TITLE. "Shiggaion of David, which he sang
unto the Lord, concerning the word of Cush the Benjamite."—"Shiggaion
of David." As far as we can gather from the observations of
learned men, and from a comparison of this Psalm with the only
other Shiggaion in the Word of God, (Habakkuk 3:1), this title
seems to mean "variable songs," with which also the
idea of solace and pleasure is associated. Truly our life-psalm
is composed of variable verses; one stanza rolls along with the
sublime metre of triumph, but another limps with the broken
rhythm of complaint. There is much bass in the saint's music
here below. Our experience is as variable as the weather in
England.
From
the title we learn the occasion of the composition of this song.
It appears probable that Cush the Benjamite had accused David to
Saul of treasonable conspiracy against his royal authority. This
the king would be ready enough to credit, both from his jealousy
of David, and from the relation which most probably existed
between himself, the son of Kish, and this Cush, or Kish, the
Benjamite. He who is near the throne can do more injury to a
subject than an ordinary slanderer.
This
may be called the SONG OF THE SLANDERED SAINT. Even this
sorest of evils may furnish occasion for a Psalm. What a
blessing it would be if we could turn even the most disastrous
event into a theme for song, and so turn the tables upon our
great enemy. Let us learn a lesson from Luther, who once said,
"David made Psalms; we also will make Psalms, and sing them
as well as we can to the honour of our Lord, and to spite and
mock the devil."
DIVISION. In the first and second verses the danger is
stated, and prayer offered. Then the Psalmist most solemnly
avows his innocence. (3, 4, 5). The Lord is pleaded with to
arise to judgment (6, 7). The Lord, sitting upon his throne,
hears the renewed appeal of the Slandered Supplicant (8, 9). The
Lord clears his servant, and threatens the wicked (10, 11, 12,
13). The slanderer is seen in vision bringing a curse upon his
own head, (14, 15, 16), while David retires from trial singing a
hymn of praise to his righteous God. We have here a noble sermon
upon that text: "No weapon that is formed against thee
shall prosper, and every tongue that riseth against thee in
judgment thou shalt condemn."
EXPOSITION Verse 1. David appears before God
to plead with him against the Accuser, who had charged him with
treason and treachery. The case is here opened with an avowal of
confidence in God. Whatever may be the emergency of our
condition we shall never find it amiss to retain our reliance
upon our God. "O Lord my God," mine by a
special covenant, sealed by Jesus' blood, and ratified in my own
soul by a sense of union to thee; "in thee,"
and in thee only, "do I put my trust," even now
in my sore distress. I shake, but my rock moves not. It is never
right to distrust God, and never vain to trust him. And now,
with both divine relationship and holy trust to strengthen him,
David utters the burden of his desire—"save me from
all them that persecute me." His pursuers were very
many, and any one of them cruel enough to devour him; he cries,
therefore, for salvation from them all. We should never
think our prayers complete until we ask for preservation
from all sin, and all enemies. "And deliver
me," extricate me from their snares, acquit me of their
accusations, give a true and just deliverance in this trial of
my injured character. See how clearly his case is stated; let us
see to it, that we know what we would have when we are come to
the throne of mercy. Pause a little while before you pray, that
you may not offer the sacrifice of fools. Get a distinct idea of
your need, and then you can pray with the more fluency of
fervency.
Verse 2. "Lest he tear my soul." Here is the
plea of fear co-working with the plea of faith. There was one
among David's foes mightier that the rest, who had both dignity,
strength, and ferocity, and was, therefore, "like a
lion." From this foe he urgently seeks deliverance.
Perhaps this was Saul, his royal enemy; but in our own case
there is one who goes about like a lion, seeking whom he may
devour, concerning whom we should ever cry, "Deliver us
from the Evil One." Notice the vigour of the description—"rending
it in pieces, while there is none to deliver." It is a
picture from the shepherd-life of David. When the fierce lion
had pounced upon the defenceless lamb, and had made it his prey,
he would rend the victim in pieces, break all the bones, and
devour all, because no shepherd was near to protect the lamb or
rescue it from the ravenous beast. This is a soul-moving
portrait of a saint delivered over to the will of Satan. This
will make the bowels of Jehovah yearn. A father cannot be silent
when a child is in such peril. No, he will not endure the
thought of his darling in the jaws of a lion, he will arise and
deliver his persecuted one. Our God is very pitiful, and he will
surely rescue his people from so desperate a destruction. It
will be well for us here to remember that this is a description
of the danger to which the Psalmist was exposed from slanderous
tongues. Verily this is not an overdrawn picture, for the wounds
of a sword will heal, but the wounds of the tongue cut deeper
than the flesh, and are not soon cured. Slander leaves a slur,
even if it be wholly disproved. Common fame, although
notoriously a common liar, has very many believers. Once let an
ill word get into men's mouths, and it is not easy to get it
fully out again. The Italians say that good repute is like the
cypress, once cut it never puts forth leaf again; this is not
true if our character be cut by a stranger's hand, but even then
it will not soon regain its former verdure. Oh, 'tis a meanness
most detestable to stab a good man in his reputation, but
diabolical hatred observes no nobility in its mode of warfare.
We must be ready for this trial, for it will surely come upon
us. If God was slandered in Eden, we shall surely be maligned in
this land of sinners. Gird up your loins, ye children of the
resurrection, for this fiery trial awaits you all.
Verses 3-5. The second part of this wandering hymn contains a
protestation of innocence, and an invocation of wrath upon his
own head, if he were not clear from the evil imputed to him. So
far from hiding treasonable intentions in his hands, or
ungratefully requiting the peaceful deeds of a friend, he had
even suffered his enemy to escape when he had him completely in
his power. Twice had he spared Saul's life; once in the cave of
Adullam, and again when he found him sleeping in the midst of
his slumbering camp: he could, therefore, with a clear
conscience, make his appeal to heaven. He needs not fear the
curse whose soul is clear of guilt. Yet is the imprecation a
most solemn one, and only justifiable through the extremity of
the occasion, and the nature of the dispensation under which the
Psalmist lived. We are commanded by our Lord Jesus to let
our yea be yea, and our nay, nay: "for whatsoever is more
than this cometh of evil." If we cannot be believed on our
word, we are surely not to be trusted on our oath; for to a true
Christian his simple word is as binding as another man's oath.
Especially beware, O unconverted men! of trifling with solemn
imprecations. Remember the woman at Devizes, who wished she
might die if she had not paid her share in a joint purchase, and
who fell dead there and then with the money in her hand.
Selah.
David enhances the solemnity of this appeal to the dread
tribunal of God by the use of the usual pause.
From
these verses we may learn that no innocence can shield a man
from the calumnies of the wicked. David had been scrupulously
careful to avoid any appearance of rebellion against Saul, whom
he constantly styled "the Lord's anointed;" but all
this could not protect him from lying tongues. As the shadow
follows the substance, so envy pursues goodness. It is only at
the tree laden with fruit that men throw stones. If we would
live without being slandered we must wait till we get to heaven.
Let us be very heedful not to believe the flying rumors which
are always harassing gracious men. If there are no believers in
lies there will be but a dull market in falsehood, and good
men's characters will be safe. Ill-will never spoke well.
Sinners have an ill-will to saints, and therefore, be sure they
will not speak well of them.
Verse 6. We now listen to a fresh prayer, based upon the
avowal which he has just made. We cannot pray too often, and
when our heart is true, we shall turn to God in prayer as
naturally as the needle to its pole.
"Arise,
O Lord, in thine anger." His sorrow makes him view the
Lord as a judge who had left the judgment-seat and retired into
his rest. Faith would move the Lord to avenge the quarrel of his
saints. "Lift up thyself because of the rage of mine
enemies"—a still stronger figure to express his
anxiety that the Lord would assume his authority and mount the
throne. Stand up, O God, rise thou above them all, and let thy
justice tower above their villainies. "Awake for me to
the judgment that thou hast commanded." This is a
bolder utterance still, for it implies sleep as well as
inactivity, and can only be applied to God in a very limited
sense. He never slumbers, yet doth he often seem to do so; for
the wicked prevail, and the saints are trodden in the dust.
God's silence is the patience of longsuffering, and if wearisome
to the saints, they should bear it cheerfully in the hope that
sinners may thereby be led to repentance.
Verse 7. "So shall the congregation of the people
compass thee about." Thy saints shall crowd to thy
tribunal with their complaints, or shall surround it with their
solemn homage: "for their sakes therefore return thou on
high." As when a judge travels at the assizes, all men
take their cases to his court that they may be heard, so will
the righteous gather to their Lord. Here he fortifies himself in
prayer by pleading that if the Lord will mount the throne of
judgment, multitudes of the saints would be blessed as well as
himself. If I be too base to be remembered, yet, "for
their sakes," for the love thou bearest to thy chosen
people, come forth from thy secret pavilion, and sit in the gate
dispensing justice among the people. When my suit includes the
desires of all the righteous it shall surely speed, for,
"shall not God avenge his own elect?"
Verse 8. If I am not mistaken, David has now seen in the eye
of his mind the Lord ascending to his judgment-seat, and
beholding him seated there in royal state, he draws near to him
to urge his suit anew. In the last two verses he besought
Jehovah to arise, and now that he is arisen, he prepares to
mingle with "the congregation of the people" who
compass the Lord about. The royal heralds proclaim the opening
of the court with the solemn words, "The Lord shall
judge the people." Our petitioner rises at once, and
cries with earnestness and humility, "Judge me, O Lord,
according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity
that is in me." His hand is on an honest heart, and his
cry is to a righteous Judge.
Verse 9. He sees a smile of complacency upon the face of the
King, and in the name of all the assembled congregation he cries
aloud, "Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an
end; but establish the just." Is not this the universal
longing of the whole company of the elect? When shall we be
delivered from the filthy conversation of these men of Sodom?
When shall we escape from the filthiness of Mesech and the
blackness of the tents of Kedar?
What
a solemn and weighty truth is contained in the last sentence of
the ninth verse! How deep is the divine knowledge!—"He
trieth." How strict, how accurate, how intimate his
search!—"he trieth the hearts," the secret
thoughts, "and reins," the inward affections.
"All things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with
whom we have to do."
Verse 10. The judge has heard the cause, has cleared the
guiltless, and uttered his voice against the persecutors. Let us
draw near, and learn the results of the great assize. Yonder is
the slandered one with his harp in hand, hymning the justice of
his Lord, and rejoicing aloud in his own deliverance. "My
defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart."
Oh, how good to have a true and upright heart. Crooked
sinners, with all their craftiness, are foiled by the upright in
heart. God defends the right. Filth will not long abide on the
pure white garments of the saints, but shall be brushed off by
divine providence, to the vexation of the men by whose base
hands it was thrown upon the godly. When God shall try our
cause, our sun has risen, and the sun of the wicked is set for
ever. Truth, like oil, is ever above, no power of our enemies
can drown it; we shall refute their slanders in the day when the
trumpet wakes the dead, and we shall shine in honour when lying
lips are put to silence. O believer, fear not all that thy foes
can do or say against thee, for the tree which God plants no
winds can hurt.
Verse 11. "God judgeth the righteous," he
hath not given thee up to be condemned by the lips of
persecutors. Thine enemies cannot sit on God's throne, nor blot
thy name out of his book. Let them alone, then, for God will
find time for his revenge.
"God
is angry with the wicked every day." He not only
detests sin, but is angry with those who continue to indulge in
it. We have no insensible and stolid God to deal with; he can be
angry, nay, he is angry to-day and every day with you, ye
ungodly and impenitent sinners. The best day that ever dawns on
a sinner brings a curse with it. Sinners may have many feast
days, but no safe days. From the beginning of the year even to
its ending, there is not an hour in which God's oven is not hot,
and burning in readiness for the wicked, who shall be as
stubble.
Verse 12. "If he turn not, he will whet his
sword." What blows are those which will be dealt by
that long uplifted arm! God's sword has been sharpening upon the
revolving stone of our daily wickedness, and if we will not
repent, it will speedily cut us in pieces. Turn or burn is the
sinner's only alternative. "He hath bent his bow and
made it ready."
Verse 13. Even now the thirsty arrow longs to wet itself with
the blood of the persecutor. The bow is bent, the aim is
taken, the arrow is fitted to the string, and what, O sinner, if
the arrow should be let fly at thee even now! Remember, God's
arrows never miss the mark, and are, every one of them,
"instruments of death." Judgment may tarry, but it
will not come too late. The Greek proverb saith, "The mill
of God grinds late, but grinds to powder."
Verse 14. In three graphic pictures we see the slanderer's
history. A woman in travail furnishes the first metaphor. "He
travaileth with iniquity." He is full of it, pained
until he can carry it out, he longs to work his will, he is full
of pangs until his evil intent is executed. "He hath
conceived mischief." This is the original of his base
design. The devil has had doings with him, and the virus of evil
is in him. And now behold the progeny of this unhallowed
conception. The child is worthy of its father, his name of old
was,"the father of lies," and the birth doth not belie
the parent, for he brought forth falsehood. Thus, one
figure is carried out to perfection; the Psalmist now
illustrates his meaning by another, taken from the stratagems of
the hunter.
Verse 15. "He made a pit, and digged it."
He was cunning in his plans, and industrious in his labours. He
stooped to the dirty work of digging. He did not fear to soil
his own hands, he was willing to work in a ditch if
others might fall therein. What mean things men will do to wreak
revenge on the godly. They hunt for good men, as if they were
brute beasts; nay, they will not give them the fair chase
afforded to the hare or the fox, but must secretly entrap them,
because they can neither run them down nor shoot them down. Our
enemies will not meet us to the face, for they fear us as much
as they pretend to despise us. But let us look on to the end of
the scene. The verse says, he "is fallen into the ditch
which he made." Ah! there he is, let us laugh at his
disappointment. Lo! he is himself the beast, he has hunted his
own soul, and the chase has brought him a goodly victim. Aha,
aha, so should it ever be. Come hither and make merry with this
entrapped hunter, this biter who has bitten himself. Give him no
pity, for it will be wasted on such a wretch. He is but rightly
and richly rewarded by being paid in his own coin. He cast forth
evil from his mouth, and it has fallen into his bosom. He has
set his own house on fire with the torch which he lit to burn a
neighbour. He sent forth a foul bird, and it has come back to
its nest.
Verse 16. The rod which he lifted on high, has smitten his
own back. He shot an arrow upward, and it has "returned
upon his own head." He hurled a stone at another and it
has "come down upon his own pate." Curses are
like young chickens, they always come home to roost. Ashes
always fly back in the face of him that throws them. "As he
loved cursing, so let it come unto him." (Psalm 109:17.)
How often has this been the case in the histories of both
ancient and modern times. Men have burned their own fingers when
they were hoping to brand their neighbour. And if this does not
happen now, it will hereafter. The Lord has caused dogs to lick
the blood of Ahab in the midst of the vineyard of Naboth. Sooner
or later the evil deeds of persecutors have always leaped back
into their arms. So it will be in the last great day, when
Satan's fiery darts shall all be quivered in his own heart, and
all his followers shall reap the harvest which they themselves
have sown.
Verse 17. We conclude with the joyful contrast. In this all
these Psalms are agreed; they all exhibit the blessedness of the
righteous, and make its colours the more glowing by contrast
with the miseries of the wicked. The bright jewel sparkles in a
black foil. Praise is the occupation of the godly, their
eternal work, and their present pleasure. Singing is the
fitting embodiment for praise, and therefore do the saints make
melody before the Lord Most High. The slandered one is now a
singer: his harp was unstrung for a very little season, and now
we leave him sweeping its harmonious chords, and flying on their
music to the third heaven of adoring praise.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Title. "Shiggaion," though some have
attempted to fix on it a reference to the moral aspect of the
world as depicted in this Psalm, is in all probability to be
taken as expressing the nature of the composition. It
conveys the idea of something erratic ((Heb.), to wander)
in the style; something not so calm as other Psalms; and hence Ewald
suggests, that it might be rendered, "a confused ode,"
a Dithyramb. This characteristic of excitement in the style, and
a kind of disorder in the sense, suits Habakkuk 3:1, the only
other place where the word occurs. Andrew A. Bonar.
Whole Psalm. Whatever might be the occasion of the
Psalm, the real subject seems to be the Messiah's appeal to God
against the false accusations of his enemies; and the
predictions which it contains of the final conversion of the
whole world, and of the future judgment, are clear and explicit.
Samuel Horsley, LL.D., 1733-1806.
Verse 1. "O Lord, my God, in thee do I put my
trust." This is the first instance in the Psalms where
David addresses the Almighty by the united names Jehovah and my
God. No more suitable words can be placed at the beginning of
any act of prayer or praise. These names show the ground of the
confidence afterward expressed. They "denote at once
supreme reverence and the most endearing confidence. They convey
a recognition of God's infinite perfections, and of his
covenanted and gracious relations." William S. Plumer.
Verse 2. "Lest he tear my soul like a
lion," etc. It is reported of tigers, that they enter
into a rage upon the scent of fragrant spices; so do ungodly men
at the blessed savour of godliness. I have read of some
barbarous nations, who, when the sun shines hot upon them, they
shoot up their arrows against it; so do wicked men at the light
and heat of godliness. There is a natural antipathy between the
spirits of godly men and the wicked. Genesis 3:15. "I will
put enmity between thy seed and her seed." Jeremiah
Burroughs, 1660.
Verse 3. "O Lord, my God, if I have done this,
if there be iniquity in my hands." In the primitive
times the people of God were then a people under great reproach.
What strange things does Tertullian tell us they reproached them
withal; as that in their meetings they made Thyestes suppers,
who invited his brother to a supper, and presented him with a
dish of his own flesh. They charged them with uncleanness
because they met in the night (for they durst not meet in the
day,) and said, they blew out the candles when they were
together, and committed filthiness. They reproached them for
ignorance, saying, they were all unlearned; and therefore the
heathens in Tertullian's time used to paint the God of the
Christians with an ass's head, and a book in his hand to signify
that though they pretended learning, yet they were an unlearned,
silly people, rude and ignorant. Bishop Jewel in his sermon upon
Luke 11:5, cites this out of Tertullian, and applies it to his
time:—"Do not our adversaries do the like," saith
he, "at this day, against all those that profess the gospel
of Christ? Oh, say they, who are they that favour this way? they
are none but shoemakers, tailors, weavers, and such as were
never at the university;" they are the bishop's own words.
He cites likewise Tertullian a little after, saying, that the
Christians were accounted the public enemies of the State. And
Josephus tells us of Apollinaris, speaking concerning the Jews
and Christians, that they were more foolish than any barbarian.
And Paulus Fagius reports a story of an Egyptian, concerning the
Christians, who said, "They were a gathering together of a
most filthy, lecherous people;" and for the keeping of the
Sabbath, he says, "they had a disease that was upon them,
and they were fain to rest the seventh day because of that
disease." And so in Augustine's time, he hath this
expression, "Any one that begins to be godly, presently he
must prepare to suffer reproach from the tongues of
adversaries;" and this was their usual manner of reproach,
"What shall we have of you, an Elias? a Jeremy?" And
Nazianzen, in one of his orations says, "It is ordinary to
reproach, that I cannot think to go free myself." And so
Athanasius, they called him Sathanasius, because he was a
special instrument against the Arians. And Cyprian, they called
him Coprian, one that gathers up dung, as if all the excellent
things that he had gathered in his works was but dung. Jeremiah
Burroughs.
Verse 3. "If I have done this; if there be
iniquity in my hands." I deny not but you may, and
ought to be sensible of the wrong done to your name, for as
"a good name is a precious ointment" (Canticles 1:3),
so to have an evil name is a great judgment; and therefore you
ought not to be insensible of the wrong done to your name by
slanders and reproaches, saying, "Let men speak of me what
they please, I care not, so long as I know mine own innocency,"
for though the testimony of your own innocency be a ground of
comfort unto you, yet your care must be not only to approve
yourselves unto God, but also unto men, to be as careful of your
good names as possibly ye can; but yet you are not to manifest
any distemper or passion upon the reproachful speeches of others
against you. Thomas Gouge, 1660.
Verse 3. It is a sign that there is some good in thee
if a wicked world abuse thee. "Quid mali feci?"
said Socrates, what evil have I done that this bad man commends
me? The applause of the wicked usually denotes some evil, and
their censure imports some good. Thomas Watson.
Verse 3. "If there be iniquity in my
hands." Injustice is ascribed to the hand, not
because injustice as always, though usually it be, done by the
hand. With the hand men take away, and with that men detain the
right of others. David speaks thus (1 Chronicles 12:17),
"Seeing there is no wrong in mine hands;" that is, I
have done no wrong. Joseph Caryl.
Verses 3, 4. A good conscience is a flowing spring of
assurance. "For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our
conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with
fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our
conversation in the world, and more abundantly to
you-ward." 2 Corinthians 1:12. "Beloved, if our heart
condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God." 1
John 3:21. A good conscience has sure confidence. He who has it
sits in the midst of all combustions and distractions,
Noah-like, all sincerity and serenity, uprightness and boldness.
What the probationer disciple said to our Saviour, "Master,
I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest," that a good
conscience says to the believing soul; I will stand by thee; I
will strengthen thee; I will uphold thee; I will be a comfort to
thee in life, and a friend to thee in death. "Though all
should leave thee, yet will I never forsake thee," Thomas
Brooks.
Verse 4. "Yea, I have delivered him that
without cause is mine enemy." Meaning Saul, whose life
he twice preserved, once in Engedi, and again when he slept on
the plain. John Gill.
Verse 4. "If I have rewarded evil unto him
that was at peace with me." To do evil for good, is
human corruption; to do good for good, is civil retribution; but
to good for evil, is Christian perfection. Though this be not
the grace of nature, yet it is the nature of grace. William
Secker.
Verse 4. Then is grace victorious, and then hath a man
a noble and brave spirit, not when he is overcome by evil (for
that argueth weakness), but when he can overcome evil. And it is
God's way to shame the party that did the wrong, and to overcome
him too; it is the best way to get the victory over him. When
David had Saul at an advantage in the cave, and cut off the lap
of his garment, and did forbear any act of revenge against him,
Saul was melted, and said to David, "Thou art more
righteous than I." 1 Samuel 24:17. Though he had such a
hostile mind against him, and chased and pursued him up and
down, yet when David forbear revenge when it was in his power,
it overcame him, and he falls a-weeping. Thomas Manton.
Verse 5. "Let him tread down my life upon the
earth." The allusion here is to the manner in which the
vanquished were often treated in battle, when they were rode
over by horses, or trampled by men in the dust. The idea of
David is, that if he was guilty he would be willing that his
enemy should triumph over him, should subdue him, should treat
him with the utmost indignity and scorn. Albert Barnes, in
loc.
Verse 5. "Mine honour in the dust."
When Achilles dragged the body of Hector in the dust around the
walls of Troy, he did but carry out the usual manners of those
barbarous ages. David dares in his conscious innocence to
imprecate such an ignominious fate upon himself if indeed the
accusation of the black Benjamite be true. He had need have a
golden character who dares to challenge such an ordeal. C. H.
S.
Verse 6. "The judgment which thou hast
ordained." In the end of the verse he shows that he
asks nothing but what is according to the appointment of God.
And this is the rule which ought to be observed by us in our
prayers; we should in everything conform our requests to the
divine will, as John also instructs us. 1 John 4:14. And,
indeed, we can never pray in faith unless we attend, in the
first place, to what God commands, that our minds may not rashly
and at random start aside in desiring more than we are permitted
to desire and pray for. David, therefore, in order to pray
aright, reposes himself on the word and promise of God; and the
import of his exercise is this: Lord, I am not led by ambition,
or foolish headstrong passion, or depraved desire,
inconsiderately to ask from thee whatever is pleasing to my
flesh; but it is the clear light of thy word which directs me,
and upon it I securely depend. John Calvin.
Verse 7. "The congregation of the
people:" either, 1. A great number of all sorts of
people, who shall observe thy justice, and holiness, and
goodness in pleading my righteous cause against my cruel and
implacable oppressor. Or rather, 2. The whole body of thy people
Israel, by whom both these Hebrew words are commonly ascribed in
Holy Scripture. "Compass thee about;" they
will, and I, as their king and ruler in thy stead, will take
care that they shall come from all parts and meet together to
worship thee, which in Saul's time they have grossly neglected,
and been permitted to neglect, and to offer to thee praises and
sacrifices for thy favour to me, and for the manifold benefits
which they shall enjoy by my means, and under my government. "For
their sakes;" or, for its sake, i.e., for the
sake of thy congregation, which now is woefully dissipated and
oppressed, and has in a great measure lost all administration of
justice, and exercise of religion. "Return thou on
high," or, return to thy high place,i.e. to thy
tribunal, to sit there and judge my cause. An allusion to
earthly tribunals, which generally are set up on high above the
people. 1 Kings 10:19. Matthew Poole, 1624-1679.
Verse 8. Believers! let not the terror of that day
dispirit you when you meditate upon it; let those who have
slighted the Judge, and continue enemies to him and the way of
holiness, droop and hang down their heads when they think of his
coming; but lift ye up your heads with joy, for the last day
will be your best day. The Judge is your Head and Husband, your
Redeemer, and your Advocate. Ye must appear before the
judgment-seat; but ye shall not come into condemnation. His
coming will not be against you, but for you. It is otherwise
with unbelievers, a neglected Saviour will be a severe
Judge. Thomas Boston, 1676-1732.
Verse 9. "The righteous God trieth the hearts
and reins." As common experience shows that the
workings of the mind, particularly the passions of joy, grief,
and fear, have a very remarkable effect on the reins or kidneys.
(See Proverbs 23:16; Psalm 73:21), so from their retired
situation in the body, and their being hid in fat, they are
often used to denote the most secret workings and affections of
the soul. And to "see or examine the reins," is
to see or examine those most secret thoughts or desires of the
soul. John Parkhurst, 1762.
Verse 9 (last clause). "The righteous
God trieth the hearts and reins."
"I that alone am infinite, can try
How deep within itself thine heart doth lie.
Thy seamen's plummet can but reach the ground,
I find that which thine heart itself ne'er found.
Francis Quarles, 1592-1644.
Verse 9. "The heart," may signify the
cogitations, and the "reins" the affections. Henry
Ainsworth.
Verse 10. "My defense is of God."
Literally, "My shield is upon God," like Psalm
62:8, "My salvation is upon God." The idea may be
taken from the armour-bearer, ever ready at hand to give the
needed weapon to the warrior. Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 11. "God judgeth the righteous,"
etc. Many learned disputes have arisen as to the meaning of this
verse; and it must be confessed that its real import is by no
means easily determined: without the words written in italics,
which are not in the original, it will read thus, "God
judgeth the righteous, and God is angry every day." The
question still will be, is this a good rendering? To this
question it may be replied, that there is strong evidence for a
contrary one. AINSWORTH translates it, "God is a
just judge; and God angrily threateneth every day." With
this corresponds the reading of COVERDALE'S Bible, "God is
a righteous judge, and God is ever threatening." In King
Edward's Bible, of 1549, the reading is the same. But there is
another class of critics who adopt quite a different view of the
text, and apparently with much colour of argument. BISHOP
HORSLEY read the verse, "God is a righteous judge, although
he is not angry every day." In this rendering he seems to
have followed most of the ancient versions. The VULGATE read it,
"God is a judge, righteous, strong, and patient; will he be
angry every day?" The SEPTUAGINT reads it, "God is a
righteous judge, strong, and longsuffering; not bringing forth
his anger every day." The SYRIAC has it, "God is the
judge of righteousness; he is not angry every day." In this
view of the text Dr. A. Clarke agrees, and expresses it as his
opinion that the text was first corrupted by the CHALDEE. This
learned divine proposes to restore the text thus, "(Heb.), el,
with the vowel point tseri, signifies God; (Heb.), al,
the same letters, with the point pathach, signifies not."
There is by this view of the original no repetition of the
divine name in the verse, so that it will simply read, as thus
restored, "God is a righteous judge, and is NOT angry every
day." The text at large, as is intimated in the VULGATE,
SEPTUAGINT, and some other ancient versions, conveys a strong
intimation of the longsuffering of God, whose hatred of sin is
unchangeable, but whose anger against transgressors is marked by
infinite patience, and does not burst forth in vengeance every
day. John Morrison, in "An Exposition of the Book of
Psalms," 1829.
Verse 11. "God is angry." The
original expression here is very forcible. The true idea of it
appears to be, to froth or foam at the mouth with
indignation. Richard Mant, D.D., 1824.
Verses 11, 12. God hath set up his royal standard in
defiance of all the sons and daughters of apostate Adam, who
from his own mouth are proclaimed rebels and traitors to his
crown and dignity; and as against such he hath taken the field,
as with fire and sword, to be avenged on them. Yea, he gives the
world sufficient testimony of his incensed wrath, by that of it
which is revealed from heaven daily in the judgments executed
upon sinners, and those many but of a span long, before they can
show what nature they have by actual sin, yet crushed to death
by God's righteous foot, only for the viperous kind of which
they come. At every door where sin sets its foot, there the
wrath of God meets us. Every faculty of soul, and member of
body, are used as a weapon of unrighteousness against God; so
every one hath its portion of wrath, even to the tip of the
tongue. As man is sinful all over, so is he cursed all over.
Inside and outside, soul and body, is written all with woes and
curses, so close and full, that there is not room for another to
interline, or add to what God hath written. William Gurnall.
Verses 11-13. The idea of God's righteousness must
have possessed great vigour to render such a representation
possible. There are some excellent remarks upon the ground of it
in Luther, who, however, too much overlooks the fact, that the
psalmist presents before his eyes this form of an angry and
avenging God, primarily with the view of strengthening by its
consideration his own hope, and pays too little regard to the
distinction between the psalmist, who only indirectly teaches
what he described as part of his own inward experience, and the
prophet: "The prophet takes a lesson from a coarse human
similitude, in order that he might inspire terror unto the
ungodly. For he speaks against stupid and hardened people, who
would not apprehend the reality of a divine judgment, of which
he had just spoken; but they might possibly be brought to
consider this by greater earnestness on the part of man. Now,
the prophet is not satisfied with thinking of the sword, but
adds thereto the bow; even this does not satisfy him, but he
describes how it is already stretched, and aim is taken, and the
arrows are applied to it as here follows. So hard, stiff-necked
and unabashed are the ungodly, that however many threatenings
may be urged against them, they will still remain unmoved. But
in these words he forcibly describes how God's anger presses
hard upon the ungodly, though they will never understand this
until they actually experience it. It is also to be remarked
here, that we have had so frightful a threatening and
indignation against the ungodly in no Psalm before this; neither
has the Spirit of God attacked them with so many words. Then in
the following verses, he also recounts their plans and purposes,
shows how these shall not be in vain, but shall return again
upon their own head. So that it clearly and manifestly appears
that to all those who suffer wrong and reproach, as a matter of
consolation, that God hates such revilers and slanderers above
all other characters. E. W. Hengstenberg, in loc., 1845.
Verse 12. "If he turn not," etc. How
few do believe what a quarrel God hath with wicked men? And that
not only with the loose, but the formal and hypocritical also?
If we did we would tremble as much to be among them as to be in
a house that is falling; we would endeavour to "save"
ourselves "from this untoward generation." The apostle
would not so have adjured them, so charged, so entreated them,
had he not known the danger of wicked company. "God is
angry with the wicked every day;" his bow is bent, the
arrows are on the string; the instruments for their ruin are
all prepared. And is it safe to be there where the arrows of God
are ready to fly about our ears? How was the apostle afraid to
be in the bath with Cerinthus! "Depart," saith God by
Moses, "from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, lest
ye be consumed in all their sins." How have the baskets of
good figs suffered with the bad! Is it not prejudicial to the
gold to be with the dross? Lot had been ruined by his
neighbourhood to the Sodomites if God had not wrought
wonderfully for his deliverance. Will you put God to work
miracles to save you from your ungodly company? It is dangerous
being in the road with thieves whilst God's hue and cry of
vengeance is at their backs. "A companion of fools shall be
destroyed." The very beasts may instruct you to consult
better for your security: the very deer are afraid of a wounded
chased deer, and therefore for their preservation thrust him out
of their company. Lewis Stuckley.
Verse 12. "If he turn not, he will whet his
sword," etc. The whetting of the sword is but to give a
keener edge that it may cut the deeper. God is silent as long as
the sinner will let him; but when the sword is whet, it is to
cut; and when the bow is bent, it is to kill; and woe be to that
man who is the butt. William Secker.
Verse 13. "He hath also prepared for him the
instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the
persecutors." It is said that God hath ordained his
arrows against the persecutors; the word signifies such as burn
in anger and malice against the godly; and the word translated ordained,
signifies God hath wrought his arrows; he doth not shoot them at
random, but he works them against the wicked. Illiricus hath a
story which may well be a commentary upon this text in both the
parts of it. One Felix, Earl of Wartenberg, one of the captains
of the Emperor Charles V., swore in the presence of divers at
supper, that before he died he would ride up to the spurs in the
blood of the Lutherans. Here was one that burned in malice, but
behold how God works his arrows against him; that very night the
hand of God so struck him, that he was strangled and choked in
his own blood; so he rode not, but bathed himself, not up to the
spurs, but up to the throat, not in the blood of the Lutherans,
but in his own blood before he died. Jeremiah Burroughs.
Verse 13. "He ordaineth his arrows,"
This might more exactly be rendered, "He maketh his arrows
burning." This image would seem to be deduced from the use
of fiery arrows. John Kitto, 1804-1854.
Verse 14. "Behold he travaileth with
iniquity," etc. The words express the conception,
birth, carriage and miscarriage, of a plot
against David. In which you may consider:—(1.) What his enemies
did. (2.) What God did. (3.) What we all should
do: his enemies' intention, God's prevention, and
our duty; his enemies' intention, he travaileth with
iniquity, and conceiveth mischief; God's prevention, he
brought forth a lie; our duty, Behold. . . . .
Observe the aggravation of the sin, he conceiveth. He was
not put upon it, or forced into it: it was voluntary. The more
liberty we have not to sin, makes our sin the greater. He did
not this in passion, but in cold blood. The less will, less sin.
Richard Sibbs.
Verse 14. "He travaileth with iniquity, and
hath conceived mischief." All note that conceiving is
before travailing, but here travailing, as a woman in labour,
goeth first; the reason whereof is, that the wicked are so hotly
set upon the evil which they maliciously intend, that they would
be immediately acting of it if they could tell how, even before
they have conceived by what means; but in fine they bring forth
but a lie, that is, they find that their own hearts lied to
them, when they promised good success, but they had evil. For
their haste to perpetrate mischief is intimated in the word
rendered "persecutors" (verse 13), which
properly signifieth ardentes, burning; that is, with a
desire to do mischief—and this admits of no delay. A notable
common-place, both setting forth the evil case of the wicked,
especially attempting anything against the righteous, to move
them to repentance—for thou hast God for thine enemy warring
against thee, whose force thou canst not resist—and the greedy
desire of the wicked to be evil, but their conception shall all
prove abortive. J. Mayer, in loc.
Verse 14. "And hath brought forth
falsehood." Every sin is a lie. Augustine.
Verse 14.
"Earth's entertainments are like those of Jael.
Her left hand brings me milk, her right, a nail."
Thomas Fuller.
Verses 14, 15. "They have digged a pit for
us"—and that low, unto hell—"and are fallen
into it themselves."
"No juster law can be devised or made,
Than that sin's agents fall by their own trade."
The order of hell proceeds with the same degrees; though it
give a greater portion, yet still a just proportion, of torment.
These wretched guests were too busy with the waters of sin;
behold, now they are in the depth of a pit, "where no water
is." Dives, that wasted so many tuns of wine, cannot now
procure water, not a pot of water, not a handful of water, not a
drop of water, to cool his tongue. Desideravit guttam, qui
non dedit micam. (Augustine Hom. 7) A just recompense! He
would not give a crumb; he shall not have a drop. Bread hath no
smaller fragment than a crumb, water no less fraction than a
drop. As he denied the least comfort to Lazarus living, so
Lazarus shall not bring him the least comfort dead. Thus the
pain for sin answers the pleasure of sin. . . . Thus damnable
sins shall have semblable punishments; and as Augustine of the
tongue, so we may say of any member. . . . If it will not serve
God in action, it shall serve him in passion. Thomas Adams.
Verse 15. "He made a pit, and digged it."
The practice of making pitfalls was anciently not only employed
for ensnaring wild beasts, but was also a stratagem used against
men by the enemy, in time of war. The idea, therefore, refers to
a man who, having made such a pit, whether for man or beast, and
covered it over so as completely to disguise the danger, did
himself inadvertently tread on his own trap, and fall into the
pit he had prepared for another. Pictorial Bible.
Verse 16. That most witty of commentators, Old Master
Trapp, tells the following notable anecdote, in illustration of
this verse:—That was a very remarkable instance of Dr. Story,
who, escaping out of prison in Queen Elizabeth's days, got to
Antwerp, and there thinking himself out of the reach of God's
rod, he got commission under the Duke of Alva to search all
ships coming thither for English books. But one Parker, an
English merchant, trading for Antwerp, laid his snare fair (saith
our chronicler), to catch this foul bird, causing secret notice
to be given to Story, that in his ship were stores of heretical
books, with other intelligence that might stand him in stead.
The Canonist conceiving that all was quite sure, hasted to the
ship, where, with looks very big upon the poor mariners, each
cabin, chest, and corner above-board were searched, and some
things found to draw him further on: so that the hatches must be
opened, which seemed to be unwillingly done, and great signs of
fear were showed by their faces. This drew on the Doctor to
descend into the hold, where now in the trap the mouse might
well gnaw, but could not get out, for the hatches were down, and
the sails hoisted up, which, with a merry gale, were blown into
England, where ere long he was arraigned, and condemned of high
treason, and accordingly executed at Tyburn, as he had well
deserven.
Verse 16. The story of Phalaris's bull, invented for
the torment of others, and serving afterwards for himself, is
notorious in heathen story. . . . . It was a voluntary judgment
which Archbishop Cranmer inflicted on himself when he thrust
that very hand into the fire, and burnt it, with which he had
signed to the popish articles, crying out, "Oh, my
unworthy right hand!" but who will deny that the hand
of the Almighty was also concerned in it? William Turner in
"Divine Judgments by way of Retaliation", 1697.
Verse 17. To bless God for mercies is the way to
increase them; to bless him for miseries is the way to remove
them: no good lives so long as that which is thankfully
improved; no evil dies so soon as that which is patiently
endured. William Dyer.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The necessity of faith when we address
ourselves to God. Show the worthlessness of prayer without trust
in the Lord.
Verses 1, 2. Viewed as a prayer for deliverance from
all enemies, especially Satan the lion.
Verse 3. Self-vindication before men. When possible,
judicious, or serviceable. With remarks upon the spirit in which
it should be attempted.
Verse 4. "The best revenge." Evil for
good is devil-like, evil for evil is beast-like, good for good
is man-like, good for evil is God-like.
Verse 6. How and in what sense divine anger may become
the hope of the righteous.
Fire
fought by fire, or man's anger overcome by God's anger.
Verse 7. The congregation of the people."
1.
Who they are.
2.
Why they congregate together with one another.
3.
Where they congregate.
4.
Why they choose such a person to be the centre of their
congregation.
Verse 7. The gathering of the saints around the Lord
Jesus.
Verse 7 (last clause). The coming of Christ to
judgment for the good of his saints.
Verse 8. The character of the Judge before whom we all
must stand.
Verse 9 (first clause).
(1)
By changing their hearts; or
(2)
by restraining their wills,
(3)
or depriving them of power,
(4)
or removing them.
Show the times when, the reasons why, such a prayer should be
offered, and how, in the first sense, we may labour for its
accomplishment.
Verse 9. This verse contains two grand prayers, and a
noble proof that the Lord can grant them.
Verse 9. The period of sin, and the perpetuity of the
righteous. Matthew Henry.
Verse 9. "Establish the just." By
what means and in what sense the just are established, or, the
true established church.
Verse 9 (last clause). God's trial of men's
hearts.
Verse 10. "Upright in heart." Explain
the character.
Verse 10. The believer's trust in God, and God's care
over him. Show the action of faith in procuring defence and
protection, and of that defence upon our faith by strengthening
it, etc.
Verse 11. The Judge, and the two persons upon their
trial.
Verse 11 (second clause). God's present, daily,
constant, and vehement anger, against the wicked.
Verse 12. See "Spurgeon's Sermons," No. 106.
"Turn or Burn."
None.
Verses 14, 15, 16. Illustrate by three figures the
devices and defeat of persecutors.
Verse 17. The excellent duty of praise.
Verse 17. View the verse in connection with the
subject of the Psalm, and show how the deliverance of the
righteous, and the destruction of the wicked are themes for
song.