Aaron out of that glorious overshadowing cloud, and though Samuel saw it not, yet to him also came the mystic voice which was wont to thunder forth from that divine canopy. Men have had converse with God, let men therefore speak to God in return. He has told us things to come, let us in return confess the sins which are past; he has revealed his mind to us, let us then pour out our hearts before him. They kept his testimonies. When others turned aside they were faithful; in their hearts they laid up his word, and in their lives they obeyed it. When he spake to them they observed his will, and therefore when they spake to him he yielded to their desires. This keeping of the divine testimonies is a virtue all too rare in these our days; men run after their own views and opinions, and make light of the truth of God; hence it is that they fail in prayer, and scoffers have even dared to say that prayer avails not at all. May the good Lord bring back his people to reverence his word, and then will he also have respect unto the voice of their cry. And the ordinance that he gave them. His practical precept they observed as well as his doctrinal instruction. Ordinances are not to be trifled with, or testimonies will also be despised; and the converse is also true, a light estimate of inspired dogma is sure to end in neglect of moral virtues. To Moses, Aaron, and Samuel special and personal charges were committed, and they were all true to their trust, for they stood in awe of the Lord, their God, and worshipped him with their whole souls. They were very different men, and had each one a work to do peculiar to himself, yet because each was a man of prayer they were all preserved in their integrity, fulfilled their office, and blessed their generation. Lord, teach us like Moses to hold up our hands in prayer and conquer Amalek, like Aaron to wave the censer between the living and the dead till the plague is stayed, and like Samuel to say to a guilty people, "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; "if thou wilt make us mighty with thee in prayer, we shall also be kept faithful before thee in the service which thou hast laid upon us. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 7. They kept his testimonies. For this reason they were so promptly heard, even as the Lord himself says, "If a man love me he will keep my words, "and again, "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you." And the ordinance that he gave them. They not only observed the precepts which bind men in general, but the peculiar obligation of governing, directing, and teaching the people committed to them. Bellarmine. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 7 (first clause). The revelation of the cloud, or what God foreshadowed to Israel in the cloudy pillar. 1. That God was willing to commune with man. 2. That sinful man could not see God and live. 3. That God should become incarnate, veiled in flesh as in the cloud. 4. That he should be their shelter, protector, guide. 5. That God manifest in the flesh should lead them to the Promised Land— Heaven. C. D. Psalms 99:8* . Ver. 8. Thou answeredst them, 0 LORD our God. A sweet title and a cheering fact. Our covenant God in a very special manner heard his three servants when they pleaded for the people. Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. He forgave the sinners, but he slew their sins. Some apply this verse to Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, and remind us that each of these fell into a fault and received chastisement. Of Samuel they assert that, for having set up his sons as his successors, he was compelled to submit to the anointing of Saul as king, which was a great grief to him: this is to our mind a very doubtful statement, and leads us to abandon the interpretation altogether. We believe that the passage refers to the nation which was spared through the intercession of these three holy men, but yet was severely chastened for its transgressions. In answer to the cry of Moses the tribes lived on, but the then existing generation could not enter Canaan: Aaron's golden calf was broken, though the fire of the Lord did not consume the people; and Israel smarted under the harsh government of Saul, though at Samuel's request its murmurings against the theocratic rule of their fathers' God was not visited with pestilence or famine. So to forgive sin as at the same time to express abhorrence of it, is the peculiar glory of God, and is best seen in the atonement of our Lord Jesus. Reader, are you a believer? Then your sin is forgiven you; but so surely as you are a child of God the rod of paternal discipline will be laid upon you if your walk be not close with God. "You only have I known of all the nations of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 8. The construction of the verse seems to be this: "O Lord our God, thou didst hear or answer them, "that is, the aforementioned typical mediators, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel: "thou becamest a forbearing God for them, "or, at their intercession; and that "even when punishing, "or, when thou hadst begun to punish "the wicked deeds of them, "that is, not of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, but of the people, who had transgressed, and for whom they interceded. This was the case when Moses interceded for the idolaters, Exodus 22:32, Aaron for the schismatics, Numbers 16:47, and Samuel for the whole nation, 1 Samuel 7:9. George Horne. Ver. 8. Thou answeredst them... forgavest them. Oh, the blessed assurance that nothing can disturb our standing in the covenant. Answer and forgiveness are certain, though vengeance is taken of our inventions. How every word and expression here seems to go right to our hearts! The very designation of our sins and punishments is so true. Yet, withal, we are not shut out from God. We are able to speak to, and to hear him; we receive what we need, and much more; and, above all, we have the sweet, abiding sense of forgiveness, notwithstanding "our inventions." When we smart under chastisements or disappointments, we know that it is the fire which burns up the hay, wood, and stubble— a Father's dealings in compassion and mercy. We willingly, we gladly take these chastisements, which now are to us fresh pledges of our safety. For safe, eternally safe, remains the foundation, and unclosed the way of access. O surely with all our heart do we accord: "Exalt Jehovah our God, and worship at his holy hill; for Jehovah our God is holy." Alfred Ederaheim. Ver. 8. The words of this verse have in them three remarkable particulars. I. The behaviour of the men it speaks of, which is partly good, and partly evil. The former verse saith, "They kept God's testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them; "this insinuates (what was also expressed, Psalms 99:6) that they used to call upon God; all this was very good. But withal they did sometimes some things amiss, they had some inventions, by-paths, and steps awry, which, as they needed pardon, so they occasionally incensed him so much against them that he would not let them escape altogether, without taking some vengeance for such untowardness. II. God's graciousness in a double respect: 1, in answering them, granting their suits and supplications ordinarily. 2. In forgiving them, pardoning their failings and faults evermore; never dealing with them altogether according to their sins, but in the midst of any offence of theirs, or judgment of his, remembering mercy. III. His holy justice, notwithstanding, taking vengeance on their inventions; chastening them for some faults sometimes, and not letting them always go unpunished, how faithful soever they were generally, or how gracious soever he was eternally. Herbert Palmer (1601-1647), in a Sermon entitled "The Glass of God's Providence." 1644. Ver. 8. Thou wast a God that forgavest them, literally "for them; "on account of their intercessions. God did not destroy those for whom his devoted servants pleaded, in the day of threatened vengeance. Their sins, indeed, he visited with the rod of divine chastisement; but thcir forfeited lives he spared in answer to prayer. John Morison. Ver. 8. Thou... forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. Because he loves the person, and hates only the sin; therefore he preserves the one, destroys only the other. This is all the fruit, to take away his sin. The covenant that is made with us in Christ is not a covenant made with works, but with persons; and therefore, though the works be often hateful, yet he goes on to love the persons; and that he may continue to love them, destroys out of them what he hates, but cutteth not them off. A member that is leprous or ulcerous, a man loves it as it is "his own flesh, "Ephesians 5:29, though he loathes the corruption and putrefaction that is in it; and therefore he doth not presently cut it off, but purgeth it daily, lays plasters to it to eat the corruption out: whereas a wart or even a wen that grows to a man's body, a man gets it cut off, for he doth not reckon it as his flesh. Thomas Goodwin. Ver. 8. Thou tookest veageance of their inventions. It is not a light punishment, but a "vengeance, ""he takes on their inventions; "to manifest that he hates sin as sin, and not because the worst persons commit it. Perhaps, had a profane man touched the ark, the hand of God had not so suddenly reached him. But when Uzzah, a man zealous for him, as may be supposed by his care for the support of the tottering ark, would step out of his place, he strikes him down for his disobedient action, by the side of the ark, which he would indirectly (as not being a Levite) sustain, 2 Samuel 6:7. Nor did our Saviour so sharply reprove the Pharisees, and turn so short from them as he did from Peter, when he gave a carnal advice, and contrary to that wherein was to be the greatest manifestation of God's holiness, viz, the death of Christ, Matthew 16:23. He calls him Satan, a name sharper than the title of the devil's children, wherewith he marked the Pharisees, and given (besides him) to none but Judas, who made a profession of love to him, and was outwardly ranked in the number of his disciples. A gardener hates a weed the more for being in the bed with the most precious flowers. Stephen Charnock. Ver. 8. Thou tookest vengeance. Sometimes the sins of a people may be such, that God will not pardon them as to temporal punishments; nay, not the godly themselves. Even they may have been partakers with others in their sins, or may have so provoked God themselves, and sinned in such a way as to cause his name to be blasphemed; so that he is concerned in honour to bring some exemplary punishment upon them. So it was with David (2 Samuel 12:10-14.): though he pardoned him as to the guilt of eternal death, saved his soul, and spared his life, which was forfeited to divine justice for the murder of Uriah; yet the prophet announced that sharp afflictions must come on him, the sword must never "depart front his house, "and the child begotten in adultery must die, and his wives must be given to his neighbours. So, in Psalms 99:8, it seems to be spoken of Moses himself, and other godly among the Israelites who died in the wilderness, and were not permitted to come into the land of promise, that "God forgave them, "yet "took vengeance of their inventions, " John Collins (1687) in the Morning Exercises. Ver. 8. Vengeance of their inventions. It is remarkable, that in the preceding verses mention is made of Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel in a way which seems to imply that they were upon the psalmist's mind when he uttered the declaration of the text. These three persons, all eminent for their piety, were also conspicuous for having suffered the Divine displeasure on account of their failings. Moses angered the Lord at the waters of strife, and he is not suffered to enter the promised land; Aaron provoked the Divine anger by making the golden calf, and would have been destroyed, had not Moses by fervent intercession turned away the anger of the Lord lest he should destroy him; so Samuel placed his sons over Israel, who walked not in his ways, and therefore God gave Israel a king, whose crimes caused the prophet to go down with sorrow to the grave. Stephen Bridge, 1852. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 8. Mercy and judgment, or the sea of glass mingled with fire. C. D. Ver. 8. Observe, 1. That God's vengeance for sin does not prevent his forgiveness of sin; and, 2. That God's forgiveness of sin does not prevent his taking vengeance. Stephen Bridge Psalms 99:9* . Ver. 9. Exalt the LORD our God. A second time the delightful title of Jehovah our God is used, and it is quickly followed by a third. The Psalm is Trinitarian in its whole structure. In each of his sacred persons the Lord is the God of his people; the Father is ours, the Son is ours, and the Holy Spirit is ours: let us exalt him with all our ransomed powers. And worship at his holy hill. Where he appoints his temple let us resort. No spot of ground is now fenced about as peculiarly holy, or to be regarded as more sacred than another; yet his visible church is his chosen hill, and there would we be found, numbered with his people, and unite with them in worship. For the LORD our God is holy. Again this devout description is repeated, and made the climax of the song. Oh for hearts made pure within, so that we may rightly perceive and worthily praise the infinite perfection of the Triune Lord. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 9. The Lord our God. A very sweet topic will be found in the consideration of the questions, "In what respect is Jehovah ours? and in what relations does he stand to his people?" WORK ON THE NINETY-NINTH PSALM. In "The Golden Diary of Heart Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms. By the Rev. Dr. , Tarquay. Arranged for every Sunday in the year. Re-issue. 1873" there are expositions of Psa 99:1-9; Psalms 101:1-8; Psalms 102:1-28. May the Spirit of God, by whose inspiration David penned these Psalms, bless them to us as we read them! This is entitled “a Psalm of Praise.” Note here that this is the only Psalm which bears that title; there are others which have titles very much like it, but this one is singled out from all the rest to be, in a very special sense, “a Psalm of Praise.” Martin Luther was very fond of it, and it has even been said that he composed the tune which are have just sung, and which is commonly called “the Old Hundredth”; though others attribute it to a German named Franc.Psalms 100:1. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.Do you notice the missionary spirit here? The Jews looked upon God as the God of Israel, and they had but very faint desires for the conversion of other nations; but the Holy Ghost speaks more by David than David himself may have known: Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, all ye lands.” We ought to express the praise of God, not merely to feel it, and to express it by what is here called “a joyful noise”; and all our songs to God should have in them a measure of joyfulness. The gods of the heathen were worshipped with dolorous noises, with sorrowful sounds, and cries of misery, but the God of heaven is to be worshipped with a joyful noise: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.” Oh, that the day were come when China, and India, and all Asia, Africa, America, and Europe, would take up the gladsome note of praise to Jehovah!Psalms 100:2. Serve the LORD with gladness:What a text that is!” Serve the Lord, “obey him, yield to him your homage; but serve him “with gladness.” He wants not slaves to grace his throne, he loves willing worship, happy worship, for he is “the happy God.” “Serve the Lord with gladness.”Psalms 100:2. Come before his presence with singing.Singing is delightful, but singing in God’s presence is heavenly. Do not the spirits that are made pure and holy come before his presence, and come before it with singing? I wish that whenever we sing, we would sing as in the presence of God. I am afraid that we sometimes go through the tune mechanically, and the words languish on our lips: “Come before his presence with singing.”Psalms 100:3. Know ye that the LORD he is God:One says, “Man, know thyself,” and another says, “The proper study of mankind is man.” Not so; man, know thy God; the proper study of mankind is God. He who knows God knows himself; that is, he knows himself to be nothing. “Know ye that Jehovah, he is God.” There is but one God, it is the same God in the Old Testament as in the New, Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.Psalms 100:3. It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;Note the negative, as if to deny that we had any hand in our own making, and this is also worthy of notice spiritually. It is the Lord who hath made us Christians, and not we ourselves; he has created us in Christ Jesus. There are some who lay such stress upon the human will, and I know not what besides in man, that it is necessary to put in the negative as well as the positive: “It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves.”Psalms 100:3. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.Praise him, then. Praise him because he is your Maker; praise him more sweetly because he is your Shepherd. If we are his people, here is his electing love, here is his effectual calling, here is the grace of his Spirit that made us so. “We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” He leads us, he feeds us, he protects us, he has bought us with his precious blood. Truly, this is good reason why we should make a joyful noise unto God, and serve him with gladness: “We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” Are you his people? O my dear hearer, ask thyself, art thou one of the sheep of his pasture?Psalms 100:4. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.Gratitude is that oil which makes the wheels of life revolve easily; and if anybody ought to be grateful, surely we are the men and women, for whom the Lord has done so much: “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.”Psalms 100:5. For the LORD is good;Should we not praise so good a God?Psalms 100:5. His mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. “His truth”, — that is to say, his truthfulness, his faithfulness to his people. This is a blessed Psalm, and it seems to me to reach the highest point of praise when it tells us that “The Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 100. and 101. Psalms 101. The last Psalm was a Hymn of Thanksgiving, this one is a Psalm of Thanksgiving. I suppose it to have been written by David just when he assumed the throne, when he was about to become king over all Israel and Judah. Its title is, “A Psalm of David.” This is what he said to himself, —Psalms 101:1. I will sing —That is right, David. In the one hundredth Psalm, he had exhorted other people to sing, now, in the hundred and first, he declares what he will himself do: “I will sing” —Psalms 101:1. Of mercy and judgment:It is a mingled theme; there are the treble and the bass notes: “mercy and judgment.” There are some dear friends who, if they sing at all will have to sing this way, for they have a heavy sorrow on their heart, and yet great mercy is mixed with it. Oh, you who are troubled, and bow your head in grief, say, “I will sing of mercy and judgment.” Mix the two together.Psalms 101:1. Unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.A second time the psalmist says, “I will sing.” It is well to make this firm resolve: “Unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.” Winter or summer, “I will sing;” poverty or riches, “I will sing;” sickness or health, “I will sing;” life or death, “I will sing.” “I will love thee in life, I will love thee in death And praise thee as long as thou lendest me breath.” “I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.”Psalms 101:2. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way.This was a good resolve; but David did not carry it out to the full. There were evil times when he was not wise, and there were sad times when he was not perfect. Still, it is well to make such a resolve as this declaration of David when he came to the throne, especially when you are newly married, or just opening a business. Oh, that every young man and young woman would commence life with such a holy resolution as this, “I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way “I but notice the prayer that follows the resolve, —Psalms 101:2. O when wilt thou come unto me?For I shall be neither wise nor holy without thee. “O when wilt thou come unto me?”Psalms 101:2. I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.There is a great deal in the way in which a man walks in his house. It will not do to be a saint Abroad and a devil at home; there are some of that kind. They are wonderfully sweet at a prayer-meeting, but they are dreadfully sour to their wives and children. This will never do. Every genuine believer should say, and mean it, “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.” It is in the home that we get the truest proof of godliness. “What sort of a man is he?” said one to George Whitefield, and Whitefield answered, “I cannot say, for I never lived with him.” That is the way to test a man, to live with him.Psalms 101:3. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:“I will not look at it, for if I do, I may long for it.” It is the tendency of things that are gazed at to get through the eyes into the mind and the heart, therefore is it wise to say with the psalmist, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes.”Psalms 101:3. I hate the work of them that turn aside;He means all those who practice dodges, the “policy” people, those who never go straight. Kings usually like such people as these. Do not men say that an ambassador is a gentleman who is paid to live abroad, and to lie for the benefit of his country? I suppose that is what diplomatists in David’s day generally did, but David resolved that he would have none of that sort of folk about him: “I hate the work of them that turn aside.”Psalms 101:3. It shall not cleave to me.“If I touch it, I will not let it stick to me. Pitch defiles, so I will keep clear of it, and if any man tries to practice a trick for my advantage, I will have nothing to do with him.”Psalms 101:4. A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.“For, if I come to know him, one of these days I may be known myself to be a wicked person.” “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” No man can afford to be the friend of a man who is not a friend of God. If he does not love God, quit his company, for he will do you no good. Say with David, “I will not know a wicked person.”Psalms 101:5. Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off:David was a king, and he meant to study the peace of his people by putting down slander. Oh, what mischief is wrought by backbiting tittle tattle! If we could have a race of men, — and for the matter of that, of women, too, — with no tongues, it might be of advantage, for there are some who use their tongues for very sorry purposes. David says, “Whosoever privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off.”Psalms 101:5. Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.High looks and proud hearts are generally the characteristics of cruel, tyrannical, domineering persons; and King David would not have any such near him.Psalms 101:6. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me:Oh, that masters had more of an eye to the piety of their servants than they often have! They want “clever fellows.” Whether they are honest or not, is generally a secondary question. So long as they are profitable to their masters, they will not mind what they are to their customers; but David would not have servants of that sort.Psalms 101:6-7. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.He was a king, and he could choose his company, and he meant to select the truthful and upright. Now mark this. If David would not let a man who lies tarry in his sight, you must not expect that God will let such tarry in his sight. “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone,” saith the Scripture. God grant us to have clean, truthful tongues! Psalms 101:8. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the LORD. What a practical Psalm this is! I have heard of a prince of Saxe Gotha, years ago, who, whenever he thought that one of his ministers or judges was not what he ought to be, used always to send him the hundred and first Psalm to read. It was commonly said of such a man, “He will get the hundred and first Psalm before long;” and, after reading it, if he did not mend his manners, the prince sent him his dismission, and he had to go about his business. Oh, that all who profess and call themselves Christians would act according to the tenor of this straight Psalm, which is like a line drawn by the hand of God, without a crook or a turn in it! This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 100. and 101. Psalms 102:1-2. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. Sincere suppliants are not content with praying for praying’s sake, they desire really to reach the ear and heart of Jehovah: “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee.” When prayer is intensified into a cry, then the heart is even more urgent to have audience of the Lord.Psalms 102:3-7. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.The psalmist gives us here a very graphic description of his sorrowful condition at that time. He was moved to grief by a view of the national calamities of the chosen people, and these so wrought upon his patriotic soul that he was wasted with anxiety, his spirits were dried up, and his very life was ready to expire.Psalms 102:8. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.Their rage was unrelenting and unceasing, and vented itself in taunts and insults. With his inward sorrows and outward persecutions, the psalmist was in as ill a plight as may well be conceived.Psalms 102:9-11. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. My days are like a shallow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.This is a telling description of all-saturating, all-embittering sadness; and that was the portion of one of the best of men, and that for no fault of his own, but because of his love to the Lord’s people.Psalms 102:12. But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.All things else are vanishing like smoke, and withering like grass; but, over all, the one eternal, immutable light shines on, and will shine on when all these shallows have declined into nothingness.Psalms 102:13-14. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. They delight in her so greatly that even her rubbish is dear to them. It was a good omen for Jerusalem when the captives began to feel a homesickness, and began to sigh after her.Psalms 102:15-17. So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. He will not treat their pleas with contempt; he will incline his ear to hear, his heart to consider, and his hand to help.Psalms 102:18. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD. A note shall be made of it, for there will be destitute ones in future generations, — “the poor shall never cease out of the land,” — and it will make glad their eyes to read the story of the Lord’s mercy to the needy in former times.Psalms 102:19-23. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; to declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; when the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD. He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.Here the psalmist comes down again to the mournful string, and pours forth his personal complaint.Psalms 102:24-27. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.God ever lives on; no decay can happen to him, nor destruction overtake him. O my soul, rejoice thou in the Lord always, since he is always the same!Psalms 102:28. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee. One’s heart naturally turns to this passage when one desires to magnify the Lord. It is specially suitable for a New Year’s meditation.Psalms 103:1. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.Come, my soul, wake up! Bestir thyself! Thou hast great work to do, such work as angels do for ever and ever before the throne. Let no power or faculty exempt itself from this divine service. Come, my memory, my will, my judgment, my intellect, my heart, all that in me is, be stirred up his holy name to magnify and bless. “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” — for the music must begin deep down in the center of my being; it must be myself, my very self, that praises God.Psalms 103:2. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:This shall be the first note: “We love him because he first loved us.” We have not to go abroad for materials for praise, they lie at home. Forget not all his benefits to thee, my soul, his overwhelming, his innumerable benefits, which have to be summed up in the gross as “all his benefits” —forget them not.Psalms 103:3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;Come, come, my soul, canst thou not praise God for sin forgiven? That is the first note, and it is the sweetest note, in our song of praise. “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities,” — not some of them but the whole mass the blessed Scapegoat has carried into the “No man’s land of oblivion.”Psalms 103:3. Who healeth all thy diseases;He is the Physician for thee, my soul: thy diseases are the worst of all diseases, for they would drag thee down to hell if they were not cured. But Jehovah Rophi healeth all thy diseases.Psalms 103:4. who redeemeth thy life from destruction;Oh, my soul, praise God for redemption! If thou canst not sing about anything else, sing of free grace and dying love. Keep on ringing those charming bells.Psalms 103:4. Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;What! can you wear a crown, and not praise him who placed it on your head? Can you wear such a crown as this, made up of lovingkindness and tender mercies, and not bless the Lord? Oh, let it not be so, let us each break forth in spirit in one song tonight, and say, “My soul doth magnify the Lord.”Psalms 103:5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.Heavenly feasting on heavenly bread; divine satisfaction from the finished work of Christ. Oh, my soul, pray to God to give thee new life tonight, so that thy youth may be renewed, so that thy wing feathers may grow again, and that thou mayest mount as eagles do! Surely, dear friends, this little list of mercies, so small for number, contains an immensity of mercy. Let us bless the Lord for every one of them.Psalms 103:6. The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.Let the poor and the down-trodden sing unto the Lord. He will take care of you, he is the Executor of the needy and the Executioner of the proud. “The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.”Psalms 103:7. He made known his ways unto Moses his acts unto the children of Israel.Therefore, let us bless him, the God of revelation, who does not hide himself from his creatures; but who makes known his ways and his acts unto his people. An unknown God is an unpraised God; but when he shows himself to his people, they cannot refrain from blessing his name.Psalms 103:8. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. Praise him for this. Bless his name at every single mention of his divine attributes; let your hearts beat to the music of praise tonight.Psalms 103:9. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.Let the afflicted praise him; let the downcast and the despondent sinner praise him; if he cannot sing about anything else, let him bless the name of the Lord that he will not keep his anger for ever.Psalms 103:10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.Let us thank God we are not in hell; we are yet on praying ground, and on pleading terms with him. Some of us will never go into perdition, for he hath saved us with an everlasting salvation. Truly, if we did not bless him, every timber in this house, and every iron column beneath this roof, might burst out in rebukes for our ingratitude; we must bless his name.Psalms 103:11. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.Look up into the blue sky, up, up beyond the stars, and say to yourself. “So great is his mercy.” Let us therefore praise him accordingly. “Loud as his thunders shout his praise, And sound it lofty at his throne.”Psalms 103:12. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.There is neither latitude nor longitude for praise. God’s grace is boundless; let us therefore unstintedly praise him.Psalms 103:13. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.He has a tender heart: he never strikes without regret, but his love always flows freely. No father or mother is half so mild and loving as is the Lord of hosts.Psalms 103:14. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.Our bodies are but animated dust, and even our souls might be compared to dust in his sight. Not iron or granite, but mere dust are we. It is a wonder that men live so long when there are such mighty forces, even in nature, arrayed against them. Who can control earthquakes and volcanoes? And when men cross the sea in times of storm, it is a wonder that they come to land again.Psalms 103:15. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.You are like the primrose by the river’s brim, or the buttercup and the daisy in the field that is visited with the scythe. That is all we are, not cedars, not oaks, not rocks, but flowers of the field.Psalms 103:16. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.Some of the hot winds of the East come over a meadow, and it is burned up immediately. I have seen the fairest and loveliest flowers look, in a short time, as if they had been burned with a hot iron when the Sirocco had blown across from Africa: and such are we. We speak of the breath of the pestilence; it is but a puff of wind, and we are gone.Psalms 103:17-18. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.“But”, — and this is a blessed “but.” “But the mercy of the Lord” — that is not a fading flower, that is not a withering wind, — “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting.” Here are ten thousand blessings in one. You have everlasting mercy, covenant mercy. Oh, if we do not praise God when we think of the covenant, what has happened to us? We must be possessed with a dumb devil if we do not praise the name of him whose mercy is from everlasting to everlasting.Psalms 103:19. The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.Now, children of a King, will you go mourning all your days? You that dwell in the light of his throne, will not you be glad? Rejoice, O Zion, for thy King liveth and reigneth for ever! “The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice.”Psalms 103:20. Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. “Bless the Lord, ye his angels.” We cannot do it well enough yet; help us, then, ye angels that excel in strength; put out all your strength when ye praise him, “ye that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his Word.” Your actions are your praises, O ye angels! Would God that we had learned to do his commandments as ye do them! We are praying for this, even as our Lord taught his disciples to say, “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”Psalms 103:21. Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.All living things, and all the forces and powers of nature, are calling upon men to praise the Lord; and all the hosts of God, the organs of Omnipotence, ring out the grand chorus, “Bless ye the Lord.”Psalms 103:22. Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.I must not go grumbling up to heaven, nor stumbling among the works of God, I must gratefully come to him, and myself praise him, so with the psalmist I cry, “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” I trust that we have already felt something of holy enjoyment while our hearts and voices have been praising the Lord our God. Perhaps this Psalm may help to keep us in a praising state of mind. First of all, David sang of the majesty of God in his works; then it seems as if the spirit of praise within him became like a strong-winged angel, and, mounting into the sky, he began to soar aloft over the varied landscapes of the world until the sun went down; and even then, he continued scudding along through the darkness till the sun arose again, and found him still praising his God. We will note, as we read the Psalm, this strange, mysterious flight of the spirit of praise.Psalms 104:1. Bless the LORD, O my soul.There is the key-note. Strike it, my brethren, each one of you!Psalms 104:1-3. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters:Or, as we may read it from the Hebrew, “who maketh his halls in the waters;” those mysterious waters above the firmament are here pictured as being the cool, retired dwelling-place of the awful Deity.Psalms 104:3. Who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:A masterly picture, as if the Lord stood erect upon the two wings of the wind, and as if the wind, like a mighty spirit, went flying round the world, with the great Jehovah standing upon its wings, and so riding along.Psalms 104:4-5. Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.Now comes a very graphic description of Noah’s flood.Psalms 104:6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.What a splendid act of divine energy, when the waters which, before, like tamed lions, slept in their dens, came hungry and fierce, and swallowed up the whole earth!Psalms 104:7-8. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. At the sound of God’s voice, those mighty deeps went back in a great hurricane. Anyone who has seen water when it is traveling at a great rate, lashed with tempests, will have seen it tossed as into mountains, and then having huge holes like vast valleys in it; so, the waters rose up like mountains, and fell down like valleys, till they found the channels of the deep which God had founded for them.Psalms 104:9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.Jehovah puts the bit of sand into the mouth of the sea, and it comes no farther than its appointed bounds. Now you must suppose the psalmist is leaving the crowded streets, and the dingy, dusty, smoky haunts of men, and flying, on the wings of his gratitude and praise, away into the quiet of the fertile country.Psalms 104:10-12. He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. I know of no place that seems to bring out one’s joy and praise better than when standing by the side of some rippling brook that tumbles down the fissure among the rocks, and seeing the animals come to drink, and hearing the birds blithely sing among the branches, or hang over and dip into the very stream. Even the reading of this Psalm may be like a cool and refreshing breeze to you at this time, and your soul may in imagination fly away with David, as you also praise and bless your God.Psalms 104:13. He watereth the hills from his chambers:From those watery halls above the firmament he pours down the showers.Psalms 104:13-15. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart.The spirit of praise is flying over the fields ploughed and tilled by man, over the fruitful vineyards red with clusters of grapes, and over the olive gardens and other places where man’s handiwork has made the earth fertile. Now the psalmist mounts still higher, and gets into the woods.Psalms 104:16-17. The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.Flying along over the tops of the trees, he looks down among them, and he notices the beasts as well as the birdsPsa_104:18. The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats; and the rocks for the conies. So that there is not any part of the earth which is not full of God’s goodness; even the rocks, which yield nothing to the plough, furnish a refuge for the conies, and the high hills are a home for the wild goats, while the fertile earth beneath makes man’s heart glad. As the spirit of praise flies over the tops of the mountains, the sun goes down. The psalmist witnesses that grand sight, an Eastern sunset.Psalms 104:19-20. He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. Thou makest darkness, and it is night:Will he cease from his song now? No, for God does not cease to work.Psalms 104:20-21. Wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth. The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.So that even night has its mysterious music, and the roaring of the young lions is a tribute to the providence of the good God who cares even for the beasts that perish.Psalms 104:22. The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.You see, the psalmist does not cease his praise, but finds a theme for music even in the rest of the beasts.Psalms 104:23-24. Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening. O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.The psalmist has made a long journey, flying along just where he could see everything upon the face of the earth, but he bethinks himself that he has not seen the half of God’s works yet, for yonder is the Mediterranean, glistening in the morning sunbeams, so he takes another flight.Psalms 104:25-26. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships:That is, above the water; while in it-Psalms 104:26. There is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.Some mighty fish leaps out of the sea; the psalmist’s eye catches a glimpse of it, and he puts even that monster into his hymn of praise.Psalms 104:27. These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.My brethren, what an idea we have here of God thus supplying all the creatures of the earth and the sea! They are all waiting upon him; they can go to no other storehouse but his, no other granary can supply their needs. Surely, we need not be afraid that he will fail us. If he feeds leviathan with his great wants, and the many birds with their little wants, he will not forget his children; he will never withhold any real good from them that walk uprightly.Psalms 104:28. That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.That is all he has to do, you see, just to open his hand. If that hand were once fast closed, they would all die; but, in order to supply the wants of all the creatures he has made, he has only just to open his hand.Psalms 104:29. Thou hidest thy face,As if he did but put his hand before the brightness of his countenance,-Psalms 104:29-30. They are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.When God takes away the genial light of the summer’s sun, what multitudes of creatures die; and then, when the soft breath of spring blows upon the earth, how soon the multitudes of insects come teeming forth! Christian, here is comfort for you! Has God withheld his Spirit from you for a little while, and have many of your joys and comforts fallen dead? He has only to speak, and he can in a moment renew all your comforts.Psalms 104:31-35. The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, and they smoke. I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD. Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more.It seems as if the spirit of praise had bred in the psalmist a spirit of indignation against sin, he could have no patience any longer with those who would not adore so great and so good a God, and therefore he utters this imprecation upon their heads, which is rather a prophecy of what will be their doom: “Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more.”Psalms 104:35. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.Thus the psalmist, like a good musician, ends with the keynote of his song of praise: “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” May each of us say the same! Trial by the Word February 6, 1876 by C. H. (1834-1892) "Until the time that his word came: the word of the Lord tried him."— Psalms 105:19 . Joseph was altogether an extraordinary personage. He was a young man of great personal beauty, and he exhibited also a lovely character, full of gentleness, kindness, and truth. The grace of God had made him as beautiful in mind as nature had made him comely in person. He was also exceedingly thoughtful; perhaps at first rather more thoughtful than active, so that his brothers, not only because he had seen two remarkable visions, but probably because of his contemplative habits, said of him, "Behold, this dreamer cometh." He was the swan in the duck's nest; his superior genius and character separated him from the rest of the family, and none of them could understand him; he was, therefore, the object of their envy and hatred, so that they even proposed to murder him, and ultimately sold him for a slave. He was destined, however, for a nobler lot than theirs; they were to feed their flocks, but he was ordained to feed the world; they were to rule their own families, but he to govern the most ancient of empires. From the very beginning his supremacy in Israel had been foretold by a double dream. Their sheaves were seen to pay homage to his sheaf, while the sun and moon and eleven stars also made obeisance to him. This was the light which shone upon Joseph's early days, the star of prophecy which afterwards gilded his darkest moments and cheered him on while he endured affliction. You may rest assured, brethren, that wherever God gives extraordinary gifts or graces, and appoints an extraordinary career, he also appoints unusual trial. There is a verse—I think it is Cowper's—which says that "The path of sorrow, and that path alone, Leads to the land where sorrow is unknown." To eminence of any desirable kind there is no royal road, but we must wade through tribulation to it. For Joseph to become prime minister of Egypt the path lay through the prison-house: to all true honor the road is difficult. Expect, then, dear friend, if God gifts thee, or if he graces thee, that he intends to try thee. Such a reflection will tone down thine exultation and prevent its degenerating into pride, and it will aid thee to gird up the loins of thy mind and stand in all sobriety, prepared for that which awaits thee. Look upon talents and graces, and high hopes of eminent usefulness as signs of inevitable tribulation. Do not congratulate yourself, and sing, "Soul, take thine ease; thou art happy in possessing such special gifts," but prepare to do the life-work to which thou art called. Thou art favored of the Lord, but do not look for the happiness of ease, carnal enjoyment, and human approval, for "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him." Joseph's worst trial happened to him when he was accused of attempting a foul assault upon his mistress. Who would not writhe under so horrible a charge? When he was put in prison, and his feet were made fast with fetters, he became exceedingly troubled, so that the iron surrounded his soul. How long he was in "durance vile," as a chained prisoner, we do not know, but it must have been some considerable period; and during those dreary months thoughts of his father and his fond love, memories of his cruel brothers, and reflections upon his sad lot, must have keenly wounded him. He was pained to remember how much his character had suffered from a woman's malicious falsehood, and most of all how much blasphemy the heathen had poured upon the name of God, whom he had represented in the house of Potiphar. Do you wonder that the iron entered into his soul? The word of the Lord tried him very severely. Alone, in darkness, in an uncomfortable cell, his limbs fretted with chains, no one to speak to him, every one condemning him as guilty of the basest treachery towards the man who had made him his confidential and favored servant—he found himself regarded as the offscouring of all things, and the object of ridicule to all who were about him. "The archers sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him;" but, blessed be God, his bow abode in strength, and he overcame at the last. This morning we will commune together upon the trials of Joseph, and our own afflictions. Our first reflections shall be spent upon the importance of trial; secondly, we will consider the peculiarity of the believer's trial for "the word of the Lord tried him;" and thirdly, we will observe the continuance and the conclusion of the trial,—"until the time that his word came." May the ever blessed Spirit direct our meditations. I. First, let us dwell upon THE OF TRIAL. The Lord might easily have taken every one of us home to heaven the moment we were converted. Certainly his omnipotence was equal to the task of our immediate perfect sanctification. If the dying thief was rendered fit to be in Paradise the same day on which he believed, so might each one of us have been made ready to enter heaven; but it has not so pleased God. We doubt not that there are myriads before the eternal throne who have reached the abode of bliss without treading the winepress of affliction. "Babes hither caught from womb and breast, Claim right to sing above the rest; Because they found the happy shore, They never saw nor sought before." Theirs is a victory for which they never fought; they wear a crown though they never bore a cross. To sovereign grace these blessed ones will never cease to ascribe their bliss. But as for those of us who live to riper years, it will be written concerning all of us as of others who have gone before, "These are they who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." But why is it so appointed? Is this discipline of any use to us? The word here used is in itself a light upon the question, "The word of the Lord assayed him"—that would be the correct translation. The word of the Lord assayed Joseph as gold is assayed: it is a term best understood at the Mint, and among refiners. Trial in the Christian church is the Lord's fining pot, which is never off the fire. It has this excellent effect, that it separates the precious from the vile. As long as the church exists, I suppose she will have traitors amongst her number, for if Judas intruded under the watchful eye of the Chief Shepherd, we may be pretty sure that many a Judas will elude the far less watchful eyes of the minor shepherds. Because trial and persecution test men's professions, they are used as the winnowing fan in the Lord's hand, as it is written, "He will thoroughly purge his floor." In persecution, the mere professors, the camp-followers and hangers-on, soon flee away, for they have no heart to true religion when the profession of it involves the cross. They could walk with Jesus in silver slippers, but they cannot travel with him when his bleeding feet go barefoot over the world's rough ways, and therefore they depart every man to his own, and we may say of them "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." So that trial as a permanent institution is of much service to the church in promoting her purity, and we are bound to praise the Lord whose fire is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem. A similar process goes on in the individual soul. No Christian man is all that he thinks he is; our purest gold is alloyed. We have none of us so much faith as we impute to ourselves, nor so much patience, or humility, or meekness, or love to God, or love to men. Spurious coin swells our apparent wealth. It is amazing how rich and increased in goods we are till the Lord deals with us by a trial, and then full often we discover that we are naked, and poor, and miserable in the very respects in which we boasted ourselves. Oh, man, if thou be a child of God thou art like a house which he is building with gold, and silver, and precious stones; but by reason of thine old nature thou art mixing up with the divine material much of thine own wood, and hay, and stubble; therefore is it that the fire is made to rage around thee to burn out this injurious stuff which mars the whole fabric. If the Holy Spirit be pleased to bless thine afflictions to thee then wilt thou be daily led to put away the materials of the old nature with deep abhorrence and repentance, and thus shall the true work of God which he has built upon the sure foundation, stand in its true beauty, and thou shalt be builded for eternity. Every good man is not only tested by trial, but is the better for it. To the evil man affliction brings evil, he rebels against the Lord, and, like Pharaoh, his heart is hardened. But to the Christian it is good to be afflicted, for, when sanctified by the Spirit trial is a means of instruction to him, second to none in value. The rod of God teacheth us more than all the voices of his ministers. When the Christian has been passed through the fire, the assaying, by removing the dross, adds a new lustre to the gold. Brother, thou art not what thou shalt be, nor canst thou be what thou shalt be except through a measure of trial. Child, it is needful for thee to feel the weight of thy Father's hand, or thou wilt never behave thyself as a man. Thou must see his face veiled with frowns, and hear his voice in harshness chiding thee for thy transgressions, otherwise thou wilt always retain the follies of childhood. Our chastisements are our promotions. They are privileges more precious than the rights of princes. "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." Joseph could say this, and all the Lord's Josephs either own it now or will have to own it hereafter. Let us look a little more closely, and we shall see that trial did much for Joseph. First, it corrected the juvenile errors of the past. Far be it from me to find any fault with so admirable a youthful character; but it was youthful, and needed maturing. As a simple-hearted, trustful child, he certainly told his dreams quite as freely as it was wise to have done. Perhaps he thought that his brothers and his father would have been as gratified as himself, but even his father rebuked him, and his brothers were indignant to the last degree. It was natural that a boy of seventeen should be pleased with the thought of power and eminence, but such a feeling might have gendered evil, and therefore it needed to be toned down, and its eager expression kept within bounds. We find Joseph more self-possessed and more reticent by-and-by, and we read in after life that he restrained himself—ay, when the strongest passions were at work within him, and his own brother Benjamin was before him, he sacrificed his feelings to the dictates of prudence. We see no more boyish exultation, no more telling of his dreams: in quietness and confidence he found his strength. This he no doubt learned amid the sorrows of his prison-house. He was, perhaps, also in his early days too much in a hurry to realize the promised blessing. He would see the sheaves do obeisance to his sheaf at once, while he and his brethren were as yet but green corn, and the harvest had not come: hence the pleasure he had in the coat of many colors which his father's fondness put upon him. He thought the dream was being realized, no doubt, when that princely garment was put upon him, and he began in some measure to exercise the dignity which the Lord had promised him by reporting his brethren to his father, which action I do not condemn, but it, no doubt, made his brothers feel that he took too much upon himself, since they were many of them old enough to have been his father, and had families of their own. At any rate, he had not learned then, as he had to learn afterwards, during thirteen weary years, that visions tarry, and that we must wait for them, since the promise is not for to-day nor for to morrow, but abides until it reaches ripeness. God promiseth us great things which we see not as yet, and therefore we must with patience wait for them—we must not put on the coat of many colors yet, nor be hasty to rebuke our elder brothers, for we are not yet set on high by the hand of the Lord. Joseph had his royal coat in due time, and he had the fullest conceivable opportunity for reproving his brothers when in after days they went down into Egypt to buy corn, and their hearts smote them for all the wrong that they had done to him. In prison Joseph learned to wait: I do not know a harder or more valuable lesson. It is worth while to suffer slander and to feel the fret of fetters to acquire the patience which sits still and knows that Jehovah is God. To tarry awhile and not to pluck our fruit while it is yet green and sour, this is rare wisdom. To be instructed to leave the time as well as the form of the blessing in the hands of God is to have been to school with the best result. Joseph also learned in his trial much that was good for present use. For instance, he found by sweet experience that the divine presence can cheer us anywhere. If he had always been at home with his father, always his fathers darling, he would have known that the love of God is sweet to a favored youth, but no one would have been astonished at that. Even Satan would have said, "Well may he rejoice in thee, O Lord. Hast thou not set a hedge about him and all that he hath?" But he learned that God could be with him when he was sold for the price of a slave: with him when led as a captive across the desert, when he walked wearily by the camel's side with the Ishmaelites: with him in the slave mart to find him a master who might appreciate him; with him when he became a servant in the house, by blessing him, prospering him, and causing him to find favor in the eyes of his master till he became overseer of all that Potiphar had: and then, best of all, though some would say worst of all, he learned that God could be with him in a dungeon. He could not have known that if he had stopped at home, he must be brought into the thick darkness, that the brightness of the divine presence might be the more fully seen. There is nothing in this world so delightful as the light of God's countenance when all around is dark. You may tell me that the presence of Jesus is glorious upon Tabor's glorious mount, and I will not contradict you, though I have realized the poet's words— "At the too transporting light Darkness rushes o'er my sight." but give me the soft subdued light of God's love in adversity; Christ on the stormy waters for me: Christ in the midst of the furnace with his persecuted ones. Never does the Lord's love taste so sweet as when all the world is wormwood and gall. See how the mother presses her dear babe to her bosom when it is sick, or has had a bone broken. The little one may run about the house at other times, and the mother is pleased with it and loves it, but if you want to see all her tenderness, if you would read all her heart, you should see her when it scarcely breathes, when she fears that every moment will be its last. Then all the mother is revealed. How she fondles it, and what a store of sweet words she brings forth. So, if you would see all of God, you must know what deeps of trouble mean, for then the great heart, the glorious, infinite love comes welling over, and the soul is filled with all the fullness of God. It was worth while, I say, for Joseph to be falsely accused, and to be laid in irons, to learn experimentally the supporting power of the heavenly Father's smile. There, too, Joseph learned that temporal things are not to be depended upon. The indulgences of his father's house end in his being sold as a slave, and the coat of many colors is dipped in blood. His prosperity in the house of Potiphar also came to a sudden end, and from being an overseer he became a prisoner in irons. Now he knew that earthly good is not to be depended on, and therefore not worthy to be the object of pursuit to an immortal soul: he sees that all things beneath the moon change, waxing and waning as doth the moon herself, and he learns to look to something higher and more stable than circumstances and surroundings. Here, too, he was instructed in one sad truth, which we are all so slow to learn, namely, to "cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?" I do not think Joseph had learned that fully when he interpreted the dream of the butler. It was very natural, and therefore not to be censured that he should say, "Think of me when it shall be well with thee;" but when two whole years had passed and all the while he was forgotten, Joseph must have felt that, "Cursed is he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm." He ceased from man, and no longer looked for enlargement from that quarter. Cost us what it may, we are great gainers by any process which enables us to say, "My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him." It is a blessed thing when providence knocks away all the dog-shores, and lets the vessel launch into her true element. See how freely she floats upon the deep sea of God's everlasting love and immutable faithfulness. She is no more liable to decay from the dry rot of carnal confidence, but on the broad sea of divine power "she walks the waters as a thing of life" in joyful reliance upon the ever blessed God. Confidence in man seems bred in our bone, but it must be taken out of us, and happy shall the day be which sees us rid of all hope but that which stays itself upon the Lord alone. But, dear brethren, the chief use of trial to Joseph and to us is very often seen in our future lives. While Joseph was tried in prison God's great object was to prepare him for the government which awaited him. It was designed first to give him power to bear power: a rare acquirement. Solomon says, "As the fining pot to silver, and the furnace to gold, so is a man to his praise." Many a man can bear affliction, but few men can endure prosperity; and I have marked it, and you must have marked it too, that the most perilous thing in all the world is to step suddenly from obscurity into power. Have we not seen men, illiterate and unknown, suddenly introduced to the Christian pulpit, and made much of, and has it not frequently turned out that their names have been by-and-by prudently forgotten, for they were overthrown by the dizzy heights to which they were lifted? It is far better that a man should fight his way up to his position, that he should be assailed by enemies and distrusted by friends, and should pass through a probationary career. Even then he can only stand as the Lord holds him, but without it he is in especial peril. Hence the apostle says, "not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil." If I knew that some young man here present would be greatly owned of God in the future, and become in future a prince in our Israel, if by lifting up of this finger I could screen him from fierce criticism, misrepresentation, and abuse, I would not do it, because, severe as the ordeal might be to him, I am persuaded it is needful that he should pass through it in order to make him able to bear the giddy heights of the position for which God intends him. Joseph on the throne of Egypt, I know not what he might have been if first of all he had not been laid in the stocks. His feet learned to stand fast on a throne through having been set fast in a dungeon. His gold chain was worn without pride because he had worn a chain of iron; and he was fit to be the ruler of princes because he had himself been a servant among prisoners. Through his trial God gave him power to bear power, and this is a far rarer gift than the power to endure oppression and contempt. Joseph was also trained to bear the other dangers of prosperity. These are neither few nor small. Great riches and high positions are not to be desired. Agur's prayer is a wise one: "Give me neither poverty nor riches." Joseph was in great peril when he came to be lord over the land of Egypt, but during his time in prison he had been learning to spell out a mystery and answer a riddle. Practically, his interpretation of Pharaoh's dream was what he had been learning in prison, namely, that it is idle to boast of the fat kine, since the lean kine can soon eat them up, and it is unwise to be proud of the full ears, because the withered ears can soon devour them. Pharaoh saw in the dream the lean devouring the full-fleshed, but Joseph alone understood it. He saw his fat kine when he was in his father's house eaten up when he was sold as a slave; he saw his full ears when he was in Potiphar's house devoured by the withered ears when he was thrown into prison, and he now knew that there was nothing here below worth our relying upon, since on the chariot of all earthly good there rides a Nemesis, and every day is followed by a night. He was tutored to be a ruler for he had learned the prisoner's side of politics, and felt how hard it was for men to be unjustly condemned without trial. He foresaw that this could not be for ever endured, and that one day the long-suffering lean kine would be goaded to fury, and would eat up the fat ones that oppressed them. Hence Joseph's rule would be just and generous, for in this he would see the elements which would preserve law and order, and prevent the poorer sort from overturning everything. In the prison, too, he had learned to speak out. His whole course had been a rehearsal fitting him to be bravely truthful before the king. What temptation was there to him when he stood before Pharaoh to conceal his faith in God? To him, I say, who had risked life and lost liberty for God's sake? It would have been a very great temptation to an ordinary young man not to say anything about the one God in the presence of the head of the Egyptian superstitions, but this did not suggest itself to Joseph. Had he confessed his God in Potiphar's house? Did he not say to Potiphar's wicked wife, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God"? He had stood to his God in prison, and told the butler and baker that "interpretations belong unto God": and now he stands before Pharaoh he does not flinch for a moment, but he says "God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace." Why, brethren, have you ever thought of the moral courage of Joseph in interpreting that dream? All the soothsayers there who had tried to interpret it and could not—was it likely the heathen king would believe a youth who had been a slave and was fresh brought from a dungeon? When he foretold seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, it was a marvel that Pharaoh believed him. If the narrative had gone on to say, "Then the king said unto his servants, cast this man into prison and feed him with the bread of affliction and the water of affliction until we see whether his word shall come to pass," we should not have been at all surprised. The magicians naturally enough would be ready to say that he was set on to give this preposterous interpretation by persons interested in selling corn; or else they would urge that a man who dared to foretell events so utterly improbable had better be sent back to his prison house. But Joseph believed the word of the Lord, and he spoke with the accent of conviction, and Pharaoh believed also. Whence came this simple-minded courage? Whence this boldness? It was the right royal velour which doth hedge about a virtuous soul—or rather the fearlessness which follows from the fear of God. He stood forth and delivered his message, and the Lord established his word. He had been preparing for this in the day of his sorrow: like a good sword-blade, he had been passed through the fire and through the fire again, that now he might not fail in the day of battle. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, may you gain as much from tribulation as Joseph did, and you will do so if the Holy Spirit sanctifies them to you. II. We must pass on secondly to notice THE OF THE TRIAL. According to the text, "the word of the Lord tried him." This might have escaped our observation if the Spirit of God had not placed it upon record. "The word of the Lord tried him." How was that? Potiphar tried him, and the chains tried him, but did the word of the Lord try him? Yes. But there is a previous question—how did he receive any word of the Lord? There was no Bible then; Moses had not lived, there was not even the book of Genesis,—what word of God had he? His dreams were to him the word of God, for they were communications from heaven; the instruction he received from his father was also the word of God to him, his knowledge of the covenant which God had made with Abraham and Isaac, and his father Jacob, was God's word to him. Moreover, the secret teachings of the Holy Spirit quickened his conscience and afforded him light on the way. When there was no written word the divine Spirit spoke without words, impressing truth upon the heart itself. All these were to Joseph the word of God. How did it try him? It tried him thus,—the word said to him in his conscience, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Without that word he would not have been tried, for nature suggested compliance with his mistress's desires. The pleasure of ease, of wealth, of favor, were to be had through that woman's smile, but the word of God came in and said, "Thou shalt not," and Joseph was tried. The test, however, he could bear: grace enabled him to flee youthful lusts and to cry, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" The trial which arose out of his innocence must have again tested him by the word of God. There he is in prison—for what? Why, for an action so pure that had he been set on a throne for it he would have well deserved it. Do you not think that many questions perplexed him while he lay in prison? Would not the evil spirit say, "Were you not a fool after all? Do you not think that your chastity was mere superstition?" Thus would the purity of his heart be tried, and the word would search him, and test his hatred of sin. Would not the word of God try his constancy as it asked, "Do you now believe?" What problems were put before him—Is there a moral governor of the universe? If so why does he allow the innocent to suffer? Why am I in fetters, and the lewd woman in favor? Could not an omnipotent God deliver me? Why then does he leave me here? Could Joseph in the face of such questions still cling to the faithful word? He could, and he did; but the word tried him, and proved his constancy, his faith, and his integrity. Then, too, the word of the Lord which he had heard many years before would come to him and try him. His trembling heart would say, Has God ever spoken to you at all? Those dreams, were they not childish? That voice which you thought you heard in your heart was it not imagination? This providence of God which has prospered you wherever you have gone was it not after all good luck? Has the living God ever revealed himself to one who at length became a slave? Look at your fetters, and ask if you can be his child? And then I suspect that during the time in which Joseph was fettered the word of God had ceased to speak to him as of old: he did not dream nor interpret dreams, and that seems to have been the especial way in which the Lord revealed himself to him. Brother, do you know what it is to be tried by the cessation of comfortable communications? Did you ever live for a time without feeling any text of Scripture applied to your soul, without beholding any vivid flashes of the divine light, or any in-streamings of the Spirit's power through the word? If you have been so afflicted, you have been tempted to enquire, did the Lord ever speak to me at all? Have I been truly converted, or is it after all a myth? And these things which I have looked upon as communications from heaven, have they been after all nothing but the vapours of a heated brain? The word of God tried him, and he had to weigh himself in the balances of the sanctuary. The bright promise of future good would also try him. His fears would say "How is it possible that your brothers should pay homage to you? You are far away from your family and cannot hope to see them again—as for the sheaves that did obeisance to your sheaf, where are they? You are shut up and cannot come forth. Within these walls the jealous Potiphar has doomed you to die." The word of God would say to him then, "Can you believe me? Can you trust the Lord to fulfill his promises?" Oh, my brethren, it is easy for us to talk about this, but if we had to pass through the same ordeal, lying friendless in a dungeon under an accusation of guilt which we abhorred, far away from all we loved, we might feel the word of God to be a very trying thing, and perhaps the dark thought might even flit across our spirit, "Would God I had never heard that word but could have lived as the Egyptians do, for then I might have been dwelling in pleasure in Potiphar's house still. But this word of God into what trials has it dragged me, into what difficulties has it thrown me. Is it, after all, worth while to know it?" I remember once being very, very ill, and a man who had no godliness, but who was full of wicked wit, accosted me thus. "Ah, you see, whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." "Yes," I said, "I am suffering greatly." "Well," said he with a sneer, "I can do very well without such love, so long as I get off such chastening." I burst into tears, and my very soul boiled over as I cried "If the Lord were to grind me to powder, I would accept it at his hands, so that I might but have his love. It is you who need to be pitied, for sound as your health may be and merry as you look, you are a poor creature, since you have missed the only thing worth living for." I let fly a volley at him, I could not help it. I felt forced to stand up for my Master. Joseph took the Lord's yoke upon him gladly, and found rest unto his soul. He counted the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the luxuries of Potiphar's house. Thus the word tried him and he was found upright. I have no doubt the word of the Lord tried Joseph in this way. That word seemed to say, "You thought you loved your father's God, Joseph, do you love him now? You have lost your father's house, you have forfeited the ease of Potiphar's household, you have sacrificed your liberty, and perhaps the next thing will be that you will be taken out to die, can you still hold fast to the Lord?" Joseph was firm in his allegiance, and prepared to follow the Lord at all hazards to the death. The word had come to him, and it tried his steadfastness. Now I may be addressing some young men who are getting into all sorts of trouble through being Christians. I congratulate you! Thus does the Lord train his bravest soldiers. I may be addressing some of you older men who are passing through storms of trial mainly because you hold fast your integrity. I congratulate you! Rejoice ye in this day and leap for joy, for you are only enduring trials which have fallen to the lot of better men than yourselves. Men do not put base metal into the furnace, they spend their assaying upon precious gold. I see in the fact of your trial some evidence of your value, and I congratulate you, my brethren, and pray the Lord to bear you up and bear you through, that like Joseph you may be of great service to Israel and bring glory to God. III. The last thought is THE AND THE OF THE TRIAL. Trial does not last for ever. Cheer up; the tide ebbs out, but the flood will return again. Note the word "until." He who counts the stars also numbers your sorrows, and if he ordains the number ten your trials will never be eleven. The text says, "until"; for the Lord appoints the bounds of the proud waters, and they shall no more go over your soul when they reach the boundary of the divine "until." "Until the time that his word came"—the same word which tried Joseph in due time set him free. If the Lord gives the turnkey permission to keep us in prison there we must remain, until he sends a warrant for our liberation, and then all the devils in hell cannot hold us in bondage for an instant longer. My dear brother, I want you in your trouble to look entirely to God, whose word is a word of power. He speaks, and it is done. He has spoken trouble to you, but he can just as readily speak comfort to you. Never mind what the butler's word is. Do not entreat him, saying, "When it is well with thee speak a word for me." The butler's word will not avail, it is Jehovah's word you need, for "where the word of a king is there is power." It is a blessed thing to know that trouble comes direct from God, whatever the secondary agent may be. You must not say, "I could have borne it if it had not been for that wicked woman." Never mind the wicked woman, look to God as overruling her malice and everything else. He sends the trial, and therefore look to him to deliver you from it. "'Tis he that lifts our comforts high, Or sinks them in the grave." He shuts us up in prison, and he brings us out again. The time was in God's hands, and it was very wisely ordered. Suppose that the butler had thought of Joseph, and had spoken to Pharaoh about the interpretation of his dream, the probabilities are that when the courtiers of Pharaoh's court heard it they would have made the halls of the palace ring with laughter; and the magicians would especially have poured scorn on the idea that a slave boy who had been imprisoned for scandalous behavior knew more about interpreting dreams than the wise men of Egypt who had been brought up to the art and had gained high degrees in the profession. It would have been a theme of ridicule all over the land. It was the wrong time, and God would not let the butler recollect, because that recollection would have marred the plot and spoiled the whole business: but God's "until" came at the nick of time when Joseph was ready for court, and when Pharaoh was ready to appreciate Joseph. The hour needed its man, and here was the hour for the man. The straight way from the dungeon to the throne was not open until Pharaoh dreamed his dream,—then must Joseph come forth and not before. Oh, brother, sit still and wait. The deliverance you are craving for is not ripe yet; wait while the word tries you, for that same word will in due time set you free. The word set him free in a way which cleared his character, for never a whisper would be raised against him, and Potiphar would know the truth, even if he had not already guessed it. It set him free in a way which secured his eminence, and gave him the means of providing for his father and his household. He might have been liberated from prison before, and have remained only a common person, or gone back to be a slave to some new master; but now his liberation secured his emancipation from slavery and set him in the position which enabled him to provide for his father and his family in the land of Goshen, and so the sheaves did homage to his sheaf, and the sun and moon and eleven stars fulfilled the vision which he had seen so many years before. You see, brethren, there is a time of deliverance, and the time is fixed of God, and it is a right time: therefore we have quietly to wait for it. Doth not the husbandman wait for the precious fruits of the earth, and will not you tarry for the fruits of the promise? Be not impetuous. Hush those murmuring thoughts, never allow rash expressions to escape your lips. Bear on, young man, bear on. Ay, and greyheaded man, bear on, bear on. The anvil breaks the hammers in the long run; bear on, bear on. The rock breaks the billows, and is not itself broken. Bear the trials which come to you from God and from his word with joy and patience, for the end is not yet, but when it cometh it shall be everlasting joy. I think I hear some saying all round the place, "Ah, I see these believers are a very tried people, who would wish to be one of them?" Hearken, friend, and I will tell thee something. Joseph was not the only person in prison, and the righteous are not the only people who are afflicted. The chief butler was in prison, and the chief baker, too. I wonder whether the butler and baker are here, looking sadly to-day. If so, there is this difference between them and Joseph, that the Lord is not with them, but he is with Joseph, and that makes a vast difference, for "Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage." If God is in the prison with Joseph, Joseph is happy, but it is not so with you tried worldlings. I wonder, O butler and baker, whether you have had any dream; I wonder what has passed through your minds this morning. Wherefore look you so sadly to-day? I am no interpreter of dreams, but perhaps I can unriddle yours. Was a vine before you in your dream? That true and living vine? Did it bud and blossom, and bring forth fruit before your eyes, and did you take of its clusters, and present its pure blood to the King? If so, you will be set free, your dream means salvation: for there is a vine of the Lord's own planting whose wine maketh glad the heart of man, and he who takes of its living fruit is accepted. Dost thou know how to take those clusters and to squeeze them out? If so, the King will rejoice in thee, for nothing is so dear to him as the fruit of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. But hast thou dreamed of cakes which thou hast made by thine own skill? Not fruits from a vine, living and full, but mere cakes, sweetened with thine own self-righteousness, baked in the oven of thine own zeal and industry, and dost thou hope to set these before the King? The birds of the air already peck at them, thou beginnest now to feel that thy works are not altogether what thou thoughtest them to be. Oh, if this be thy dream I tremble for thee, for thou wilt come to an ill end. I pray the Lord put that dream from thee, and teach thee something better. Salvation is of the Lord; whether for butler, or baker, or Joseph, redemption is by Jesus only. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah there is everlasting strength, and they that trust in him shall never be ashamed or confounded, world without end. Amen. Psalms 105:26-28. He sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word.So cowed were they by that awful darkness, that for a time they seemed to repent of their rebellion against the Lord.Psalms 105:29-30. He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.Though the fish could not live, the frogs could. When good was taken away, evil came. What a strange succession of miracles was this, — the fish slain, but the frogs multiplied!Psalms 105:31-34. He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number, There is great sublimity in this expression. God had only to speak, and whole battalions of devouring locusts and caterpillars seemed to leap out of the earth, or to drop from the clouds: “He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number.”Psalms 105:35-37. And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.It was a notable miracle that, after all the oppression they had endured, they should be in such a state of health that “there was not one feeble person among their tribes.” When God makes his people march, he puts them into marching trim.Psalms 105:38. Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them. Yet this was the mighty nation whose proud king had defied the Lord. At last, they had had enough of the combat; they were glad that the people of God should retire out of their land, and they themselves bowed low before him. May we be taught humility of heart, so that we can sing the hymn I have chosen! “Sovereign Ruler, Lord of all, Prostrate at thy feet I fall; Hear, oh, hear my earnest cry; Frown not, lest I faint and die!” This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 10:1-20; and Psalms 105:26-38. Psalms 106:1. Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.In this Psalm we have the history of God’s people turned to practical account. I have heard of some very unwise persons, who have said, “I do not care about the histories of Scripture. I do not profit by them.” Tell me, dear friends, what other Bible had David but the history — the first five books? And what more wonderful teaching can there be than is contained in this Psalm, which is the essence of the history, “Praise ye the Lord” —or Hallelujah to Jah? Hallelujah is praise to God.Psalms 106:2-5. Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can show forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation; That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.If I may fare as God’s people fared, I will be well content, and if God himself will come and bring me salvation, I shall have all that I want. Is that your thought now, dear hearer? Then utter the prayer, and may the Lord answer it while you are yet in your seat.Psalms 106:6. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.Three time is the confession of sin here made. It is a good beginning when we can begin with confessing sin. I wish that some people had begun there, when they took up with religion; but they too often jump into it, and I am afraid that they will jump out of it again. That harvest which does not come of ploughing is one which will never fill a barn, and that salvation which does not come from a sense of sin will never come to much.Psalms 106:7. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;They saw them; they were surprised by them; but they could not make them out, could not tell what God was at when he smote the Egyptians. A want of understanding of divine truth is a very fatal want.Psalms 106:7. They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies;What we do not understand we soon forget.Psalms 106:7. But provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.They had not been long out of Egypt; they had scarcely eaten the bread that they brought out of their ovens, but they began to doubt God. They provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea.Psalms 106:8. Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.He could not save them for their own sake, but he saved them for his own name’s sake.Psalms 106:9. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through depths, as through the wilderness. The bottom of the sea was made as dry and as easy for their feet as the plains of the wilderness, and God led them through. Psalms 106:10-12. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.It is almost a sarcasm. They believed when they saw. When the promise was fulfilled, then they believed it. Ah! my dear hearers, are there not some of you of whom the same might be said — I mean some people of God? You believe as far as you can see; and that is not believing at all. Let us trust God, whether or no. Red Sea or no Red Sea, let us believe the promise of God, and make sure that it will be true. Then believed they his words; they sung his praise.Psalms 106:13. They soon forgat his works:They were in a hurry to forget.Psalms 106:13-15. They waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.They had quails to eat. They had the food that they begged for, but their hearts were starved; their souls were famished. Ah! me, what people they were!Psalms 106:16. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.They began to pick holes in their character. Good men that lived for them, and were ready to die for them — they began to spit upon them.Psalms 106:17-20. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burnt up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.See! they had been in Egypt. They had seen the Egyptians worship the god Apis in the form of a bull, so that they must needs have a bull too. I daresay that they said, “The bull is an emblem of strength. We do not worship the image; the image is only used to help us to think of the power of God.” But God forbids us to worship him under any image of any sort. “Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, nor in the earth beneath. Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them.” All images, pictures, crucifixes — the whole (rut) of them are abhorrent and abominable to God. We must have nothing to do with them as helps to worship, for they are not helps. They are destroyers of the worship of God. But, you say to me, “You tell us that it was a bull.” Yes, and, in contempt, the man of God here calls it a calf. You cannot be too disrespectful to objects of idolatrous worship. They may be esteemed by others, but do not show any kind of respect to them yourself; but if there be a name that you can give them that is full of sarcasm, let them have it.Psalms 106:21-23. They forgot God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.They had found fault with Moses, yet Moses stood forward as intercessor, and through his pleading their lives were preserved. You see, again, what a sinful people they were. Ah! indeed they were! Look in this looking-glass and see yourself.Psalms 106:24-25. Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and harkened not unto the voice of the LORD.This murmuring in your tents is a very obnoxious thing to God. Always grumbling and complaining. “It is an Englishman’s privilege,” says one. Mind it does not turn out to be an Englishman’s ruin, for God cannot endure that we should be always murmuring at his providence.Psalms 106:26-28. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifice of the dead.They tried to practice necromancy — to have communion with spirits; they tried to learn the dark science and the black art; and this also God abhors.Psalms 106:29-30. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.In his hot zeal he ran the spear through two who were rebelling against God. He did it with all his might, and sometimes it is a kindness to a people to deal severely with them. Sin is not to be treated with white kid gloves. It has to be dealt with sometimes with a heavy hand. Phineas did this.Psalms 106:31-32. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:Poor Moses who loved them, and lived with them, yet lost his temper.Psalms 106:33. Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips What a people to have to do with! Who would wish to be Moses, and who would wish to be a minister?Psalms 106:34-35. They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.They did not keep themselves separate. They would go and join this lot and that lot. They mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.Psalms 106:36-39. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.“What a dreadful people,” say you. These were God’s chosen people, Israel; the best people in the world at that time; and yet how could they be much worse? Oh! what a God of mercy God is to deal with such people at all!Psalms 106:40-43. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen: and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.Listen to this.Psalms 106:44-45. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.You would have thought that he would have been provoked beyond endurance, but, after all he had smitten, he still had a tender heart towards them.Psalms 106:46-48. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting; and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD. The psalmist exhorteth the redeemed, in praising God, to observe the different forms of his mercy. He views the chosen people as travelers, captives, sick men, and seamen, and in each of these classes he exhorts them to praise the Lord.Psalms 107:1. O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good:He is essentially good. His name God is only a shorter form of good. Yet, if we were to lengthen it, there could be no more goodness found in it than is found in the three letters, “God.”Psalms 107:1. For his mercy endureth for ever.That is the form which his goodness takes in relation to us, his sinful creatures; as we deserve nothing, everything that he gives us is a gift of mercy, and what a range his mercy takes! “His mercy endureth for ever.”Psalms 107:2. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;If nobody else will say that God is good, let his redeemed ones say it. If others are silent, let them speak to his praise, if others are doubtful, let them declare positively that the Lord is good, and that his mercy endureth for ever.Psalms 107:3. And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.We were scattered in various directions by our own folly and sin;-“ Each wandering in a different way, but all the downward road;-and he gathered us unto that blessed Shiloh of whom Jacob said, “Unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”Psalms 107:4. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way;Ah, the way of a sinner, convinced of sin, is indeed a solitary way; he has a sorrow which he cannot tell to anybody else, a stranger intermeddleth not with his griefPsa_107:4. They found no city to dwell in.There are no cities in the wilderness for people to dwell in. We look for a city that is out of sight at present, “ a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.” Here, in this fleeting world, we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.Psalms 107:5-6. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.They were a long while before they prayed to the Lord, but it was not a long while before he answered their prayer. When they were brought to that then, that is to say, when they were so hungry, and so thirsty, and so faint that they could do nothing else but cry, then, the moment that they cried unto the Lord, “ he delivered them out of their distresses.”Psalms 107:7. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. “He led them . . . that they might go.” The leadings of divine grace do not destroy the activities of the human will. God does not treat us as if we were blocks of wood or stone, but he treats us as reasonable beings.Psalms 107:8-9. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.We hardly looked for that verse to follow the preceding one. We might have thought that the psalmist would have written, “for he brings them to a city of rest.” God always exceeds our expectations. He not only brings his wandering people home, but he feeds them bountifully when they are there. He holds high festival within Zion’s gates, and the citizens of the new Jerusalem are fed with the finest of the wheat. Surely souls so blessed must praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Now comes another picture, the picture of the captives:-Psalms 107:10-11. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the most High:They “sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” for they have lost all energy. They sit down in dumb despair, for at last their sins have found them out. They rejected God, and he has left them to suffer the consequences of their sin: “ being bound in affliction and iron “Psalms 107:12-13. Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble,-This seems to be always the last thing that people in trouble do; until they hunger, and thirst, and their soul faints, as in the former case, or until they fall down utterly helpless, as in this case, they will not pray. But “then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble,”-Psalms 107:13-16. And he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. All glory be to the great Liberator’s name! Now comes the picture of sick men, which is also the portrait of ourselves:-Psalms 107:17. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.Perhaps affliction comes to their bodies, but more especially it attacks their hearts,-they have heart disease, a mortal tremor within, or a terrible fever of fear.Psalms 107:18. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat;You cannot comfort them, they cannot or will not receive the truth that would sustain them, they have lost all appetite for spiritual food.Psalms 107:18. And they draw near unto the gates of death.They seem to come close to those great iron gates that shut out all hope for ever, they can hear them grind upon their massive hinges; they begin to realize what the wrath of God means.Psalms 107:19. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble,Fools though they are, they have sense enough to do this.Psalms 107:19. And he saveth them out of their distresses.So that a true prayer from one who is near unto the gates of death is a prevailing prayer. We earnestly urge all to repent long before they come to a dying bed, but if they are on a dying bed, if they are literally near unto the gates of death, here is evidence that, if they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, he will not close his ears or his heart to their prayer.Psalms 107:20. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.The Word of God has a sort of omnipotent power in it. By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and by the Word of the Lord are sick souls healed. That Word can do anything that God purposes. “Where the word of a king is, there is power;” but where the Word of God is, there is omnipotence.Psalms 107:21-22. Oh that man would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.Now we come to the seafaring men:-Psalms 107:23-24. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.These words apply not only to seamen literally, but also to others who are called to endure great storms while sailing across the sea of this mortal life,Psalms 107:25-26. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.For even he who has his “ sea legs “ on finds them of little use to him when such a storm as this is tossing everything in a dreadful hurly burly. “They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths,” and this experience is repeated, perhaps, hundreds of times, day and night, sometimes for weeks together.Psalms 107:27. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.But, oh! when souls are caught in a storm of conviction of sin, this is a true description of their spiritual distress,-they are at their wits end, and do not know what to do. Everything about them is shaking, and they themselves are reeling to and fro, sometimes this way and sometimes that;-staggering, scarcely able to believe anything, seeing some things double, and everything out of place.Psalms 107:28. Then they cry-Yes, then, when they are reeling and staggering; that is a queer condition-is it not?-in which to be praying, reeling to and fro, and staggering like a drunken man: “Then they cry.”-Psalms 107:28. Unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. Then God will hear the prayer of a staggering man, and the prayer that has not any sense in it because the man who prays is at his wit’s end. By “sense” I mean not following the consecutiveness of an orderly petition; the prayer itself seeming to reel to and fro. The suppliant is so overpowered by sorrow that he might be thought to be drunken, as she was to whom Eli so harshly spoke bidding her put away her wine from her, whereas she was overcome by sorrow. God hears us when we cannot hear ourselves pray, and when we cannot put the words of our supplication in proper order, God knows what we mean to say, and gives us what we really need.Psalms 107:29. He maketh the storm a calm,-What a change! And what a blessing it is to get into one of God’s calms, for they are far beyond the ordinary calm of nature; then do we enjoy “ the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.”Psalms 107:29-32. So that the wave thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. Psalms 107:23-24. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters ; these see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.The Jews were never given to navigation. To “go down to the sea in ships,” seemed a very extraordinary thing to them; they looked upon it as a going down, as it were, into a dreadful abyss. We, who are more accustomed to going to sea than they were, talk of “the high seas;” but they spoke of going “down to the sea.” They never went to sea except on business. King Solomon had no pleasure yacht. There was never one of that ancient race who cared to trust himself upon the sea except as a matter of sheer necessity, and those who did so were looked upon with wonder by their land-loving friends. “They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord;”—that is, his greatest works, both in the sea and on it. They know what storms are, and they see what omnipotence can do, and they come back to tell of the wonders of God upon the mighty deep. This verse may be read spiritually as well as literally. God calls some of his servants, as it were, to go down to the sea in ships. They are tried with poverty, with personal sickness, with temptation, with inward conflicts, with fierce persecutions; and God never calls them to these trials out of mere caprice, there is always a reason for it. They go down to the sea in ships to “do business in great waters.” There is something to be gained from their trials, and something to be learned from them. They “do business in great waters;” and “these see the works of the Lord.” Others hear about them, and believe what they are told concerning them; but these see them. They see what God has done in their case,—how he sustains, how he delivers, how he sanctifies trial, and overrules it for his own glory, and his people’s good: “These see the works of the Lord.” And they also see the wonders of the economy of grace. They are made to experience the heights and depths, the lengths and breadths, of that love which; passeth knowledge; they see “his wonders in the deep.” You and I need not desire to have trouble, as though we put out to sea for our own pleasure; but, if God calls us to sail upon a sea of troubles, if he sends us there upon his business, we may depend upon it that he means that business to end to our profit and his own glory.Psalms 107:25-27.—For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.Here we learn something of what sailors see, and of what tried Christians experience. These great storms arise by God’s commandment;—not as many say, nowadays, “by the laws of nature.” The wind, which had been quiet, heard God’s voice, and raiseth itself up, like a wild beast from its lair: “He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind;” and no sooner does the great wind begin to blow than the white crests of the waves are seen, and the white horses fly before the blast which lifteth up the waves on high. Then the ship, however staunch it be, seems to have no greater power of resistance than a frail sea bird; and it is tossed up and down, up and down, from the trough of the sea to the billows’ crown: “They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths;” and their very soul begins to melt. Brave men as they are, it only needs a sufficient amount of storm to make their hearts turn to water and their spirits dissolve into the turbulent element that is all round them: “their soul is melted because of trouble.” Then they cannot keep their standing: “they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man.” What is worse, they cannot control their brains; they “are at their wit’s end.” What can they do in such a case as that? There is an end to all human wit and wisdom when the great storms are out upon the sea. You who have ever had deep spiritual trials know the analogy of all this. There may come times—there have come times to some of us—when, at the command of God, or by divine permission, there has been a fierce blast of temptation or a fiery trial, and then all that was peaceful round about us before suddenly turns into a whirlpool of tempestuous billows, and we are tossed to and fro at the mercy of the winds and the waves. Sometimes we ascend in presumption, and then we go down into the very depths of despair. At one moment, we are joyous with hope; and, a moment later, we seem ready to give all hope up, our courage fails us, and our soul dissolves within us, If you never have known this experience, I pray that you never may know it; but some of us have had stormy times when we have seemed to have no foothold, when we have reeled to and fro like drunken men,—when the best faith we have had has been little better than staggering. Still, it is better to stagger on the promise than to stagger at it; and we did still stand though we staggered, and we were at our wit’s end. We could not see what to do, and we could not tell what to do, and we could not have done it if we had known what to do; we were brought to such an extremity that we seemed to have neither wit nor wisdom left.Psalms 107:28. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.This shows that, although they were at their wit’s end, they had wit enough or wisdom enough to pray. Their souls were melted, so they let them run out in prayer. It is a good thing to get the soul melted, for then it will flow out like water before the Lord. Note that these sailors cried to God when there was no one else to whom they could cry: “Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble.” Learn from this sentence that, when your soul is melted because of trouble, you can still pray. When you reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, you can still pray and when you are at your wit’s end, you can still pray. Prayer is never out of season; it is a fruit of grace that is acceptable to God in autumn and in winter, in spring and in summer. Long as you live, and even when the worst comes to the worst, cry mightily unto God, for he will surely hear you. Was it not so with us when we were in spiritual trouble, and could do nothing else but cry unto the Lord? It was a poor prayer that we offered, but it was a real prayer that we presented when we cried unto God. Mark how quick God is to hear such prayer as this: “Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.” He brought them into them, and therefore he brought them out of them. It was God who took Jacob into Egypt; and, therefore, though it took four hundred years to bring Israel out of Egypt, God brought them out at last. He kills, and he makes alive; he wounds, and he heals. Rest you in this truth as a matter of absolute certainty.Psalms 107:29. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.At the first, God made everything out of nothing, so he can easily make a calm out of a storm; and he can make the storm a calm for you whenever he pleases to do so. Your troubled feelings, your tossings to and fro, may soon subside into “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” which “shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”Psalms 107:30. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.And there is no music that is sweeter to the mariner’s ears than the rattle of the chain as the anchor grips the bottom of the harbor, and the ship rests from all her tossings. The Lord will give you grace, my brother, my sister, to let down your anchor;—or, rather, to throw it up “into that within the vail,” for that is the way that your anchor goes; and then you shall be glad because you will be quiet. I believe that there is often, a greater, fuller, deeper joy in being quiet than there is in making a noise. There are times when it is good to praise the Lord with the high-sounding cymbals and with the harp of a solemn sound; but, in the deepest joy of all, we are still before God, and praise is silent before God in Zion.Psalms 107:31. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!Should they not do so? Those who have survived the storms at sea, or the still greater storms within their own souls, should surely take care to praise the Lord. If we know how to pray, we ought also to know how to praise. Prayer and praise ought to form the two covers of the book of our life, and our life is not well bound unless these are the two covers to it, with a good stiff back of faith to bind the two covers firmly together, and to hold every leaf in its proper place.Psalms 107:32. Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.Let them not only praise the Lord in private, but let them also sound out their song of gratitude to God where the graybeards are gathered together, and let the men of experience, the officers of the church, the leaders of the Lord’s people, help them in the expression of their gratitude. Psalms 107:33-34. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.Hearken unto this, ye who are men of understanding. God can soon take away from any people the privileges which they cease to prize. He sent barrenness upon the earth in the days of our first father, Adam; and he has long cursed with barrenness the very land in which this Psalm was written. He can give us what he pleases, and he can take it all away when he pleases. And, spiritually, God can easily turn a fruitful land into barrenness. The means of grace, the ministry of his Word which was once very rich and fertile to you, may suddenly lose all its savour and all its fruitfulness. Ay, even his own Word, which may be compared to water-springs, may suddenly seem to you to be but as dry ground; and your secret devotions, your reading of godly books, your conversation with gracious men and women, all of which were like wells of water, may seem to be dried up. If you walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to you. “He turneth a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.” When the people of God fall from their steadfastness, when they wander from the paths of holiness, it is easy for God to let them know that the best means are only means, and that the best earthly supplies are barrenness itself apart from him. God grant that it may never be so with any of us! But now see what happens when the Lord turns his hand the other way:—Psalms 107:35. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.He can make the sandy desert into a lake of water, he can make that which was barren as the desert of Sahara to become as fruitful as the garden of the Lord. And if you are just now mourning your barrenness, believe in the omnipotence of his grace which can work such wonderful transformations as these for you. “All my fresh springs are in thee,” said the psalmist; and so they are with us; therefore, why should not those fresh springs now flow into our nature so as to make the dry ground into water springs?Psalms 107:36-37. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; and sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.See, brothers and sisters, when God blesses us, then we begin to work for him. When he works, we work. He blesses the barren land with fruitfulness, and then we sow the fields, and plant vineyards. We do not sit still because God is at work; nay, rather, we obey the apostolic injunction, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”Psalms 107:38-39. He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.God has a great many rods, and we get a great many smarts because of our many sins. If we were but saved from our sins, we should not need all these rods, “oppression affliction, and sorrow,” — tribulation, and anguish, and pain, and distress. I will not tell you the names of all of them, but they are very many, and their strokes are very painful. May God grant that we may be quit of sin, for only so shall we be quit of many of these sorrows.Psalms 107:40. He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.God makes very little of earth’s biggest men: “He poureth contempt upon princes.” He has wonderful ways of making very poor those who are very rich in themselves. He makes those who were lords of all the fields to be exiles and wanderers in the wilderness, where there is no way. Do not get proud, brethren, or else that may be your lot. He who is so near perfection that he need not pray, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” may before long be so near desperation that he will not have to pray even the publican’s prayer. Let none of us become too great, lest we soon be made very little.Psalms 107:41. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.God always has an eye of pity for the poor, and especially for the spiritually poor. While “he poureth contempt upon princes” with one hand, he is lifting the poor from the dunghill with the other.Psalms 107:42. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice:When God’s providence and grace are at work with men, the righteous shall see it, and understand it, and be glad.Psalms 107:42. And all iniquity shall stop her mouth.She is generally very noisy and boastful; but, sometimes, when God’s judgments are abroad, she is obliged to hold her tongue. “All iniquity shall stop her mouth.” O Lord, stop it speedily, for she is making a great noise just now!Psalms 107:43. Whose is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.Those who watch providence will never be without a providence to watch? Psalms 108:1-5. O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O LORD, among the people: and I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth;Here, we begin with praise, — the very praise with which we finished the other Psalm, — praise in a very joyous, confident spirit, for the praise which precedes prayer has more of the “Jubilate” note in it than ordinary praise has. The prayer in Psalms 57:1, which preceded the praise, was earnest, and fervent, and confident, yet it did not reach so high a note as this: —Psalms 108:6-9. That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me. God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my law-giver; Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; over Philistia will I triumph. David is claiming the kingdom which God promised to him by the mouth of Samuel the prophet; — looking first upon the kingdom itself, and then upon the surrounding territories, and laying hold upon them all as his own because God had given them to him.Psalms 108:10. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?In the spirit of a truly courageous leader, he means to fight with that ancient foe of Israel; and wisely appeals to God to lead his army: —Psalms 108:11-13. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 57:7-11; Psalms 108, Psalms 109THIS psalm consists of three parts; a complaint of slanderous and malignant enemies, Psalms 109:1-5; a prayer for the punishment of such, Psalms 109:6-20; and a prayer for the sufferer's own deliverance, with a promise of thanksgiving, Psalms 109:21-31. According to the theory repeatedly referred to, this is the second psalm of a Davidic trilogy. See above, on Psalms 108. This psalm is remarkable on two accounts: first, as containing the most striking instances of what are called the imprecations of the psalms; and then, as having been applied in the most explicit manner to the sufferings of our Saviour from the treachery of Judas, and to the miserable fate of the latter. These two peculiarities are perhaps more closely connected than they may at first sight seem. Perhaps the best solution of the first is that afforded by the second, or at least by the hypothesis, that the Psalmist, under the direction of the Spirit, viewed the sufferings of Israel, which furnished the occasion of the psalm, as a historical type of the Messiah's sufferings from the treachery of Judas, representing that of Judah, and that with this view he expresses his abhorrence of the crime, and acquiesces in the justice of its punishment, in stronger terms than would have been, or are elsewhere, employed in reference to ordinary criminals. 1. (Psalms 109:1) To the Chief Musician. Py David. A Psalm. God of my praise, be not silent. The first inscription was particularly necessary here, because the psalm might otherwise have seemed to be a mere expression of strong personal feeling. See above, on Psalms 51:1. God of my praise, i.e. the object of it, whom I delight, or am accustomed, or have cause, to praise. Be not silent means not merely do not refuse to answer, but amidst the threats and railings of my enemies, let thy voice be heard also. See above, on Psalms 28:1, xxxv. 22, 39:12. 2. (Psalms 109:2) For a wicked mouth and a mouth of deceit they have opened; they have spoken against me with a tongue of falsehood. Compare Psalms 35:11; Psalms 55:3. The subject of the first verb is his enemies, and not the nouns preceding, as the verb translated open is elsewhere always active. Against me, literally with me, implying that they charged him falsely to his face, a circumstance remarkably fulfilled in Christ. See Matthew 26:59. 3. (Psalms 109:3) And with, words of hatred they have compassed me, and have fought against me without cause. See above, on Psalms 35:20; Psalms 36:3. 4. (Psalms 109:4) In return for my love they are my adversaries— and I (am) prayer. The first word in Hebrew strictly means instead or in lieu of. The unusual expression at the end can only mean, I am all prayer, I do nothing but pray, which some understand to signify, I bear their persecution meekly and continue my devotions undisturbed by their calumnies and insults. But as the whole context is descriptive, not of the sufferer's behaviour but of his enemies, a more probable sense is, I am forced to be continually praying for protection against them and deliverance from them. 5. (Psalms 109:5) They lay upon me evil instead of good, and hatred instead of lose. The first verb literally means they set or place. Instead of the good and the love which they owed me, or in return for my kindness and love to them, as in Psalms 109:4. 6. (Psalms 109:6) Appoint thou over him a wicked one, and let an adversary stand upon his right hand. The first verb in Hebrew means to place one in authority or charge over another. See Genesis 39:5; Genesis 41:37-45, Numbers 1:50, and compare Leviticus 26:16, Jeremiah 15:3. Wicked one and adversary (Satan), although here used as appellatives or common nouns, are the very terms applied, in the later scripture to the Evil Spirit, or the Devil. See Job 1:6; Job 2:1, 1 Chronicles 21:1, Zechariah 3:1-2. In the place last cited he stands too at the right hand of the sinner to accuse him. The change of number in the verse before us might, in conformity with usage, be explained as a mere difference of form, the ideal person denoted by the singular being really the type and representative of the whole class denoted by the plural. But the constancy with which the change, in this case, is adhered to, rather favours the conclusion, that a real individual is meant, to whom the Psalmist turns from the promiscuous crowd of his oppressors. For a similar transition, see above, on Psalms 55:12. 7. (Psalms 109:7) When he is tried he shall go forth guilty; and his prayer shall be for sin. The future meaning of the second verb is determined by the form of the third, which is not apocopated, as in Psalms 109:12-13. When he is tried, literally, in his being tried. The next phrase simply means that he shall be condemned; the last clause, that his very prayer for mercy shall be reckoned as a new offence, a strong description of extreme judicial rigour and inexorable justice. 8. (Psalms 109:8) Let his days be few— his office let another take. The word translated office is a collateral derivative of the verb at the beginning of Psa 109:6, and means commission, charge. This expression makes it still more probable that a real individual is referred to, as the possession of a charge or office could not be common to the whole class of malignant enemies. The Septuagint version is oversight or supervision, corresponding exactly to the meaning of the Hebrew verb in Psalms 109:6. This translation is retained in Acts i. 20, where the verse before us is expressly quoted by Peter as "written in the book of Psalms," and applied to the case of Judas Iscariot. 9. (Psalms 109:9) Let his sons be orphans and his wife a widow. He here passes from the person of the criminal to the sufferings of those dependent on him, See Exodus 20:5. 10. (Psalms 109:10) And wander— wander— let his sons and beg, and seek (their food) from (among) their ruins. The emphatic repetition of the first verb is expressed in the English Bible, by a paraphrase, let his children be continually vagabonds. The last clause is extremely graphic, representing them as creeping forth in search of food from amidst the ruins of their habitations. 11. (Psalms 109:11) Let a creditor entrap all he has, and strangers plunder (the fruit of) his labour. The first noun originally means a lender, but in usage has the accessory sense of a hard creditor, an extortioner. The verb means to lay a snare for, as in Psalms 38:12. Strangers, not his natural heirs, not members of his family. See Deuteronomy 25:5. 12. (Psalms 109:12) Let there be no one to him, extending mercy, and let there be no one shewing favour to his orphans. The verb translated extend literally means draw out, prolong, and is applied to the continued indulgence both of hostile and amicable feelings. See above, on Psalms 28:3; Psalms 36:10; Psalms 85:5. Shewing favour, exercising mercy, as in Psalms 37:21. 13. (Psalms 109:13) Let his posterity be cut off; in the next generation, blotted out be their name. The word for posterity strictly means futurity, after part, or latter end. See above, Psalms 37:37-38. Cut off, literally for cutting off. The next or ufter generation, as in Psalms 48:13. The plural pronoun their refers to the collective noun posterity. 14. (Psalms 109:14) Let the guilt of his fathers be remembered by Jehovah, and his mother's sin not blotted out. This is perhaps the most fearful imprecation in the psalm, as it extends the consequences of transgression, not merely to the children, who might naturally be expected to partake of them, but to the parents. It is not to be forgotten, however, that in all such cases, the personal guilt of the implicated parties is presupposed, and not inferred from their connection with the principals. Remembered by (literally to) Jehovah, which may possibly mean brought to his remembrance, recalled to mind by another, perhaps by the accuser before mentioned. 15. (Psalms 109:15) Let them be before Jehovah always, and let him cut off from the earth their memory. The subject of the first clause is the guilt and sin mentioned in the verse preceding. Before Jehovah, in his sight, an object of attention to him. See above, Psalms 90:8. With the last clause compare Psalms 9:6; Psalms 34:16. 16. (Psalms 109:16) Because that he did not remember to do mercy, and persecuted an afficted and poor man, and one smitten in heart, to kill (him). There is an antithesis between the remember of this verse and the remembered of Psa 109:14. Though he did not remember mercy, God remembers guilt. The last phrase, to kill, denotes both the design and the extent of the malignant persecution which was deadly or to death. The object of the persecution is the psalmist himself, or the ideal person whom he represents. See Psalms 109:22. 17. (Psalms 109:17) And he loved a curse, and it has come (upon) him; and he delighted not in blessing, and it has removed far from him. This verse contemplates the event as actually past. The optative meaning, given to the verbs in the English Bible, is as inconsistent with the form of the original as the future meaning given in the Prayer Book and the ancient versions. 18. (Psalms 109:18) And he has put on cursing as his garment, and it has come like water into his inside, and like oil into his bones. There is an obvious climax in this verse. That which is first described as the man's exterior covering, is then said to be within him, first as water, then as oil or fat, first in the vessels of his body, then in his very bones. The general idea is that the curse, which he denounced and endeavoured to inflict on others, has taken possession of himself, both within and without. Compare Numbers 5:22; Numbers 5:24; Numbers 5:27. The first clause admits of a different construction, which would make it descriptive of the crime and not the punishment. He put on cursing as his garment, and (now) it has come, etc. This construction introduces an antithesis, and thereby adds to the point of the sentence, and is also recommended by the analogy of Psa 109:17. 19. (Psalms 109:19) Let it be to him as a garment (that) he wears, and for a belt let hiim always gird it. This is not a mere reiteration of the figure in the first clause of Psa 109:18, but conveys the additional idea of a habitual and constant presence. The word belt is used in the translation of the last clause, be-cause the Hebrew word to which it corresponds is not the usual derivative of the verb that follows, but etymologically unconnected with it. 20. (Psalms 109:20) (Be) this the wages of my adversaries from Jehovah, and of those speaking evil against my soul. The pronoun this in the first clause refers to the whole preceding series of denunciations. The word translated wages means originally work, and secondarily the price or recompence of work or labour, and is so used in the law of Moses. See Leviticus 19:13. It is here peculiarly appropriate, because it represents the misfortunes of his enemies as the direct fruit of their own misconduct. No single word in English can express this double meaning of the Hebrew. Such is their work and such their wages. The word translated adversaries is a cognate form to that used in Psalms 109:6, and might suggest the idea of my Satans; but this would probably convey too much. From Jehovah, their reward or recompence to be expected from him, or already bestowed by him. The description in the last clause includes insult, slander, and malicious plotting. 21. (Psalms 109:21) And thou, Jehovah, Lord, do with me for thy name's sake, because good is thy mercy set me free. The emphatic thou at the beginning indi- cates a contrast between God and his oppressors. Do with me is a common English phrase meaning deal with me, dispose of me; but no such diom exists in Hebrew, and the best authorities regard the construction as elliptical, and make it mean, do kindness (or skew mercy) to me. With the last clause compare Psalms 63:3), 69:16. 22. (Psalms 109:22) For afflicted and poor (am) I, and my heart is wounded within me. This, though indefinite in form, is equivalent to saying, I am the afflicted and poor man whom the malignant adversary persecuted, as was said, in Psalms 109:16. The word translated wounded strictly means pierced or perforated, a stronger expression than the one in ver. 16. With the first clause compare Psalms 11:1-7, Psalms 69:29. 23. (Psalms 109:23) Like a shadow at its turning I am gone; I am driven away like the locust. The first comparison is the same with that in Psalms 102:12. Our idiom enables us to imitate the phrase I am gone, a passive which in Hebrew occurs only here. The other verb is rare, but its meaning is suffi-ciently determined by usage. The allusion here is to the violence with which a cloud of locusts in the east is scattered by the wind. Compare Exodus 10:19, Joe 2:20, Nahum 3:17. 24. (Psalms 109:25) My knees totter from fasting, and my flesh fails from fatness. The last phrase is obscure, but seems to mean from being fat, so that it is not fat; the privative usage of the preposition being very common. The sense thus put upon the verb is justified by the analogy of Isa 58:11, where an equivalent expression is applied to failing waters. Some interpreters, however, insist upon retaining the strict sense both of verb and noun, and understand the clause to mean, my flesh lies or deceives the eye, by no longer appearing as it once did, or by seeming to exist when it is gone, from oil, i.e. from want of oil, because no longer taken care of and anointed. But no construction could well be more forced and far-fetched. It may also be objected that the external use of oil was to anoint the head on festive occasions, not to fatten the person or preserve the flesh. 25. (Psalms 109:25) And I have been a reproach to them, they see me, they shake their head. A reproach, an object of contempt, as in Psalms 22:6; Psalms 31:11. As to the meaning of the gesture mentioned in the last clause, see above, on Psalms 22:7. 26. (Psalms 109:26) Help me, Jehovah, my God, save me, according to thy mercy. The renewed description of his sufferings, in ver. 22-25, is followed by a renewed petition for deliverance, corresponding to that in Psalms 109:21. According to thy mercy, i.e. in proportion to its greatness and the freeness with which it is exercised. 27. (Psalms 109:27) And they shall know that this (is) thy hand; thou, Jehovah, hast done it. The optative construction, let them know, and the subjunctive one, that they may know, are really involved in the more exact translation, they shall know. The subject of the verb may be men in general, or the persecuting adversaries in particular, more probably the latter, because they are referred to both before and after. This is thy hand, i.e. this deliverance is the product of thy power. Compare Psalms 59:13. 28. (Psalms 109:28) They will curse, and thou wilt bless; they have risen up, and shall be shamed, and thy servant shall be glad. The first clause, expressed in our idiom, would be, they may curse, but thou wilt bless. Risen up, i.e. against me, a favourite expression in the Psalms. Shamed, in the pregnant sense of being disappointed, defeated, confounded. Thy servant, i.e. I, as such, in that capacity or character. 29. (Psalms 109:29) Clothed shall my adversaries be with confusion, and dressed, as a robe, in their shame. This is not the mere expression of a wish, like that in Psalms 109:18, which would here be out of place, but a confident anticipation, with which he concludes the psalm. Compare Psalms 71:13. The word translated robe denotes a garment reaching to the feet, and expresses therefore still more strongly the idea that his foes shall be completely covered with confusion. 30. (Psalms 109:30) I will thank Jehovah greatly with my mouth, and in the midst of many will I praise him. He vows that his thanksgiving shall not be merely mental or domestic, but audible and public. With the last clause compare Psalms 22:22. 31. (Psalms 109:31) For he will stand at the right hand of a poor (man), to save (him) from the judges of his soul. This assigns the special reason of his promised praise. The verse is in strong contrast to Psalms 109:6 above, especially if Satan be there taken as a proper name. The right hand here is not the place of honour but of protection. A poor man, as in Psalms 109:16, means this poor man, i.e. me a poor man. Compare Psalms 34:6. The last clause is correctly paraphrased in the common version, those that condemn his soul. To The Chief Musician. Intended therefore to be sung, and sung in the temple service! Yet is it by no means easy to imagine the whole nation singing such dreadful imprecations. We ourselves, at any rate, under the gospel dispensation, find it very difficult to infuse into the Psalm a gospel sense, or a sense at all compatible with the Christian spirit; and therefore one would think the Jews must have found it hard to chant such strong language without feeling the spirit of revenge excited; and the arousal of that spirit could never have been the object of divine worship in any period of time— under law or under gospel. At the very outset this title shows that the Psalm has a meaning with which it is fitting for men of God to have fellowship before the throne of the Most High: but what is that meaning? This is a question of no small difficulty, and only a very childlike spirit will ever be able to answer it. A Psalm of David. Not therefore the ravings of a vicious misanthrope, or the execrations of a hot, revengeful spirit. David would not smite the man who sought his blood, he frequently forgave those who treated him shamefully; and therefore these words cannot be read in a bitter, revengeful sense, for that would be foreign to the character of the son of Jesse. The imprecatory sentences before us were penned by one who with all his courage in battle was a man of music and of tender heart, and they were meant to be addressed to God in the form of a Psalm, and therefore they cannot possibly have been meant to be mere angry cursing. Unless it can be proved that the religion of the old dispensation was altogether hard, morose, and Draconian, and that David was of a malicious, vindictive spirit, it cannot be conceived that this Psalm contains what one author has ventured to call "a pitiless hate, a refined and insatiable malignity." To such a suggestion we cannot give place, no, not for an hour. But what else can we make of such strong language? Truly this is one of the hard places of Scripture, a passage which the soul trembles to read; yet as it is a Psalm unto God, and given by inspiration, it is not ours to sit in judgment upon it, but to bow our ear to what God the Lord would speak to us therein. This psalm refers to Judas, for so Peter quoted it; but to ascribe its bitter denunciations to our Lord in the hour of his sufferings is more than we dare to do. These are not consistent with the silent Lamb of God, who opened not his mouth when led to the slaughter. It may seem very pious to put such words into his mouth; we hope it is our piety which prevents our doing so. (See our first note from Perowne in the Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings.) . In the first five verses (Psalms 109:1-5) David humbly pleads with God that he may be delivered from his remorseless and false hearted enemies. From Psalms 109:6-20, filled with a prophetic fervour, which carries him entirely beyond himself, he denounces judgment upon his foes, and then from Psalms 109:21-31 he returns to his communion with God in prayer and praise. The central portion of the Psalm in which the difficulty lies must be regarded not as the personal wish of the psalmist in cool blood, but as his prophetic denunciation of such persons as he describes, and emphatically of one special "son of perdition" whom he sees with prescient eye. We would all pray for the conversion of our worst enemy, and David would have done the same; but viewing the adversaries of the Lord, and doers of iniquity, As Such, and as incorrigible we cannot wish them well; on the contrary, we desire their overthrow, and destruction. The gentlest hearts burn with indignation when they hear of barbarities to women and children, of crafty plots for ruining the innocent, of cruel oppression of helpless orphans, and gratuitous ingratitude to the good and gentle. A curse upon the perpetrators of the atrocities in Turkey may not be less virtuous than a blessing upon the righteous. We wish well to all mankind, and for that very reason we sometimes blaze with indignation against the inhuman wretches by whom every law which protects our fellow creatures is trampled down, and every dictate of humanity is set at nought. . Ver. 1. Hold not thy peace. Mine enemies speak, be thou pleased to speak too. Break thy solemn silence, and silence those who slander me. It is the cry of a man whose confidence in God is deep, and whose communion with him is very close and bold. Note, that he only asks the Lord to speak: a word from God is all a believer needs. O God of my praise. Thou whom my whole soul praises, be pleased to protect my honour and guard my praise. "My heart is fixed", said he in the former psalm, "I will sing and give praise", and now he appeals to the God whom he had praised. If we take care of God's honour he will take care of ours. We may look to him as the guardian of our character if we truly seek his glory. If we live to God's praise, he will in the long run give us praise among men. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. Mysterious was the one word written opposite this psalm in the pocket Bible of a late devout and popular writer. It represents the utter perplexity with which it is very generally regarded. —Joseph Hammond. Whole Psalm. In this psalm David is supposed to refer to Doeg the Edomite, or to Ahithophel. It is the most imprecatory of the psalms, and may well be termed the Iscariot Psalm. What David here refers to his mortal enemy, finds its accomplishment in the betrayer of the Son of David. It is from the 8th verse that Peter infers the necessity of filling up the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judas: it was, says he, predicted that another should take his office. —Paton J. Gloag, in "A Commentary on the Acts, "1870. Whole Psalm. We may consider Judas, at the same time, as the virtual head of the Jewish nation in their daring attempt to dethrone the Son of God. The doom pronounced, and the reasons for it, apply to the Jews as a nation, as well as to the leader of the band who took Jesus. —Andrew A. Bonar. Whole Psalm. Is it possible that this perplexing and distressing Psalm presents us after all, not with David's maledictions upon his enemies, but with their maledictions upon him? Not only do I hold this interpretation to be quite legitimate, I hold it to be by far the more natural and reasonable interpretation. —Joseph Hammond. (In Dr. Cox's Expositor, Vol. 2. pg 225, this theory is well elaborated by Mr. Hammond, but we cannot for an instant accept it. —C.H.S. The Imprecations of the Psalm. The language has been justified, not as the language of David, but as the language of Christ, exercising his office of Judge, or, in so far as he had laid aside that office during his earthly life, calling upon his Father to accomplish the curse. It has been alleged that this is the prophetic foreshadowing of the solemn words, "Woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born" (Matthew 26:24). The curse in the words of Chrysostom is, "a prophecy in the form of a curse", (profhteia en eidei arav). The strain which such a view compels us to put on much of the language ought to have led long since to its abandonment. Not even the words denounced by our Lord against the Pharisees can really be compared to the anathemas which are here strung together. Much less is there any pretence for saying that those words so full of deep and holy sorrow, addressed to the traitor in the gospels, are merely another expression of the appalling denunciations of the psalm. But terrible as these undoubtedly are, to be accounted for by the spirit of the Old Dispensation, not to be defended by that of the New, still let us learn to estimate them aright. —J.J. Stewart Perowne. The Imprecations. These imprecations are not appropriate in the mouth of the suffering Saviour. It is not the spirit of Zion but of Sinai which here speaks out of the mouth of David; the spirit of Elias, which, according to Lu 9:58, is not the spirit of the New Testament. This wrathful spirit is overpowered by the spirit of love. But these anathemas are still not on this account so many beatings of the air. There is in them a divine energy, as in the blessing and cursing of every man who is united to God, and more especially of a man whose temper of mind is such as David's. They possess the same power as the prophetical threatenings, and in this sense they are regarded in the New Testament as fulfilled in the son of perdition (John 17:12). To the generation of the time of Jesus they were a deterrent warning not to offend against the Holy One of God, and this Psalmus Ischarioticus (Acts 1:20) will ever be such a mirror of warning to the enemies and persecutors of Christ and his church. —Franz Delitzsch. The Imprecations. Respecting the imprecations contained in this psalm, it will be proper to keep in mind what I have said elsewhere, that when David forms such maledictions, or expresses his desire for them, he is not instigated by any immoderate carnal propensity, nor is he actuated by zeal without knowledge, nor is he influenced by any private personal considerations. These three matters must be carefully weighed, for in proportion to the amount of self esteem which a man possesses, is he so enamoured with his own interests as to rush headlong upon revenge. Hence it comes to pass that the more a person is devoted to selfishness, he will be the more immoderately addicted to advancement of his own individual interests. This desire for the promotion of personal interest gives birth to another species of vice: for no one wishes to be avenged upon his enemies because such a thing would be right and equitable, but because it is the means of gratifying his own spiteful propensity. Some, indeed, make a pretext of righteousness and equity in the matter; but the spirit of malignity, by which they are inflamed, effaces every trace of justice, and blinds their minds. When the two vices, selfishness and carnality, are corrected, there is still another thing demanding correction: we must repress the ardour of foolish zeal, in order that we may follow the Spirit of God as our guide. Should any one, under the influence of perverse zeal, produce David as an example of it, that would not be an example in point; for to such a person may be very aptly applied the answer which Christ returned to his disciples, "Ye know not what spirit ye are of", Lu 9:55. How detestable a piece of sacrilege is it on the part of the monks, and especially the Franciscan friars, to pervert this psalm by employing it to countenance the most nefarious purposes! If a man harbour malice against a neighbour, it is quite a common thing for him to engage one of these wicked wretches to curse him, which he would do by daily repeating this psalm. I know a lady in France who hired a parcel of these friars to curse her own and only son in these words. But I return to David, who, free from all inordinate passion, breathed forth his prayers under the influence of the Holy Spirit. —John Calvin. The imprecations. It is possible, as Tholuck thinks, that in some of the utterances in what are called the vindictive psalms, especially the imprecations in Psalms 109:1-31, unholy personal zeal may have been mingled with holy zeal, as was the case seemingly with the two disciples James and John, when the Lord chided their desire for vengeance (Lu 9:54-56). But, in reality, the feeling expressed in these psalms may well be considered as virtuous anger, such as Bishop Butler explains and justifies in his sermons on "Resentment and the Forgiveness of Injuries", and such as Paul teaches in Ephesians 4:26, "Be ye angry, and sin not." Anger against sin and a desire that evildoers may be punished, are not opposed to the spirit of the gospel, or to that love of enemies which our Lord both enjoined and exemplified. If the emotion or its utterance were essentially sinful, how could Paul wish the enemy of Christ and the perverter of the gospel to be accursed (anayema, 1 Corinthians 16:22 Galatians 1:8); and especially, how could the spirit of the martyred saints in heaven call on God for vengeance (Revelation 6:10), and join to celebrate its final execution (Revelation 19:1-6)? Yea, resentment against the wicked is so far from being necessarily sinful, that we find it manifested by the Holy and Just One himself, when in the days of his flesh he looked around on his hearers "with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts" (Mr 3:5); and when in "the great day of his wrath" (Revelation 6:17), he shall say to "all workers of iniquity" (Lu 13:27), "Depart from me, ye cursed" (Matthew 25:41). —Benjamin Davies (1814-1875), in Kitto's Cyclopaedia. Imprecations. It is true that this vengeance is invoked on the head of the betrayer of Christ: and we may profit by reading even the severest of the passages when we regard them as dictated by a burning zeal for the honour of Jehovah, a righteous indignation and a jealousy of love, and generally, if not universally, as denunciations of just judgment against the obstinate enemies of Christ, and all who obey not the Gospel of God. At the same time, these passages cannot be fully accounted for without a frank recognition of the fact that the Psalter was conceived and written under the Old Covenant. That dispensation was more stern than ours. God's people had with all other peoples a conflict with sword and spear. They wanted to tread down their enemies, to crush the heathen; and thought it a grand religious triumph for a righteous man to wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. Psalms 8:10 68:23. Now the struggle is without carnal weapons, and the tone of the dispensation is changed. —Donald Fraser. 1873. Imprecations. Imprecations of judgment on the wicked on the hypothesis their continued impenitence are not inconsistent with simultaneous efforts of to bring them to repentance; and Christian charity itself can do no more than labour for the sinner's conversion. The law of holiness requires us to pray for the fires of divine retribution: the law of love to seek meanwhile to rescue the brand from the burning. The last prayer of the martyr Stephen was answered not by any general averting of doom from a guilty nation, but by the conversion of an individual persecutor to the service of God. —Joseph Francis Thrupp. Imprecations. That explanation which regards the "enemies" as spiritual foes has a large measure of truth. It commended itself to a mind so far removed from mysticism as Arnold's. It is most valuable for devout private use of the Psalter. For, though we are come to Mount Sion, crested with the eternal calm, the opened ear can hear the thunder rolling along the peaks of Sinai. In the Gospel, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Sin is utterly hateful to God. The broad gates are flung wide open of the city that lies foursquare towards all the winds of heaven; for its ruler is divinely tolerant. But there shall in no wise enter it anything that defileth, neither whatever worketh abomination; for he is divinely intolerant too. And thus when, in public or private, we read these Psalms of imprecation, there is a lesson that comes home to us. We must read them, or dishonour God's word. Reading them, we must depart from sin, or pronounce judgment upon ourselves. Drunkenness, impurity, hatred, every known sin of flesh or spirit— these, and not mistaken men, are the worst enemies of God and of his Christ. Against these we pray in our Collects for Peace at Morning and Evening prayer— "Defend us in all assaults of our enemies, that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies, may pass our time in rest and quietness." These were the dark hosts which swept through the Psalmist's vision when he cried, "Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed", Psalms 6:10. —William Alexander, in "The Witness of the Psalms to Christ and Christianity", 1877. Imprecations. — I cannot forbear the following little incident that occurred the other morning at family worship. I happened to be reading one of the imprecatory psalms, and as I paused to remark, my little boy, a lad of ten years, asked with some earnestness: "Father, do you think it right for a good man to pray for the destruction of his enemies like that?" and at the same time referred me to Christ as praying for his enemies. I paused a moment to know how to shape the reply so as to fully meet and satisfy his enquiry, and then said, "My son, if an assassin should enter the house by night, and murder your mother, and then escape, and the sheriff and citizens were all out in pursuit, trying to catch him, would you not pray to God that they might succeed and arrest him, and that he might be brought to justice?" "Oh, yes!" said he, "but I never saw it so before. I did not know that that was the meaning of these Psalms." "Yes", said I, "my son, the men against whom David plays were bloody men, men of falsehood and crime, enemies to the peace of society, seeking his own life, and unless they were arrested and their wicked devices defeated, many innocent persons must suffer." The explanation perfectly satisfied his mind. —F.G. Hibbard, in "The Psalms chronologically arranged", 1856. Title. It is worth noting, that the superscription, to the chief Musician, to the precentor (xunml), proves it to have been designed, such as it is, for the Tabernacle or Temple service of song. —Joseph Hammond, in "The Expositor", 1875. Title. Syriac inscription. The verbs of the Hebrew text through nearly the whole of the imprecatory part of this Psalm are read in the singular number, as if some particular subject were signified by the divine prophet. But our translators always change the verbs into the plural number; which is not done by the Seventy and the other translators, who adhere more closely to the Hebrew text. But without doubt this has arisen, because the Syriac Christians explain this Psalm of the sufferings of Christ, which may be understood from the Syriac inscription of this Psalm, and which in Polyglottis Angl. reads thus: —"Of David: when they made Absalom king, be not knowing: and on account of this he was killed. But to us it sets forth the sufferings of Christ." For this reason all these imprecations are transferred to the enemies or murderers of Jesus Christ. —John Augustus Dathe, 1731-1791. Ver. 1. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise. All commendation or manifestation of our innocence is to be sought from God when we are assailed with calumnies on all sides. When God is silent, we should cry all the more strongly; nor should we because of such delay despair of help, nor impatiently cease from praying. —Martin Geier. Ver. 1. Hold not thy peace. How appropriately this phrase is applied to God, with whom to speak is the same as to do; for by his word he made all things. Rightly, therefore, is he said to be silent when he seems not to notice the things which are done by the wicked, and patiently bears with their malice. The Psalmist begs him to rise up and speak with the wicked in his wrath, and thus take deserved vengeance on them; which is as easy for him to do as for an angry man to break forth in words of rebuke and blame. This should be to us a great solace against the wickedness of this last age, which God, our praise, can restrain with one little word. —Wolfgang Musculus. Ver. 1. O God. As the most innocent and holy servants of God are subject to heavy slanders and false calumnies raised against them, so the best remedy and relief in this case is to go to God, as here the Psalmist doth. —David Dickson. Ver. 1. God of my praise. Thou, who art the constant object of my praise and thanksgiving, Jeremiah 17:14. —William Keatinge Clay. Ver. 1. O God of my praise. In denominating him the God of his praise, he intrusts to him the vindication of his innocence, in the face of the calumnies by which he was all but universally assailed. —John Calvin. Ver. 1. The God of MY praise. Give me leave, in order to expound it the better, to expostulate. What, David, were there no saints but thyself that gave praise to God? Why dost thou then seem to appropriate and engross God unto thyself, as the God of thy praise, as if none praised him else but thee? It is because his soul had devoted all the praise he was able to bestow on any, unto the Lord alone; as whom he had set himself to praise, and praise alone. As of a beloved son we use to say, "the son of my love." And further, it is as if he had said, If I had all the ability of all the spirits of men and angels wherewith to celebrate him, I would bestow them all on him, he is the God of my praise. And as he was David's, so he should be ours. —Thomas Goodwin. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 1. The silence of God. What it may mean: what it involves: how we may endeavour to break it. Ver. 1. God of my praise. A text which may be expounded in its double meaning. Ver. 1-3. 1. God is for his people when the wicked are against them (Psalms 109:1); (a) for his people's sake; (b) for his own sake. 2. The wicked are against his people when he is for them (Psalms 109:2-3); (a) from hatred to God; (b) from hatred to his people. —G.R. Psalms 109:2* . Ver. 2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me. Wicked men must needs say wicked things, and these we have reason to dread; but in addition they utter false and deceitful things, and these are worst of all. There is no knowing what may come out of mouths which are at once lewd and lying. The misery caused to a good man by slanderous reports no heart can imagine but that which is wounded by them: in all Satan's armoury there are no worse weapons than deceitful tongues. To have a reputation, over which we have watched with daily care, suddenly bespattered with the foulest aspersions, is painful beyond description; but when wicked and deceitful men get their mouths fully opened we can hardly expect to escape any more than others. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. Lying tongues cannot lie still. Bad tongues are not content to vilify bad men, but choose the most gracious of saints to be the objects of their attacks. Here is reason enough for prayer. The heart sinks when assailed with slander, for we know not what may be said next, what friend may be alienated, what evil may be threatened, or what misery may be caused to us and others. The air is full of rumours, and shadows impalpable flit around; the mind is confused with dread of unseen foes, and invisible arrows. What ill can be worse than to be assailed with slander, "Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue Out venoms all the worms of Nile"? NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me. Speak, says Arnobius, to thine own conscience, O man of God, thou who art following Christ; and when the mouth of the wicked and deceitful man is opened concerning thee, rejoice and be secure; because while the mouth of the wicked is opened for thy slander in the earth, the mouth of God is opened for thy praise in heaven. —Lorinus. Ver. 2-3. Note, first, the detractor opens his mouth, that he may pour forth his poison, and that he may devour his victim. Hence, David says, "the mouth of the wicked is opened against me." Note, secondly, the detractor is talkative—They have spoken, etc. The mouth of the detractor is a broken pitcher leaking all over. Note, thirdly, detraction springs from hatred, "they compassed me about also with words of hatred." In Greek, ekuklwoan me, ie., as in a circle they have enclosed me. St. Climacus says, "Detraction is odii partus, a subtle disease, a fat but hidden leech which sucks the blood of charity and after destroys it." —Lorinus. Ver. 2-5. The mouth of the wicked, etc. Vice— deformed Itself, and ugly, and of flavour rank— To rob fair Virtue of so sweet an incense And with it to anoint and salve its own Rotten ulcers, and perfume the path that led To death, strove daily by a thousand means: And oft succeeded to make Virtue sour In the world's nostrils, and its loathly self Smell sweetly. Rumour was the messenger Of defamation, and so swift that none Could be the first to tell an evil tale. It was Slander filled her mouth with lying words; Slander, the foulest whelp of Sin. The man In whom this spirit entered was undone. His tongue was set on fire of hell; his heart Was black as death; his legs were faint with haste To propagate the lie his tongue had framed His pillow was the peace of families Destroyed, the sigh of innocence reproached, Broken friendships, and the strife of brotherhoods. Yet did he spare his sleep, and hear the clock Number the midnight watches, on bis bed Devising mischief more; and early rose And made most hellish meals of good men's names. Peace fled the neighbourhood in which he made His haunts; and, like a moral pestilence, Before his breath the healthy shoots and blooms Of social joy and happiness decayed. Fools only in his company were seen, And those forsaken of God, and to themselves Given up. The prudent man shunned him and his house As one who had a deadly moral plague. —Robert Pollok. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 2. Slander. Its cause— wickedness and malice. Its instruments— deceit and lies. Its frequency— Jesus and the saints slandered. Its punishment. Our resort when tried by it— prayer to God. Psalms 109:3* . Ver. 3. They compassed me about also with words of hatred. Turn which way he would they hedged him in with falsehood, misrepresentation, accusation, and scorn. Whispers, sneers, insinuations, satires, and open charges filled his ear with a perpetual buzz, and all for no reason, but sheer hate. Each word was as full of venom as an egg is full of meat: they could not speak without showing their teeth. And fought against me without a cause. He had not provoked the quarrel or contributed to it, yet in a thousand ways they laboured to "corrode his comfort, and destroy his ease." All this tended to make the suppliant feel the more acutely the wrongs which were done to him. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. Although an individual may be absent, so that he cannot corporeally be encompassed and fought with; nevertheless, so great is the force and malice of an envenomed tongue, that an absent man may be none the less dangerously surrounded and warred against. Thus David, though absent and driven into exile, was nevertheless surrounded and assailed by the calumnies of Doeg and the other flatterers of Saul, so that at length he was also corporeally surrounded; in which contest he would clearly have perished unless he had been divinely delivered: see 1 Samuel 23:1-29. And this kind of surrounding and assault is so much the more deadly as it is so much the less possible to be avoided. For who can be so innocent as to escape the snares of a back biting and calumnious tongue? What place can be so remote and obscure as that this evil will not intrude when David could not be safe in the mountains and caves of the rocks? —Wolfgang Musculus. Psalms 109:4* . Ver. 4. For my love they are my adversaries. They hate me because I love them. One of our poets says of the Lord Jesus— "Found guilty of excess of love." Surely it was his only fault. Our Lord might have used all the language of this complaint most emphatically— they hated him without a cause and returned him hatred for love. What a smart this is to the soul, to be hated in proportion to the gratitude which it deserved, hated by those it loved, and hated because of its love. This was a cruel case, and the sensitive mind of the psalmist writhed under it. But give myself unto prayer. He did nothing else but pray. He became prayer as they became malice. This was his answer to his enemies, he appealed from men and their injustice to the Judge of all the earth, who must do right. True bravery alone can teach a man to leave his traducers unanswered, and carry the case unto the Lord. "Men cannot help but reverence the courage that walketh amid calumnies unanswering." "He standeth as a gallant chief unheeding shot or shell." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 4. (first clause). None prove worse enemies than those that have received the greatest kindnesses, when once they turn unkind. As the sharpest vinegar is made of the purest wine, and pleasant meats turn to the bitterest humours in the stomach; so the highest love bestowed upon friends, being ill digested or corrupt, turns to the most unfriendly hatred, proximorum odia sunt acerrima. —Abraham Wright. Ver. 4. For my love they are my adversaries; that's an ill requital; but how did David requite them? We may take his own word for it; he tells us how, "But I give myself unto prayer"; yea, he seemed a man wholly given unto prayer. The elegant conciseness of the Hebrew is, "But I prayer"; we supply it thus, "But I give myself unto prayer." They are sinning against me, requiting my love with hatred, "But I give myself unto prayer." But for whom did he pray? Doubtless he prayed and prayed much for himself; he prayed also for them. We may understand these words, "I give myself unto prayer", two ways. First I pray against their plots and evil dealings with me (prayer was David's best strength always against his enemies), yet that was not all. But, secondly, "I give myself unto prayer", that the Lord would pardon their sin, and turn their hearts, when they are doing me mischief; or, though they have done me mischief, I am wishing them the best good. David (in another place) showed what a spirit of charity he was clothed with, when no reproof could hinder him from praying for others, Psalms 141:5. —Joseph Caryl. Ver. 4. The translator of the Syriac version has inserted in Psalms 109:4 Arabic "and I have prayed for them", as if he had copied them from the words of our Lord in Matthew 5:44, where in the Syriac version of the New Testament we have exactly the same construction. It is in keeping with the inscription of the Psalm, which applies it directly to Christ. It would seem as if the Translator understood this verse of the crucifixion and of the Redeemer's prayer for his murderers, or as if the only way to understand the elliptical language of the Psalmist was from the teaching and example of our Lord. —E.T. Gibson, of Crayford. Ver. 4. I prayer. The Messiah says in this prophetic psalm, "I am prayer." During his pilgrimage on earth, his whole life was communion with God; and now in his glory, he is constantly making intercession for us. But this does not exhaust the idea, "I am prayer." He not merely prayed and is now praying, he not merely teaches and influences us to pray, but he is prayer, the fountain and source of all prayer, as well as the foundation and basis of all answers to our petitions. He is the Word in this sense also. From all eternity his Father heard him, heard him as interceding for that world which, created through him, he represented, and in which, through him, divine glory was to be revealed. In the same sense, therefore, in which he is light and gives light, in which he is life and resurrection, and therefore quickens, Jesus is prayer. —Adolph Saphir, in Lectures on the Lord's Prayer, 1870. Ver. 4. Persecuted saints are men of prayer, yea, they are as it were made up all of prayer. David prayed before; but, oh, when his enemies fell a persecuting of him, then he gave himself up wholly to prayer. Oh, then he was more earnest; more fervent, more frequent, more diligent, more constant, and more abundant in the work of prayer! When Numa, king of the Romans, was told that his enemies were in arms against him, he did but laugh at it, and answered, "And I do sacrifice"; so when persecutors arm themselves against the people of God, they do but divinely smile and laugh at it, and give themselves the more up to prayer. When men arm against them, then they arm themselves with all their might to the work of prayer; and woe, woe to them that have armies of prayers marching against them. —Thomas Brooks. Ver. 4. I give myself unto prayer. The instruction to ourselves from these words is most comforting and precious. Are we bowed down with sorrow and distress? "I give myself unto prayer." Are we persecuted, and reviled, and compassed about with words of hatred? "I give myself unto prayer." Has death entered our dwellings? And as we gaze in heart-broken anguish on the no longer answering look of one who was our earthly stay, and we feel as if all hope as well as all help were gone, still there remains the same blessed refuge for all the Lord's sorrowing ones, "I give myself unto prayer." In the allegory of the ancients. Hope was left at the bottom of the casket, as the sweetener of human life; but God, in far richer mercy, gives prayer as the balm of human trial. —Barton Bouchier. Ver. 4. A Christian is all over prayer: he prays at rising, at lying down, and as he walks: like a prime favourite at court, who has the key to the privy stairs, and can wake his prince by night. —Augustus Montague Toplady, 1740-1778. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 4. On the excellency of prayer. See Expository Notes. Ver. 4. Our Lord's adversaries, and his resort. Ver. 4-5. 1. David's spirit and conduct towards his enemies. (a) His spirit is love— love for hatred; hence his denunciations are against their sins, rather than against them. (b) His conduct. He returned good for evil; he interceded for them. 2. Their spirit and conduct towards him. (a) Hatred for love. (b) Evil for good. —G.R. Psalms 109:5* . Ver. 5. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. Evil for good is devil like. This is Satan's line of action, and his children upon earth follow it greedily; it is cruel, and wounds to the quick. The revenge which pays a man back in his own coin has a kind of natural justice in it; but what shall be said of that baseness which returns to goodness the very opposite of what it has a right to expect? Our Lord endured such base treatment all his days, and, alas, in his members, endures it still. Thus we see the harmless and innocent man upon his knees pouring out his lamentation: we are now to observe him rising from the mercy seat, inspired with prophetic energy, and pouring forth upon his foes the forewarning of their doom. We shall hear him speak like a judge clothed with stern severity, or like the angel of doom robed in vengeance, or as the naked sword of justice when she bares her arm for execution. It is not for himself that he speaks so much as for all the slandered and the down trodden, of whom he feels himself to be the representative and mouthpiece. He asks for justice, and as his soul is stung with cruel wrongs he asks with solemn deliberation, making no stint in his demands. To pity malice would be malice to mankind; to screen the crafty seekers of human blood would be cruelty to the oppressed. Nay, love, and truth, and pity lift their wounds to heaven, and implore vengeance on the enemies of the innocent and oppressed; those who render goodness itself a crime, and make innocence a motive for hate, deserve to find no mercy from the great Preserver of men. Vengeance is the prerogative of God, and as it would be a boundless calamity if evil were for ever to go unpunished, so it is an unspeakable blessing that the Lord will recompense the wicked and cruel man, and there are times and seasons when a good man ought to pray for that blessing. When the Judge of all threatens to punish tyrannical cruelty and false hearted treachery, virtue gives her assent and consent. Amen, so let it be, saith every just man in his inmost soul. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 5. Evil for good. This is devil like. Have not men been guilty of this to parents, to those who have warned them, to saints and ministers, and especially to the Lord himself? Ver. 5. How has the Redeemer been recompensed? Show what he deserves and what he receives from various individuals. He feels the unkindness of those who are ungrateful. Psalms 109:6* . Ver. 6. Set thou a wicked man over him. What worse punishment could a man have? The proud man cannot endure the proud, nor the oppressor brook the rule of another like himself. The righteous in their patience find the rule of the wicked a sore bondage; but those who are full of resentful passions, and haughty aspirations, are slaves indeed when men of their own class have the whip hand of them. For Herod to be ruled by another Herod would be wretchedness enough, and yet what retribution could be more just? What unrighteous man can complain if he finds himself governed by one of like character? What can the wicked expect but that their rulers should be like themselves? Who does not admire the justice of God when he sees fierce Romans ruled by Tiberius and Nero, and Red Republicans governed by Marat and Robespierre? And let Satan stand at his right hand. Should not like come to like? Should not the father of lies stand near his children? Who is a better right hand friend for an adversary of the righteous than the great adversary himself? The curse is an awful one, but it is most natural that it should come to pass: those who serve Satan may expect to have his company, his assistance, his temptations, and at last his doom. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 6. Set thou a wicked man over him, etc. Here commences that terrible series of maledictions, unparalleled in Holy Writ, as directed against an individual sinner, albeit it is little more than a special reduplication of the national woes denounced in Leviticus 26:1-46 and Deuteronomy 28:1-68. —Neale and Littledale. Ver. 6. Set thou a wicked man over him. The first thing that the Psalmist asks is, that his foe might be subjected to the evil of having a man placed over him like himself: — a man regardless of justice, truth, and right; a man who would respect character and propriety no more than he had himself done. It is, in fact, a prayer that he might be punished in the line of his offences. It cannot be wrong that a man should be treated as he treats others; and it cannot be in itself wrong to desire that a man should be treated according to his character and deserts, for this is the object of all law, and this is what all magistrates and legislators are endeavouring to secure. —Albert Barnes. Ver. 6. Over HIM. Consider what would have been the effect if these denunciations had been made against the sins of men and not, as they are in these passages, against the sinners. Men would have said, "My sin is denounced, not me." What a license would have been given to sin! The depraved nature would have said, "if I am not condemned, but only my sin, I can do as I like; I shall not be called to account for it. I love sin and can go on in it." This is what men would have said. There would have been no effort to get rid of it. Why should there be; if only sin is condemned and not the sinner? But man's sin is identified with himself, and this makes him tremble. God's wrath rests on him because of his sin. Condemnation is awaiting him because of his sin. This makes him anxious to get rid of it. —Frederick Whitfield. Ver. 6. Let Satan stand at his right hand. It appears to have been the custom at trials before the Jewish tribunals for a pleader to stand at the right hand of the accused: See Zechariah 3:1, where are described Joshua the High Priest, standing before the Angel of Jehovah, and the adversary (Njs, Satan, as here) standing at his right hand to oppose him. See also Psalms 109:31. —John Le Clerc, 1657-1736. Ver. 6. Let Satan stand at his right hand. Hugo observes that the Devil is on the left hand of those whom he persecutes in temporal things: on the right of those whom he rules in spiritual things: before the face of those who are on their guard against his wiles: behind those who are not foreseeing and prudent: above those whom he treads down: below, and beneath the feet of those who tread him down. A recent Spanish author, (Peter Vega. On the Penitential Psalms.) writing in that language, thinks that there cannot be anything worse than that man who diligently and of set purpose injures others by speaking deceitfully, by surrounding with speeches of hatred, by attacking without cause, by slandering, by returning evil for good, and hatred for love: therefore, in this place it is desired that a wicked man may be set over such a one, and the devil at his right hand; as if he should be doomed to take the lowest place because he is the worst. —Lorinus. Ver. 6. At his right hand. The strength or force of the body shows itself principally in the right hand. Therefore, he who wishes to obstruct another, and to hinder his endeavour, stands at his right hand; and thus easily parries his stroke or attempt. This I consider to be the most simple meaning of this passage which shows that God represses and restrains the raging of the enemies of the Church, who withstand each other by their opposing efforts, either from envy or from other causes. Thus, 2 Samuel 17:1-29, the counsels of Ahithophel are broken by Hushai; and in our day we see that the counsels and attempts of our enemies have been frequently and wonderfully restrained by the hindrances they have give one to the other: in which matter the goodness of God is to be discerned. —Mollerus. Ver. 6. He begins to prophesy what they should receive for their great impiety, detailing their lot in such a manner as if he wished its realization from a desire of revenge: while he declareth what was to happen with the most absolute certainty, and what of God's justice would worthily come upon such. Some not understanding this mode of predicting the future under the appearance of wishing evil, suppose hatred to be returned for hatred, and an evil will for an evil will: since in truth it belongeth to few to distinguish in what way the punishment of the wicked pleaseth the accuser, who longeth to satiate his enmity; and in how widely different a way it pleaseth the judge, who with a righteous mind punishes sins. For the former returneth evil for evil, but the judge when he punishes does not return evil for evil, since he returneth justice to the unjust; and what is just is surely good. He therefore punishes not from delight in another's misery, which is evil for evil, but from love of justice, which is good for evil. Let not then the blind pervert the light of the Scriptures imagining that God doth not punish sins: nor let the wicked flatter themselves, as if he rendered evil for evil. Let us therefore hear the sequel of this divine composition; and in the words of one who seemeth to wish ill, let us recognise the predictions of a prophet; and let us see God making a just retribution, raising our mind up to his eternal laws. —Augustine. Ver. 6-19. These terrible curses are repeated with many words and sentences, that we may know that David has not let these words fall rashly or from any precipitate impulse of mind; but, the Holy Spirit having dictated, he employs this form of execration that it may be a perpetual prophecy or prediction of the bitter pains and destruction of the enemies of the Church of God. Nor does David imprecate these punishments so much on his own enemies and Judas the betrayer of Christ; but that similar punishments await all who fight against the kingdom of Christ. —Mollerus. Ver. 6-20. I had also this consideration, that if I should now venture all for God, I engaged God to take care of my concerns; but if I forsook him and his ways for fear of any trouble that should come to me or mine, then I should not only falsify my profession, but should count also that my concerns were not so sure, if left at God's feet, while I stood to and for his name, as they would be if they were under my own tuition (or care) though with the denial of the way of God. This was a smarting consideration, and was as spurs unto my flesh. This Scripture (Psalms 109:6-20.) also greatly helped it to fasten the more upon me, where Christ prays against Judas, that God would disappoint him in all his selfish thoughts, which moved him to sell his master: pray read it soberly. I had also another consideration, and that was, the dread of the torments of hell, which I was sure they must partake of, that for fear of the cross to shrink from their profession of Christ, his words, and laws, before the sons of men. I thought also of the glory that he had prepared for those that, in faith, and love, and patience, stood to his ways before them. These things, I say, have helped me, when the thoughts of the misery that both myself and mine might for the sake of my profession be exposed to hath lain pinching on my mind. —John Bunyan. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 6. It is the law of retribution to punish the wicked by means of the wicked. —Starke. Psalms 109:7* . Ver. 7. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned. He judged and condemned others in the vilest manner, he suffered not the innocent to escape; and it would be a great shame if in his time of trial, being really guilty, he should be allowed to go free. Who would wish Judge Jeffries to be acquitted if he were tried for perverting justice? Who would desire Nero or Caligula to be cleared if set at the bar for cruelty? When Shylock goes into court, who wishes him to win his suit? And let his prayer become sin. It is sin already, let it be so treated. To the injured it must seem terrible that the black hearted villain should nevertheless pretend to pray, and very naturally do they beg that he may not be heard, but that his pleadings may be regarded as an addition to his guilt. He has devoured the widow's house, and yet he prays. He has put Naboth to death by false accusation and taken possession of his vineyard, and then he presents prayers to the Almighty. He has given up villages to slaughter, and his hands are red with the blood of babes and maidens, and then he pays his vows unto Allah! This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/spurgeon/ Psalms 110:1. The LORD said unto my Lord.Or Jehovah said unto my Adonai.Psalms 110:1-2. Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.This is the Messiah, this is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. Where are his subjects?Psalms 110:3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.A willing people shall make up the forces of this great King, and upon them the freshness of the morning shall rest.Psalms 110:4. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.King and priest. None other of the house of David save our Lord Jesus Christ could claim the union of these two offices. In Christ we have a King and a priest, as also with Melchisedec of old, a great type of Jesus.Psalms 110:5-7. The Lord at thy right hand, shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.This conqueror shall be refreshed in his journey; therefore, shall he lift up the head. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 110:1-7; Hebrews 7:1-14. Psalms 111:1. Praise ye the LORD.Or, “Hallelujah,” “Praise be unto Jehovah.” “Praise ye the Lord.” I invite all Christians to give good heed to this injunction; whether others praise him, or not, “Praise ye the Lord.” Do it now: do it always, do it heartily, do it instead of what you sometimes do, namely, doubt him, murmur at him, rebel against him: “Praise ye the Lord.” Ye who are beginning the Christian life, praise him for your regeneration. Ye who have long continued in it, praise him for sustaining you. Ye who are the most ripe for heaven, begin now the praises that will never, never end.Psalms 111:1. I will praise the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.It is always well when a preacher practises what he preaches. David does that here: “Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord.” One of the best ways of enforcing an exhortation is to practically obey it: “Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord.” But when a man becomes an example to others, he should be very careful to set a good example. Hence, the psalmist not only says that he will praise the Lord, but that he will do it heartily, yea, with his whole heart. Such a God as Jehovah is, is worthy of all the praise we can give him. We ought to praise him with all our thought, with all our skill, with all our love, with all our zeal, with all our heart, with our whole heart.David tells us that he would render this praise both amongst the choice and select company of God’s people, “in the assembly of the upright,” and also in the larger congregation, where a more mixed multitude would be found. Brethren, praise, is never out of place, and never out of season. If you are with a little company of two or three choice Christian friends, praise the Lord in their midst. Tell them your experience, and bless the name of the Lord for his grace and mercy; but if you should be in a larger assembly, where the characters of some may be doubtful, be not abashed, but still continue to praise the Lord.Psalms 111:2. The work of the LORD are great, —They are great in number, in size, in purpose, and in effect. Even when God makes a little thing, it is great because of the wisdom displayed in making it. The microscope has taught us the greatness of God in creating tiny creatures of wondrous beauty, yet so small as not to be perceptible to the naked eye: “The works of the Lord are great,”Psalms 111:2. Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.If we take pleasure in a man, we also take pleasure in his works, we like to see what he has made; and, in like manner, the saints of God take pleasure in his works. They revel in the beauties of creation; they delight to study his wisdom in providence, but, best of all, they are most charmed with the wonders of divine grace. These works are so marvellous that a mere surface glance at them is not sufficient; you need to search them out, to dig deep in the mines of God’s wisdom as seen in his works, to try to find out the secret motive of his everlasting purposes; and, the more you study them, the more they will grow. Some things impress you at first with greater significance than they do afterwards, but the works of God are so great that, if you look at them throughout your whole lifetime, they will continue to grow greater still.Psalms 111:3. His work —I suppose the psalmist means God’s chief work, his grand work of grace: “His work” —Psalms 111:3. Is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever. The work of God is full of grace, and it is full of honour and glory to his blessed name; and every single portion of the work of grace is full of that which resounds to the honour and glory of the Triune Jehovah. I hope, dear friends, that you delight to study the whole plan of saving mercy, from its initiation in the eternal purpose to its culmination in the gathering together of all the people of God. If you do, you will see that all through it “is honourable and glorious: and his righteousness endureth for ever.” As it endured Calvary, it may well endure for ever. Though the Lord Jesus Christ purposed so to save his people, he would not do it by sacrificing his righteousness. He fulfilled righteousness to the utmost, by his perfect life, and by his suffering even unto death, and, now, we are quite sure that no further strain will ever be put upon that divine attribute. “His righteousness endureth for ever.”Psalms 111:4. He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered:Do not be forgetful of God’s wonderful works. They are made on purpose to be remembered; so, treasure them up, for they are worthy of being held in everlasting remembrance.Psalms 111:4. The LORD is gracious and full of compassion.This is what his people always find to be true whenever they read the history of his works. The thought that strikes them is, “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.” If any of you long to be at peace with God, however far you may have wandered from him, he is ready to receive you if you will but return to him, for he “is gracious and full of compassion” — not merely tender-hearted, but full of graciousness. He abounds with thoughts of love towards his people; come, and try him for yourselves.Psalms 111:5. He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.The needs of all his people are always supplied by him. He finds food both for body and soul, and you may rest assured that every promise of his covenant will be faithfully kept. You may forget it, but he will not: “he will ever be mindful of his covenant,” and mindful of you because of that covenant, mindful of your heavy cares, mindful of your bitter griefs, mindful of your weakness and infirmity, because you are in his covenant, and he is mindful of it.Psalms 111:6. He hath shewed his people the power of his works, He showed the Israelites what he could do, what force he could throw into what he did, and he has shown to us, Christians, the same thing in another way, by the power of his gracious Spirit, blessing the preaching of his Word to the conversion of sinners, and maintaining the great fight against the dread powers of darkness: “He hath shewed his people the power of his works.”Psalms 111:6. That he may give them the heritage of the heathen.He gave to Israel the land of Canaan, where the heathen dwelt; and he will give to Christ, when he asks for them, the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. Let us pray God to prove the power of his works in the subduing of the nations unto Christ.Psalms 111:7. The works of his hands are verity and judgment;He never acts contrary to truth and righteousness. Even when he puts on his most terrible look, and smites his enemies in his wrath, still, “the works of his hands are verity and judgment;”Psalms 111:7-8. All his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.Whatever God commands, determines, purposes, you may rest assured that it will be accomplished; but his purposes are always accomplished, not by caprice, but by “truth and uprightness.” God is a Sovereign, doing as he wills; but he never wills to do anything that is inconsistent with justice, truth, and uprightness.Psalms 111:9. He sent redemption unto his people:He brought them up out of Egypt with a high hand and a stretched out arm, and he has sent redemption to us, first, by price, when he redeemed us from our guilt upon the tree; and then by power, when the Holy Spirit came and broke our bands asunder, and set us free from the dominion of our sins.Psalms 111:9. He hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.His whole character commands our reverence because it is superlatively holy, and his name is to us a word of awe never to be mentioned flippantly, and never to be quoted without earnest thought and prostration of heart before him. I fear that there are some professors who use the name of God far too freely. They do not recollect that “holy and reverend is his name.” I can hardly think that any man can be “reverend.” There are some who choose to be called by that title; I suppose they mean something less than the word means here: “Holy and reverend is his name,” not mine, certainly.Psalms 111:10. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:It is the A B C of true wisdom. He who has learned to fear God has learned the first part of wisdom. According to some, the word “beginning” here means the chief, the head, the front, just as, often, in Scripture, “beginning” signifies that. “The fear of the Lord” is the chief part of “wisdom,” the essence of it.Psalms 111:10. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments:Practical goodness is the proof of a good understanding. A man may have an orthodox head, and yet not have a good understanding. A man may be able to talk very glibly about the commandments of God, and even to preach about them with considerable power; but it is the doing of them that is the main point.Psalms 111:10. His praise endureth for ever. TITLE AND SUBJECT. There is no title to this psalm, but it is evidently a companion to the hundred and eleventh, and, like it, it is an alphabetical psalm. Even in the number of verses, and clauses of each verse, it coincides with its predecessor, as also in many of its words and phrases. The reader should carefully compare the two psalms line by line. The subject of the poem before us is—the blessedness of the righteous man, and so it bears the same relation to the preceding which the moon does to the sun; for, while the first declares the glory of God, the second speaks of the reflection of the divine brightness in men born from above. God is here praised for the manifestation of his glory which is seen in his people, just as in the preceding psalm he was magnified for his own personal acts. The hundred and eleventh speaks of the great Father, and this describes his children renewed after his image. The psalm cannot be viewed as the extolling of man, for it commences with "Praise ye the Lord; "and it is intended to give to God all the honour of his grace which is manifested in the sons of God. . The subject is stated in the first verse, and enlarged upon under several heads from 2 to 9. The blessedness of the righteousness is set forth by contrast with the fate of the ungodly in verse 10. . Ver. 1. Praise ye the LORD. This exhortation is never given too often; the Lord always deserves praise, we ought always to render it, we are frequently forgetful of it, and it is always well to be stirred up to it. The exhortation is addressed to all thoughtful persons who observe the way and manner of life of men that fear the Lord. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, the Lord should have all the glory of it, for we are his workmanship. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. According to the last verse of Psa 111:1-10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; this man, therefore, has begun to be wise, and wisdom has brought him present happiness, and secured him eternal felicity. Jehovah is so great that he is to be feared and had in reverence of all them that are round about him, and he is at the same time so infinitely good that the fear is sweetened into filial love, and becomes a delightful emotion, by no means engendering bondage. There is a slavish fear which is accursed; but that godly fear which leads to delight in the service of God is infinitely blessed. Jehovah is to be praised both for inspiring men with godly fear and for the blessedness which they enjoy in consequence thereof. We ought to bless God for blessing any man, and especially for setting the seal of his approbation upon the godly. His favour towards the God fearing displays his character and encourages gracious feelings in others, therefore let him be praised. That delighteth greatly in his commandments. The man not only studies the divine precepts and endeavours to observe them, but rejoices to do so: holiness is his happiness, devotion is his delight, truth is his treasure. He rejoices in the precepts of godliness, yea, and delights greatly in them. We have known hypocrites rejoice in the doctrines, but never in the commandments. Ungodly men may in some measure obey the commandments out of fear, but only a gracious man will observe them with delight. Cheerful obedience is the only acceptable obedience; he who obeys reluctantly is disobedient at heart, but he who takes pleasure in the command is truly loyal. If through divine grace we find ourselves described in these two sentences, let us give all the praise to God, for he hath wrought all our works in us, and the dispositions out of which they spring. Let self righteous men praise themselves, but he who has been made righteous by grace renders all the praise to the Lord. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. The hundred and eleventh and the hundred and twelfth psalms, two very short poems, dating apparently from the latest age of inspired psalmody, present such features of resemblance as to leave no doubt that they came from the same pen. In structure they are identical; and this superficial resemblance is designed to call attention to something deeper and more important. The subject of the one is the exact counterpart of the subject of the other. The first celebrates the character and works of God; the second, the character and felicity of the godly man. —William Binnie. Whole Psalm. Here are rehearsed the blessings which God is wont to bestow on the godly. And as in the previous Psalm the praises of God were directly celebrated, so in this Psalm they are indirectly declared by those gifts which are conspicuous in those who fear him. —Solomon Gesner. Whole Psalm. This psalm is a banquet of heavenly wisdom; and as Basil speaketh of another part of Scripture, likening it to an apothecary's shop; so may this book of the psalms fitly be compared; in which are so many sundry sorts of medicines, that every man may have that which is convenient for his disease. —T. S., 1621. Whole Psalm. The righteousness of the Mediator, I make no doubt, is celebrated in this psalm; for surely that alone is worthy to be extolled in songs of praise: especially since we are taught by the Holy Ghost to say, "I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only." I conclude, therefore, that in this alphabetical psalm, for such is its construction, Christ is "the Alpha and the Omega." —John Fry. Ver. 1. This psalm is a praising of God for blessing the believer, and the whole Psalm doth prove that the believer is blessed: which proposition is set down in verse 1, and confirmed with as many reasons as there are verses following. Whence learn, 1. Albeit, in singing of certain psalms, or parts thereof, there be nothing directly spoken of the Lord, or to the Lord, yet he is praised when his truth is our song, or when his works and doctrine are our song; as here it is said, Praise ye the Lord, and then in the following verses the blessedness of the believer taketh up all the psalm. 2. It is the Lord's praise that his servants are the only blessed people in the world. Praise ye the Lord. Why? because Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. 3. He is not the blessed man who is most observant to catch opportunities to have pleasure, profit, and worldly preferment, and careth not how he cometh by them: but he is the blessed man who is most observant of God's will, and careful to follow it. —David Dickson. Ver. 1. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. It is not said simply, "Blessed is the man who fears": for there is a fear which of itself produces misery and wretchedness rather than happiness. It has to do, therefore, chiefly with what is feared. To fear when it is not becoming, and not to fear when fear is proper, these are not blessedness for a man, but misery and wretchedness. The prophet, therefore, says rightly, "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord":and in the 7th and 8th verses he says of this blessed one that he shall not be afraid of evil tidings. Therefore, he who fears God and, according to the exhortation of Christ, does not fear those who can kill the body, he truly may be numbered among the blessed. —Wolfgang Musculus. Ver. 1. Feareth the Lord. Filial fear is here intended. Whereby we are both restrained from evil, Proverbs 3:7; and incited unto well doing, Ecclesiastes 12:13; and whereof God alone is the author, Jeremiah 32:39-40; A duty required of every one, Psalms 33:8; Early, 1 Kings 18:12; Only, Lu 12:5; Continually, Proverbs 23:17; With confidence, Psalms 115:11; With joyfulness, Psalms 119:74; With thankfulness, Revelation 19:5. —Thomas Wilson, in "A Complete Christian Dictionary, "1661. Ver. 1. That delighteth greatly in his commandments. The Hebrew word Upx, chaphets, is rather emphatic, which is, as it were, to take his pleasure, and I have rendered it to delight himself. For the prophet makes a distinction between a willing and prompt endeavour to keep the law, and that which consists in mere servile and constrained obedience. —John Calvin. Ver. 1. That delighteth greatly in his commandments — defining what constitutes the true "fear of the Lord, "which was termed "the beginning of wisdom, "Psalms 111:10. He who hath this true "fear" delights (Psalms 111:2) not merely in the theory, but in the practice of all "the Lord's commandments." Such fear, so far from being a "hard" service, is the only "blessed" one (Jeremiah 32:39). Compare the Gospel commandments, 1 John 3:23-24 Psalms 112:3. True obedience is not task work, as formalists regard religion, but a "delight" (Psalms 1:2). Worldly delights, which made piety irksome, are supplanted by the newborn delight in and taste for the will and ways of God (Psalms 19:7-10). —A. R. Fausset. Ver. 1. In his commandments. When we cheerfully practice all that the Lord requireth of us, love sweetens all things, and it becomes our meat and drink to do his will. The thing commanded is excellent, but it is sweeter because commanded by him — "his commandments." A man is never thoroughly converted till he delighteth in God and his service, and his heart is overpowered by the sweetness of divine love. A slavish kind of religiousness, when we had rather not do than do our work, is no fruit of grace, and cannot evidence a sincere love. —Thomas Manton. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 1. "Praise ye the LORD." 1. Who should be praised? Not man, self, wealth, etc., but God only. 2. Who should praise him? All men, but specially his people, the blessed ones described in this psalm. 3. Why should they do it? For all the reasons mentioned in succeeding verses. 4. How should they do it? Chiefly by leading such a life as is here described. Ver. 1 (second clause). 1. Fear of the Lord; what it is. 2. Its connection with the delight mentioned. 3. The qualities in the commandments which excite delight in God fearing minds. Psalms 112:2* . Ver. 2. His seed shall be mighty upon earth, that is to say, successive generations of God fearing men shall be strong and influential in society, and in the latter days they shall have dominion. The true seed of the righteous are those who follow them in their virtues, even as believers are the seed of Abraham, because they imitate his faith; and these are the real heroes of their era, the truly great men among the sons of Adam; their lives are sublime, and their power upon their age is far greater than at first sight appears. If the promise must be regarded as alluding to natural seed, it must be understood as a general statement rather than a promise made to every individual, for the children of the godly are not all prosperous, nor all famous. Nevertheless, he who fears God, and leads a holy life, is, as a rule, doing the best he can for the future advancement of his house; no inheritance is equal to that of an unblemished name, no legacy can excel the benediction of a saint; and, taking matters for all in all, the children of the righteous man commence life with greater advantages than others, and are more likely to succeed in it, in the best and highest sense. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. The race of sincere, devout, righteous men, is kept up from age to age, and ever abides under the blessing of God. The godly may be persecuted, but they shall not be forsaken; the curses of men cannot deprive them of the blessing of God, for the words of Balaam are true, "He hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it." Their children also are under the special care of heaven, and as a rule it shall be found that they inherit the divine blessing. Honesty and integrity are better cornerstones for an honourable house than mere cunning and avarice, or even talent and push. To fear God and to walk uprightly is a higher nobility than blood or birth can bestow. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. His seed. If any one should desire to leave behind him a flourishing posterity, let him not think to accomplish it by accumulating heaps of gold and silver, and leaving them behind him; but by rightly recognising God and serving Him; and commending his children to the guardianship and protection of God. —Mollerus. Ver. 2. The generation of the upright — the family; the children —shall be blessed. Such promises are expected to be fulfilled in general;it is not required by any proper rules of interpreting language that this should be universally and always true. —Albert Barnes. Ver. 2. The generation of the upright shall be blessed. Albeit, few do believe it, yet is it true, that upright dealing hath better fruits than witty projecting and cunning catching. —David Dickson. Ver. 2-3. It is probable that Lot thought of enriching his family when he chose the fertile plains of wicked Sodom, yet the event was very different; but Abraham "feared the Lord, and delighted greatly in his commandments, "and his descendants were "mighty upon earth." And thus it will generally be, in every age, with the posterity of those who imitate the father of the faithful; and their disinterested and liberal conduct shall prove, in the event, a far preferable inheritance laid up for their children, than gold and silver, houses and lands, would have been. —Thomas Scott. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 2. The real might of the holy seed and their true blessedness. Psalms 112:3* . Ver. 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his house. Understood literally this is rather a promise of the old covenant than of the new, for many of the best of the people of God are very poor; yet it has been found true that uprightness is the road to success, and, all other things being equal, the honest man is the rising man. Many are kept poor through knavery and profligacy; but godliness hath the promise of the life that now is. If we understand the passage spiritually it is abundantly true. What wealth can equal that of the love of God? What riches can rival a contented heart? It matters nothing that the roof is thatched, and the floor is of cold stone: the heart which is cheered with the favour of heaven is "rich to all the intents of bliss." And his righteousness endureth for ever. Often when gold comes in the gospel goes out; but it is not so with the blessed man. Prosperity does not destroy the holiness of his life, or the humility of his heart. His character stands the test of examination, overcomes the temptations of wealth, survives the assaults of slander, outlives the afflictions of time, and endures the trial of the last great day. The righteousness of a true saint endureth for ever, because it springs from the same root as the righteousness of God, and is, indeed, the reflection of it. So long as the Lord abideth righteous he will maintain by his grace the righteousness of his people. They shall hold on their way, and wax stronger and stronger. There is also another righteousness which belongs to the Lord's chosen, which is sure to endure for ever, namely, the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus, which is called "everlasting righteousness, "belonging as it does to the Son of God himself, who is "the Lord our righteousness." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. Wealth and riches shall be in his house, and his righteousness endureth for ever. He is not the worse for his wealth, nor drawn aside by the deceitfulness of riches, which yet is hard and happy. —John Trapp. Ver. 3. In the lower sense, we may read these words literally of abundant wealth bestowed on the righteous by God, and used, not for pride and luxury, but for continual works of mercy, whence it is said of the person so enriched, that his righteousness endureth for ever. But the higher meaning bids us see here those true spiritual riches which are stored up for the poor in spirit, often most needy in the prosperity of the world; and we may come at the truest sense by comparing the words wherein the great apostle describes his own condition, "As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." 2 Corinthians 6:10. For who can be richer than he who is heir of God and joint heir with Jesus Christ? —Agellius, Chrysostom, and Didymus, in Neale and Littledale. Ver. 3. His righteousness endureth for ever. It seems a bold thing to say this of anything human, and yet it is true; for all human righteousness has its root in the righteousness of God. It is not merely man striving to copy God. It is God's gift and God's work. There is a living connexion between the righteousness of God and the righteousness of man, and therefore the imperishableness of the one appertains to the other also. Hence the same thing is affirmed here of the human righteousness which in Psalms 111:3 is affirmed of the Divine. —J. J. S. Perowne. Ver. 3. His righteousness endureth for ever. We are justified before God by faith only: Romans 3:4 : but they are righteous before men, who live honestly, piously, humbly, as the law of God requires. Concerning this righteousness the Psalmist says that it endureth for ever, while the feigned and simulated uprightness of hypocrites is abominable before God, and with men speedily passes away. —Solomon Gesner. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 3. The riches of a Christian: content, peace, security, power in prayer, promises, providence, yea, God himself. Ver. 3. The enduring character of true righteousness. 1. Based on eternal principles. 2. Growing out of an incorruptible seed. 3. Sustained by a faithful God. 4. United to the ever living Christ. Ver. 3. Connection of the two clauses— How to be wealthy and righteous. Note the following verses, and show how liberality is needful if rich men would be righteous men. Psalms 112:4* . Ver. 4. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. He does not lean to injustice in order to ease himself, but like a pillar stands erect, and he shall be found so standing when the ungodly, who are as a bowing wall and a tottering fence, shall lie in ruins. He will have his days of darkness, he may be sick and sorry, poor and pining, as well as others; his former riches may take to themselves wings and fly away, while even his righteousness may be cruelly suspected; thus the clouds may lower around him, but his gloom shall not last for ever, the Lord will bring him light in due season, for as surely as a good man's sun goes down it shall rise again. If the darkness be caused by depression of spirit, the Holy Ghost will comfort him; if by pecuniary loss or personal bereavement, the presence of Christ shall be his solace; and if by the cruelty and malignity of men, the sympathy of his Lord shall be his support. It is as ordinary for the righteous to be comforted as for the day to dawn. Wait for the light and it will surely come; for even if our heavenly Father should in our last hours put us to bed in the dark, we shall find it morning when we awake. He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. This is spoken of God in the fourth verse of the hundred and eleventh Psalm, and now the same words are used of his servant: thus we are taught that when God makes a man upright, he makes him like himself. We are at best but humble copies of the great original; still we are copies, and because we are so we praise the Lord, who hath created us anew in Christ Jesus. The upright man is "gracious, "that is, full of kindness to all around him; he is not sour and churlish, but he is courteous to friends, kind to the needy, forgiving to the erring, and earnest for the good of all. He is also "full of compassion"; that is to say, he tenderly feels for others, pities them, and as far as he can assists them in their time of trouble. He does not need to be driven to benevolence, he is brimful of humanity; it is his joy to sympathize with the sorrowing. He is also said to be "righteous": in all his transactions with his fellow men he obeys the dictates of right, and none can say that he goes beyond or defrauds his neighbour. His justice is, however, tempered with compassion, and seasoned with graciousness. Such men are to be found in our churches, and they are by no means so rare as the censorious imagine; but at the same time they are far scarcer than the breadth of profession might lead us to hope. Lord, make us all to possess these admirable qualities. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 4. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. The arising of light out of darkness, although one of the most common, is one of the most beautiful, as it is one of the most beneficent natural phenomena. The sunrise is a daily victory of light over darkness. Every morning the darkness flees away. Heavy sleepers in the city are not apt to be very well acquainted with the rising sun. They know the tender beauties of the dawning, and the glories of sunrise by poetical description, or by the word of others. The light has fully come, and the day has long begun its work, especially if it be summer time, before ordinary citizens are awake; and, unless on some rare occasions, the millions of men who, every day, see more or less the fading of the light into the dark, never see the rising of the light out of the dark again; and, perhaps, seldom or never think with what thankfulness and joy it is hailed by those who need it— by the sailor, tempest tossed all night, and driven too near the sandbank or the shore; by the benighted traveller lost in the wood, or in the wild, who knows not south from north until the sun shall rise; by the night watcher in the sick room, who hears, and weeps to hear, through the weary night, the moaning of that old refrain of sorrow, "Would God it were morning!" What intensity of sorrow, fear, hope, there may be in that expression, "more than they that watch for the morning; I say, more than they that watch for the morning"! Now I make no doubt that there is at least somewhat of that more intense meaning carried up into the higher region of spiritual experience, and expressed by the text, "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." ...Sincerity: an honest desire to know the truth: readiness to make any sacrifice in order to the knowledge: obedience to the truth so far as it is known already— these will bring the light when nothing else will bring it. —Alexander Raleigh, in "The Little Sanctuary and other Meditations, " 1872. Ver. 4. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness. The great lesson taught by this simile is the connection which obtains between integrity of purpose and clearness of perception, insomuch that a duteous conformity to what is right, is generally followed up by a ready and luminous discernment of what is true. It tells us that if we have but grace to do as we ought, we shall be made to see as we ought. It is a lesson repeatedly affirmed in Scripture, and that in various places both of the Old and New Testament: "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day"; "The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them"; "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart"; or still more specifically, "To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God." —Thomas Chalmers, 1780-1847. Ver. 4. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: that is, comfort in affliction. He hath comforted others in affliction, and been light to them in their darkness, as is showed in the latter end of the fourth verse, and in the fifth, and therefore by way of gracious retaliation, the Lord will comfort him in his affliction, and command the light to rise upon him in his darkness. —Joseph Caryl. Ver. 4. Light. Darkness. While we are on earth, we are subject to a threefold "darkness"; the darkness of error, the darkness of sorrow, and the darkness of death. To dispel these, God visiteth us, by his Word, with a threefold "light"; the light of truth, the light of comfort, and the light of life. —George Horne. Ver. 4. Gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous — attributes usually applied to God, but here said of "the upright." The children of God, knowing in their own experience that God our Father is "gracious, full of compassion, and righteous, "seek themselves to be the same towards their fellow- men from instinctive imitation of him (Matthew 5:45; Matthew 5:48; Ephesians 5:8; Lu 6:36). —A. R. Fausset. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 4 (whole verse). 1. The upright have their dark times. 2. They shall receive comfort. 3. Their own character will secure this. Ver. 4 (first clause). 1. The character of the righteous: "upright, " "gracious, "etc. 2. His privilege. (a) Light as well as darkness. (b) More light than darkness. (c) Light in darkness: inward light in the midst of surrounding darkness. Light seen above, when all is dark below. Even darkness itself becomes the harbinger of day. — G. R. Ver. 4 (last clause). A Trinity of excellencies found in true Christians, in Christ, and in God: their union forms a perfect character when they are well balanced. Show how they are exemplified in daily life. Psalms 112:5* . Ver. 5. A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth. Having passed beyond stern integrity into open handed benevolence he looks kindly upon all around him, and finding himself in circumstances which enable him to spare a little of his wealth he lends judiciously where a loan will be of permanent service. Providence has made him able to lend, and grace makes him willing to lend. He is not a borrower, for God has lifted him above that necessity; neither is he a hoarder, for his new nature saves him from that temptation; but he wisely uses the talents committed to him. He will guide his affairs with discretion. Those who neglect their worldly business must not plead religion as an excuse, for when a man is truly upright he exercises great care in managing his accounts, in order that he may remain so. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between indiscretion and dishonesty; carelessness in business may become almost as great an evil to others as actual knavery; a good man should not only be upright, but he should be so discreet that no one may have the slightest reason to suspect him of being otherwise. When the righteous man lends he exercises prudence, not risking his all, for fear he should not be able to lend again, and not lending so very little that the loan is of no service. He drives his affairs, and does not allow them to drive him; his accounts are straight and clear, his plans are wisely laid, and his modes of operation carefully selected. He is prudent, thrifty, economical, sensible, judicious, discreet. Men call him a fool for his religion, but they do not find him so when they come to deal with him. "The beginning of wisdom" has made him wise, the guidance of heaven has taught him to guide his affairs, and with half an eye one can see that he is a man of sound sense. Such persons greatly commend godliness. Alas, some professedly good men act as if they had taken leave of their senses; this is not religion, but stupidity. True religion is sanctified common sense. Attention to the things of heaven does not necessitate the neglect of the affairs of earth; on the contrary, he who has learned how to transact business with God ought to be best able to do business with men. The children of this world often are in their generation wiser than the children of light, but there is no reason why this proverb should continue to be true. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 5. A good man sheweth favour, etc. Consider that power to do good is a dangerous ability, unless we use it. Remember that it is God who giveth wealth, and that he expects some answerable return of it. Live not in such an inhuman manner as if Nabal and Judas were come again into the world. Think frequently and warmly of the love of God and Jesus to you. You will not deny your crumbs to the miserable, when you thankfully call to mind that Christ gave for you his very flesh and blood. Consider as one great end of poverty is patience, so one great end of wealth is charity. Think how honourable it is to make a present to the great King of the world; and what a condescension it is in his all sufficiency to do that good by us, which he could so abundantly do without us. —Thomas Tenison, 1636-1715. Ver. 5. Lendeth. The original word here, hwl, lavah, means to join oneself to any one; to cleave to him; then to form the union which is constituted between debtor and creditor, borrower and lender. Here it is used in the latter sense, and it means that a good man will accommodate another— a neighbour— with money, or with articles to be used temporarily and returned again. A man who always borrows is not a desirable neighbour; but a man who never lends— who never is willing to accommodate— is a neighbour that no one would wish to live near— a crooked, perverse, bad man. True religion will always dispose a man to do acts of kindness in any and every way possible. —Albert Barnes. Ver. 5. Charity though it springs in the heart should be guided by the head, that it may spread itself abroad to the best advantage. He will guide his affairs with discretion, and no affairs are so properly the good man's own as the dispensation and stewardship of those blessings which God has entrusted him with, for "it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." —Michael Cox, 1748. Ver. 5. He will guide his affairs with discretion. Just as a steward, servant, or agent in any secular concern has to feel that his mind is his master's, as well as his hands, and that his attention, thought, tact, and talent, should be vigorously and faithfully given to the interests of his employer; so the Christian stewardship of money, demands on the part of God's servant, in respect to every form of its use and disposal, the exercise of reflection; a reference to conscience; the recollection of responsibility to God; attention to the appeals of humanity as addressed to the ear of justice and love. Everything is to be weighed as in the balance of the sanctuary; a decision formed; and then energy, skill, schemes, and plans wisely constructed, prudential limitations or beneficent liberality as may seem best. Spending, saving, giving, or lending, all being done so as best to meet what may be felt to be the Master's will, and what may best evince at once the wisdom and the fidelity of his servant. —Thomas Binney, in "Money: a Popular Exposition in Rough Notes, " 1865. Ver. 5. Discretion. There is a story, concerning divers ancient Fathers, that they came to St. Anthony, enquiring of him, what virtue did by a direct line lead to perfection, that so a man might shun the snares of Satan. He bade every one of them speak his opinion; one said, watching and sobriety; another said, fasting and discipline; a third said, humble prayer; a fourth said, poverty and obedience; and another, piety and works of mercy; but when every one had spoken his mind, his answer was, That all these were excellent graces indeed, but discretion was the chief of them all. And so beyond doubt it is; being the very Auriga virtutum, the guide of all virtuous and religious actions, the moderator and orderer of all the affections; for whatsoever is done with it is virtue, and what without it is vice. An ounce of discretion is said to be worth a pound of learning. As zeal without knowledge is blind, so knowledge without discretion is lame, like a sword in a madman's hand, able to do much, apt to do nothing. Tolle hanc et virtus vitium erit. He that will fast must fast with discretion, he must so mortify that he does not kill his flesh; he that gives alms to the poor, must do it with discretion, Omni petenti non omnia petenti — to every one that doth ask, but not everything that he doth ask; so likewise pray with discretion, observing place and time; place, lest he be reputed a hypocrite; time, lest he be accounted a heretic. Thus it is that discretion is to be made the guide of all religious performances. —Quoted by John Spencer, 1658. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 5. 1. A good man is benevolent, but a benevolent man is not always good. 2. A good man is prudent, but a prudent man is not always a good man. There must first be goodness and then its fruits. "Make the tree good, "etc. —G.R. Ver. 5. "Lending." 1. It is to be done. 2. It is to be done as a favour; borrowing is seeking alms. 3. It should be done very discreetly. Add to this a homily on borrowing and repaying. Psalms 112:6* . Ver. 6. Surely he shall not be moved for ever. God has rooted and established him so that neither men nor devils shall sweep him from his place. His prosperity shall be permanent, and not like that of the gambler and the cheat, whose gains are evanescent: his reputation shall be bright and lustrous from year to year, for it is not a mere pretence; his home shall be permanent, and he shall not need to wander from place to place as a bird that wanders from her nest; and even his memory shall be abiding, for a good man is not soon forgotten, and the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. They are of a most ancient family, and not mushrooms of an hour, and their grand old stock shall be found flourishing when all the proud houses of ungodly men shall have faded into nothing. The righteous are worth remembering, their actions are of the kind which record themselves, and God himself takes charge of their memorials. None of us likes the idea of being forgotten, and yet the only way to avoid it is to be righteous before God. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 6. What doth the text say? The righteous (that is the bountiful) shall be in everlasting remembrance. God remembers our good deeds, when he rewards them (as he does our prayers, when he hears them). If to remember, then, be to reward, an everlasting reward is our everlasting remembrance... Now in those who are to be partakers of mercy, the divine wisdom requires this congruity, that they be such as have been ready to show mercy to others. —Joseph Mede, 1586-1638. Ver. 6. The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. The stately and durable pyramids of Egypt have not transmitted to posterity even the names of those buried in them. And what has even embalming done, but tossed them about, and exposed them to all the world as spectacles to the curious, of meanness, or horror? But the piety of Abraham, of Jacob, of David and Samuel, of Hezekiah, Josiah and others, is celebrated to this very day. So when pyramids shall sink, and seas cease to roll, when sun and moon and stars shall be no more, "the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance." —John Dun, 1790. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 6. 1. In this life the Christian is, a. Steadfast; b. Calm; c. Unconquerable: and 2. When this life is over his memory is, a. Beloved; b. Influential; c. Perpetual. Ver. 6. 1. The character of the righteous is eternal: "surely, " etc. 2. His influence upon others is eternal: "shall be had, " etc. —G.R. Psalms 112:7* . Ver. 7. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. He shall have no dread that evil tidings will come, and he shall not be alarmed when they do come. Rumours and reports he despises; prophecies of evil, vented by fanatical mouths, he ridicules; actual and verified information of loss and distress he bears with equanimity, resigning everything into the hands of God. His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. He is neither fickle nor cowardly; when he is undecided as to his course he is still fixed in heart: he may change his plan, but not the purpose of his soul. His heart being fixed in solid reliance upon God, a change in his circumstances but slightly affects him; faith has made him firm and steadfast, and therefore if the worst should come to the worst, he would remain quiet and patient, waiting for the salvation of God. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 7. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. How can you affright him? Bring him word his estate is ruined; "yet my inheritance is safe, "says he. Your wife, or child, or dear friend is dead; "yet my Father lives." You yourself must die; "well, then, I go home to my Father, and to my inheritance." For the public troubles of the Church, doubtless it is both a most pious and generous temper, to be more deeply affected for these than for all our private ones; and to sympathise in the common calamities of any people, but especially of God's own people, hath been the character of men near unto him. Observe the pathetic strains of the prophet's bewailing, when he foretells the desolation even of foreign kingdoms, much more of the Lord's chosen people, still mindful of Sion, and mournful of her distresses. (Jeremiah 9:1, and the whole Book of Lamentations.) Yet even in this, with much compassion, there is a calm in a believer's mind; he finds amidst all hard news, yet still a fixed heart, trusting, satisfied in this, that deliverance shall come in due time, Psalms 102:13, and that in those judgments that are inflicted, man shall be humbled and God exalted, Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 2:15-16; and that in all tumults and changes, and subversion of states, still the throne of God is fixed, and with that the believer's heart likewise, Psalms 93:2. So Psalms 29:10. —Robert Leighton. Ver. 7. He shall not be afraid, etc. If a man would lead a happy life, let him but seek a sure object for his trust, and he shall be safe: He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. A man that puts his confidence in God, if he hears bad news of mischief coming towards him, as suppose a bad debt, a loss at sea, accidents by fire, tempests, or earthquakes, as Job had his messenger's of evil tidings, which came thick and threefold upon him, yet he is not afraid, for his heart is fixed on God: he hath laid up his confidence in God, therefore his heart is kept in an equal poise; he can say, as Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord, "Job 1:21. His comforts did not ebb and flow with the creature, but his heart was fixed, trusting in the Lord. —Thomas Manton. Ver. 7 (first clause). The good man will not be alarmed by any report of danger, whilst the dishonest man, conscious of his wickedness, is always in a state of fear. —George Phillips. Ver. 7. His heart is fixed, or prepared, ready, and in arms for all services; resolved not to give back, able to meet all adventures, and stand its ground. God is unchangeable; and therefore faith is invincible, for it sets the heart on him; fastens it there on the rock of eternity; then let winds blow and storms arise, it cares not. —Robert Leighton. Ver. 7. His heart is fixed — established fearlessly. So Moses, with the Red Sea before and the Egyptian foes behind (Exodus 14:13); Jehoshaphat before the Ammonite horde of invaders (2 Chronicles 20:12; 2 Chronicles 20:15; 2 Chronicles 20:17); Asa before Zerah, the Ethiopian's "thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots" (2 Chronicles 14:9-12). Contrast with the persecuted David's fearless trust, Saul's panic stricken feeling at the Philistine invasion, inasmuch as he repaired for help to a witch. How bold were the three youths in prospect of Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace! How fearless Stephen before the council! Basilius could say, in answer to the threats of Caesar Valens, "such bug bears should be set before children." Athanasius said of Julian, his persecutor, "He is a mist that will soon disappear." —A. R. Fausset. Ver. 7. Trusting in the Lord, I need not prove that a man can have no other sure comfort and support. For what can he confide in? His treasure? This may soon be exhausted, or it may awaken the avarice or ambition of a powerful enemy, as Hezekiah's did the king of Babylon, and so instead of being a defence, prove the occasion of his ruin. Can he confide in power? Alas, he knows that when this is grown too big to fall by any other hands, it generally falls by its own. Can he finally confide in worldly wisdom? Alas, a thousand unexpected accidents, and unobserved latent circumstances, cross and frustrate this, and render the Ahithophels not only unfortunate, but often contemptible too. —Richard Lucas, 1648-1715. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 7. 1. "He shall not be afraid, "etc.: peaceful. 2. "His heart is fixed": restful. 3. "Trusting in the Lord": trustful; the cause of the former. Ver. 7. 1. The waves: "evil tidings." 2. The steady ship: "he shall not be afraid." 3. The anchor: "his heart is fixed, trusting." 4. The anchorage: "in the Lord." Psalms 112:8* . Ver. 8. His heart is established. His love to God is deep and true, his confidence in God is firm and unmoved; his courage has a firm foundation, and is supported by Omnipotence. He has become settled by experience, and confirmed by years. He is not a rolling stone, but a pillar in the house of the Lord. He shall not be afraid. He is ready to face any adversary— a holy heart gives a brave face. Until he see his desire upon his enemies. All through the conflict, even till he seizes the victory, he is devoid of fear. When the battle wavers, and the result seems doubtful, he nevertheless believes in God, and is a stranger to dismay. Grace makes him desire his enemies' good: though nature leads him to wish to see justice done to his cause, he does not desire for those who injure him anything by way of private revenge. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 8. His heart is established. Happy surely, is the man whose heart is thus established. Others may be politic, he only is wise; others may be fortunate, he only is great; others may drink deeper draughts of sensual pleasure, he only can eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. He is an image of that great Being whom he trusts...and in the midst of storms, and thunders, and earthquakes sits himself serene and undisturbed, bidding the prostrate world adore the Lord of the universe. —George Gleig, 1803. Ver. 8. Until he see his desire upon his enemies. His faith will not fail, nor shrink, nor change, while one by one his enemies are brought to the knowledge of the truth and the love of Christ, and he shall see his heart's desire fulfilled upon them, even that they may be saved. —Plain Commentary. Ver. 8. Until he see his desire upon his enemies. Or, according to the original, Until he looks upon his oppressors; that is, till he behold them securely, and, as we say, confidently looks in their faces; as being now no longer under their power, but being freed from their tyranny and oppression. —Thomas Fenton. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 8. Heart establishment, the confidence which flows from it, the sight which shall be seen by him who possesses it. Ver. 8. 1. The security of the righteous: "his heart is established." 2. His tranquillity: "he shall not be afraid; "and, 3. His expectancy: "until, "etc. —G.R. Psalms 112:9* . Ver. 9. He hath dispersed, he hath given, to the poor. What he received, he distributed; and distributed to those who most needed it. He was God's reservoir, and forth from his abundance flowed streams of liberality to supply the needy. If this be one of the marks of a man who feareth the Lord, there are some who are strangely destitute of it. They are great at gathering, but very slow at dispersing; they enjoy the blessedness of receiving, but seldom taste the greater joy of giving. "It is more blessed to give than to receive" — perhaps they think that the blessing of receiving is enough for them. His righteousness endureth for ever. His liberality has salted his righteousness, proved its reality, and secured its perpetuity. This is the second time that we have this remarkable sentence applied to the godly man, and it must be understood as resulting from the enduring mercy of the Lord. The character of a righteous man is not spasmodic, he is not generous by fits and starts, nor upright in a few points only; his life is the result of principle, his actions flow from settled, sure, and fixed convictions, and therefore his integrity is maintained when others fail. He is not turned about by companions, nor affected by the customs of society; he is resolute, determined, and immovable. His horn shall be exalted with honour. God shall honour him, the universe of holy beings shall honour him, and even the wicked shall feel an unconscious reverence of him. Let it be observed, in summing up the qualities of the God fearing man, that he is described not merely as righteous, but as one bearing the character to which Paul refers in the memorable verse, "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die." Kindness, benevolence, and generosity, are essential to the perfect character; to be strictly just is not enough, for God is love, and we must love our neighbour as ourselves: to give every one his due is not sufficient, we must act upon those same principles of grace which reign in the heart of God. The promises of establishment and prosperity are not to churlish Nabals, nor to niggard Labans, but to bountiful souls who have proved their fitness to be stewards of the Lord by the right way in which they use their substance. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 9. When all the flashes of sensual pleasure are quite extinct, when all the flowers of secular glory are withered away; when all earthly treasures are buried in darkness; when this world, and all the fashion of it, are utterly vanished and gone, the bountiful man's state will be still firm and flourishing, and "his righteousness shall endure for ever." His horn shall be exalted with honour. A horn is an emblem of power; for it is the beast's strength, offensive and defensive: and of plenty, for it hath within it a capacity apt to contain what is put into it; and of sanctity, for in it was put the holy oil, with which kings were consecrated; and of dignity, both in consequence upon the reasons mentioned (as denoting might, and influence, and sacredness accompanying sovereign dignity) and because also it is an especial beauty and ornament to the creature which hath it; so that this expression, "his horn shall be exalted with honour, "may be supposed to import that an abundance of high, and holy, of firm and solid honour shall attend upon the bountiful person ... God will thus exalt the bountiful man's horn even here in this world, and to an infinitely higher pitch he will advance it in a future state. —Isaac Barrow, 1630-1677. Ver. 9. For ever. The Hebrew phrase in this text is not Mlwel, in seculum, which is sometimes used of a limited eternity, but del, in eternum, which seems more expressive of an endless duration, and is the very same phrase whereby the duration of God's righteousness is expressed in the foregoing psalm at the third verse. —William Berriman, 1688-1749. Ver. 9-10. These words are an enlargement of the character, begun at the first verse, of the blessed man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. The author closes that character with an amiable description of his charity, and so leaves on our minds a strong impression, that benevolence of heart when displayed in the benefaction of the hand is the surest mark and fairest accomplishment of a moral and religious mind; which, whether it rewards the worthy, or relieves the unworthy object, is the noblest imitation of the dealings of God with mankind. For he rewardeth the good if any can be called so but himself, (though the name good is but God spread out). He beareth even with the wicked and stretcheth out his hand to save even them. —Michael Cox. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 9. Benevolence: its exercise in alms giving, its preserving influence upon character, and the honour which it wins. Psalms 112:10* . Ver. 10. The tenth and last verse sets forth very forcibly the contrast between the righteous and the ungodly, thus making the blessedness of the godly appear all the more remarkable. Usually we see Ebal and Gerizim, the blessing and the curse, set the one over against the other, to invest both with the greater solemnity. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved. The ungodly shall first see the example of the saints to their own condemnation, and shall at last behold the happiness of the godly and to the increase of their eternal misery. The child of wrath shall be obliged to witness the blessedness of the righteous, though the sight shall make him gnaw his own heart. He shall fret and fume, lament and wax angry, but he shall not be able to prevent it, for God's blessing is sure and effectual. He shall gnash with his teeth. Being very wrathful, and exceedingly envious, he would fain grind the righteous between his teeth; but as he cannot do that, he grinds his teeth against each other. And melt away. The heat of his passion shall melt him like wax, and the sun of God's providence shall dissolve him like snow, and at the last the fire of divine vengeance shall consume him as the fat of rams. How horrible must that life be which like the snail melts as it proceeds, leaving a slimy trail behind. Those who are grieved at goodness deserve to be worn away by such an abominable sorrow. The desire of the wicked shall perish. He shall not achieve his purpose, he shall die a disappointed man. By wickedness he hoped to accomplish his purpose— that very wickedness shall be his defeat. While the righteous shall endure for ever, and their memory shall be always green; the ungodly man and his name shall rot from off the face of the earth. He desired to be the founder of a family, and to be remembered as some great one: he shall pass away and his name shall die with him. How wide is the gulf which separates the righteous from the wicked, and how different are the portions which the Lord deals out to them. O for grace to be blessed of the Lord! This will make us praise him with our whole heart. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 10. The wicked. The word evr, the wicked, is used emphatically, by the Jews, to denote him who neither gives to the poor himself, nor can endure to see other people give; while he who deserves but one part of this character is only said to have an evil eye in regard of other people's substance, or in regard of his own. —Mishna. Ver. 10. The wicked shall see it and be grieved, etc. The sight of Christ in glory with his saints, will, in an inexpressible manner torment the crucifiers of the one, and the persecutors of the other; as it will show them the hopes and wishes of their adversaries all granted to the full, and all their own "desires" and designs for ever at an end; it will excite envy which must prey upon itself, produce a grief which can admit of no comfort, give birth to a worm which can never die, and blow up those fires which nothing can quench. —George Horne. Ver. 10. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved, etc. It is the property of the Devil, not to mistake the nature of virtue, and esteem it criminal, but to hate it for this reason, because it is good, and therefore most opposite to his designs. The wicked, as his proper emissaries, resemble him in this, and grieve to have the foulness of their vices made conspicuous by being placed near the light of virtuous example...They may, like the giants of ancient fable, attempt a romantic war with heaven; but all their preparations for that purpose must recoil with double force upon themselves, and cover them with shame and confusion...If such be the effect of their malice in the present life, that, instead of injuring those they rage against, it usually turns to their own vexation, how much more, when the scene shall open in the life to come... They shall continue then to gnash their teeth (the wretched amusement of that cursed state) as well in grief and anguish for their own torments, as in rage and envy at the abundant honour which is done the saints. —William Berriman. Ver. 10. The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; that is, he shall have secret indignation in himself to see matters go so; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. Gnashing of teeth is caused by vexing the heart; and therefore it follows, he melts away; which notes (melting is from the heart) an extreme heat within. The sense is very suitable to that of Eliphaz (Job 5:2) "wrath slayeth the foolish, "or wrath makes him melt away, it melts his grease with chafing, as we say of a man furiously vexed. Hence that deplorable condition of the damned, who are cast out of the presence of God for ever, is described by "weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth"; which imports not only pain, but extreme vexing at, or in themselves. These finally impenitent ones shall be slain for ever with their own wrath, as well as with the wrath of God. —Joseph Caryl. Ver. 10. The wicked shall see it. The psalm which speaks of the blessedness of the saints also bears solemn testimony to the doom of the wicked. Cowper sings as if this verse was before his eyes. ...The same word, that like the polished share Ploughs up the roots of a believer's care, Kills, too, the flowery weeds wherever they grow, That bind the sinner's Bacchanalian brow. Oh that unwelcome voice of heavenly love, Sad messenger of mercy from above, How does it grate upon his thankless ear, Crippling his pleasures with the cramp of fear. His will and judgment at continual strife, That civil war embitters all his life; In vain he points his powers against the skies, In vain he closes or averts his eyes; Truth will intrude. Ver. 10. He shall gnash with his teeth. An enraged man snaps his teeth together, as if about to bite the object of his anger. Thus in the book Ramyanum, the giant Ravanan is described as in his fury gnashing together his "thirty-two teeth!" Of angry men it is frequently said, "Look at the beast, how he gnashes his teeth!" "Go near that fellow! not I, indeed! he will only gnash his teeth." —Joseph Roberts. Ver. 10. He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away. The effect of envy, which consumes the envious. Thus the poet: "Envy is most hateful, but has some good in it, for it makes the eyes and the heart of the envious to pine away." —John Le Clerc, 1657-1736. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 10. 1. What the wicked must see, and its effect upon them. 2. What they shall never see (their desire), and the result of their disappointment. WORK ON THE HUNDRED AND TWELFTH PSALM. An Exposition upon the 112 Psalme. The high way to everlasting blessednesse. Written for the benefit of God's Church. By T. S. ...London, 1621. (8vo. This exposition is upon the first two verses of the Psalm only.) We will read, this evening, two passages in the Word of God; the first will be Psalms 113. Psalms 113:1. Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.Three times are you stirred up to this duty of praise. Adore the Sacred Trinity with threefold praise. There is a trinity in you: let spirit, soul, and body praise the Lord. Let the past, the present, and the future make another threefold chord; and for each of these, “Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.”Psalms 113:2-3. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’S name is to be praised.“From the rising of the sun until the going down of the same the Lord’s name is to be praised.” In hours of morning light, when the dew is on the grass, and our soul is full of gladness, and in the hours of the setting sun, when the day is weary, and the night seems coming on, still let the Lord have the praise that is his due, for he is always to be praised. There is never an hour in which it would be unseemly to praise God. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven; but the praising of God is never out of season. All time and all eternity may be dedicated to this blessed work.Psalms 113:4-5. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, The loftiness, the majesty, the sublimity of God are attributes that are terrible in themselves; yet they minister much joy to those who love the Lord. For, you know, we can never make too much of those whom we love; and if we see them exalted, then is our soul glad. Would you wish to have a little God? Would you wish to have a God who had but little honour, or little power? No; you ascribe to him all conceivable and all inconceivable greatness, and you exult as you think what a high and mighty God he is. “Who is like unto Jehovah our God, who dwelleth on high?”Psalms 113:6. Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!It enables us to get some faint idea of the greatness of God when we read that he has to humble himself even to look at the things in heaven, perfect and spotless though they be. Dr. Watts truly sings, — “The lowest step around thy seat Rises too high for Gabriel’s feet; In vain the tall archangel tries To reach thine height with wond’ring eyes.” All the faculties of all the angels cannot comprehend the Infinite. When the Lord looks down to us, how much he must humble himself! If he humbleth himself to see the things in heaven which are clear and pure, what humility is required that he may look upon the things on the earth!Psalms 113:7-8. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.Have you never noticed that, in all these joyous songs to God, there is almost always one of these notes, that God abases the proud, and exalts the humble? This was the basis of Hannah’s song; and it was the pith and marrow of Mary’s Magnificat: “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.” This wonderful turning of things upside down; this withering of the green tree, and making the dry tree to flourish; this killing that which liveth, and quickening that which is dead; this emptying of the full, and filling of the empty; this casting down the mighty from their thrones, and lifting the poor out of the dust; this is always one of the highest reasons for exulting joy. What a truth there is for you and for me tonight, if we feel ourselves to be spiritually so poor that the dunghill is no offense to us, because we feel ourselves to be even more offensive than the filthy things that are cast away by men! What a mercy it is that the Lord “lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people”!Psalms 113:9. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.Does your soul feel barren? May the Lord grant unto it an abundant fruitfulness! Looking back upon the past year, perhaps you have had many barren times, or times that you have thought to be barren. If you are a minister of the gospel, I should not wonder if those have been your most fruitful seasons. When you have been most empty, God has been pleased to feed the people through you. O dear brothers and sisters, those very times of spiritual experience which are most humiliating and most painful are often the most soul-enriching to us, and they also bring the greatest glory to God! Now we will read a New Testament story, in order that we may see how some men did not praise the Lord as they should have done. You will find the narrative in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, at the eleventh verse. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 113, and Luke 17:11-19. Psalms 114:1-8. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters. I did not interrupt the reading of the Psalm by any exposition. It is a perfect whole, and could not well be divided without spoiling it. We may admire the poetry as well as the inspiration of this Psalm. It begins with rugged abruptness: “When Israel went out of Egypt.” It only gives just a hint of the discomfort of the Israelites while in Egypt, arising from the fact that they did not understand the Egyptians “strange language.” No doubt they were often beaten by their taskmasters, for not obeying orders, when they really did not understand what must have seemed to them the barbarous speech of their Egyptian oppressors. But God led them up out of the house of bondage, the tribe of Judah leading the van, and all the people following in due order. How beautifully the psalmist describes the dividing of the Red Sea! He represents the waters as perceiving the presence of God, and fleeing away, not because Israel came to the bank, but because God was in the midst of his people: “The sea saw it, and fled,”-as if abashed at the presence of its Maker, alarmed at the terror of Jehovah’s might. So was it with the Jordan; that swiftly-flowing river was “driven back” by a very special miracle. The dividing of the Red Sea was a marvelous act of God’s power, but the driving back of that rushing river has some extraordinary points about it peculiar to itself. And all this happened because God was there. The sea flees before him, the river is driven back by him. In like manner, my brethren, if God be in the midst of our church, nothing can withstand its onward march. If the Lord he in any man, that man need not even think or talk of difficulties; for, with God, nothing is impossible. So mighty was the influence of God’s presence that the mountains themselves began to move, and even to skip like rams, and to leap like lambs. There was some fear there, for they trembled in their solid sockets, “at the presence of the God of Jacob.” There was joy, too. We speak of “the everlasting hills,” yet the psalmist depicts them as moving as easily as the lambs frisk in the meadows in the springtime: “The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.” How grand is the poetic utterance! “What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?” “Thou couldst no longer rush in thine accustomed channel, but must needs return to the source whence thou didst come. What ailed you, O ye mountains, that ye trembled as if a palsy had seized upon you? ‘What ailed you, O ye little hills?’ Now comes the answer, which yet is not given in the form of an answer. The inspired poet, in order to heighten the grandeur of his language, kept the name of God out of the Psalm until he came to the end, when he thus answered his own riddle: “Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters;”-another miracle, for God multiplied his marvels. Having brought his people out of Egypt, and led them through the wilderness, and made the hills to move at his majestic presence, now he performs a converting work, changing the rock into a mere, or lake, so plenteous was the effusion of water, and making the flint to gush into a veritable river, which followed the children of Israel through the wilderness, for, as Paul says, “they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, (the margin is, “that went with them,”) and that Rock was Christ.” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 114. and 48. This is one of the Psalms, which were sung by the Jews at the feast of the Passover. It is highly probable that they were sung by our Lord on that memorable night when he instituted the sacred feast which is to be the perpetual memorial of his death, “until he come.” They have, however, a message for us who are now gathered together here.Psalms 115:1-2. Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?They talk about what he did when he brought his people up out of Egypt; but they tauntingly ask, “Where is now their God?” Thou art not dead, O God! Nor art thou even waxing weak; wilt thou not let the heathen know that they are resisting thee in vain?Psalms 115:3. But our God is in the heavens:Where they cannot see him. But that is just where he should be-in his own royal pavilion, seated upon his own throne,-out of gunshot of all his enemies,-where he can survey the whole world, where he is dependent upon none, but absolutely supreme over all: “Our God is in the heavens.Psalms 115:3. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.What a grand sentence that is. After all, his eternal purposes are continually being fulfilled. His decrees can never fail to be accomplished. He is not a thwarted and defeated God,-not one who has to wait upon his creatures to know their pleasure; but “he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” How absolute and unlimited those words are! “Whatsoever he hath pleased.” He hath willed it, and he hath done it. As for the heathen who say, “Where is now their God?” we may ask, in holy derision, “Where are their gods, and what sort of gods are they?” The psalmist gives the answer.Psalms 115:4. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.Mere metal,-called precious metal, yet, if made into idols, no better than any other metal. This shows the amount that a man will spend upon making to himself a god that is no god; but what a fool he is to do so! How can a man call that a “god”, which did not make him, but which he himself made? “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.”Psalms 115:5. They have mouths, but they speak not:I want you to notice how the psalmist seems to have an image before him, and he points first to its head, and mocks at its different parts; and then he points to its hands, and its feet, and he utters scathing sarcasm’s about the whole person of the idol god.Psalms 115:5-7. Eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.“They have mouths.” To carry out their idea of God, the makers of idols have given them mouths; but they cannot speak through them, they are dumb. Shall a man believe a dumb thing to be a god? The idols cannot communicate anything to him; it is not possible for them to speak any word of encouragement, or threatening, or promise: “They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they.” Some idols had precious gems placed in their heads, to appear like eyes; but they cannot see through them, for they are blind. Is it not a solecism,-a contradiction, to speak of a blind god? What a blind man must he be who worships a blind god! “Eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears.” Some Indian idols certainly have ears, for they have elephants’ ears, monstrous lobes; and I think, perhaps, the psalmist was referring to such ears as those. “They have ears,” he says, “but they hear not.” Then what is the use of their ears? You cannot communicate anything to them; so, why do you utter prayers to a thing that cannot hear what you say? Why do you present praises to images that know not what you are saying? “They have ears, but they hear not.” “Noses have they.” I note the grim sarcasm of this remark of the psalmist; it reminds me of Elijah’s taunting words to the prophets of Baal, “Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.” The ancient Hebrews were not accustomed to treat idolatry with any kind of respect; they poured all sorts of ridicule upon it. Nowadays, we are expected to speak very respectfully concerning all false religions, and some philosophers and divines tell us that there is something good in them all; and they say that modern Papistry, with its gods many, and its rotten rags and cast clouts, which they call relics, is to be treated very delicately. Perhaps someone asks, “Is it not a religion?” Yes, a religion for fools; but not for those who think. “Noses have they, but they smell not.” Their devotees fill the room with the smoke of incense; they burn sweet spices before the idols, but their nostrils are not thereby gratified. “They have hands,” says the psalmist; their makers give them hands, “but they handle not.” They cannot even receive the offerings presented to them. They cannot stretch out their hands to help their votaries. They are without feeling,-so the original tells us; yet they have hands, but they are useless. “Feet have they, but they walk not.” They could not even mount to their shrines by themselves, they must be lifted there, and fastened with nails into their sockets. One of the saddest sights to my mind,-too sad to be ludicrous,-is to see a Popish chapel, as I have often seen it, when the verger is up on the top of the altar, taking down the various images, and dusting the dolls. He, of course, pays them no sort of reverence, but dusts them as your servant does the things in your bedchamber or your drawing room. Yet these are the things that will be worshipped when the bell rings in an hour’s time,-these very things that have been dusted, and treated in this fashion, just like ordinary household ornaments. “Feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.” Their priests pretend that, by a kind of sacred ventriloquism, they make an articulate muttering; but the psalmist very properly says, “Neither speak they through their throat.” They cannot whisper, they cannot even mutter; they cannot make even as much noise as a beast or a bird can; for they are lifeless and useless.Psalms 115:8. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.That is to say, they are as stupid and doltish as the idols they make. If they can bow down and worship such things as these, surely the worshippers are fitted for the gods, and the gods for the worshippers. Now, brethren, recollect that there is a spiritual idolatry that is very much in vogue nowadays. Certain “thinkers”-as they delight to call themselves, whose religion is known as “modern thought”,-do not accept the one living and true God as he reveals himself in the Old and the New Testaments; but they make a god out of what they are pleased to call their own consciousness. Truly, their idols are reason and thought-the work of men’s brains. Their god does not hear prayer, because it would be absurd, they say, to suppose that prayer can have any effect on Deity. Their god has little or no regard for justice; according to them, you may live as you like, but all will come right at last. They hold out a “larger hope” that the wicked will all be restored to God’s favor; if that should be the case, there would be no justice left upon the face of the earth or in heaven either. All this is false. A god that a man can comprehend is not really a god at all. A god that I could excogitate from my own brain must, of necessity, be no god. There can only be the one God who is made known to us by divine revelation. God must be infinitely greater than the human mind; he must be beyond our utmost conception,-of whom we can know but little compared with what he really is, and that little he must himself reveal to us. Beware, I pray you, of a god that you make for yourself. Take God as you find him in this Book, and worship him; otherwise, you will find that there may be mental idols as well as idols of silver, and gold, and wood, and stone. “The God of Abraham praise.” “The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob,” the God of the whole earth shall he be called; “the God that led his people out of Egypt, the God of Sinai is the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;” and “this God is our God for ever and ever.” Ours is no new religion; it is the religion of Jehovah worship, and to this we will cling, whoever may oppose.Psalms 115:9-11. O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.The first of this set of sentences seems to me to he addressed by way of exhortation, but the second is a sort of soliloquy in which the psalmist, having exhorted others to trust, says, “Well they may trust, for God is both their active and their passive Helper: their help and their shield.” O you who know him, and love him, you who are of the house of Israel, however other men may turn aside to idols, keep yourselves steadfast to Jehovah, and trust in him even when he is mocked and ridiculed! O ye who are his ministers, the house of Aaron, specially devoted to his service, you know him best, and you should trust him most! O all of you, proselytes of the gate, who are not of the seed of Israel, still fear Jehovah, and trust in him, for he is your help and your shield!Psalms 115:12. The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.He had been mindful of Israel, and this guaranteed that he would still bless his people. “The times are dark and cloudy,” the psalmist seems to say, “but by his ancient mercies, our faith is established, and our hope encouraged.”Psalms 115:13. He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.Now little ones, look out for the blessing that is meant for you: “He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great.” Those who have but little faith, little joy, little grace, little growth, yet still he will bless.Psalms 115:14-16. The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children. Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.This may in part account for the fact that he is not known, and not honoured among men. He is himself in heaven; and, for a while, he has left men to follow their own devices. Hence it is that they have set up false gods. But, whatever others may do, or not do, let us praise the name of the Lord.Psalms 115:17. The dead praise not the LORD,No song comes up from that dark charnel house, no praise ascends to God from those that are asleep in the grave. The living among them praise him in heaven, but “the dead praise not the Lord.”Psalms 115:17-18. Neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.“Praise the Lord,” that is “Hallelujah.” The Psalm could not end with a better note than that; so may all our lives end, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen. We have read this Psalm many times, let us read it now, not regarding it so much as the language of the psalmist uttered thousands of years ago, as our own language at this moment.Psalms 116:1. I love the LORD,Let us go as far as that if we can; let us each one say, “I love the Lord.”Psalms 116:1. Because —There is a reason for this love. People say that love is blind, but love to God uses her eyes, and can justify herself: “I love the Lord, because” —Psalms 116:1. He hath heard my voice and my supplications. Can you go as far as that? Do you recollect answers to prayer, when you cried to God with your voice, or when your voice failed you, but supplication rose to God from your heart? Surely there is not a man, whose prayers have been answered, who does not love God. He must love the Lord when he recollects what poor prayers his were, what great blessings came in answer to them, and how speedily and how often God has heard his prayers, and granted his requests.Psalms 116:2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.That is a vow which we may well make, and hope for grace to keep it. It means that, as we have succeeded so well in begging at God’s door, we will keep on begging of him as long as we live. I suppose the psalmist meant that, because Jehovah had heard him, therefore he would never call upon any false god; but, as long as he lived, he would resort to the one living and true God. I hope that you and I can say the same. We have tried the fountain of living waters, why should we go to broken cisterns that can hold no water? Prayer to God has always succeeded, why should we not continue it? All you who have plied the trade of mendicants at the mercy-seat must have been so enriched by it in your souls that you are determined to stand there as long as you live.” Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.” This is sound reasoning, for even the emotions of believers, when they are most fervent, are based upon solid reasons. We can defend ourselves even when we grow warmest in love to God and most earnest in prayer. Now the psalmist tells one of his many experiences in prayer: —Psalms 116:3-4. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD;Dark days are good days for praying; when your eyes cannot see, you pray all the better; when there is no earthly prop to lean upon you are all the more ready to lean upon God alone. The psalmist was like a poor worm in a ring of fire: “the sorrows of death compassed me.” The sheriff’s officer seemed to hold him in his grip: “the pains of hell got hold upon me.” As for his inner experience, he found nothing there but “trouble and sorrow.” When the town of Mansoul was besieged, every way of escape was closed except the way upwards, and it was so with the psalmist, and therefore he made use of that way. “Then called I upon the name of the Lord.” His prayer was short, earnest, and full of meaning: —Psalms 116:4. O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. He did not have to search for a form of prayer, his words were such as came naturally to his mind; and that is the best sort of prayer which arises out of the heart’s sincere desire.Psalms 116:5. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.The psalmist was delivered by an act of grace, yet it was an act of righteousness, for God is not unrighteous to break his own promise, and he has promised to help his people. Grace and righteousness both guarantee answers to believing prayers, and mercy comes in to make assurance doubly sure: “Yea, our God is merciful.”Psalms 116:6. The LORD preserveth the simple:Straightforward men, those who cannot play a double part, those simpletons whom others take in and laugh at because they are honest, true, genuine, — the Lord preserveth such people.Psalms 116:6. I was brought low, and he helped me.Oh, these blessed personal pronouns, are you laying hold of them as I read them? Are you speaking them out of your own soul?Psalms 116:7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. Come home to him, for you have no other friend like him in earth or heaven; come back to him, my soul, and rest where you have often rested before.Psalms 116:8. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.An eternity of mercies from the Eternal himself.Psalms 116:9. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.The best style of living is walking before God, so living in his sight as to be indifferent to the opinions and judgments of our fellow men and only caring to know that God is looking upon us with approval. This is the way to live; and if we have tried it, we have found it to be so pleasant that we are resolved to continue in it.Psalms 116:10-11. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars.They have all failed me; some of them could but would not help me, so they were as liars to me; others would but could not, and as I have trusted them, they were as liars to me; but thou, my God, art no liar, thou art the truth itself! I ask those of you who have had a very long and varied experience to look back, and tell me whether you can recollect even once when your God has broken his promise. You have sometimes been afraid that he would forget it, but has he ever done so? If you speak as you have found him, you must praise and adore the faithful, immutable, all-sufficient Jehovah, who has made your strength to be as your days even to this very hour.Psalms 116:12. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?That question contains the essence of true religion. This should be the one object of our lives if we have been redeemed by Christ, and are his servants. Whatever we have done for God, we should endeavor to do much more, and to do it much better.Psalms 116:13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.This is a curious way of rendering anything, yet you know that John Newton’s hymn says, — “The best return for one like me So wretched and so poor, Is from his gifts to draw a plea, And ask him still for more.”Psalms 116:14-16. I will say my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. It is a great blessing if we are able to say, as David did, that we are born into God’s house. Some of us had gracious mothers who brought us to the Lord in earnest prayer long ere we knew anything. I can say to the Lord, “I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid;” and I have no greater wish than that all my descendants may be the Lord’s.Psalms 116:17-18. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD, I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, Do it, beloved, let your hearts now pour themselves out in silence, and afterwards in grateful song before the Lord. Praise him, magnify him, bless his name, “in the presence of all his people.” It is inspiring to be with your brethren and sisters in Christ. Perhaps the devotion which burns low when there is only one brand on the hearth will burn all the better and brighter when we add many blazing brands to it.Psalms 116:19. In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD. --- Prayer Answered, Love Nourished February 27th, 1859 by C. H. (1834-1892) "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplication."— Psalms 116:1 . In the Christian pilgrimage it is well for the most part to be looking forward. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future after all must be the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made perfect and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. And looking further yet, the believer's soul can see Death's river passed, the gloomy steam forded; he can behold the hills of light on which standeth the celestial city; he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than a conqueror—crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with him, made to sit together with him on his throne, even as he has overcome and has sat down with the Father upon his throne. The sight of the future may well relieve the darkness of the past, the hopes of the world to come may banish all the doubtings of the present. Hush, my fears! this world is but a narrow span, and thou shalt soon have passed it. Hush, hush, my doubts! death is but a narrow stream, and thou shalt soon have forded it. Time, how short—eternity, how long! Death, how brief—immortality, how endless! "Oh the transporting, rapturous scene That rises to my sight! Sweet fields arrayed in living green, And rivers of delight. Filled with delight my raptured soul Would here no longer stay, Though Jordan's waves around me roll, Fearless I'd launch away." Yet nevertheless the Christian may do well sometimes to look backward; he may look back to the hole of the pit and the miry clay whence he was digged—the retrospect will help him to be humble, it will urge him to be faithful. He may look back with satisfaction to the glorious hour when first he saw the Lord, when spiritual life for the first time quickened his dead soul. Then he may look back through all the changes of his life, to his troubles and his joys, to his Pisgahs and to his Engedis, to the land of the Hermonites and the hill Mizar. He must not keep his eye always backward, for the fairest scene dies beyond, it will not benefit him to be always considering the past, for the future is more glorious far; but nevertheless at times a retrospect may be as useful as a prospect; and memory may be as good a teacher as even faith itself. This morning I bid you stand upon the hill-top of your present experience and look back upon the past, and find therein motives for love to God; and may the Holy Spirit so help me in preaching and you in hearing, that your love may be inflamed, and that you may retire from this hall, declaring in the language of the Psalmist, "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice, and my supplication." The particular objects which you are now to look back upon are the manifold and manifest answers to prayer, which God has given you. I want you now to take up a book which you ought often to read, the book of remembrance which God has written in your heart of his great goodness and continued mercies; and I want you to turn to that golden page wherein are recorded the instances of God's grace in having listened to your voice and having answered your supplications. I shall give you seven reflections, each of which shall stir up your hearts to love our God whose memorial is that he hears and answers prayers. I. And the first thing I would have you recollect is, YOUR OWN PRAYERS. If you look at them with an honest eye, you will be struck with wonder that ever God should have heard them. There may be some men who think their prayers worthy of acceptance: I dare say the Pharisee did. But all such men shall find that however worthy they may esteem their prayers, God will not answer them at all. The true Christian in looking back weeps over his prayers, and if he could retrace his steps he would desire to pray better, for he sees that all his attempts at prayer in the past have been rather blundering attempts than actual successes. Look back now Christian upon thy prayers, and remember what cold things they have been. Thou hast been on thy knees in the closet, and there thou oughtest to have wrestled as Jacob did, but instead of that thy hands have fallen down, and thou hast forgotten to strive with God. Thy desires have been but faint, and they have been expressed in such sorry language, that the desire itself seemed to freeze upon the lips that uttered it. And yet, strange to say, God has heard those cold prayers, and has answered them too, though they have been such that we have come out of our closets and have wept over them. At other times our hearts have been broken, because we felt as if we could not feel, and our only prayer was, "God forgive us that we cannot pray." Yet, notwithstanding, God has heard this inward groaning of spirit. The feeble prayer which we ourselves despised, and which we thought would have died at the gate of mercy, has been nursed, and nurtured, and fostered, and accepted, and it has come back to us a full grown blessing, bearing mercy in both its hands. Then again, believer, how infrequent and few are your prayers, and yet how numerous and how great have God's blessings been. Ye have prayed in times of difficulty very earnestly, but when God has delivered you, where was your former fervency? In the day of trouble you besieged his throne with all your might and in the hour of your prosperity, you could not wholly cease from supplication, but oh! how faint was the prayer compared with that which was wrung out of your soul by the rough hand of your agony. Yet, notwithstanding that, though you have ceased to pray as you once did, God has not ceased to bless. When you have forgotten your closet, he has not forgotten your house, nor your heart. When you have neglected the mercy-seat, God has not left it empty, but the bright light of the Shekinah has always been visible between the wings of the cherubim. Oh! I marvel that the Lord should regard those intermittent spasms of importunity which come and go with our necessities. Oh! what a God is he that he should hear the prayers of men who come to him when they have wants, but who neglect him when they have received a mercy, who approach him when they are forced to come, but who almost forget to go to him when mercies are plentiful and sorrows are few. Look at your prayers, again, in another aspect. How unbelieving have they often been! You and I have gone to the mercy-seat, and we have asked God to bless us, but we have not believed that he would do so. He has said, "whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believe that ye shall have it, and ye shall have it." Oh! how I could smite myself this morning, when I think how on my knees I have doubted my God! What would you think of a man who came before you with a petition, and said, "Sir, you have promised to give me such-and-such a thing if I asked for it; I ask for it, but I do not believe you will give it me." You would say "Get you gone until you believe me better. I will give nothing to a man who doubts my word." Often might the Lord have spurned us from his mercy-seat, when we have come to him, not believing the very promises which we were pretending to plead. How small, too, the faith of our most faithful prayers! When we believe the most, how little do we trust; how full of doubting is our heart, even when our faith has grown to its greatest extent! What Christian is there here who is not ashamed of himself for having so often doubted a God who never yet denied himself, who was never once untrue, nor once unfaithful to his word? Yet, strange to tell, God has heard our prayers; though we believed not, he abode faithful. He has said "Poor heart, thy weakness makes thee doubt me, but my love compels me to fulfill the promise, even though thou doubtest." He has heard us in the day of our trouble; he has brought us sweet deliverance, even when we dishonored him by trembling at his mercy-seat. I say again, look back upon your prayers, and wonder that God should ever have heard them. Often, when we awake in the morning, and find our house and family all secure, and remember what a poor family prayer we uttered the night before, we must wonder the house was not burnt and all in it. And you in the church, after you have been to the prayer-meeting and prayed there, and God has actually listened to you, and multiplied the church and blessed the minister, do you not say afterwards, "I wonder that he should have heard such poor prayers as those that were uttered at the prayer-meeting?" I am sure, beloved, we shall find much reason to love God, if we only think of those pitiful abortions of prayer, those unripe figs, those stringless bows, those headless arrows, which we call prayers, and which he has borne with in his longsuffering. The fact is, that sincere prayer may often be very feeble to us, but it is always acceptable to God. It is like some of those one-pound notes, which they use in Scotland—dirty, ragged bite of paper; one would hardly look at them, one seems always glad to get rid of them for something that looks a little more like money. But still, when they are taken to the bank, they are always acknowledged and accepted as being genuine, however rotten and old they may be. So with our prayers: they are foul with unbelief, decayed with imbecility, and worm-eaten with wandering thoughts; but nevertheless, God accepts them at heaven's own bank, and gives us rich and ready blessings, in return for our supplications. II. Again: I hope we shall be led to love God for having heard our prayers, if we consider THE GREAT VARIETY OF MERCIES WHICH WE HAVE ASKED IN PRAYER, AND THE LONG LIST OF ANSWERS WHICH WE HAVE . Now, Christian, again—be thine own preacher. It is impossible for me to depict thine experience as well as thou canst read it thyself. What multitudes of prayers have you and I put up from the first moment when we learnt to pray! The first prayer was a prayer for ourselves; we asked that God would have mercy upon us, and blot out our sin. He heard that. But when he had blotted out our sins like a cloud, then we had more prayers for ourselves. We have had to pray for sanctifying grace, for constraining and restraining grace; we have been led to ask for a fresh assurance of faith, for the comfortable application of the promise, for deliverance in the hour of temptation, for help in the time of duty, and for succor in the day of trial. We have been compelled to go to God for our soup, as constant beggars asking for everything. Bear witness, children of God, you have never been able to get anything for your souls elsewhere. All the bread your soul has eaten has come down from heaven, and all the water of which it has drank has come out of that living rock,—Christ Jesus the Lord. Your soul has never grown rich in itself; it has always been a pensioner upon the daily bounty of God; and hence your prayers have had to ascend to heaven for a range of spiritual mercies all but infinite. Your wants were innumerable, and, therefore, the supplies have been innumerable, and your prayers have been as varied as the mercies hare been countless. But it is not for your soul alone that you have pleaded, your body has had its cries. You have been poor, and you have asked for food and raiment. How frequently have they been given to you. Not by miracles it is true. The ravens do not bring you bread and meat, but bread and meat comes without the ravens which is a greater miracle still. It is true your raiment has waxed old, and therefore you have not realized the miracle of the children of Israel in the wilderness, whose clothes never grew old, nevertheless you have had a greater miracle still, for you have had new ones when you wanted them. All your necessities have been provided for as they have arisen. How often have these necessities come upon you? So great have they been at times, that you have said, "Surely the Lord will forsake me and deliver me over; I shall not have my bread given me, nor shall my water be sure." But hitherto God has fed you; you are not starved yet, and by the grace of God you won't be. You have been told many a time by unbelief that you would die in the workhouse; but you are out of it even now, though it seems as if a thousand miracles had been put together to keep you from it. Then again; how often sickness has laid hold upon you, and like Hezekiah, you have turned your face to the wall, and cried, "Lord, spare thy servant, and let him not go down to the grave in the midst of his days:" and here you are, the living, the living to praise God. Recollect the fever and the cholera, and all those other fierce diseases which have laid you low; remember those prayers you uttered, and those vows you made. Oh! do not you love the Lord because he hath heard your voice and your supplication? How frequently too have you prayed for journeying mercies, and he has protected you in the midst of accidents. You have asked for blessings in your going out and your coming in blessings of the day and of the night, and of the sun and of the moon; and all these have been vouchsafed to you. Your prayers were innumerable; you asked for countless mercies, and they have all been given. Only look at yourrself: are not you adorned and bejewelled with mercies as thickly as the sky with stars. Think how you have prayed for your family. When you first knew the Lord your husband feared him not; but how you wrestled for your husband's soul! and now the tear is in your eye while you see your husband sitting by your side in the house of God, and recollect, it is not many months ago since he would have been in the tavern. Your children too have through your prayers been brought to God. Mothers, you wrestled with God that your children might be God's children, and you have lived to see them converted. How great the mercy to see our offspring called in early youth. Oh! love the Lord, because in this respect too he has heard your voice and your supplication. How often have you presented before God your business, and he has helped you in that matter. How frequently have you laid your household sorrows before him, and he has delivered you in that case. And some of us can sing of blessings given to us in the service of God in his church. We have lived to see the empty sanctuary crowded to the full, we have seen our largest attempts successful beyond our most sanguine hopes; we have prayed for sinners, and seen them saved; we have asked for backsliders, and have seen them restored; we have cried for a Pentecost, and we have had it; and by God's grace we are crying for it again, and we shall have it once more. O minister, deacon, elder, church member, father, mother, man of business, hast thou not indeed cause to say, "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications?" I am afraid the very fact that God hears our prayers so constantly, leads us to forget the greatness of his mercy. Let it not be so, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." Let this to-day be brought to mind, and let me raise a song to the God who hath heard the voice of my supplication. III. Let us note again THE OF HIS ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS. If a beggar comes to your house, and you give him alms, you will be greatly annoyed if within a month he shall come again; and if you then discover that he has made it a rule to wait upon you monthly for a contribution, you will say to him, "I gave you something once, but I did not mean to establish it as a rule." Suppose, however, that the beggar should be so impudent and impertinent that he should say, "But I intend sir to wait upon you every morning and every evening:" then you would say, "I intend to keep my gate locked that you shall not trouble me." And suppose he should then look you in the face and add still more, "Sir, I intend waiting upon you every hour, nor can I promise that I won't come to you sixty times in an hour; but I just vow and declare that as often as I want anything so often will I come to you: if I only have a wish I will come and tell it to you; the least thing and the greatest thing shall drive me to you; I will always be at the post of your door." You would soon be tired of such importunity as that, and wish the beggar anywhere, rather than that he should come and tease you so. Yet recollect, this is just what you have done to God, and he has never complained of you for doing it; but rather he has complained of you the other way. He has said, "Thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob." He has never murmured at the frequency of your prayers, but has complained that you have not come to him enough. Every morning when you have risen your cry has gone up to him; again with the family you have cried to the God of Jacob; at eventide you have gathered together and have prayed to him, and whenever ye have a trial, or a want, or a doubt, or a fear, ye have, if ye have done rightly, sped away swiftly to his throne and told him all. Speak now, saint, has he once said to you "Get you gone, thou weariest me?" Has he ever said "Mine ear is heavy that it cannot hear, my arm is shortened that I cannot save?" Has he said, "Away with thee, I want not thus to be perpetually hearing thee? What is thy harsh grating voice, that I should always give mine ear to it? Am I not hearkening to the songs of angels, to the shouts of cherubim? Away with thee, tease me not. At certain seasons thou mayest come, on the Sabbath-day thou mayest pray, but I want not to hear thee in the week?" No, no, he has sweetly embraced us every time, he has always bowed the heaven and come down to listen to our feeble cries; he has never denied a promise, never broken his word, even when we have pleaded a thousand times a day. Oh I will love the name of such a patient God as this, who bears with my prayers though they be as a cloud of hornets in the air. IV. Go a little further and you will have another thought arising. Think of THE OF THE MERCY FOR WHICH YOU HAVE OFTEN ASKED HIM. We never know the greatness of our mercies till we get into trouble and want them. I talk to-day of pardoned sin, but I confess I do not feel its preciousness as once I did. There was a time when my sins lay heavy on me; conscience accused me, and the law condemned me, and I thought if God would but pardon me, it would be the greatest thing he ever did. The creating of a world seemed to me to be but little compared with the taking away of my desperately evil sins. Oh, how I cried, how I groaned before him; and he has pardoned me, and blessed be his name for it. But I cannot estimate the value of his pardon to-day so well as I could when I was seeking it—almost driven to despair. Oh, remember soul, when thou didst ask for pardon thou wast asking for that which worlds could not buy; thou wast asking for that which could only be procured through the lifeblood of the Son of God. Oh! what a boon was that! And yet he did not look thee in the face and say, "Thou hast asked too much." No, but he gave it freely. He upbraided not; he blotted out all thy sins, and washed thee at once in the river of the Saviour's blood. Since that time what large things hast thou asked! Thou wast in trouble once, it seemed as if bankruptcy must overtake thee, and thou didst cry to him. If the world heard it it would have said, "What a fool art thou to ask this of thy God—he will never deliver thee!" Unbelief, like Rabshekeh, wrote a blasphemous letter, and thou didst lay it before the Lord; but even when thou wast in prayer, thy heart said, "The Lord will not deliver thee this time. The lion will surely devour thee. The furnace will most certainly burn thee up." But you did put up a poor, groaning prayer, and you dared to ask great things, namely, that God would put his hand out of heaven and save you from the waters, that the flood might not overflow you. Are you not surprised at this time that you dared to ask so much! You would not dare to ask so largely of any of your friends; you would not have gone to one and said, "I must have a thousand pounds by such and such a day, will you lend it to me?"—you knew you would not get it. Yet you asked it of your God. It came, and here you are, the living to praise his name; and if this were the right place you would stand up and testify that God did hear you, that in the day of sorrow and tribulation he delivered you. Now do you not love him for giving you such great things as these? God's mercies are so great that they cannot be magnified; they are so numerous they cannot be multiplied, so precious they cannot be over-estimated. I say, look back to-day upon these great mercies with which the Lord has favored thee in answer to thy great desires, and wilt thou not say, "I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications?" V. Another aspect of this case, perhaps, will reach our hearts more closely still. HOW TRIVIAL HAVE BEEN THE THINGS WHICH WE HAVE OFTEN TAKEN BEFORE GOD, AND YET HOW KINDLY HAS HE TO HEAR OUR PRAYERS. It is a singular thing, that our hearts are often more affected by little than by great things. You may feed a child all the year round, and never get its thanks, but give it a sweetmeat or an orange, and you may have its heart and its gratitude. Strange that the bounties of a whole year should seem to be lost, while the gift of a moment is greatly prized. A little thing, I say, may often touch the heart more than a great thing. Now, how often have we, if we have acted rightly, taken little things before the Lord. I believe it is the Christian's privilege to take all his sorrows to his God, be they little or be they great. I have often prayed to God about a matter at which you would laugh if I should mention it. In looking back I can only say it was a little thing, but it seemed great at the time. It was like a little thorn in the finger, it caused much pain, and might have brought forth, at last, a great wound. I learned to lay my little troubles at the feet of Jesus. Why should we not? Are not our great ones little? and is there, after all, much difference between great troubles and little ones in the sight of God? The queen will stand at one hour listening to her ministers, who talk with her about public business, but does she seem less a queen when, afterwards, her little child runs to her as its mother, because a gnat has stung it? Is there any great condescension the matter? She who was a right royal queen when she stood in the privy chamber is as right royal a queen and as well-beloved a mother of the nation, when she takes the little child upon her knee, and gives it a maternal kiss. Her ministers must not present trifling petitions, but her children may. So the worldling may say this morning, "How absurd to think of taking little troubles to God." Ah! it might be absurd to you, but to God's children it is not. Though you were God's prime minister, if you were not his child, you would have no right to take your private troubles to him; but God's meanest child has the privilege of casting his care upon his Father, and he may rest assured that his Father's heart will not disdain to consider even his mean affairs. Now let me think of the innumerable little things God has done for me. In looking back, my unbelief compels me to wonder at myself, that I should have prayed for such little things. My gratitude compels me to say, "I love the Lord, because he has heard those little prayers, and answered my little supplications, and made me blessed, even in little things which, after all, make up the life of man." VI. Once more, let me remind you, in the sixth place, of THE TIMELY ANSWERS WHICH: GOD HAS GIVEN YOU TO YOUR PRAYERS, and this should compel you to love him. God's answers have never come too soon nor yet too late. If the Lord had given you his blessing one day before it did come, it might have been a curse, and there have been times when if he had withheld it an hour longer it would have been quite useless, because it would have come too late. In the life of Mr. Charles Wesley, there occurs a memorable scene at Devizes. When he went there to preach, the curate of the parish assembled a great mob of people, who determined to throw him into the horse-pond, and if he would not promise that he would never come into the town again they would kill him. He escaped into the house and hid himself upstairs. They besieged the house for hours, battering at the doors, breaking every pane of glass in the windows, and at last to his consternation, they climbed the roof, and began to throw the tiles down into the street, so as to enter the house from above. He had been in prayer to God to deliver him, and he said, "I believe my God will deliver me;" but when he saw the heads of the people over the top of the room in which he was concealed, and when they were just about to leap down he very nearly gave up all hope, and he thought surely God would not deliver him, when in rushed one of the leaders of the mob, a gentleman of the town who did not wish to incur the guilt of murder, and proposed to him that he would get him away if he would only promise that he would never come back again. "No," said he, "I will never promise that. "But," said the man, "Is it your intention that you will not return immediately?" "Well" he said, "I do not say I shall come back just yet, I do not see any use in it. As you drive me away, therefore I shall shake off the dust of my feet against you, but I mean to come back again before I die." "Well," said the man, that will do, if you only promise you will not come back directly I will get you away." And so, by a great deliverance, he was saved from the jaw of the lion and the paw of the bear. His prayer was answered at the right time. Five minutes afterwards he would have been dead. Now cannot you say that the answer has come to you punctually at the very tick of the clock of wisdom, not before nor after. VII. Now, the seventh recollection with which I would inspire you is this—will you not love the Lord, when you recollect the special and great instances of his mercy to you? You have had seasons of special prayer and of special answer. Let me picture a man. There was one who feared not God, nor regarded man. He was engaged in business, and his affairs were not propitious, but rather everything went against him. He went against God, and kicked the more because God kicked against him. He had servants about him that feared God and worshipped him; but as for himself, he had no thought or regard for religion. His affairs became more and more perplexed and involved. One day he passed by the house of one of his workmen, where prayer was wont to be made, and listening, he heard words uttered in supplication that touched his heart. Though he was the master, he went inside and listened to his servant while he preached. God touched that man's heart, and made him feel his need of a Saviour. He went home, and he had now double cause for prayer. He went to the Lord, and told him he was a poor, wretched undone sinner, and that he wanted mercy; and then he told the Lord beside though he did not make it very prominent, that he was a poor, almost broken merchant; and that if God did not appear for him, he knew not but that he must be driven out of house and home. These two cases were laid before God. First of all, God heard his prayer for his soul. He gave him joy and peace in believing; and poor as he was at that time, he found enough to assist in erecting a house where the gospel might be preached. The Lord who had delivered him spiritually, now came to his assistance temporally. His affairs took a different turn, floods of prosperity rolled in upon him, and he is at this very day a living witness of the power of God to answer man's prayer for spiritual and for temporal things too. And if it were needed, he could bear his willing witness of special answer in that special time of necessity. And does he not love his God? I know he does; for he delights to honor him, he delights to give of his substance to him. And there may be others of you here present whose characters have been pictured in this one which I have pourtrayed before you; who are saying, "Surely he means me." Oh, will you not then, at the recollection of what God did in that double mercy, say, "love him. What can I do for him? There is nothing too great for me to give; nothing too large for me to do. Only let me know my duty, and the recollection of his marvellous bounty shall lead me to give of my substance to him; to give my whole heart to him. I will be wholly his, and hope that in death he will receive me to himself." Men and women, my brethren and sisters in Christ,—will you look back a few short years, and recollect the time when you were on your knees before God, seeking him? I could fix my eye to-day upon many a man who has been a drunkard, a swearer, a breaker of God's holy day, a hater of everything good. I think I see you in that upper chamber of yours. Oh, how you cried, how you groaned! Oh, with what agony did you pour out your unutterable sighs! You rose up, and you thought God would not have mercy on you. You went to your business; but how wretched you were! You went back again to the chamber. And how the beam out of the wall could speak now, and tell you how you cried and cried, and cried again before his mercy-seat. Do you love him but a little to-day? has your love grown cold? Go home and look again upon the chair against which you kneeled. Look at the very walls, and see if they do not accuse you, saying, "I heard you pray to God for mercy, and he has heard you. How I see your cold-heartedness; I mark your lukewarmness in his cause." Go home to your chamber, fall on your knees, and with tears of gratitude say— "O thou, my soul, bless God the Lord; And all that in me is Be stirred up, his holy name To magnify and bless!" Some of us can recollect other special seasons of prayer. Members of my church, I remind you of that solemn season, when, like a hurricane of desolation, the judgment of God swept through our midst. Standing in this pulpit this very morning, I recall to myself that evening of sorrow, when I saw my people scattered like sheep, without a shepherd, trodden upon, injured, and many of them killed. Do you recollect how you cried for your minister, that he might be restored to a reason that was then tottering? Can you recollect how ye prayed that out of evil God would bring forth good, that all the curses of the wicked might be rolled back upon themselves, and God would yet fill this place with his glory? And do you remember how long ago that is, and how God has been with us ever since, and how many of those who were injured that night, are now members of our church, and are praising God that they ever entered this house? Oh! shall we not love the Lord? There is not a church in London, that has had such answers to prayer as we have; there has not been a church that has had such cause to pray. We have had special work, special trial, special deliverance, and we ought pre-eminently to be a church, loving God, and spending and being spent in his service. Remember again the varied times of your sickness, when you have been sick, sore, and nigh unto death. Let me picture, my own experience that I may remind you of yours. I remember when I came to this pulpit in agony, and preached you a sermon which seemed to cost me my life's blood at every word I uttered. I was taken home to my bed full of grief and agony I remember those weary nights, those doleful days, that burning brow, those roaming thoughts, those spectres that haunted my dreams, that sleep without sleep, that rest that knew no rest, that torture, and that pain. Then I sought God, and cried that he would spare me to stand in this pulpit once again. Oh! I thought then, in my poor foolish way, that I would preach as I ne'er had preached before, as "a dying man to dying men." I hoped my ministry was not over; I trusted I might have another opportunity of freeing myself from the blood of hearers, if any of that blood were on my skirts. Here I stand, and I have to chide myself that I do not love him as I ought: yet nevertheless, in the recollection of his great mercy, saving my soul from death, and mine eyes from tears, I must love him, and I must praise him; and I must in reminding each of you of similar deliverances, beseech and entreat you to bless the Lord with me. O let us magnify his name together. We must do something fresh, something greater, something larger than we have done before. Having thus delivered these thoughts, I shall want you now for about three minutes to listen to me while I teach you three lessons which ought to spring from this sevenfold retrospect. What shall I say then? God has heard my voice in my prayer. The first lesson, then, is this—He shall hear my voice in my praise. If he heard me pray, he shall hear me sing; if he listened to me when the tear was in mine eye, he shall listen to me when my eye is sparkling with delight. My piety shall not be that of the dungeon and sick bed; it shall be that also of deliverance and of health. "I'll praise my Maker with my breath; And when my voice is lost in death, Praise shall employ my nobler powers: My days of praise shall ne'er be past, While life and thought and being last, Or immortality endures." Another lesson. Has God heard my voice? Then I will hear his voice. If he heard me I will hear him. Tell me, Lord, what wouldst thou have thy servant do, and I will do it; what wouldst thou have me believe, and I will believe it. If there be a labor which I have never attempted before, tell me to do it, and I will say, "Here am I; Lord, send me." Is there an ordinance to which I never attended? Dost thou say, "Do this in remembrance of me;" is it thy command? However non-essential it seems to be, I will do it, because thou hast told me to do it. If thou hast heard my feeble voice, I will hear thine, even though it be but a still small voice. Oh that you would learn that lesson! The last lesson is, Lord, hast thou heard my voice? then I will tell others that thou wilt hear their voice too. Didst thou save me? O Lord, if thou savedst me thou canst save anybody. Didst thou hear my prayer? "Then will I tell to sinners round, What a dear Saviour I have found;" and I will bid them pray too. O you that never pray, I beseech you begin from this hour. May God the Spirit lead you to your chambers, to cry to him! Remember, if you ask through Jesus, you cannot ask in vain. I can prove that in a thousand instances God has heard my supplication. There was nothing more in me than there is in you. Go and plead the promise; plead the blood, and ask for the help of God's Spirit; and there is not one in this assembly who shall not receive the blessing, if God shall lead him to pray. Young man, young woman, go home; plead with God for yourself first; you that love him, plead for others. Let every one of us practice the second verse of this Psalm, "Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." The whole Psalm is one of joyous thanksgiving because of God’s mercy to the singer. He had been in deep waters of trial and affliction, but had not been suffered to sink. He had known fierce assaults of sin that threatened tearful eyes and falling, stumbling stops, but God had upheld and strengthened. As he recalls all this, he longs to make some return by way of praise, and witness to others. Hence he now inquires.Psalms 116:10-11. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: I said in my haste, All men are liars.And uncommonly near the truth he came, even though he was in a hurry in saying it, for if you trust in any men they must be liars to you. They will fail you, either from want of faithfulness, or else from want of power. There are pinches where the kindest hand cannot succor. There are times of sorrow when she who is the partner of your bosom cannot find you alleviation. Then you will have to come to God, and God alone, and you will never find him fail you. The brooks of the earth are dry in summer, and frozen in winter. All my fresh springs are in thee, my God, and there neither frost nor drought can come. Happy man who has got right away from everything to his God.Psalms 116:12. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits towards me?Here we see gratitude is springing up in this man’s breast. He lives upon God, and he loves God, and now the question comes, “What shall I do for God?” Service is not first. We make a mistake when we begin with that. No: we begin as he did, with “I love the Lord.” Tell what the Lord has done for you, and then go on to, “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?”Psalms 116:13-15. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.We do well to notice those deaths, for God notices them. They are among his precious things. And if God thinks so much of dying saints, depend upon it he will not forget the living ones. He will help us. He will help us to the end.Psalms 116:16. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds.What a sweet thing to be the servant of God. Well does David say it twice over. Well does he delight to look upon himself as a slave that was born in his Master’s house. “My mother,” says he, “was one of thy servants. I am the son of thy handmaid.” Oh! It is a blessed thing to be able to be God’s every way — to feel in looking back, “I am not only his by redemption and by the new birth, but I seem as if I was bound to be his by a long ancestry of men and women, whom his sovereign grace called to himself.” Grace does not run in the blood, but it is a great mercy when it runs side by side with it; and when the handmaiden of the Lord is mother of a man who is a child of God as well as her child. “Thou hast loosed my bonds.” You are never quite free, you have never got your bonds all loosed — till you can doubly feel the bonds of God. Read that: “I am thy servant. I am thy servant.” That is two blows. “Thou hast loosed my bonds.” There is no freedom except in perfect subjection to the will of God. When every thought is brought into captivity to the mind of God, then every thought is free. You have heard much of the freedom of the will. There is no freedom of the will till grace has bound the will in fetters of divine affection. Then is it free, and not till then. “I am thy servant — thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds.”Psalms 116:17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.He has been doing it. What a man has done he will do. Oh! it is a blessed thing that the children of God at last catch a habit of devotion. Just as the sinner continues in his sin, so may I venture to say, “Shall the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” If so, then he that has once heartily learnt to praise his God may begin to forget to do so. Use is second nature, and the holy use to which God has put us by his grace shall be our nature for ever.Psalms 116:18-19. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.I see that David liked company. He would have been happy here, though we meet under conditions not wholly pleasant. He would have been glad to be in the midst of a smiling company of grateful saints, who could all say, “That is true, David. What you have written of yourself, you might have written of each one of us, and we can each one say, ‘I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.’” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 116:10-19; Son 2:1-7. SUBJECT. This Psalm, which is very little in its letter, is exceedingly large in its spirit; for, bursting beyond all bounds of race or nationality, it calls upon all mankind to praise the name of the Lord. In all probability it was frequently used as a brief hymn suitable for almost every occasion, and especially when the time for worship was short. Perhaps it was also sung at the commencement or at the close of other Psalms, just as we now use the doxology. It would have served either to open a service or to conclude it. It is both short and sweet. The same divine Spirit which expatiates in the 119th, here condenses his utterances into two short verses, but yet the same infinite fullness is present and perceptible. It may be worth noting that this is at once the shortest chapter of the Scriptures and the central portion of the whole Bible. . Ver. 1. O praise the LORD, all ye nations. This is an exhortation to the Gentiles to glorify Jehovah, and a clear proof that the Old Testament spirit differed widely from that narrow and contracted national bigotry with which the Jews of our Lord's day became so inveterately diseased. The nations could not be expected to join in the praise of Jehovah unless they were also to be partakers of the benefits which Israel enjoyed; and hence the Psalm was an intimation to Israel that the grace and mercy of their God were not to be confined to one nation, but would in happier days be extended to all the race of man, even as Moses had prophesied when he said, "Rejoice. O ye nations, his people" (Deuteronomy 32:43), for so the Hebrew has it. The nations were to be his people. He would call them a people that were not a people, and her beloved that was not beloved. We know and believe that no one tribe of men shall be unrepresented in the universal song which shall ascend unto the Lord of all. Individuals have already been gathered out of every kindred and people and tongue by the preaching of the gospel, and these have right heartily joined in magnifying the grace which sought them out, and brought them to know the Saviour. These are but the advance guard of a number which no man can number who will come ere long to worship the all glorious One. Praise him, all ye people. Having done it once, do it again, and do it still more fervently, daily increasing in the reverence and zeal with which you extol the Most High. Not only praise him nationally by your rulers, but popularly in your masses. The multitude of the common folk shall bless the Lord. Inasmuch as the matter is spoken of twice, its certainty is confirmed, and the Gentiles must and shall extol Jehovah— all of them, without exception. Under the gospel dispensation we worship no new god, but the God of Abraham is our God for ever and ever; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. A very short Psalm if you regard the words, but of very great compass and most excellent if you thoughtfully consider the meaning. There are here five principal points of doctrine. First, the calling of the Gentiles, the Apostle being the interpreter, Romans 15:11; but in vain might the Prophet invite the Gentiles to praise Jehovah, unless they were to be gathered into the unity of the faith together with the children of Abraham. Second, The Summary of the Gospel, namely, the manifestation of grace and truth, the Holy Spirit being the interpreter, John 1:17. Third, The end of so great a blessing, namely, the worship of God in spirit and in truth, as we know that the kingdom of the Messiah is spiritual. Fourth, the employment of the subjects of the great King is to praise and glorify Jehovah. Lastly, the privilege of these servants:that, as to the Jews, so also to the Gentiles, who know and serve God the Saviour, eternal life and blessedness are brought, assured in this life, and prepared in heaven. Mollerus. Whole Psalm. This Psalm, the shortest portion of the Book of God, is quoted and given much value to, in Romans 15:11. And upon this it has been profitably observed, "It is a small portion of Scripture, and such as we might easily overlook it. But not so the Holy Ghost. He gleans up this precious little testimony which speaks of grace to the Gentiles, and presses it on our attention." From Bellett's Short Meditations on the Psalms, chiefly in their Prophetic character, 1871. Whole Psalm. The occasion and the author of this Psalm are alike unknown. De Wette regards it as a Temple Psalm, and agrees with Rosenmueller in the supposition that it was sung either at the beginning or the end of the service it the temple. Knapp supposes that it was used as an intermediate service, sung during the progress of the general service, to vary the devotion, and to awaken a new interest in the service, either sung by the choir or by the whole people. Albert Barnes. Whole Psalm In God's worship it is not always necessary to be long; few words sometimes say what is sufficient, as this short Psalm giveth us to understand. David Dickson. Whole Psalm. This is the shortest, and the next but one is the longest, of the Psalms. There are times for short hymns and long hymns, for short prayers and long prayers, for short sermons and long sermons, for short speeches and long speeches. It is better to be too short than too long, as it can more easily be mended. Short addresses need no formal divisions: long addresses require them, as in the next Psalm but one. G. Rogers. Ver. 1. O praise the Lord, etc. The praise of God is here made both the beginning and the end of the Psalm; to show, that in praising God the saints are never satisfied with their own efforts, and would infinitely magnify him, even as his perfections are infinite. Here they make a circle, the beginning, middle, and end whereof is hallelujah. In the last Psalm, when David had said, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord, "and so in all likelihood had made an end, yet he repeats the hallelujah again, and cries, "Praise ye the Lord." The Psalmist had made an end and yet he had not done; to signify, that when we have said our utmost for God's praise, we must not be content, but begin anew. There is hardly any duty more pressed in the Old Testament upon us, though less practised, than this of praising God. To quicken us therefore to a duty so necessary, but so much neglected, this and many other Psalms were penned by David, purposely to excite us, that are the nations here meant, to consecrate our whole lives to the singing and setting forth of God's worthy praises. Abraham Wright. Ver. 1. All ye nations. Note: each nation of the world has some special gift bestowed on it by God, which is not given to the others, whether you have regard to nature or grace, for which it ought to praise God. Le Blanc. Ver. 1. Praise him. A different word is here used for "praise" than in the former clause: a word which is more frequently used in the Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic languages; and signifies the celebration of the praises of God with a high voice. John Gill. HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Whole Psalm. The universal kingdom. 1. The same God. 2. The same worship. 3. The same reason for it. Psalms 117:2* . Ver. 2. For his merciful kindness is great toward us. By which is meant not only his great love toward the Jewish people, but towards the whole family of man. The Lord is kind to us as his creatures, and merciful to us as sinners, hence his merciful kindness to us as sinful creatures. This mercy has been very great, or powerful. The mighty grace of God has prevailed even as the waters of the flood prevailed over the earth: breaking over all bounds, it has flowed towards all portions of the multiplied race of man. In Christ Jesus, God has shown mercy mixed with kindness, and that to the very highest degree. We can all join in this grateful acknowledgment, and in the praise which is therefore due. And the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. He has kept his covenant promise that in the seed of Abraham should all nations of the earth be blessed, and he will eternally keep every single promise of that covenant to all those who put their trust in him. This should be a cause of constant and grateful praise, wherefore the Psalm concludes as it began, with another Hallelujah, Praise ye the LORD. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. For his merciful kindness is great toward us. We cannot part from this Psalm without remarking that even in the Old Testament we have more than one instance of a recognition on the part of those that were without the pale of the church that God's favour to Israel was a source of blessing to themselves. Such were probably to some extent the sentiments of Hiram and the Queen of Sheba, the contemporaries of Solomon; such the experience of Naaman; such the virtual acknowledgments of Nebuchadnezzar and Darius the Mede. They beheld "his merciful kindness"towards his servants of the house of Israel, and they praised him accordingly. John Francis Thrupp. Ver. 2. For his merciful kindness is great toward us. Albeit there be matter of praise unto God in himself, though we should not be partakers of any benefit from him, yet the Lord doth give his people cause to praise him for favours to them in their own particular cases. David Dickson. Ver. 2. For his merciful kindness is great. rbg, gabar, is strong:it is not only great in bulk or number;but it is powerful;it prevails over sin, Satan, death, and hell. Adam Clarke Ver. 2. Merciful kindness... and the truth of the LORD. Here, and so in divers other Psalms, God's mercy and truth are joined together; to show that all passages and proceedings, both in ordinances and in providence, whereby he comes and communicates himself to his people are not only mercy, though that is very sweet, but truth also. Their blessings come to them in the way of promise from God, as bound to them by the truth of his covenant. This is soul satisfying indeed; this turns all that a man hath to cream, when every mercy is a present sent from heaven by virtue of a promise. Upon this account, God's mercy is ordinarily in the Psalms bounded by his truth; that none may either presume him more merciful than he hath declared himself in his word; nor despair of finding mercy gratis, according to the truth of his promise. Therefore though thy sins be great, believe the text, and know that God's mercy is greater than the sins. The high heaven covereth as well tall mountains as small mole hills, and mercy can cover all. The more desperate thy disease, the greater is the glory of thy physician, who hath perfectly cured thee. Abraham Wright HINTS TO THE VILLAGE . Ver. 2. Merciful kindness. In God's kindness there is mercy, because, 1. Our sin deserves the reverse of kindness. 2. Our weakness requires great tenderness. 3. Our fears can only be so removed. Ver. 2 (last clause) 1. In his attribute— he is always faithful. 2. In his revelation— always infallible. 3. In his action— always according to promise. Psalms 118:1. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.Here is a standing reason for thanksgiving. Although we may not always be healthy, nor always prosperous yet God is always good, and, therefore, there is always a sufficient argument for giving thanks unto Jehovah. That he is a good God essentially, that he cannot be otherwise than good, should be a fountain out of which the richest praises should perpetually flow.Psalms 118:2-3. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.These were specially set apart for God’s service, and, therefore, where much is given, much is expected. The house of Aaron, therefore, must have a special note of thanksgiving, and though we who preach the gospel claim no sort of priesthood, yet if any ought to lead the strain of thankfulness, it should be those who minister for God continually.Psalms 118:4. Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.Let them all say it: let them all say it now: let every one of us say it for himself, “His mercy endureth for every.”Psalms 118:5. I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.I think many of us could make just such a record as that and not once but many times in our lives, we could say, “I called upon the Lord in distress.” We have had many trials, but we have a mercy-seat always to fly to, and a God always ready to hear the cries of his distressed ones.Psalms 118:6. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?The past always gives us assurance for the future, for we are dealing with the same unchangeable God, and, therefore, we may expect to have the same dealings from him.Psalms 118:7-8. The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.There is one text which I have never seen put up anywhere. You have illuminated texts in your houses and schoolrooms, and so on, but I think I have never seen this, “Cursed is he that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm” or this other one, “Cease, ye, from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?” and I am sure there is no teaching of Scripture more necessary than that, whether it refers to great men or to little men, whether it refers to men of eminence, or to those of your own family circle. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence, in man.”Psalms 118:9. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.It is nobler, it is more agreeable to sound reason, it will lead to better results. God better deserves our confidence than the princes of the earth do — even the best of them.Psalms 118:10. All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.This may apply to David, but it applied better to Christ, around whom Jews and Gentiles came, but he won the victory over them.Psalms 118:11-12. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They compassed me about like bees, they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.The thorn makes a good blaze and crackle, and sputter, but it is soon out altogether. “For in the name of the Lord will I destroy them.” In this way we may meet our spiritual foes, temptations, trials, the world, sin, death, hell, the name of Jehovah shall be our strength. “In hoc signo vincit,” said one of old — “By this sign thou conquerest,” and so by this sign we also overcome through the blood of the Lamb.Psalms 118:13. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the Lord helped me.This will rebut all the attacks of our fiercest foes — “But the Lord helped me.”Psalms 118:14-15. The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiatly.Where God’s people dwell, there is the voice of joy. Their family prayer sanctifies the house with its joyous notes. Even then there is trouble and sorrow in the house, yet resignation makes joy and rejoicing there still; and if rejoicing for a moment should go, yet salvation never does. “This day is salvation come to thine house.” If thou be now a converted man, it will never go away again. It is an abiding being: it is in the tabernacles of the righteous.Psalms 118:16-17. The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.Some have thought this psalm was composed by Hezekiah after his sickness, and after the destruction of Senacherib’s host. It may be so. It has been used by many besides Hezekiah, who have not forgotten that these are the words of Wickliffe, used when monks came round his dying bed with prayers, Paternosters, and crucifixes, and urged him to repent, and he said, “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.” And so, indeed, he did.Psalms 118:18. The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.Many of his best children can say this, for “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.” “The Lord hath chastened me sore, but he hath not given me over unto death.” You that have recovered from sickness, here is a song for you. You who above all were not given over to your sins and to the just punishment of them, here is music for you, “He hath not given me over to the second death, which he might have done.”Psalms 118:19-20. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.I suppose he who uttered these words has passed through the beautiful gates of the temple.Psalms 118:21. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.Future, past, present — all full of blessing.Psalms 118:22-24. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.Though this is applicable to the Sabbath, yet it is also applicable to any day, and to every day which God especially makes glorious by delivering many.Psalms 118:25-27. Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.It is the king returning from victory and recovered from sickness. He brings his sacrifice with thanksgiving, as every child of God should, and there it is ready bound to the altar horns.Psalms 118:28-29. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. It is not easy to see the special subjects that are spoken of by David in each of the short portions of eight verses, yet I do not doubt that if each portion were very carefully examined, we should see that there is some thread running through. We have not here simply a number of pious sentences about the excellency of God’s Word, but we have choice gems set, each of them in a golden ring of spiritual intent and purpose. I think the first eight verses, all of which begin with that letter Aleph, or A, set forth the excellence of abiding in holiness, and walking continually in the way of the Lord. Not so much the restoring and comforting power of the word, as the blessedness of that word in leading us to conduct ourselves in consistency of character at all times.Psalms 119:1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.There is another blessing which comes before this. “Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, .and whose sin is covered.” And we can never know the blessing of this 119th Psalm unless we have felt in our own souls that first blessing — the blessedness of forgiven sin. But when, through the forgiveness of sin, we are put upon gospel ground, and are saved, then, not according to the law, but according be the gospel does this blessing come upon us. “Blessed are the undefiled in the way.” The men who have kept their garments unspotted from the world — who from the time of their conversion even until now have been under the influence, of the divine Spirit, and so have been enabled to walk in holiness without once defiling their garments with any great and public sin — who walk in the law of the Lord, not occasionally, but always — whose daily walk is in conformity with the divine mind — these are blessed.Psalms 119:2. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.For he that has most of God, yet needs to seek more. We keep the testimonies — those we know, for we are taught of the Lord according to the promise, “All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.” Yet do we still seek more. With our whole heart are we pressing on still to something higher and better. Even the undefiled in the way are so, comparatively: they are not absolutely undefiled, so as to be absolutely perfect in the sight of God. Hence they feel their imperfection, and they press after something better. They seek him with the whole heart.Psalms 119:3-4. They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.So that if we do so, we are unprofitable servants. We have done no more than was our duty to do. When his divine grace has renewed us, and has enabled us to walk in all sobriety, and truthfulness, and holiness, even then we have nothing to boast of. “Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.”Psalms 119:5. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes !“Oh! that I may never defile my garments!” And he who has not defiled his garments still prays the same prayer that he may be kept still and directed still. “Oh! that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!”Psalms 119:6. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.It gives a man boldness. Integrity of heart before God breeds sacred courage. He has nothing to be ashamed of, and he is not ashamed when he has respect unto all God’s commandments.Psalms 119:7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.Not “I will praise myself.” Not “I will take credit to myself for my clean walking;” but “When thou hast taught me, and I learn thy ways, then all the praise shall be rendered unto thee.” This is the fruit of evangelical obedience. Legal obedience, even could it be rendered, would be sure to claim the servant’s wage, and take to itself the praise; but the obedience of a child of God leads to the laying of honour at Jehovah’s feet.Psalms 119:8. I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.Strong resolution, but a deep consciousness of weakness and unworthiness. “I will,” but oh’.. how can I do it? “Oh! for this no strength have I My strength is at thy feet to lie. Oh! forsake me not utterly.” Now, in the next eight verses it seems to me that the subject is some what different. We have seen the excellence of an undefiled way. Now we have before us one who wants to prove the power of the Word to keep him in that undefiled way; and so he begins with this question.Psalms 119:9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?His passions are strong: his experience little. His tempers are many: his friends cannot always be at his side. “Wherewithal shall he cleanse his way?” It is very apt to become miry. The answer is: — -Psalms 119:9. By taking heed thereto according to thy word.The word will keep him in the cleanly path — will warn him of all the mire into which he would have fallen; and if he take heed to his steps, he shall not trip.Psalms 119:10. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.There is the young man’s fear; and it may be the old man’s fear, too. “I have sought thee sincerely and earnestly, but do not permit my weaker passions to get the mastery over me — do not suffer me in some unguarded hour to be carried captive by my lusts. Oh! let me not wander from thy commandments. It were better to die than to wander from thy way.” The true convert dreads sin. He loathes the very thought of the most pleasurable folly. “Oh! let me not wander from thy commandments.”Psalms 119:11. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.There is the dread, you see — the dread of sinning — the dread of defiling his way; so he says that he has adopted this divine remedy. A good division of this text, if anyone would preach from it, is the best thing, “Thy word;” in the best place — “have I hid in my heart“; for the best of purposes — “ that I might not sin against thee.”Psalms 119:12. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.As if he said, “Teach me thy statutes that I may be blessed, too. Thou art a happy God. Teach me thy way that I may be happy, too. Blessed are the undefiled. Teach me to be so, that as thou art blessed, so I may be.”Psalms 119:13-14. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.A man’s walking will be right when his delight is of this kind, for where the heart goes, the life will go. To some people religion is a task. It will never have much power over them. But when it becomes a delight, then will their walk be affected by it. A well-known and renowned infidel of the last generation, traveling in Wales, said to a little girl whom he saw reading her Bible, “Well, my dear,” he said, “I see you are getting through your task.” “Task sir?” she said, “What do you mean? I am reading the Bible.” He said, “I thought your mother had set you a chapter to read.” “Oh! no, sir. If my mother wanted to punish me, she would not make me read the Bible. It is the most delightful book in all the world, and it is a great joy to me when I can get a little time alone to read my Bible.” It touched his heart. As he confessed afterwards, he was delighted to find something like genuine religion. And where you find delight in religion, there it is genuine. True, genuine religion is like some of the German waters. They come up all fresh and sparkling. I like to see the sparkling in it — a little sparking religion — a little flash of joy and of delight. But very much that we get now-a-days is flat, stale, dull, unprofitable. They keep it corked, but badly corked usually, and when we see it there is nothing in it that we should desire it. It is a poor article. God give us delight in himself, for that is tame religion. “I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches.”Psalms 119:15. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.An excellent way of keeping the life clean is to keep the thoughts clean. Our boys .are brought to prison by reading the abominable trash that is poured forth for juveniles; and many and many a crime has been the result of the fiction of the present day. It is often not only light reading, but filthy reading, too. If we would read God’s Word more, and meditate in it better, our hearts would be kept sweet and so would our lives be.Psalms 119:16. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.God grant that we never may.Psalms 119:17. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.Does it want much grace, then, to keep a child of God alive — even to keep him alive? Yes, it does. Little grace will be of no use to us. We must have great grace, for our needs are great. Sometimes our troubles are great: at other times our temptations are great. We are always in great necessity; and thou, Lord, must have a large exchequer, and thou must give it liberally to us, or else we, poor, penniless beggars, must utterly die of want. Merely to live, then, needs the bounty of God. “Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live and keep thy Word” — for there is no living in truth, except as we keep the Word of God. Those who live in the neglect of God’s Word are not living at all, but they are dead while they live. God deliver us from such life.Psalms 119:18. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.They are there, but I cannot see them unless thou open my eyes. It is not that thy Word is dark, but that my eyes are dim. Yea, by nature they are blinded altogether. Oh! thou, who art the great Physician of the blind, open thou my eyes.Psalms 119:19. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.Do you see the drift of that? He says, “I .am a stranger here. Then, Lord, if thou do not become, and continue to be, my acquaintance, I am altogether alone.” It is true of the Christian that he cannot find anything here that can satisfy his soul. He must, therefore, have the Lord, or else he is in a very sorry case. Oh! beloved, the more you find yourselves strangers in this world, the more are you becoming like your God. The Psalmist says elsewhere, “For I am a stranger with thee,” not “to thee,” but “with thee, like thee,” for God is a stranger in this world. Men do not recognize him or delight themselves in him. “So, since, Lord, I have no other friend, and can find no other satisfying portion, hide not thy commandments from me. On the contrary, let me see the more of thee, because I have nothing else.”Psalms 119:20. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.We cannot always say that, for we sometimes wish that our hearts would break. Sometimes we sing: — “My heart rejoice or ache: Resolve this doubt for me; And if it be not broken, break And heal it if it be.” Psalms 119:9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” A vital and solemn question. His way is full of temptations, and he himself has strong passions. How shall he make his way clean, and keep it so? “By taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Without heed he will soon be in the mire, but carefully walking with God’s word as his rule, by the blessing of God’s grace it will keep him out of sin.Psalms 119:10. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandment.There might be thought in this confession to be some commendation of himself, and therefore he salts it with this prayer: “I have sought thee, Lord, sincerely, but still, notwithstanding that, I am very apt to stray away, and I shall sadly wander unless thou keep me. O let me not wander from thy commandments.”Psalms 119:11. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.The best thing put into the best place for the best of all purposes. There is no antidote against sin like the possession of the Word of God in the soul.Psalms 119:12. Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.Thou art blessed, make me blessed. Thou art the happy God, instruct me in the way of happiness.Psalms 119:13. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.I am a learner, but I have tried to be a teacher too. I have not kept the Word of God to myself as though it were only a personal treasure for me, but what I have heard in the secret-chamber of fellowship, that have I spoken on the housetops. Have you published abroad what you know? Then you are the person to learn more. When men drop their money into a money box, they have to break it to get it out again, and if they have not need of it they will not do so. God doth not care to drop his treasure into a heart that never useth it and imparteth it. Let your lips speak what your heart learns.Psalms 119:14. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.If all sorts of riches were put together, I have found them all, and more than them all, in thy testimonies. I am rich in all respects when I have thee.Psalms 119:15. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy way.Meditation treads the wine press and gets the juice out of the grapes. A man may read too much if he reads without meditation. “I will meditate.” It is the harvesting by reaping of what we have sown by reading.Psalms 119:16. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.I will take a deep pleasure in them, and I will find an intense joy in every pondering of them. “I will not forget thy word.” I will never let it go out of the precincts of my memory: I will recall again and again. I will always have a text of thy precious Book ready to my tongue.Psalms 119:17. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.Give me much of thy comfort, royally of thyself: deal bountifully with me: I have great necessities, am a mass of wants, therefore, “ Deal bountifully with me that I may live.” And I have great tendencies to wander. Great risks and perils. Give me abundance of grace that I may keep thy word.Psalms 119:18. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.The wonders are there: cause me to behold them. A man may have a fair landscape before him, rich in all beauties of form and colour, but if his eyes be closed, what is he better for it?Psalms 119:19. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.“I am a stranger in the earth.” I do not belong now to it: I am born and bound for heaven: I am a pilgrim here: men do not understand me, neither have I any settled business here. “I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.” Oh, remember that I am thy alien,thy banished one: send me love-messages from the old home and loved country.Psalms 119:20. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.Broken souls are many: but not on this account! Oh, how few are in danger of breaking, through such a longing as this ! Would God there were many more that did sigh and cry after the Word of God; for longings such as these are sure to lead to an earnest search, and the earnest search will increase knowledge and increase grace.Psalms 119:21. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. A proud man is surely a sinful man. He may think himself a righteous man, but he cannot be so. He has gone far astray from the very essence of God’s law, which is that he should walk humbly with his God.Psalms 119:22. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.A man that does that is pretty sure to be reproached and to be contemned by man; for they think that one who follows God faithfully “is very old-fashioned, he has not much spirit, he has not drunk in the philosophy of the age, he is a fossilized Christian,” and so on. Well, we can bear all such reproach: still are we truly glad when we escape it.Psalms 119:23. Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.And a great man’s word goes a long way with some people. They think a prince a great authority. “But thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.” He did not burst out in angry reply, he did not give fierce railing for railing, but he sat himself down as quietly as he could, the more abundantly to meditate in God’s statutes. What calmness there is here, and what wisdom! for if princes should speak against us, and the great ones of the earth should rail, what matters it? If they drive us away from our faith, it would matter, but if they drive us to our Bibles, it is a benefit.Psalms 119:24-25. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.Here he prays for quickening. He felt the spiritual death that was so natural to him, the heaviness of his heart, the tendency to sink, the attractions of the world.Psalms 119:26. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.Open confession is good for the soul, and I have made this confession: thou hast heard me: now “teach me thy statutes.”Psalms 119:27. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.Lord ground me and found me in thy knowledge: give me to know fully, firmly, what I do know. I would not be as a man that eats, but thinks not, whence the bread came, but I would wish to understand the way of thy precepts: “so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.”Psalms 119:28. My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.Will not this prayer suit some that are in this house this morning who are very dull and depressed? Oh, if your soul sinks, still pray and say: “Strengthen thou me.” You want strength, dear friends. If you had more strength, your trouble would not crush you; your soul would not melt if you had more strength and confidence.Psalms 119:29-30. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.As a captain lays out his chart so as to keep his course correctly and safely, so I try to sail by it. I have chosen thy law, and precept, and command as my course, and I would fain keep to them.Psalms 119:31. I have stuck unto thy testimonies: 0 LORD, put me not to shame.I am glued to them: there is no separating me, no tearing me apart, from them. “O Lord, put me not to shame.”Psalms 119:32. I will run the way of thy commandment, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.I will go quicker and faster, I will have more energy, more flaming zeal, in thy service — “When thou shalt enlarge my heart.” O Lord, it is very narrow and very contracted, I cannot think great thoughts, nor do great things, nor believe great promises, unless thou shalt enlarge my heart. Lord, give me a larger heart, stronger to obey, tenderer to love, for thy name’s sake! Psalms 119:17. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.O Lord, I am thy servant; yet, I pray thee, do not pay me wages according to my deserts, but according to the greatness of thy mercy, “deal bountifully with thy servant.” Little mercy will not be enough for such great sins and such great needs as mine. Deal very generously with thy poor servant who is so full of necessities, “that I may live;” for, if thou wilt only let me live, it will be of thy bounty, since I deserve not even that boon. Only to have my life still spared, shall be regarded by me as a great favor from thee. I want not to live to please myself, for that would not be living at all, but “that I may live, and keep thy word.” A holy life is the only true life, the only life that is really worth having; and he that hath it hath been dealt bountifully with by his God. I commend this verse to each servant of the Lord as a prayer that may he continually presented to him.Psalms 119:18. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.This is one of the first parts of God’s bountiful dealings with us. There is no mercy that is so great as mercy to one’s own person, to one’s own eyes, for instance, which are such essential parts of ourselves. Lord, when thou art dealing bountifully with me, I do not ask for riches, but I do ask that my eyes may be opened. I do not ask thee to give me more than thou hast given in thy Word, but I do ask for opened eyes with which I may perceive what thou hast put there, else the beauties of thy Word may be useless to me by reason of my blindness. This blessed Book teems with marvels; it is a world of wonders. It records many miracles, but every page of it is itself a miracle, and a mass of miracles; yet we must have them revealed to us, or we shall not discover them. Revelation itself must he revealed to every man individually by the Spirit of God, or else he will never see it.Psalms 119:19. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me,Humane men deal kindly with exiles; God has commanded us to be generous to strangers, and he will certainly be so himself. Lord, because of thy love, I find myself like an exile among the sons of men; but be not thou thyself strange to me. What should I do, in this world, without thee, and without thy Word? “Hide not thy commandments from me.”Psalms 119:20-21. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.God cannot bear the proud; it is very seldom that they can bear one another; and if proud men loathe pride as they see it in others, you may rest assured that the good and great God will not endure it. How sternly he rebuked it in the angels that kept not their first estate How he rebuked it in Pharaoh! All through history, it may be seen how God has been continually abasing the proud, and giving grace to the humble.Psalms 119:22. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.He had lived honestly and uprightly, and yet men slandered him. Was there ever a man upon earth, who was good and true, who was not slandered? God himself was slandered in paradise by the old serpent, and the Lord Jesus was constantly being slandered by wicked men, so can any of us hope to escape the envenomed tongue of the slanderer? Yet it is very painful, and we may well pray to be delivered from it, especially if we can add, with the psalmist, “for I have kept thy testimonies.”Psalms 119:23. Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.Sometimes, men can bear what the commonalty say; but to have the great ones of the earth speaking against them, is thought by some to be very hard. The psalmist says, “Princes also did sit and speak against me.” What did he do under such circumstances? Did he rise up in anger, and answer them? Or did he sit down, and consider how he could defend himself against them? Far from it: “Thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.” He seems to say, “I did not think it was worth my while to leave the Scriptures, even for a moment, so as to speak to them; but I went on studying thy Word, and left them to say what they pleased.” We shall be wise if we do likewise.Psalms 119:24. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.While these princes were taking counsel against the psalmist, he also went and took Counsel’s advice against them; but that Counsel’s advice was the advice of the Word of God. He stuck to the Scriptures. Little as he had of them, yet that little he greatly prized. The Pentateuch furnished him with five inspired Counselors to whom he resorted in his time of need. Let us imitate his example, especially as we have the complete Canon of revelation to advise and counsel us.Psalms 119:25-28. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.The Word of the Lord is available for quickening, teaching, and strengthening. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” May that gracious Spirit, who inspired it, ever teach us its inner meaning! Psalms 119:21. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.Wherever there is pride in the heart, there is sure to be error in the life. A proud man is wrong, to begin with, and as long as he continues proud, he must be wrong. It is not possible for him to be right. God has rebuked him, and God has cursed him. How wise it would be of him to be humble. Remember we shall have either to be humble or to be humbled; and it is much better to be humble than to have to come under the humbling dispensations of God’s hand.Psalms 119:22. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.O Lord, do not suffer men to believe lies and slanders against me, or if they do let my conscience sustain my courage by the consciousness that I have kept thy testimonies.Psalms 119:23. Princes also did sit and speak against me:Had they nothing else to do, but talk against God’s servants? No; they sat down to do it with deliberation. “Princes also did sit and speak against me.”Psalms 119:23. But thy servant did.“Go to law with them?” No not so here. “But thy servant got in the face and defended himself?” No, no. Look, you will not read those words. But “Thy servant was broken-hearted about it to have the great men of the earth speaking against him?” No, it is not so either. “But thy servant did.”Psalms 119:23. Meditate in thy statutes,Is not that a very blessed and admirable way of enduring slander — simply to take your Bible and read a little more than usual? You will cure it so.Psalms 119:24. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.Because I love them and delight in them. I submit my life to their guidance. I go to thy Book to ask what I shall do. I consult it as the oracle of God. I take my doubts, and difficulties, and dilemmas there, and I find that they are all met. “Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors.”Psalms 119:25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.Ah! there is a note of sadness here. The Psalmist complains of himself. He found himself very sorrowful, and he could not get out of the sorrow; or he found himself very full of business cares, and he could not get rid of them. “My soul cleaveth to the dust” — as though it was stuck to the dust, and the duet to it, and could not rise. Then how sweet the prayer, “Quicken thou me.” “Didst thou not first make me of dust, and wilt thou not at the last quicken my mortal body out of the dust? Then, now, my Lord quicken thou me according to thy Word.” See, here is an evil complained of. He finds himself cleaving to the dust. Here is a remedy sought, “Quicken thou me.” And here is an argument pleaded with God — “according to thy Word.” There is a promise for it. Lord, fulfill thy word.Psalms 119:26. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.A confession had been made: “I have declared my ways.” That confession had been accepted: “Thou heardest me.” Then a petition is offered: “Teach me thy statutes.” “Thou seest that I confess how wrong I was. Now give me grace that I may not go wrong again.” May that be our spirit always.Psalms 119:27-28. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.“I am poured out like water,” says the Saviour. “My heart is like wax. It is melted in the midst of my bowels.” It is the greatness of pain, the greatness of fear, the greatness of sorrow, till he seems to melt away in the fire like wax. “For heaviness,” says he, “my soul melts. Then strengthen thou me.” Oh! it is so sweet to turn to God when your soul is burdened — to look to him, and say — not “deliver me.” Observe that, the child of God is not so anxious to get rid of trouble, as he is to know how to behave worthily under it. “Strengthen thou me, according to thy Word.” How he harps on that “according to thy Word.” The child of God does not expect God to do otherwise than he has promised to do, and he is quite content if the Lord will act according to his Word, for well does our poet put it: — “What more can he say than to you he hath said, — You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?” In this book, dear brother, whatever your trouble, there is a promise to meet it. If you lose a key and you send for the whitesmith, as a general rule, somewhere in that bunch of keys he has a key that will fit your lock. And so here is a bunch of keys, and there is a key here that will exactly fit the lock of your trouble whatever it may be, for God foresaw the circumstances of all his people, and prepared a promise for every circumstance.Psalms 119:29. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. “Take away the evil: give me the good.” “The way of lying.” Oh! it is a dreadful thing to get into that. There are some that have a way of doing it — some that do it jocosely, some that do it by implication. Some think it shrewd to deceive. “Remove from me the way of lying.” If truth should be banished from all the world besides, it ought to find a shelter in the breasts of Christians. The Christian man is forbidden to take an oath, because there should never be any necessity for it. His word — his, “Yea, yea” — his “Nay, nay” should always, be sufficient. Thank God it is, where the grace of God is.Psalms 119:30-31. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame. Here is, first, choice: “I have chosen the way of truth.” Here is his practically carrying it out: “Thy judgments have I laid before me.” Here is his perseverance in it: “I have stuck unto thy testimonies.” And then there is his prayer about it: “O Lord, put me not to shame.” And it is a prayer which is sure to be answered. “Truth may be blamed, but it cannot be shamed.” Truth is God’s daughter, and he will take care of her. If you have chosen the way of truth, it is a way in which, though some may censure and slander, your righteousness shall come forth, in due time, as the noonday.Psalms 119:32. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.“When I get liberty of heart, then will I take as my choice, thy ways.” The Christian is never so much at liberty as when he is under law to Christ. He knows the difference between licence and liberty. He has a liberty to do so he wills, because he wills to do as God wills him to do; and herein lies the only freedom which we desire. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 90 and Psalms 119:21-32. By the help of God’s Holy Spirit, this psalm may serve for the purposes of self-examination, for we may ask ourselves as we read, “Do I feel in that way? Are my prayers like those of this good man? Is my experience like his: “We may often ask ourselves, “Am I as watchful, and as careful, and as fond of God’s Word as he was?” Such questions will do us good.Psalms 119:25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.He does not like to feel the cleaving of his soul to the dust. There are some that feel it, but they seem content to continue in that condition; but no sooner does David feel it than he cries “Quicken thou me.” A sense of sin is of small value, unless it leads us to desire to escape out of it. “Quicken thou me.” I lie as dead as if it were dust to dust. My soul seems cleaving to it, as if it had come to its end, and meant to rest there; but, Lord, give me life. Thy Word promises me life. Thou hast ways laid down in thy Word for giving life. “Quicken thou me, according to thy Word.”Psalms 119:26. I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statues.I have told thee all about myself. Now tell me about thyself. “Teach me thy statutes.”Psalms 119:27. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.It is a bad thing to talk of what we do not understand and he who shall preach what he has never experienced is very likely to do so. Yet beloved, there is no understanding Gods precepts except he shall teach them to us. We are void of understanding. He must enlighten. He must instruct. “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts.” Some are very anxious to understand the doctrines, and some to understand the prophecies. All well and good, but “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts”, give me practical godliness, help me to live to thy praise, “so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.” I will not talk till thou hast taught me. But when thou hast taught me, then my subject shall be thy wondrous works. The wonderous work of making me to understand thee shall be something to speak about, and all the wondrous works of nature, and providence, and grace shall be the subject of my continual conversation.Psalms 119:28. My soul melteth for heaviness:For the best of men sometimes suffer the sharpest sorrows. Hearts of stone are not likely to be so sensitive as hearts of flesh. “My soul melted for heaviness.”Psalms 119:28. Strengthen thou me according unto thy word.He wants strength, but he does not want to obtain it in any way, but the way of God’s appointment. “According unto thy Word.” Somewhat like our hymn, which says: — “He that suffered in my stead, Shall my physician be I will not be comforted Till Jesus comforts me.” “Strengthen thou me,” but let it be “according to thy Word.”Psalms 119:29. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.Let me not lie. Let me not be tempted to lie. Let me not be pestered with the falsehoods of others. Remove the way of lying far from me, and oh! by thy grace, give me to know the law. That is a remarkable combination of words. “Grant me thy law graciously.” Has law anything to do with grace? Yes, such a law as he speaks of — the law in the heart — the law in the hand of Christ — the law written in the life of the believer — not the law of merit and of salvation by works, but “grant me thy law graciously.”Psalms 119:30. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.As a seaman spreads out the chart before him, that he may follow the right channel, and not miss his track — as a traveler spreads out his map that he may keep to the right way, “I have chosen the way of truth. Thy judgments have I laid before me.”Psalms 119:31. I have stuck unto thy testimonies:As if I were glued to them — sealed to them. They said I was very old-fashioned. They said I did not keep pace with the times. They said I was not a man of thought. I did not care about that. “I have stuck unto thy testimonies.”Psalms 119:31. O LORD, put me not to shame.And he never will. If we stick to him, we may be quite sure that we shall came forth out of every difficulty and every opposition triumphantly. “Put me not to shame.” And although he thus spoke, yet you perceive the activity of his soul.Psalms 119:32. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.Give my heart freedom. Knock off my fetters. Take away my heaviness Remove from me my ignorance. Give my soul room, and she will run, but it will be in the ways of thy commandments.Psalms 119:33. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.Here is the art of finally persevering. Here is the way of continuing to the end, and the same shall be saved. We must begin with a teachable spirit. He that is not willing to learn has not begun right. We aught to disciple all nations, but he that will not learn is not yet discipled. “Teach me.” But the teaching we must have must come from God. “Teach me, O Lord. I am not content to have the Word second-hand. Be thou my schoolmaster. Teach me, O Lord. I shall never learn unless thou teach me. Thou who didst make me, thou who didst give me a new heart, thou must write that law upon my heart, or it will never be written there. Teach me, O Lord. Teach me the way of thy statutes. Teach me practical godliness. So teach it to me that I shall learn it, and put it into practice and if I be taught of thee, then I shall keep it unto the end; not else.”Psalms 119:34. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.A want of understanding is a very great lack. There is little wonder that men turn aside from an outward religion which has never taken possession of their thoughts and minds. If they only subscribe to the creed which they have never studied — if they only carry out a life — the mere shell of a life — the inward principles of which they do not know, they will soon turn aside. “Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law.”Psalms 119:35. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.“Not only teach me the way, but make me to go in it. Take hold of me as a mother does of her little child, and teach me how to walk, and help me in the walking.” Make me to go. It is a feeble word — a most expressive prayer. “Make me to go for therein do I delight.” When a man delights in God’s way, he will be sure to be made to go in it.Psalms 119:36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,Bend it that way — incline it.Psalms 119:36. And not to covetousness.For, naturally, my heart would go after the world, and cleave to its riches and its treasures, and begin to covet, but, Lord, bend it the other way. If you do not love God’s testimonies, the tendency will be to become a lover of the world. “Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.”Psalms 119:37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;Or “make mine eyes to pass from beholding vanity.” I am a runner in the race. Do not let me stop to look at anything, but may my eyes pass by vanity. Let me not be like her in the fable who paused to gather the golden apples in the race, and so lost it and was deceived. If the world’s golden apples are thrown in my way, make my eyes to pass from beholding vanity.Psalms 119:37. And quicken thou me in thy way.More life towards thee will deaden me to the world. The more I follow after God, the less shall I care to follow after the world.Psalms 119:38. Stablish thy word unto thy servant,Make it fast, firm, sure.Psalms 119:38. Who is devoted to thy fear.I am established in thee. Establish the Word to me. Thou has bound me fast to thy altar. Oh! give me the fast blessings and sure mercies of David.Psalms 119:39. Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.I fear lest I bring a reproach upon thee, and then upon myself. Oh! suffer me not to do so. I am not afraid of the reproach of the world. I count the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. But, oh! let them never have to charge me with sin, and let me not fall into such pecuniary difficulties or other troubles, that men will be able to make a charge against me out of them. Help me to provide things honest in the sight of all men. “Take away my reproach, which I fear, for thy judgments are good.”Psalms 119:40. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness. Psalms 119:33. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; —The psalmist is constantly talking about “the way.” We have that expression in the 27th verse, then in the 29th, the 30th, and the 32nd; and now again we have it here: “Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes;” —Psalms 119:33-34. And I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.That is not true or right understanding which permits us to go into sin; those who are really wise in heart hate evil and love righteousness.Psalms 119:35. Make me to go in the path —Or, say —Psalms 119:35. Of thy commandment; for therein do I delight.“Make me to go.” Not only show me the way, but make me to go, like a nurse does with a child when she puts her hands under its arms, and strengthens its tottering footsteps. This is a very beautiful expression: “Make me to go.” Lord, we are very weak; we are like little children; make us to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do we delight.Psalms 119:36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.The heart must love something; it will either love that which is good, or that which is evil. “O Lord,” the psalmist seems to pray, “incline my heart in the right direction. Make it lean towards that which is good; cause me to count thy grace better than all the riches of the world.”Psalms 119:37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;“Do not let me even look at it, for one may look at an ugly thing until the sense of its deformity gradually disappears, and it becomes attractive. Lord, never let me so fix my eyes upon sin that, at last, I come to reckon it a desirable thing.”Psalms 119:37. And quicken thou me in thy way.A man who travels quickly has not time to stop and look at the things in the road. Lord, let me go so fast to heaven that, when the devil hangs his baubles in his shop-window, I may not have time even to stop and look at them: ‘Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.’Psalms 119:38. Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.That is, “Make thy word to me real and true. Put away my natural skepticism, my proneness to question, my tendency to doubt.” “Stablish thy word.” “Make me to know how firm, how true, how real it is, for I would love it more and more. I do believe it, for I am devoted to thy fear, but I long to be still further established in the faith.”Psalms 119:39. Turn away my reproach which I fear:Are any of you fearing reproach? If so, you may well fear it, for you deserve it; yet, even then, you may ask the Lord to turn it away from you.Psalms 119:39-40. For thy judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:Some people, whom I know, long after the promises, and others long after the doctrines. I hope that they will all get an equal longing for the precepts, for true believers love the precepts as much as they love the promises or the doctrines: “Behold, I have longed after thy precepts.”Psalms 119:40. Quicken me in thy righteousness.This exposition consisted of readings from Genesis 32. and Psalms 119:33-40. Psalms 119:64-67. The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy statutes. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O LORD, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted I went astray: —Prosperity had been to the psalmist like the gap in the hedge through which the sheep wander from the shepherd; but affliction had been to him like the prickly bushes that often stop the sheep from wandering still further, so he says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray:” —Psalms 119:67. But now have I kept thy word.What a benefit, then, affliction had been to him; and what a blessing it often is to us! So, instead of dreading it, as we usually do, we ought to welcome it, and be on the look-out for the blessing which is to come to us through it. Many a child of God has joined with Dr. Watts in singing, — “Father, I bless thy gentle hand; How kind was thy chastising rod; That forced my conscience to a stand, And brought my wandering soul to God! “Foolish and vain, I went astray Ere I had felt thy scourges, Lord; I left my guide, and lost my way; But now I love and keep thy Word.”Psalms 119:68. Thou art good, and doest good;What a delightful description this is of God and his works! Who is good? Our Lord Jesus supplies the answer, “There is none good but one, that is, God.” And his works are like himself: “Thou art good, and doest good.”Psalms 119:68. Teach me thy statutes.In the 25th Psalm, David wrote, “Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way;” and here, because the Lord is good, and does good, the psalmist prays, “Teach me thy statutes.” He will teach us that which is good because he is himself good. What a blessing it is for us to have such a Teacher! How wonderful it is that God should be so condescending as to take us into his school!Psalms 119:69. The proud have forged a lie against me:They have kept on hammering away until they have finished the falsehood; they have “forged” it, as one forges a deadly weapon in the fire.Psalms 119:69. But I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.“It is no use for me to trouble about them. When they have forged one lie, they will probably forge another, and there is practically no end to that black business. It is no use for me to try to answer them; I will turn to a far more profitable occupation: ‘I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.’”Psalms 119:70. Their heart is as fat as grease;Insensible, lifeless; — they have no conscience, no feeling; they are so proud of their prosperity that they are afflicted with fatty degeneration of the heart.Psalms 119:70. But I delight in thy law.What a blessing it is for us to find our fatness there, — to delight in the marrow and fatness of God’s law!Psalms 119:71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.The psalmist, was so impressed with the benefits which he had derived from his afflictions, that he returned to the subject: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” There is much teaching power about God’s rod. He always keeps one in his school, and it is greatly needed for such dull scholars as we are. Many a child of God can repeat the psalmist’s testimony: “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” “Thou hast whipped a little knowledge into me, and not much has come in any other way.”Psalms 119:72. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.David had a great deal of gold and silver, far more than any of us have; but yet he thought very little of it in comparison with God’s law. Many people despise gold and silver because they have not got any. The fox said the grapes were sour because they were beyond his reach. But here is a case, in which a man had as much gold and silver as he could ever want; yet he says that the law of God’s mouth was better than all of it, and he was wise in saying so. For gold and silver can be stolen; riches often take to themselves wings, and fly away; even great wealth may soon be spent and gone; but God’s law never leaves those who love it, nor lets them lose it. When all our spending money is gone, then is the commandment of God our treasure still. Happy is everyone who can say, with David, “The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.” In this Psalm we have, as it were, notes from David’s pocket book.Psalms 119:73. Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.This is a very instructive prayer; the psalmist does as good as say, “Lord, thou hast made me once- make me over again. Thou hast made my body; mould my spirit, form my character, give me understanding.” If God should make us, and then leave us without understanding, what imperfect creations we should be! A man devoid of understanding is only a blood and bone creation; and therefore the psalmist does well to pray, “Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding.” But what sort of an understanding is desired? That I may learn to discuss and dispute? No: “that I may learn thy commandments;” for holiness is the best of wisdom, and the surest proof of a right understanding is obedience to God’s commandments.Psalms 119:74. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.A hopeful godly man is a continual source of joy to other people. When a man can inspire hope in his fellows, and he cannot do that unless he is full of hope himself, he lights a fire of comfort. Bring such a man into a storm, and he helps you to be brave. “They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.”Psalms 119:75. I knew, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.We are glad to listen to a man who can tell us that, an old man, a tried man, who can say that God has been faithful in afflicting him, a man who, after having borne the brunt of tribulation, can yet bless God for it. Such testimonies as these are full of joy and gladness to the young folk; they can encounter trial with a joyous heart when they hear what their fathers tell of the goodness of God to them in their troubles.Psalms 119:76. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.“Lord,” he seems to say, “I have been a comfort to others; be thou a comfort to me. Thou hast made others glad to see me; make me glad with the recollection of all my experience of thy mercy: ‘Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort.’” If you have lost your own comfort, dear friends, see where you are to look for it, to the merciful kindness of God. Those are two beautiful words, are they not? “Merciful”-take that to pieces, and it is mercy-full. Is not God full of mercy? Take the next word to pieces-“kindness.” That means, “kinned-ness”-that kind of feeling that we have to our own kin when they are very dear to us. “Lord, let thy mercy-full kinned-ness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant.”Psalms 119:77. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live:“I am so broken down, my bones are so full of pain, that if thou dost handle me roughly, I shall die: ‘Let thy tender mercies come unto me.’ I am like a poor flower whose stalk is almost broken through, ready to droop and die; let thy tender mercies bind me up, that I may live.”Psalms 119:77. For thy law is my delight.God will not let a man die who delights in his law. You are the sort of man who shall live. If you love the law of God, the Word of God, the will of God, the way of God, he will not let you die. There are none too many of your sort in the world, so the Lord will keep you alive so long as you can serve him here.Psalms 119:78. Let the proud be ashamed; for they dealt perversely with me without a cause: but I will meditate in thy precepts.That is a delightful turning of the subject: “They dealt perversely with me, without a cause;” but David does not say, “I will envy the proud,” or, “I will be spiteful to them,” “I will fret myself because of them.” No; he seems to say, “They may do what they will; but I will meditate in thy precepts.” When anyone has treated you contemptuously, or dealt perversely with you without a cause, instead of resenting it, get to your Bible, meditate in God’s precepts. It is the noblest and at the same time the most successful way of fighting against contempt, so to despise the despising of men as to rejoice in your thoughts of God and his truth.Psalms 119:79. Let those that fear thee turn unto me, and those that have known thy testimonies.“Lord, make me such a man that they who fear thee may seek my acquaintance. Of thy great mercy grant that, if any of them have turned away from me through hearing slanderous reports about me, they may be inclined now to come back to me, for I love them, and I would not willingly offend them. ‘Let those that fear thee turn unto me.’”Psalms 119:80. Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.When the heart is right with God, there will be no need to be ashamed. Though you may make some mistakes and blunders, because you are human, yet, if you are sincere, shame shall not overtake you. What a blessing it is to have a sound heart! But when the heart is spiritually unsound, the profession is always in danger. The other day, a friend of ours was taken from us almost in an instant through heart disease; and when Judas sells his Master, or when Demas turns aside to the silver mines of earth, it is the result of heart disease. There are many who go about in the Christian Church with a ruddy face, and apparently with great strength of religion; but on a sudden they prove apostates. Yes, that is the effect of heart disease. Therefore, pray very earnestly with the psalmist, “Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.”Psalms 119:81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.What! faint and hoping, too? Yes, a Christian man is a wonder and a contradiction to many, and most of all to himself. He cannot understand himself; he faints, and yet he hopes. Two apparently opposite emotions may be at the same time in the Christian bosom. Every man is two men, if he is a man in Christ Jesus; I sometimes think that there is a triplet of characters in every man of God, so that he has three different experiences at the same time. Certainly he can have two, for here we have them: “My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.”Psalms 119:82. Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?“I look for it till my eyes ache; I strain my eyes to see thy word, watching for it till my vision grows dull in waiting: ‘Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying.”’ Oh, then, his eyes could speak! Yes, eyes can say a great many things; and blessed are the eyes that have learned to say this: “When wilt thou comfort me?” It is a good way of praying, sometimes, to say nothing at all, but to sit still and look up. The eyes can say what lips and tongue cannot, so learn well the language of the eyes, and talk to God with them, even as he talks to you with his eyes. “I will guide thee,” says he, “with mine eye.” Be you, therefore, able to speak to God with your eyes, as David was when he wrote, “Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?”Psalms 119:83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke;An old dried-up skin bottle, that is hung in the smoke of the tent over the fire, till it is wrinkled and cracked, and almost good for nothing.Psalms 119:83. Yet do I not forget thy statutes.“Beauty is gone, strength is gone, comeliness is gone; but not my memory of thy word, O Lord.” What a mercy it is that, when the worst comes to the worst with us, still the best remains: “I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.”Psalms 119:84. How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?“Lord, I have but a short life; let me not have a long affliction.” Does he mean, “Lord, I have lived too long in this miserable state; I wish my days were shortened”? We must not murmur at the length of our days, but we may plead that persecution may come to an end. We may even go so far as to say with David, “How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?”Psalms 119:85. The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.It is not often that proud men take to digging; but here, you see, these children of the pit learn to dig pits for God’s people; and they have not given over the practice yet. Pits were dug in olden times to catch wild beasts; but now, often, the wicked dig pits to try to catch good men, seeking if they can to make a fault where there is none, or to lead us into a line of conduct which they shall be able to represent unfavorably: “The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.”Psalms 119:86. All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.What a prayer that is! Store it up for use, dear friend, carry it home with you. That is the kind of prayer to be prayed on the roadside, in a railway carriage, ay, even in an accident: “Help thou me.” “Help thou me,” is a wonderful prayer, it seems to turn on a swivel whichever way you wish; you may use it to ask for anything you need in every time of emergency: “Help thou me.”Psalms 119:87. They had almost consumed me upon earth;“They had almost eaten me up; they had almost burned my life out. Blessed be God, they could not consume me anywhere except upon earth! My immortal part would escape the burning of their coals of juniper. They had almost consumed me, but almost is not altogether.” When God delivers his people from the lion and the bear, the jaws of the wild beasts may be almost closed, yet they shall be opened wide enough for us to escape: “They had almost consumed me upon earth.”Psalms 119:87. But I forsook not thy precepts.You cleave to the right, and God will not turn away from you, nor will he let you turn away from his precepts.Psalms 119:88. Quicken me after thy lovingkindness;That is a blessed prayer for us to offer. If any of you feel dull and drowsy, if any of you are heavy and slow in your movements, cry, to the Lord, “Quicken me after thy lovingkindness.”Psalms 119:88. So shall I keep the testimony of thy month.Spiritual life is the root of holiness: “Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.” May God bless this reading to our instruction! Amen. Psalms 119:81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.The ship rocks, but the anchor holds; the singer is ready to faint, but he is not ready to despair. He knows where his restoring will come.Psalms 119:82. Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?What a mercy it is to have our eyes on God’s word, full as it is of blessing to be waiting till the blessing comes out of it! Mine eyes watch thy word, that is so full of the rain of comfort; and I say to myself, “When will it descend and refresh me? When will the clouds let fall their silver drops upon my thirsty soul?”Psalms 119:83. For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statues.I feel dried up, besmeared and besmirched as with soot, my very beauty is gone from me, and my usefulness too. I am not fit to hold anything, but I have become like a skin bottle that is parched up; yet for all that I have a memory of thy word: the smoke and the heat have not dried out of me the flavour of that good old “wine on the lees well refined” that once filled my heart.Psalms 119:84. How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?“How many are the days of thy servant;” or rather, how few they are be; not long in coming to me, lest I die whilst thou art still on the road.Psalms 119:85. The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.They might make pits for lions and tigers, but not for sheep. These pits were not after God’s law. There are still cruel enemies who would, if they could, entrap the people of God; shall not this make us feel what a great mercy it is we have one to be our guardian and defender who knows where the pitfalls are?Psalms 119:86. All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully;There is a fine prayer for us every day in the week: “Help thou me.” Lord, I am helpless if thou do not help me. Thou art the helper of Israel: he that keepeth Israel will not slumber nor sleep. “Help thou me.”Psalms 119:87. They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.“They had almost consumed me upon earth.” They seemed as if they would swallow me up entirely, “but I forsook not thy precepts,” and therefore they could not consume me; I was invulnerable and invincible because I stuck to rectitude and kept to thy precepts.Psalms 119:88-89. Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.There is not a new divine word, or a new gospel, or a new law; but it is a settled gospel, a settled law, a settled revelation, “settled in heaven,” stereotyped, fixed, made permanent. If perfect, then unalterable, if alterable, then would it be imperfect.Psalms 119:90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.“Thy faithfulness is unto all generations.” Thou who wast true to Abraham wilt be true to David; thou who wast true to David wilt be true to me. Thou art ever faithful to thine own nature and Godhead. “Thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.” It would rot out of its place, it would rush into space like a truant planet if thou didst not hold it where it is. Thou, therefore, wilt hold thy gospel where it is, and thy servants where they are.Psalms 119:91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.The fixed laws of the universe have their analogy in the fixed rules of revelation. Are not all material things thy servants, and they are kept; thou wilt therefore keep us.Psalms 119:92-93. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.We may well keep to that which is our life. If God’s precepts breed life in us and then quicken us, and so renew that life, let us stand to them, be obedient to them, and that at all times.Psalms 119:94. I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.“I am thine, save me.” Oh, what a sweet assertion. “I am thine,” — thy creature, thy redeemed one, thy chosen, thine espoused. “I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.”Psalms 119:95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:Let them wait.Psalms 119:95. But I will consider thy testimonies.I will not consider them, they are not worth it, they would only distract or distress me. I will keep my thoughts fixed upon thy word, and so shall I be at peace and escape from their malice.Psalms 119:96. I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.Yes: all perfection in the creature! In very deed it is an attribute of the Creator, and whether it be true or false, whether men have the excellence they boast of, or have it not, there must be an end to it all, either as to its extent or its duration; but thy commandment has no limit, it covers everything; and it has no termination; it endures for ever. “Thy commandment is exceeding broad.” Psalms 119:89. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.Other things come, and go, and change, moons wax and wane, tides ebb and flow, everything earthly is changeable; but “Thy word is settled —settled in heaven,” with the eternal settlements. No truth of it can fail, no promise of it can be broken. What a joy this is to our hearts tonight! There is something sure, after all: “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.”Psalms 119:90. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.That is, God has spoken to nature, and that word has established the earth, and made it to stand securely.Psalms 119:91. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.It was God’s word that made the sun, and the moon, and the stars; and it is God’s word that bids creation still exist. And that is the almighty word upon which you and I are resting, if we are truly trusting in the living God. “His very word of grace is strong As that which built the skies; The voice that rolls the stars along Speaks all the promises.”Psalms 119:92. Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.Let us remember how God’s word has kept some of us alive when we had nothing else to live upon. Hope would have quite failed, and we should have been driven to despair, if it had not been for the precious, priceless word of God.Psalms 119:93. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.Nothing sharpens the memory like having been quickened. If we have been at death’s door, and the word of God has brought us renewed life, we shall never forget it.Psalms 119:94-96. I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies. I have seen an end of all perfection:No matter who it is that boasts of being perfect, “I have seen an end of all perfection.”Psalms 119:96. But thy commandment —There lies the perfection — Psalms 119:96. Is exceeding broad.Covering the whole life, covering the thoughts, the intents, the desires of the inner and secret nature.Psalms 119:97-98. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.If we have God’s law always with us, we shall be wiser than the most crafty of our enemies; for, after all, there is nothing that puzzles and baffles cunning men like simple honesty. Do that which is right, and you will cut through the nets in which men would entangle you. They cannot trip you up if your feet are settled in God’s ways.Psalms 119:99-100. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.There is more wisdom in obeying God than in all the ethics of heathen philosophers. It matters not whence they take their precepts and maxims, there is no wisdom like yielding one’s heart to God.Psalms 119:101-104. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.The man who cannot hate does not love; but he who loves that which is right, is by no means indifferent to the wrong and to the false; he hates it, and the more intensely he loves God, and loves right, the more intensely does be hate every false way. Especially does he hate it in himself. Oh, to be delivered altogether from every trace of falsehood!Psalms 119:105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.It shows me the way; it cheers me in the way; it reveals to me the difficulties of the way.Psalms 119:106-107. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.Are any of you afflicted tonight? I commend this prayer to your use. One would have expected that David would have prayed, “I am afflicted very much: comfort me, O Lord.” Or, “Relieve me, O Lord.” Instead of praying so, he cries, “Quicken me, O Lord,” and he did well. Let us imitate him, for if we get more spiritual light and life, we shall, by that means, get more comfort, and the trouble from which we are suffering will soon cease to vex our spirit.Psalms 119:108-112. Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments. My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.Oh, that every one of us might be able to make this declaration of the psalmist our own! God grant it, for Christ’s sake! Amen. We will read tonight two of the stanzas which make up the 119th Psalm, beginning at the 105th verse.Psalms 119:105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.God’s Word is full of brilliance; it is always giving out its blessed light. It casts a light upon all our daily life. It is a light for the house, and a light for the way, and happy is the man who never walks abroad without this lantern to light up his pathway. There are many pitfalls on the road, and many places where the traveler’s garments may soon be besmeared, so he has great need of this light to guide him.Psalms 119:106. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.I scarcely remember ever hearing of a man swearing, and then approving of it, but this kind of swearing is right enough: “I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.” We are to determine, with the most vehement resolution, that, God helping us, we will keep his righteous judgments; for, if we have only a weak resolution, we usually fall short even of our own determination. What shall we do then if that determination is itself weak? Some of us have lifted our hands to heaven, and pledged ourselves to the living God that we will be his faithful people. “High heaven, that heard the solemn vow, That vow renewed shall daily hear.”Psalms 119:107. I am afflicted very much:-Here is a good man, a better man than most of us, a man who is determined to do right, yet he gets into trouble because he is determined to do right. God’s wheat will be threshed, his gold will be put into the furnace. If you were worth nothing to him, God might not take the trouble to afflict you; but when you are resolved to do right, you may expect that resolution to be tried and tested; and if it is worth anything, it will stand the trial. “I am afflicted very much:”-what will be the next words, “Lord, deliver me”? No, no.” Lord, bring me out of the furnace”? Nothing of the sort.” I am afflicted very much:”-Psalms 119:107. Quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word.“Give me more spiritual life; give me more spiritual strength; that is what I most need.” Oftentimes, that prayer is answered by the affliction itself. We are afflicted very much, and by that very affliction the Lord quickens our graces, strengthens our souls, drives away many of our wandering thoughts, and brings us nearer to himself.Psalms 119:108. Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD,-“My prayers, my praises, my testimonies, my ministries, accept them all, O Lord,”-Psalms 119:108. And teach me thy judgment.He who teaches others needs teaching himself. He who hopes that what he says will be accepted by those who hear it opens his ear to hear what God says to him. There will be no acceptance of what thou sayest to others unless thou dost accept what God says to thee.Psalms 119:109. My soul is continually in my hand:David’s life was often in jeopardy. Saul hunted him as a partridge upon the mountains. He was sometimes very sick, and ready to die. Perhaps also, at times, he was in such great sorrow that he felt as if his soul was a thing that he held in his hand. We do not know exactly where our soul is, but we usually think of it as being somewhere in the very center of our being. David says that he had his soul in his hand, where he might at any time lose it; but what else does he say?Psalms 119:109. Yet do I not forget thy law.“If I have even to die for it, I am willing to die for it. If I have to lay down my life because I will do right, I will do right even while I lay down my life.”Psalms 119:110. The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.“If I had done so, I should have been caught in their snare, but as I kept straight on in the way of thy precepts, it little mattered how many snares they laid for me.”Psalms 119:111. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever:-Some take their own thoughts for their heritage, but it is a poor portion for anyone to have. Some take other men’s philosophies for their heritage, but such a heritage as that is soon gone. But some of us can say, with regard to the eternal and immutable truth of God, that we have got such a grip of it that we cannot give it up. There may come a thousand other changes; but, by God’s grace, there will be no change in this matter: “Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever:”-Psalms 119:111. For they are the rejoicing of my heart. Well may a man love that which rightly makes him glad. Shall we ever forsake that which is the source of our greatest comfort? If some men had greater gladness in the gospel, they would be more true to it. If they had ever eaten the sweet, and enjoyed the fat things full of marrow, they would never go away from the old old gospel which has made their hearts so glad.Psalms 119:112-113. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statues always, even unto the end. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.Notice that the word “vain” is not in the original, the psalmist wrote, “I hate thoughts,” yet the word for thoughts includes the idea of mere thoughts. So, if any teaching in the world is the result of human thought alone, you may not rely upon it for a moment, for the Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity,” and they never will be anything better than that. The thoughts even of the most profound and the best instructed of men will not bear the weight and pressure of an immortal soul’s eternal interests. Revelation is the one reliable thing that we can rest upon. What God has spoken is all true, but as for what men have thought, I have been so often disappointed and deceived that I can say, with the psalmist, “I hate mere thoughts: but thy law do I love.” In the law of the Lord there are verities, certainties, immutabilities, here may we abide, and rest securely.Psalms 119:114. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.For thou wilt be sure to do as thou hast said. Thy promises are not like men’s, they cannot be broken, and when I get one of thy promises, O my God, I hide behind it, I am protected by it, and I am comforted through it.Psalms 119:115. Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.Holy men often find that, in order to be holy, they have to be solitary. It sometimes happens that the force of evil companionship is too much for the gracious heart to bear, and the Christian man has to say to the ungodly, “Depart from me.” Now, if even godly David had to say to evil-doers “Depart from me,” you need not wonder that the Lord Jesus Christ will one day say to all impenitent men, “Depart from me, ye evil-doers.” If we keep the commandments of our God, we shall often have to walk in a separate path from the ungodly; and even if we do not keep ourselves to ourselves, we shall keep ourselves to our God.Psalms 119:116. Uphold me- I thought we should soon come to that petition. We have been reading about David’s resolutions, and we might have thought that he was too bold in speaking so positively, but now he shows us the modesty of his mind: “Uphold me”-Psalms 119:116. According unto thy word, that I may live:The Lord upholds us as a nurse holds up a little child, and teaches him to walk. “Uphold me,” O Lord, for I cannot stand by myself. My good resolutions will soon evaporate unless thou dost sustain me. There is a gracious promise which just answers this petition, “I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”Psalms 119:116. And let me not be ashamed of my hope.O my God, never let me have to say that I have hoped in thee in vain! I know I never shall, but I trust to thee not to disappoint me. “Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth me ”Psalms 119:117. Hold thou, me up,- One is fond of that short, simple prayer, first it is, “Uphold me,” and then, “Hold me up;” either way it is equally good: “Hold thou me up,”-Psalms 119:117. And I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually.When God holds us up, there is no fear of our falling down; we have respect unto his statutes when he has respect unto us.Psalms 119:118-119. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross:-Perhaps some of you have seen the great heaps of slag lying outside the furnace, that is a picture of the ungodly: “Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross:”-Psalms 119:119. Therefore I love thy testimonies.What! does love to the truth, and to the God of truth spring out of this putting away of the wicked? Yes, even the stern justice of God makes his people love him, and love his truth. I am of the same mind as the children of Israel were when Pharaoh and his army were swallowed up in the Red Sea, and the emancipated slaves sang unto the Lord who had triumphed so gloriously. Some cannot do that because their sympathy is so entirely with the wicked, but the destruction of all that is evil creates a flow of joy in the heart of the true believer. Still, it is a fearsome joy, full of holy awe and trembling.Psalms 119:120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.Well may we also tremble when we see how terrible God is out of his holy places. There is a fear which is akin to love. As there is a fear which perfect love casts out, so is there another fear which love dandles on her knee, and such is the fear which David felt. May we too ever have that holy awe of God in our hearts! Amen. Psalms 119:1-3. I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.Presumptuous thoughts, erroneous thoughts, wicked thoughts, foolish thoughts,-all three David hated. A good man ought to be a good hater, as well as a good lover. What should he hate? He should hate sin thoughts. What should he love? He should love the law of the Lord. If we do not hate sin in the very egg, we shall not be likely to hate it in its fuller development. The very thought of sin must be detestable to us; and if we do not think of evil, we shall not speak evil, nor do evil. We ought to begin with David at the beginning, and say, “I hate vain thoughts;” yet negative religion is not sufficient, so we should go on to the positive form: “‘Thy law do I love;’ and I love it so much that I wish I could always keep it, and never transgress it, and never forget it.”Psalms 119:114. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.“Thou art my protection against every kind of danger.” David had been accustomed to hide in the caves of the mountains, but now he says that he hid himself in his God. When he did not hide, but stood out bravely against the serried ranks of his foes, then God was his shield to cover him in the day of battle.Psalms 119:115. Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.If, by your evil example, you would take me off from serving my God, I will make you take yourselves off so that I may neither see nor follow your ill example: “Depart from me, ye evil-doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.” David puts his foot down firmly, and says, “I will keep the commandments of my God.” It is a grand thing to be able to speak of “my God.” Another man’s God would be of little use to me, but when he is my own God, my God in covenant relationship, then I may well say, “I will keep the commandments of my God.”Psalms 119:116. Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live:“Lord, I cannot even live unless thou dost uphold me according to thy promise.” The Christian man is so dependent upon God that he owes his life and the continuance of it to upholding grace.Psalms 119:116. And let me not be ashamed of my hope.“If thy promise could fail me, then I should have cause to be ashamed of my hope. Therefore, O Lord, let me never at any time have the shadow of a doubt concerning the truthfulness of thy promises, lest I should begin to be ashamed of my hope!”Psalms 119:117-118. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I will have respect unto thy statutes continually. Thou hast trodden down all them that err from thy statutes: for their deceit is falsehood.“They are like salt that has lost its savour, which is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out, and tread it under their feet; and this is what thou doest with ungodly men, especially with those ‘that err from thy statutes.’ Then treadest them beneath thy feet, ‘for their deceit is falsehood.’ They try to make it look like truth, but it is falsehood all the while.” How much of deceit there is in this world which men gloss and varnish so that the thing looks right enough though all the while it is deception and a sham! May God keep us from all the trickeries and falsehoods and errors of the age!Psalms 119:119. Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross: “As the dross is thrown away when the useful metal has been extracted from it, so, O Lord, when thou hast taken all thy saints out of the world thou will put the wicked of the earth away like dross.”Psalms 119:119. Therefore I love thy testimonies.What? Does David love God’s testimonies because they are thus severe? Yes, for it is the mark of a true believer that he does not kick against the severities of his God. Worldlings can rejoice in the god of this age, who is said to be nothing but effeminate benevolence, but the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob is the God of justice, who will by no means spare iniquity; and for that very reason a true believer says, with David, “I love thy testimonies.”Psalms 119:120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments.This is the man who truly loves God, and this is the kind of fear that perfect love does not cast out. Though we love God supremely, we become for that very reason God-fearing men, and dread to do anything that would cause him anger or sorrow.Psalms 119:121. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.When a man is conscious of doing right, he has a good ground of appeal to God. If, when it was in your power, you did not oppress others, you may plead with God that he will not let others oppress you. If it has been your habit to act with judgment and justice towards others, you may respect that God will defend you against all your oppressors.Psalms 119:122-123. Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation,-“I have looked for it so long, I have longed for it so eagerly, that my eyes seem to grow inflamed with watching, a film seems to come over them so that I cannot see out of them: ‘Mine eyes fail for thy salvation.’”Psalms 119:123. And for the word of thy righteousness.“I look for no salvation except in the way revealed in thy Word, and I do not wish thee to do an unrighteous thing even to save me from my oppressors.”Psalms 119:124. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,-He dare not ask to be dealt with by God on any other ground than that of mercy. Though he is innocent of that which the ungodly laid to his charge, he is not innocent before God, and therefore he pleads for mercy. He owns that God is his Lord and Master, and that he is God’s servant, and as a man should deal mercifully with his servant he pleads that God will so deal with him: “Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy,” —Psalms 119:124. And teach me thy statutes.He had kept God’s statutes so far as the eyes of men could see; but, before God, he takes a humbler position, and begs to be taught what he is to do, asks to be instructed, like a child, in the statutes of his God.Psalms 119:125. I am thy servant;-This is the third time in four verses that David mentions this relationship; he seems proud of being God’s servant. Though he were but as a menial, yet would he glory in it: “I am thy servant;” —Psalms 119:125. Give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.“Lord, do not merely teach me, but give me understanding.” That is what our teachers cannot do. They may put the truth before us so plainly that we ought to understand it, but they cannot give us understanding.Psalms 119:126. It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.And surely this is an age in which this prayer is very suitable. On all hands we see God’s law ridiculed, or denied, or travestied, or else hidden under tradition or under the dicta of so-called scientific men, or in some way or other “made void.” Oh, that God’s right hand of grace might be stretched out to do some miracle of mercy in the land at this very time!Psalms 119:127. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.“Therefore” — because the wicked tasted God’s law, and made it void, David loved it all the more. It is a live fish that swims against the stream, it is a live man of God who can say, “They have made void thy law, Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yes, above fine gold.”Psalms 119:128. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right;-“Ungodly men think they are wrong; that is an additional proof to me that they are right.” When a certain old philosopher had been praised by a bad man, he asked, “What have I done amiss that he should speak well of me?” And there are some men’s mouths out of which the praise of Christ or the praise of the Scriptures would be to God’s dishonour. They tell me that So-and-so spoke blasphemously against Christ; but why should he not do so? It is natural for him to be a blasphemer. When serpents hiss, do they not act according to their nature? I do not read that Christ stopped men’s mouths when they blasphemed him, but I do know that when the demons bore witness to him, he silenced them, for he liked not to be praised by diabolical mouths. Let ungodly men say what they may, we know the value of their speeches, and we are not troubled by them.Psalms 119:128. And I hate every false way.Again David mentions his hatred of all falseness. Some men are such “chips in the porridge” that they neither love nor hate; but the believer is a man who has both loves and aversions. He loves the truth, and therefore he hates every false way. Psalms 119:119-121. Thou putteth away all the wicked of the earth like dross: therefore I love thy testimonies. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments. I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.Eastern kings cannot often say as much as this, but David had been a just king. This was for his comfort when he himself came under unjust treatment. “I have done judgment and justice: leave me not to mine oppressors.” It is of the same tenor as another prayer: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” God often deals with men as they deal with others: “With the forward, he will show himself forward”; “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” May our conduct be such that, though we plead no merit, yet we may dare to mention it in prayer.Psalms 119:122. Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.As nearly as I remember, this is the only verse which does not mention the law or the Word of God. Here you have a “surety,” and that is something even better. If the law fails us, the surety stands us in good stead. How I like to think of God the surety of his people! When there is a trial against them, and the oppressor is heavy upon them, they can come to God to be a surety for them in the great action of life. “Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.” My Master is surety for his servants; his servant is sure enough.Psalms 119:123. Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.I have looked until I have looked my eyes out: I am weary with waiting, with watching, with weeping: “Mine eyes fail for thy salvation.” Some do not even look for him. Here is a man who looked until his very eyes gave out.Psalms 119:124. Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.He is a just man; he can plead that he has done justly; but he does not ask to be dealt with according to justice: “Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy” — as far as any one of us can get. If you have been greatly sanctified, have walked very near to God, I would not advise you still to go beyond this prayer: “Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy.” Singular is the next sentence: “And teach me thy statutes.” It is a great mercy to be taught the ways of God, to understand his way, to understand the practical part of it, the statutes. To be made holy is a high honour, a great privilege. When you are seeking great favors of God, ask for great holiness.Psalms 119:125. I am thy servant;He called himself “servant” many times before; and in this wonderful passage this is the third time. He is delighted to be the “servant of God.” He says little about being a king; he says a great deal about being a servant: “I am thy servant.”Psalms 119:125. Give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.You know, generally a teacher finds the teaching; the pupil has to find understanding But here is a prayer: “Give me understanding.” The last verse he asked to be taught; here he asks to have an understanding given to him. What a God we have to deal with! And when we are taught of the Lord, how effectually we are taught: he not only gives the facts, but gives the understanding with which to get at their meaning.Psalms 119:126. It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.When men begin to exercise a destructive criticism upon the Word of God, it is time for God to work. When God’s law is held in small esteem, when men go their own way, call vice by the name of pleasure, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.” Psalms 119:129. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.It is very wonderful that God should speak to us at all, and still more marvellous that he should write to us such a book as this Bible is. The Book itself is full of wonders, and one of those wonders is that it reveals him whose name is “Wonderful.” Observe that the psalmist, having said to the Lord, “Thy testimonies are wonderful,” does not add, “Therefore do I sit down and wonder at them.” No, his appreciation was practical, let ours be the same: “Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.”Psalms 119:130. The entrance of thy words giveth light;Those who are most ignorant, and have least confidence in their own abilities, will nevertheless become very wise if they study God’s Word.Psalms 119:130-131. It giveth understanding unto the simple. I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.What a wonderful verse that is! The psalmist cannot describe his longing for God’s commandments except by going to the brute creation for a suitable metaphor. He had probably seen the hunted stag stand still, and pant to get its breath, all the while longing for the waterbrooks. So he says, “I opened my mouth, and panted.” “I could not put my prayer into words, so I panted. My heart, my breath, my lungs, my very soul panted, for I longed for thy commandments.”Psalms 119:132. Look thou upon me, —That is all the psalmist wants, and all that we want, too. If a look from us to God will save us, what must a look from God to us do for us? “Look thou upon me,” —Psalms 119:132-134. And be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.Some of you, perhaps, may hardly be able to do as you would if you were perfectly free to act, for you are to a certain extent under the government and power of ungodly persons. Well, here is a prayer for you to present to the Lord: “Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.”Psalms 119:135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant;That is the best sunshine for us; let us but have the light of God’s countenance, and nothing can put us out of countenance. If the Lord will smile, men may frown as much as they please. So we pray with the psalmist, “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.”Psalms 119:135-136. And teach me thy statues. Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.The psalmist felt for others as well as for himself. It was not enough for him to be holy; he would have others to be the same. Sin in other men brought sorrow to his heart: “Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law.”Psalms 119:137. Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.After having wept over the sin of men, the psalmist turns with sweet calmness of spirit to the goodness of God.Psalms 119:138. Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.“Very faithful.” You who have tried and proved God’s promises must have found them so; not only faithful, but very faithful, faithful to the letter, faithful to the moment. God seems rather to exceed his promise than ever to fall short of it.Psalms 119:139-140. My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. Thy word is very pure: —Just now the psalmist said, “Thy testimonies are very faithful. Now he says, “Thy word is very pure.” There is no adulteration in this blessed Book; it is pure truth. You cannot add to it or take from it without making it imperfect: “Thy word is very pure:” —Psalms 119:140. Therefore thy servant loveth it.It is only a pure heart that loves the pure Word of the Lord; so, if you love the Word of God because of its purity, it is an argument that your heart has been renewed by grace.Psalms 119:141. I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.In verse 139, the psalmist complained that his enemies had forgotten God’s words, and he does not complain of the fault in others, and then fall into it himself; but he says, “Yet do not I forget thy percepts.” There are some people who seem to think that it does not much matter what they do. If they were persons of influence, they think that they would be very careful of their example. “But,” says one, “I am only a feeble woman, — a poor mother with a few children.” “Oh!” exclaims another, “I am only a child as yet, I cannot influence others.” “Oh!” cries a third, “I am simply an ordinary working man, nobody notices me.” Listen to what the psalmist says, “I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.” “I do not make all excuse out of my littleness, that I may be careless in my living.” Take that message home, dear friends, and learn its lesson, for it applies to many of you.Psalms 119:142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, —What a wonderful sentence! Just now, the psalmist said, “Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteousness.” (See the marginal reading of verse 138.) Now he advances another step, and says, “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness.”Psalms 119:142. And thy law is the truth.That is what I believe this Book of God is, — “the truth.” I know of nothing infallible but the Bible. Every man must have a fixed point somewhere; some believe in an infallible pope, and some in an infallible church, but I believe in an infallible Book, expounded by the infallible Spirit who is ready to guide us into all truth: “Thy law is the truth.”Psalms 119:143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delight.What a curious mixture this verse describes! Here is a man full of trouble and anguish, and yet full of delight at the same time. Little do they understand human nature, and especially gracious human nature, who cannot comprehend this paradox. There are many seeming contradictions in the Christian life, and this is one of them: “Trouble and anguish have taken hold of me:” — as dogs lay hold of their prey, — “yet thy commandments are my delights.” The apostle Paul pictured another such a case as this when he wrote, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed,” and he also described the Christian paradox, “As unknown, and yet well known, as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” May we all understand these paradoxes is our own experiences!Psalms 119:144. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.Now let us read what the Lord Jesus said to those who professed to reverence the Scripture, but who really made it void by their traditions. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 119:129-144; and Matthew 15:1-13. Psalms 119:137. Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.It is well to be able to say this when you are being tried, when the hand of God lies heavy upon you; it is hard to kick against the pricks, but it is very sweet to submit, and to say, “Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments.”Psalms 119:138. Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.“Righteous” for the present, “faithful” for the future. There is no mistake about God’s Word, it will never fail, we may trust it implicitly, and we shall never be disappointed.Psalms 119:139. My zeal hath consumed me,The psalmist had such zeal for God’s Word that he seemed like a sacrifice consumed with the fire upon the Lord’s altar.Psalms 119:139. Because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.First, they despised them, then, they neglected them, at last, they got as far as even to forget them. Forgetfulness of God’s Word is a very dreadful stage of disease in the heart.Psalms 119:140. Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.To love God’s Word for its purity, is an index of a pure heart. Some love it for its poetry, some love it for its doctrine, some love it for its mercy; but he is an advanced man in the kingdom of grace who loves it for its purity.Psalms 119:141. I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.Others may, but I am not following their example. It is well when a Christian man is a contrast to other men. When they call him a mere nobody, he adopts their words, and says, “Yes, I am nothing, ‘I am small and despised,’ yet I do not forget the Lord’s precepts.”Psalms 119:142. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Here is the best possible answer: “Thy law is the truth.” Not only does it contain the truth, but it is the truth. The Word of God is not only true, that is its quality; but it is the truth, that is its essence. It is the cream of all truths. “Thy law is the truth.”Psalms 119:143. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.“Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me:” like two fierce dogs they had fixed their teeth in him; yet even then he could say, “yet thy commandments are my delights.” What a riddle is the man who knows God! He has great trouble and is full of anguish, yet he is delighted; how can these things be? The child of God knows what it is to be troubled on every side, and yet not to be troubled within.Psalms 119:144. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live. As if he could not live without it, he did not call it true living except as he understood and enjoyed the precepts of his God.Psalms 119:145. I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes.Here we have both a prayer and a resolve; but the resolution grew out of the prayer, and was connected with it. The psalmist prays to God to help him to keep his statutes. Are any of you hard put to it just now by strong temptation? I commend this verse to you: “Hear me, O Lord: I will keep thy statutes.” Cry unto God, “Do help me, O Lord; let not strong temptation drag me away from thee! I do long to be holy, my whole heart’s desire is to keep Thy ways; O help me, I pray thee!” This verse begins with “I cried,” and the next verse begins in the same way: —Psalms 119:146. I cried unto thee;It is good when you can cry. The living child cries, and it is the man of God whose prayer is a cry of almost inarticulate utterance and grief: “I cried,” “I cried.” What did he cry?Psalms 119:146. Save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.David had no notion of salvation without obedience; so he prays, “Save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.” Is that the salvation you desire, —salvation from sin? If so, you shall have it. God, the Holy One, delights to bestow holiness; and he will speedily hear and answer such a prayer as that.Psalms 119:147. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried:The psalmist was still crying, crying early in the morning; before the sun was up, he was up, and crying unto God.Psalms 119:147. I hoped in thy word.It is well when hope goes with prayer, when you begin to see daylight even before the sun is up. “I hoped in thy Word.” Not in any enthusiastic impression of his own, but in God’s Word itself, the psalmist placed all his confidence.Psalms 119:148. Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word. As he was up before the sun, so he was praying before they set the guards for the night-watch; and when they were changing guards, and he heard the cry of the hour from the watchman, he was still crying to God; and at the same time he was meditating: “that I might meditate in thy Word.” Ah, that is the way to cry! Meditation is very much neglected nowadays; we read, perhaps, too much, we meditate, for certain, too little; and meditation is to reading like digestion after eating. The cows in the pasture eat the grass, and then they lie down, and chew the cud, and get all the good they can out of what they have eaten. Reading snips off the grass, but meditation chews the cud. Therefore, “read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.” In this matter we often fail; we shall be wise to imitate David, who devoted the early morning to prayer, and the night watches to meditation.Psalms 119:149. Hear my voice —So the psalmist used to pray aloud. It is a very great help in prayer if you can do the same. If we pray aloud to be heard of men, it is a sin; but if we pray aloud that we may hear ourselves, so that our devotion may be excited, we shall often find it very profitable, and if people hear us by accident, so much the better; they are not hearing anything that will do them hurt, they are hearing that which may do them good.Psalms 119:149. According unto thy lovingkindness:That is, do not hear it to judge it, to censure it, to criticize it, but hear it as a father hears his child, loving to hear its little voice speaking in broken accents.Psalms 119:149. O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment.Just now, the psalmist prayed, “Hear me, O Lord!” In the 146th verse, he cried, “Save me;” now his prayer is, “O Lord, quicken me!” When God puts more life into us, then we have more strength to bear our burdens, and having more spiritual life, we have more power to resist temptation. Quickening is an essential mercy, containing within itself a multitude of blessings: “Quicken me according to thy judgment.”Psalms 119:150. They draw nigh that follow of after mischief:He could hear the sound of their feet behind him; they were running after him, and he could detect the pit-pat of their malicious footsteps.Psalms 119:150-151. They are far from thy law. Thou art near, O LORD; What a comfort that is! They are trying to get near, but thou art near. I can hear the tread of their feet behind me, but I can see thy face close to me. How comforted is the psalmist in the time of trouble! His adversaries may be as keen of scent as bloodhounds, but God is with him, therefore he fears them not.Psalms 119:151-152. And all thy commandments are truth, Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.So that this Psalm was written by David when he was an old man. He had known the Lord’s commandments when he was young, and now, in his declining days, he can say, “I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.” O young men, if you want to be happy old men, begin by knowing God’s Word! If you have known that God has founded his Word of old, you know that which will comfort you when you grow old. In fact, you have found a perpetual spring within your heart, if from your youth up you have known in the fullest sense the Word of the Lord. Some are changing their creed every day in the week, as the weather changes, but blessed is that man who has so learned Christ to begin with that he keeps in the old way all his life. He is the man who can truly grow. Transplant a tree six times a year, and you will not get any fruit from it; but blessed are they that are planted in the courts of the Lord, for they shall flourish there, and shall still bring forth fruit in old age. Psalms 119:145. I cried with my whole heart: hear me, O LORD: I will keep thy statutes.In the time of trouble there is no resort like that of prayer, but it must be intense and earnest. “I cried with my whole heart.” And sometimes it should be accompanied with a resolve to profit by the affliction. “I will keep thy statutes.” As the child under the rod prays to be spared because he hopes in future to be obedient, so does the Psalmist here say, “Hear me, O Lord; I will keep thy statutes.” This ought to be the effect of every affliction, to make us more careful in our obedience. It is not always so, but so it ought always to be.Psalms 119:146. I cried unto thee: save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.As if he felt that the force of gratitude would constrain him to obedience. He did not merely promise it, but he prophesied it as a matter of certainty that he should keep the Lord’s testimony.Psalms 119:147. I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.Early prayers seem seasonable. Before we have gone into the world, should we not first go to our God? Prayer ought to be the key of the morning to open it, as well as the key of the night to close it. And notice what should always be associated with prayer, namely, hope. “I hoped in thy word.” There is no prayer like a hopeful prayer, in which a man hopes, believes, expects, that God will send him a blessing.Psalms 119:148. Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.Before the watchman can cry the hour of night, mine eyes are upon the Word of God, and I am studying that. Oh! it is well when we prove our love to the Word of God by our meditation upon it, our constant, searching into it.Psalms 119:149. Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness:Not according to my earnestness, much less according to my merit, but “Hear my voice, according to thy loving-kindness.” Oh! what a large measure this, for who can tell how boundless is the loving-kindness of God? Such be the answer to my prayer, O my Lord.Psalms 119:149. O LORD, quicken me according to thy judgment.As thou dost try me, quicken me. Just as thou art I have need of it give me more spiritual life.Psalms 119:150. They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law.Dogs are at my heels. I have heard them long ago pursuing me, but now they are getting nearer to me than ever.Psalms 119:151. Thou art near, O LORD;Is not that a blessed sentence, that, when the adversaries are near, the Friend of friends is near too? What if he be like a hunted stag, and the dogs are at his heels, yet the omnipotent Lord, the Interposer, can come between and save his darling from the power of the dogs.Psalms 119:151; Psalms 119:159. And all thy commandments are truth. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.It is an old story with me that thy love is without beginning, thy covenant from all eternity, thy grace immutable, not fickle, changeable as if it were founded yesterday upon the sand, but “Thou hast founded them for ever.”Psalms 119:153-155. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law. Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word. Salvation is far from the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes.If they sought that salvation, they would cease to be wicked; they would find salvation; but while they follow out their wicked ways they get further and further away from anything like salvation.Psalms 119:156-158. Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments. Many are my persecutors and mine enemies; yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.It is enough to make any man grieve that the Word of God, which is so right, so just, so good, should be despised. What madness is this which is in the hearts of men, that they despise the best of the best?Psalms 119:159. Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.It is a fair argument; as a friend may say to another, “Consider how I love you;” as a child might say to his angry father when he is about to chasten him, “My father, I love you, although I have transgressed; look at my heart, and see how I love you, notwithstanding all the mistakes of my character, and even the faults that I have committed.Psalms 119:160-161. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.“Princes have persecuted me without a cause; but my heart standeth in awe of” — them? No, but “of thy Word.”Psalms 119:162-166. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments, Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.Present duty, future expectation. It is no use our hoping for great things unless we ourselves cultivate good things. God will make tomorrow bright: let us make today holy.Psalms 119:167-168. My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly.I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee. Psalms 119:153. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law.As much as if he said, “Lord, I do not forget thee; do not forget me.” Thy grace has kept my memory; let thy grace keep me altogether.Psalms 119:154-156. Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word. Salvation is far form the wicked: for they seek not thy statutes. great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.Oh! how the saints want quickening. They know they do. They feel that they get dull, and they cannot endure it. They are not happy unless they possess vivid grace and true light.Psalms 119:157-158 Many are my persecutors and mine enemies: yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.The very sight of them gave me sorrow. Even though they tried to be mirthful, I was not amused by them, and beheld them and was grieved, “Because they kept not thy word.”Psalms 119:159. Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O LORD, according to thy lovingkindness.My heart is right, I do love thee; but I feel dull and heavy. Lord, come and quicken me, not according to my love to thee, but according to thy lovingkindness, come and quicken me. “Thy word is true from the beginning” — from the first page of the book of Genesis to the very last —true about everything, true from the first moment it began with me. Every promise has been kept. Tthere has not been a falsehood all the way through.Psalms 119:160. Thy word is true from the beginning: and everyone of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.“Princes have persecuted me without a cause.” David was a prince and a man expects to be fairly dealt with by his peers; but it was not so in this case.Psalms 119:161. Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.When we are in awe of God’s word, we shall not be in awe of princes. The fear of God is the best cure for the fear of men.Psalms 119:162. I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.He had more joy in reading the Scriptures than in winning a great battle, or in being surprised at the finding of a great treasure.Psalms 119:163. I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.Now the Orientals did not hate lying; they generally tried to be proficient at it. The only fault about lying with them is to be found out. Then they think they must have been very unskillful. David, therefore, was far ahead of his time — far ahead of his fellow-countrymen.Psalms 119:164. Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.He could not have enough of praise; he did it often, he did it perfectly —seven times a day — and if he praised God seven times a day because of his righteous judgments how much more ought we to do it because of his abounding grace! Ah! there is a special cause for thanks.Psalms 119:165-166. Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them. LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments, Two good things to put together — hope in God’s mercy, and obedience to God’s will.Psalms 119:167-174. My soul hath kept thy testimonies; and I love them exceedingly. I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: for all my ways are before thee. Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word. Let my supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.Cannot we say that, dear friends, this morning? I hope we can — with all our failings and wandering, yet the law of God is our delight, and if we could have our wish, we would never again go beyond its restraints, nor fall short of its demands. Psalms 120:1. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.Slander occasions distress of the most grievous kind. Those who have felt the edge of a cruel tongue know assuredly that it is sharper than the sword. Calumny rouses our indignation by a sense of injustice, and yet we find ourselves helpless to fight with the evil, or to act in our own defense. We could ward off the strokes of a cutlass, but we have no shield against a liar’s tongue. Silence to man and prayer to God are the best cures for the evil of slander. It is of little use to appeal to our fellows on the matter of slander, for the more we stir in it the more it spreads, it is of no avail to appeal to the honour of the slanderer, for they have none, and the most piteous demands for justice will only increase their malignity and encourage them to fresh insult. However, when cries to man would be our weakness, cries to God will be our strength. The ear of our God is not deaf, nor even heavy. He listens attentively, he catches the first accent of supplication; he makes each of his children confess, — “he heard me.”Psalms 120:2. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.Lips are soft; but when they are “lying lips” they suck away the life of character and are as murderous as razors. Lips should never be red with the blood of honest men’s reputes, nor salved with malicious falsehoods. The faculty of speech becomes a curse when it is degraded into a mean weapon for smiting men behind their backs. Those who fawn and flatter, too, and all the while have enmity in their hearts, are horrible beings; they are the seed of the devil, and he worketh in them after his own deceptive nature. Better to meet wild beasts and serpents than deceivers: these are a kind of monster whose birth is from beneath, and whose end lies far below.Psalms 120:3. What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?The Psalmist seems lost to suggest a fitting punishment. It is the worst of offences — this detraction, calumny, and slander. Judgment sharp and crushing would be measured out to it if men were visited for their transgressions. But what punishment could be heavy enough? What will God do with lying tongues? He has uttered his most terrible threats against them, and he will terribly execute them in due time. Psalms 121:1. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.No help comes from anywhere else but from the eternal hills. Let us lift up our eyes, therefore, hopefully expecting help from the hills; it is on the road, it “cometh.” The psalmist with the eye of faith could see it coming, so he watched its approach.Psalms 121:2. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.He would sooner unmake them than desert his people. He that made heaven and earth could certainly find shelter for us either in heaven or in earth. He cannot, he will not leave us, he will make room for us in heaven when there is no room for us here. What a blessed thing it is to look right away from the creature to the Creator! The creature may fail you; but the Creator is an ever-springing well of all-sufficient grace.Psalms 121:3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:He will not endure it, he will not suffer it. Many would like to trip thee up; but he will not allow it, he loves thee too well.Psalms 121:3. He that keepeth thee will not slumber.Thou mayest slumber, for thou art frail, but he is a Watchman to whose eyes sleep never comes. You are always safe. Alexander went to sleep, he said, because Parmenio watched; and you may take the sleep of the beloved because Jehovah watches over you.Psalms 121:4. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.Behold it, that is, mark it; put a nota bene at the side of it, take cognizance of this as a great and sure truth. Jacob went to sleep with a stone for his pillow, but he that kept him did not sleep; he came to him in the night-watches, and revealed to him his covenant.Psalms 121:5. The Lord is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.Oh, what a keeper we have! Can you not trust him? Will you not be at peace in your mind if it be indeed true that Jehovah keeps you, and is your guard in the hour of danger?Psalms 121:6. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.Then, when canst thou get hurt? If thou art protected both day and night, these make up all the time. God does not make a new sun for his people, the sun would smite us as well as others, but he takes the sting out of the sun’s excessive brightness: and we have the same sickly moon as others have, with the same influences over us, but God takes care that the moonbeams do not harm his people. Neither the sun of prosperity nor the night of adversity, neither the light of truth nor even the dimness of mystery, shall injure one of the chosen seed.Psalms 121:7. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.That is the soul of our preservation; if the life, the soul, be kept, then are we kept altogether.Psalms 121:8. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in — Thine early days of youth, when thou art going out into life; and thy coming in, when the older days creep over thee, and thou art coming in to God and heaven; thy going out into business, and thy coming in to private devotion.Psalms 121:8. From this time forth, and even for evermore.Let us, therefore, feel restful at this time, and even for evermore, having the Lord for our Keeper and Preserver. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 121, 122. Psalms 122:1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.I was glad for their sake, glad to think they were so willing to go. I was glad also for my own sake, for I was glad to go, too.Psalms 122:2. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.Happy men who were citizens of such a city! Happy worshippers coming together to the place whose very name signifies the vision of peace, the metropolis of God, type of the New Jerusalem which is from above!Psalms 122:3. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:Not a conglomeration of huts, but builded as a city with substantial structures; and not a straggling city, like some we read of, that have been called “cities of magnificent distances,” but it was “compact together.” Happy is the church that is at peace; blessed are the people who are joined together by a gracious brotherly love.Psalms 122:4. Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.The Church is the point of meeting: “Whither the tribes go up.” The Church is the place of “testimony,” and saints go to hear testimony, and they go to bear it. I wish there was more of this bearing testimony among Christian people, and that they looked upon it as a sacred duty to tell to others what God has told to them. “To give thanks unto the name of the Lord” — that is another part of true worship, — praise, joyful thanksgiving, should be one of the saints’ continual avocations; let us not forget it at this time. Some are here who have been sick; let them give thanks unto the name of the Lord. Some are here who are still weak, yet able to come up with God’s people; let us give thanks unto the name of the Lord. We have all some special mercy, some choice favor, for which to praise his name; then let us all give thanks unto the name of the Lord.Psalms 122:6. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.If any of the people had been wronged by the petty magistrates, they went up to Jerusalem, and made their appeal to the king. Here may we bring our suit before God, and order our case before him, for he is true and just, and nothing shall go amiss that is left with him.Psalms 122:6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:Pray for it now, breathe a silent prayer to God.Psalms 122:6. They shall prosper that love thee.God loves those who love his Church, and love his cause, and he rewards them with prosperity, as much of earthly prosperity as they can bear, and prosperity to their souls beyond measure.Psalms 122:7. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palace.The psalmist bade us pray, and now he himself prays. He who bids others do a thing should be prepared to set the example.Psalms 122:8. For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now pray, Peace be within Thee.Let us say it, for the sake of beloved ones in heaven, and dear ones on earth who are on the way thither, “Peace be within thee.”Psalms 122:9. Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.Not only pray for it, but work for it, give for it, live for it: “I will seek thy good!” God bless to us these two Psalms and put us all in a right state of heart tonight! Amen. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 121, 122. Psalms 123:1. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.Our eyes are far too apt to look below, or to look within, or to look around, but it is wisdom on our part to look up. There is always something blessed to see upward, especially when we look up to him who dwells in the highest heavens, — our Father, our Saviour, our Comforter. There is little down here that is worth looking at, but there is everything for our comfort when we look up.Psalms 123:2. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us. This is what we are looking for, — the mercy of the Lord our God. It comes from his great heart, through his almighty hand. A wave of his hand is sufficient to drive away all our troubles. When he opens his hand he supplies the needs of every living thing, so mighty and so bountiful is he. Let us, therefore, keep our eyes upon our Lord’s hands “until that he have mercy upon us.”Psalms 123:3. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us:The longing soul does not wait in utter silence without expressing its desires. I have heard of some who have said that their will was so fully conformed to God’s will that they had left off praying to him, but surely that was a satanic delusion, for the will of Christ was perfectly conformed to that of his Father, yet for that very reason he abounded in prayer. We must be in an evil case if we leave off praying. The psalmist says that he and those who were like-minded with him waited until the Lord had mercy upon them, and then he began a sort of litany, “Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us.” He uses the same words twice as if to express the greatness of his need, the clearness of his perception of what he needed, the earnestness of his desire, and his expectation that his need would be supplied. In this verse and the previous one, we have the petition, “Have mercy upon us,” presented no less than three times, for mercy is the greatest need of the best man who ever lived.Psalms 123:3. For we are exceedingly filed with contempt.That is a sharp cutting thing, most trying to the soul that has to endure it; and many have been greatly depressed in spirit by the contempt that has been poured upon them. But, Lord, thy mercy is a cure for man’s want of mercy; thy thoughtfulness of us will take off the edge from man’s contempt of us.Psalms 123:4. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.It does not seem to be a desirable thing to be at ease, for it was such people who were the scorners of the psalmist and his godly companions. Job also said, “He that is ready to slip with his feet is as a lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease.” In the stagnant air of a life of ease, all kinds of mischiefs breed, and especially that fever of pride which leads ungodly men to have contempt for God’s people. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 123, 124, and 125. Psalms 124:1-3. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick, —That is, alive, —Psalms 124:3. When their wrath was kindled against us:If it had not been God who had engaged to take care of his people, they would all have perished, but that God must be Jehovah. I wish that our translators had not been carried away by the superstition of the Jews, and that they had used the word “Jehovah” where it is employed in the original. This verse and the previous one would have read, “If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up alive,” as some beasts, and birds, and fishes swallow their prey and as some men would do with us if they could, that is, swallow us up alive, making a short and speedy end of us, not waiting to tear us in pieces, but swallowing us whole and alive.Psalms 124:4-5. Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: then the proud waters had gone over our soul.The figure is varied. We are first likened to the lamb that is liable to be swallowed by the lion, and next we are compared to one who is in danger of being carried away by a devouring flood, which shows no pity to any, but sweeps everything before it down to destruction.Psalms 124:6. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.Neither to Satan and his legions, nor to wicked men, has God delivered us. We are not to be their prey, for God claims us as his own.Psalms 124:7. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. What a joyous song that is for the escaped soul to sing! Whenever a Christian man has fallen into difficulties through not walking uprightly when he has gone astray from the right path, and has been caught in the fowler’s net, and is in such trouble that he does not know what to do, —when God comes, and cuts the net, perhaps with the sharp knife of affliction, and the imprisoned soul again finds freedom from worldly associations, and happy liberty in the service of God, I do not know a sweeter song than this that he and others of God’s rescued birds can sing as they mount up into the clear light of God’s countenance, “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.”Psalms 124:8. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.This is a good lesson for us to learn from the past experience of the Lord’s people. God and God alone did deliver his servants in the past and herein is our confidence for the present and the future; — our help is in the name —the revealed and manifested character — of Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 123, 124, and 125. Psalms 125:1-3. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. For the rod of the wicked shall not test upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.By “the rod” is here meant “the scepter.” The wicked shall not permanently rule over the righteous; they may have a temporary dominion and sovereignty; but, in due season, their rod shall be broken, and their power shall be scattered to the winds.Psalms 125:4-5. Do good O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel. May we have faith to lay hold upon that last blood promise, and so enjoy the peace of God which passeth all understanding! Amen! This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 123, 124, 125. Psalms 126:1. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.We could hardly believe it; we began to talk incoherently, as men do in their sleep. We were so carried away with joyful rapture that we did not know where we were: “we were like them that dream.”Psalms 126:2. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, —We became Issacs, for he was the child of laughter. We laughed as Abraham did, for very joy of faith. Sometimes, laughter may become the holiest possible expression. It may be one of the meanest utterances of our nature, but it may also be one of the loftiest. These people not only laughed, but their mouth was filled with laughter; they could not laugh loudly enough, there was no expression of articulate speech that sufficed them at all: “Then was our mouth filled with laughter,” —Psalms 126:2. And our tongue with singing:When they did find their tongue, they could not speak, they must sing. They could not have anything so slow as a mere declaration, they must have a Psalm: “Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.”Psalms 126:2. Then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.The heathen could not help seeing that it was the Lord who had delivered Israel. No other people except the Jews ever came back from captivity. The Babylonish tyrant never restored any others to their land, but he did restore these people; and the very heathen said, “It is their God, Jehovah, that hath done it.” And what did God’s own people say?Psalms 126:3. The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.See the difference between the outsider and the insider. The outsider says, “The Lord hath done great things for them.” Ah! but they who belong to God say, “The Lord hath done great things for us.” Oh, the privilege of being able to say “for us!” Dear hears, can you join with all the saints, and say, “The Lord hath done great things for us”? This is what happened to God’s people before, but now they have fallen into another trouble, so hear how they pray.Psalms 126:4. Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.“Thou didst it once; do it again. Thou madest us to live; make us to live again. We sang then, O Lord; enable us to sing again, ‘Turn again our captivity.’ As the dry river-beds are suddenly made to be filled with water at the melting of the snow, so come, and fill our hearts, ‘as the streams in the south.’”Psalms 126:5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.Take that for certain; lay it down as a Scripture proverb. When God sends us a wet time, and we have to sow in the moist foggy atmosphere, never mind; there are brighter days yet to come. We shall reap amid the sunbeams, and carry home our sheaves with joy.Psalms 126:6. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.“He shall doubtless come again with rejoicing.” Now, ye disconsolate workers, ye who have only a handful of seed, ye shall come back with an armful of sheaves. You shall come back rejoicing though you go forth now sorrowing, for the Lord has said it; wherefore be of good courage. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 126. and 127. Psalms 127:1-3. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.It is vain for you, to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD and the fruit of the womb is his reward. The psalmist had been speaking about house-building, and there is the building up of the house in the sense of a family being built up by children. Some people think children an encumbrance, but they are “a heritage of the Lord,” and they are to be looked upon with gladness. One said, “I have twelve sons,” and his friend answered, “That is exactly Jacob’s number.” “Yes,” said the first speaker, “and I have Jacob’s God to enable me to sustain them.” There is a comfort in that thought; may God grant that none may be troubled by those whom God sends to us for a heritage!Psalms 127:4. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.In the case of an arrow, you know it all depends which way you shoot it. Mind, therefore, that you direct your children aright; give them a good start, a true aim from the very first, God helping you, and then they shall fly from you like the arrows of a mighty archer.Psalms 127:5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:That is, when they are like arrows; — not when they are gnarled and knotty, like crooked sticks. When they are unwilling to be tutored and trained, then they become a trial and a trouble; but happy is the man who has a quiver full of arrows; the more the merrier of such children as the psalmist here speaks of.Psalms 127:5. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. When there was any suit at law, these sons of his would be there to plead for him; if there was any fighting to be done, they also would be to the front. It was a dangerous thing to attack a man who had a house full of strong, loyal, loving sons. They would be his defense, they would speak, and speak with very considerable emphasis, too, with his enemies in the gate. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 126. and 127. Title. —A Song of Degrees. There is an evident ascent from the last Psalm: that did but hint at the way in which a house may be built up, but this draws a picture of that house built, and adorned with domestic bliss through the Lord's own benediction. There is clearly an advance in age, for here we go beyond children to children's children; and also a progress in happiness, for children which in the last Psalm were arrows are here Olive plants, and instead of speaking "with the enemies in the gate" we done with "peace upon Israel." Thus we rise step by step, and sing as we ascend. Subject. — It is a family hymn, — a song for a marriage, or a birth, or for any day in which a happy household has met to praise the Lord. Like all the songs of degrees, it has an eye to Zion and Jerusalem, which are both expressly mentioned, and it closes like Psalms 125:1-5; Psalms 130:1-8; Psalms 131:1-3, with an allusion to Israel. It is a short Psalm, but exceedingly full and suggestive. Its poetry is of the highest order. Perhaps in no country can it be better understood than in our own, for we above all nations delight to sing of "Home, sweet home." . Ver. 1. Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord. The last Psalm ended with a blessing, — for the word there translated "happy" is the same as that which is here rendered "blessed": thus the two songs are joined by a catch word. There is also in them a close community of subject. The fear of God is the corner stone of all blessedness. We must reverence the ever blessed God before we can be blessed ourselves. Some think that this life is an evil, an infliction, a thing upon which rests a curse; but it is not so; the God fearing man has a present blessing resting upon him. It is not true that it would be to him" something better not to be." He is happy now, for he is the child of the happy God, the ever living Jehovah; and he is even here a joint heir with Jesus Christ, whose heritage is not misery, but joy. This is true of every one of the God fearing, of all conditions, in all ages: each one and every one is blessed. Their blessedness may not always be; seen by carnal reason, but it is always a fact, for God himself declares that it is so; and we know that those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. Let us cultivate that holy filial fear of Jehovah which is the essence of all true religion; — the fear of reverence, of dread to offend, of anxiety to please, and of entire submission and obedience. This fear of the Lord is the fit fountain of holy living: we look in vain for holiness apart from it: none but those who fear the Lord will ever walk in his ways. That walketh in his ways. The religious life, which God declares to be blessed, must be practical as well as emotional. It is idle to talk of fearing the Lord if we act like those who have no care whether there be a God or no, God's ways will be our ways if we have a sincere reverence for him: if the heart is joined unto God, the feet will follow hard after him. A man's heart will be seen in his walk, and the blessing will come where heart and walk are both with God. Note that the first Psalm links the benediction with the walk in a negative way, "Blessed is the man that walketh not", etc.; but here we find it in connection with the positive form of our conversation. To enjoy the divine blessing we must be active, and walk; we must be methodical, and walk in certain ways; and we must be godly, and walk in the Lord's ways. God's ways are blessed ways; they were cast up by the Blessed One, they were trodden by him in whom we are blessed, they are frequented by the blessed, they are provided with means of blessing, they are paved with present blessings, and they lead to eternal blessedness: who would not desire to walk in them? NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. Psalms 128:1-6 follows Psalms 127:1-5 for the same reason as Psalms 2:1-12 follows Psalms 1:1-6. In both instances they are Psalms placed together, of which one begins with ashre (happy, very happy), and the other ends with ashre. In other respects Psalms 128:1-6; Psalms 127:1-5 supplement one another. They are related to one another much as the New Testament parables of the treasure in the field and the one pearl are related. That which makes man happy is represented in Psalms 127:1-5 as a gift coming as a blessing, and in Psalms 128:1-6 as a reward coming as a blessing, that which is briefly indicated in the word rks, saka, reward, in Psalms 127:3 being here expanded and unfolded. There it appears as a gift of grace in contrast to the God estranged self activity of man; here as a fruit of the ora et labora. —Franz Delitzsch. Whole Psalm. — It is to be observed, that here all men are spoken to as wedded; because this is the ordinary estate of most people. See 1 Corinthians 7:1-2. At this day every Jew is bound to marry at about eighteen years of age, or before twenty; else he is accounted as one that liveth in sin. —John Trapp. Whole Psalm. This Psalm is an epiyalamio logos, written for the commendation, instruction, and consolation of those who are either already married or are about to enter on that kind of life. It enumerates, therefore, at the commencement, as is usual in songs of this kind, all those things which are regarded as burdens in the married life, such as the labours in seeking to provide for the whole family; the spouse, and that marriage bond, which, as it were, binds a man and seems to make him a slave, just as that character says in the comedy, "I have taken a wife; I have sold my liberty:" lastly, the education of the children, which certainly is most laborious, and requires the largest expenditure. To lighten the burden of all these things, there is added to each a blessing, or a promise, so that they might appear slight. And at the close, it subjoins in general, a spiritual promise, which easily makes light of all the labours and disquiets of the married life; even if they should be the very heaviest. The blessing comes from Zion or the Church: for there is nothing so burdensome and difficult, but what it can be easily borne by those who are the members of the true Church, and know the sources of true consolation. —D. H. Mollerus. Ver. 1. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD, etc. Here we have the living fountain of the blessing which rests upon the conjugal and domestic state. When worldly prudence attempts to choose a wife and form a household, it can apply its hand only to so much of the work as has its seat upon earth, and is visible to the eye of sense. It builds, so to speak, the first and the second story, adds cornice and pediment, and the fabric presents a fair appearances but it has no foundation. Whenever you see the household of a married pair continuing to defy every storm, you may be sure that it rests upon a sure foundation, lying beyond the reach of human sense, and that that foundation is the fear of the Lord. To the fear of the Lord, therefore, the holy Psalmist has wisely given a place in front of this beautiful Psalm, which celebrates the blessing that descends upon conjugal and domestic life. —Augustus F. Tholuck, in "Hours of Christian Devotion", 1870. Ver. 1. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD. There is a fear of the Lord which hath terror in it and not blessedness. The apprehension with which a warring rebel regards his triumphant and offended sovereign, or the feelings of a fraudulent bankrupt towards a stern creditor, or, a conscience stricken criminal to a righteous judge, are frequently types of men's feelings in regard to God. This evidently cannot be the fear which the "blessed" of this Psalm feel. Nor can theirs, on the other hand, be the tormenting fear of self reproach. Their fear is that which the believed revelations given of him in his Word produce. It is the fear which a child feels towards an honoured parent, — a fear to offend: it is that which they who have been rescued from destruction feel to the benefactor who nobly and at the vastest sacrifice interposed for their safety, — a fear to act unworthily of his kindness: it is that which fills the breast of a pardoned and grateful rebel in tile presence of a venerated sovereign at whose throne he is permitted to stand in honour, — a fear lest he should ever forget his goodness, and give him cause to regret it. Such is the fear of the Christian now: a fear which reverence for majesty, gratitude for mercies, dread of displeasure, desire of approval, and longing for the fellowship of heaven, inspire; the fear of angels and the blessed Son; the fear not of sorrow but of love, which shrinks with instinctive recoil from doing aught that would tend to grieve, or from denying aught that would tend to honour. Religion is the grand and the only wisdom; and since the beginning, the middle, and the end of it, is the fear of the Lord, blessed is every man that is swayed by it. —Robert Nisbet, in "The Songs of the Temple Pilgrims", 1863. Ver. 1. Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord. Let us take a little of the character of the blessed man. Who is it that is undaunted? "The man that feareth God." Fear sounds rather contrary to blessedness; hath an air of misery; but add whom. He that "feareth the Lord"; that touch turns it into gold. He that so fears, fears rot: he shall not be afraid; all petty fears are swallowed up in this great fear; and this great fear is as sweet and pleasing as little fears are anxious and vexing. Secure of other things, he can say— "If my God be pleased, no matter who is displeased: no matter who despise me, if he account me his. Though all forsake me, though my dearest friends grow estranged, if he reject me not, that is my only fear; and for that I am not perplexed, I know he will not." A believer hath no fear but of the displeasure of heaven, the anger of God to fall upon him; he accounts that only terrible; but yet he doth not fear it; doth not apprehend it will fall on him, is better persuaded of the goodness of God. So this fear is still joined with trust: — "Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy": Psalms 33:18. —Robert Leighton, 1611-1684. Ver. 1. Blessed is every one, etc. There is a stress on all ("every one"), teaching that no disparity of sex or condition, of rank or wealth, affects the degree of happiness granted by God to every one of his true servants in their several stations. It is to be observed, further, that whenever the fear of the Lord is mentioned in Holy Writ, it is never set by itself, as though sufficient for the consummation of our faith, but always has something added or prefixed, by which to estimate its due proportion of perfection, according as it is stated by Solomon in Proverbs 2:3-5. —J. M. Neale and R. F. Littledale; in "A Commentary on the Psalms from Primitive and Medieval Writers", 1860. Ver. 1. Blessed is every one, etc. It is a precious promise, but perhaps thou art tempted to say in thy heart, not meant for every one. Wilt thou answer against the Lord? Hear him speak in the song. He says, "every one." "Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD." None are excluded but those who will not walk in his ways. —Edward Jewett Robinson. Ver. 1. Blessed, etc. The, adage, "That it is best not to be born at all, or to die as soon as possible", has certainly been long since received by the common consent of almost all men. Carnal reason judges either that all mankind without exception are miserable, or that fortune is more favourable to ungodly and wicked men than to the good. To the sentiment that those are blessed who fear the Lord, it has an entire aversion. So much tile more requisite, then, is it to dwell upon the consideration of this truth. Farther, as this blessedness is not apparent to the eye, it is of importance, in order to our being able to apprehend it, first to attend to the definition which will be given of it by and bye; and secondly, to know that it depends chiefly upon tim protection of God. Although we collect together all the circumstances which seem to contribute to a happy life, surely nothing will be found more desirable than to be kept hidden under the guardianship of God. If this blessing is, in our estimation, to be preferred, as it deserves, to all other good things, whoever is persuaded that the care of God is exercised about the world and human affairs, will at the same time unquestionably acknowledge that what is here laid down is the chief point of happiness. —John Calvin. Ver. 1. That feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. The fear of the Lord is the internal principle; but unless there be a corresponding expression in the outward life, what reason is there to suppose that it has any existence at all? Observe also, that there is no walking in the ways of the Lord, until his fear be established in the heart. There can be no genuine morality apart from the fear of God. How can a man obey God while his affections are alienated from him? —N. M'Michael. Ver. 1. That walketh in, his ways. God makes blessed those that walk in his ways, because he himself walks with them. This is said concerning David, and it is explained how that companionship blessed him, 2 Samuel 5:10 : "And David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him": where the "and" may be taken as the causal particle "because." That God does indeed join himself to those who walk in his ways as companion and leader we have in 2 Chronicles 17:3-4 : "And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim; but sought to the Lord God of his father." —Thomas Le Blanc. HINTS TO . Ver. 1. — The universality of the blessedness of God fearing men. Circumstances, personal or relative, cannot alter the blessing; nor age, nor public opinion, nor even their own sense of unworthiness. Ver. 1. Consider: 1. The union of a right fear with a right walk. 1. There is a wrong fear, because slavish; this never can lead to genuine obedience, which must be willingly and cheerfully rendered. 2. But the fear of reverence and filial love will surely turn the feet to God's ways, keep them steadfast therein, and wing them with speed. 2. The blessedness of him in whom they are united. 1. It is blessedness of life; for that is prospered. 2. It is blessedness of domestic happiness; for where the head of a family is holy, the family is the home of peace. 3. It is the blessedness of a holy influence in every sphere of his activity. 4. It is deep felt heart blessedness in walking with God. 5. And all is but a prelude to the everlasting blessedness of heaven. —J. F. Psalms 128:2* . Ver. 2. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands. The general doctrine in Psalms 128:1 here receives a personal application: note the change to the second person: "thou shalt eat", etc. This is the portion of God's saints, — to work, and to find a reward in so doing. God is the God of labourers. We are not to leave our worldly callings because the Lord has called us by grace: we are not promised a blessing upon romantic idleness or unreasonable dreaming, but upon hard work and honest industry. Though we are in God's hands we are to be supported by our own hands. He will give us daily bread, but it must be made our own by labour. All kinds of labour are here included; for if one toils by the sweat of his brow, and another does so by the sweat of his brain, there is no difference in tile blessing; save that it is generally more healthy to work with the body than with the mind only. Without God it would be vain to labour; but when we are labourers together with God a promise is set before us. The promise is that labour shall be fruitful, and that he who performs it shall himself enjoy the recompense of it. It is a grievous ill for a man to slave his life away and receive no fair remuneration for his toil: as a rule, God's servants rise out of such bondage and claim their own, and receive it: at any rate, this verse may encourage them to do so. "The labourer is worthy of his hire." Under the Theocracy the chosen people could see this promise literally fulfilled; but when evil rulers oppressed them their earnings were withheld by churls, and their harvests were snatched away from them by marauders. Had they walked in the fear of the Lord they would never have known such great evils. Some men never enjoy their labour, for they give themselves no time for rest. Eagerness to get takes from them the ability to enjoy. Surely, if it is worth while to labour, it is worth while to eat of that labour. "Happy shalt thou be", or, Oh, thy happinesses. Heaped up happinesses in the plural belong to that man who fears the Lord. He is happy, and he shall be happy in a thousand ways. The context leads us to expect family happiness. Our God is our household God. The Romans had their Lares and Penates, but we have far more than they in the one only living and true God. And it shall be well with thee, or, good for thee. Yes, good is for the good; and it shall be well with those who do well. "What cheering words are these! Their sweetness who can tell? In time, and to eternal days, 'Tis with the righteous well." If we fear God we may dismiss all other fear. In walking in God's ways we shall be under his protection, provision, and approval; danger and destruction shall be far from us: all things shall work our good. In God's view it would not be a blessed thing for us to live without exertion, nor to eat the unearned bread of dependence: the happiest state on earth is one in which we have something to do, strength to do it with, and a fair return for what we have done. This, with the divine blessing, is all that we ought to desire, and it is sufficient for any man who fears the Lord and abhors covetousness. Having food and raiment, let us be there with content. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands, etc. There is a fourfold literal sense here: Thou shalt live by honest, peaceful labour, not by rapine and violence on that produced by the toil of others, nor yet indolently and luxuriously; thou shalt "eat", and not penuriously stint thyself and others; thy crops shall not be blighted, but shall bring forth abundantly; and no enemy shall destroy or carry off thy harvest. And these two latter interpretations accord best with the converse punishments threatened to the disobedient by Moses. "Thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands". But he who hates labour does not eat of it, nor can he say, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work": John 4:34. On the other hand, he to whom such labour is a delight, does not merely look forward in hope to the future fruits or rewards of labour, but even here and now finds sustenance and pleasure in toiling for God; so that it is "well" with him in the world, even amidst all its cares and troubles, and he "shall be happy" in that which is to come, whence sorrow is banished for ever, as it is written in the gospel: "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God": Lu 14:15. —Neale and Littledale. Ver. 2. Thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands, etc. This must they learn also which are married, that they must labour. For the law of nature requireth that the husband should sustain and nourish his wife and his children. For after that man and wife do know that they ought to fear God their Creator, who not only made them, but gave his blessing also unto his creature; this secondly must they know, that something they must do that they consume not their days in ease and idleness. Hesiod, the poet, giveth his counsel, that first thou shouldest get thee a house, then a wife, and also an ox to till the ground...For albeit that our diligence, care, and travail is not able to maintain our family, yet God useth such as a means by the which he will bless us. —Martin Luther. Ver. 2. Thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands. Men have dreamed fascinating dreams of removing the disabilities and limitations of the world and the evils of life, without sorrow. Poets have pictured earthly paradises, where life would be one long festival, — "Summer isles of Eden lying in dark purple spheres of sea." But vain are all such dreams and longings. They are of human, not of Divine origin, and spring from a root of selfishness and not of holiness. They cannot be realized in a fallen world, full of sorrow because full of sin. All blessings in man's economy are got from pains. Happiness is the flower that grows from a thorn of sorrow transformed by man's cultivation. The beautiful myth which placed the golden apples of the Hesperides in a garden guarded by dragons, is an allegory illustrative of the great human fact that not till we have slain the dragons of selfishness and sloth can we obtain any of the golden successes of life. Supposing it were possible that we could obtain the objects of our desire without any toil or trouble, we should not enjoy them. To benefit us really, they must be the growths of our own self denial and labour. And this is the great lesson which the miracles of our Lord, wrought in the manner in which they were, unfolded. They teach us that, in both temporal and spiritual things, we should not so throw ourselves upon the providence or grace of God as to neglect the part we have ourselves to act, — that God crowns every honest and faithful effort of man with success: "Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee." —Hugh Macmillan, in "The Ministry of Nature", 1871. Ver. 2. (first clause). — Labour, the symbol of man's punishment; Labour, the secret of man's happiness. —James Montgomery, 1771-1854. Ver. 2. Happy shalt thou be. Oh trust in the Lord for happiness as well as for help! All the springs of happiness are in him. Trust "in him who giveth us all things richly to enjoy"; who, of his own rich and free mercy, holds them out to us, as in his own hand, that, receiving them as his gifts, and as pledges of his love, we may enjoy all that we possess. It is his love gives a relish to all we taste, puts life and sweetness into all; while every creature leads us up to the great Creator, and all earth is a scale to heaven. He transfuses the joys that are at his own right hand into all that he bestows on his thankful children, who, having fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, enjoy him in all and above all. —John Wesley, 1703-1791. Ver. 2. Happy shalt thou be. Mr. Disraeli puts these remarkable words into the mouth of one of his characters: — "Youth is a blunder; manhood a struggle; old age a regret." A sad and Cheerless view of life's progress that! It may be true, in measure, of a life separated from godliness; it certainly is not true of a life allied with godliness. Let there be "life and godliness", and then youth is not a blunder, but a wise purpose and a glowing hope; manhood is not a struggle only, but a conquest and a joy; old age is not a regret, but a rich memory and a glorious prospect. —R. P. Macmaster, in "The Baptist Magazine", 1878. HINTS TO . Ver. 2. The blessedness of the righteous are first generalized, then particularized. Here they are divided into three particulars. 1. The fruit of past labours. 2. Present enjoyment. 3. Future welfare: "It shall be well with thee." Well in time; well in death; well at the last judgment; well forever. —G. R. Ver. 2. 1. Labour a blessing to him who fears God. 2. The fruits of labour the result of God's blessing. 3. The enjoyment of the fruits of labour a further blessing from God. —W. H. J. P. Ver. 2. (first clause). Success in life. 1. Its source— God's blessing. 2. Its channels— our own labour. 3. The measure in which it is promised— as much as we can eat. More is above the promise. 4. The enjoyment. We are permitted to eat or enjoy our labour. Ver. 2. (second clause). Godly happiness. 1. Follows upon God's blessing. 2. Grows out of character: "feareth the Lord." 3. Follows labour: see preceding sentence. 4. It is supported by wellbeing: see following sentence. Ver. 2. (last clause). 1. It shall be well with thee while thou livest. 2. It shall be better with thee when thou diest. 3. It shall be best of all with thee in eternity. —Adapted from Matthew Henry. Psalms 128:3* . Ver. 3. Thy wife. To reach the full of earthly felicity a man must not be alone. A helpmeet was needed in Paradise, and assuredly she is not less necessary out of it. He that findeth a wife findeth a good thing. It is not every man that feareth the Load who has a wife; but if he has, she shall share in his blessedness and increase it. Shall be as a fruitful vine. To complete domestic bliss children are sent. They come as the lawful fruit of marriage, even as clusters appear upon the vine. For the grapes the vine was planted; for children was the wife provided. It is generally well with any creature when it fulfils its purpose, and it is so far well with married people when the great design of their union is brought about. They must not look upon fruitfulness as a burden, but as a blessing. Good wives are also fruitful in kindness, thrift, helpfulness, and affection: if they bear no children, they are by no means barren if they yield us the wine of consolation and the clusters of comfort. Truly blessed is the man whose wife is fruitful in those good works which are suitable to her near and dear position. By the sides of thine house. She keeps to the house: she is a home bird. Some imagine that she is like a vine which is nailed up to the house wall; but they have no such custom in Palestine, neither is it pleasant to think of a wife as growing up by a wall, and as bound to the very bricks and mortar of her husband's dwelling. No, she is a fruitful vine, and a faithful housekeeper; if you wish to find her, she is within the house: she is to be found both inside and outside the home, but her chief usefulness is in the inner side of the dwelling, which she adorns. Eastern houses usually have an open square in the centre, and the various rooms are ranged around the sides, — there shall the wife be found, busy in one room or another, as the hour of the day demands. She keeps at home, and so keeps the home. It is her husband's house, and she is her husband's; us the text puts it — "thy wife", and "thy house"; but by her loving care her husband is made so happy that he is glad to own her as an equal proprietor with himself, for he is hers, and the house is hers too. Thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Hundreds of times have I seen the young olive plants springing up around the parent stem, and it has always made mc think of this verse. The Psalmist never intended to suggest the idea of olive plants round a table, but of young people springing up around their parents, even as olive plants surround the fine, well rooted tree. The figure is very striking, and would be sure to present itself to the mind of every observer in the olive country. How beautiful to see the gnarled olive, still bearing abundant fruit, surrounded with a little band of sturdy successors, any one of which would be able to take its place should the central olive be blown down, or removed in any other way. The notion of a table in a bower may suit a cockney in a tea garden, but would never occur to an oriental poet; it is not the olive plants, but the children, that are round about the table. Moreover, note that it is not olive branches, but plants, — a very different thing. Our children gather around our table to be fed, and this involves expenses: how much better is this than to see them pining upon beds of sickness, unable to come for their meals! What a blessing to have sufficient to put upon the table! Let us for this benefit praise the bounty of the Lord. The wife is busy all over the house, but the youngsters are busiest at meal times; and if the blessing of the Lord rest upon the family, no sight can be more delightful. Here we have the vine and the olive blended— joy from the fruitful wife, and solid comfort from the growing family; these are the choicest products earth can yield: our families are gardens of the Lord. It may help us to value the privileges of our home if we consider where we should be if they were withdrawn. What if the dear partner of our life were removed from the sides of our house to the recesses of the sepulchre? What is the trouble of children compared with the sorrow of their loss? Think, dear father, what would be your grief if you had to cry with Job, "Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; when my children were about me." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, etc. The comparison would perhaps be brought out more clearly by arranging the verse as follows: — "Thy wife shall be in the inner part of thy house Like a fruitful vine; Thy children round about thy table Like the shoots of the olive." In the inner part, literally, "the sides of thy house", as in Amos 6:10, i.e., the women's apartments, as marking the proper sphere of the wife engaged in her domestic duties, and also to some extent her seclusion, though this was far less amongst the Jews than amongst other Orientals. The "vine" is an emblem chiefly of fruitfulness, but perhaps also of dependence, as needing support; the "olive", of vigorous, healthy, joyous life. The same figure is employed by Euripides, Herc. Fur., 839. Med. 109S. —J. J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 3. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, etc. We do not remember to have met with a single instance, in the East, of vines trained against the walls of a house, or of olives near or about a house. Neither have we read of such instances. The passage doubtless derives its figures from the fertility of the vine, and from the appearance of the olive, or the order in which olive trees are planted. The construction would then be: "Thy wife, in the sides (interior apartments) of thy house, shall be as the fruitful vine, and thy children round about thy table, like olive plants." —John Kitto (1504-1854), in "The Pictorial Bible." Ver. 3. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house. The wife is likened not to thorns or briers, nor even to oaks or to other fruits and trees, but to the vine; and also to a vine neither in a vineyard nor in a garden, but set by the walls of the house; also not barren, but fertile and fruit bearing. This admonishes husbands as well as wives of their duties. For as the walls support the vine, and defend it against the force of winds and tempests, so ought husbands, as far as is in their power, to defend their wives by their godly conversation and wholesome teachings and institutions against the pestilential wind of the old serpent; also against the injuries of evil disposed men. "He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church": Ephesians 5:28-29. Further, the vine is exceedingly fragile wood, and not meet for any work, Ezekiel 15:4. Husbands, therefore, should remember that they ought to behave towards their wives patiently and prudently, as with the weaker vessel; not keeping in mind the fragility of the wood, but the abundance and sweetness of the fruit. If husbands observe this, that will happen to them which Scripture says concerning the peaceful time of Solomon, "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree": 1 Kings 4:25. Such was the married life of Abraham with Sarah, Isaac with Rebecca, Jacob with, Leah and Rachel. —Solomon Gesner. Ver. 3. A fruitful vine by the sides of thine house. It does not say on the sides of the house, but by the sides. The passage probably refers to the trellissed, bowers which often lead up to the houses, and are covered with vines, the grapes, hanging over head. Sitting in these bowers is sitting under our own vines: Micah 4:4. I have seen in Constantinople grapes hanging over the people's heads in the principal streets, the vines being trained from one side of the street to the other. —John Gadsby, in "My Wanderings", 1860. Ver. 3. By the sides of thine house. Not on the roof, nor on the floor; the one is too high, she is no ruler; the other too low, she is no slave: but in the sides, an equal place between both. —Thomas Adams. Ver. 3. By the sides of thine house. The house is her proper place, for she is "the beauty of the house"; there her business lies, there she is safe. The ancients painting them with a snail under their feet, and the Egyptians denying their women shoes, and the Scythians burning the bride's chariot axle tree at her door, when she was brought to her husband's house, and the angel's asking Abraham where Sarah was (though he knew well enough), that it might be observed, she was "in the tent", do all intimate, that, by the law of nature, and by the rules of religion, the wife ought to keep at home, unless urgent necessity do call her abroad. —Richard Steele (— 1692), in "The Morning Exercises." Ver. 3. As it is visible that the good man's sons being "like olive plants round about his table", means not that they should be like the olive plants which grew round his table, it being, I presume, a thought in Bishop Patrick that will not be defended, that the Psalmist refers to a table spread in an arbour composed of young olive trees, for we find no such arbours in the Levant, nor is the tree very proper for such a purpose; so in like manner the first clause must signify, thy wife shall be in the sides, or private apartments, of thy house, fruitful as a thriving vine: the place here mentioned (the sides of the house) referring to the wife, not to the vine; as the other (the table) refers to the children, not to the olives. Nor is this a new thought, it is a remark that Musculus and other interpreters have made. The Hebrew word, translated sides, is very well known to signify the more private apartments of a house, as they have also remarked; and he that reads Dr. Shaw's description of an Eastern house, must immediately see the propriety of calling the private apartments its sides. Such a house consists of a square court, which the doctor observes, is called the midst of the house: and private apartments round it, which may as properly be called its sides in consequence: into this middle of the house, or this quadrangle, company, he tells us, are sometimes received, in which other authors tell us their wives remain concealed at such times. —Thomas Harmer, 1719-1788. Ver. 3. Thy children like olive plants, etc. Follow me into the grove, and I will show you what may have suggested the comparison. Here we have hit upon a beautiful illustration. This aged and decayed tree is surrounded, as you see, by several young and thrifty shoots, which spring from the root of the venerable parent. They seem to uphold, protect, and embrace it, we may even fancy that they now bear that load of fruit which would otherwise be demanded of the feeble parent. Thus do good and affectionate children gather round the table of the righteous. Each contributes something to the common wealth and welfare of the whole— a beautiful sight, with which may God refresh the eyes of every friend of mine. —W. M. Thomson. Ver. 3. Man by nature, uninfluenced by grace, is "a wild olive tree"; and the object of most parents is merely to cultivate this wild olive tree. What anxiety is there about accomplishments which, how attractive soever, are but the dying blossoms of this wild olive tree! —Richard Cecil, 1748-1810. Ver. 3. Although the world is carried away by irregular desires after various objects, between which it is perpetually fluctuating in its choice, God gives us in this Psalm a description of what lie considers to be a blessing beyond all riches, and therefore we ought to hold it in high estimation. If a man has a wife of amiable manners as the companion of his life, let him set no less value upon this blessing than Solomon did, who, in Proverbs 19:14, affirms that it is God alone who gives a good wife. In like manner, if a man be a father of a numerous offspring, let him receive that goodly boon with a thankful heart. —John Calvin. Ver. 3. Before the fall Paradise was man's home; since the fall home has been his Paradise. —Augustus William Hare (1792-1834), and Julius Charles Hare (1795-1855), in "Guesses at Truth." HINTS TO . Ver. 3. The blessing of children. 1. They are round our table— expense, anxiety, responsibility, pleasure. 2. They are like olive plants— strong, planted in order, coming on to succeed us, fruitful for God— as the olive provided oil for the lamp. Ver. 3. A complete family picture. Here are the husband, the wife, the children, the house, the rooms in the side, the table. We should ask a blessing upon each, bless God for each, and use each in a blessed manner. Psalms 128:4* . Ver. 4. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD. Mark this. Put a Nota Bene against it, for it is worthy of observation. It is not to be inferred that all blessed men are married, and are fathers; but that this is the way in which the Lord favours godly people who are placed in domestic life. He makes their relationships happy and profitable. In this fashion does Jehovah bless God fearing households, for he is the God of all the families of Israel. We have seen this blessing scores of times, and we have never ceased to admire in domestic peace the sweetest of human felicity. Family blessedness comes from the Lord, and is a part of his plan for the preservation of a godly race, and for the maintenance of his worship in the land. To the Lord alone we must look for it. The possession of riches will not ensure it; the choice of a healthy and beautiful bride will not ensure it; the birth of numerous comely children will not ensure it: there must be the blessing of God, the influence of piety, the result of holy living. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 4. As Haman caused it to be proclaimed (Ezra 6:9), "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour"; so here, Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. He shall be blessed in his wife, and blessed in his children; so blessed in both that the Psalmist calls all to behold it, as a rare, beautiful, yea, wonderful sight: "Behold, thus shall the man be blessed." And yet the man fearing God shall be blessed more than thus: his blessing shall come in the best way (Psalms 128:5): "The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion"; his temporal mercies shall come in a spiritual way, yea, he shall have spiritual blessings: "He shall bless thee out of Zion"; and he shall have blessings beyond his own walls: "Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel." Sometimes a good man can take no content in his family mercies because of the church's afflictions; he "prefers Jerusalem above his chief joy" (Psalms 137:6), and while that is mourning he cannot but be sorrowing, though his own house be full of joy. Sometimes a man's own family is so afflicted, and his house so full of sorrow, that he cannot but mourn, even when Jerusalem rejoiceth and Zion is glad. But when a good man looks home to his own house and sees good there; when also he looks abroad to Jerusalem and sees good there too, how full is his joy! how complete is his blessedness! and, "Behold, thus the man is blessed that feareth the Lord." —Joseph Caryl. Ver. 4. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed, etc. It is asserted with a note commanding attention: behold it by faith in the promise; behold it by observation in the performance of the promise; behold it with assurance that it shall be so, for God is faithful; and with admiration that it should be so; for we merit no favour, no blessing from him. —Matthew Henry. HINTS TO . Ver. 4. Domestic happiness the peculiar blessing of piety. Show how it produces and maintains it. Psalms 128:5* . Ver. 5. The Loud shall bless thee out of Zion. A spiritual blessing shall be received by the gracious man, and this shall crown all his temporal mercies. He is one among the many who make up God's inheritance; his tent is part and parcel of the encampment around the tabernacle; and therefore, when the benediction is pronounced at the centre it shall radiate to him ill his place. The blessing of the house of God shall be upon his house. The priestly benediction which is recorded in Numbers 6:24-26, runs thus: "The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace." This is it which shall come upon the head of the God fearing man. Zion was the centre of blessing, and to it the people looked when they sought for mercy: from the altar of sacrifice, from the mercy seat, from the Shekinah light, yea, from Jehovah himself, the blessing shall come to each one of his holy people. And thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. He shall have a patriot's joy as well as a patriarch's peace. God shall give him to see his country prosper, and its metropolitan city flourish. When tent mercies are followed by temple mercies, and these are attended by national mercies, — the man, the worshipper, the patriot is trebly favoured of the Lord. This favour is to be permanent throughout the good man's life, and that life is to be a long one, for he is to see his sons' sons. Many a time does true religion bring such blessings to men; and when these good things are denied them, they have a greater reward as a compensation. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 5. Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem, etc. What is added concerning "the good of Jerusalem" is to be regarded as enjoining upon the godly the duty not only of seeking their own individual welfare, or of being devoted to their own peculiar interests; but rather of having it as their chief desire to see the Church of God in a flourishing condition. It would be a very unreasonable thing for each member to desire what may be profitable for itself, while in the meantime the body was neglected. From our extreme proneness to err in this respect, the prophet, with good reason, recommends solicitude about the public welfare; and lie mingles together domestic blessings and the common benefits of the church in such a way as to show us that they are things joined together, and which it is unlawful to put asunder. —John Calvin. HINTS TO . Ver. 5. The blessing out of Zion. See Numbers 6:24-26. Ver. 5. Two priceless mercies. 1. The house of God a blessing to our house. It is connected with our own salvation, edification, consolation, etc. It is our hope for the conversion of our children and servants, etc. It is the place of their education, and for the formation of helpful friendship, etc. 2. Our house a blessing to God's house. Personal interest in the church, hospitality, generosity, service, etc. Children aiding holy work. Wife useful, etc. Psalms 128:6* . Ver. 6. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children. This is a great pleasure. Men live their young lives over again in their grandchildren. Does not Solomon say that "children's children are the crown of old men?" So they are. The good man is glad that a pious stock is likely to be continued; he rejoices in the belief that other homes as happy as his own will be built up wherein altars to the glory of God shall smoke with the morning and evening sacrifice. This promise implies long life, and that life rendered happy by its being continued in our offspring. It is one token of the immortality of man that he derives joy from extending his life in the lives of his descendants. And peace upon Israel. With this sweet word Psalms 126:1-6 was closed. It is a favourite formula. Let God's own heritage be at peace, and we are all glad of it. We count it our own prosperity for the chosen of the Lord to find rest and quiet. Jacob was sorely tossed about; his life knew little of peace; but yet the Lord delivered him out of all his tribulations, and brought him to a place of rest in Goshen for a while, and afterwards to sleep with his fathers in the cave of Machpelah. His glorious Seed was grievously afflicted and at last crucified; but he has risen to eternal peace, and in his peace we dwell. Israel's spiritual descendants still share his chequered conditions, but there remains a rest for them also, and they shall have peace from the God of peace. Israel was a praying petitioner in the days of his wrestling, but he became a prevailing prince, and therein his soul found peace. Yes, all around it is true— "Peace upon Israel! Peace upon Israel." NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 6. Lord, let thy blessing so accompany my endeavours in their offspring, that all my sons may be Benaiahs, the Lord's building, and then they will all be Abners, their father's light; and that all my daughters may be Bethins, the Lord's daughters, and then they will all be Abigails, their father's joy. —George Swinnock. Ver. 6. Religion is as favourable for long life as for happiness. She promotes long life by destroying those evils, the tendency of which is to limit the duration of human existence. War sweeps millions into a premature grace. Men live longer in Christian than in heathen countries. They live longer in Protestant than in Roman Catholic countries. The direct effect of true religion is to increase the period of human life. "Length of days is in her right hand." —N. M' Michael. Ver. 6. Connecting this with the next Psalm we find the following in a famous Scotch divine: — "Peace upon Israel." The great blessing of peace, which the Lord bath promised to his people even in this life, (for where the Lord gives mercy to any, he gives them peace also, peace and grace are inseparably joined together), this peace, I say, does not consist in this, that the people of God shall have no enemies; no, for there is an immortal and endless enmity against them. Neither does their peace consist in this, that their enemies shall not assault them; neither does it consist in this, that their enemies shall not molest or afflict them. We do but deceive ourselves if so be that we imagine, so long as we are in this our pilgrimage, and in our warfare here, if we promise to ourselves a peace of this kind; for while we live in this world, we shall still have enemies, and these enemies shall assault us, and persecute and afflict us." —Alexander Henderson. HINTS TO . Ver. 6. Old age blessed when 1. Life has been spent in the fear of God. 2. When it is surrounded to its close by human affection. 3. When it maintains its interest in the cause of God. —W. H. J. P. Ver. 6. (last clause). Church peace— its excellence, its enemies, its friends, its fruits. Three Songs of degrees.Psalms 129:1-2. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me.The trials of some of God’s people begin very early. When first we put on the armor of God, the adversary is usually very bitter against us. Some of our old friends and acquaintances cannot bear to see the change in us, and they bitterly oppose us, so that God’s children may have to say, “From our youth they have afflicted us.” But you must not think that the beginning of sorrows will be the end of them. Oh, no! “Many a time have they afflicted me.” God’s children are often called to pass under the rod, and the rod is frequently held in the hands of the children of men. Your Saviour carried the cross, and he expects you to carry it, too. He does not tell you to take it up now and then, but to take it up always, and to follow him with a constant will, cheerfully bearing it for his dear name’s sake. “Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet”-Is not that sweetly put?-“yet they have not prevailed against me.” You recollect how Joseph’s brothers envied him, and at last sold him into Egypt; yet from the dungeon he rose to the throne, and he could say. “Yet they have not prevailed against me.” If thou art of the seed royal, one of the chosen people of God, they shall not prevail against thee. Even proud Haman, with all his plotting, was not able to overcome poor Mordecai; and the Lord thy God will preserve thee from the fury of all thy adversaries, and bring good to thee out of all the evil they try to do unto thee.Psalms 129:3. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.Like one that has been cruelly scourged until each cut of the lash seemed to make a furrow through the quivering flesh: “The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows.” How truly could our blessed Lord utter these words when he was delivered up to wicked men to be scourged!Psalms 129:4. The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.“The Lord is righteous.” There is our hope and comfort. He takes away from them the scourge, and cuts up the cords of which it is made; and those cords with which they would bind the righteous he cuts into pieces, so that they can do nothing against them: “He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.”Psalms 129:5. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.So it seems that the one aimed at, and made to suffer, is the Church of God, “Zion.” She has often been scourged and afflicted. Her experience is like that of her covenant Head, and her triumph will be like his triumph.Psalms 129:6-8. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up: wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD.So the adversaries of the Church of God may grow as fast as grass on the roof of a house, but they will perish just as fast, and there will be nothing left of them. They threaten, they bully, they rage, they rave; but it is only for a little while. Now we will read the “De profundis” Psalm. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 129, 130, and 131. I will first read the Psalm through, and afterwards say a few words by way of exposition.Psalms 130:1-8. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the LORD for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.You notice that this is one of the Songs of Degrees; that is, Psalms ascending by steps, and it begins at the very bottom: “Out of the depths.” But it gradually climbs up to the heights: “He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” May your experience and mine, beloved, be like a ladder, —upward, always upward, step by step, ever rising, and getting nearer to our God! The Psalm begins very low: “Out of the depths.” The psalmist is in the depths of sorrow and conscious sin, the depths of weakness, the depths of doubt and fear; yet, though he is in those depths, he does not leave off praying: “Out of the depths have I cried.” Some of the best prayers that were ever prayed have been offered in the depths. There are some men who never prayed at all until they came into the depths of sorrow, and those sorrows pressed their prayers out of them. The psalmist’s prayer was a cry. That is a child’s prayer; it cries to its mother or its father: “Out of the depths have I cried.” But it was not like a child’s cries sometimes are, — cries to itself, or cries to nobody: “Out of the depths have I cried unto THEE, O Jehovah.” That is the right kind of prayer which is directed to God as an arrow is aimed at the target. In looking back over his past experience, the psalmist tells the Lord that he has prayed. Sometimes, it is a good thing to pray over your prayers. “I have prayed, Lord; now I present one more petition, ‘I pray thee to remember that I have prayed. I pray thee to hear me. Lord, hear my voice.’” What is the good of prayer if God does not hear it? Sometimes we ask God to answer our supplication. That is right, but, at the same time, remember that it may be a greater blessing for God to hear our prayers than to answer them; for if he were to make it an absolute rule that he would grant all our requests, it might be a curse rather than a blessing. At any rate, I should feel it a very dreadful responsibility to have cast upon me; for then, after all, I should have to depend upon my own prayers, and therefore have to order my own way. But when I read that God will hear my prayer, that is much better, for he can do as he likes about answering it; and if I pray an improper prayer, what is better for me than for God to hear it, and then to set it on one side? And, often, mine are such poor feeble prayers that it is much better for me that he should hear them, and then do for me exceeding abundantly above what I have asked or thought. I used to think that we ought to say that he is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God; but I do not say that now. It is enough that he hears, enough that you have presented your petition, and that God has heard it. “Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.” That is, “Lord, consider my prayer; have respect unto it. Answer it according to thy wise consideration of it; ‘let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication.’” Our prayers must usually be supplications; that is the word for a beggar’s pleading when he supplicates and asks for favors. That is what we do when we plead with God; and even if we do not speak, yet there is a voice in our supplications. In the sixth Psalm, David speaks of the voice of his weeping; and there is often a voice in that sorrow which cannot find a voice. God hears the grief that cannot itself speak to him: “Let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.” And now, having put up his petition, notice his confession: “If thou, Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities, O Adonai, who shall stand?” So it should run. If God were to sit like a judge taking notes of the evidence, and putting down against his people all their errors, who would be able to stand in that court? We should all be condemned. Then, does not God mark iniquities? Yes, he does in one sense, but not in another; and, through his infinite love and mercy, he does not deal with us after our sins, nor reward us according to our iniquities. “If he did,” David seems to say, “I could not stand.” But he says more, “Who shall stand?” Whatever pretensions to perfection any persons may make, they are false. There is no man who can stand in God’s sight when he comes to mark our iniquities; and if we are taught of God’s Spirit, we shall know it to be so. In fact, the more holy a man becomes, the more conscious he is of unholiness. “But” — and what a blessed “but” this is! — one of the most blessed “buts” in the Word of God: “But there is forgiveness with thee;” or, “There is a propitiation with thee.” There is a readiness to deal with men, not according to their just deserts, but according to free grace and the infinite mercy of God. “There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” Is not that a very strange expression? One would have thought that it would have said, “There is judgment with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” But no, brethren, if there were judgment with God, and no forgiveness, then men would grow despairing, and they would be hardened and rebellious; or else all would be swept away in God’s wrath, and there would be nobody left to fear him. It is mercy that softens the heart, it is the forgiveness of God that leads men to love him and to fear him. The true fear of God — the holy filial fear — never rises out of judgment, but springs out of forgiving love. I hope, beloved, you feel that, because you are forgiven, you fear to offend God; because of so much love, you fear to grieve the blessed Spirit of God. “I wait for Jehovah, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for Adonai,” — the King, the Sovereign Lord, — “more than they that watch for the morning, they that watch for the morning.” Our translators put in the words, “I say more than,” — I suppose, to make the sense more clear; but, by doing so, they spoiled the beautiful poetic simplicity of the original. “Let Israel hope in the Lord.” Until this verse, the psalmist has been talking about himself; now he speaks about all the people of God. True religion is expansive; as your own heart gets warmed, you begin to call others in to share your felicity. “Let Israel hope in the Lord.” Did not their father Jacob do so? When all night he wrestled at the brook Jabbok, he hoped in the Lord, and so he gained his name Israel, and went away triumphant because he hoped in Jehovah. “For with Jehovah there is mercy.” Believe that, O seeking sinner! “With Jehovah there is mercy.” Believe this, O backslider! “With Jehovah there is mercy.” Believe this, downcast child of God; “and with him is plenteous redemption.” There is enough for you, and there is enough for all who come to him. There is not a slave of sin whom God cannot redeem, for “with him is plenteous redemption.” “And he shall redeem.” There is the comfort of it; he not only has the redemption, but he will make use of it. “He shall redeem Israel” — the whole of his Israel, all his people — “He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” Oh, come to him, then, with all your iniquities, and pray to be redeemed from them; and as surely as Jehovah lives, he will fulfill this promise, and redeem you from all your iniquities. Psalms 131:1. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.I commend this verse to some who profess to be Christians, but who are always puzzling their poor brains with intricate questions, who want to solve the mystery of where free will and predestination can meet, how man can be responsible, and yet God’s predestination can be fulfilled, and I know not what beside. These are great waters the waves whereof are too big for our little barques. We have quite enough to do, my brother, to attend to the plain things of God’s Word, and to strive after holiness and the salvation of our fellow men, without addicting ourselves to tying knots and trying to untie them. It is an unprofitable business; it gendereth to pride rather than to anything else, and well did David say, “My heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.”Psalms 131:2. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child.That is a very blessed thing to be able to do, to quiet yourself when, like a weaned child, you are crying under the afflicting hand of God, when you feel a proud spirit murmuring, or when you want to pierce the darkness that veils divine truth, and want to understand what cannot be understood, and you worry because you are not omniscient. Oh, it is a blessed thing, then, to say to yourself, “Be quiet, child! Be quiet! “ What art thou but a child, after all, at thy best? What dost thou know? What canst thou know? Art thou not satisfied to hear thy Father say, “What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter”? Dost thou not know that here we know but in part, and see but in part? By-and-by, we shall know even as we are known, but not yet. “I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother:”-as a child who sucks his finger, and goes to sleep sobbing “my soul is even as a weaned child.” David did not say, “My soul is even as a weaning child,” fretting, worrying, wanting to have its own will. There is no happiness in that state; but when it is not the weaning, but the weaned,-not the present participle, but the past,-then we get into comfort: “My soul is even as a weaned child,” who has given up his old comfort, that which he thought was as necessary to him as his life. He finds that, after all, he can live without it, and grow without it, and come to a better manhood without it than with it: “My soul is even as a weaned child.”Psalms 131:3. Let Israel hope in the LORD- You will never be weaned from him if you are his; but if you are weaned from the world, so as to have all your hope in the Lord, thrice happy are you. Now, too, you will grow; now you will come to the fullness of the stature of a man in Christ Jesus, which you could never have done if you had not been weaned. I remember that when Sarah weaned Isaac there was a great feast at the weaning, and I believe that God’s children often have a great feast at their weaning from the world. All the while they are but babes, and suck their comforts from the world, they get but little real joy; but when, by divine grace, they outgrow that state of things, then is there a great feast made for them.Psalms 131:3. From henceforth and for ever.That is real comfort that you may always enjoy, hoping in the Lord from henceforth and for ever. In life and in death here is a blessed confidence that will never fail you. God grant that we may enjoy it now and evermore! Amen. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 129, 130, and 131. A Song of Degrees.Psalms 132:1. LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions.God had entered into an everlasting covenant with David, “ ordered in all things and sure,” and in this Psalm either David himself or some of his people or descendants pleaded that covenant in time of affliction and trial: “Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions.” The Lord would not forget either David or his people, yet it pleased him for them to come before him in prayer, and to remind him of the covenant that he had made with his servant. Using this prayer in a gospel sense, we bow before the Lord, and cry, “Lord, remember Jesus, the Son of David, and all his afflictions; remember all that he endured as his people’s Substitute, and have pity upon us, for his sake, as we plead that eternal covenant which thou hast made with him on our behalf.” That ancient covenant was made With David and the far more ancient covenant of grace was made with great David’s greater Son,” our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.Psalms 132:2-5. How he sware unto the LORD, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, norgo up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.David remembered that he had built himself a palace, but he wished even more ardently to build a palace for his God, a house for the celebration of his worship: “ an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.” But where can a worthy house be built for God ? Where can there be made a fit dwelling place for the Most High ? He filleth all things, yet all things cannot contain him. There is but one dwelling place of God, it is in Christ Jesus, for “ in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Oh ! how we ought to thank God that he has provided himself a fitting dwelling place in the person of his dear Son, in whom all believers also are builded together for a habitation of God through the spirit. As for the ark of the covenant, it had long ago in David’s day dwelt in obscurity.Psalms 132:6. Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood.God is willing to dwell in the woods. Many a time he does so. In many a cottage far removed from the haunts of men, God is found; and to many a backwoodsman God is as near as he is to those who worship him in temple or cathedral. “ We found it in the fields of the wood.”Psalms 132:7. We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool.This Psalm is called “ A Song of degrees.” Notice the steps here described. We heard of it, we found it, we will go into it, we will worship in it. It is a good thing when, in our prayers and praises, we ascend step by step,-not on the stepping-stones of our dead selves, which is a piece of rubbish,-but by the living stepping-stones upon which the ever-living Spirit helps us to rise tier above tier, his own almighty hand helping us continually to rise higher and higher.Psalms 132:8. Arise, O LORD into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength.Let us pray that the Lord may constantly find rest in the midst of his people. He finds rest in them because they are one with his well-beloved Son. Come, Lord, at this moment, and take thy rest in the midst of this assembly, and make us all rest in thee.Psalms 132:9. And let thy priests be clothed with righteousness;This is the best robe for all God’s holy ones, who are priests and kings unto him; this is better than snow white linen or robes bedecked with crimson and gold.Psalms 132:9. And let thy saints shout for joy.The worship of God should be very gladsome and even demonstrative. We may shout. Sometimes the overflowings of joy demand more than ordinary expression, therefore we pray, “ Let thy holy ones shout for joy.”Psalms 132:10. For thy servant David’s sake turn not away the face of thine anointed.Much more may we ask this for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake. O God, remember thy Son, our Lord and our King, and for his sake look in love and pity upon us today !Psalms 132:11-12. The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David, he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.Long did the house of David reign over Israel; but they proved unfaithful, and therefore the scepter passed out of their hands, but it is still in the hand of another Son of David. In a spiritual sense Jesus Christ has a throne and a dominion that shall know no end. “ Jesus shall reign wherever the sun Does his successive journeys run; His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, Till moons shall wax and wane no more.”Psalms 132:13. For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation.The literal Zion was the Lord’s habitation for a time, but the spiritual Zion will be his dwelling place throughout eternity.Psalms 132:14. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it.God rests in his people; the whole company of the redeemed shall be his abiding place for ever.Psalms 132:15. I will abundantly bless her provision: will satisfy her poor with bread.God sends the needful provision for his people, and sends his blessing with it. We are so poor that we have not even spiritual bread for our souls to eat unless he gives it to us; but here is his gracious promise, “ I will satisfy her poor with bread.” This he will do both literally and spiritually.Psalms 132:16. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints, shall shout aloud for joy.In the 9th verse we had a silver prayer, but here, in this 16th verse, we have a golden answer. The prayer of the psalmist was, “ Let thy saints shout for joy;” the Lord’s answer is, “Her saints shall shout aloud for joy.” God always gives good measure, pressed down, and running over. Often, we have not because we ask not, or because we ask amiss. His command to each one of us is, “ Open thy mouth wide,” and his promise is, “ I will fill it.” If you ask great things of him, he will give you yet greater things for he is “ able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”Psalms 132:17. There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.Oh, that today the horn of David might again bud! May every believer in Jesus feel the life of God reviving within him, and in many a case where there is no spiritual life at all may life divine begin today ! Pray for it, beloved; and then look for it, and you shall surely see it.Psalms 132:18. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.We have no King but Jesus and his crown is always flourishing. It wears well upon a blessed head. Let us crown him once again this day with our gladsome praise and thanksgiving. Title. A Song of Degrees of David. We see no reason for depriving David of the authorship of this sparkling sonnet. He knew by experience the bitterness occasioned by divisions in families, and was well prepared to celebrate in choicest Psalmody the blessing of unity for which he sighed. Among the "songs of degrees", this hymn has certainly attained unto a good degree, and even in common literature it is frequently quoted for its perfume and dew. In this Psalm there is no wry word, all is "sweetness and light", — a notable ascent from Psalms 110:1-7 with which the Pilgrims set out. That is full of war and lamentation, but this sings of peace and pleasantness. The visitors to Zion were about to return, and this may have been their hymn of joy because they had seen such union among the tribes who had gathered at the common altar. The previous Psalm, which sings o f the covenant, had also reveal ed the centre of Israel's unity in the Lord's anointed and the promises made to him. No wonder that brethren dwell in unity when God dwells among them, and finds his rest in them. Our translators have given to this Psalm an admirable explanatory heading, "The benefit of the communion of saints." These good men often hit off the meaning of a passage in a few words. . Ver. 1. Behold. It is a wonder seldom seen, therefore behold it! It may be seen, for it is the characteristic of real saints, — therefore fail not to inspect it! It is well worthy of admiration; pause and gaze upon it! It will charm you into imitation, therefore note it well! God looks on with approval, therefore consider it with attention. How good and holy pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! No one can tell the exceeding excellence of such a condition; and so the Psalmist uses the word "how" twice; — Behold how good! and how pleasant! He does not attempt to measure either the good or the pleasure, but invites us to behold for ourselves. The combination of the two adjectives "good" and "pleasant", is more remarkable than the conjunction of two stars of the first magnitude: for a thing to be "good" is good, but for it also to be pleasant is better. All men love pleasant things, and yet it frequently happens that the pleasure is evil; but here the condition is as good as it is pleasant, as pleasant as it is good, for the same "how" is set before each qualifying word. For brethren according to the flesh to dwell together is not always wise; for experience teaches that they are better a little apart, and it is shameful for them to dwell together in disunion. They had much better part in peace like Abraham and Lot, than dwell together in envy like Joseph's brothers. When brethren can and do dwell together in unity, then is their communion worthy to be gazed upon and sung of in holy Psalmody. Such sights ought often to be seen among those who are near of kin, for they are brethren, and therefore should be united in heart and aim; they dwell together, and it is for their mutual comfort that there should be no strife; and yet how many families are rent by fierce feuds, and exhibit a spectacle which is neither good nor pleasant! As to brethren in spirit, they ought to dwell together in church fellowship, and in that fellowship one essential matter is unity. We can dispense with uniformity if we possess unity: oneness of life, truth, and way; oneness in Christ Jesus; oneness of object and spirit — these we must have, or our assemblies will be synagogues of contention rather than churches of Christ. The closer the unity the better; for the more of the good and the pleasant there will be. Since we are imperfect beings, somewhat of the evil and the unpleasant is sure to intrude; but this will readily be neutralized and easily ejected by the true love of the saints, if it really exists. Christian unity is good in itself, good for ourselves, good for the brethren, good for our converts, good for the outside world; and for certain it is pleasant; for a loving heart must have pleasure and give pleasure in associating with others of like nature. A church united for years m earnest service of the Lord is a well of goodness and joy to all those who dwell round about it. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. This Psalm is an effusion of holy joy occasioned by the sight of the gathering of Israel as one great household at the yearly feasts...There might likewise be an allusion to the previous jealousies and alienations in the family of Israel, which seemed to be exchanged for mutual concord and affection, on David's accession to the, throne of the whole nation. —Joseph Addison Alexander. Ver. 1. Behold how good and how pleasant it is, etc. There are three things wherein it is very pleasant to behold the people of God joining in one. 1. When they join or are one in opinion and judgment, when they all think the same thing, and are of one mind in the truth. 2. When they join together and are one in affection, when they are all of one heart, though possibly they are not all of one mind; or, when they meet in affection, though not in opinion. When David had spoken admiringly of this goodly sight, he spoke declaratively concerning the goodness of it (Psalms 133:2): "It is like the precious ointment upon the head." 'Tis so, first, for the sweetness of it; 'tis so, secondly, for the diffusiveness of it (as followeth), "that ran down even the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments." 3. It is a blessed thing to see them joining together in duty, either as duty is considered— First, in doing that which is good; or, when, as the apostle's word is (2 Corinthians 6:1), they are, among themselves, "workers together" in any good work: we say (to fill up the text), "workers together with God." That's a blessed sight indeed, when we join with God, and God joins with us in his work. It is also a blessed sight when all the ministers of Jesus Christ, and many as members of Jesus Christ, join in any good work, in this especially, to beseech all we have to do with "that they receive not the grace of God in vain." Secondly, in turning from evil, and putting iniquity far from them; in praying for the pardon of sin, and making their peace with God. 'Tis a good work to turn away from evil, especially when all who are concerned in it join in it...As to join in sin, and to be brethren in iniquity, is the worst of unions, indeed, a combination against God; so to join as brethren in mourning for sin and repenting of our iniquities is a blessed union, and highly pleasing to God. —Joseph Caryl. Ver. 1. How good and how pleasant it is, etc. The terms of this praise and commendation, or the particulars whereof it consists, is taken from a twofold qualification. 1. Brotherly concord and the improvement of it in all occasional expressions is a very great good. This is, and will appear to be so in sundry considerations. As, First, in regard of the Author and owner of it, which is God himself, who lays special claim hereunto. Therefore in Scripture we find him to be from hence denominated and entitled. 1 Corinthians 14:33. "God is not the author of confusion (or of noisiness), but the author of peace". 2 Corinthians 13:11. "The God of peace and love." Peace is called "the peace of God:" Philippians 4:7. And God is called the "God of peace; "each of which expressions does refer it and reduce it to him, and does thereby advance it. Look, then, how far forth God himself is said to be good, so far forth is this dwelling in unity good also, as it is commanded and owned by him, as it appears thus to be. Secondly. It is good in the nature of it; it is good, as any grace is good. It is good morally. Love is a fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22. And so to dwell in love and unity one with another is a goodness reducible thereunto. It is good spiritually; it is not only such a good as is taught by moral philosophy, and practised by the students thereof, but it is taught by the Holy Ghost himself, and is a part of the work of regeneration and of the new creature in us, especially if we take it in the full latitude and extent of it, as it becomes us to do. Thirdly. It is good in the effects and consequences and concomitants of it: it has much good. It is bonum utile. A great deal of advantage comes by brethren's dwelling together in unity, especially spiritual advantage, and for the doing and receiving of good. 2. The second qualification is, the sweetness of it, because it is "pleasant:" it is not only bonum utile, and bonum honestum, but it is also bonum jucundum;it has a great deal of pleasure in it. Pleasure is such a kind of goodness, especially to some kind of persons, as that they care not almost what they do or part with to obtain it, and all other good besides is nothing to them, if it be devoid of this. Therefore for the further commendation of this fraternal unity to us, there is this also to be considered, that it is "pleasant." Thus it is with respect to all sorts of persons whatsoever, that are made sensible of it. First. It is pleasant to God, it is such as is very acceptable to him; it is that which he much delights in, wheresoever he observes it; being himself a God of peace, he does therefore so much the more delight in peaceable Christians, and such as do relate to himself. How much do natural parents rejoice in the agreement of their children, to see them loving and friendly and kind and courteous to one another, oh, it pleases them and joys them at their very heart! and so it is likewise with God to those who are truly his. Secondly. This brotherly unity is also pleasant to ourselves, who accordingly shall have so much the greater pleasure in it and from it. Thirdly. It is also pleasing to others, indeed to all men else besides, that are bystanders and spectators of it. "Behold, how pleasant it is", etc. It is pleasant to all beholders: "He that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men", says the apostle: Romans 14:18. —Thomas Horton, — 1673. Ver. 1. Pleasant. It is a pleasant thing for the saints and people of God to agree together; for the same word which is used here for "pleasant", is used also in the Hebrew for a harmony of music, such as when they rise to the highest strains of the viol, when the strings are all put in order to make up a harmony; so pleasant is it, such pleasantness is there in the saints' agreement. The same word is used also in the Hebrew for the pleasantness of a corn field. When a field is clothed with corn, though it be cut down, yet it is very pleasant, oh, how pleasant is it; and such is the saints' agreement. The same word in the Psalmist is used also for the sweetness of honey, and of sweet things in opposition to bitter things. And thus you see the pleasantness of it, by its being compared to the harmony of music, to the corn field, to the sweetness of honey, to the precious ointment that ran down Aaron's beard, and to the dew that fell upon Hermort and the hills of Zion: and all this to discover the pleasantness, profitableness, and sweetness of the saints' agreement. It is a pleasant thing to behold the sun, but it is much more pleasant to behold the saints' agreement and unity among themselves. —William Bridge. Ver. 1. Brethren. Abraham made this name, "brethren", a mediator to keep peace between Lot and him: "Are we not brethren?" saith Abraham. As if he should say, Shall brethren fall out for trifles, like infidels? This was enough to pacify Lot, for Abraham to put him in mind that they were brethren; when he heard the name of brethren, straight his heart yielded, and the strife was ended. So this should be the lawyer to end quarrels between Christians, to call to mind that they are brethren. And they which have spent all at law have wished that they had taken this lawyer, to think, with Lot, whether it were meet for brethren to strive like enemies. —Henry Smith. Ver. 1. Brethren. Some critics observe that the Hebrew word for a brother is of near brotherhood or alliance with two other words, whereof the first signifies one, and the other alike or together, to show that "brethren" ought to be as one, and alike, or together;which latter is by an elegant paranomasia joined with it: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity", or, as we put it in the margin, "to dwell even together." So then, the very word whereby "brethren" are expressed notes that there ought to be a nearness, a similitude, yea, a oneness (if I may so speak) between them in their affections and actions. —Joseph Caryl. Ver. 1. To dwell is a word of residence, and abode, and continuation. There is also pertaining to the love and concord of brethren a perseverance and persistency in it; not only to be together, or to come together, or to meet together for some certain time; but to dwell together in unity, this is which is here so extolled and commended unto us. It seems to be no such great matter, nor to carry any such great difficulty in it, for men to command themselves to some expressions of peace and friendship for some short space of time (though there are many now and then who are hardly able to do that); but to hold out in it, and to continue so long, this endurance is almost impossible to them. Yet this is that which is required of them as Christians and as "brethren" one to another, even to "dwell together in unity; "to follow peace, and love, and concord, and mutual agreement, not only upon some occasional meetings, but all along the whole course of their lives, while they converse and live together. —Thomas Horton. Ver. 1. Together in unity. If there be but one God, as God is one, so let them that serve him be one. This is what Christ prayed so heartily for. "That they may be one:" John 17:21. Christians should be one, 1. In judgment. The apostle exhorts to be all of one mind. 1 Corinthians 1:10. How sad is it to see religion wearing a coat of divers colours; to see Christians of so many opinions, and going so many different ways I It is Satan that has sown these tares of division. Matthew 13:39. He first divided men from God, and then one man from another. 2. One in affection. They should have one heart. "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul": Acts 4:32. As in music, though there be several strings of a viol, yet all make one sweet harmony; so, though there are several Christians, yet there should be one sweet harmony of affection among them. There is but one God, and they that serve him should be one. There is nothing that would render the true religion more lovely, or make more proselytes to it, than to see the professors of it tied together with the heart strings of love. If God be one, let all that profess him be of one mind, and one heart, and thus fulfil Christ's prayer, "that they all may be one." —Thomas Watson. HINTS TO . Ver. 1. Christian unity. 1. Its admirable excellences. 2. The signs of its existence. 3. The causes of its decay. 4. The means of its renewal. Ver. 1. The saints are here contemplated, 1. In their brotherhood. 2. In their concord. 3. In their felicity. —W. J. Ver. 1-3. Six blessings which dwell with unity. 1. Goodness. 2. Pleasure. 3. Anointing. 4. Dew. 5. God's blessing. 6. Eternal life. Ver. 1-3. 1. The contemplation: brethren dwelling together in unity. 1. In a family. 2. In a Christian church. 3. Brethren of the same denomination. 4. Of different denominations. 2. Its commendation. 1. Literally: "good and pleasant." 2. Figuratively: fragrant as the priestly anointing; fruitful as the dew on Hermon. 3. Spiritually, it has a blessing from God, that gives life, and continues for evermore! —G. R. Ver. 1-3. On Christians dwelling together in unity as a church. 1. Its propriety, on account of fraternal relationship: "For brethren." The Christian brotherhood is so unique, sacred and lasting, that a lack of unity is a disgrace. They are brethren, a) Because born of God, who is "the God of peace." Their claim to the brotherhood is dependent upon likeness to Him: Matthew 5:9. b) Because united to Christ, who as elder brother desires unity: John 17:20-21. Not to seek it is virtually to disown Him. c) Because "by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body" (1 Corinthians 12:13), wherein unity must be kept: Ephesians 4:3. d) Because destined to "dwell together in unity", for ever in heaven; therefore we should aim at it here. 2. Its peculiar excellency:both "good and pleasant." a) Good, in respect of church work and influence; of mutual edification and growth in grace (2 Corinthians 13:11); of the success of prayer (Matthew 18:19); of recommending the gospel to others. b) Pleasant, as productive of happiness: as pleasing to God. 3. Its promotion and maintenance. a) Seeking the glory of God unites; in opposition to self honour which divides. b) Love to Christ as a constraining power unites each to the other as it binds all closely to Christ. c) Activity in ministering to others, rather than desiring to be ministered unto, binds heart to heart. —J. F. Psalms 133:2* . Ver. 2. It is like the precious ointment upon the head. In order that we may the better behold brotherly unity David gives us a resemblance, so that as in a glass we may perceive its blessedness. It has a sweet perfume about it, comparable to that precious ointment with which the first High Priest was anointed at his ordination. It is a holy thing, and so again is like the oil of consecration which was to be used only in the Lord's service. What a sacred thing must brotherly love be when it can be likened to an oil which must never be poured on any man but on the Lord's high priest alone! It is a diffusive thing: being poured on his bead the fragrant oil flowed down upon Aaron's head, and thence dropped upon his garments till the utmost hem was anointed therewith; and even so doth brotherly love extend its benign power and bless all who are beneath its influence. Hearty concord brings a benediction upon all concerned; its goodness and pleasure are shared in by the lowliest members of the household; even the servants are the better and the happier because of the lovely unity among the members of the family. It has a special use about it; for as by the anointing oil Aaron was set apart for the special service of Jehovah, even so those who dwell in love are the better fitted to glorify God in his church. The Lord is not likely to use for his glory those who are devoid of love; they lack the anointing needful to make them priests unto the Lord. That ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard. This is a chief point of comparison, that as the oil did not remain confined to the place where it first fell, but flowed down the High Priest's hair and bedewed his beard, even so brotherly love descending from the head distils and descends, anointing as it runs, and perfuming all it lights upon. That went down to the skirts of his garments. Once set in motion it would not cease from flowing. It might seem as if it were better not to smear his garments with oil, but the sacred unguent could not be restrained, it flowed over his holy robes; even thus does brotherly love not only flow over the hearts upon which it was first poured out, and descend to those who are an inferior part of the mystical body of Christ, but it runs where it is not sought for, asking neither leave nor license to make its way. Christian affection knows no limits of parish, nation, sect, or age. Is the man a believer in Christ? Then he is in the one body, and I must yield him an abiding love. Is he one of the poorest, one of the least spiritual, one of the least lovable? Then he is as the skirts of the garment, and my heart's love must fall even upon him. Brotherly love comes from the head, but falls to the feet. Its way is downward. It "ran down", and it" went down": love for the brethren condescends to men of low estate, it is not puffed up, but is lowly and meek. This is no small part of its excellence: oil would not anoint if it did not flow down, neither would brotherly love diffuse its blessing if it did not descend. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. Precious ointment upon the head. Though every priest was anointed, yet only the high priest was anointed on the head, and there is a tradition that this rite was omitted after the Captivity, so that there is a special stress on the name of Aaron. —Neale and Littledale. Ver. 2. The precious ointment... that ran down upon the beard... that went down to the skirts of his garments. Magnificence, misnamed by churls extravagance and waste, is the invariable attribute of all true love. David recognized this truth when he selected the profuse anointing of Aaron with the oil of consecration at his installation into the office of High Priest as a fit emblem of brotherly love. There was waste in that anointing, too, as well as in the one which took place at Bethany. For the oil was not sprinkled on the head of Aaron, though that might have been sufficient for the purpose of a mere ceremony. The vessel was emptied on the High Priest's person, so that its contents flowed clown from the head upon the beard, and even to the skirts of the sacerdotal robes. In that very waste lay the point of the resemblance for David. It was a feature that was very likely to strike his mind; for he, too, was a wasteful man in his way. He had loved God in a manner which exposed him to the charge of extravagance. He had danced before the Lord, for example, when the ark was brought up from the house of Obededom to Jerusalem, forgetful of his dignity, exceeding the bounds of decorum, and, as it might seem, without excuse, as a much less hearty demonstration would have served the purpose of a religious solemnity. —Alexander Balmain Bruce, in "The Training of the Twelve", 1877. Ver. 2. The precious ointment...that ran down. Of the Hebrew perfumes an immense quantity was annually manufactured and consumed, of which we have a very significant indication in the fact that the holy anointing oil of the tabernacle and temple was never made in smaller quantities than 750 ounces of solids compounded with five quarts of oil, and was so profusely employed that when applied to Aaron's head it flowed down over his beard and breast, to the very skirts of his garments. —Hugh Macmillan, in "The Ministry of Nature", 1871. Ver. 2. That ran down...that went down, etc. Christ's grace is so diffusive of itself, that it conveys holiness to us, "running down from the head to the skirts", to all his members. He was not only anointed himself, but he is our anointer. Therefore it is called "the oil of gladness", because it rejoiceth our hearts, by giving us spiritual gladness, and peace of conscience. —Thomas Adams. Ver. 2. Down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments. Not the extremity of them, as our version inclines to; for not so great a quantity of oil was poured upon him; nor would it have been decent to have his clothes thus greased from top to bottom; but the upper part of his garment, the top of his coat, on which the beard lay, as Zarchi; the neck or collar of it, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; the hole in which the head went through when it was put on, about which there was a band, that it might not be rent: Exodus 28:32 39:23; where the Septuagint use the same word as here. —John Gill. Ver. 2-3. In this prayer and song of the unity of the church, it is note worthy how, commencing with the fundamental idea of "brethren", we rise to the realization of the Elder Brother, who is our common anointed High Priest. It is the bond of his priesthood which joins us together as brethren. It is the common anointing which flows down even to the skirts of the garment of our High Priest which marks our being brethren. Whether we dwell north or south, meeting in Zion, and sharing in the blessings of that eternal Priesthood of Christ, we form in reality, and before our Father, but one family— "the whole family in earth and heaven." Our real bond of union consists in the "flowing down", the "running down", or "descending" of the common blessing, which marks the steps in this Psalm of Degrees (Psalms 133:2-3). And if "the dew of Hermon" has descended upon "the mountains of Zion", long after the sun has risen shall gladsome fruit appear— in some twenty, in some thirty, and in some a hundred fold. —Alfred Edersheim HINTS TO . Ver. 2. There must have been special reasons why a priestly anointing should be selected for the comparison, and why that of Aaron, rather than of any other of the high priests. They are these— 1. The ointment was "holy", prepared in accordance with the Divine prescription: Exodus 30:23-25. Church union is sacred. It must spring from the love commanded by God; be based on the principles laid down by God; and exist for the ends appointed of God. 2. The anointing was from God through Moses, who acted on behalf of God in the matter. Church unity is of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13), through Jesus as mediator. Therefore it should be prayed for, and thankfully acknowledged. 3. By the anointing, Aaron became consecrated, and officially qualified to act as priest. By unity the Church, as a whole, lives its life of consecration, and effectively ministers in the priesthood assigned it. 4. The oil was diffusive;it rested not on Aaron's head, but flowed down to the skirts of his garments. Unity will, in time, make its way from a few to the whole, especially from the leaders in a church to the rest of its members. Hence, it is a personal matter. Each should realize it, and by love and wise conduct diffuse it. —J. F. Ver. 2-3. Christian love scatters blessing by the way of coming down: "ran down", "went down", "descended." 1. God to his saints. 2. Saint to saint. 3. Saint to sinner. Psalms 133:3* . Ver. 3. As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. From the loftier mountains the moisture appears to be wafted to the lesser hills: the dews of Hermon fall on Zion. The Alpine Lebanon ministers to the minor elevation of the city of David; and so does brotherly love descend from the higher to the lower, refreshing and enlivening in its course. Holy concord is as dew, mysteriously blessed, full of life and growth for all plants of grace. It brings with it so much benediction that it is as no common dew, but As that of Hermon which is specially copious, and far reaching. The proper rendering is, "As the dew of Hermon that descended upon the mountains of Zion", and this tallies with the figure which has been already used; and sets forth by a second simile the sweet descending diffusiveness of brotherly unity. For there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. That is, in Zion, or better still, in the place where brotherly love abounds. Where love reigns God reigns. Where love wishes blessing, there God commands the blessing. God has but to command, and it is done. He is so pleased to see his dear children happy in one another that he fails not to make them happy in himself. He gives especially his best blessing of eternal life, for love is life; dwelling together in love we have begun the enjoyments of eternity, and these shall not be taken from us. Let us love for evermore, and we shall live for evermore. This makes Christian brotherhood so good and pleasant; it has Jehovah's blessing resting upon it, and it cannot be otherwise than sacred like "the precious ointment", and heavenly like "the dew of Hermon." O for more of this rare virtue! Not the love which comes and goes, but that which dwells; not that spirit which separates and secludes, but that which dwells together; not that mind which is all for debate and difference, but that which dwells together in unity. Never shall we know the full power of the anointing till we are of one heart and of one spirit; never will the sacred dew of the Spirit descend in all its fulness till we are perfectly joined together in the same mind; never will the covenanted and commanded blessing come forth from the Lord our God till once again we shall have "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Lord, lead us into this most precious spiritual unity, for thy Son's sake. Amen. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. As the dew of Hermon, etc. What we read in the 133rd Psalm of the dew of Hermon descending upon the mountains of Zion", says Van de Velde in his "Travels" (Bd. 1. S. 97), "is now become quite clear to me. Here as I sat at the foot of Hermon, I understood how the water drops which rose from its forest mantled heights, and out of the highest ravines, which are filled the whole year round with snow, after the sun's rays have attenuated them add moistened the atmosphere with them, descend at evening time as a heavy dew upon the lower mountains which lie round about as its spurs. One ought to have seen Hermon with its white golden crown glistening aloft in the blue sky, in order to be able rightly to understand the figure. Nowhere in the whole country is so heavy a dew perceptible as in the districts near to Hermon. To this dew the poet likens brotherly love. This is "as the dew of Hermon": of such pristine freshness and thus refreshing, possessing such pristine power and thus quickening, thus born from above (Psalms 110:3), and in fact like the dew of Hermon which comes down upon the mountains of Zion— a feature in the picture which is taken from the natural reality; for an abundant dew, when warm days have preceded, might very well be diverted to Jerusalem by the operation of the cold current of air sweeping down from the north over Hermon. We know, indeed, from our own experience how far off a cold air coming from the Alps is perceptible, and produces its effects. The figure of the poet is therefore as true to nature as it is beautiful. When brethren bound together in love also meet together in one place, and, in fact, when brethren of the north unite with brethren in the south in Jerusalem, the city which is the mother of all, at the great Feasts, it is as when the dew of Mount Hermon, which is covered with deep, almost eternal snow, descends upon the bare, unfruitful— and therefore longing for such quickening— mountains round about Zion. In Jerusalem must love and all that is good meet. —Franz Delitzsch. Ver. 3. As the dew of Hermon, etc. As touching this similitude, I think the prophet useth the common manner of speaking. For whereas the mountains oftentimes seem to those that behold them afar off, to reach up even unto heaven, the dew which cometh from heaven seemeth to fall from the high mountains unto the hills which are under them. Therefore he saith that the dew descendeth from Hermon unto the mount Sion, because it so seemeth unto those that do behold it afar off. —Martin Luther. Ver. 3. As the dew of Hermon. The dews of the mists that rose from the watery ravines, or of the clouds that rested on the summit of Hermon, were perpetual witnesses of freshness and coolness— the sources, as it seemed, of all the moisture, which was to the land of Palestine what the fragrant oil was to the garments of the High Priest; what the influence of brotherly love was to the whole community. —Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815-1881), in "Sinai and Palestine." Ver. 3. Dew of Hermon. We had sensible proof at Rasheiya of the copiousness of the "dew of Hermon", spoken of in Psalms 133:3, where "Zion" is only another name for the same mountain. Unlike most other mountains which gradually rise from lofty table lands and often at a distance from the sea, Hermon starts at once to the height of nearly ten thousand feet, from a platform scarcely above the sea level. This platform, too— the upper Jordan valley, and marshes of Merom— is for the most part an impenetrable swamp of unknown depth, whence the seething vapour, under the rays of an almost tropical sun, is constantly ascending into the upper atmosphere during the day. The vapour, coming in contact with the snowy sides of the mountain, is rapidly congealed, and is precipitated in the evening in the form of a dew, the most copious we ever experienced. It penetrated everywhere, and saturated everything. The floor of our tent was soaked, our bed was covered with it, our guns were dripping, and dewdrops hung about everywhere. No wonder that the foot of Hermon is clad with orchards and gardens of such marvellous fertility in this land of droughts. —Henry Baker Tristram, 1867. Ver. 3. As the dew of Hermon that descended upon the mountains of Zion. — So the dews on Hermon's hill Which the summer clouds distil, Floating southward in the night, Pearly gems on Zion light. —William Digby Seymour. Ver. 3. There the Lord commanded the blessing. God commands his blessing where peace is cultivated; by which is meant, that he testifies how much he is pleased with concord amongst men, by showering down blessings upon them. The same sentiment is expressed by Paul in other words (2 Corinthians 13:11 Philippians 4:9), "Live in peace, and the God of peace shall be with you." —John Calvin. Ver. 3. The LORD commanded the blessing. By a bare word of command he blesseth: "there he commands the blessing", that blessing of blessings, "even life for evermore"; like as it is said, "he commanded, and they were created": Psalms 148:5. So "he commands and we are blessed." —Thomas Goodwin. Ver. 3. The LORD commanded the blessing. It is an allusion possibly to, great persons, to a general, or an emperor: "Where the word of a king is, there is power." The centurion said, "I say to one soldier, Go, and he goeth, to another, Come, and he cometh; to a third, Do this, and he doth it." So God commandeth one ordinance, "Go and build up such a saint", and it goeth; he saith to another ordinance, "Come, and call home such a sinner", and it doth it; God's words and work go together. Men cannot enable others, or give them power to obey them; they may bid a lame man walk, or a blind man see; but they cannot enable them to walk or see: God with his word giveth strength to do the thing commanded; as in the old, so in the new creation, "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast:" Psalms 33:9. But there the Lord commands his blessing, "even life for evermore." The stream of regeneration, or a spiritual life, which shall never cease, but still go forward and increase, till it swell to, and be swallowed up in the ocean of eternal life, "even life for evermore." —George Swinnock HINTS TO . Ver. 3. The chosen place for blessing. A church; a church united, a church bedewed of the Spirit. What a blessing for the world that there is a commanded place of blessing! Ver. 3. (first clause). This should be rendered, "As the dew of Hermon, that cometh down on the mountains of Zion." From the snows upon the lofty Hermon, the moisture raised by the sun is carried in the form of vapour, by the wind towards the lesser elevations of Zion, upon which it falls as a copious dew. Thus, Christian concord in church fellowship— 1. Despises not the little ones, i.e. the mean, poor, and less gifted. It, a) Recognises that God is the Father, and Christ is the Redeemer of all believers alike. b) Acknowledges oneness of faith as the true basis of fellowship; not wealth, social position or talent. c) Believes that the least member is essential to the completeness of Christ's body. d) Realises that everything which renders one in any way superior to another is the gift of God. 2. Distributes of its abundance to the needy: Acts 4:32-37. a) The wealthy to the poor: 1 John 3:17. b) The learned to the ignorant. c) The joyful to the sorrowing. d) The steadfast to the erring: James 5:19. 3. Displays its value more by loving generosity, than by a conspicuous appearance before the world. As Hermon was more valuable to Zion for its dew than for its adornment of the landscape. a) A generous activity exhibits and requires more real grace than showy architecture or ornate worship does. b) Through it, godliness flourishes more than by a vaunted respectability. Zion was fertilized by the dew, not by the grandeur of Hermon. c) By it the heart of Christ is touched and his reward secured: Mr 9:40,42. —J. F. Ver. 3. Commanded Mercy. Elsewhere goodness is bestowed, but in Zion it is commanded. 1. Commanded mercy implies that it must necessarily be given. 2. Commanded mercy attends commanded unity. 3. Commanded mercy secures life more abundantly, "life for evermore." —W. B. H. TITLE. A Song of Degrees. We have now reached the last of the Gradual Psalms. The Pilgrims are going home, and are singing the last song in their psalter. They leave early in the morning, before the day has fully commenced, for the journey is long for many of them. While yet the night lingers they are on the move. As soon as they are outside the gates they see the guards upon the temple wall, and the lamps shining from the windows of the chambers which surround the sanctuary; therefore, moved by the sight, they chant a farewell to the perpetual attendants upon the holy shrine. Their parting exhortation arouses the priests to pronounce upon them a blessing out of the holy place: this benediction is contained in the third verse. The priests as good as say, "You have desired us to bless the Lord, and now we pray the Lord to bless you." The Psalm teaches us to pray for those who are continually ministering before the Lord, and it invites all ministers to pronounce benedictions upon their loving and prayerful people. . Ver. 1. Behold. By this call the pilgrims bespeak the attention of the night watch. They shout to them— Behold! The retiring pilgrims stir up the holy brotherhood of those who are appointed to keep the watch of the house of the Lord. Let them look around them upon the holy place, and everywhere "behold" reasons for sacred praise. Let them look above them at night and magnify him that made heaven and earth, and lighted the one with stars and the other with his love. Let them see to it that their hallelujahs never come to an end. Their departing brethren arouse them with the shrill cry of "Behold!" Behold! — see, take care, be on the watch, diligently mind your work, and incessantly adore and bless Jehovah's name. Bless ye the LORD. Think well of Jehovah, and speak well of him. Adore him with reverence, draw near to him with love, delight in him with exultation. Be not content with praise, such as all his works render to him; but, as his saints, see that ye "bless" him. He blesses you; therefore, be zealous to bless him. The word "bless" is the characteristic word of the Psalm. The first two verses stir us up to bless Jehovah, and in the last verse Jehovah's blessing is invoked upon the people. Oh to abound in blessing! May blessed and blessing be the two words which describe our lives. Let others flatter their fellows, or bless their stars, or praise themselves; as for us, we will bless Jehovah, from whom all blessings flow. All ye servants of the LORD. It is your office to bless him; take care that you lead the way therein. Servants should speak well of their masters. Not one of you should serve him as of compulsion, but all should bless him while you serve him; yea, bless him for permitting you to serve him, fitting you to serve him, and accepting your service. To be a servant of Jehovah is an incalculable honour, a blessing beyond all estimate. To be a servant in his temple, a domestic in his house, is even more a delight and a glory: if those Who are ever with the Lord, and dwell in his own temple, do not bless the Lord, who will? Which by night stand in the house of the LORD. We can well understand how the holy pilgrims half envied those consecrated ones who guarded the temple, and attended to the necessary offices thereof through the hours of night. To the silence and solemnity of night there was added the awful glory of the place where Jehovah had ordained that his worship should be celebrated, blessed were the priests and Levites who were ordained to a service so sublime. That these should bless the Lord throughout their nightly vigils was most fitting: the people would have them mark this, and never fail in the duty. They were not to move about like so many machines, but to put their hearts into all their duties, and worship spiritually in the whole course of their duty. It would be well to watch, but better still to be "watching unto prayer" and praise. When night settles down on a church the Lord has his watchers and holy ones still guarding his truth, and these must not be discouraged, but must bless the Lord even when the darkest hours draw on. Be it ours to cheer them, and lay upon them this charge— to bless the Lord at all times, and let his praise be continually in their mouths. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Whole Psalm. It is a beautiful little ode, equally full of sublimity and simplicity. It is commonly supposed to be the work of David. With what admiration should we contemplate the man whose zeal in the cause of religion thus urged him to embrace every opportunity that could occur to him, among the lowest as well as the highest ranks of life, of promoting the praise and glory of his Creator; now composing penitential hymns for his own closet; now leading the temple service in national eulogies of the most sublime pitch to which human language can reach; and now descending to the class of the watchmen and patrol of the temple and the city, and tuning their lips to a reverential utterance of the name and the service of God! —John Mason Good (1764-1827), in "An Historical Outline of the Book of Psalms." Whole Psalm. This Psalm consists of a greeting, Psalms 109:1-2, and the reply thereto. The greeting is addressed to those priests and Levites who have the night watch in the Temple; and this antiphon is purposely placed at the end of the collection of Songs of Degrees in order to take the place of a final "beracha" (Blessing). In this sense Luther styles the Psalm epiphonema superiorum. ("I take this Psalm to be a conclusion of those things which were spoken of before." —Luther). It is also in other respects an appropriate finale. —Franz Delitzsch. Whole Psalm. The last cloud of smoke from the evening sacrifice has mixed with the blue sky, the last note of the evening hymn has died away on the ear. The watch is being set for the night. The twenty-four Levites, the three priests, and the captain of the guard, whose duty it was to keep ward from sunset to sunrise over the hallowed precincts, are already at their several posts, and the multitude are retiring through the gates, which will soon be shut, to many of them to open no more. But they cannot depart without one last expression of the piety that fills their hearts; and turning to the watchers on tower and battlement, they address them in holy song, in what was at once a brotherly admonition and a touching prayer: Behold, bless ye LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. The pious guard are not unprepared for the appeal, and from their lofty heights, in words that float over the peopled city and down into the quiet valley of the Kidron, like the melody of angels, they respond to each worshipper who thus addressed them with a benedictory farewell: The LORD bless thee out of Zion, even he who made heaven and earth. —Robert Nisbet. Whole Psalm. The tabernacle and temple were served by priests during the night as well as the day. Those priests renewed the altar fire, fed the lamps, and guarded the sacred structure from intrusion and from plunder. The Psalm before us was prepared for the priests who served the sacred place by night. They were in danger of slumbering; and they were in danger of idle reverie. Oh, how much time is wasted in mere reverie— in letting thought wander, and wander, and wander! The priests were in danger, we say, of slumbering, of idle reverie, of vain thoughts, of useless meditation, and of profitless talk: and therefore it is written, — "Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD." Is it your duty to spend the night in watching? Then spend the night in worship. Do not let the time of watching be idle, wasted time; but when others are slumbering and sleeping, and you are necessarily watchful, sustain the praises of God's house; let there be praise in Zion— still praise by night as well as by day! Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD. We may suppose these words to be addressed to the sacred sentinels, by the head of their course, or by the captain of the guard, or even by the high priest. We can imagine the captain of the guard coming in during the night watches, and saying to the priests who were guarding the temple, Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD, which by night stand in the house of the LORD. Or we could imagine the high priest, when the watch was set for the first part of the night, going to the priests who were under his control, and addressing to them these same soul stirring words. Now our text is the response of these sacred sentinels. As they listened to the captain of the guard, or to the high priest, telling them to worship by night in the courts of the Lord— to lift up their hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord— they answered him, The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion. So that here you have brought before you the interesting and instructive subject of mutual benediction— the saints blessing each other. —Samuel Martin, 1817-1878. Ver. 1. The Targum explains the first verse of the Temple watch. "The custom in the Second Temple appears to have been this. After midnight the chief of the doorkeepers took the key of the inner Temple, and went with some of the priests through the small postern of the Fire Gate. In the inner court this watch divided itself into two companies, each carrying a burning torch; one company turned west, the other east, and so they compassed the court to see whether all were in readiness for the Temple service on the following morning. In the bakehouse, where the Mincha ("meat offering") of the High Priest was baked, they met with the cry, `All well.' Meanwhile the rest of the priests arose, bathed themselves, and put on their garments. They then went into the stone chamber (one half of which was the hall of session of the Sanhedrim), and there, under the superintendence of the officer who gave the watchword, and one of the Sanhedrim, surrounded by the priests clad in their robes of office, their several duties for the coming day were assigned to each of the priests by lot. Lu 1:9." —J.J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 1. Behold. The Psalm begins with the demonstrative adverb Behold setting the matter of their duty before their eyes, for they were to be stimulated to devotion by looking constantly to the Temple. We are to notice the Psalmist's design in urging the duty of praise so earnestly upon them. Many of the Levites, through the tendency which there is in all men to abuse ceremonies, considered that nothing more was necessary than standing idly in the Temple, and thus overlooked the principal part of their duty. The Psalmist would show that merely to keep nightly watch over the Temple, kindle the lamps, and superintend the sacrifices, was of no importance, unless they served God spiritually, and referred all outward ceremonies to that which must be considered the main sacrifice, — the celebration of God's praises. You may think it a very laborious service, as if he had said, to stand at watch in the Temple, while others sleep in their own houses; but the worship which God requires is something more excellent than this, and demands of you to sing his praises before all the people. —John Calvin. Ver. 1. Behold. The first word in this verse, "Behold", seemeth to point at the reasons which the priests in the Temple had to bless Jehovah; as if it had been said, Behold, the house of God is built, the holy services are appointed, and the Lord hath given you rest from your enemies, that you may serve him acceptably; set about it, therefore, with gratitude and alacrity. We read (1 Chronicles 9:33) that the Levitical singers were "employed in their work day and night"; to the end, doubtless, that the earthly sanctuary might bear some resemblance to that above, where St. John tells us, the redeemed "are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple": Revelation 7:15. —George Horne. Ver. 1. Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye servants of the LORD. From the exhortation to the Lord's ministers, learn, that the public worship of God is to be carefully looked unto; and all men, but especially ministers, had need to be stirred up to take heed to themselves, and to the work of God's public worship, when they go about it; for so much doth "behold" in this place import. —David Dickson. Ver. 1. By night. Even by night the Lord is to be remembered, and his praises are to be rehearsed. —Martin Geier, 1614-1681. Ver. 1. Stand in the house of the LORD. The Rabbins say, that the high priest only sat in the sanctuary (as did Eli, 1 Samuel 1:9); the rest stood, as ready pressed to do their office. —John Trapp. Ver. 1. Which stand in the house of the LORD. YOU who have now a permanent house, and no longer, like pilgrims, have to dwell in tents. —Robert Bellarmine. Ver. 1. Which stand in the house of the LORD. Let not this your frequent being in his presence breed in you contempt; as the saying is, "Too much familiarity breeds contempt; "but bless him always, acknowledge, and with reverence praise his excellency. —John Mayer, 1653. HINTS TO . Whole Psalm. There are two things in this Psalm. 1. Our blessing God: Psalms 134:1-2. a) How? By gratitude, by love, by obedience, by prayer, by praise. b) Where? "in the house of the Lord", "in the sanctuary." c) When? Not in the day merely, but at night. Some of old spent the whole night, others part of the night, in the temple, praising God. As Christ spent whole nights in prayer for his people, they should not think it too much occasionally to spend whole nights in praise of him. Evening services should not be neglected on the Sabbath, nor on other days of the week. 2. God blessing us: Psalms 134:3. a) The persons blessed: "bless thee" — every one who blesses him. b) The condition: "out of Zion." In the fulfilment of religious duties, not in the neglect of them. c) The blessing itself: of the Lord. They are blessed whom he blesses. —R. Whole Psalm. 1. God— Jehovah— the fountain of blessing. 2. The heavens and the earth, evidence of divine capacity to bless. 3. The church, a channel of blessing. 4. The saints, the means of spreading blessing, through the spirit of blessing. 5. The riches involved in the divine benediction. —Samuel Martin. Whole Psalm. 1. Unique service: temple watching, night sentinelship. 2 Sublime society: the awful things of the sanctuary. 3. Holy uplifting: hands, hearts, eyes. 4. Praise in the darkness heard far up in the light. 5. Response from the stars fulfilling the prayer: "The Creator Lord bless thee." —W.B.H. Ver. 1. 1. Night settles on the holy place: dark periods of church story. 2. But God has his guards: Wycliffe and his band watching for the Reformation; Waldenses, etc. Never a night so dark but God is praised and served. 3. Be it night or day, let the Levites fulfil their courses. —W.B.H. Ver. 1. The Lord's servants exhorted to be, 1. Devout and joyful in their service. Sing at your work, though it be in the dark. 2. Zealous to employ every season of service aright. "By night", as by day, "bless the Lord." 3. Careful to avoid all hindrances to devotion in their service. When tempted to indolence and drowsiness, say: "Wake, and lift up thyself, my heart, And with the angels bear thy part, Who all night long, unwearied, sing High praise to the Eternal King." W.H.J.P. Ver. 1. Directions for worship. 1. It should be with great care: "Behold." 2. With grateful joy: "Bless ye the Lord." 3. Unanimously: "all ye." 4. With holy reverence, as by "servants of the Lord." 5. With unflagging constancy: "stand by night." Ver. 1. Ye that stand by night. The night watchmen of the Lord's house, their value, their obscurity, their danger slumber, their consolation, their dignity, their reward. Psalms 134:2* . Ver. 2. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary. In the holy place they must be busy, full of strength, wide awake, energetic, and moved with holy ardour. Hands, heart, and every other part of their manhood must be upraised, elevated, and consecrated to the adoring service of the Lord. As the angels praise God day without night, so must the angels of the churches be instant in season and out of season. And bless the LORD. This is their main business. They are to bless men by their teaching, but they must yet more bless Jehovah with their worship. Too often men look at public worship only from the side of its usefulness to the people; but the other matter is of even higher importance: we must see to it that the Lord God is adored, extolled, and had in reverence. For a second time the word "bless" is used, and applied to Jehovah. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let every other soul bless him. There will be no drowsiness about even midnight devotion if the heart is set upon blessing God in Christ Jesus, which is the gospel translation of God in the sanctuary. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 2. Lift up your hands, etc. The lifting up of the hands was a gesture in prayer, it was an intimation of their expectation of receiving blessings from the Lord, and it was also an acknowledgment of their having received the same. —Samuel Eyles Pierce. Ver. 2. In the sanctuary. The Hebrew work signifying holiness as well as the holy place may here be taken in the former sense, the latter having been sufficiently expressed (Psalms 134:1) by "the house of the Lord" ...The priests (which are here spoken to) before their officiating, which is here expressed by lifting up their hands, were obliged to wash their hands. —Henry Hammond. HINTS TO . Ver. 2. Ingredients of worship. 1. Uplifted hands. Energy, courage, prayer, aspiration. 2. Uplifted hearts. Thank, praise, adore, and love the Lord. Ver. 3. The Divine Benediction. 1. From the Creator: ample, new, varied, boundless, enduring— all illustrated by his making heaven and earth. 2. From the Redeemer: blessings most needful, rich, effectual, abiding, — all illustrated and guaranteed by his dwelling among men, purchasing a church, building an abode, revealing his glory, reigning on his throne. Psalms 134:3* . Ver. 3. This last verse is the answer from the temple to the pilgrims preparing to depart as the day breaks. It is the ancient blessing of the high priest condensed, and poured forth upon each individual pilgrim. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion. Ye are scattering and going to your homes one by one; may the benediction come upon you one by one. You have been up to Jehovah's city and temple at his bidding; return each one with such a benediction as only he can give— divine, infinite, effectual, eternal. You are not going away from Jehovah's works or glories, for he made the heaven above you and the earth on which you dwell. He is your Creator, and he can bless you with untold mercies; he can create joy and peace in your hearts, and make for you a new heaven and a new earth. May the Maker of all things make you to abound in blessings. The benediction comes from the City of the Great King, from his appointed ministers, by virtue of his covenant, and so it is said to be "out of Zion." To this day the Lord blesses each one of his people through his church, his gospel, and the ordinances of his house. It is in communion with the saints that we receive untold benisons. May each one of us obtain yet more of the blessing which cometh from the Lord alone. Zion cannot bless us; the holiest ministers can only wish us a blessing; but Jehovah can and will bless each one of his waiting people. So may it be at this good hour. Do we desire it? Let us then bless the Lord ourselves. Let us do it a second time. Then we may confidently hope that the third time we think of blessing we shall find ourselves conscious receivers of it from the Ever blessed One. Amen. NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS. Ver. 3. The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion. He doth not say, the Lord that made the earth bless thee out of heaven; nor, the Lord that made heaven bless thee out of heaven; but "bless thee out of Zion." As if he would teach us that all blessings come as immediately and primarily from heaven, so mediately and secondarily from Zion, where the Temple stood. If ever, therefore, we would have blessings outward, inward, private, public, secular, spiritual; if ever we would have blessing in our estate, blessing in our land, blessing in our souls, we must pray for it, and pray for it here, in Zion, in God's house: for from the piety there exercised all blessings flow, as from a fountain that can never be drawn dry. —Abraham Wright. Ver. 3. The LORD that made heaven and earth, etc. The priestly benediction brings God before us in a twofold character. He is described first as the Creator of the universe. He is described, in the second place, as dwelling "in Zion." In the first aspect, he is represented as the God of nature; in the second, as the God of grace. When I contemplate him as the Creator of the universe, there is abundant proof that he can bless me. When I contemplate him as dwelling in the Church, there is abundant proof that he will bless me. Both of these elements are essential to our faith. —N. M`michael. Ver. 3. The LORD that made heaven and earth, etc. As the priests were called upon to bless God in behalf of the people, so here they bless the people in behalf of God. Between the verses we may suppose the previous request to be complied with. The priests, having blessed God, turn and bless the people. The obvious allusion to the sacerdotal blessing (Numbers 6:23-27), favours the optative construction of this verse, which really includes a prediction— the Lord will bless thee. —Joseph Addison Alexander. Ver. 3. The LORD bless thee. All men lie under the curse, till God brings them into the fellowship of his church, and pronounce them blessed by his word, as "The LORD bless thee" doth import. —David Dickson. Ver. 3. The LORD bless thee out of Zion. The Church is the conservator of Divine revelation; the Church is the offerer on earth of true worship; it consists of a company of priests, a royal priesthood, part of whose mission is "to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." The Church is the heritor of the covenants. God's covenants are made with his Church, and his promises are addressed chiefly to his Church. The Church is the scene of special Divine ministrations, God shows himself to his Church as he does not to that which is called the world. It is also the scene of special heavenly influences: and in a sense next to that in which God is said to reside in heaven, the Church is the dwellingplace of the Most High. Now, what is it to be blessed out of Zion? It is surely to be blessed with Zion's blessings, and to have Zion's endowments and gifts rendered sources of advantage and profit to us. —Samuel Martin. Ver. 3. Bless thee. The singular instead of the plural "bless you", because the words are taken from the form used by the High Priest in blessing the people. Numbers 6:24. —J.J. Stewart Perowne. Ver. 3. Bless thee. It is addressed to the church as one person, and to each individual in this united, unit like church. —Franz Delitzsch. Psalms 135:1. Praise ye the LORD.Or, “Hallelujah.” “Hallelujah” is the key-note of it. So this is one of the Hallelujah Psalms, for so it begins; and if you look at the end, you will see that so it closes. There is “Hallelujah” again. The whole Psalm is shut in at the beginning and at the end with this which is both our duty and our delight: “Praise ye the Lord.”Psalms 135:1. Praise ye the name of the LORD;The character, the work, all that is revealed of God, is a subject for praise: and especially that wonderful and incommunicable name Jehovah, — never mention it without praise: “Praise ye the name of the Lord.”Psalms 135:1. Praise him, O ye servants of the LORD.Make it a part of your service. Praise him because you are his servants. Praise him because he accepts your service. You ought to be first in sounding his praises, therefore, “Praise him, O ye servants of the Lord.”Psalms 135:2. Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God, —You are permitted to dwell near to him. You have a standing and an abode, an office and a work, in the courts of the Lord’s house; therefore take care that you begin the strain. Should not the King’s courtiers praise him? Praise him, then, “ye that stand in the courts of the house of our God,” —Psalms 135:3. Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good:There is one excellent reason for praising him, and you can never praise him too much. He is so good that you can never extol him to an exaggeration.Psalms 135:3. Sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.That is, singing God’s praises is pleasant; it is a pleasant duty, and the Lord’s name is pleasant, or lovely. The very thought of God brings the sweetest emotions to every renewed heart; there is no pleasure in the world that exceeds that of devotion. As we sing praises unto the Lord, we shake off the cares of the world, we rise above its smoke and mists, and we get there the clearer atmosphere of communion with him.Psalms 135:4. For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure.There is something for you who are the Lord’s chosen to sing about. “In songs of sublime adoration and praise, Ye pilgrims to Zion who press, Break forth, and extol the great Ancient of days, His rich and distinguishing grace.”Psalms 135:5. For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.“I know it,” says the writer of the Psalm; “I know it by experience; I know it by observation; I am sure of it. There is no god like unto our God. He is a great Creator, a great Preserver, a great Redeemer, a great Friend, a great Helper. ‘I know that Jehovah is great, and that our Adonai is above all gods.’”Psalms 135:6. Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. The heathen divided out the universe into provinces, and they had Jupiter to rule heaven and earth, and Neptune for the sea, and even today many sing, but, oh! how inaccurately, “Britannia rules the waves.” It is Jehovah, and no one else, that rules the waves, and the people on either land or sea. He is Lord everywhere, and whatever he pleases to do is done. He is no lackey to wait upon the free will of his creatures: “Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, that did he.”Psalms 135:7. He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;That is a very wonderful work; what millions of tons of water are every day turned into vapor, and caused to ascend from different regions of the earth to fall again afterwards in cheerful, refreshing rain! What should we do if this process were suspended? It is the very life-blood of the world.Psalms 135:7. He maketh lightnings for the rain;It is said that the Bible was written to teach us religion, not science. That is very true, but the Bible never makes a mistake in its science; and I would rather agree with the old writers, who held that the Bible contained all science, than I would go with those who blasphemously pretend to correct the Holy Ghost, and to set him right upon geology, and I know not what besides. In the long run, it shall be proved that the old Book beats all the scientists; and when they have made some wonderful discovery, it will turn out that it was all recorded here long before. “He maketh lightnings for the rain.” There is an intimate connection between electricity and the formation of rain; and in the East this is very clear, for we are constantly reading in books of travel of heavy downpours of rain almost always accompanied by thunderstorms.Psalms 135:7. Re bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.The wind never comes puffing around us according to some freak of its own; but “He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries; “counting, and spending it as men do their money, not suffering more wind to blow than is needed for the high purposes of his wise government. Let praise for this be given to the God of nature who is ruling over all, and ever doing as he wills. The psalmist goes on to show that the God of nature is also the God of his people: —Psalms 135:8. Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast.It was God’s own hand that did it. The firstborn of man and beast could not have died by accident all over the land of Egypt at the same hour of the night; but Jehovah thus punished the guilty nation. Had they not oppressed his firstborn? Had they not cruelly trampled on his people, and refused to hearken to his Word? And when the time came for this last and heaviest blow, the Lord did but act in justice to them, and in mercy to his people.Psalms 135:9. Who sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.“Tokens and wonders;” — not only prodigies which astounded the people, but “tokens” which taught them, for the plagues were directed against their deities, and large books might be written to show how every plague exposed the impotence of some one or other of the false gods which the Egyptians worshipped. Pharaoh and his servants were all involved in the sin, so they were all included in the punishment. How much better was it to be a servant of Jehovah than to be a servant of Pharaoh!Psalms 135:10. Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings;Two of them are mentioned, perhaps because they were two of the most powerful kings who blocked the road of Israel.Psalms 135:11-13. Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan: and gave their land for an heritage, an heritage unto Israel his people. Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever;.—He is the same Jehovah now as ever he was. Multitudes of people, nowadays, have made unto themselves new gods; they have imagined a new character for Jehovah altogether, and the God of the Old Testament is ignored and slandered; but not by his chosen people, they still cling to him. The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob is not the God of the dead, but of the living; and that is true spiritually as well as naturally. Those who are spiritually dead refuse to own him, and set up gods that they have imagined; but those who are quickened by his grace delight in him, and glorify his name. Let this, beloved, be our joyful song, “Thy name, O Lord, endureth for ever; —Psalms 135:13-14. And thy memorial, O LORD, throughout all generations. For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.For they have their dark times, and are often in trouble through their sin. Then the Lord sends chastisement upon them, but when it has answered his purpose, he gladly enough withdraws it. How different are the idols of the heathen from our God!Psalms 135:15. The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.They can do no works, for they are themselves the result of the work of men. Their handiwork can be nothing, for they are the work of men’s hands.Psalms 135:16-18. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.The original conveys the idea that those who make such gods grow to be like them, they are continually getting to be more and more like them. They become dumb, blind, deaf, dead, as they worship such idols as these.Psalms 135:19-20. Bless the LORD, O house of Israel: bless the LORD, O house of Aaron: bless the LORD, O house of Levi: ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD.All of you, whether you be of the house of Aaron or of the tribe of Levi, to whatever house or tribe you belong, bless the Lord; and if you are Gentiles, even though Abraham acknowledge you not, yet, “ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord.”Psalms 135:21. Blessed be the LORD out of Zion, which dwelleth at Jerusalem.Our inmost hearts would bless him. We cannot make him more blessed than he is; we cannot add to his glory; but, oh! we do wish that everything we can do, everything that can be done to his honour, may be done.Psalms 135:21. Praise ye the LORD.That is, once again, “Hallelujah.” Oh, for the spirit of divine grace to set us praising God from the heart, and to keep us at that holy exercise all our days! Let us make this occasion a time of praise and thanksgiving: let our hearts dance at the name of our God: let our lips give expression thereto, in joyful music.Psalms 136:1. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.That is the beginning of our praise, the essential goodness of God from which all the streams of mercy flow. Oh, deep abyss of infinite love.Psalms 136:2-3. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.His greatness, which is beyond that of all potentates on earth or principalities in heaven, — this also is to be our joyous theme of song. His greatness and his goodness together make us magnify his name.Psalms 136:4. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.Nothing is absolutely wonderful except God, and all other things are dwarfed and diminished in wondrousness as compared with him. The Seven Wonders of the World are trifles compared with the seven-million wonders of God.Psalms 136:5. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.They boasted of the Colossus that strode across the sea, but what shall we say to the heavens that span not only the earth but all the universe? And in those heavens there is mercy to be seen as well as wisdom, the adaptation of the physical world to the circumstances of man, so that there is a relation between the weight of every dewdrop and the structure of the human body.Psalms 136:6-9. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him that made great light: for his mercy endureth for ever. The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever. The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever. See how these ancient godly ones loved to dwell upon a thing. When the note was “light” they did not just sing it through and have done with it, but there were choruses and repeats in their music; but the music of today is “rattle through it as fast as ever you can, and have done quickly, with it.” Our forefathers liked to linger a bit on these sweet praises of God. So did the Hebrews.” “Great lights!” Aye, but there must be the sun and the moon and the stars. They could never have enough of it: they rolled these sweet morsels under their tongue and then out upon their lips as they praised God.Psalms 136:10. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:Yet it was an awful judgment, and it needs a reverent, lowly, saintly spirit to sing over even the judgments of God. Had certain theologians of the present time been present at the Red Sea they would have cried in sentimental sympathy over the Egyptians, but instead of that Miriam took a timbrel and said, “Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.” The fates of sinful men are of small moment as compared with the glory of God. Jehovah filleth all things, and when the heart is fully taken up with the glory of God, it learns to sing even this stern refrain: “To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever.”Psalms 136:11-15. And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever: with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: and made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.See how they prolonged the strain: and what blessed exercise this is, to take mercies to pieces and examine all the details, and have a fresh verse for each particular of God’s goodness to us. Glory be unto his blessed name for ever and ever.Psalms 136:16. To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.Therefore he will lead you through the wilderness, and bring you through great droughts, and your manna shall drop from heaven, and your waters flow from the rock. Sing then to his name, ye that are in the wilderness.Psalms 136:17. To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:That is a terrible and tragic matter, that smiting of kings. Yes, but these singers did not groan over it. There are no less than four notes over this.Psalms 136:18-23. And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever: and Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever: and gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever: even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:The note descends a little from the martial strain of trumpet, from smitten kings and the drowned chivalry of Egypt; but though it sinks, how it sweetens! What a soft, clear sound there is about it.Psalms 136:24-26. And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.Glorious redemption! That is ever the choicest note of all. Ring that silver bell again. This is the Christian’s true promised land of great spiritual blessings. May we have faith enough to enter into the full possession of it. It is a very wonderful chapter. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 136, and Ephesians 1 Psalms 137:1-2. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.Babylon was full of canals and rivers; the captive Israelites sought out lonely places where they might be away front their oppressors, and might in the company of their countrymen pour out the sad stream of their griefs and sorrows. “The rivers of Babylon” seemed congenial to them, and they mingled their tears with the flowing waters. They “sat down” as if they felt they were to be there a long while, and were not soon to go back to their own land; and they “wept “ — not simply because of their banishment and their woes, but also because of the mournful condition of their beloved Zion, which had been ravaged by the Chaldeans, ploughed as a field, and given over to desolation. Some of these poor captives had been singers in the courts of the Lord’s house which had been burnt with fire, and others had brought their “harps” with them into their captivity; but they could not find any music in their hearts, and therefore they fetched no melodious, notes out of their harp-strings. They did not break their harps, however, for they might want them someday, so they hung them up on the weeping willows which abounded by the water-courses. Then came one of the sharpest trials they had ever had, — a piece of bitter cruelty on the part of their oppressors, who had no compassion upon the poor prisoners whom they had taken from their own land.Psalms 137:3. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.As no cups except those that were taken out of God’s holy house would do for Belshazzar when he wanted to make himself drank, so no music would suit these heathen captors of Israel but the songs of God’s house: “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” These poor people were crestfallen and utterly broken down, yet their enemies cried,” Make mirthful music for us, sing us one of your sacred songs.” They only wanted to laugh at it, or, at the very best, to listen to it simply as a piece of music that they might criticize, so they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” But the captives could not and would not sing for any such purpose. Zion’s songs were not meant to be sung for mere amusement, nor were her chants intended to be made the theme of mockery and ridicule by the ungodly.Psalms 137:4-5. How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.“No,” they said, “if we were to make mirth for the Babylonians, we should be doing serious damage to Zion, we should be traitors to Jerusalem;” so the harpers said, “Sooner than we will play a tune to make mirth for you, let our right hands become paralyzed.”Psalms 137:6. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;-They said it each one for himself; they would sooner be dumb than sing these sacred songs for the amusement of the ungodly revelers who had gathered round about them. Instead of a song, they offered a prayer which must have sounded terribly in the ears of those who mocked them; it was a fierce prayer, — a prayer made under a very different dispensation from that under which we live, — a prayer by a patriot who had seen his wife murdered, and his children dashed to pieces, and he prays thus: —Psalms 137:6-7. If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.These Edomites, who ought to have been like brothers to the Jews, were their most ferocious enemies, and they stirred up the Chaldeans to be more terribly cruel than they otherwise would have been.Psalms 137:8-9. O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed: happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.For these people had gone all over the world, wherever they could, murdering and mutilating. Tens of thousands of little children had they brutally killed, multitudes of women had they ravished, a vast number of cities had they destroyed. They were the scourges of all nations; and, therefore, moved to righteous indignation, the Jews felt that anybody who should overthrow that city of Babylon, and put to death its inhabitants, would be doing good service to the rest of mankind. And, mark you, all this came to pass in due time. When Cyrus turned aside the waters of the river which had been Babylon’s great protection, and left the river-bed quite dry, he marched his troops right into the center of the city; and when the Babylonians, to defend themselves and a part of the city, were driven to great straits, we are told by historians that they themselves destroyed their own wives and children, calling them useless mouths, that they might be able to defend themselves a little longer from the sword of Cyrus, so that, literally, it came to pass that the man who had destroyed his own children thought himself happy to be rid of them that he might maintain the fight. How dreadful is God when he deals with nations that have been cruel and ferocious! Go ye to Babylon this day, and see what ruinous heaps he hath made, what desolation he hath wrought in that land. Psalms 138:1. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.“Gods or no gods, whatever they may be, ‘I will praise thee with my whole heart,’ I will not be ashamed to declare my confidence in Jehovah, whoever may listen to me.”Psalms 138:2. I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.Now was his time to speak. The gods of the heathen had their worshippers; then, should Jehovah be deserted by his loyal subjects? “No,” says David, “I will worship thee, and I will praise thee, whoever may oppose me.”Psalms 138:3. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.What worshipper of idols could ever say that of his god? “Ears have they,” but they bear not the cries of their worshippers. “Hands have they,” but they cannot deliver those who cry to them. “Feet have they,” but they cannot come to the help of their votaries. But David declares that God had heard him in the day of his trouble, and strengthened him with strength in his soul.Psalms 138:4. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth. He felt that he had had such good things to say concerning God, such blessed words of God to make known, that even the kings of the earth, when they began to listen to him, would become attentive, and would even become converts, and begin to praise Jehovah with him.Psalms 138:5. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.Think of that,— kings singing in the ways of the Lord, crowned princes becoming choristers in God’s service. Someone has said that there are few in heaven who wore crowns on earth; and I am afraid it is true that, of all who are crowned on earth, few ever get to that land where all are kings and priests unto God. To have a crown on earth, and a crown above, is a rare thing; but David says that these kings “shall sing in the ways of Jehovah: for great is the glory of Jehovah;” and they shall be overpowered by that glory,— melted, subdued, wooed, won, converted by its power.Psalms 138:6-7. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: —He was a king, yet he expected trouble; and do you complain when it comes to your cottage, after it had been to David’s palace? “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me:Psalms 138:7. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.He expected first to be revived, and afterwards to be protected. He believed that God would stretch out his hand, as men do when they make a supreme effort, and put forth all their force: “Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies.” David also expected ultimate preservation: “‘Thy right hand shall save me.’ Thou wilt do it; dexterously, readily, gladly, wilt thou do it: ‘Thy right hand shall save me.’”Psalms 138:8. The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me:“All that has to do with me — my business, my family, my work, my temporal and my eternal interests,— ‘that which concerneth me,’ and that which troubles me, moves my heart with the deepest concern, Jehovah will perfect.”Psalms 138:8. Thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.And he will not do it; he will carry on unto completion the work which he has begun, blessed be his holy name! --- Open Praise and Public Confession October 11, 1883 by C. H. (1834-1892) "I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." — Psalms 138:1-3 . It is a very grievous thing, to one who worships the only living and true God, to see others engaged in idolatrous worship. It stirs one's indignation to see a man worship—not his own hands, but what is even worse than that—the thing which he has made with his own hand's, and which must therefore be inferior to himself. As the righteous soul of Lot in Sodom was vexed with the filthy conversation of the inhabitants of that guilty city, so the righteous soul of David was vexed when he saw the lords many and gods many before whom his neighbors were bowing down; and, in like manner, as long as we are in this world, we shall often be troubled through seeing how others turn aside from the living God, how they forget his truth, set up thoughts of their own in the place of the thoughts of God, and dishonor the Holy Scripture by thinking that their own vain ideas can equal, if not even excel, the revelation of God. David in this matter becomes a guide to us; what he did in the presence of the idols of the heathen is to a great extent what we should do in the presence of the false systems of religion and the errors which are all round about us. You, dear friends, cannot love the right if you do not hate the wrong. I would not give a penny for your love to the truth if it is not accompanied with a hearty hatred of error. I have taken this text as an instruction to myself as well as to you. What David did with all his heart, as a man who loved Jehovah, the only true God, that we also should do if, indeed, we love the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the glorious truths which cluster around his glorious Deity and his atoning sacrifice. I. How, then, will we act? We will try to act exactly as David did, and if we do so, we shall, first of all, SING WITH WHOLE-HEARTED PRAISE: "I will praise thee with. my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee." This seems a very singular thing to do; here is a man indignant with these false gods, one would suppose that he would begin to argue on behalf of the true God, that he would raise a controversy on behalf of Jehovah; but he does nothing of the kind. At least, this is not the first thing that he does; but he begins to praise God, and to sing that praise aloud: "I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto 'thee." This was a very singular method of procedure, yet a very wise one; for, first, his song would openly show his contempt for the false gods. What does it matter to him what these idols really are? Men call them gods; so, for the nonce, he calls them gods, too; and he begins to sing, not to them, but to his own God, the only living and true God. He pitches the tune, he lifts up the strain, he sings a psalm., and this is the theme of his music: "Glorious art thou, O Jehovah!" And ho does this in the very presence of the idol gods and their worshippers; as much as to say, "I take so little notice of them all that I will not even be disturbed about them. I was singing the praises of Jehovah, and I shall go on singing them. I was full of holy joy, and I intend still to be so. Those gods of the heathen are nothing, but our God made the heavens; therefore, I will not rob him of his glory, or deprive him of his full revenue of praise, by turning aside even for a single moment to pay any attention to these mere blocks of wood and stone." It was a wise way of acting on the part of David, and it was also a generous way, because he did not in words pour contempt upon the idols, but he showed his contempt for them by presenting his praise to Jehovah alone. Let us do the same, beloved. Do not worry yourself about those who turn aside from the truth, and run in their own crooked ways. Warn there as best you can, but remember David's advice on another occasion: "Fret not thyself because of evildoers." You have better work to do than to fret about them; begin to praise your God, and go on praising him. Sing as many songs unto him as over you did, and let your heart be just as glad as ever it can be. "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." And if the Lord laughs, let us not cry. If he treats them with such calm contempt, let us do the same, and lift up our voices again and again unto hire whose mercy endureth for ever, and whoso throne is so established. that all the leaguered hosts of earth and hell cannot shake it for a single moment. "Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth." "The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever." Wherefore, let no man's heart fail him, but let all who love the Lord show their contempt for his adversaries by pouring out their joyful adoration unto the Most High. I like David's plan of dealing with the idols, by continuing his whole-hearted praise to God, because, next, it would evince his strong faith in the true God. I cannot tell any better way by which he could have shown his confidence in Jehovah. He bad already poured contempt upon the false gods, but now his calm, happy singing proves his reverence for the Most High, and makes men see that, if they doubt, he does not; if they rail, he knows how vain their railing is. It proves to them that there is at least one man who has true faith in God, for he stands like a solid rook amid the surging sea. He is not moved; nay, he is not affected enough to postpone his music, but he keeps on still singing, and singing the more loudly, the more the sea roars, and the fullness thereof. The more shrill the noise of the tumultuous idolaters, the more does he proclaim aloud his holy joy and his unshaken confidence in his God. True faith is one of the best of sermons; he who is— Calm 'mid the bewildering cry, Confident of victory, has, by that trustful calmness, done more to inspire the timid with confidence than if he were the most eloquent of men, who had with great vehemence urged them to trust in God. Thank God, faith, as well as unbelief, is contagious; and if— One sickly sheep infects the flock, And poisons all the rest—, there is another side to that truth. One true believer tends to strengthen all the rest, and to make them "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." He who can sing as he goes to battle, if he be a leader, is likely to lead a tribe of heroes in his train. He who can sing in the time of shipwreck is likely to put courage into every one of the crew, so that they do their best for the laboring vessel, and, if it be possible, bring her safely into the haven. Sing, then, brother; sing, my sister; for this will prove your childlike confidence in God, your implicit reliance upon him. That is a second commendation of David's mode of action. The next is that, by continuing to praise Jehovah in the presence of the idols, he declared his all-absorbing zeal for God's glory. He did not need to stand. up, and say, "I love the Lord with all my heart." Hear him sing, "I will praise thee with my whole heart;" see what force ho puts into every note, listen to his jubilant song, you can tell by the very sound of his voice that his praise of Jehovah comes up from his heart, and. from his whole heart. He is enthusiastic, he is full of confidence; if he had a doubt concerning Jehovah, he could not sing like that; and if he were lukewarm, he would not sing like that. But, as he is singing with his whole heart, those who are opposed to him say to themselves, "It is no use to trouble ourselves about that man; we shall never turn him from the faith." They will sheer off, one by one, knowing that it is no use to attack such a firm believer. He who praises God with his whole heart, is like a man on fire, he is terrible to the adversaries of the Most High. When the great Spanish Armada was ready to swoop down upon the English coast, our brave Admiral Drake took some of his small ships, and placed them where the wind would carry them right among the Spanish fleet. He filled the vessels with combustible material, and set them alight. Then he had no need to go himself, for the wind just took the fire-ships, and drifted them up against the Spanish galleons that floated high out of the water, and exposed a vast surface to the air, and one and another of the big unwieldy monsters were soon in a blaze, and a great victory was won without a blow being struck. So, I like to get a red-hot Christian, full of music and praise unto Jehovah, and just let him go, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, right into the middle of the adversaries of the truth. They cannot make him out; they do not know how to handle a man on fire. If ho would try to argue with them, they might overwhelm him with their logic; if he would fire a shot at them, they could shoot back at him; but he does nothing of the kind. He simply blazes and burns to the glory of God; and that is a most effective mode of warfare with the Lord's enemies. Suppose, my brethren, that you were to have your hearts all on fire, burning and glowing with the intense conviction that the gospel is true, and that the God of heaven and earth is the one living and true God, and that the atoning blood of the Divine Savior is the one hope of guilty sinners, you might do grand work for God then. Tolerate no doubt in your spirit, believe right up to the hilt, with unstaggering confidence; and then sing out your praises of Jehovah with a joyful confidence. Those who hate the truth will not know what to make of you, they will probably get out of your way as quickly as possible; but, if they do not, then perhaps you will set there also on fire; and it may be, by the grace of God., that you will burn up some of their errors, and put them into a terrible state of confusion and anxiety if they still resolve to fight against the Lord of hosts. It was a wise plan, this of David, of getting in among the heathen gods, and singing to the praise of Jehovah. They could not understand him, but they were affected by his singing all the same. If he could have walked through any temple where all the idol gods could have been gathered together, and if he could have sung there the words of our grand Doxology,— Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise him all creatures here below, Praise him above, ye heavenly host, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,— I should not have wondered if old Dagon had come tumbling down to the ground; and if Chemosh, and Milcom, and Baal, and Ashtaroth, and all those other abominations of the heathen, had fallen prone upon the earth at the sound of this glorious song of praise unto Jehovah. Therefore, if we would overthrow the idols of our own day, let; us imitate this wise mode of action on the part of the psalmist. I believe, also, that David was quite right in singing with all his heart before the idol gods, because it would shield him from all danger wherever he went. To walk among the wicked is a dangerous exercise. It is as though a man had to go into infected air, or traverse the wards of a lazar-house; he is himself apt to become affected by the poisonous atmosphere, and to become infected with the deadly malady; but, oh, if you keep on, with all your heart, praising God all the day, you may go with confidence wherever duty calls you! Ah! you might go between the jaws of death itself, and yet suffer no injury, for an atmosphere of praise would be the best deodorizer and, disinfectant wherever you might be bidden by the Lord to go. As long as you kept on praising Goal, and magnifying his holy name, no adversary could do you any harm. Remember how the hosts of Jehoshaphat triumphed in the valley of Berachah when they began to sing praises unto God; then were their adversaries routed. Recollect also how Paul and Silas could not be held in bonds when, at midnight, they sang praises unto God. Then the prison rocked, the chains were broken, and the floors flew open, for there must be liberty where men can sing unto Jehovah. Where whole-hearted songsters adore the Most High continually, the prisoners' fetters snap, and the foundations of dungeons are moved. Therefore, dear friends, mind, that you keep up the spirit of praise. I used to know, years ago, a poor old laboring man; he was a Methodist of the good old-fashioned school. l never met him, or spoke with him, without finding that, wherever he was, he was always singing. He was up in the morning at half-past five to get out to his farm-work, and, he sang while ho was dressing. He sang as he pulled on his corduroys, he sang as he put on his smock, he sang as he walked downstairs, he sang as he tramped off down the street, and he sang all day as he was at his work. He did not keep on singing while I was preaching, but ho seemed almost as if he wanted to do that; and every now and then he would burst out with "Hallelujah!" or "Praise the Lord." He was so full of thanksgiving to God that ho was obliged to give expression to his feelings sometimes even when it would have been more proper if he had kept quiet. He was one of the holiest men I ever knew, and I used to account very much for his simple gentleness, integrity, and happiness by the habit he had acquired of constantly singing the praises of God. He worked with some men who were in the habit of swearing, but he kept on singing; and, after a time, they began to think that it was not the right thing for them to swear. He went among men who drank, but he never left off singing; and, somehow, even among such men there was a kind of respect for him. It was so with all who knew him; his employer tried to put him where he would have easier tasks than others as he grew old, and everybody loved him. I always wished that he had been a Baptist; that would have been just the finishing touch to make him perfect, and then we should have lost him, for all perfect people go to heaven at once. But if I mentioned that subject to him,—and sometimes I did,—he was not long before he began to sing, and he asked me to join with him, which I gladly did. His was a happy way of living; I wish that I and all of you could rise to it. Perhaps somebody says, "That good man was a very happy, gracious soul, but still he was very childish." Perhaps so, but I would like to be just as he was; I do not speak of him as having been child- ish, but child- like, ever praising God like a happy child who is always singing. You know, dear friends, you can keep on praising the Lord whatever else you may be doing; you can sit down in your house with the needle in your hand, or go abroad into the garden with the hoe, and still be praising God. We do not have half enough of praise, brothers and sisters; I am sure the devil would be more angry with us it we would begin to praise God more; and we certainly are under no obligations to him to keep from irritating his temper, so let us sing unto the Lord as long as we live, and defy the devil to do his worst. As he likes neither music nor song in praise of Jehovah, let him have plenty of them both; let us continually do as David declared that he would: "I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods (or before the devils, before the kings or before the beggars, before the drunkards, before the swearers, before anybody and everybody) will I sing praise unto thee." That, then, was the first part of David's action,—singing unto Jehovah with whole-hearted praise. II. The second thing that David did was to WORSHIP BY THE RULE. Even in the presence of those who set up their idol gods, and their false systems, he declared to Jehovah, "I will worship toward thy holy temple." Some said, "Worship this way." Others said, "Worship that way." In the present day, some say that the Old Testament is not inspired, that there is much that is very doubtful in the five books of Moses; some are going to worship in one way, some in another way of their own inventing; but if we are of David's mind, we shall say to the Lord, "I will worship toward thy holy temple." Let every other man have his own way of worshipping if he will; but, brethren, as for me, I say to the Lord, with David, "I will worship toward thy holy temple." I admire this declaration, first, because it is a quiet way of ignoring all will-worship. "Oh!" says one, "I am resolved to worship God with all kinds of show, and ceremony, and flowers, and millinery." Another says, "I intend to worship God out in the fields, and never to mingle with his people at all." Very well, you go your own ways, but I ignore both of your ways, for my way is to worship toward God's holy temple,—that is the way in which the apostles and the early Christians worshipped Christ, not forsaking the assembling of themselves together, as the manner of some is,—the way in which they cheered their own hearts, and the hearts of their fellow-believers, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,—the way in which they spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance,—the way in which they gathered around the table of their Lord to remember his great love to them. You may go and set up whatever novelty you like, but I shall keep to that— Good old way, by our fathers trod,— and I trust that every true child of God will make this personal declaration to the Lord, "I will worship toward thy holy temple." What did David mean by that expression, "thy holy temple"? Well, the temple, like the tabernacle in the wilderness, was typical of the adorable person of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was not that the tent in the wilderness or the temple on Mount Zion was anything of itself; but these mere the places where God was specially pleased to reveal himself. Now, to-day, the temple of Jehovah is the body of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ which he himself expressly called "the temple." Let others worship saints and angels, if they will; but we will worship the incarnate Christ, and him alone. Let others worship the man, and think him nothing more than man; but we shall worship Christ as God. I was delighted to sing with you, a little while ago,— Jesus, my God! I know his name, His name is all my trust; Nor will he put my soul to shame, Nor let my hope be lost. Jesus is not only my Savior, but he is also my God; and my prayers are to be presented to the Father through him, and to come up unto the Most High through the person of the God-man, the Mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. I will worship toward that shrine, the person of the Son of God, and God the Son. But the temple was also the place of sacrifice; and we shall only praise God aright as we trust to the one great sacrifice. Oh, how many, nowadays, deny the great truth of vicarious suffering, the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, saying that he is our Exemplar, but not the Maker of propitiation and reconciliation by his blood. Well, do not trouble your head about these people, and begin to discuss with them; but say, "As for me, 'I will worship toward thy holy temple.' I have not any hope of my prayers speeding except through the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross. I can have no assurance of being accepted by God unless I am 'accepted in the Beloved.' So, I will offer no prayer but that which goes to God by the crimson road of the substitutionary death of Christ. 'I will worship toward thy holy temple.'" Keep to that declaration with unshaken firmness of resolve, and it will be the best answer that you can give to the idols, or to the devils, or to everyone else who may oppose the Most High. III. Now notice, thirdly, what David did. He went on from singing and worshipping, to PRAISE THE ,—the very attributes which are being questioned in this present age: "I will praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth." The true believer should praise God, first, for his lovingkindness, and for that lovingkindness in its universality. Some say that the God whom we preach cannot be a God of love because he banishes unbelievers into endless misery. If they refuse his Son, he gives them no hope that there can be any hereafter for them except that of eternal banishment from his presence and from the glory of his power. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." And there are some preachers who cover up, and try to hide this solemn truth, or speak as if they had velvet in their mouths when they come to deal with it. I shall not do so; by God's grace, I never shall do so. There is enough love in God to satisfy me; and I shall not want to make another god in order that I may believe in his lovingkindness. My heart delights to praise the very Jehovah of whom the psalmist sings, "To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever: and brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for over: with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him which divided the Red Sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: and made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever: but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea: for his mercy endureth for ever." I am quite certain that he never executes judgment with a severity which will be questioned by right minds; and in the last great day, when the whole of this dispensation is wound up, it will be seen that "God is love." We may not be able to see it now; he may seem to be, as David says in another Psalm, "terrible out of his holy places." Jehovah himself declares that he is a jealous God, who will by no means clear the guilty; and there are many who cavil at that, but the day shall declare it. When the veil is rolled up, to the astonishment of all God's creatures, it will be seen that he did the best, the wisest, and the kindest thing which, all things considered, could have been done; and, therefore, though I cannot yet understand all his dealings with the sons of men, yet I believe that they are right, and I will praise his name for his lovingkindness. There is a special note here, which bids us think of God's lovingkindness in its specialty. Many cavil at this great truth, which seems to me to be self-evident, that Christ should choose his own spouse; they want to have entrusted to them the selection of a bride for him. They want God to be lackey to the free will of man, and that none of his purposes should be carried out unless man permits it; their notion is that the great Creator must sit and wait till he gets his creature's permission to be gracious. But as for us, beloved, we adore the glorious truth of his electing love, we admire the sovereignty of his grace, and we delight to know that he does as he wills among the inhabitants of this lower world, and deals out his mercy, as Paul puts it, "according to the good pleasure of his will." Instead of disputing with idols, or devils, we begin to sing with all our heart concerning the special love of God to his chosen, and the favor which he bears towards them that put their trust in him. We cannot employ our time to better purpose; to argue and debate might be a waste of effort, and might depress our own spirit; but to bless the name of the Lord will do us good, and will also be to his honor and glory. I find that the original bears another meaning: "I will praise thy name for thy grace, and for thy truth." Is it not a blessed thing to have that word "grace" always in the mouth? "Grace." Is it not one of the sweetest words that God ever permitted human lips to utter? And we often say "free grace", even if some tell us that is tautology. If one tap of the hammer will not suffice, we will give two. If men do not understand what "grace" means, we will call it "free grace"; and we will bless and praise the name of the Lord. that we have two such words in the language as "free grace." The other attribute for which David said that he would praise the name of the Lord is, God's truth. Our heart may well be sad as we see how men are pecking at God's truth. One part of the Bible is given up by one, and another part is rejected by another; one of our wise men says, "I have given, up all the Old Testament, and a large part of the New." Well, sir, you might just as well give it all up, because you evidently have no part nor lot in it, or else you would not talk like that. Those gentlemen who want to mend the Bible, really need mending themselves; that is where the mischief lies in most cases. If they were savingly converted by the grace of God, they wouldst love every letter of the Book from Genesis to Revelation, and find it food to their souls. But they do not know the inner meaning of it, and therefore they despise the Scripture as being but husks to them; and I greatly fear that is all that it is to many of them. But as for us, we shall glory in God's truth,—in the historic accuracy of every word of this blessed old Bible; in the absolute truth of everything that is recorded here; in the certainty of the fulfillment of every promise and every threatening that is in this Book; and, what is more, in the absolute correctness of every unfulfilled prophecy as being just as certain as certainty itself. There is where we mean to stand. We believe in plenary verbal inspiration, with all its difficulties, for there are not half as many difficulties in that doctrine as there are in any other kind of inspiration that men may imagine. If this Book be not the real solid foundation of our religion, what have we to build upon? If God. has spoken a lie, where are we, brethren? And if this Book, for which the martyrs bled, and which sustained our lives in prison and on the death-bed,—if this precious Book, which is to-day hugged to the heart of many a dying saint, is to be rent away from us, it shall not go without a struggle, in which we will, if necessary, sacrifice even our lives. We will never give up the Bible; we will love it in life and in death, and we will still believe that it is the glorious and perfect revelation, as far as our imperfect minds can discern it, of the lovingkindness and truth of God, and for it we will praise and bless his holy name. This is what David said he would do, and I recommend all tried saints to do the same. IV. Now, fourthly, there was another thing which David meant to do, and that was, to GOD'S WORD TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE. He puts it thus: "Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy name." My text is such a great one that I need half-a-dozen nights to descant upon it, so I can only give you hints of what I would say if I had the time. God's name, dear friends, is revealed in a measure in nature. In providence, that name may be spelt out; but David tells us here that the Lord has magnified his Word above all his name. That is to say, that revelation is made by God to be infinitely superior to creation and to providence as a revealing of himself, for, first, it is more clear. If a man paints grand pictures, even if I never saw the man, I know a little about him when I see his paintings. Ay, but if he writes me a letter, and in that letter tells me what is in his very heart, I know more about him by his words than I do by his works; and there is more of. God in some passages of the Bible than in the whole universe besides. If science could be all known, it would not contain as much real light as there is in a single verse of Scripture, for the best light is in the Word. There is other light, too; but it is only moonlight as compared with the sunlight. God has magnified his Word, for its clearness, above every other method of revealing his name or character. It is not only more dear, but it is also more sure. If we look into God's worlds, one man sees one thing and another man sees another; but if you look into God's Word, and you have a childlike spirit, you will see what another childlike-spirited man sees. If you are God's child, you will see what others of God's children see there; and in the great fundamental truths discoverable in his Word, the saints are almost entirely agreed. The whole universe is not big enough to mirror God in all his glory. If he looks into the great and wide sea that he has made, the glass is too small to reflect more than a part of his glory. Suppose that God should reveal himself to the full in nature; it would soon be seen that the axles of the wheel would be all too weak to sustain the weight of Deity. It is only revelation that can manifest him truly to us. Think again; God's Word is more lasting than his other works. The revelation of God in nature is not unique. If he has made one world, he can make another; if he has made one universe, he can make fifty universes; but after having given us one complete revelation of his will, he will never give another, that one stands alone. What God has made known in the book of nature will all pass away; there will come a day when the elements themselves shall be dissolved. with fervent heat, and like a worn-out vesture, all this material creation shall be put away. But, "the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you;" so that God magnifies his Word by making it everlasting. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Does not God magnify his Word in your hearts, dear friends? You have sometimes been in the fields on the Sabbath, and a sweet sense of rest has stolen over you. In the time of harvest, or on a bright morning when the sun has risen, you have been overwhelmed with a sense of the glory of God; but, still, that sweet feeling never comes to the heart so as to affect its secret springs like a passage out of Scripture. A promise from God will cast more light into your soul than all the beauties of sea and land I do not for a moment depreciate the wondrous glory of God in all his works; but, still, I do say God is seen better in his Word than in all his works besides; and he has magnified his Word above all his name. They say that we ought to alter Scripture because scientists have found out something or other. Yes, I know all about that kind of talk; scientists found out many things years ago, and within ten years somebody else rose up, and found out that they were all wrong. The history of so-called philosophy is the history of fools; and the philosophers of this day are no more right than those of fifty years ago. The men are coming to the front who will confute the positive assertions of the present; and, when they have made their own assertions, and made their bow, another set of wise men will be coming after them to confound them. They are all as the grass that withereth, but "the Word of the Lord endureth for ever." It has been tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times; and here it remains, the pure reined metal still, and in this will we glory, and not be ashamed. V. Lastly, David was going to PROVE ALL BY HIS OWN . A bit of experience is the best thing with which to close up my discourse. "In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul." Ah! brethren, men say that facts are stubborn things, and so they are; and when a man once gets a fact with regard to the religion of Jesus Christ, he becomes a stubborn man. The man, who is in the habit of praying to God, and who is in the habit of having answers to his prayers, the man who lives a life of prayer, and consequently who is enriched by innumerable mercies, says to those who deny the efficacy of prayer, "You may say what you like, but you cannot trouble use about this matter, because I am daily testing and daily proving in my own experience what prayer can accomplish." "Well," they say, "you did not get out of the trouble; you prayed, but you did not escape from it." That is quite true, I did. not; but God strengthened me with strength in my soul; and it is a grand thing when the mind becomes calm, when the soul grows strong, when courage increases, when confidence comes, when deep peace and quiet restfulness flow into the soul. All that is a blessed answer to prayer; and as long as God gives us that, we cannot desert his standard, or deny his faithfulness and his truth. Let those who will, go and leave the snows of Lebanon, and the pure flowing river of God for the broken cisterns that can hold no water, or for the muddy waters of Egypt; but we cannot, we dare not, we will not. God helping us, we will stand fast in our belief in the power of prayer. We have tried it, we have proved it, and we are not to be shaken from our confidence in its efficacy. The Lord give to every one of you, who do not at present know it, really to prove it yourselves, to try it to your heart's joy and satisfaction, and you also shall stand fast in your confidence in him even to the end! The Lord bless you, for Christ's sake! Amen. This is a Psalm we can never read too often. It will be to us one of the greatest safeguards against sin if we have its teaching constantly before our mind’s eye, and the teaching of this Psalm is simply this, “Thou God seest me.”Psalms 139:1. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.Thou hast looked into my most secret parse. The most intricate labyrinths of my spirit are all observed of thee. Thou hast not searched, and yet been unable to discover the secret of my nature but thou hast searched me and known me. Thy search has been an efficient one, thou hast read the secrets of my soul,Psalms 139:2. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thoughts afar off.It is a common enough thing to sit down and to rise up and I myself oftentimes scarce know why I do the one or the other, but thou knowest and understandest all. “Thou understandest my thought afar off.” My heart forms a thought that never comes to a word or an act, but thou not only dost perceive it, but thou dost translate it; thou understandest my thought.Psalms 139:3. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.I am surrounded by thee as by a ring of observers.Psalms 139:4. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Not only the words on my tongue, but those that slumber in my tongue, the unspoken words, thou knowest them perfectly and altogether.Psalms 139:5. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.Thy presence amounts to actual contact. Thou dost not only see, but touch, like the physician, who does not merely look at the wound, but by-and-bye comes to probe it. So dost thou probe my wounds, and see the depths of my sins.Psalms 139:6-7. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?It seems as if the first impulse was to fly away from a God whose attributes were so lofty. ‘Twas but a transient impression, yet David words it so.Psalms 139:8; Psalms 139:10. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold, me.How swift he supposes his flight to be, as swift as the light, for he borrows the wings of the morning, and yet the hand of God was controlling his destiny even then. As Watts rhymes it — “If mounted on the morning ray, I fly beyond the western sea, Thy swifter hand should first arrive, And there arrest thy fugitive.”Psalms 139:11-12. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.For, mystery of mysteries, and more wondrous still, thou not only dost observe, but thou always hast observed, and thou hast not only observed my well-formed being and my visible life but before I had a being thou didst observe what I should be, and when I was yet in embryo thine all-observing eye watched me.Psalms 139:13-16. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.In so vivid a manner doth our holy poet sing of the omniscience of God with regard to our creation. Before we had breath he formed and fashioned us.Psalms 139:17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!How many thoughts has God towards us! We cannot count them, and how kind are those thoughts — we cannot estimate them — how precious, how great!Psalms 139:18. If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.I suppose I had finished the tale, had counted up all thy thoughts to me, and then fell asleep. I should then but begin to count again, for thou continuest to thrust out mercies from thy hand. My God, my numeration shall never overtake thee, much less my gratitude, and the service that is thy due!Psalms 139:19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.“Surely” — here is a solemn inference from the omniscience of God — “surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God.” Thou hast seen their wickedness. They have committed their wickedness in thy presence. Thou wilt need no witnesses, no jury, thou art all in one. Art thou not the Judge of all the earth, and shalt thou not do right? “Surely thou wilt destroy the wicked, O God.” Then I desire not to have those in my company who are condemned criminals, and are soon to be executed. “Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men.” See how this sets David upon purging his company and keeping himself clean in his associations, since God, who sees all, and will surely punish, would hold it to be evil on the part of his servant to be found associating with rebellious men.Psalms 139:20-22. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.We are bound to love our own enemies, but not God’s enemies, since they are haters of all that is good and all that is true, and the essentially good One himself. We love them as our fellow-beings, but we hate them as haters of God.Psalms 139:23-24. Search me, O God. and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David. Very likely this Psalm was written by David while he was being hunted about by Saul, and while all manner of falsehoods were being spoken against him. He therefore comforts himself in his God. He writes this Psalm, and he means to have it sung, and sung well; so he dedicates it “to the chief Musician.” There are some parts of our life which are so crowded with urgent necessity, and so full of divine mercy that we feel that, if we ever get through them, we will make a song about our deliverance, and dedicate that song unto God through “the chief Musician.”Psalms 140:1. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;He is wicked at heart, and violent in his temper. Whenever we meet with such an adversary, we have good reason to cry to God: “Deliver me: preserve me.” Yet, if we must have enemies, we prefer that they should be bad men; we do not wish to have a child of God against us; if we must have an antagonist, we would much rather that he should be one who is “evil” and “violent.”Psalms 140:2. Which imagine mischief’s in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.It goes hard with a peace-loving man — a man of quiet spirit, — when he is beset by those whose very heart is set on mischief, and who cannot meet one another without conspiring to prepare for some fresh form of battle.Psalms 140:3. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; adders’ poison is under their lips. Selah.Before a serpent strikes any object, its tongue is in quick motion. If you ever see a cobra when he is angry, you will notice that his tongue darts to and fro, as if impatient to sting; and the psalmist here, writing of the tongue of the ungodly, remarks how quickly it moves. They seem to have sharpened it — to have prepared it — for all manner of mischief. “Adders’ poison” — the poison of the deadliest known serpent in the East — “is under their lips.” Perhaps you think that this is a very dreadful description of some remarkably bad man; so it is, but remember that, when Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, wishes to describe us all, both Jews and Gentiles, he quotes this very passage, and says, “The poison of asps is under their lips.” There is poison in our mouths still unless grace has taken it away. We, too, shall soon be speaking evil, and talking slanderously, if the grace of God does not keep our tongues and our lips.Psalms 140:4-5. Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent man; who have planned to overthrow my goings. The proud have hid a snare for me,-“They have put it where I cannot see it; I do not know where it is, nor what it is; but know that they want to lead me into such sin that they can afterwards turn round upon me, and accuse me for it: ‘The proud have hid a snare for me,’” —Psalms 140:5. And cords; they have spread a net by the wayside;-“ Close to where I am walking, so that, if I go even an inch out of the way, I shall be caught in it. They seem to be tempting me in my usual course of life: ‘They have spread a net by the wayside;’” —Psalms 140:5. They have set gins for me. Selah.As men try to ensnare poor birds in all kinds of traps, so the ungodly sometimes seek the destruction of the righteous by setting many snares for them.Psalms 140:6. I said unto the LORD, Thou art my God:Ah! that was the right thing to do, — to leave the ungodly and their traps, and go straight away to God: “I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God.”Psalms 140:6-7. Hear the voice of my supplications, O Lord. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.“When the darts flew thick and fast, and when the battleaxe came down with a mighty crash, ‘ Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.’” This Psalm reminds me of that passage in the song of Deborah and Barak: “O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.” What wonders we also have been enabled to do by the upholding and preserving grace of God!Psalms 140:8. Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.If it seemed that God’s providence was helping them against the righteous, they would be too proud to be borne with; they would lift up their heads on high, and say, “See how God is with us, how he permits us to have our way.”Psalms 140:9. As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.This may be read as a prophecy in the future tense: “The mischief of their own lips shall cover them.”Psalms 140:10. Let burning coals fall upon them :-Or, “Burning coals shall fall upon them.”Psalms 140:10. Let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.The Psalmist doubtless had before his mind’s eye the picture of Sodom, where burning coals fell on the guilty cities, and where men stumbled into the fire, and when they tried to escape, fell into the deep slime pits, and perished. And, truly, it is but just that, if men lie, and slander, and try to tempt the righteous to their destruction, they should fall into the pits that they have themselves digged.Psalms 140:11. Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth:Neither shall he be; the man who is glib of tongue, and who uses that facility of speech for the destruction of the characters of godly men, shall never be established.Psalms 140:11. Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.His own dogs shall eat him; he was a huntsman against the righteous, and, behold, the evil of his own mouth shall turn upon him to devour him: “Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”Psalms 140:12. I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.We may always leave such matters with the Lord. God is the poor man’s Executor, and the proud man’s Executioner. He will take care of the oppressed, and such as are down-trodden.Psalms 140:13. Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.Now let us read the next Psalm, which is to much the same effect. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 140, 141. Psalms 141:1. LORD, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.You see how a child of God prays when he is in trouble. David says, “I cry unto thee,” and then the second time, “I cry unto thee.” And he cried for God as well as to him: “Make haste unto me.” The very best thing you can do, when you cannot help yourself, is to cry unto God, for he will help you.Psalms 141:2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.David was probably far away from the tabernacle, and he could not join in presenting the morning or the evening sacrifice there; but he prayed God to let his prayer be such a sacrifice: “Let it be sweet as the perfume of the smoking spices of the morning; let it be as acceptable as the burning lamb of eventide.Psalms 141:3. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.Our mouth is a door, and it needs a watchman, and there is no watchman who can keep it except God himself: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.”Psalms 141:4. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity : and let me not eat of their dainties.That last petition is a very proper one; we are neither to think the thoughts of the wicked, nor to practice their ways, nor to enjoy their pleasures: “Let me not eat of their dainties.” There are certain amusements which are fraught with sin: “Let me not eat of their dainties.” There are some erroneous doctrines, which are very pleasant to the taste of those who believe them: “Let me not eat of their dainties.” There are some sins that seem to have a peculiarly sweet flavor, and so are very attractive to men: “Let me not eat of their dainties.”Psalms 141:5. Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness :-You see, dear friends, David cries out against slander, he cannot bear that wicked men should lie against his character; but he says, “I do not want to be let alone where I am in the wrong; I do not wish to be flattered: ‘ Let the righteous smite me.’ He is the man who ought to do it. When I have done wrong, it is his duty to correct me; and I wish him to do it: ‘ Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness.’”Psalms 141:5. And let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head:Some people cannot bear to be spoken to about a fault; they feel as if the reprover had broken their head directly, and they are as savage as a bear with a sore head. But the child of God is not so; he looks upon the rebuke of a good man as being like healing, sweet-smelling oil, and he prizes it. Depend upon it, the man who will tell you your faults is your best friend. It may not be a pleasant thing for him to do it, and he knows that he is running the risk of losing your friendship; but he is a true and sincere friend, therefore thank him for his reproof, and learn how you may improve by what he tells you.Psalms 141:5. For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.I will try to repay the righteous for their rebukes by praying for them when they are in trouble. I will say to my God, “These good men tried to keep me right, and they smote me when I did wrong; now, Lord, they are in trouble, I pray thee to help them, and bring them out of it.”Psalms 141:6. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.Wicked men often will not hear the gospel; but when they get into trouble, then they will. When their judges are overthrown in stony places, then they begin to be willing to hear what good men have to say. A bitter world makes a sweet Word; and when providence frowns upon us, it often happens that we love the gospel all the more, and smile upon its messengers, for their words are sweet.Psalms 141:7. Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth, —“We are like men ready to be put into their graves; or the cause that we advocate seems so totally dead that we seem to be like dry bones that are flung out of a grave.”Psalms 141:7. As when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.“We feel as if we were like chips out of a tree that has been cut down.”Psalms 141:8. But mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord: in thee is my trust; “I may be cut to pieces, I may be chopped up, I may seem to be made into a bundle of firewood; but, Lord, my eyes are unto thee: ‘ O God the Lord: in thee is my trust.’”Psalms 141:8. Leave not my soul destitute.“If I have thee, I am still rich. Even if I lie at the grave’s mouth, I may still live; but if thou be gone from me, then am I destitute indeed.”Psalms 141:9-10. Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity. Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.Amen! So let it be! This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 140, 141. Maschil of David. A prayer when he was in the cave. This “Maschil of David” is instructive to us, for the experience of one believer is very edifying to another. We are so much alike that, as in water face answereth to face, so the heart of men answereth to man, and what one believer has felt awakens sympathy in the rest of God’s people.Psalms 142:1-2. I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble.David mentions that he prayed with his voice. This is an unimportant matter compared with praying with the heart; but when the heart is full of prayer, it is often very helpful to be able to use the voice to give expression to the emotions of the soul. To have a room in which, without disturbing others, and without ostentatiously revealing your private experiences to others, you can speak aloud unto the Lord, will be found to be a great advantage in prayer. Some men’s thoughts become more concentrated, and how more freely, and their hearts are better able to pour out their deepest and fullest expressions, when they can pray aloud. So David says that, in the cave, where he would not be likely to disturb anybody, he cried with his voice unto the Lord: “With my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication.” You can see from verse 2 what was the style of his prayer. “I poured out my complaint.” The figure is a very simple one. Just as you pour out water from a bottle, so David let his heart’s complaint flow out before the Lord. In pouring out water, it sometimes comes slowly gurgling, and sometimes fast; at times with a rush, followed by a pause. There is no prayer better than that which naturally flows from the renewed heart, without any strain or effort, it was so with David: “I poured out my complaint before him, I shewed before him my trouble.” Just as a patient shows his wounds to the surgeon, so take away the covering from your broken heart and wounded spirit, and set your trouble before the Lord, who already sees it. It will be no novelty or cause of surprise to him, but he desires you to manifest such trustfulness in him as will lead you to lay before him your complaint and your trouble.Psalms 142:3. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path.“My spirit was so overwhelmed within me, that I did not know where I was, or what I was. I could not make head or tail of myself. I seemed to be like a skein of silk or wool in a tangle. My thoughts, as George Herbert would have said, were all a case of knives, sharp to cut and wound. I could not make myself out; I was a puzzle even to myself, but thou knewest my path even then.”Psalms 142:3-4. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.This is a terrible condition for anyone to be in, — to have every friend forsake you, — to find that those who used to know you best, do not want to know you any longer, but turn their heads away as if it would be a disgrace to them to be known to have been your friends. This is a grand opportunity for testing the reality of your faith. Can you believe God now? Can you take him to be your Friend now that you have not another friend in the world? Fine weather faith is very cheap, and easily to be obtained; but the faith that can stand fast in the time of the storm and tempest, —that hardy mountaineering faith which hides in God in the coldest winter, and finds its summertime in him alone, — that is the faith that is worth having and worth keeping.Psalms 142:5. I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.“I left the broken reeds alone, and leaned upon my God. I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.”Psalms 142:6-7. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.This is a beautiful metaphor, suggesting that, when the saints heard that God brought him out of prison, they would round about him, gaze upon him as a miracle of mercy, and ask him to tell them his wonderful tale. He would be the center of their delighted observation, and their own faith and hope in the Lord would be greatly increased. As a little imprisoned bird might long for emancipation, David says, “O Lord, open my cage-door, and let me fly; and I will sing, as I mount, to the praise of him who gave me my liberty. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about, for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.’” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 51. and 142. “A psalm of David.”Psalms 143:1. Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.It is a theory held by some persons of skeptical minds that the only benefit of prayer is the good it does to us. That was not David’s theory. Here, three times, he begs to be heard, and to be answered. Oh! do they think us such idiots that we would go on speaking in a keyhole with nobody to hear us? Do they think us brought so low — so destitute of wit — that we think it worth our while to speak out what is in our heart if God does not hear and does not answer? I reckon prayer to be the most idiotic of all occupations unless there be really a God to hear, and a God to answer. And the benefit of prayer is not in itself so much as in the full confidence that it is a real thing, and an effective thing — that God does hear and does interpose on our behalf.Psalms 143:2. And enter not into judgment with thy servant:“Thy servant I am. I am not one of the ungodly, whom thou wilt judge and cast away, but still even thy servant though I am, enter not into judgment with me. I know thou wilt not judge me now as a rebel, and condemn me, for thou hast put away my sin, but even as thy servant I fear thy chastising rod, if thou enter into judgment with me.”Psalms 143:2. For in thy sight shall no man living be justified.I have heard some living that think they would. They have said that the very root and branch of sin have been cut up in them, and that they walk in the fear of God perfectly well, but times must have changed very wonderfully. Ah! but I think they have not, but that these are mistaken, for still it is very true concerning the very best of men that they have need to pray, “Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.”Psalms 143:3-4 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.Children of God, do not expect to be always happy, or else you will be disappointed. You will have more troubles, if nobody else does. Depend upon it, that adversity is one of the covenant promises. “In the world ye shall have tribulation,” is your Master’s own word to you, and you must not expect to find it untrue. You will find it true to the letter. And sometimes the troubles of life will penetrate even to your heart, and make you feel desolate. When you are so, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial as though yours were a new path in which nobody ever walked before you. Ah! no; David was there. Many others have been there.Psalms 143:5-6. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.As a child puts out its hand to its mother, so did he stretch out his hands to his God. As a thirsty land chaps — becomes dry — turns to dust in its longing after rain, so did his whole being thirst for his God.Psalms 143:7. Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.“Lest I swoon away — lest I die — lest my hope should utterly expire. Come, Lord: come, Lord, and rescue me.”Psalms 143:8. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.Very heavy, but I lift it up. With all my might, as though it were a dead lift, I seek to raise it out of its doubt, and out of its sorrow.Psalms 143:9-10. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; for thy art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. Or “lead me in a straight path.” So it is rendered by the best scholars.Psalms 143:11. Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name’s sake:Felt as if he should die, and, therefore, he says, “Quicken me: put new life into me.” To whom should we go for life, but to the living God, and who can communicate with us, but the same God who first made us live in his name.Psalms 143:11-12. For thy righteousness sake bring my soul out of trouble. And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 142. and 143. A Psalm of David. No doubt written after some great victory, and also before another severe struggle. The Christian man seldom escapes from one difficulty without falling into another. Thanks be unto God, he that is with us in six troubles will not forsake us in the seventh!Psalms 144:1. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hand to war, and my fingers to fight:David does not ascribe any honour to himself. Human strength is from within, from the nerves, and sinews, and muscles, but the believer’s strength is from without: “Blessed be Jehovah my strength.” Now, if Jehovah be our strength, then nothing can be too difficult for us, for he whose strength is the omnipotence of God can do all things. “Which teacheth my hands to war:” just as the young soldier was, as it were, bound apprentice to the old warrior, went out to learn the drill, and afterwards was taken by him into the battle, so does the Lord by providence and by experience train his people’s hands to war, and their fingers to fight.Psalms 144:2. My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust;Here are six names, or rather, five titles of God, and then an inference from them: “He in whom I trust.” Oh! I know, ye people of God, you can say of Jehovah, “He is the One in whom I trust.” Rely upon anyone else, and your hopes are doomed to disappointment, as a bowing wall shall he be, and as a tottering fence. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his refuge! Mind that ye stand to this, and never depart from it.Psalms 144:2. Who subdueth my people under me.Probably this Psalm was written after the crushing out of the great revolt under Absalom, and well might David ascribe to the divine hand his deliverance from that trial. It seemed as if the kingdom had gone from him; his ungrateful son had stolen the people’s hearts, and yet God was pleased to give him back his kingdom, and to set him upon his throne yet more firmly than before: “Who subdueth my people under me.” Christian, say that it is God who subdues your troubles, God who conquers your sins, God who enlightens your darkness, God who doeth all things for you; give him all the praise for every deliverance.Psalms 144:3. LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Have you not often felt like this? You have said, “Lord, how couldst thou have bestowed such favors upon me, so utterly unworthy, so insignificant, so unknown, so worthless? “What is man, that thou takest knowledge of him!”Psalms 144:4. Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.You know that a shadow is nothing; it is rather the absence of something than anything in itself. Shadow is the absence of light; and what is man but, as it were, the absence of light, the absence of anything that is substantial? He is but the fleeting shadow of some earthly object, which soon passes away. Having thus magnified God for the past, and marvelled at his loving-kindness, the psalmist now turns to prayer: —Psalms 144:5. Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.God did but set one foot upon Mount Sinai, and it became altogether on a smoke. “The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord.” Well, believer, you have many mountains; but you can ask God to “touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.” No matter what the mountains may be; high as the heavens your troubles may ascend, till they even seem to block up your pathway to the skies, yet one touch of the divine finger shall make them melt away, like wax before the fire, and you shall march on triumphantly to your God.Psalms 144:6-7. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them. Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;Moses, you know, was called “one drawn out of the water”, so are all Gods people, they are drawn out of floods of tribulation. They are surrounded by those floods as though deserted, and left there to perish; but keen is the eye that watches over them, strong is the hand that preserves them, and sure is the arm that delivers them.Psalms 144:8. Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.They swear, but they perjure themselves; they lift up the right hand, but they lie all the while. Rid me, O God, from such men; for, of all enemies, those that can lie are the worst, for you never know where you are with such people. Snakes in the grass are the most dangerous reptiles and enemies who will do any evil thing in order to ruin you, and who will tell any lie in the world in order to injure you, are just the hardest to overthrow.Psalms 144:9-11. I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:You see, good men sometimes repeat their prayers; they present the same petition over again, and they thus follow the example of Christ, who prayed three times, “saying the same words.”Psalms 144:12. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:Or, rather, “of a temple.” This should be the prayer of every parent, that his sons may be bringing forth fruit unto God, that his daughters may be fixed as polished stones in the Church of God, to form a part of the great spiritual temple.Psalms 144:13. That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store:When this is the case spiritually, when there is milk for babes, meat for strong men, and not a little of each, but more than enough for all, then are we very happy. Spiritual fertility is a blessed thing, when each Christian, each of the Lord’s sheep, becomes prolific in increasing Christ’s flock.Psalms 144:14. That our oxen may be strong to labour;That the ministers of God may be mighty; that Sabbath-school teachers, and all earnest labourers, may have strength given to them.Psalms 144:14. That there be no breaking in, nor going out;That there be no wolves to destroy by breaking in; and that there be no sheep to suffer injury by going astray.Psalms 144:14-15. That there be no complaining in our street. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.May this be our case! And if it is our case, then the Lord is our God even at this day.Psalms 144:13. That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:Spiritual fertility is a blessed thing, when each Christian, each of the Lord’s sheep, becomes prolific in increasing Christ’s flock.Psalms 144:14. That our oxen may be strong to labour:That the ministers of God may be mighty; that Sabbath-school teachers, and all earnest labourers, may have strength given to them.Psalms 144:14. That there be no breaking in, nor going out;That there be no wolves to destroy by breaking in; and that there be no sheep to suffer injury by going astray.Psalms 144:14-15. That there be no complaining in our streets. Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.May this be our case! And if that is our case, then the Lord is our God even at this day. Now let us read about two interesting incidents in David’s warrior life. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 144, And 2 Samuel 5:17-25. When you get to the 145th Psalm, you enter the Beulah Land of the Psalms. Henceforth, the time of the singing of birds is come; and you go from one Hallelujah to another. In the Hebrew, this is one of the alphabetical Psalms, but one letter (nun) is omitted, perhaps, as Dr. Bonar suggests, that “we must be kept from putting stress on the mere form of the composition.” Those ancient singers sang their way through the alphabet from A to Z, and it is well for us also to begin to praise the Lord while we are yet children, and to keep on praising him till we get to the “Z” in the very hour of death, gasping his praises till we get into eternity. “My God, I’ll praise thee while I live, And praise thee when I die, And praise thee when I rise again, And to eternity.”Psalms 145:1-3. I will extol thee, my God, O king, and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.Such as the Lord is, such should his worship be. If he were a little God, he would deserve little praise; but the great God is “greatly to be praised.” There is no fear of going to any excess in our praises; we must never laud him too highly, however lofty our expressions may be. “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.” David knew what it was to be himself searched by God and he prayed, “Search me, O God;” but he could not search the greatness of his God. There, he was utterly lost, the utmost range of his faculties could not compass the greatness of Jehovah: “his greatness is unsearchable.”Psalms 145:4. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. There is a hallowed tradition of praise; each generation should hand out the praise of God as a precious legacy to the next one. Train up your sons and daughters to praise your God, so that, when your voice is silent in death, another voice, like your own, may continue the strain.Psalms 145:5. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.“I will speak.” What a powerful speaker David was! Note how he piles up his golden words. He is not content merely to talk of God’s majesty, but he speaks of its “glorious honour.” When he talked of God’s works, he calls them “wondrous works.”Psalms 145:6. And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts:If they will not speak of anything else, they shall be obliged to speak with awe when the terrors of the Lord are abroad in the earth. If they were as dumb as fishes before, they shall begin to say to one another, with bated breath, when earthquakes, and famines, and war, and pestilence are rife, “What a terrible God he is!”Psalms 145:6. And I will declare thy greatness.While other men were talking, David did not say, “Now I can be quiet.” When they did not speak, he did, and when they began to speak, he still added his quota of praise to Jehovah.Psalms 145:7. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.What a beautiful expression! “They shall abundantly utter.” The original has in it the idea of bubbling up, boiling over, bursting out like a fountain; men’s hearts shall get to be so full of gratitude to God that they shall overflow with the memory of his great goodness. Then they shall sing. Singing is the language of jubilant nature: “The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing.” Singing is the language of men when they wish to express their highest joys. The saints sing the high praises of their God. Singing is the language of the holy angels; did they not, when they came to Bethlehem, sing concerning the newborn King? Singing is the language of heaven, and most marvellous of all, singing is the highest language that ever God uses: “He will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” Oh, for more holy singing!Psalms 145:8. The LORD is gracious, —That alone is enough to make us sinners sing, for we need grace, and “the Lord is gracious,” —Psalms 145:8. And full of compassion; —There is no “passion” in him, but there is “compassion” in him; what a mercy that is for us! He is full of compassion;” —Psalms 145:8. Slow to anger, and of great mercy.Hear that, ye great sinners, and ye saints who need great forbearance.Psalms 145:9. The Lord is good to all:Even to his enemies. Does not the dewdrop hang upon the thistle as well as upon the rose?Psalms 145:9. And his tender mercies are over all his works.He cares for the worm in the sod and for the fish in the sea as well as for men upon the face of the earth.Psalms 145:10. All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saint shall bless thee.Their voices can reach a higher note and a loftier strain than God’s works can ever reach: “thy saints shall bless thee.”Psalms 145:11. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom,For the saints love God as their King, and they rejoice to remember what the King’s Son said to his disciples, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom;” so well may they sing of it.Psalms 145:11-13. And talk of thy power; to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.What is the use of preaching if it does not glorify God? What is the use of a tongue that does not speak or sing of the glory of God’s kingdom? But let one of God’s bards have this as the theme of his song, and he feels like a hind let loose, rejoicing in glorious liberty.Psalms 145:14. The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.Does not this seem to be a singular change in the strain? The Lord is a King, and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; yet what is he doing? Why, he is upholding, propping up those that are ready to fall, and lifting up those that are crushed and oppressed. Earthly kings often glory in the terror of their power, and the splendor of their majesty. What a condescending God is ours, whose glory is a moral glory, and whose chief delight consists in blessing the poor and needy! Let us bless his name for this. Are any of you ready to fall? Then praise him for this glorious truth, “The Lord upholdeth all that fall.” Are any of you bowed down? Daughter of Abraham, have you been bowed down these many years? Oh, that you might be made straight this very hour! And you may be, for God can lift you up, for he “raiseth up all those that be bowed down.”Psalms 145:15-16. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfied the desire of every living thing.What a glorious God we have! How easily can he supply the needs of his people! He has but to open his hand, and it is done! We need not be afraid to come to him, as though our needs would be too great for him to supply. The commissariat of the universe is superintended by this truly Universal Provider, who hath but to open his hand to satisfy “the desire of every living thing.”Psalms 145:17. The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.This is a thing for which many modern divines do not praise God. The attribute of righteousness in the character of God is expelled from a good deal of modern theology. But he, who loves God aright, loves the righteousness of God. I would not care to have even salvation if it were unrighteous salvation. The righteousness of God gleams like a sharp two-edged sword, and it is terrible to those who are at enmity against him; but the true children of the Most High delight to see this sword of state carried in the front of the great King of kings. The seraphim cried, one to another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.” The redeemed in glory sing, “Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints; but the captious critics of the present day care nothing for these attributes of Jehovah.Psalms 145:18. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.If you read this Psalm through carefully, you will notice the great number of “alls” with which the latter part of the Psalm is studded; and this is appropriate, for God is All-in-all, he is the One, the All, so let him have all praise from all.Psalms 145:19. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.When you have respect to God’s will, God will have respect to your will. When you fear him, you will have no one else to fear, and when you make his service your delight, he will make your wants his care.Psalms 145:20. The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.As in a state of sanitary perfection, everything that breeds miasma and disease is banished, so must it be in God’s great universe, when he has completed his works “all the wicked will he destroy.”Psalms 145:21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. Psalms 146:1. Praise ye the LORD.Or, “Hallelujah.” I am sorry to see that great word, Hallelujah, Hallelu-Jah, praise to Jah, Jehovah, become so hackneyed as it is, by talk about “Hallelujah lasses”, and Hallelujah — I know not what. The Jews will not even pronounce the word Jah, or write it; it seems a great pity that it should be thus draggled in the dirt by Gentiles. “Praise ye the Lord.” Whenever you make use of the word Hallelujah, let it be with the due reverence which should be given to that blessed name, for remember “the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”Psalms 146:1. Praise the LORD, O my soul.Whatever we exhort others to do, we should be ready to do ourselves; yea, our own soul should praise the Lord most of all, since, if we rightly know our obligations, no one in the world is so much indebted to God as each one of us should feel himself to be. “Praise the Lord, O my soul;” not my lips only, but my innermost spirit, for soul-music is the soul of music: “Praise the Lord, O my soul.”Psalms 146:2. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.I will lisp his praises when I can do no more; when my being seems to be dried up, in the weakness of the death-throe, still, “I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.”Psalms 146:3. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.What is the connection here between praising God and not trusting man? Why, this connection, that we never praise God better than by exercising faith in him! Quiet trust is among the sweetest music that reaches the heart of God; and when we put our trust in man, we rob God of his glory; we are giving to others the confidence which belongs alone to him.Psalms 146:4. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.What is man, — with a life dependent upon his breath, such a vapory thing, each a thin, unsubstantial thing is human life, — what is he that we should trust in him?Psalms 146:5. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:He is the happy man who has learned to trust in the invisible God.Psalms 146:6. Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: Never did his promise fail. Perhaps, dear brother, you have not pleaded the promises enough of late. Then the mercy-seat is the place where promises must be pleaded, with the certainty that then they shall be fulfilled.Psalms 146:7. Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:Souls that are in bondage will never get freedom till the Lord looses them. Oh, that prisoners of hope, who are here this evening, might have grace to look to God! You cannot pick the look of your prison yourself, nor forge your way through the iron berg of despair, but, “the Lord looseth the prisoners.” Ay, but when they get loose, they are blind, for man by nature is blinded by sin! Therefore the psalmist adds, —Psalms 146:8. The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind:He can not only give you liberty, but understanding, insight into his Word, a knowledge of himself. Ay, but when men get their eyes opened, they see much to make them sorry, and he that increaseth knowledge often increaseth sorrow! Yes, but look at the next words, —Psalms 146:8. The LORD raiseth them that are bowed down:He can take away depression of spirit, and relieve the heart of its burdens and, as the woman who was bowed down for many years was made straight by the word of Christ, so can those that suffer from mental infirmity be restored. And best of all, —Psalms 146:8. The LORD loveth the righteous:He loves them, and his love is wealth and health. The love of God is all a creature wants.Psalms 146:9. The Lord preserveth the strangers;When our eyes are opened, and we are no more bowed down, but feel we have a sense of God’s love, yet still we know that we are exiles, banished ones, strangers and foreigners, as all our fathers were. It is comforting, therefore, to be assured that “the Lord preserveth the strangers.”Psalms 146:9. He relieveth the fatherless and widow:He does so literally: “A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.” He also relieves such spiritually. When any feel themselves to be poverty-stricken, and unable to help themselves, let them look to him who is both able and willing to succor them, for “he relieveth the fatherless and the widow.”Psalms 146:9. But the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.Where they looked for joy, they experienced disappointment, where they expected success, they met with defeat, and whereas they thought to heap to themselves pleasures according to their lusts, they find that they have only increased their misery.Psalms 146:10. The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.The sovereignty of God should be the delight of his people. God anywhere is blessed, but God on his throne should make his people shout their Hallelujahs with all their heart. Now let us read in the New Testament about one who glorified God and gave thanks to Jesus. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 146, and Luke 17:11-19 Psalms 147:1. Praise ye the LORD:This Psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah. So may this service, and so may our lives, commence and conclude with Hallelujah!Psalms 147:1-2. For it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. The LORD doth build up Jerusalem:Oh, that the Lord would do so here tonight!Psalms 147:2. He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.We want that blessing, too. Oh, that some outcasts might be gathered together! It shall make our hearts cry “Hallelujah!” indeed, if there be a building up of the church and an ingathering of the outcasts.Psalms 147:3. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.As we read that, we may well say again, “Hallelujah!”Psalms 147:4. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.And the Hallelujah is not louder because of that fact than it is for the other truth. What a condescending God: “He healeth the broken in heart.” How infinite is his mind: “He telleth the number of the stars.”Psalms 147:5-6. Great is our lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.The LORD lifteth up the meek: How wonderful it is that the Lord should use the greatness of his power and the infinity of his understanding for the lifting up of those whom men often despise, “the meek”!Psalms 147:6-11. He casteth the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.Other kings tell of their cavalry and infantry, they boast of their regiments of horse and foot guards, but our great God finds his delight in them that fear him and even in the feebler sort of these: “those that hope in his mercy.” These are the courtiers of Jehovah. These are the forces of our God, through whom he will win great victories.Psalms 147:12-16. Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.Our King’s warrant runs everywhere, all over the world. He has universal power in nature, in providence, and in grace: “His word runneth very swiftly.”Psalms 147:16. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.The Hebrews saw God in all the phenomena of nature; let us do the same. Let us attribute every snow-flake to the divine hand, and every breath of frost to the divine mouth.Psalms 147:17-18. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them:It is just as easy for him to send warm weather as to give us the chill of winter.Psalms 147:18. He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.His own soft south wind comes, and the fetters of frost dissolve, and the waters flow. It is the Lord that doeth it all. He is not far from any of us; therefore let us not forget him.Psalms 147:19. He showeth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.The rest of the world can only see him in nature, but his own people see him in revelation, in the movements of his Holy Spirit.Psalms 147:20. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord.Therefore, ye who are favored with his special manifestations of love, take you up the joyous song even if others do not. Hallelujah! “Praise ye the Lord.” Now let us read in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 26, beginning at the sixth verse. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 147, And Matthew 26:6-30. We will first read a short Psalm inciting all to praise the Lord, and then we will read part of the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel, specially noticing Mary’s song of praise. It is a blessed thing to indulge our holy gratitude, and to let it have speech in sacred psalm and song. Praise is the end of prayer and preaching. It is the ear of the wheat: it is God’s harvest from all the seed of grace that he has sown.Psalms 148:1. Praise ye the LORD.Hallelujah!Psalms 148:1. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens:Begin the song, ye holy angels before the throne; lead us in praise, O ye glorified spirits above!Psalms 148:1. Praise him in the heights.Sing aloud, ye that sit at God’s right hand in the heavenly places; let the highest praises be given to the Most HighPsa_148:2-3. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.Shine out his glory. Ye are but dim reflections of his brightness; yet, praise ye him.Psalms 148:4. Praise him, ye heaven of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.Stored up there for man’s use and benefit. Ye clouds that look black to us, and yet are big with blessings, praise ye the Lord. See, beloved, how the song comes down from the praises of the angels nearest the throne, to the glorified saints, then to the sun, and moon, and stars, and the clouds that float in the firmament of heaven.Psalms 148:5-6. Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created. He hath also established them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.Or, pass away. Now the psalmist begins at the bottom, and works up to the top.Psalms 148:7. Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:Right down there, however low the caverns may be, let the strange creatures that inhabit the secret places in the very bottoms of the mountains and the depths of the seas, — let them send out the deep bass of their praise.Psalms 148:8-10. Fire, and hail; snow, and vapor; stormy wind fulfilling his word: Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:If you cannot praise God by soaring up like eagles, if you feel more like the creeping things of the earth, still praise him. There is something very pleasant in the spiritual allusion that grows out of this verse. You who seem like poor worms of the dust, or insects of an hour, can yield your little need of praise to God.Psalms 148:11-14. Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him.They ought to sing best and most sweetly, because they are nearest to his heart. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” If all other tongues are silent, let them praise the Lord.Psalms 148:14. Praise ye the LORD.The Psalm ends, as it began, with Hallelujah! “Praise ye the Lord.” This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 148; and Luke 1:5-35; Luke 1:46-56. Psalms 149:1. Praise ye the Lord.This is a Hallelujah Psalm; it begins with, “Praise ye the Lord,” and finishes in the same way. It is a complete circle of praise. The long streams of the Psalms end in glorious cascades of hallelujahs. One after another these jubilant notes roll out, as in Handel’s magnificent Hallelujah Chorus.Psalms 149:1. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.There was an old song previous to this new one, — in the 148th Psalm, — the Psalm for sun and moon and stars, for deeps and dragons, for old men and maidens, and so on; but this is a Psalm for saints, so it is “a new song” for the new creation. Therefore, let all the new creatures of God sing it from their hearts.Psalms 149:2. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him:This is the best and highest form of creation, — the making, not only of men, but of men of God, the making of Israels, the making of prevailing princes.Psalms 149:2. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.Let them rejoice that their Maker reigns, that he rules over them, and that he rules over all things: “Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.”Psalms 149:3. Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.That is, let them repeat the joy of Israel at the Red Sea, when Miriam “took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances; and Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.” So, O ye children of God, let the praises of your God and King ring out as with the music of the timbrel and harp.Psalms 149:4. For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people:Then, should not they take pleasure in him? If he looks upon them with divine delight, should not they look up to him with adoring gratitude? What is there in us to give him any pleasure? But if his delights are with the sons of men, surely the sons of men should have their delights in him: “For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people.”Psalms 149:4-5. He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory:Let them glory in God, and be joyful in him. Let their spirits seem to rise even beyond grace up to the anticipation of glory: “Let the saints be joyful in glory.”Psalms 149:5. Let them sing aloud upon their beds.If they be sick, or if they lie awake at night, or if they have enjoyed sweet rest, let them not fail to praise God for it: “Let them sing aloud upon their beds.”Psalms 149:6. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;But let it be a spiritual sword, that two-edged sword of God’s Word which will cut through coats of mail; and as they wield it, let them ever rest satisfied that victory shall surely be theirs. One of the poetical versions of this Psalm rightly renders this verse, — “Ye saints of the Lord; as round him ye stand, His two-edged sword, his word, in your hand, To sound his high praises your voices employ! To victory he raises, and crowns you with joy.”Psalms 149:7. To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people;So they had to do in those old times: but we, happily, have not to do so now, except it be in a spiritual sense that, with the sword of God’s Word we are to cut down the idols of the heathen, and subdue the nations to our King.Psalms 149:8. To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;Reading the passage in a gospel sense, we lead men captives in the bonds of love that are stronger than fetters of iron. O soldiers of Christ, army of the living God, this is the battle you have to fight; be this your victory, too!Psalms 149:9. To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.So the Psalm ends upon its key-note, — “Hallelujah.” “Praise ye the Lord.’ Now let us turn to the 5th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, and see what we have to rejoice in there. This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 149.; and Matthew 5:1-12. Psalms 150:1. Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary:Notice how, in this last Psalm, it is praise, praise, praise, all the way through. I think we have the word “praise” some thirteen times in the six verses. It is all “praise him, praise him, praise him.” It is not enough to do it once, or twice, we should keep on praising the Lord till we should make the very heavens ring with the music of his praises. “Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary:” that is, in his holy place where he dwells. Begin, ye angels, cherubim, and seraphim, pour forth his praise.Psalms 150:1. Praise him in the firmament of his power.Let every star shine forth his praises, and sun and moon cease not to extol him: “Praise him in the firmament of his power.”Psalms 150:2. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. There is a task for us; we shall never attain to that height. We sometimes sing,-“Wide as his vast dominion lies, Make the Creator’s name be known; Loud as his thunder shout his praise, And sound it lofty as his throne;” but who can compass such a feat as that?Psalms 150:3-4. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.So that there were all kinds of music in those days praising God,-the wind and the stringed instruments, the timbrel and the pipe. Everything that can praise God should praise him. The spiritual significance of these verses is this, let men of different orders and different sorts praise the Lord,-men, women, children, those who are deeply taught and those who know but little, those who are great and those who are small. Let every heart regard itself as an instrument of praise, and use itself wholly for the Lord’s praise. Having got so far, the psalmist recollected that there were discs of brass, which were struck together, and gave forth a sound to be heard at a great distance, so he said,-Psalms 150:5. Praise him upon the loud cymbals:Crash!Psalms 150:5. Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.Then came another crash!Psalms 150:6. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.A Jewish Rabbi once remarked to me that the name Jehovah was not made up of letters, but only of a series of breathings. (The preacher here uttered the three syllables of the sacred name, Jehovah, as though they were not composed of letters, but only a succession of breathings.) That is the nearest approach to the name of God, three breathings; therefore since all breath comes from him, and his very name can only be pronounced by breath, “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.” Hallelujah! “THERE IS .”