TITLE. "To the Chief Musician upon Nehiloth,
a Psalm of David." The Hebrew word Nehiloth is taken
from another word, signifying "to perforate;" "to
bore through," whence it comes to mean a pipe or a flute;
so that this song was probably intended to be sung with an
accompaniment of wind instruments, such as the horn, the
trumpet, flute, or cornet. However, it is proper to remark that
we are not sure of the interpretation of these ancient titles,
for the Septuagint translates it, "For him who shall obtain
inheritance," and Aben Ezra thinks it denotes some old and
well known melody to which this Psalm was to be played. The best
scholars confess that great darkness hangs over the precise
interpretation of the title; nor is this much to be regretted,
for it furnishes an internal evidence of the great antiquity of
the Book. Throughout the first, second, third, and forth Psalms,
you will have noticed that the subject is a contrast between the
position, the character, and the prospects of the righteous and
of the wicked. In this Psalm you will note the same. The
Psalmist carries out a contrast between himself made righteous
by God's grace, and the wicked who opposed him. To the devout
mind there is here presented a precious view of the Lord Jesus,
of whom it is said that in the days of his flesh, he offered up
prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.
DIVISION. The Psalm should be divided into two parts, from
the first to the seventh verse, and then from the eighth to the
twelfth. In the first part of the Psalm David most vehemently
beseeches the Lord to hearken to his prayer, and in the second
part he retraces the same ground.
EXPOSITION Verse 1. There are two sorts of
prayers—those expressed in words, and the unuttered longings
which abide as silent meditations. Words are not the essence but
the garments of prayer. Moses at the Red Sea cried to God,
though he said nothing. Yet the use of language may prevent
distraction of mind, may assist the powers of the soul, and may
excite devotion. David, we observe, uses both modes of prayer,
and craves for the one a hearing, and for the other a consideration.
What an expressive word! "Consider my meditation."
If I have asked that which is right, give it to me; if I have
omitted to ask that which I most needed, fill up the vacancy in
my prayer. "Consider my meditation." Let thy holy soul
consider it as presented through my all-glorious
Mediator: then regard thou it in thy wisdom, weigh it in the
scales, judge thou of my sincerity, and of the true state of my
necessities, and answer me in due time for thy mercy's sake!
There may be prevailing intercession where there are no words;
and alas! there may be words where there is no true
supplication. Let us cultivate the spirit of prayer which
is even better than the habit of prayer. There may be
seeming prayer where there is little devotion. We should begin
to pray before we kneel down, and we should not cease when we
rise up.
Verse 2. "The voice of my cry." In another
Psalm we find the expression, "The voice of my
weeping." Weeping has a voice—a melting, plaintive tone,
an ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of God;
and crying hath a voice—a soul-moving eloquence; coming
from our heart it reaches God's heart. Ah! my
brothers and sisters, sometimes we cannot put our prayers into
words: they are nothing but a cry: but the Lord can
comprehend the meaning, for he hears a voice in our cry. To a
loving father his children's cries are music, and they have a
magic influence which his heart cannot resist. "My King,
and my God." Observe carefully these little pronouns, "my
King, and my God." They are the pith and marrow of
the plea. Here is a grand argument why God should answer
prayer—because he is our King and our God. We
are not aliens to him: he is the King of our country. Kings are
expected to hear the appeals of their own people. We are not
strangers to him; we are his worshippers, and he is our God:
ours by covenant, by promise, by oath, by blood.
"For
unto thee will I pray." Here David expresses his
declaration that he will seek to God, and to God alone. God is
to be the only object of worship: the only resource of our soul
in times of need. Leave broken cisterns to the godless, and let
the godly drink from the Divine fountain alone. "Unto thee will
I pray." He makes a resolution, that as long as he lived he
would pray. He would never cease to supplicate, even though the
answer should not come.
Verse 3. Observe, this is not so much a prayer as a
resolution, "'My voice shalt thou hear;' I will not
be dumb, I will not be silent, I will not withhold my speech, I will
cry to thee for the fire that dwells within compels me to
pray." We can sooner die than live without prayer. None of
God's children are possessed with a dumb devil.
"In
the morning." This is the fittest time for intercourse
with God. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening.
While the dew is on the grass, let grace drop upon the soul. Let
us give to God the mornings of our days and the morning of our
lives. Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the
night. Devotion should be both the morning star and the evening
star.
If
we merely read our English version, and want an explanation of
these two sentences, we find it in the figure of an archer, "I
will direct my prayer unto thee," I will put my prayer
upon the bow, I will direct it towards heaven, and then when I
have shot up my arrow, I will look up to see where it has
gone. But the Hebrew has a still fuller meaning than
this—"I will direct my prayer." It is the
word that is used for the laying in order of the wood and the
pieces of the victim upon the altar, and it is used also for the
putting of the shewbread upon the table. It means just this:
"I will arrange my prayer before thee;" I will lay it
out upon the altar in the morning, just as the priest lays out
the morning sacrifice. I will arrange my prayer; or, as
old Master Trapp has it, "I will marshall up my
prayers," I will put them in order, call up all my powers,
and bid them stand in their proper places, that I may pray with
all my might, and pray acceptably.
"And
will look up," or, as the Hebrew might better be
translated, "'I will look out,' I will look out for the
answer; after I have prayed, I will expect that the blessing
shall come." It is a word that is used in another place
where we read of those who watched for the morning. So will I
watch for thine answer, O my Lord! I will spread out my prayer
like the victim on the altar, and I will look up, and expect to
receive the answer by fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice.
Two
questions are suggested by the last part of this verse. Do we
not miss very much of the sweetness and efficacy of prayer by a
want of careful meditation before it, and of hopeful expectation
after it? We too often rush into the presence of God without
forethought or humility. We are like men who present themselves
before a king without a petition, and what wonder is it that we
often miss the end of prayer? We should be careful to keep the
stream of meditation always running; for this is the water to
drive the mill of prayer. It is idle to pull up the flood-gates
of a dry brook, and then hope to see the wheel revolve. Prayer
without fervency is like hunting with a dead dog, and prayer
without preparation is hawking with a blind falcon. Prayer is
the work of the Holy Spirit, but he works by means. God made
man, but he used the dust of the earth as a material: the Holy
Ghost is the author of prayer, but he employs the thoughts of a
fervent soul as the gold with which to fashion the vessel. Let
not our prayers and praises be the flashes of a hot and hasty
brain, but the steady burning of a well-kindled fire.
But,
furthermore, do we not forget to watch the result of our
supplications? We are like the ostrich, which lays her eggs and
looks not for her young. We sow the seed, and are too idle to
seek a harvest. How can we expect the Lord to open the windows
of his grace, and pour us out a blessing, if we will not open
the windows of expectation and look up for the promised favour?
Let holy preparation link hands with patient expectation, and we
shall have far larger answers to our prayers.
Verse 4. And now the Psalmist having thus expressed his
resolution to pray, you hear him putting up his prayer. He is
pleading against his cruel and wicked enemies. He uses a most
mighty argument. He begs of God to put them away from him,
because they were displeasing to God himself. "For thou
art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall
evil dwell with thee." "When I pray against my
tempters," says David, "I pray against the very things
which thou thyself abhorrest." Thou hatest evil:
Lord, I beseech thee, deliver me from it!
Let
us learn here the solemn truth of the hatred which a righteous
God must bear toward sin. He has no pleasure in wickedness,
however wittily, grandly, and proudly it may array itself. Its
glitter has no charm for him. Men may bow before successful
villainy, and forget the wickedness of the battle in the
gaudiness of the triumph, but the Lord of Holiness is not
such-an-one as we are. "Neither shall evil dwell with
thee." He will not afford it the meanest shelter.
Neither on earth nor in heaven shall evil share the mansion of
God. Oh, how foolish are we if we attempt to entertain two
guests so hostile to one another as Christ Jesus and the devil!
Rest assured, Christ will not live in the parlour of our hearts
if we entertain the devil in the cellar of our thoughts.
Verse 5. "The foolish shall not stand in thy
sight." Sinners are fools written large. A little sin
is a great folly, and the greatest of all folly is great sin.
Such sinful fools as these must be banished from the court of
heaven. Earthly kings were wont to have fools in their trains,
but the only wise God will have no fools in his palace above. "Thou
hatest all workers of iniquity." It is not a little
dislike, but a thorough hatred which God bears to workers of
iniquity. To be hated of God is an awful thing. O let us be very
faithful in warning the wicked around us, for it will be a
terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry God!
Verse 6. Observe, that evil speakers must be punished as well
as evil workers, for "thou shalt destroy them that speak
leasing." All liars shall have their portion in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. A man may lie
without danger of the law of man, but he will not escape the law
of God. Liars have short wings, their flight shall soon be over,
and they shall fall into the fiery floods of destruction. "The
Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man." Bloody
men shall be made drunk with their own blood, and they who began
by deceiving others shall end with being deceived themselves.
Our old proverb saith, "Bloody and deceitful men dig their
own graves." The voice of the people is in this instance
the voice of God. How forcible is the word abhor! Does it
not show us how powerful and deep-seated is the hatred of the
Lord against the workers of iniquity?
Verse 7. With this verse the first part of the Psalm ends.
The Psalmist has bent his knee in prayer; he has described
before God, as an argument for his deliverance, the character
and the fate of the wicked; and now he contrasts this with the
condition of the righteous. "But as for me, I will come
into thy house." I will not stand at a distance, I will
come into thy sanctuary, just as a child comes into his father's
house. But I will not come there by my own merits; no, I have a
multitude of sins, and therefore I will come in the multitude
of thy mercy. I will approach thee with confidence because
of thy immeasurable grace. God's judgments are all numbered, but
his mercies are innumerable; he gives his wrath by weight, but
without weight his mercy. "And in thy fear will I
worship toward thy holy temple,"—towards the temple
of thy holiness. The temple was not built on earth at that time;
it was but a tabernacle; but David was wont to turn his eyes
spiritually to that temple of God's holiness where between the
wings of the Cherubim Jehovah dwells in light ineffable. Daniel
opened his window toward Jerusalem, but we open our hearts
toward heaven.
Verse 8. Now we come to the second part, in which the
Psalmist repeats his arguments, and goes over the same ground
again.
"Lead
me, O Lord," as a little child is led by its father, as
a blind man is guided by his friend. It is safe and pleasant
walking when God leads the way. "In thy
righteousness," not in my righteousness, for
that is imperfect, but in thine, for thou art
righteousness itself. "Make thy way," not my
way, "straight before my face." Brethren, when
we have learned to give up our own way, and long to walk in
God's way, it is a happy sign of grace; and it is no small mercy
to see the way of God with clear vision straight before our
face. Errors about duty may lead us into a sea of sins, before
we know where we are.
Verse 9. This description of depraved man has been copied by
the Apostle Paul, and, together with some other quotations, he
has placed it in the second chapter of Romans, as being an
accurate description of the whole human race, not of David's
enemies only, but of all men by nature. Note that remarkable
figure, "Their throat is an open sepulchre," a sepulchre
full of loathsomeness, of miasma, of pestilence and death. But,
worse than that, it is an open sepulchre, with all its
evil gases issuing forth, to spread death and destruction all
around. So, with the throat of the wicked, it would be a great
mercy if it could always be closed. If we could seal in
continual silence the mouth of the wicked it would be like a
sepulchre shut up, and would not produce much mischief. But,
"their throat is an open sepulchre,"
consequently all the wickedness of their heart exhales, and
comes forth. How dangerous is an open sepulchre; men in their
journeys might easily stumble therein, and find themselves among
the dead. Ah! take heed of the wicked man, for there is nothing
that he will not say to ruin you; he will long to destroy your
character, and bury you in the hideous sepulchre of his own
wicked throat. One sweet thought here, however. At the
resurrection there will be a resurrection not only of bodies,
but characters. This should be a great comfort to a man who has
been abused and slandered. "Then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun." The world may think you vile, and bury
your character; but if you have been upright, in the day when
the graves shall give up their dead, this open sepulchre of the
sinner's throat shall be compelled to give up your heavenly
character, and you shall come forth and be honoured in the sight
of men. "They flatter with their tongue." Or,
as we might read it, "They have an oily tongue, a smooth
tongue." A smooth tongue is a great evil; many have been
bewitched by it. There be many human ant-eaters that with their
long tongues covered with oily words entice and entrap the
unwary and make their gain thereby. When the wolf licks the
lamb, he is preparing to wet his teeth in its blood.
Verse 10. "Against thee:" not against me.
If they were my enemies I would forgive them, but I
cannot forgive thine. We are to forgive our
enemies, but God's enemies it is not in our power to forgive.
These expressions have often been noticed by men of over
refinement as being harsh, and grating on the ear.
"Oh!" say they, "they are vindictive and
revengeful." Let us remember that they might be translated
as prophecies, not as wishes; but we do not care to avail
ourselves of this method of escape. We have never heard of a
reader of the Bible who, after perusing these passages, was made
revengeful by reading them, and it is but fair to test the
nature of a writing by its effects. When we hear a judge
condemning a murderer, however severe his sentence, we do not
feel that we should be justified in condemning others for any
private injury done to us. The Psalmist here speaks as a judge, ex
officio; he speaks as God's mouth, and in condemning the
wicked he gives us no excuse whatever for uttering anything in
the way of malediction upon those who have caused us personal
offence. The most shameful way of cursing another is by
pretending to bless him. We were all somewhat amused by noticing
the toothless malice of that wretched old priest of Rome, when
he foolishly cursed the Emperor of France with his blessing. He
was blessing him in form and cursing him in reality. Now, in
direct contrast we put this healthy commination of David, which
is intended to be a blessing by warning the sinner of the
impending curse. O impenitent man, be it known unto thee that
all thy godly friends will give their solemn assent to the awful
sentence of the Lord, which he shall pronounce upon thee in the
day of doom! Our verdict shall applaud the condemning curse
which the Judge of all the earth shall thunder against the
godless.
In
the following verse we once more find the contrast which has
marked the preceeding Psalms.
Verse 11. Joy is the privilege of the believer. When sinners
are destroyed our rejoicing shall be full. They laugh first and
weep ever after; we weep now, but shall rejoice eternally. When
they howl we shall shout, and as they must groan for
ever, so shall we ever shout for joy. This holy bliss of
ours has a firm foundation, for, O Lord, we are joyful in
thee. The eternal God is the well-spring of our bliss. We
love God, and therefore we delight in him. Our heart is at ease
in our God. We fare sumptuously every day because we feed on
him. We have music in the house, music in the heart, and music
in heaven, for the Lord Jehovah is our strength and our song; he
also is become our salvation.
Verse 12. Jehovah has ordained his people the heirs of
blessedness, and nothing shall rob them of their inheritance.
With all the fulness of his power he will bless them, and all
his attributes shall unite to satiate them with divine
contentment. Nor is this merely for the present, but the
blessing reaches into the long and unknown future. "Thou,
Lord, wilt bless the righteous." This is a promise of
infinite length, of unbounded breadth, and of unutterable
preciousness. As for the defence which the believer needs in
this land of battles, it is here promised to him in the fullest
measure. There were vast shields used by the ancients as
extensive as a man's whole person, which would surround him
entirely. So says David, "With favour wilt thou compass
him as with a shield." According to Ainsworth there is
here also the idea of being crowned, so that we wear a royal
helmet, which is at once our glory and defence. O Lord, ever
give to us this gracious coronation!
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. "Give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my meditation." It is certain that the greater
part of men, as they babble out vain, languid, and inefficacious
prayers, most unworthy the ear of the blessed God, so they seem
in some degree to set a just estimate upon them, neither hoping
for any success from them, nor indeed seeming to be at all
solicitous about it, but committing them to the wind as vain
words, which in truth they are. But far be it from a wise and
pious man, that he should so foolishly and coldly trifle in so
serious an affair; his prayer has a certain tendency and scope,
at which he aims with assiduous and repeated desires, and doth
not only pray that he may pray, but that he may obtain an
answer; and as he firmly believes that it may be obtained, so he
firmly, and constantly, and eagerly urges his petitions, that he
may not flatter himself with an empty hope. Robert Leighton,
D.D.
Verses 1, 2. Observe the order and force of the words,
"my cry," "the voice of my prayer;"
and also, "give ear," "consider,"
"hearken." These expressions all evince the
urgency and energy of David's feelings and petitions. First we
have, "give ear;" that is, hear me. But it is
of little service for the words to be heard, unless the "cry,"
or the roaring, or the meditation, be considered. As if
he had said, in a common way of expression, I speak with deep
anxiety and concern, but with a failing utterance; and I cannot
express myself, nor make myself understood as I wish. Do thou,
therefore, understand from my feelings more than I am able to
express in words. And, therefore, I add my "cry;"
that what I cannot express in words for thee to hear, I may by
my "cry" signify to thine understanding. And
when thou hast understood me, then, O Lord, "Hearken
unto the voice of my prayer," and despise not what thou
hast thus heard and understood. We are not, however, to
understand that hearing, understanding, and hearkening, are all
different acts in God, in the same way as they are in us; but
that our feelings towards God are to be thus varied and
increased; that is, that we are first to desire to be heard, and
then, that our prayers which are heard may be understood; and
then, that being understood, they may be hearkened unto, that
is, not disregarded. Martin Luther.
Verse 1. "Meditation" fits the soul
for supplication; meditation fills the soul with good liquor,
and then prayer broaches it, and sets it a-running. David first
mused, and then spake with his tongue, "Lord, make me to
know mine end." Psalm 39:3, 4. Nay, to assure us that
meditation was the mother which bred and brought forth prayer,
he calls the child by its parent's name, "Give ear to my
words, O Lord, consider my meditation." Meditation is
like the charging of a piece, and prayer the discharging of it.
"Isaac went into the field to meditate." Genesis
24:63. The Septuagint, the Geneva translation, and Tremellius,
in his marginal notes on it, read it to "pray;" and
the Hebrew word (Heb.) used there signifieth both to pray
and meditate; whereby we may learn that they are very
near akin; like twins, they be in the same womb, in the same
word. Meditation is the best beginning of prayer, and prayer is
the best conclusion of meditation. When the Christian, like
Daniel, hath first opened the windows of his soul by
contemplation, then he may kneel down to prayer. George
Swinnock.
Verse 3. "My voice shalt thou hear in the
morning, O Lord."
When first thy eyes unveil, give thy soul leave
To do the like; our bodies but forerun
The spirit's duty: true hearts spread and heave
Unto their God, as flowers do to the sun;
Give him thy first thoughts, then, so shalt thou keep
Him company all day, and in him sleep.
Yet never sleep the sun up; prayer should
Dawn with the day, there are set awful hours
'Twixt heaven and us; the manna was not good
After sun-rising, for day sullies flowers.
Rise to prevent the sun; sleep doth sins glut,
And heaven's gate opens when the world's is shut.
Walk with thy fellow creatures; note the hush
And whisperings amongst them. Not a spring
Or leaf but hath his morning hymn; each bush
And oak doth know I AM—canst thou not sing?
O leave thy cares and follies! Go this way,
And thou art sure to prosper all the day.
Henry Vaughn, 1621-1695.
Verse 3. "My voice shalt thou hear in the
morning." "In the morning shall my prayer prevent
thee," said Heman. That is the fittest time for
devotion, you being then fresh in your spirits, and freest from
distractions. Which opportunity for holy duties may fitly be
called the wings of the morning. Edward Reyner, 1658.
Verse 3. "In the morning." "In
the days of our fathers," says Bishop Burnet, "when a
person came early to the door of his neighbour, and desired to
speak with the master of the house, it was as common a thing for
the servants to tell him with freedom— 'My master is at
prayer,' as it now is to say, 'My master is not up.'"
Verse 3. "In the morning I will direct my
prayer unto thee, and will look up," or, I will
marshall my prayer, I will bring up petition after petition,
pleading after pleading, even till I become like Jacob, a prince
with God, till I have won the field and got the day. Thus the
word is applied by a metaphor both to disputations with men and
supplications to God. Further, we may take the meaning plainly
without any strain of rhetoric, Set thy words in order before
me. Method is good in everything, either an express or
covert method. Sometimes it is the best of art to cover it: in
speaking there is a special use of method, for though, as one
said very well (speaking of those who are more curious about
method than serious about matter), "Method never
converted any man;" yet method and the ordering of
words is very useful. Our speeches should not be heaps of words,
but words bound up; not a throng of words, but words set in
array, or, as it were, in rank and file. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 3. "I will direct my prayer unto thee
and will look up." In the words you may observe two
things: first, David's posture in prayer; secondly, his practice
after prayer. First, his posture in prayer, "I will
direct my prayer unto thee." Secondly, his practice
after prayer, "And I will look up." The prophet
in these words, makes use of two military words. First, he would
not only pray, but marshall up his prayers, he would put them in
battle array; so much the Hebrew word (Heb.) imports. Secondly,
when he had done this, then he would be as a spy upon his
watch-tower, to see whether he prevailed, whether he got the day
or no; and so much the Hebrew word (Heb) imports. When David had
set his prayers, his petitions, in rank and file, in good array,
then he was resolved he would look abroad, he would look about
him to see at what door God would send in an answer to prayer.
He is either a fool or a madman, he is either very weak or very
wicked, that prays and prays but never looks after his prayers;
that shoots many an arrow toward heaven, but never minds where
his arrows alight. Thomas Brooks.
Verse 3. David would direct his prayer to God and
look up; not down to the world, down to corruption, but up
to God what he would speak. Psalm 85:8. "I will hear what
God the Lord will speak," Let the resolution of the prophet
be thine, "I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the
God of my salvation: my God will hear me." Micah 7:7. William
Greenhill, 1650.
Verse 3. "I will direct my prayer to thee, and
will look up," that is, I will trade, I will send out
my spiritual commodities, and expect a gainful return; I will
make my prayers, and not give them for lost, but look up for an
answer. God will bring man home by a way contrary to that by
which he wandered from him. Man fell from God by distrust, by
having God in suspicion; God will bring him back by trust, by
having good thoughts of him. Oh, how richly laden might the
vessel which thou sendest out come home, wouldst thou but long
and look for its return! George Swinnock.
Verse 3. Faith hath a supporting act after prayer; it
supports the soul to expect a gracious answer: "I will
direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up," or I
will look; for what, but for a return? An unbelieving heart
shoots at random, and never minds where his arrow lights, or
what comes of his praying; but faith fills the soul with
expectation. As a merchant, when he casts up his estate, he
counts what he hath sent beyond sea, as well as what he hath in
hand; so doth faith reckon upon what he hath sent to heaven in
prayer and not received, as well as those mercies which he hath
received, and are in hand at present. Now this expectation which
faith raiseth in the soul after prayer, appears in the power
that it hath to quiet and compose the soul in the interim
between the sending forth, as I may say, the ship of prayer, and
its return home with its rich lading it goes for, and it is more
or less, according as faith's strength is. Sometimes faith comes
from prayer in triumph, and cries, Victoria. It gives
such a being and existence to the mercy prayed for in the
Christian's soul before any likelihood of it appears to sense
and reason, that the Christian can silence all his troubled
thoughts with the expectation of its coming. Yea, it will make
the Christian disburse his praises for the mercy long before it
is received. . . . . . For want of looking up many a prayer is
lost. If you do not believe, why do you pray? And if you
believe, why do you not expect? By praying you seem to depend on
God; by not expecting, you again renounce your confidence. What
is this but to take his name in vain? O Christian, stand to your
prayer in a holy expectation of what you have begged upon the
credit of the promise. . . . . Mordecai, no doubt, had put up
many prayers for Esther, and therefore he waits at the king's
gate, looking what answer God would in his providence give
therunto. Do thou likewise. William Gurnall.
Verse 4. "Thou art not a God that hath
pleasure in wickedness." As a man that cutteth with a
dull knife is the cause of cutting, but not of the ill-cutting
and hacking of the knife—the knife is the cause of that; or if
a man strike upon an instrument that is out of tune, he is the
cause of the sound, but not of the jarring sound—that is the
fault of the untuned strings; or, as a man riding upon a lame
horse, stirs him—the man is the cause of the motion, but the
horse himself of the halting motion: thus God is the author of
every action, but not of the evil of that action—that is from
man. He that makes instruments and tools of iron or other metal,
he maketh not the rust and canker which corrupteth them, that is
from another cause; nor doth that heavenly workman, God
Almighty, bring in sin and iniquity; nor can he be justly blamed
if his creatures do soil and besmear themselves with the
foulness of sin, for he made them good. Spencer's Things New
and Old.
Verses 4-6. Here the Lord's alienation from the wicked
is set forth gradually, and seems to rise by six steps. First, he
hath no pleasure in them; secondly, they shall not dwell
with him; thirdly, he casteth them forth, they shall not
stand in his sight; fourthly, his heart turns from them, thou
hatest all the workers of iniquity; fifthly, his hand is
turned upon them, thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing;
sixthly, his spirit rises against them, and is alienated from
them, the Lord will abhor the bloody man. This
estrangement is indeed a strange (yet a certain) punishment
to "the workers of iniquity." These words, "the
workers of iniquity," may be considered two ways.
First, as intending (not all degrees of sinners, or sinners of
every degree, but) the highest degree of sinners, great, and
gross sinners, resolved and wilful sinners. Such as sin
industriously, and, as it were, artificially, with skill and
care to get themselves a name, as if they had an ambition to be
accounted workmen that need not to be ashamed of doing
that whereof all ought to be ashamed; these, in strictness of
Scripture sense, are "workers of iniquity."
Hence note, notorious sinners make sin their business, or
trade. Though every sin be a work of iniquity, yet
only some sinners are "workers of iniquity;"
and they who are called so, make their calling to sin. We read
of some who love and make a lie. Revelation 22:15. A lie
may be told by those who neither love nor make it; but there are
lie-makers, and they, sure enough, are lovers of a lie. Such
craftsmen in sinning are also described in Psalm
58:2—"Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the
violence of your hands in the earth." The psalmist doth not
say, they had wickedness in their heart, but 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. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 5. What an astonishing thing is sin, which
maketh the God of love and Father of mercies an enemy to his
creatures, and which could only be purged by the blood of the
Son of God! Though all must believe this who believe the Bible,
yet the exceeding sinfulness of sin is but weakly apprehended by
those who have the deepest sense of it, and will never be fully
known in this world. Thomas Adam's Private Thoughts,
1701-1784.
Verse 5 (last clause). "Thou hatest all
workers of iniquity." For what God thinks of sin, see
Deuteronomy 7:22; Proverbs 6:16; Revelation 2:6, 15; where he
expresseth his detestation and hatred of it, from which hatred
proceeds all those direful plagues and judgments thundered from
the fiery mouth of his most holy law against it; nay, not only
the work, but worker also of iniquity becomes the object
of his hatred. William Gurnall.
Verse 5 (last clause). "Thou hatest all
workers of iniquity." If God's hatred be against the
workers of iniquity, how great is it against iniquity itself! If
a man hates a poisonous creature, he hates poison much more. The
strength of God's hatred is against sin, and so should we hate
sin, and hate it with strength; it is an abomination unto God,
let it be so unto us. Proverbs 6:16-19, "These six things
doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him; a
proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift
to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that
soweth discord among brethren." William Greenhill.
Verse 5 (last clause). Those whom the Lord
hates must perish. But he hates impenitent sinners, "Thou
hatest all workers of iniquity." Now, who are so
properly workers of iniquity as those who are so eager at it
that they will not leave this work, though they be in danger to
perish for it? Christ puts it out of doubt. The workers of
iniquity must perish. Luke 13:27. Those whom the Lord will tear
in his wrath must perish with a witness; but those whom he
hates, he tears, &c. Job 16:8. What more due to such
impenitent sinners than hatred? What more proper than wrath,
since they treasure up wrath? Romans 2:5. Will he entertain
those in the bosom of love whom his soul hates? No; destruction
is their portion. Proverbs 21:15. If all the curses of the law,
all the threatenings of the gospel, all judgments in earth or in
hell, will be the ruin of him, he must perish. If the Lord's arm
be strong enough to wound him dead, he must die. Psalm 68:21. .
. . . . . Avoid all that Christ hates. If you love, approve,
entertain that which is hateful to Christ, how can he love you?
What is that which Christ hates? The psalmist (Psalm 45:7) tells
us, making it one of Christ's attributes, to hate wickedness. .
. . . As Christ hates iniquity, so the "workers of
iniquity." You must not love them, so as to be intimate
with them, delight in the company of evil doers, openly profane,
scorners of godliness, obstructors of the power of it. 2
Corinthians 6:14-18. If you love so near relations to wicked
men, Christ will have no relation to you. If you would have
communion with Christ in sweet acts of love, you must have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, nor those that
act them. David Clarkson, B.D., 1621-1686.
Verse 6. "Thou shalt destroy them that speak
leasing," whether in jest or earnest. Those that lie in
jest will (without repentance) go to hell in earnest. John
Trapp.
Verse 6. "Thou shalt destroy them that speak
leasing," etc. In the same field where Absalom raised
battle against his father, stood the oak that was his gibbet.
The mule whereon he rode was his hangman, for the mule carried
him to the tree, and the hair wherein he gloried served for a
rope to hang. Little know the wicked how everything which now
they have shall be a snare to trap them when God begins to
punish them. William Cowper, 1612.
Verse 7. "In thy fear will I worship."
As natural fear makes the spirits retire from the outward parts
of the body to the heart, so a holy fear of miscarrying in so
solemn a duty would be a means to call thy thoughts from all
exterior carnal objects, and fix them upon the duty in hand. As
the sculpture is on the seal, so will the print on the wax be;
if the fear of God be deeply engraven on thy heart, there is no
doubt but it will make a suitable impression on the duty thou
performest. William Gurnall.
Verse 7. David saith, "In thy fear will I
worship toward thy holy temple." The temple did shadow
forth the body of our Lord Christ, the Mediator, in whom only
our prayers and service are accepted with the Father which
Solomon respected in looking towards the temple. Thomas
Manton, D.D., 1620-1677.
Verse 7. "But as for me," etc. A
blessed verse this! a blessed saying! The words and the sense
itself, carry with them a powerful contrast. For there are two
things with which this life is exercised, HOPE and FEAR, which
are, as it were, those two springs of Judges 1:15, the one from
above, the other from beneath. Fear comes from beholding
the threats and fearful judgments of God; as being a God in
whose sight no one is clean, every one is a sinner, every one is
damnable. But hope comes from beholding the promises, and
the all-sweet mercies of God; as it is written (Psalm 25:6),
"Remember, O Lord, thy loving kindnesses, and thy tender
mercies which have been ever of old." Between these two, as
between the upper and nether millstone, we must always be ground
and kept, that we may never turn either to the right hand or to
the left. For this turning is the state peculiar to hypocrites,
who are exercised with the two contrary things, security and
presumption. Martin Luther.
Verse 9. If the whole soul be infected with such a
desperate disease, what a great and difficult work it is to
regenerate, to restore men again to spiritual life and vigour,
when every part of them is seized by such a mortal distemper!
How great a cure doth the Spirit of God effect in restoring a
soul by sanctifying it! To heal but the lungs or the liver, if
corrupted, is counted a great cure, though performed but upon
one part of thee; but all thy inward parts are very rottenness. "For
there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is
very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter
with their tongue." How great a cure is it then to heal
thee! Such as is only in the skill and power of God to do. Thomas
Goodwin.
Verse 9. "Their throat is an open sepulchre."
This figure graphically portrays the filthy conversation of the
wicked. Nothing can be more abominable to the senses than an
open sepulchre, when a dead body beginning to putrefy steams
forth its tainted exhalations. What proceeds out of their mouth
is infected and putrid; and, as the exhalation from a sepulchre
proves the corruption within, so it is with the corrupt
conversation of sinners. Robert Haldane's "Expositions
of the Epistle to the Romans," 1835.
Verse 9. "Their throat is an open sepulchre."
This doth admonish us, (1) that the speeches of natural
unregenerate men are unsavory, rotten, and hurtful to others;
for, as a sepulchre doth send out noisome savours and filthy
smells, so evil men do utter rotten and filthy words. (2) As a
sepulchre doth consume and devour bodies cast into it, so wicked
men do with their cruel words destroy others; they are like a
gulf to destroy others. (3) As a sepulchre, having devoured many
corpses, is still ready to consume more, being never satisfied,
so wicked men, having overthrown many with their words, do
proceed in their outrage, seeking whom they may devour. Thomas
Wilson, 1653.
Verse 9. "Their inward part," etc.
Their hearts are storehouses for the devil. John Trapp.
Verse 10. All those portions where we find apparently
prayers that breathe revenge, are never to be thought of as
anything else than the breathed assent of righteous souls
to the justice of their God, who taketh vengeance on sin. When
taken as the words of Christ himself, they are no other than an
echo of the Intercessor's acquiescence at last in the sentence
on the barren fig-tree. It is as if he cried aloud, "Hew it
down now, I will intercede no longer, the doom is righteous, destroy
them, O God; cast them out in (or, for) the multitude of
their transgressions, for they have rebelled against thee."
And in the same moment he may be supposed to invite his saints
to sympathise in his decision; just as in Revelation 18:20,
"Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and
prophets." In like manner when one of Christ's members, in
entire sympathy with his Head, views the barren fig-tree from
the same point of observation, and sees the glory of God
concerned in inflicting the blow, he too can cry, "Let the
axe smite!" Had Abraham stood beside the angel who
destroyed Sodom, and seen how Jehovah's name required the ruin
of these impenitent rebels, he would have cried out, "Let
the shower descend; let the fire and brimstone come down!"
not in any spirit of revenge; not from want of tender love to
souls, but from intense earnestness of concern for the glory of
his God. We consider this explanation to be the real key that
opens all the difficult passages in this book, where curses seem
to be called for on the head of the ungodly. They are no more
than a carrying out of Deuteronomy 27:15-26, "Let all the
people say, Amen," and an entering into the Lord's holy
abhorrence of sin, and delight in acts of justice expressed in
the "Amen, hallelujah," of Revelation 19:3. Andrew
A. Bonar, 1859.
Verse 10. (Or imprecatory passages generally.)
Lord, when in my daily service I read David's Psalms, give me to
alter the accent of my soul according to their several subjects.
In such Psalms wherein he confesseth his sins, or requesteth thy
pardon, or praiseth for former, or prayeth for future favours,
in all these give me to raise my soul to as high a pitch as may
be. But when I come to such Psalms wherein he curseth his
enemies, O there let me bring my soul down to a lower note. For
those words were made only to fit David's mouth. I have the like
breath, but not the same spirit to pronounce them. Nor let me
flatter myself, that it is lawful for me, with David, to curse
thine enemies, lest my deceitful heart entitle mine enemies to
be thine, and so what was religion in David, prove malice in me,
whilst I act revenge under the pretense of piety. Thomas
Fuller, D.D., 1608-1661.
Verse 12. When the strong man armed comes against us,
when he darts his fiery darts, what can hurt us, if God compass
us about with his lovingkindness as with a shield? He can
disarm the tempter and restrain his malice, and tread him under
our feet. If God be not with us, if he do not give us sufficient
grace, so subtle, so powerful, so politic an enemy, will be too
hard for us. How surely are we foiled, and get the worse, when
we pretend to grapple with him in our own strength! How many
falls, and how many bruises by those falls have we got, by
relying too much on our own skill? How often have we had the
help of God when we have humbly asked it! And how sure are we to
get the victory, if Christ pray for us that we do not fail!
Luke 22:31. Where can we go for shelter but unto God our Maker!
When this lion of the forest does begin to roar, how will he
terrify and vex us, till he that permits him for awhile to
trouble us, be pleased to chain him up again! Timothy Rogers,
1691.
Verse 12. "As with a shield." Luther,
when making his way into the presence of Cardinal Cajetan, who
had summoned him to answer for his heretical opinions at
Augsburg, was asked by one of the Cardinal's minions, where he
should find a shelter, if his patron, the Elector of Saxony,
should desert him? "Under the shield of heaven!" was
the reply. The silenced minion turned round, and went his way.
Verse 12. "With favour wilt thou compass him
as with a shield." The shield is not for the defence of
any particular part of the body, as almost all the other pieces
are: helmet, fitted for the head; plate, designed for the
breast; and so others, they have their several parts, which they
are fastened to; but the shield is a piece that is intended for
the defence of the whole body. It was used therefore to be made
very large; for its broadness, called a gate or door, because so
long and large, as in a manner to cover the whole body. And if
the shield were not large enough at once to cover every part,
yet being a movable piece of armour, the skilful soldier might
turn it this way or that way, to catch the blow or arrow from
lighting on any part they were directed to. And this indeed doth
excellently well set forth the universal use that faith is of to
the Christian. It defends the whole man: every part of the
Christian by it is preserved. . . . . The shield doth not only
defend the whole body, but it is a defence to the soldier's
armour also; it keeps the arrow from the helmet as well as head,
from the breast and breastplate also. Thus faith, it is armour
upon armour, a grace that preserves all the other graces. William
Gurnall.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verses 1, 2. Prayer in its threefold form. "Words,
meditation, cry." Showing how utterance is of no avail
without heart, but that fervent longings and silent desires are
accepted, even when unexpressed.
Verse 3. The excellence of morning devotion.
Verse 3. (last two clauses)
1.
Prayer directed.
2.
Answers expected.
Verse 4. God's hatred of sin an example to his people.
Verse 5. "The foolish." Show why
sinners are justly called fools.
Verse 7. "Multitude of thy nercy."
Dwell upon the varied grace and goodness of God.
Verse 7. The devout resolution
Verse 7.
I.
Observe the singularity of the resolution.
II.
Mark the object of the resolution. It regards the service
of God in the sanctuary. "I will come into thine house.
. . in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy temple."
III.
The manner in which he would accomplish the resolution.
(1)
Impressed with a sense of the divine goodness: "I will come
into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy."
(2)
Filled with holy veneration: "And in thy fear will I
worship." William Jay, 1842.
Verse 8. God's guidance needed always and especially
when enemies are watching us.
Verse 10. Viewed as a threatening. The sentence,
"Cast them out in the multitude of their
transgressions," is specially fitted to be the groundwork
of a very solemn discourse.
Verse 11.
I.
The character of the righteous: faith and love.
II.
The privileges of the righteous.
(1)
Joy—great, pure, satisfying, triumphant, (shout)
constant (ever).
(2)
Defence—by power, providence, angels, grace, etc.
Verse 11. Joy in the Lord both a duty and a privilege.
Verse 12. (first clause). The divine
blessing upon the righteous. It is ancient, effectual,
constant, extensive, irreversible, surpassing, eternal,
infinite.
Verse 12. (second clause). A sense of divine
favour a defence to the soul.