TITLE. This Psalm is apparently intended to
accompany the third, and make a pair with it. If the last may be
entitled THE MORNING PSALM, this from its matter is
equally deserving of the title of THE EVENING HYMN. May
the choice words of the 8th verse be our sweet song of rest as
we retire to our repose!
"Thus with my thoughts composed to peace,
I'll give mine eyes to sleep;
Thy hand in safety keeps my days,
And will my slumbers keep."
The
Inspired title runs thus: "To the chief Musician on
Neginoth, a Psalm of David." The chief musician was the
master or director of the sacred music of the sanctuary.
Concerning this person carefully read 1 Chronicles 6:31, 32;
15:16-22; 25: 1, 7. In these passages will be found much that is
interesting to the lover of sacred song, and very much that will
throw a light upon the mode of praising God in the temple. Some
of the titles of the Psalms are, we doubt not, derived from the
names of certain renowned singers, who composed the music to
which they were set.
On
Neginoth, that is, on stringed instruments, or hand instruments,
which were played on with the hand alone, as harps and cymbals.
The joy of the Jewish church was so great that they needed music
to set forth the delightful feelings of their souls. Our holy
mirth is none the less overflowing because we prefer to express
it in a more spiritual manner, as becometh a more spiritual
dispensation. In allusion to these instruments to be played on
with the hand, Nazianzen says, "Lord, I am an instrument
for thee to touch." Let us lay ourselves open to the
Spirit's touch, so shall we make melody. May we be full of faith
and love, and we shall be living instruments of music.
Hawker
says: "The Septuagint read the word which we have rendered
in our translation chief musician Lamenetz, instead of
Lamenetzoth, the meaning of which is unto the end. From
whence the Greek and Latin fathers imagined, that all psalms
which bear this inscription refer to the Messiah, the great
end. If so, this Psalm is addressed to Christ; and well it
may, for it is all of Christ, and spoken by Christ, and hath
respect only to his people as being one with Christ. The Lord
the Spirit give the reader to see this, and he will find it most
blessed.
DIVISION.
In the first verse David pleads with God for help. In the
second he expostulates with his enemies, and continues to
address them to the end of verse 5. Then from verse 6 to the
close he delightfully contrasts his own satisfaction and safety
with the disquietude of the ungodly in their best estate. The
Psalm was most probably written upon the same occasion as the
preceeding, and is another choice flower from the garden of
affliction. Happy is it for us that David was tried, or probably
we should never have heard these sweet sonnets of faith.
EXPOSITION Verse 1. This is another instance
of David's common habit of pleading past mercies as a ground for
present favour. Here he reviews his Ebenezers and takes comfort
from them. It is not to be imagined that he who has helped us in
six troubles will leave us in the seventh. God does nothing by
halves, and he will never cease to help us until we cease to
need. The manna shall fall every morning until we cross the
Jordan.
Observe,
that David speaks first to God and then to men. Surely we should
all speak the more boldly to men if we had more constant
converse with God. He who dares to face his Maker will not
tremble before the sons of men.
The
name by which the Lord is here addressed, "God of my
righteousness," deserves notice, since it is not used
in any other part of Scripture. It means, Thou art the author,
the witness, the maintainer, the judge, and the rewarder of my
righteousness; to thee I appeal from the calumnies and harsh
judgments of men. Herein is wisdom, let us imitate it and always
take our suit, not to the petty courts of human opinion, but
into the superior court, the King's Bench of heaven.
"Thou
hast enlarged me when I was in distress." A figure
taken from an army enclosed in a defile, and hardly pressed by
the surrounding enemy. God hath dashed down the rocks and given
me room; he hath broken the barriers and set me in a large
place. Or, we may understand it thus:— "God hath enlarged
my heart with joy and comfort, when I was like a man imprisoned
by grief and sorrow." God is a never-failing comforter.]
"Have
mercy upon me." Though thou mayest justly permit my
enemies to destroy me, on account of my many and great sins, yet
I flee to thy mercy, and I beseech thee hear my prayer,
and bring thy servant out of his troubles. The best of men need
mercy as truly as the worst of men. All the deliverances of
saints, as well as the pardons of sinners, are the free gifts of
heavenly grace.
Verse 2. In this second division of the Psalm, we are led
from the closet of prayer into the field of conflict. Remark the
undaunted courage of the man of God. He allows that his enemies
are great men (for such is the import of the Hebrew words
translated—sons of men), but still he believes them to
be foolish men, and therefore chides them, as though they were
but children. He tells them that they love vanity, and seek
after leasing, that is, lying, empty fancies, vain conceits,
wicked fabrications. He asks them how long they mean to
make his honour a jest, and his fame a mockery? A little of such
mirth is too much, why need they continue to indulge in it? Had
they not been long enough upon the watch for his halting? Had
not repeated disappointments convinced them that the Lord's
anointed was not to be overcome by all their calumnies? Did they
mean to jest their souls into hell, and go on with their
laughter until swift vengeance should turn their merriment into
howling? In the contemplation of their perverse continuance in
their vain and lying pursuits, the Psalmist solemnly pauses and
inserts a Selah. Surely we too may stop awhile, and
meditate upon the deep-seated folly of the wicked, their
continuance in evil, and their sure destruction; and we may
learn to admire that grace which has made us to differ, and
taught us to love truth, and seek after
righteousness.
Verse 3. "But know." Fools will not learn,
and therefore they must again and again be told the same thing,
especially when it is such a bitter truth which is to be taught
them, viz.:—the fact that the godly are the chosen of God, and
are, by distinguishing grace, set apart and separated from among
men. Election is a doctrine which unrenewed men cannot endure,
but nevertheless, it is a glorious and well-attested truth, and
one which should comfort the tempted believer. Election is the
guarantee of complete salvation, and an argument for success at
the throne of grace. He who chose us for himself will surely
hear our prayer. The Lord's elect shall not be condemned, nor
shall their cry be unheard. David was king by divine decree, and
we are the Lord's people in the same manner: let us tell our
enemies to their faces, that they fight against God and destiny,
when they strive to overthrow our souls. O beloved, when you are
on your knees, the fact of your being set apart as God's
own peculiar treasure, should give you courage and inspire you
with fervency and faith. "Shall not God avenge his own
elect, which cry day and night unto him?" Since he chose to
love us he cannot but choose to hear us.
Verse 4. "Tremble and sin not." How many
reverse this counsel and sin but tremble not. O that men would
take the advice of this verse and commune with their own
hearts. Surely a want of thought must be one reason why men
are so mad as to despite Christ and hate their own mercies. O
that for once their passions would be quiet and let them be
still, that so in solemn silence they might review the past,
and meditate upon their inevitable doom. Surely a thinking man
might have enough sense to discover the vanity of sin and the
worthlessness of the world. Stay, rash sinner, stay, ere thou
take the last leap. Go to thy bed and think upon thy
ways. Ask counsel of thy pillow, and let the quietude of night
instruct thee! Throw not away thy soul for nought! Let reason
speak! Let the clamorous world be still awhile, and let thy poor
soul plead with thee to bethink thyself before thou seal its
fate, and ruin it for ever! Selah. O sinner! pause while
I question thee awhile in the words of a sacred poet,—
"Sinner, is thy heart at rest?
Is thy bosom void of fear?
Art thou not by guilt oppress'd?
Speaks not conscience in thine ear?
Can this world afford thee bliss?
Can it chase away thy gloom?
Flattering, false, and vain it is;
Tremble at the worldling's doom!
Think, O sinner, on thy end,
See the judgment-day appear,
Thither must thy spirit wend,
There thy righteous sentence hear.
Wretched, ruin'd, helpless soul,
To a Saviour's blood apply;
He alone can make thee whole,
Fly to Jesus, sinner, fly!"
Verse 5. Provided that the rebels had obeyed the voice of the
last verse, they would now be crying,—"What shall we do
to be saved?" And in the present verse, they are pointed to
the sacrifice, and exhorted to trust in the Lord.
When the Jew offered sacrifice righteously, that is, in a
spiritual manner, he thereby set forth the Redeemer, the great
sin-atoning Lamb; there is, therefore, the full gospel in this
exhortation of the Psalmist. O sinners, flee ye to the sacrifice
of Calvary, and there put your whole confidence and trust,
for he who died for men is the LORD JEHOVAH.
Verse 6. We have now entered upon the third division of the
Psalm, in which the faith of the afflicted one finds utterance
in sweet expressions of contentment and peace.
There
were many, even among David's own followers, who wanted to see
rather than to believe. Alas! this is the tendency of us all!
Even the regenerate sometimes groan after the sense and sight of
prosperity, and are sad when darkness covers all good from view.
As for worldlings, this is their unceasing cry. "Who
will shew us any good?" Never satisfied, their gaping
mouths are turned in every direction, their empty hearts are
ready to drink in any fine delusion which impostors may invent;
and when these fail, they soon yield to despair, and declare
that there is no good thing in either heaven or earth. The true
believer is a man of a very different mould. His face is not
downward like the beasts', but upward like the angels'. He
drinks not from the muddy pools of Mammon, but from the fountain
of life above. The light of God's countenance is enough for him.
This is his riches, his honour, his health, his ambition, his
ease. Give him this, and he will ask no more. This is joy
unspeakable, and full of glory. Oh, for more of the indwelling
of the Holy Spirit, that our fellowship with the Father and with
his Son Jesus Christ may be constant and abiding!
Verse 7. "It is better," said one, "to feel
God's favour one hour in our repenting souls, that to sit whole
ages under the warmest sunshine that this world affordeth."
Christ in the heart is better than corn in the barn, or wine in
the vat. Corn and wine are but fruits of the world, but the
light of God's countenance is the ripe fruit of heaven.
"Thou art with me," is a far more blessed cry than
"Harvest home." Let my granary be empty, I am yet full
of blessings if Jesus Christ smiles upon me; but if I have all
the world, I am poor without him.
We
should not fail to remark that this verse is the saying
of the righteous man, in opposition to the saying of the many.
How quickly doth the tongue betray the character! "Speak,
that I may see thee!" said Socrates to a fair boy. The
metal of a bell is best known by its sound. Birds reveal their
nature by their song. Owls cannot sing the carol of the lark,
nor can the nightingale hoot like the owl. Let us, then, weigh
and watch our words, lest our speech should prove us to be
foreigners, and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.
Verse 8. Sweet Evening Hymn! I shall not sit up to watch
through fear, but I will lie down; and then I will not
lie awake listening to every rustling sound, but I will lie down
in peace and sleep, for I have nought to fear. He that
hath the wings of God above him needs no other curtain. Better
than bolts or bars is the protection of the Lord. Armed men kept
the bed of Solomon, but we do not believe that he slept more
soundly than his father, whose bed was the hard ground, and who
was haunted by blood-thirsty foes. Note the word "only",
which means that God alone was his keeper, and that though
alone, without man's help, he was even then in good keeping, for
he was "alone with God." A quiet conscience is a good
bedfellow. How many of our sleepless hours might be traced to
our untrusting and disordered minds. They slumber sweetly whom
faith rocks to sleep. No pillow so soft as a promise; no
coverlet so warm as an assured interest in Christ.
O
Lord, give us this calm repose on thee, that like David we may
lie down in peace, and sleep each night while we live; and
joyfully may we lie down in the appointed season, to sleep in
death, to rest in God!
Dr.
Hawker's reflection upon this Psalm is worthy to be prayed over
and fed upon with sacred delight. We cannot help transcribing
it.
"Reader!
let us never lose sight of the Lord Jesus while reading this
Psalm. He is the Lord our righteousness; and therefore, in all
our approaches to the mercy seat, let us go there in a language
corresponding to this which calls Jesus the Lord our
righteousness. While men of the world, from the world are
seeking their chief good, let us desire his favour which
infinitely transcends corn and wine, and all the good things
which perish in the using. Yes, Lord, thy favour is better
than life itself. Thou causest them that love thee to
inherit substance, and fillest all their treasure.
"Oh!
thou gracious God and Father, hast thou in such a wonderful
manner set apart one in our nature for thyself? Hast thou indeed
chosen one out of the people? Hast thou beheld him in the purity
of his nature,—as one in every point Godly? Hast thou given
him as the covenant of the people? And hast thou declared
thyself well pleased in him? Oh! then, well may my soul be well
pleased in him also. Now do I know that my God and Father will
hear me when I call upon him in Jesus' name, and when I look up
to him for acceptance for Jesus' sake! Yes, my heart is fixed, O
Lord, my heart is fixed; Jesus is my hope and righteousness; the
Lord will hear me when I call. And henceforth will I both lay me
down in peace and sleep securely in Jesus, accepted in the
Beloved; for this is the rest wherewith the Lord causeth the
weary to rest, and this is the refreshing."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. "Hear me when I call," etc.
Faith is a good orator and a noble disputer in a strait; it can
reason from God's readiness to hear: "Hear me when I
call, O God." And from the everlasting righteousness
given to the man in the justification of his person: "O
God of my righteousness." And from God's constant
justice in defending the righteousness of his servant's cause: "O
God of my righteousness." And from both present
distresses and those that are by-past, wherein he hath been, and
from by-gone mercies received: "Thou hast enlarged me
when I was in distress." And from God's grace, which is
able to answer all objections from the man's unworthiness or
ill-deserving: "Have mercy upon me, and hear my
prayer." David Dickson, 1653.
Verse 1. "Hear me." The great Author
of nature and of all things does nothing in vain. He instituted
not this law, and, if I may so express it, art of praying, as a
vain and insufficient thing, but endows it with wonderful
efficacy for producing the greatest and happiest consequences.
He would have it to be the key by which all the treasures of
heaven should be opened. He has constructed it as a powerful
machine, by which we may, with easy and pleasant labour, remove
from us the most dire and unhappy machinations of our enemy, and
may with equal ease draw to ourselves what is most propitious
and advantageous. Heaven and earth, and all the elements, obey
and minister to the hands which are often lifted up to heaven in
earnest prayer. Yea, all works, and, which is yet more and
greater, all the words of God obey it. Well known in the sacred
Scriptures are the examples of Moses and Joshua, and that which
James (5:17) particularly mentions of Elijah, whom he expressly
calls ćotoäns, a man subject to like infirmities with
ourselves, that he might illustrate the admirable force of
prayer, by the common and human weakness of the person by whom
it was offered. And that Christian legion under Antonius is well
known and justly celebrated, which for the singular ardour and
efficacy of its prayers, obtained the name of keraunoboloz,
the thundering legion. Robert Leighton, D.D., Archbishop of
Glasgow, 1611 - 1684.
Verse 2. "O ye sons of men, how long will ye
turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek
after leasing? Selah." Prayer soars above the violence
and impiety of men, and with a swift wing commits itself to
heaven, with happy omen, if I may allude to what the learned
tell us of the augury of the ancients, which I shall not
minutely discuss. Fervent prayers stretch forth a strong,
wide-extended wing, and while the birds of night hover beneath,
they mount aloft, and point out, as it were, the proper seats to
which we should aspire. For certainly there is nothing that cuts
the air so swiftly, nothing that takes so sublime, so happy, so
auspicious a flight as prayer, which bears the soul on its
pinions, and leaves far behind all the dangers, and even the
delights of this low world of ours. Behold this holy man, who
just before was crying to God in the midst of distress, and with
urgent importunity entreating that he might be heard, now, as if
he were already possessed of all he had asked, taking upon him
boldly to rebuke his enemies, how highly soever they were
exalted, and how potent soever they might be even in the royal
palace. Robert Leighton, D.D.
Verse 2. "O ye sons of men, how long will ye
turn my glory into shame?" etc. We might imagine every
syllable of this precious Psalm used by our Master some evening,
when about to leave the temple for the day, and retiring to his
wonted rest at Bethany (v. 8), after another fruitless
expostulation with the men of Israel. And we may read it still
as the very utterance of his heart, longing over man, and
delighting in God. But, further, not only is this the utterance
of the Head, it is also the language of one of his members in
full sympathy with him in holy feeling. This is a Psalm with
which the righteous may make their dwellings resound, morning
and evening, as they cast a sad look over a world that rejects
God's grace. They may sing it while they cling more and more
every day to Jehovah, as their all-sufficient heritage, now and
in the age to come. They may sing it, too, in the happy
confidence of faith and hope, when the evening of the world's
day is coming, and may then fall asleep in the certainty of what
shall greet their eyes on the resurrection morning—
"Sleeping embosomed in his grace,
Till morning-shadows flee.
Andrew A. Bonar, 1859
Verse 2. "Love vanity." They that
love sin, love vanity; they chase a bubble, they lean
upon a reed, their hope is as a spider's web.
"Leasing."
This is an old Saxon word signifying falsehood.
Verse 2. "How long will ye love vanity, and
seek after leasing?" "Vanity of vanities, and all
is vanity." This our first parents found, and therefore
named their second son Abel, or vanity. Solomon, that had tried
these things, and could best tell the vanity of them, he
preacheth this sermon over again and again. "Vanity of
vanities, and all is vanity." It is sad to think how many
thousands there be that can say with the preacher, "Vanity
of vanities, all is vanity;" nay, swear it, and yet follow
after these things as if there were no other glory, nor
felicity, but what is to be found in these things they call
vanity. Such men will sell Christ, heaven, and their souls, for
a trifle, that call these things vanity, but do not cordially
believe them to be vanity, but set their hearts upon them as if
they were their crown, the top of all their royalty and glory.
Oh! let your souls dwell upon the vanity of all things here
below, till your hearts so thoroughly convinced and persuaded of
the vanity of them, as to trample upon them, and make them a
footstool for Christ to get up, and ride in a holy triumph in
your hearts.
Gilemex,
king of Vandals, led in triumph by Belisarius, cried out,
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." The fancy of
Lucian, who placeth Charon on the top of a high hill, viewing
all the affairs of men living, and looking on their greatest
cities as little bird's nests, is very pleasant. Oh, the
imperfection, the ingratitude, the levity, the inconstancy, the
perfidiousness of those creatures we most servilely affect! Ah,
did we but weigh man's pain with his payment, his crosses with
his mercies, his miseries with his pleasures, we should then see
that there is nothing got by the bargain, and conclude,
"Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Chrysostom said
once, "That if he were the fittest in the world to preach a
sermon to the whole world, gathered together in one
congregation, and had some high mountain for his pulpit, from
whence he might have a prospect of all the world in his view,
and were furnished with a voice of brass, a voice as loud as the
trumpets of the archangel, that all the world might hear him, he
would choose to preach upon no other text than that in the
Psalms, O mortal men, 'How long will ye love vanity, and
follow after leasing?'" Thomas Brooks, 1608-1680.
Verse 2. "Love vanity." Men's
affections are according to their principles; and every one
loves that most without him which is most suitable to
somewhat within him: liking is founded in likeness,
and has therefore that word put upon it. It is so in whatsoever
we can imagine; whether in temporals or spirituals, as to the
things of this life, or of a better. Men's love is according to
some working and impression upon their own spirits. And so it is
here in the point of vanity; those which are vain persons, they
delight in vain things; as children, they love such matters as
are most agreeable to their childish dispositions, and as do
suit them in that particular. Out of the heart comes all kind of
evil. Thomas Horton, 1675.
Verse 3. "The Lord hath set apart him that is
godly for himself." When God chooseth a man, he
chooseth him for himself; for himself to converse with, to
communicate himself unto him as a friend, a companion, and his
delight. Now, it is holiness that makes us fit to live with the
holy God for ever, since without it we cannot see him (Hebrews
12:14), which is God's main aim, and more than our being his
children; as one must be supposed a man, one of mankind, having
a soul reasonable, ere we can suppose him capable of adoption,
or to be another man's heir. As therefore it was the main first
design in God's eye, before the consideration of our happiness,
let it be so in ours. Thomas Goodwin, 1600-1679.
Verse 3. What rare persons the godly are: "The
righteous is more excellent than his neighbour." Proverbs
12:26. As the flower of the sun, as the wine of Lebanon, as the
sparkling upon Aaron's breastplate, such is the orient splendour
of a person embellished with godliness. . . . . . . The godly
are precious, therefore they are set apart for God, "Know
that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for
himself." We set apart things that are precious; the
godly are set apart as God's peculiar treasure (Psalm 135:4); as
his garden of delight (Canticles 4:12); as his royal diadem
(Isaiah 43:3); the godly are the excellent of the earth (Psalm
16:3); comparable to fine gold (Lamentations 4:2); double
refined (Zechariah 13:9). They are the glory of the creation.
(Isaiah 46:13). Origen compares the saints to sapphires and
crystals: God calls them jewels (Malachi 3:17). Thomas
Watson.
Verse 3. "The Lord will hear when I call unto
him." Let us remember that the experience of one of the
saints concerning the verity of God's promises, and of the
certainty of the written privileges of the Lord's people, is a
sufficient proof of the right which all his children have to the
same mercies, and a ground of hope that they also shall partake
of them in their times of need. David Dickson, 1653.
Verse 4. "Stand in awe and sin not."
Jehovah is a name of great power and efficacy, a name that hath
in it five vowels, without which no language can be expressed; a
name that hath in it also three syllables, to signify the
Trinity of persons, the eternity of God, One in Three and Three
in One; a name of such dread and reverence amongst the Jews,
that they tremble to name it, and therefore they use the name Adonai
(Lord) in all their devotions. And thus ought every one to "stand
in awe, and sin not," by taking the name of God in
vain; but to sing praise, and honour, to remember, to declare,
to exalt, to praise and bless it; for holy and reverend, only
worthy and excellent is his name. Rayment, 1630.
Verse 4. "Commune with your own heart."
The language is similar to that which we use when we say,
"Consult your better judgment," or "Take counsel
of your own good sense." Albert Barnes, in loc.
Verse 4. If thou wouldst exercise thyself to godliness
in solitude, accustom thyself to soliloquies, I mean to
conference with thyself. He needs never be idle that hath so
much business to do with his own soul. It was a famous answer
which Antisthenes gave when he was asked what fruit he reaped by
all his studies. By them, saith he, I have learned both to live
and talk with myself. Soliloquies are the best disputes; every
good man is best company for himself of all the creatures. Holy
David enjoineth this to others, "Commune with your own
hearts upon your bed, and be still." "Commune with
your own hearts;" when ye have none to speak with, talk
to yourselves. Ask yourselves for what end ye were made, what
lives ye have led, what times ye have lost, what love ye have
abused, what wrath ye have deserved. Call yourselves to a
reckoning, how ye have improved your talents, how true or false
ye have been to your trust, what provision ye have laid in for
an hour of death, what preparation ye have made for a great day
of account. "Upon your beds." Secrecy is the
best opportunity for this duty. The silent night is a good time
for this speech. When we have no outward objects to disturb us,
and to call our eyes, as the fools' eyes are always, to the ends
of the earth; then our eyes, as the eyes of the wise, may be in
our heads; and then our minds, like the windows in Solomon's
temple, may be broad inwards. The most successful searches have
been made in the night season; the soul is then wholly shut up
in the earthly house of the body, and hath no visits from
strangers to disquiet its thoughts. Physicians have judged
dreams a probable sign whereby they might find out the
distempers of the body. Surely, then, the bed is no bad place to
examine and search into the state of the soul. "And be
still." Self-communion will much help to curb your
headstrong, ungodly passions. Serious consideration, like the
casting up of earth amongst bees, will allay inordinate
affections when they are full of fury, and make such a hideous
noise. Though sensual appetites and unruly desires are, as the
people of Ephesus, in an uproar, pleading for their former
privilege, and expecting their wonted provisions, as in the days
of their predominancy, if conscience use its authority,
commanding them in God's name, whose officer it is, to keep the
king's peace, and argue it with them, as the town-clerk of
Ephesus, "We are in danger to be called in question for
this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an
account of this day's concourse;" all is frequently by this
means hushed, and the tumult appeased without any further
mischief. George Swinnock, 1627 - 1673.
Verse 4. "Commune with your own heart upon
your bed, and be still." When we are most retired from
the world, then we are most fit to have, and usually have, most
communion with God. If a man would but abridge himself of sleep,
and wake with holy thoughts, when deep sleep falleth upon
sorrowful labouring men, he might be entertained with visions
from God, though not such visions as Eliphaz and others of the
saints have had, yet visions he might have. Every time God
communicates himself to the soul, there is a vision of love, or
mercy, or power, somewhat of God in his nature, or in his will,
is showed unto us. David shows us divine work when we go to
rest. The bed is not all for sleep: "Commune with your
own heart upon your bed, and be still." Be still or
quiet, and then commune with your hearts; and if you will
commune with your hearts, God will come and commune with your
hearts, too, his Spirit will give you a loving visit and visions
of his love. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 4. "Stand in awe."
With sacred awe pronounce his name,
Whom words nor thoughts can reach.
John Needham, 1768.
Verse 6. Where Christ reveals himself there is
satisfaction in the slenderest portion, and without Christ there
is emptiness in the greatest fullness. Alexander Grosse, on
enjoying Christ, 1632.
Verse 6. "Many," said David. "ask
who will shew us any good?" meaning riches, and honour,
and pleasure, which are not good. But when he came to godliness
itself, he leaves out "many," and prayeth in
his own person, "Lord, lift thou up the light of thy
countenance upon us;" as if none would join with him. Henry
Smith.
Verse 6. "Who will shew us any good?"
This is not a fair translation. The word any is not in
the text, nor anything equivalent to it; and not a few have
quoted it, and preached upon the text, placing the
principal emphasis upon this illegitimate. The place is
sufficiently emphatic. There are multitudes who say, Who will
shew us good? Man wants good; he hates evil as
evil, because he has pain, suffering, and death
through it; and he wishes to find that supreme good which
will content his heart, and save him from evil. But men mistake
this good. They look for a good that is to gratify their passions;
they have no notion of any happiness that does not come to them
through the medium of their senses. Therefore they reject
spiritual good, and they reject the Supreme God, by whom
alone all the powers of the soul of man can be gratified. Adam
Clarke.
Verse 6. "Lift thou up," etc. This
was the blessing of the high priest and is the heritage of all
the saints. It includes reconciliation, assurance, communion,
benediction, in a word, the fulness of God. Oh, to be filled
therewith! C. H. S.
Verses 6, 7. Lest riches should be accounted evil in
themselves, God sometimes gives them to the righteous; and lest
they should be considered as the chief good, he
frequently bestows them on the wicked. But they are more
generally the portion of his enemies than his friends. Alas!
what is it to receive and not be received? to have none other
dews of blessing than such as shall be followed by showers of
brimstone? We may compass ourselves with sparks of security, and
afterwards be secrures in eternal misery. This world is a
floating island, and so sure as we cast anchor upon it,
we shall be carried away by it. God, and all that he has
made, is not more than God without anything that he has made. He
can never want treasure who has such a golden mine. He is
enough without the creature, but the creature is not
anything without him. It is, therefore, better to enjoy him
without anything else, than to enjoy everything else without
him. It is better to be a wooden vessel filled with wine, than a
golden one filled with water. William Secker's Nonsuch
Professor, 1660.
Verse 7. What madness and folly is it that the
favourites of heaven should envy the men of the world, who at
best do but feed upon the scraps that come from God's table!
Temporals are the bones; spirituals are the marrow. Is it below
a man to envy the dogs, because of the bones? And is it not much
more below a Christian to envy others for temporals, when
himself enjoys spirituals? Thomas Brooks.
Verse 7. "Thou hast put gladness in my
heart." The comforts which God reserves for his
mourners are filling comforts (Romans 15:13); "The God of
hope fill you with joy" (John 16:24); "Ask that your
joy may be full." When God pours in the joys of heaven they
fill the heart, and make it run over (2 Corinthians 7:4);
"I am exceeding joyful;" the Greek is, I overflow with
joy, as a cup that is filled with wine till it runs over.
Outward comforts can no more fill the heart than a triangle can
fill a circle. Spiritual joys are satisfying (Psalm 63:5);
"My heart shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips;" "Thou
hast put gladness in my heart." Worldly joys do put
gladness into the face, but the spirit of God puts gladness into
the heart; divine joys are heart joys (Zechariah 10:7; John
16:22); "Your heart shall rejoice" (Luke 1:47);
"My spirit rejoiced in God." And to show how filling
these comforts are, which are of a heavenly extraction, the
psalmist says they create greater joy than when "corn
and wine increase." Wine and oil may delight but not
satisfy; they have their vacuity and indigence. We may say, as
Zechariah 10:2, "They comfort in vain;" outward
comforts do sooner cloy than cheer, and sooner weary that fill.
Xerxes offered great rewards to him that could find out a new
pleasure; but the comforts of the Spirit are satisfactory, they
recruit the heart (Psalm 94:19), "Thy comforts delight my
soul." There is as much difference between heavenly
comforts and earthly, as between a banquet that is eaten, and
one that is painted on the wall. Thomas Watson.
Verse 8. It is said of the husbandman, that having
cast his seed into the ground, he sleeps and riseth day and
night, and the seed springs and grows he knoweth not how. Mark
4:26,27. So a good man having by faith and prayer cast his care
upon God, he resteth night and day, and is very easy, leaving it
to his God to perform all things for him according to his holy
will. Matthew Henry.
Verse 8. When you have walked with God from morning
until night, it remaineth that you conclude the day well,
when you would give yourself to rest at night. Wherefore, first,
look back and take a strict view of your whole carriage that day
past. Reform what you find amiss; and rejoice, or be
grieved, as you find you have done well or ill, as you have
advanced or declined in grace that day. Secondly, since you
cannot sleep in safety if God, who is your keeper (Psalm
121:4, 5), do not wake and watch for you (Psalm 127:1);
and though you have God to watch when you sleep, you
cannot be safe, if he that watcheth be your enemy.
Wherefore it is very convenient that at night you renew and
confirm your peace with God by faith and prayer, commending and
committing yourself to God's tuition by prayer (Psalm 3:4, 5);
Psalm 92:2), with thanksgiving before you go to bed. Then shall
you lie down in safety. Psalm 4:8. All this being done,
yet while you are putting off your apparel, when you are lying
down, and when you are in bed, before you sleep, it
is good that you commune with your own heart.
Psalm 4:4. If possibly you can fall asleep with some heavenly
meditation, then will your sleep be more sweet
(Proverbs 3:21, 24, 25); and more secure (Proverbs 6:21,
22); your dreams fewer, or more comfortable; your
head will be fuller of good thoughts (Proverbs 6:22), and your
heart will be in a better frame when you awake,
whether in the night or in the morning. Condensed from Henry
Scudder's Daily Walk, 1633.
Verse 8. "I will both," etc. We have
now to retire for a moment from the strife of tongues and the
open hostility of foes, into the stillness and privacy of the
chamber of sleep. Here, also, we find the "I will" of
trust. "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for
thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety." God is
here revealed to us as exercising personal care in the still
chamber. And there is something here which should be
inexpressibly sweet to the believer, for this shows the
minuteness of God's care, the individuality of his love; how it
condescends and stoops, and acts, not only in great, but also in
little spheres; not only where glory might be procured from
great results, but where nought is to be had save the gratitude
and love of a poor feeble creature, whose life has been
protected and preserved, in a period of helplessness and sleep.
How blessed would it be if we made larger recognition of God in
the still chamber; if we thought of him as being there in all
hours of illness, of weariness, and pain; if we believed that
his interest and care are as much concentrated upon the feeble
believer there as upon his people when in the wider battle field
of the strife of tongues. There is something inexpressibly
touching in this "lying down" of the Psalmist. In thus
lying down he voluntarily gave up any guardianship of himself;
he resigned himself into the hands of another; he did so
completely, for in the absence of all care he slept; there was
here a perfect trust. Many a believer lies down, but it is not
to sleep. Perhaps he feels safe enough so far as his body is
concerned, but cares and anxieties invade the privacy of his
chamber; they come to try his faith and trust; they threaten,
they frighten, and alas! prove too strong for trust. Many a poor
believer might say, "I will lay me down, but not to
sleep." The author met with a touching instance of this, in
the case of an aged minister whom he visited in severe illness.
This worthy man's circumstances were narrow, and his family
trials were great; he said, "The doctor wants me to sleep,
but how can I sleep with care sitting on my pillow?" It is
the experience of some of the Lord's people, that although equal
to an emergency or a continued pressure, a re-action sets in
afterwards; and when they come to be alone their spirits sink,
and they do not realise that strength from God, or feel that
confidence in him which they felt while the pressure was
exerting its force. . . . . . There is a trial in stillness; and
oftentimes the still chamber makes a larger demand upon loving
trust than the battle field. O that we could trust God more and
more with personal things! O that he were the God of our
chamber, as well as of our temples and houses! O that we could
bring him more and more into the minutiae of daily life! If we
did thus, we should experience a measure of rest to which we
are, perhaps, strangers now; we should have less dread of the
sick chamber; we should have that unharassed mind which conduces
most to repose, in body and soul; we should be able to say,
"I will lie down and sleep, and leave to-morrow with
God!" Ridley's brother offered to remain with him
during the night preceeding his martyrdom, but the bishop
declined, saying, that "he meant to go to bed, and sleep as
quietly as ever he did in his life." Philip Bennett
Power's 'I Wills' of the Psalms.
Verse 8. Due observation of Providence will both beget
and secure inward tranquillity in your minds amidst the
vicissitudes and revolutions of things in this unstable vain
world. "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for
the Lord only maketh me dwell in safety." He resolves
that sinful fears of events shall not rob him of his inward
quiet, nor torture his thoughts with anxious presages; he will
commit all his concerns into that faithful fatherly hand that
had hitherto wrought all things for him; and he means not to
lose the comfort of one night's rest, nor bring the evil of
to-morrow upon the day; but knowing in whose hand he was, wisely
enjoys the sweet felicity of a resigned will. Now this
tranquillity of our minds is as much begotten and preserved by a
due consideration of providence as by anything whatsoever. John
Flavel, 1627 - 1691.
Verse 8. Happy is the Christian, who having nightly
with this verse, committed himself to his bed as to his grave,
shall at last, with the same words, resign himself to his grave
as to his bed, from which he expects in due time to arise, and
sing a morning hymn with the children of the resurrection. George
Horne, D.D., 1776.
Verse 8. "Sleep,"
"How blessed was that sleep
The sinless Saviour knew!
In vain the storm-sinds blew,
Till he awoke to others woes,
And hushed the billows to repose.
How beautiful is sleep—
The sleep that Christians know!
Ye mourners! cease your woe,
While soft upon his Saviour's breast,
The righteous sinks to endless rest."
Mrs. M'Cartree.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. Is full of matter for a sermon upon, past
mercies a plea for present help. The first sentence shows
that believers desire, expect, and believe in a God that heareth
prayer. The title— God of my righteousness, may furnish
a text (see exposition), and the last sentence may suggest a
sermon upon, "The best of saints must still appeal to God's
mercy and sovereign grace."
Verse 2. Depravity of man as evinced
(1)
by continuance in despising Christ,
(2)
by loving vanity in his heart, and
(3)
seeking lies in his daily life.
Verse 2. The length of the sinner's sin. "How
long?" May be bounded by repentance, shall be by death, and
yet shall continue in eternity.
Verse 3. Election. Its aspects toward God, our
enemies, and ourselves.
Verse 3. "The Lord will hear when I call unto
him." Answers to prayer certain to special persons.
Mark out those who can claim the favour.
Verse 3. The gracious Separatist. Who is he?
Who separated him? With what end? How to make men know it?
Verse 4. The sinner directed to review himself, that
he may be convinced of sin. Andrew Fuller, 1754-1815.
Verse 4. "Be still." Advice—good,
practical, but hard to follow. Times when seasonable. Graces
needed to enable one to be still. Results of quietness. Persons
who most need the advice. Instances of its practice. here is
much material for a sermon.
Verse 5. The nature of those sacrifices of
righteousness which the Lord's people are expected to offer. William
Ford Vance, 1827.
Verse 6. The cry of the world and the church
contrasted. Vox populi not always Vox Dei.
Verse 6. The cravings of the soul all satisfied in
God.
Verses 6, 7. An assurance of the Saviour's love, the
source of unrivalled joy.
Verse 7. The believer's joys.
(1)
Their source, "Thou;"
(2)
Their season—even now—"Thou hast;"
(3)
Their position, "in my heart;"
(4)
Their excellence, "more than in the time that their corn
and their wine increased."
Another
excellent theme suggests itself— "The superiority of the
joys of grace to the joys of earth;" or, "Two sorts of
prosperity—which is to be the more desired?"
Verse 8. The peace and safety of the good man. Joseph
Lathrop, D.D., 1805.
Verse 8. A bedchamber for believers, a vesper song to
sing in it, and a guard to keep the door.
Verse 8. The Christian's good night.
Verses 2 to 8. The means which a believer
should use to win the ungodly to Christ.
(1)
Expostulation, verse 2.
(2)
Instruction, verse 3.
(3)
Exhortation, verses 4, 5.
(4)
Testimony to the blessedness of true religion as in verses 6, 7.
(5)
Exemplification of that testimony by the peace of faith, verse
8.