TITLE. We shall not greatly err in our
summary of this sublime Psalm if we call it THE PSALM OF
MESSIAH THE PRINCE; for it sets forth, as in a wondrous
vision, the tumult of the people against the Lord's anointed,
the determinate purpose of God to exalt his own Son, and the
ultimate reign of that Son over all his enemies. Let us read it
with the eye of faith, beholding, as in a glass, the final
triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over all his enemies. Lowth has
the following remarks upon this Psalm: "The establishment
of David upon his throne, notwithstanding the opposition made to
it by his enemies, is the subject of the Psalm. David sustains
in it a twofold character, literal and allegorical. If we read
over the Psalm, first with an eye to the literal David, the
meaning is obvious, and put beyond all dispute by the sacred
history. There is indeed an uncommon glow in the expression and
sublimity in the figures, and the diction is now and then
exaggerated, as it were on purpose to intimate, and lead us to
the contemplation of higher and more important matters concealed
within. In compliance with this admonition, if we take another
survey of the Psalm as relative to the person and concerns of
the spiritual David, a noble series of events immediately rises
to view, and the meaning becomes more evident, as well as more
exalted. The colouring which may perhaps seem too bold and
glaring for the king of Israel, will no longer appear so when
laid upon his great Antitype. After we have thus attentively
considered the subjects apart, let us look at them together, and
we shall behold the full beauty and majesty of this most
charming poem. We shall perceive the two senses very distinct
from each other, yet conspiring in perfect harmony, and bearing
a wonderful resemblance in every feature and lineament, while
the analogy between them is so exactly preserved, that either
may pass for the original from whence the other was copied. New
light is continually cast upon the phraseology, fresh weight and
dignity are added to the sentiments, till, gradually ascending
from things below to things above, from human affairs to those
that are Divine, they bear the great important theme upwards
with them, and at length place it in the height and brightness
of heaven."
DIVISION. This Psalm will be best understood if it be
viewed as a four-fold picture. (In verses 1, 2, 3) the Nations
are raging; (4 to 6) the Lord in heaven derides them; (7 to 9)
the Son proclaims the decree; and (from 10 to end) advice is
given to the kings to yield obedience to the Lord's anointed.
This division is not only suggested by the sense, but is
warranted by the poetic form of the Psalm, which naturally falls
into four stanzas of three verses each.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. We have, in these first three verses, a description
of the hatred of human nature against the Christ of God. No
better comment is needed upon it than the apostolic song in Acts
4:27, 28: "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with
the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done." The Psalm begins abruptly with an angry
interrogation; and well it may: it is surely but little to be
wondered at, that the sight of creatures in arms against their
God should amaze the psalmist's mind. We see the heathen
raging, roaring like the sea, tossed to and fro with
restless waves, as the ocean in a storm; and then we mark the
people in their hearts imagining a vain thing against
God. Where there is much rage there is generally some folly, and
in this case there is an excess of it. Note, that the commotion
is not caused by the people only, but their leaders foment the
rebellion. "The kings of the earth set themselves."
In determined malice they arrayed themselves in opposition
against God. It was not temporary rage, but deep-seated hate,
for they set themselves resolutely to withstand the
Prince of Peace. "And the rulers take counsel
together." They go about their warfare craftily, not
with foolish haste, but deliberately. They use all the skill
which art can give. Like Pharaoh, they cry, "Let us deal
wisely with them." O that men were half as careful in God's
service to serve him wisely, as his enemies are to attack his
kingdom craftily. Sinners have their wits about them, and yet
saints are dull. But what say they? what is the meaning of this
commotion? "Let us break their bands asunder."
"Let us be free to commit all manner of abominations. Let
us be our own gods. Let us rid ourselves of all restraint."
Gathering impudence by the traitorous proposition of rebellion,
they add—"let us cast away;" as if it were an
easy matter — "let us fling off 'their cords from us.'"
What! O ye kings, do ye think yourselves Samsons? and are the
bands of Omnipotence but as green withs before you? Do you dream
that you shall snap to pieces and destroy the mandates of
God—the decrees of the Most High—as if they were but tow?
and do ye say, "Let us cast away their cords from us?"
Yes! There are monarchs who have spoken thus, and there are
still rebels upon thrones. However mad the resolution to revolt
from God, it is one in which man has persevered ever since his
creation, and he continues in it to this very day. The glorious
reign of Jesus in the latter day will not be consummated, until
a terrible struggle has convulsed the nations. His coming will
be as a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, and the day
thereof shall burn as an oven. Earth loves not her rightful
monarch, but clings to the usurper's sway: the terrible
conflicts of the last days will illustrate both the world's love
of sin and Jehovah's power to give the kingdom to his only
Begotten. To a graceless neck the yoke of Christ is intolerable,
but to the saved sinner it is easy and light. We may judge
ourselves by this, do we love that yoke, or do we wish to cast
it from us?
Verse 4. Let us now turn our eyes from the wicked
counsel-chamber and raging tumult of man, to the secret place of
the majesty of the Most High. What doth God say? What will the
King do unto the men who reject his only-begotten Son, the Heir
of all things?
Mark
the quiet dignity of the Omnipotent One, and the contempt which
he pours upon the princes and their raging people. He has not
taken the trouble to rise up and do battle with them—he
despises them, he knows how absurd, how irrational, how futile
are their attempts against him—he therefore laughs at
them.
Verse 5. After he has laughed he shall speak; he needs
not smite; the breath of his lips is enough. At the moment when
their power is at its height, and their fury most violent, then
shall his Word go forth against them. And what is it that he
says?—it is a very galling sentence— "Yet,"
says he, "despite your malice, despite your tumultuous
gatherings, despite the wisdom of your counsels, despite the
craft of your lawgivers, 'yet have I set my king upon my holy
hill of Zion'." Is not that a grand exclamation! He has
already done that which the enemy seeks to prevent. While they
are proposing, he has disposed the matter. Jehovah's will is
done, and man's will frets and raves in vain. God's Anointed is
appointed, and shall not be disappointed. Look back through all
the ages of infidelity, hearken to the high and hard things
which men have spoken against the Most High, listen to the
rolling thunder of earth's volleys against the Majesty of
heaven, and then think that God is saying all the while,
"Yet have I set my kimg upon my holy hill of Zion."
Yet Jesus reigns, yet he sees the travail of his soul, and
"his unsuffering kingdom yet shall come" when he shall
take unto himself his great power, and reign from the river unto
the ends of the earth. Even now he reigns in Zion, and our glad
lips sound forth the praises of the Prince of Peace. Greater
conflicts may here be foretold, but we may be confident that
victory will be given to our Lord and King. Glorious triumphs
are yet to come; hasten them, we pray thee, O Lord! It is Zion's
glory and joy that her King is in her, guarding her from foes,
and filling her with good things. Jesus sits upon the throne of
grace, and the throne of power in the midst of his church. In
him is Zion's best safeguard; let her citizens be glad in him.
"Thy walls are strength, and at thy gates
A guard of heavenly warriors waits;
Nor shall thy deep foundations move,
Fixed on his counsels and his love.
Thy foes in vain designs engage;
Against his throne in vain they rage,
Like rising waves, with angry roar,
That dash and die upon the shore."
Verse 7. This Psalm wears something of a dramatic form, for
now another person is introduced as speaking. We have looked
into the council-chamber of the wicked, and to the throne of
God, and now we behold the Anointed declaring his rights of
sovereignty, and warning the traitors of their doom.
God
has laughed at the counsel and ravings of the wicked, and now
Christ the Anointed himself comes forward, as the Risen
Redeemer, "declared to be the Son of God with power,
according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from
the dead." Romans 1:4. Looking into the angry faces of the
rebellious kings, the Anointed One seems to say, "If this
sufficeth not to make you silent, 'I will declare the decree'."
Now this decree is directly in conflict with the device of man,
for its tenour is the establishment of the very dominion against
which the nations are raving. "Thou art my Son."
Here is a noble proof of the glorious Divinity of our Immanuel.
"For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art
my Son, this day have I begotten thee?" What a mercy to
have a Divine Redeemer in whom to rest our confidence! "This
day have I begotten thee." If this refers to the
Godhead of our Lord, let us not attempt to fathom it, for it is
a great truth, a truth reverently to be received, but not
irreverently to be scanned. It may be added, that if this
relates to the Begotten One in his human nature, we must here
also rejoice in the mystery, but not attempt to violate its
sanctity by intrusive prying into the secrets of the Eternal
God. The things which are revealed are enough, without venturing
into vain speculations. In attempting to define the Trinity, or
unveil the essence of Divinity, many men have lost themselves:
here great ships have foundered. What have we to do in such a
sea with our frail skiffs?
Verse 8. "Ask of me." It was a custom among
great kings, to give to favoured ones whatever they might ask.
(See Esther 5:6; Matthew 14:7.) So Jesus hath but to ask and
have. Here he declares that his very enemies are his
inheritance. To their face he declares this decree, and
"Lo! here," cries the Anointed One, as he holds aloft
in that once pierced hand the sceptre of his power, "He
hath given me this, not only the right to be a king, but the
power to conquer." Yes! Jehovah hath given to his Anointed
a rod of iron with which he shall break rebellious nations in
pieces, and, despite their imperial strength, they shall be but
as potters' vessels, easily dashed into shivers, when the rod of
iron is in the hand of the omnipotent Son of God. Those who will
not bend must break. Potters' vessels are not to be restored if
dashed in pieces, and the ruin of sinners will be hopeless if
Jesus shall smite them.
"Ye sinners seek his grace,
Whose wrath ye cannot bear;
Fly to the shelter of his cross,
And find salvation there."
Verse 10. The scene again changes, and counsel is given to
those who have taken counsel to rebel. They are exhorted to
obey, and give the kiss of homage and affection to him whom they
have hated.
"Be
wise."—It is always wise to be willing to be
instructed, especially when such instruction tends to the
salvation of the soul. "Be wise now, therefore;"
delay no longer, but let good reason weigh with you. Your
warfare cannot succeed, therefore desist and yield cheerfully to
him who will make you bow if you refuse his yoke. O how wise,
how infinitely wise is obedience to Jesus, and how dreadful is
the folly of those who continue to be his enemies! "Serve
the Lord with fear;" let reverence and humility be
mingled with your service. He is a great God, and ye are but
puny creatures; bend ye, therefore, in lowly worship, and let a
filial fear mingle with all your obedience to the great Father
of the Ages. "Rejoice with trembling,"—There
must ever be a holy fear mixed with the Christian's joy. This is
a sacred compound, yielding a sweet smell, and we must see to it
that we burn no other upon the altar. Fear, without joy, is
torment; and joy, without holy fear, would be presumption. Mark
the solemn argument for reconciliation and obedience. It is an
awful thing to perish in the midst of sin, in the very way
of rebellion; and yet how easily could his wrath destroy
us suddenly. It needs not that his anger should be heated seven
times hotter; let the fuel kindle but a little, and we
are consumed. O sinner! Take heed of the terrors of the Lord;
for "our God is a consuming fire." Note the
benediction with which the Psalm closes:—"Blessed are
all they that put their trust in him." Have we a share
in this blessedness? Do we trust in him? Our faith may be
slender as a spider's thread; but if it be real, we are in our
measure blessed. The more we trust, the more fully shall we know
this blessedness. We may therefore close the Psalm with the
prayer of the apostles:—"Lord, increase our faith."
The
first Psalm was a contrast between the righteous man and the
sinner; the second Psalm is a contrast between the tumultuous
disobedience of the ungodly world and the sure exaltation of the
righteous Son of God. In the first Psalm, we saw the wicked
driven away like chaff; in the second Psalm we see them broken
in pieces like a potter's vessel. In the first Psalm, we beheld
the righteous like a tree planted by the rivers of water; and
here, we contemplate Christ the Covenant Head of the righteous,
made better than a tree planted by the rivers of water, for he
is made king of all the islands, and all the heathen bow before
him and kiss the dust; while he himself gives a blessing to all
those who put their trust in him. The two Psalms are worthy of
the very deepest attention; they are, in fact, the preface to
the entire Book of Psalms, and were by some of the ancients,
joined into one. They are, however, two Psalms; for Paul speaks
of this as the second Psalm. (Acts 13:33.) The first shows us
the character and lot of the righteous; and the next teaches us
that the Psalms are Messianic, and speak of Christ the
Messiah—the Prince who shall reign from the river even unto
the ends of the earth. That they have both a far-reaching
prophetic outlook we are well assured, but we do not feel
competent to open up that matter, and must leave it to abler
hands.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. "Why do nations make a noise,"
tumultuate, or rage? The Hebrew verb is not expressive of an
internal feeling, but of the outward agitation which denotes it.
There may be an allusion to the rolling and roaring of the sea,
often used as an emblem of popular commotion, both in the
Scriptures and the classics. The past tense of this verb (Why
have they raged?) refers to the commotion as already begun,
while the future in the next clause expresses its continuance. J.
A. Alexander, D.D., 1850.
Verse 1. "Rage." The word with which
Paul renders this in the Greek denotes rage, pride, and
restiveness, as of horses that neigh, and rush into the battle.
'Efruaxag, from Fruassw, to snort or neigh, properly applied to
a high-mettled horse. See Acts 4:25.
Verse 1. "A vain thing." A medal was
struck by Diocletian, which still remains, bearing the
inscription, "The name of Christians being
extinguished." And in Spain, two monumental pillars were
raised, on which were written:—I. "Diocletian Jovian
Maximian Herculeus Caesares Augusti, for having extended the
Roman Empire in the east and the west, and for having
extinguished the name of Christians, who brought the Republic to
ruin." II. "Diocletian Jovian Maximian Herculeus
Caesares Augusti, for having adopted Galerius in the east, for
having everywhere abolished the superstition of Christ, for
having extended the worship of the gods." As a modern
writer has elegantly observed: "We have here a monument
raised by Paganism, over the grave of its vanquished foe. But in
this 'the people imagined a vain thing;' so far from being
deceased, Christianity was on the eve of its final and permanent
triumph, and the stone guarded a sepulchre empty as the urn
which Electra washed with her tears. Neither in Spain, nor
elsewhere, can be pointed out the burial place of Christianity;
it is not, for the living have no tomb.'"
Verses 1-4. Herod, the fox, plotted against Christ, to
hinder the course of his ministry and mediatorship, but he could
not perform his enterprise; 'tis so all along, therefore it is
said, "Why do the heathen imagine a vain thing?"
A vain thing, because a thing successless, their hands could not
perform it. It was vain, not only because there was no true
ground of reason why they should imagine or do such a thing, but
vain also because they laboured in vain, they could not do it,
and therefore it follows, "He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision."
The Lord sees what fools they are, and men (yea, themselves)
shall see it. The prophet gives us a elegant description to this
purpose. Isaiah 59:5, 6. "They weave the spider's web
. . . Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall
they cover themselves with their works." As if he had
said, they have been devising and setting things in a goodly
frame to catch flies; they have been spinning a fine thread out
of their brains, as the spider doth out of her bowels; such is
their web, but when they have their web they cannot cut it out,
or make it up into a garment. They shall go naked and cold,
notwithstanding all their spinning and weaving, all their
plotting and devising. The next broom that comes will sweep away
all their webs and the spiders too, except they creep apace. God
loves and delights to cross worldly proverbs and worldly craft. Joseph
Caryl, 1647.
Verse 2. The many had done their part, and now the mighty
show themselves. John Trapp.
Verse 2. "They banded themselves against the
Lord, and against his Anointed." But why did they band
themselves against the Lord, or against his Anointed? What was
their desire of him? To have his goods? No, he had none for
himself; but they were richer than he. To have his liberty? Nay,
that would not suffice them, for they had bound him before. To
bring the people unto dislike of him? Nay, that would not serve
them, for they had done so already, until even his disciples
were fled from him. What would they have, then? his blood? Yea,
"they took counsel," saith Matthew, "to put him
to death." They had the devil's mind, which is not
satisfied but with death. And how do they contrive it? He saith,
"they took counsel about it." Henry Smith, 1578
Verse 2. "Against Jehovah and against his
Anointed." What an honour it was to David to be thus
publicly associated with Jehovah! And because he was HIS
anointed, to be an object of hatred and scorn to the ungodly
world! If this very circumstance fearfully augmented the guilt,
and sealed the doom of these infatuated heathen, surely it was
that which above everything else would preserve the mind of
David calm and serene, yea, peaceful and joyful notwithstanding
the proud and boastful vauntiness of his enemies. . . .When
writing this Psalm David was like a man in a storm, who hears
only the roaring of the tempest, or sees nothing but the raging
billows threatening destruction on every side of him. And yet
his faith enabled him to say, "The people imagine a vain
thing." They cannot succeed. They cannot defeat the
counsels of heaven. They cannot injure the Lord's Anointed. David
Pitcairn, 1851.
Verse 3. Resolved they were to run riot, as lawless,
and aweless, and therefore they slander the sweet laws of
Christ's kingdom as bonds and thick cords, which are signs of
slavery. Jeremiah 27: 2, 6, 7. But what saith our Saviour?
"My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." It is no
more burden to a regenerate man than wings to a bird. The law of
Christ is no more as bands and cords, but as girdles and garters
which gird up his loins and expedite his course. John Trapp.
Verse 4. "He that sitteth in the
heavens." Hereby it is clearly intimated, (1) that the
Lord is far above all their malice and power, (2) that he seeth
all their plots, looking down on all; (3) that he is of
omnipotent power, and so can do with his enemies as he lists.
"Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he
pleased." Psalm 115:3. Arthur Jackson, 1643.
Verse 4. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall
laugh," etc. Sinners' follies are the just sport of
God's infinite wisdom and power; and those attempts of the
kingdom of Satan, which in our eyes are formidable, in his are
despicable. Matthew Henry.
Verse 4. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall
laugh." They scoff at us, God laughs at them. Laugh?
This seems a hard word at the first view: are the injuries of
his saints, the cruelties of their enemies, the derision, the
persecution of all that are round about us, no more but matter
of laughter? Severe Cato thought that laughter did not become
the gravity of Roman consuls; that it is a diminution of states,
as another told princes, and it is attributed to the Majesty of
heaven? According to our capacities, the prophet describes God,
as ourselves would be in a merry disposition, deriding vain
attempts. He laughs, but it is in scorn; he scorns, but it is
with vengeance. Pharaoh imagined that by drowning the Israelite
males, he had found a way to root their name from the earth; but
when at the same time, his own daughter, in his own court gave
princely education to Moses, their deliverer, did not God Laugh?
Short
is the joy of the wicked. Is Dagon put up to his place again?
God's smile shall take off his head and his hands, and leave him
neither wit to guide nor power to subsist. . . . . We may not
judge of God's works until the fifth act: the case, deplorable
and desperate in outward appearance, may with one smile from
heaven find a blessed issue. He permitted his temple to be
sacked and rifled, the holy vessels to be profaned and caroused
in; but did not God's smile make Belshazzar to tremble at the
handwriting on the wall? Oh, what are his frowns, if his smiles
be so terrible! Thomas Adams.
Verse 4. The expression, "He that sitteth in
the heavens," at once fixes our thoughts on a being
infinitely exalted above man, who is of the earth, earthy. And
when it is said, "HE shall laugh," this word is
designed to convey to our minds the idea, that the greatest
confederacies amongst kings and peoples, and their most
extensive and vigorous preparations, to defeat HIS purposes or
to injure HIS servants, are in HIS sight altogether
insignificant and worthless. HE looks upon their poor and puny
efforts, not only without uneasiness or fear, but HE laughs at
their folly; HE treats their impotency with derision. He knows
how HE can crush them like a moth when HE pleases, or consume
them in a moment with the breath of HIS mouth. How profitable it
is for us to be reminded of truths such as these! Ah! it is
indeed "a vain thing" for the potsherds of the
earth to strive with the glorious Majesty of Heaven. David
Pitcairn.
Verse 4. "The Lord," in Hebrew,
Adonai, mystically signifieth my stays, or my sustainers—my
pillars. Our English word "Lord" hath much the same
force, being contracted of the old Saxon word "Llaford,"
or "Hlafford," which cometh from "Laef," to
sustain, refresh, cherish. Henry Ainsworth.
Verse 4. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall
laugh at them: the Lord shall have them in derision."
This tautology or repetition of the same thing, which is
frequent in the Scriptures, is a sign of the thing being
established: according to the authority of the patriarch Joseph
(Genesis 41:32), where, having interpreted the dreams of
Pharaoh, he said, "and for that the dream was doubled unto
Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God,
and God will shortly bring it to pass." And therefore, here
also, "shall laugh at them," and "shall
have them in derision," is a repetition to show that
there is not a doubt to be entertained that all these things
will most surely come to pass. And the gracious Spirit does all
this for our comfort and consolation, that we may not faint
under temptation, but lift up our heads with the most certain
hope; because, "he that shall come will come, and will not
tarry." Hebrews 10:37. Martin Luther.
Verse 5. "Vex them;" either by horror
of conscience, or corporal plagues; one way or the other he will
have his pennyworths of them, as he always has had the
persecutors of his people. John Trapp.
Verses 5, 9. It is easy for God to destroy his foes. .
. . . Behold Pharaoh, his wise men, his hosts, and his horses
plouting and plunging, and sinking like lead in the Red sea.
Here is the end of one of the greatest plots ever formed against
God's chosen. Of thirty Roman emperors, governors of provinces,
and others high in office, who distinguished themselves by their
zeal and bitterness in persecuting the early Christians, one
became speedily deranged after some atrocious cruelty, one was
slain by his own son, one became blind, the eyes of one started
out of his head, one was drowned, one was strangled, one died in
a miserable captivity, one fell dead in a manner that will not
bear recital, one died of so loathsome a disease that several of
his physicians were put to death because they could not abide
the stench that filled his room, two committed suicide, a third
attempted it, but had to call for help to finish the work, five
were assassinated by their own people or servants, five others
died the most miserable and excruciating deaths, several of them
having an untold complication of diseases, and eight were killed
in battle, or after being taken prisoners. Among these was
Julian the apostate. In the days of his prosperity he is said to
have pointed his dagger to heaven defying the Son of God, whom
he commonly called the Galilean. But when he was wounded in
battle, he saw that all was over with him, and he gathered up
his clotted blood, and threw it into the air, exclaiming,
"Thou hast conquered, O thou Galilean." Voltaire has
told us of the agonies of Charles IX. of France, which drove the
blood through the pores of the skin of that miserable monarch,
after his cruelties and treachery to the Hugenots. William S.
Plumer, D.D., L.L.D., 1867.
Verse 6. "Yet have I set my King."
Notice—1. The royal office and character of our glorious
Redeemer: he is a King, "This name he hath on his vesture
and on his thigh." Revelation 19:16. 2. The authority by
which he reigns; he is "my King," says God the
Father, and I have set him up from everlasting: "The Father
judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment unto the
Son." The world disowns his authority, but I own it; I have
set him, I have "given him to be head over all things to
the church." 3. His particular kingdom over which he rules;
it is over "my holy hill of Zion" — an
eminent type of the gospel church. The temple was built upon
Mount Zion and therefore called a holy hill. Christ's
throne is in his church, it is his head-quarters, and the place
of his peculiar residence. Notice the firmness of the divine
purpose with respect unto this matter. "Yet have I
set" him "King;" i.e., whatever be the
plots of hell and earth to the contrary, he reigns by his
Father's ordination. Stephen Charnock, 1628-1680.
Verse 6. "Yet have I set my KING,"
etc.—Jesus Christ is a threefold King. First, his
enemies' King; secondly, his saints' King; thirdly,
his Father's King.
First,
Christ is his enemies' King, that is, he is King over his
enemies. Christ is a King above all kings. What are all the
mighty men, the great, the honourable men of the earth to Jesus
Christ? They are but like a little bubble in the water; for if
all the nations, in comparison to God, be but as the drop of the
bucket, or the dust of the balance, as the prophet speaks in
Isaiah 40:15, how little then must be the kings of the earth!
Nay, beloved, Christ Jesus is not only higher than kings, but he
is higher than the angels; yea, he is the head of angels, and,
therefore, all the angels in heaven are commanded to worship
him. Colossians 2:12; Hebrews 1:6. . . . . He is King over all
kingdoms, over all nations, over all governments, over all
powers, over all people. Daniel 7:14. . . . . The very heathen
are given to Christ, and the uttermost parts of the earth for
his possession. Psalm 2:8.
Secondly.
Jesus Christ is his saints' King. He is King of the bad, and of
the good; but as for the wicked, he rules over them by his power
and might; but the saints, he rules in them by his Spirit and
graces. Oh! this is Christ's spiritual kingdom, and here he
rules in the hearts of his people, here he rules over their
consciences, over their wills, over their affections, over their
judgments and understandings, and nobody hath anything to do
here but Christ. Christ is not only the King of nations, but the
King of saints; the one he rules over, the other he rules in.
Thirdly.
Jesus Christ is his Father's King too, and so his Father calls
him: "I have set my King upon my holy hill of
Zion." Well may he be our King, when he is God's King.
But you may say, how is Christ the Father's King? Because he
rules for his Father. There is a twofold kingdom of God
committed to Jesus Christ; first, a spiritual kingdom, by
which he rules in the hearts of his people, and so is King of
saints; and, secondly, a providential kingdom, by which
he rules the affairs of this world, and so he is King of
nations. Condensed from William Dyer's Christ's Famous
Titles, 1665.
Verse 6. "Zion." The name
"Zion" signifies a "distant view" (speculam).
And the church is called "a distant view" (specula),
not only because it views God and heavenly things by faith (that
is, afar off), being wise unto the things that are above, not
unto those that are of the earth; but also, because there are
within her true viewers, or seers, and watchmen in the spirit,
whose office is to take charge of the people under them, and to
watch against the snares of enemies and sins; and such are
called in the Greek bishops (episkopoi), that is, spyers
or seers; and you may for the same reason give them, from the
Hebrew, the appellation of Zionists or Zioners. Martin
Luther.
Verse 7. The dispute concerning the eternal filiation
of our Lord betrays more of presumptuous curiosity than of
reverent faith. It is an attempt to explain where it is far
better to adore. We could give rival expositions of this verse,
but we forbear. The controversy is one of the most unprofitable
which ever engaged the pens of theologians. C. H. S.
Verse 8. "Ask of me." The priesthood
doth not appear to be settled upon Christ by any other
expression than this, "Ask of me." The Psalm speaks of
his investiture in his kingly office; the apostle refers this to
his priesthood, his commission for both took date at the same
time; both bestowed, both confirmed by the same authority. The
office of asking is grounded upon the same authority as the
honour of king. Ruling belonged to his royal office, asking to
his priestly. After his resurrection, the Father gives him a
power and command of asking. Stephen Charnock.
Verse 8. As the limner looks on the person whose
picture he would take, and draws his lines to answer him with
the nearest similitude that he can, so God looks on Christ as
the archtype to which he will conform the saint, in suffering,
in grace, in glory; yet so that Christ hath the pre-eminence in
all. Every saint must suffer, because Christ suffered: Christ
must not have a delicate body under a crucified head; yet never
any suffered, or could, what he endured. Christ is holy, and
therefore so shall every saint be, but in an inferior degree; an
image cut in clay cannot be so exact as that engraved on gold.
Now, our conformity to Christ appears, that as the promises made
to him were performed upon his prayers to his Father, his
promises made to his saints are given to them in the same way of
prayer: "Ask of me," saith God to his Son, "and
I shall give thee." And the apostle tells us, "Ye
have not, because ye ask not." God hath promised support to
Christ in all his conflicts. Isaiah 42:1. "Behold my
servant, whom I uphold;" yet he prayed "with strong
cries and tears," when his feet stood within the shadow of
death. A seed is promised to him, and victory over his enemies,
yet for both these he prays. Christ toward us acts as a king,
but toward his Father as a priest. All he speaks to God is by
prayer and intercession. So the saints, the promise makes them
kings over their lusts, conquerors over their enemies; but it
makes them priests toward God, by prayer humbly to sue out these
great things given in the promise. William Gurnall,
1617-1679.
Verse 8. It will be observed in our Bible that two
words of verse eight are in italics, intimating that they are
not translations of the Hebrew, but additions made for the
purpose of elucidating the meaning. Now if the "thee"
and the "for" are left out, the verse will read
thus, "Ask of me, and I shall give the heathen, thine
inheritance, and thy possession, the uttermost parts of the
earth." And this reading is decidedly preferable to the
other. It implies that by some previous arrangement on the part
of God, he had already assigned an inheritance of the heathen,
and the possession of the earth, to the person of whom he says,
"Thou art my Son." And when God says, "I will
give," etc., he reveals to his Anointed, not so much in
what the inheritance consisted, and what was the extent of
possession destined for him, as the promise of his readiness to
bestow it. The heathen were already "the inheritance,"
and the ends of the earth "the possession," which God
had purposed to give to his Anointed. Now he says to him,
"Ask of me," and he promises to fulfil his
purpose. This is the idea involved in the words of the text, and
the importance of it will become more apparent, when we consider
its application to the spiritual David, to the true Son
of God, "whom he hath appointed heir of all things."
Verse 9. The "rod" has a variety of
meanings in Scripture. It might be of different materials, as it
was employed for different purposes. At an early period, a
wooden rod came into use as one of the insignia of royalty,
under the name of sceptre. By degrees the sceptre grew in
importance, and was regarded as characteristic of an empire, or
of the reign of some particular king. A golden sceptre denoted
wealth and pomp. The right, or straight sceptre, of which we
read in Psalm 45:6, is expressive of the justice and
uprightness, the truth and equity, which shall distinguish
Messiah's reign, after his kingdom on earth has been
established. But when it is said in Revelation 19:15, that he,
"whose name is called the Word of God," will smite the
nations, and "rule them with a rod of iron," if the
rod signifies "his sceptre," then the "iron"
of which it is made must be designed to express the severity of
the judgments which the omnipotent "King of kings"
will inflict on all who resist his authority. But to me it
appears doubtful whether the "rod of iron" symbolises
the royal sceptre of the Son of God at his second advent. It is
mentioned in connection with "a sharp sword," which
leads me to prefer the opinion that it also ought to be regarded
as a weapon of war; at all events, the "rod of iron"
mentioned in the Psalm we are endeavouring to explain. is
evidently not the emblem of sovereign power, although
represented as in the hands of a king, but an instrument of
correction and punishment. In this sense the word
"rod" is often used. . . . .When the correcting rod,
which usually was a wand or cane, is represented as in this
second Psalm, to be of "iron," it only indicates how
weighty, how severe, how effectual the threatened chastisement
will be—it will not merely bruise, but it will break. "Thou
shalt break them with a rod of iron."
Now
it is just such a complete breaking as would not readily be
effected excepting by an iron rod, that is more fully
expressed in the following clause of the verse, "Thou shalt
dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." The
completeness of the destruction, however, depends on two things.
Even an iron rod, if gently used, or used against a hard and
firm substance, might cause little injury; but, in the case
before us, it is supposed to be applied with great force,
"Thou shalt dash them;" and it is applied to
what will prove as brittle and frangible as "a potter's
vessel" — "Thou shalt dash them in
pieces." . . . . Here, as in other respects, we must
feel that the predictions and promises of this Psalm were but
very partially fulfilled in the history of the literal David.
Their real accomplishment, their awful completion, abides the
day when the spiritual David shall come in glory and in majesty
as Zion's King, with a rod of iron to dash in pieces the great
antichristian confederacy of kings and peoples, and to take
possession of his long-promised and dearly-purchased
inheritance. And the signs of the times seem to indicate that
the coming of the Lord draws nigh. David Pitcairn.
Verse 10. "Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings," etc. As Jesus is King of kings and Judge of
judges, so the gospel is the teacher of the greatest and wisest.
If any are so great as to spurn its admonitions, God will make
little of them; and if they are so wise as to despise its
teachings, their fancied wisdom shall make fools of them. The
gospel takes a high tone before the rulers of the earth, and
they who preach it should, like Knox and Melvill, magnify their
office by bold rebukes and manly utterances even in the royal
presence. A clerical sycophant is only fit to be a scullion in
the devil's kitchen. C. H. S.
Verse 11. "Serve the Lord with fear."
This fear of God qualifies our joy. If you abstract fear from
joy, joy will become light and wanton; and if you abstract joy
from fear, fear then will become slavish. William Bates, D.D.,
1625-1699.
Verse 11. "Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling." There are two kinds of serving
and rejoicing in God. First, a serving in security, and a
rejoicing in the Lord without fear; these are peculiar to
hypocrites, who are secure, who please themselves, and who
appear to themselves to be not unuseful servants, and to have
great merit on their side, concerning whom it is said (Psalm
10:5), "Thy judgments are far above out of his sight;"
and also afterwards (Psalm 36:1), "There is no fear of God
before his eyes." These do righteousness without judgment
at all times; and permit not Christ to be the Judge to be feared
by all, in whose sight no man living is justified. Secondly, a
serving with fear and a rejoicing with trembling; these are
peculiar to the righteous who do righteousnesses at all times,
and always rightly attemper both; never being without judgments,
on the one hand, by which they are terrified and brought to
despair of themselves and of all their own works; nor without
that righteousness on the other, on which they rest, and in
which they rejoice in the mercy of God. It is the work of the
whole lives of these characters to accuse themselves in all
things, and in all things to justify and praise God. And thus
they fulfil that word of Proverbs 28:14, "Blessed is the
man that feareth alway;" and also that of Philippians 4:4,
"Rejoice in the Lord alway." Thus, between the upper
and nether millstone (Deuteronomy 24:6), they are broken in
pieces and humbled, and the husks being thus bruised off, they
come forth the all-pure wheat of Christ. Martin Luther.
Verse 11. The fear of God promotes spiritual joy; it
is the morning star which ushers in the sunlight of comfort.
"Walking in the fear of God, and in the comfort of the Holy
Ghost." God mingles joy with fear, that fear may not be
slavish. Thomas Watson, 1660.
Verse 12. "Kiss," a sign of love
among equals: Genesis 33:4; 1 Samuel 20:41; Romans 16:16; 1
Corinthians 16:20. Of subjection in inferiors: 1 Samuel 10:1. Of
religious adoration in worshippers: 1 Kings 19:18; Job 31:27. John
Richardson, Bishop of Ardagh, 1655.
Verse 12. "Kiss the Son, lest he be
angry." From the Person, the Son, we shall pass
to the act (Osculamini, kiss the Son); in which we shall
see, that since this is an act which licentious men have
depraved (carnal men do it, and treacherous men do it—Judas
betrayed his Master by a kiss), and yet God commands this, and
expresses love in this; everything that hath, or may be abused,
must not therefore be abandoned; the turning of a thing out of
the way, is not a taking of that thing away, but good things
deflected to ill uses by some, may be by others reduced to their
first goodness. Then let us consider and magnify the goodness of
God, that hath brought us into this distance, that we may kiss
the Son, that the expressing of this love lies in our hands,
and that, whereas the love of the church, in the Old Testament,
even in the Canticle, went no farther but to the Osculator me
(O that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
Canticles 1:1), now, in the Christian church, and in the
visitation of a Christian soul, he hath invited us, enables us
to kiss him, for he is presentially amongst us. This leads us to
give an earnest persuasion and exhortation to kiss the Son,
with all those affections, which we shall there find to be
expressed in the Scriptures, in that testimony of true love, a
holy kiss. But then, lest that persuasion by love should not
be effectual and powerful enough to us, we shall descend from
that duty, to the danger, from love, to fear, "lest he
be angry;" and therein see first, that God, who is
love, can be angry; and then, that this God who is angry here,
is the Son of God, he that hath done so much for us, and
therefore in justice may be angry; he that is our Judge, and
therefore in reason we are to fear his anger: and then, in a
third branch, we shall see how easily this anger departs—a
kiss removes it.
Verse 12. "Kiss the Son." That is,
embrace him, depend upon him all these ways: as thy kinsman, as
thy sovereign; at thy going, at thy coming; at thy
reconciliation, in the truth of religion in thyself, in a
peaceable unity with the church, in a reverent estimation of
those men, and those means, whom he sends. Kiss him, and be not
ashamed of kissing him; it is that which the spouse desired, "I
would kiss thee, and not be despised." Canticles 7:1.
If thou be despised for loving Christ in his Gospel, remember
that when David was thought base, for dancing before the ark,
his way was to be more base. If thou be thought frivolous for
thrusting in at service, in the forenoon, be more frivolous, and
come again in the afternoon: "Tanto major requies,
quanto ab amore Jesu nulla requies;" (Gregory)
"The more thou troublest thyself, or art troubled by others
for Christ, the more peace thou hast in Christ." . . . . "Lest
he be angry." Anger, as it is a passion that troubles,
and disorders, and discomposes a man, so it is not in God; but
anger, as it is a sensible discerning of foes from friends, and
of things that conduce, or disconduce to his glory, so it is in
God. In a word, Hilary hath expressed it well: "Poena
patientis, ira decernentis;" "Man's suffering is
God's anger." When God inflicts such punishments as a king
justly incensed would do, then God is thus angry. Now here, our
case is heavier; it is not this great, and almighty, and
majestical God, that may be angry—that is like enough; but
even the Son, whom we must kiss, may be angry;
it is not a person whom we consider merely as God, but as man;
may not as man neither, but a a worm, and no man, and he
may be angry, and angry to our ruin. . . . "Kiss the
Son," and he will not be angry; if he be, kiss
the rod, and he will be angry no longer—love him lest he be:
fear him when he is angry: the preservative is easy, and so is
the restorative too: the balsamum of this kiss is all, to suck
spiritual milk out of the left breast, as well as out of the
right, to find mercy in his judgments, reparation in his ruins,
feasts in his lents, joy in his anger. From Sermons of John
Donne, D.D., Dean of St. Paul's, 1621-1631.
Verse 12. "Kiss the Son." To make
peace with the Father, kiss the Son. "Let him kiss
me," was the church's prayer. Canticles 1:2. Let us kiss
him — that be our endeavour. Indeed, the Son must first kiss
us by his mercy, before we can kiss him by our piety. Lord,
grant in these mutual kisses and interchangeable embraces now,
that we may come to the plenary wedding supper hereafter; when
the choir of heaven, even the voices of angels, shall sing
epithalamiums, nupital songs, at the bridal of the spouse of the
Lamb. Thomas Adams.
Verse 12. "If his wrath be kindled but a
little;" the Hebrew is, if his nose or nostril be
kindled but a little; the nostril, being an organ of the body in
which wrath shows itself, is put for wrath itself. Paleness and
snuffling of the nose are symptoms of anger. In our proverbials,
to take a thing in snuff, is to take it in anger. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 12. "His wrath." Unspeakable
must the wrath of God be when it is kindled fully, since
perdition may come upon the kindling of it but a little. John
Newton.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Whole Psalm. Shows us the nature of sin, and the
terrible results of it if it could reign.
Verse 1. Nothing is more irrational than
irreligion. A weighty theme.
The
reasons why sinners rebel against God, stated, refuted,
lamented, and repented of.
The
crowning display of human sin in man's hatred of the Mediator.
Verses 1 and 2. Opposition to the gospel,
unreasonable and ineffectual. Two sermons by John Newton.
Verses 1 and 2. These verses show that all
trust in man in the service of God is vain. Inasmuch as men
oppose Christ, it is not good to hang our trust upon the
multitude for their number, the earnest for their
zeal, the mighty for their countenance, or the wise
for their counsel, since all these are far oftener against
Christ than for him.
Verse 2. "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 495,
"The Greatest Trial on Record."
Verse 3. The true reason of the opposition of sinners
to Christ's truth, viz.: their hatred of the restraints of
godliness.
Verse 4. God's derision of the rebellious, both now
and hereafter.
Verse 5. The voice of wrath. One of a series of
sermons upon the voices of the divine attributes.
Verse 6. Christ's Sovereignty.
1.
The opposition to it: "yet."
2.
The certainty of its existence: "Yet have I set."
3.
The power which maintains it: "have I set."
4.
The place of its manifestation: "my holy hill of
Zion."
5.
The blessings flowing from it.
Verse 7. The divine decree concerning Christ, in
connection with the decrees of election and providence. The
Sonship of Jesus.
This
verse teaches us faithfully to declare, and humbly to claim, the
gifts and calling that God hath bestowed upon us. Thomas
Wilcocks.
Verse 8. Christ's inheritance. William Jay.
Prayer
indispensable.—Jesus must ask.
Verse 9. The ruin of the wicked. Certain,
irresistible, terrible, complete, irretrievable, "like a
potter's vessel."
The
destruction of systems of error and oppression to be expected.
The gospel an iron rod quite able to break mere pots of man's
making.
Verse 10. True wisdom, fit for kings and judges, lies
in obeying Christ.
The
gospel, a school for those who would learn how to rule and judge
well. They may consider its principles, its exemplar, its
spirit, etc.
Verse 11. Mingled experience. See the case of
the women returning from the sepulchre. Matthew 28:8. This may
be rendered a very comforting subject, if the Holy Spirit direct
the mind of the preacher.
True
religion, a compound of many virtues and emotions.
Verse 12. An earnest invitation.
1.
The command.
2.
The argument.
3.
The benediction upon the obedient. "Spurgeon's
Sermons," No. 260.
Last clause.—Nature, object, and blessedness of
saving faith.