TITLE. A Psalm of David. The sweet singer
of Israel appears before us in this Psalm as one enduring
reproach; in this he was the type of the great Son of David, and
is an encouraging example to us to carry the burden of slander
to the throne of grace. It is an ingenious surmise that this
appeal to heaven was written by David at the time of the
assassination of Ishbosheth, by Baanah and Rechab, to protest
his innocence of all participation in that treacherous murder;
the tenor of the Psalm certainly agrees with the supposed
occasion, but it is not possible with such a slender clue to go
beyond conjecture.
DIVISION. Unity of subject is so
distinctly maintained, that there are no sharp divisions. David
Dickson has given an admirable summary in these
words:—"He appeals to God", the supreme Judge, in
the testimony of a good conscience, bearing him witness; first,
of his endeavour to walk uprightly as a believer, Ps 26:1-3;
secondly, of his keeping himself from the contagion of the evil
counsel, sinful causes, and examples of the wicked, Ps 26:4-5;
thirdly, of his purpose still to behave himself holily and
righteously, out of love to be partaker of the public privileges
of the Lord's people in the congregation, Ps 26:6-8 Whereupon he
prayeth to be free of the judgment coming upon the wicked, Ps
26:9-10 according as he had purposed to eschew their sins, Ps
26:11 and he closes the prayer with comfort and assurance of
being heard, Ps 26:12.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Judge me, O Jehovah. A solemn appeal
to the just tribunal of the heart searching God, warranted by
the circumstances of the writer, so far as regarded the
particular offences with which he was wrongly charged. Worried
and worn out by the injustice of men, the innocent spirit flies
from its false accusers to the throne of Eternal Right. He had
need have a clear case who dares to carry his suit into the
King's Bench of heaven. Such an appeal as this is not to be
rashly made on any occasion; and as to the whole of our walk and
conversation, it should never be made at all, except as we are
justified in Christ Jesus: a far more fitting prayer for a
sinful mortal is the petition, "Enter not into judgment
with thy servant." For I have walked in mine integrity.
He held integrity as his principle, and walked in it as his
practice. David had not used any traitorous or unrighteous means
to gain the crown, or to keep it; he was conscious of having
been guided by the noblest principles of honour in all his
actions with regard to Saul and his family. What a comfort it is
to have the approbation of one's own conscience! If there be
peace within the soul, the blustering storms of slander which
howl around us are of little consideration. When the little bird
in my bosom sings a merry song, it is no matter to me if a
thousand owls hoot at me from without. I have trusted also in
the Lord. Faith is the root and sap of integrity. He who
leans upon the Lord is sure to walk in righteousness. David knew
that God's covenant had given him the crown, and therefore he
took no indirect or unlawful means to secure it; he would not
slay his enemy in the cave, nor suffer his men at arms to smite
him when he slept unguarded on the plain. Faith will work hard
for the Lord, and in the Lord's way, but she refuses so much as
to lift a finger to fulfil the devices of unrighteous cunning.
Rebecca acted out a great falsehood in order to fulfil the
Lord's decree in favour of Jacob—this was unbelief; but
Abraham left the Lord to fulfil his own purposes, and took the
knife to slay his son—this was faith. Faith trusts God to
accomplish his own decrees. Why should I steal when God has
promised to supply my need? Why should I avenge myself when I
know that the Lord has espoused my cause? Confidence in God is a
most effectual security against sin. Therefore I shall not
slide. Slippery as the way is, so that I walk like a man
upon ice, yet faith keeps my heels from tripping, and will
continue to do so. The doubtful ways of policy are sure sooner
or later to give a fall to those who run therein, but the ways
of honesty, though often rough, are always safe. We cannot trust
in God if we walk crookedly; but straight paths and simple faith
bring the pilgrim happily to his journey's end.
Verse 2. There are three modes of trial here
challenged, which are said in the original to refer to trial by
touch, trial by smell, and trial by fire. The psalmist was so
clear from the charge laid against him, that he submitted
himself unconditionally to any form of examination which the
Lord might see fit to employ. Examine me, O Lord. Look me
through and through; make a minute survey; put me to the
question, cross examine my evidence. And prove me. Put me
again to trial; and see if I would follow such wicked designs as
my enemies impute to me. Try my reins and my heart. Assay
me as metals are assayed in the furnace, and do this to my most
secret parts, where my affections hold their court; see, O God,
whether or no I love murder, and treason, and deceit. All this
is a very bold appeal, and made by a man like David, who feared
the Lord exceedingly, it manifests a most solemn and complete
conviction of innocence. The expressions here used should teach
us the thoroughness of the divine judgment, and the necessity of
being in all things profoundly sincere, lest we be found wanting
at the last. Our enemies are severe with us with the severity of
spite, and this a brave man endures without fear; but God's
severity is that of unswerving right. Who shall stand against
such a trial? The sweet singer says "Who can stand before
his cold?" and we may well enquire, "Who can stand
before the heat of his justice?"
Verse 3. For thy lovingkindness is before mine
eyes. An object of memory and a ground of hope. A sense of
mercy received sets a fair prospect before the faithful mind in
its gloomiest condition, for it yields visions of mercies yet to
come, visions not visionary but real. Dwell, dear reader, upon
that celestial word lovingkindness. It has a heavenly
savour. Is it not an unmatchable word, unexcelled, unrivalled?
The goodness of the Lord to us should be before our eyes as a
motive actuating our conduct; we are not under the bondage of
the law, but we are under the sweet constraints of grace, which
are far more mighty, although far more gentle. Men sin with the
law before their eyes, but divine love, when clearly seen,
sanctifies the conversation. If we were not so forgetful of the
way of mercy in which God walks toward us, we should be more
careful to walk in the ways of obedience toward him. And I
have walked in thy truth. The psalmist was preserved from
sin by his assurance of the truthfulness of God's promise, which
truth he endeavoured to imitate as well as to believe. Observe
from this verse that an experience of divine love will show
itself in a practical following of divine truth; those who
neglect either the doctrinal or practical parts of truth must
not wonder if they lose the experimental enjoyment of it. Some talk
of truth, it is better to walk in it. Some vow to do
well in future, but their resolutions come to nothing; only the
regenerate man can say "I have walked in thy
truth."
Verses 4-5. So far from being himself an open offender
against the laws of God, the psalmist had not even associated
with the lovers of evil. He had kept aloof from the men of
Belial. A man is known by his company, and if we have kept
ourselves apart from the wicked, it will always be evidence in
our favour should our character be impugned. He who was never in
the parish is not likely to have stolen the corn. He who never
went to sea is clearly not the man who scuttled the ship.
Verse 4. I have not sat with vain persons. True
citizens have no dealings with traitors. David had no seat in
the parliament of triflers. They were not his boon companions at
feasts, nor his advisers in council, nor his associates in
conversation. We must needs see, and speak, and trade, with men
of the world, but we must on no account take our rest and solace
in their empty society. Not only the profane, but the vain are
to be shunned by us. All those who live for this life only are
vain, chaffy, frothy men, quite unworthy of a Christian's
friendship. Moreover as this vanity is often allied with
falsehood, it is well to save ourselves altogether from this
untoward generation, lest we should be led from bad to worse and
from tolerating the vain should come to admire the wicked. Neither
will I go in with dissemblers. Since I know that
hypocritical piety is double iniquity, I will cease all
acquaintance with pretenders. If I must need walk the same
street, I will not enter the same door and spend my time in
their society. The congregation of the hypocrites is not one
with which we should cultivate communion; their ultimate
rendezvous will be the lowest pit of hell, let us drop their
acquaintance now! for we shall not desire it soon. They hang
their beads around their necks and carry the devil in their
hearts. This clause is in the future tense, to indicate that the
writer felt no desire to begin an acquaintance with the
characters whom up till then he had shunned. We must maintain
the separated path with more and more circumspection as we see
the great redemption day approaching. Those who would be
transfigured with Jesus, must not be disfigured by conformity to
the world. The resolution of the psalmist suggests, that even
among professed followers of truth we must make distinctions,
for as there are vain persons out of the church, so there are
dissemblers in it and both are to be shunned with scrupulous
decision.
Verse 5. I have hated the congregation of evil
doers. A severe sentence, but not too severe. A man who does
not hate evil terribly, does not love good heartily. Men, as
men, we must always love, for they are our neighbours, and
therefore to be loved as ourselves; but evil doers, as such, are
traitors to the Great King, and no loyal subject can love
traitors. What God hates we must hate. The congregation or
assembly of evil doers, signifies violent men in alliance and
conclave for the overthrow of the innocent; such synagogues of
Satan are to be held in abhorrence. What a sad reflection it is
that there should be a congregation of evil doers as well as a
congregation of the upright, a church of Satan as well as a
church of God; a seed of the serpent as well as a seed of the
woman; an old Babylon as well as a new Jerusalem: a great whore
sitting upon many waters, to be judged in wrath, as well as a
chaste bride of the Lamb to be crowned at his coming. And
will not sit with the wicked. Saints have a seat at another
table, and will never leave the King's dainties for the husks of
the swine trough. Better to sit with the blind, and the halt,
and the lame, at the table of mercy, than with the wicked in
their feasts of ungodliness, yea, better to sit on Job's
dunghill than on Pharaoh's throne. Let each reader see well to
his company, for such as we keep in this world, we are likely to
keep in the next.
Verse 6. I will wash mine hands in innocency.
He would publicly avow himself to be altogether clear of the
accusations laid against him, and if any fault in other matters
could be truthfully alleged against him, he would for the future
abstain from it. The washing of the hands is a significant
action to set forth our having no connection with a deed, as we
still say, "I wash my hands of the whole business." As
to perfect innocence, David does not here claim it, but he avows
his innocence of the crimes whereof he was slanderously accused;
there is, however, a sense in which we may be washed in absolute
innocency, for the atoning blood makes us clean every whit. We
ought never to rest satisfied short of a full persuasion of our
complete cleansing by Jesus' precious blood. So will I
compass thine altar, O Lord. Priests unto God must take
great care to be personally cleansed; the brazen laver was as
needful as the golden altar; God's worship requires us to be
holy in life. He who is unjust to man cannot be acceptably
religious towards God. We must not bring our thank offerings
with hands defiled with guilt. To love justice and purity is far
more acceptable to God, than ten thousands of the fat of fed
beasts. We see from this verse that holy minds delight in the
worship of the Lord, and find their sweetest solace at his
altar; and that it is their deepest concern never to enter upon
any course of action which would unfit them for the most sacred
communion with God. Our eye must be upon the altar which
sanctifies both the giver and the gift, yet we must never draw
from the atoning sacrifice an excuse for sin, but rather find in
it a most convincing argument for holiness.
Verse 7. That I may publish with the voice of
thanksgiving. David was so far instructed that he does not
mention the typical offering, but discerns the spiritual
offering which was intended thereby, not the groans of bullocks,
but songs of gratitude the spiritual worshipper presents. To
sound abroad the worthy praises of the God of all grace should
be the everyday business of a pardoned sinner. Let men slander
us as they will, let us not defraud the Lord of his praises; let
dogs bark, but let us like the moon shine on. And tell of all
thy wondrous works. God's people should not be tongue tied.
The wonders of divine grace are enough to make the tongue of the
dumb sing. God's works of love are wondrous if we consider the
unworthiness of their objects, the costliness of their method,
and the glory of their result. And as men find great pleasure in
discoursing upon things remarkable and astonishing, so the
saints rejoice to tell of the great things which the Lord hath
done for them.
Verse 8. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy
house. Into the abodes of sin he would not enter, but the
house of God he had long loved, and loved it still. We were sad
children if we did not love our Father's dwelling place. Though
we own no sacred buildings, yet the church of the living God is
the house of God, and true Christians delight in her ordinances,
services, and assemblies. O that all our days were Sabbaths! And
the place where thine honour dwelleth. In his church where
God is had in honour at all times, where he reveals himself in
the glory of his grace, and is proclaimed by his people as the
Lord of all. We come not together as the Lord's people to honour
the preacher, but to give glory to God; such an occupation is
most pleasant to the saints of the Most High. What are those
gatherings where God is not honoured, are they not an offence to
his pure and holy eyes, and are they not a sad stumbling block
to the people of God? It brings the scalding tear upon our cheek
to hear sermons in which the honour of God is so far from being
the preacher's object, that one might almost imagine that the
preacher worshipped the dignity of manhood, and thought more of
it than of the Infinite Majesty of God.
Verse 9. Gather not my soul with sinners. Lord,
when, like fruit, I must be gathered, put me not in the same
basket with the best of sinners, much less with the worst of
them. The company of sinners is so distasteful to us here, that
we cannot endure the thought of being bound up in the same
bundle with them to all eternity. Our comfort is, that the Great
Husbandman discerns the tares from the wheat, and will find a
separate place for distinct characters. In the former verses we
see that the psalmist kept himself clear of profane persons, and
this is to be understood as a reason why he should not be thrust
into their company at the last. Let us think of the doom of the
wicked, and the prayer of the text will forcibly rise to our
lips; meanwhile, as we see the rule of judgment by which like is
gathered to its like, we who have passed from death unto life
have nothing to fear. Nor my life with bloody men. Our
soul sickens to hear them speak; their cruel dispatches, in
which they treat the shooting of their fellow men as rare sport,
are horrifying to us; Lord, let us not be shut up in the same
prison with them; nay, the same paradise with such men would be
a hell, if they remained as they are now.
Verse 10. In whose hands is mischief. They have
both hands full of it, plotting it and carrying it out. And
their right hand, with which they are most dexterous, is
full of bribes; like thieves who would steal with impunity,
they carry a sop for the dogs of justice. He who gives bribes is
every way as guilty as the man who takes them, and in the matter
of our parliamentary elections the rich villain who give the
bribe is by far the worse. Bribery, in any form or shape, should
be as detestable to a Christian as carrion to a dove, or garbage
to a lamb. Let those whose dirty hands are fond of bribes
remember that neither death nor the devil can be bribed to let
them escape their well earned doom.
Verse 11. Here is the lover of godliness entering his
personal protest against unrighteous gain. He is a
Nonconformist, and is ready to stand alone in his Nonconformity.
Like a live fish, he swims against the stream. Trusting in God,
the psalmist resolves that the plain way of righteousness shall
be his choice, and those who will, may prefer the tortuous paths
of violence and deceit. Yet, he is by no means a boaster, or a
self righteous vaunter of his own strength, for he cries for
redemption and pleads for mercy. Our integrity is not absolute
nor inherent, it is a work of grace in us, and is marred by
human infirmity; we must, therefore, resort to the redeeming
blood and to the throne of mercy, confessing that though we are
saints among men, we must still bow as sinners before God.
Verse 12. The song began in the minor, but it has now
reached the major key. Saints often sing themselves into
happiness. The even place upon which our foot stands is
the sure, covenant faithfulness, eternal promise and immutable
oath of the Lord of Hosts; there is no fear of falling from this
solid basis, or of its being removed from under us. Established
in Christ Jesus, by being vitally united to him, we have nothing
left to occupy our thoughts but the praises of our God. Let us
not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and when
assembled, let us not be slow to contribute our portion of
thanksgiving. Each saint is a witness to divine faithfulness,
and should be ready with his testimony. As for the slanderers,
let them howl outside the door while the children sing within.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. This Psalm is coupled on to the foregoing
by thoughts and words. At the close of the foregoing the
psalmist had prayed for integrity Ps 26:1. Unless this
Psalm is regarded as a sequel to the preceding one, it will seem
vainglorious; but being combined with the penitential
acknowledgments of sin, and with the earnest supplications for
pardon and grace, and with the earnest profession of faith that
God has heard his prayer, which breathe forth in the foregoing
Psalm, it will be seen that the declarations which the psalmist
now makes of integrity, are not assertions of human merit, but
acknowledgments of divine mercy. As Augustine says, "Non
merita mea, sed misericordia tua, ante oculos meos est."
Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 1. Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in
mine integrity. A good cause, a good conscience, and a good
deportment, are good grounds of appeal to God. Ingram Cobbin.
Verse 1. Judge me, O Lord. Nothing is so
pleasing to him that is upright as to know that God knoweth he
is so. As it is a small matter with those who are sincere to be
condemned by men, so it is not much with them to be condemned or
approved by them; for indeed neither "he that commendeth
himself, "as the apostle speaks 2Co 10:18, nor he that is
commended by others, "is approved, but whom the Lord
commendeth." The testimony, or letters commendatory of all
the men in the world will do us no good, unless God give us his
also. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 1. Judge me, O Lord. As an instance of
appeal to heaven, we quote that mighty preacher of the word,
George Whitfield. "However some may account me a mountebank
and an enthusiast, one that is only going to make you
methodically mad; they may breathe out their invectives against
me, yet Christ knows all; he takes notice of it, and I shall
leave it to him to plead my cause, for he is a gracious Master.
I have already found him so, and am sure he will continue so.
Vengeance is his, and he will repay it." George
Whitfield, 1714-1770.
Verse 1. "Integrity." (Mh), or (Mymt)
is used of whatever is uninjured, or is free from any spot or
blemish; and hence we find the term applied to an unblemished
animal offering in sacrifice. Le 1:3 3:9. George Phillips.
Verse 1. Mine integrity. There is a force in
the possessive pronoun "my, "which must be attended
to. The psalmist intimates that he had proceeded in one uniform
course, notwithstanding all the devices of his enemies. W.
Wilson, D.D.
Verse 1. I have trusted in the Lord. Trust in
God is the fountain of "integrity." Whoever
places his hope in God need not seek to advance his worldly
interests by violating his duty towards his neighbour: he waits
for everything from above, and is, at the same time,
always determined that he will not be deprived of the favour of
his heavenly Father through violating his commandments. E. W.
Hengstenberg.
Verse 1. I shall not slide. It is a striking
word, as fully expressive of the completeness of God's
protection and the security of his upholding hand as the
psalmist's language of the integrity of his walk and trust in
God. It is not, as in our Prayer book version, "I shall not
fall, "but it is, "I shall not even slide; "not
even make a false step or stumble. Barton Bouchier.
Verse 2. The psalmist uses three words, examine,
prove, try. These words are designed to include all
the modes in which the reality of anything is tested; and they
imply together that he wished the most thorough
investigation to be made; he did not shrink from any test. Albert
Barnes.
Verse 2. Examine—prove—try.
As gold, by fire, is severed and parted from dross, so
singleness of heart and true Christian simplicity is best seen
and made most evident in troubles and afflictions. In prosperity
every man will seem godly, but afflictions do draw out of the
heart whatsoever is there, whether it be good or bad. Robert
Cawdray.
Verse 2. Prove me. The work of conscience
within us doth prove us. God hath set up a light within
us, and when this is enlightened by the Word, then it makes a
man's breast full of light. Now a faithful godly man loveth that
this should be tender, active, speaking out of God's Word for
every duty, and against every sin. You see the quickness of it
in David, when it is said, "His heart smote him; "and
1 John 3., "If thy heart condemn thee, God is greater than
thy heart." Alas! if thou within thine own self judgest
thyself to sin thus and thus, God doth much more. Try thy
integrity; art thou willing to have a tender conscience, and an
informed conscience? Dost thou love to hear what that speaks out
of God's Word? whether peace or duty? this is comfortable. But
on the other side, if thou art a man that rebellest against the
light of it, wouldst fain put out the sting of it, wouldst be
glad to feel no such living thing in thy breast, then thou hast
cause to suspect thyself. Oh, it is to be feared that there are
many that give themselves to lusts, and carnal pleasures, that
so they may put a foggy mist between their conscience and
themselves. Others dig into the world, labouring to become
senseless, that so there may be an eclipse of this light by the
interposition of the earth. Others run to damnable heresies,
denying Scriptures, God, heaven, hell; pleading for an universal
salvation of all. What are these but refuges of guilty
consciences? We must distinguish between our carnal
concupiscence, and conscience; between deluded imaginations, and
conscience; between an erroneous and scrupulous conscience, and
a well grounded and truly informed conscience; and when we have
done so, we must follow conscience as far as that follows the
Word. Anthony Burgess.
Verse 2. Reins...heart. The "reins,
"as the seat of the lower animal passions; the "heart,
"as comprising not only the higher affections, but also
the will and the conscience. He thus desires to keep nothing
back; he will submit himself to the searching flame of the Great
Refiner, that all dross of self deception may be purged away. J.
J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 3. The practical effect of divine goodness is
seen in this text. As the chief thing communicated from God is
the divine nature, whereby we are made to resemble him, so the
promises of God set home upon the soul are the means of
communication; they are the milk and honey of the Scripture,
which do not cherish the old man, but support the new; they are
no pillows for sinful sloth, but spurs to holy diligence. The
promises of grace animate the soul to duty; and when we thus see
the goodness of the Lord, it encourages our subjection to his
government. Timothy Cruso.
Verses 3-4. I have walked in thy truth, I have not
sat with vain persons. Be as careful as thou canst, that the
persons thou choosest for thy companions be such as fear God.
The man in the gospel was possessed with the devil, who dwelt
among the tombs, and conversed with graves and carcasses. Thou
art far from walking after the good Spirit, if thou choosest to
converse with open sepulchres, and such as are dead in sins and
trespasses. God will not shake the wicked by the hand, as the
Vulgate reads Job 8:20, neither must the godly man. David proves
the sincerity of his course, by his care to avoid such society: I
have walked in thy truth; I have not sat with vain persons.
There is a twofold "truth." 1. Truth of
doctrine. Thy law is the truth, free from all dross of
corruption and falsehood of error. 2. Truth of affection, or of
the inward parts. This may be called "thy truth, "or
God's truth, though man be the subject of it, partly because it
proceedeth from him, partly because it is so pleasant to him; in
which respect a broken heart is called the "sacrifice of
God." Ps 51:6. As if he had said, I could not have walked
in the power of religion, and in integrity, if I had associated
with vile and vain company; I could never have walked in thy
precepts if I had "sat with vain persons."
Observe the phrase, "I have not sat with vain
persons." 1. Sitting is a posture of choice. It is at a
man's liberty, whether he will sit or stand. 2. Sitting is a
posture of pleasure. Men sit for their ease, and with delight;
therefore, the glorified are said to "sit in heavenly
places." Eph 2:6. 3. Sitting is a posture of staying or
abiding. 2Ki 5:3. Standing is a posture of going, but sitting of
staying. The blessed, who shall forever be with the Lord and his
chosen, are mentioned "to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Mt 8:11. David in neither
of these senses durst sit with vain persons. He might, as
his occasions required, use their company, but durst not
knowingly choose such company. They could not be the object of
his election who were not the object of his affection. "I
hate the congregation of evil doers, "saith he. As
siting is a posture of pleasure, he did not sit with vain
persons. He was sometimes amongst them to his sorrow, but not to
his solace. They were to him, as the Canaanites to the
Israelites, pricks in his eyes, and thorns in his sides.
"Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the
tents of Kedar!" Ps 120:5. It caused grief, not gladness,
that he was forced to be amongst the profane. George Swinnock.
Verses 3-4. I have walked in thy truth, I have not sat
with vain persons. See Psalms on "Ps 26:3" for
further information.
Verse 4. I have not sat with vain persons.
There is a necessary commerce with men in buying and selling, or
as the apostle says, "We must needs go out of the world,
"but do not voluntarily choose the company of the wicked.
1Co 5:10. "I have written unto you not to keep company,
"etc. 1Co 5:11. Do not be too familiar with them. What do
Christ's doves among birds of prey? What do virgins among
harlots? The company of the wicked is very defiling, it is like
going among them that have the plague. "They were mingled
among the heathen and learned their works." If you mingle
bright armour with rusty, the bright armour will not brighten
the rusty, but the rusty armour will spoil the bright. Pharaoh
taught Joseph to swear, but Joseph did not teach Pharaoh to
pray. Thomas Watson.
Verse 4. Neither will I go with dissemblers.
Chaldee: "I will not go in with those that hide themselves
to do evil." Wickedness is not candid, and loves
concealment, while truth and righteousness are open, and seek
scrutiny. Job 24:13-17 Joh 3:20-21. None will deny that the
candid man has far fewer troubles with his own conduct than the
tortuous and deceitful. The righteous shun the wicked both for
the sin and for the misery that are in their ways. William
S. Plumer.
Verse 4. Dissemblers. The hypocrite has much
angel without, more devil within. He fries in words, freezes in
works; speaks by ells, doth good by inches. He is a stinking
dunghill, covered over with snow; a loose hung mill that keeps
great clacking, but grinds no grist; a lying hen that cackles
when she hath not laid. Thomas Adams.
Verse 4. Dissemblers. Perhaps when the bright
sunbeams of an early spring have robed all nature in a smiling
garb, you have taken your little baskets, and gone in quest of a
bank of sweet smelling modest violets, and you may have found
flowers so like them, in form and colour, that you have been
deceived, and eagerly grasped you prize; but alas! the sweet
odour which should have scented the gale, was found wanting, and
betrayed the dog violet. An apt emblem this of those, who,
"having the form of godliness, deny the power
thereof." 2Ti 3:5. Mrs. Rogers, in "The Shepherd
King."
Verses 4-5. As rotten apples corrupt those sound ones
that do touch them and lie close to them, even so the evil
manners and bad conditions of the ungodly do infect those that
keep them company. Robert Cawdray.
Verses 4-5. "It is difficult (saith a late
ingenious writer) even to a miracle to keep God's commandments
and evil company too." How suddenly after your soul
refreshments in your closet communion have you lost all your
heats and spiritual fervencies, which you had in secret, and
have instantly cooled by going forth into cold and corrupt air!
When a saint hath been in private ravished with the love of God
and the joys of heaven, and afterwards meets with company, which
neither doth nor can speak one word of such matters, what a damp
it is to him! What a quenching, as it were, of the Spirit of God
in him! Nay, is not that true which one saith, that "the
people of God do generally lose more by worldly men, that are of
a blameless conversation before men, than they lose by wicked
and profane men"? Lewis Stuckley.
Verses 4-5, 9. He that would not be found among
sinners in the other world, must take heed that he do not
frequent their company in this. Those whom the constable finds
wandering with vagrants, may be sent with them to the house of
correction. "Lord, "said a good woman, on her death
bed, when in doubt of her salvation, "send me not to hell
amongst wicked men, for thou knowest I never loved their company
all my life long." David deprecates their future doom upon
the like ground, and argues it as a sign of his sincerity: I
have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with
dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and
will not sit with the wicked...O gather not my soul with sinner.
Lord, I have not loved the wicked so well as to sit with them
for a little time, and shall I live with them forever? I have
not lain amongst them rotting on the earth; and wilt thou gather
my soul with those sticks for the unquenchable fire of hell?
Lord, I have been so far from liking, that thou knowest I have
loathed the congregation of evil doers. Do not I hate them that
hate thee? Yea, I hate them with perfect hatred; and shall thy
friends fare as thy foes? I appeal to thy Majesty, that my great
comfort is in thy chosen. I rejoice only to be amongst thy
children here, and shall I be excluded their company hereafter? "O
do not gather my soul with sinners, "for the wine press
of thine eternal anger! Marcion, the heretic, seeing Polycarp,
wondered that he would not own him. Do you not know me, Polycarp?
Yes, saith Polycarp, "Scio te esse primogenitum diaboli;
" "I know thee to be the firstborn of the devil,
"and so despised him. George Swinnock.
Verse 5. I have hated the congregation of evil
doers, etc. The hatred of God's enemies, qua his
enemies—"yea, I hate them right sore" so entirely
opposed to the indifferentism of the present day, has always
been one distinguishing mark of his ancient servants. Witness
Phinehas Ps 106:41; "And that was counted unto him for
righteousness unto all generations for evermore; " Samuel
with Agag; Elias with the priests of Baal. And notice the
commendation of the angel of Ephesus, "Thou canst not bear
them that are evil." Re 2:2. J. M. Neale.
Verse 5. I have hated the congregation of evil
doers. We consider them as God's enemies, so we hate them;
not their persons, but their vices; for that, as Augustine
defines it, is odium perfectum, a perfect hatred. And
indeed it is the hatred that God beareth to his enemies; for
"the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" Ro 1:18; not
against their persons—they are his workmanship, and carry his
image in some sort, though much disfigured; but against the
unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, by which their persons
do stand obnoxious to his displeasure. And thus I find the
saints of God have triumphed over the wicked, as Israel over
Pharaoh, and the Gileadites over the children of Ammon; not
rejoicing in the destruction of God's creatures, but of God's
enemies; and wishing with Deborah and Barak, "So let all
thine enemies perish, O Lord." This is no more but an
applauding of the judgment of God, and a celebration of his
justice. Edward Marbury.
Verse 5. I have hated, etc. Consider that there
can be no true friendship betwixt a godly and a wicked person;
therefore it concerneth thee to be the more wary in thy choice.
He that in factions hath an eye to power, in friendship will
have an eye to virtue. Friendship, according to the philosopher,
is one soul in two bodies. But how can they ever be of one soul
that are as different as air and earth, and as contrary as fire
and water? All true love is, motus animi ad fruendum Deo
propter ipsum; se et proximo propter Deum—a motion of the
soul towards the enjoyment of God for himself, and his
neighbours for God's sake; so that he can never truly love man
who doth not love his Maker. God is the only foundation upon
which we can build friendship; therefore such as live without
him, cannot love us in him. That building which is loose,
without this foundation can never stand long. A wicked man may
call that profession he maketh to his brother by the name of
love, but heathens can tell us that virtue alone is the hand
which can twist the cords of love; that other combinations are
but a confederacy, and all other but conjunctions in hypocrisy. George
Swinnock.
Verse 5. Wheresoever we perceive any people to worship
God truly after his word, there we may be certain the church of
Christ to be, unto the which we ought to associate ourselves,
and to desire, with the prophet David, to praise God in the
midst of this church. But if we behold, through the iniquity of
time, congregations to be made with counterfeit religion,
otherwise than the word of God doth teach, we ought then, if we
be required to be companions thereof, to say again with David, "I
have hated the synagogue of the malignant, and will not sit with
the wicked." In the Apocalypse, the church of Ephesus
is highly commended, because she tried such as said they were
apostles and were not in deed, and therefore would not abide the
company of them. Further, God commanded his people that they
should not seek Bethel, neither enter into Galgala, where
idolatry was used, by the mouth of his prophet Amos. John
Philpot (Martyr). Burnt at Smithfield, 1555.
Verse 5. How few consider how they harden wicked men
by an intimacy with them, whereas withdrawal from them might be
a means to make them ashamed! Whilst we are merry and jovial
with them, we make them believe their condition is not
deplorable, their danger is not great; whereas if we shunned
them, as we would a bowed wall, whilst they remain enemies to
the Lord, this might do them good, for the startling of them,
and rousing of them out of their unhappy security and strong
delusions wherein they are held. Lewis Stuckley.
Verse 6. I will wash mine hands in innocency.
There are two eminent lavers in the gospel; the first, Christ's
bath, a hot bath, lavacrum sanguinis, the laver of
Christ's blood; the second, our bath, a cold bath, lavacrum
lachrimarum, the laver of repentance. These two mixed
together will prove a sovereign composition, wrought first by
Christ himself when he sweat water and blood. The first is as
that pool of Bethesda into which whoever enters with faith,
is healed; the blood of Christ is the true laver of
regeneration, a fountain set open for Judah and Jerusalem to
wash in. "The blood of Christ purgeth us from all
sins." 1Jo 1:7. We account it charity in mothers to feed
their children with their own milk: how dear is the love of
Christ, that both washes and feeds us with his own blood! No
sooner are we born in Christ, but just as our mother's, so
Christ's blood is turned into milk, nourishing us to everlasting
salvation. What is calamus benjamini, or storax, or a
thousand rivers of oil, to make us clean, except the Lord purge
and cleanse us? No; it is his blood "that speaks better
things than the blood of Abel." "Unto him, therefore,
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and
hath made us kings and priests to God and his Father: to him be
glory and dominion for ever." Re 1:5-6. But yet it is the
second bath, the laver of repentance, that must apply and make
the first operative. This bath of Mary Magdalene's repentance,
it is a kind of rebaptism, giving strength and effect to the
first washing. And it implies a three fold act: first, to bruise
our hearts by contrition; secondly, to lay our wounds
open by confession to God; thirdly, to wash our hands
in innocency, by satisfaction to men...Wash now and
wash all; from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot
there is nothing in us but wounds and sores; yet above all there
is something here in it that David washes his "hands."
Indeed it is not enough to come with wet eyes, if we come with
foul hands to offer with unwashen hands; the Gentiles would not
do it. Contrition and confession to God make not up complete
repentance without satisfaction to men. Non remittitur
peccatum nisi restituatur ablatum: (Augustine), it is as
true as old, and in old father Latimer's English it is
"Either there must be restitution, open or secret, or else
hell." Whoever repairs not the wrong, rejoiceth in the sin.
Pr 2:14. Where there is no satisfaction, Non agitur sed
fingitur paenitentia, saith St. Augustine; and those who
restore not all, wash not their whole hands, they dip only the
tips of their fingers. Extortion, rapine, bribery, these are the
sins of the hands (sins so proper to the Jews, that they may
well conceive as they do that the devil lies all night on their
hands, and that is it makes them so diligent in washing); but as
for us Christians, unless these vipers be shaken off our hands,
though ye cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping,
and with crying out, yet if you continue in your pollutions, God
regards not your offering any more, nor will he receive it with
good will at your hands. Mt 2:13. Isaac Bargrave's Sermon
before the House of Commons, 1623.
Verse 6. I will wash mine hands in innocency: so
will I compass thine altar, O Lord. If greatness
might have privileged this person from impurity, David was a
king; if the grace of his soul might have freed him from
the soil of sin, he was "a man after God's own heart."
But let not great men put too much trust in their greatness; the
longer the robe is the more soil in contracts: great power may
prove the mother of great damnation. And as for purity, there is
a generation that say there's no sin in them, but they deceive
themselves; there is no truth in them. Whatever Rome's rusiologyi
pretend for the power of nature, and of free will, we wretched
sinners are taught to conceive more truly of our own infirmity.
Christ's own apostle, stout Thomas, failed in the faith of his
resurrection; Peter (whose chair is now the pretended seat of
infallibility) denied his Master; David, "a man after God's
own heart, "hath need of washing; and who can say, I
am pure in the sight of the Lord? Certainly, O Lord, no flesh is
righteous in thy sight. No; this is the best ground of Christian
felicity, if with David we fall to a sight of our own sins; if
with the Publican we strike our own breasts, and not with the
Pharisee, cast our eye so much upon other men's faults. Why
should we, like tailors, measure all men but ourselves? as if
the best of us had not sin enough of his own to think on. See
how David calls himself to account for his own sins; "O
Lord, I know mine iniquity, and my sin is ever before me."
Oh, the powerful effect of Christian devotion, when by the
reflective act of the understanding, science is turned into
conscience, and our knowledge is but the glass of our
imperfection, the glass wherein the sight of our sins sends us
presently to God, as it did David here, who makes this account
only betwixt God and his own soul, "I, O Lord."
First, he takes his rise from humility and the sight of his own
sins, and he soars up by the wings of faith to the throne of
God's mercy: "I, O Lord." He sees with his own
eyes, and not only with the church, or the priest's spectacles;
he is his own penitentiary and confessor; here's no intercession
by saints, no masses, merits, indulgences, trentals, dirges:
all's done betwixt God and him: "I, O Lord."
With the eye of humility he looks to himself and his own
misery; then with the eye of faith to God and his mercy,
and from both these results a third virtue of repentance
in the act of preparation, washing the soil of sin in the bath
of sorrow: "I will wash mine hands, "etc. Isaac
Bargrave.
Verse 6. I will wash mine hands in purity.
Referring in these words, to the ordinary use of the sacrifices,
he makes a distinction between himself and those who professed
to offer the same divine worship, and thrust themselves forward
in the services of the sanctuary, as if they alone had the sole
right to perform them. As David, therefore, and these hypocrites
were one in this respect, that they entered the sanctuary, and
surrounded the sacred altar together, he proceeds to show that
he was a true worshipper, declaring that he not only diligently
attended to the external rites, but came to worship God with
unfeigned devotion. It is obvious that he alludes to the solemn
rite of washing which was practised under the law. He,
accordingly, reproves the gross superstition of hypocrites, who,
in seeking only the purification of water, neglected true
purification; whereas it was God's design, in the appointment of
the outward sign, to put men in mind of their inward pollution,
and thus to encourage them to repentance. The outward washing
alone, instead of profiting hypocrites, kept them at a greater
distance from God. When the psalmist, therefore, says, "I
will wash my hands in innocence, "he intimates that
they only gather more pollution and filth by their washings. The
Hebrew word (Nwyqn) nikkayon, signifies the cleanness of
anything, and is figuratively used for innocence. We thus
see, that as hypocrites derive no moral purity whatever from
their washings, David mocks at the labour with which they vainly
toil and torment themselves in such rites. John Calvin.
Verse 6. "I will wash mine hands, "etc.
David willing to express his coming with a pure heart to pray to
God, doth it by this similitude of a priest: that as a priest washes
his hands, and then offers oblation, so had he
constantly joined purity and devotion together. Henry
Hammond.
Verse 6. In innocency. The very akmt and
crown of all our preparation, the purest water we can wash in,
is innocency; and innocency is a virtue of the
heart as well as of the hand. "Cleanse your hands, ye
sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Jas
4:8. I could wish our washing might be like Cyprian's baptising,
ad tincturam, even till we were dyed in repentance and
the blood of Christ. Let the quantity of thy sins be the measure
of thy repentance. First offer thine innocency, then thy
sacrifice. It is not enough that you come this day by order, you
must come with innocency. God requires the duty of the
second table, as well as of the first; he abhors the outward act
of piety where he finds no conscience and practice of innocency.
Isaac Bargrave.
Verse 6. (first clause). One morning, as
Gotthold was pouring water into a basin, he recollected the
words of Scripture: I will wash my hands in innocency, a
text which shows how diligently the royal prophet had
endeavoured to lead a blameless life, and walk habitually in the
fear of God. Upon this he mused, and said, Henceforth, my God,
every time I pour out water to wash with, I will call to mind
that it is my duty to cleanse my hands from wicked actions, my
mouth from wicked words, and my heart from wicked lusts and
desires, that so I may be enabled to lift holy hands unto thee,
and with unspotted lips and heart worship thee, to the best of
my ability. What will it profit me to strive after outward
purity, if my heart is filthy and abominable in thy sight? Can
the food nourish me which I have earned with polluted hands, or
seized with violence and injustice, or eaten with insensibility
and ingratitude? Ah! no, my God; far from me be food like this.
My first care shall be to maintain a blameless walk; my next,
when I have thoughtlessly defiled myself, to cleanse and wash
away the stain, and remove mine iniquity from thine eyes. "Purge
me, O my God, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow." Ps 51:7. Christian Scriver
(1629-1693), in "Gotthold's Emblems."
Verse 6. I will compass thine altar, O Lord. On
the next day after this feast (the Feast of Tabernacles), the
people compassed the altar seven times, with palm boughs in
their hands, in the remembrance of the overthrow of
Jericho...Not only the boughs, but the days of this whole Feast
of Tabernacles, were termed Hosannoth, from the usual
acclamation of the people whilst they carried the boughs up and
down. Thomas Godwyn, B.D. (1587-1643), in "Moses
and Aaron."
Verse 6. By the phrase compassing the altar,
either he alludes to some Levitical custom of going about the
altar, as the priests did in the oblation of their sacrifices;
and the people, especially those of them who were more devout
and zealous, who possibly moved from place to place, but still
within their own court, that they might discern what was done on
the several sides of the altar, and so be more affected with it;
or rather he implies that he would offer many sacrifices
together, which would employ the priests round about the altar. Matthew
Poole.
Verse 8. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy
house, etc. "I have in my congregation, "said a
venerable minister of the gospel, "a worthy, aged woman,
who has for many years been so deaf as not to distinguish the
loudest sound, and yet she is always one of the first in the
meeting. On asking the reason of her constant attendance (as it
was impossible for her to hear my voice), she answered, `Though
I cannot hear you, I come to God's house because I love it, and
would be found in his ways; and he gives me many a sweet thought
upon the text when it is pointed out to me: another reason is,
because there I am in the best company, in the more immediate
presence of God, and among his saints, the honourable of the
earth. I am not satisfied with serving God in private; it is my
duty and privilege to honour him regularly in public.'"
What a reproof this is to those who have their hearing, and yet
always come to a place of worship late, or not at all! K.
Arvine.
Verse 9. Gather not my soul with sinners. Now
is the time that people should be in care and concern, that
their souls be not gathered with sinners in the other world. In
discoursing from this doctrine we shall—1. Consider some
things implied in it. 2. Show who are the sinners, that we are
to have a horror of our souls being gathered with in the other
world. 3. What it is for one's soul to be gathered with sinners
in the other world. 4. Consider this care and concern, or show
what is implied in this earnest request, "Gather not my
soul with sinners" 5. Give the reasons why we should be in
such care and concern. 6. Make application. Death is the
gathering time, which the psalmist has in view in the text. Ye
have a time here that ye call the gathering time, about the term
when the servants are going away, wherein ye gather your strayed
sheep, that every one may get their own again. Death is God's
gathering time wherein he gets the souls belonging to him, and
the devil those belonging to him. They did go long together, but
then they are parted, and the saints are taken home to the
congregation of saints, and sinners to the congregation of
sinners. And it concerns us to say, "Gather not my soul
with sinners." Whoever be our people here, God's people or
the devil's, death will gather our souls to them. It is a
horrible thing to be gathered with sinners in the other world.
To think of our souls being gathered with them there, may make
the hair of one's head stand up. Many now like no gathering like
the gathering with sinners; it is the very delight of their
hearts, it makes a brave jovial life in their eyes. And it is a
pain to them to be gathered with saints, to be detained before
the Lord on a Sabbath day. But to be gathered with them in the
other world, is a horror to all sorts. 1. The saints have a
horror of it, as in the text. To think to be staked down in
their company in the other world would be a hell of itself to
the godly. David never had such a horror of the society of the
diseased, the persecuted, etc., as of sinners. He is content to
be gathered with saints of whatever condition; but, "Lord,
"say he, "Gather not my soul with sinners." 2.
The wicked themselves have a horror of it. Nu 23:10. "Let
me die the death of the righteous, "said the wicked Balaam,
"and let my last end be like his." Though they would
be content to live with them, or be with them in life, their
consciences bear witness that they have a horror of being with
them in death. They would live with sinners, but they would die
with saints. A poor, unreasonable, self condemning thought. Thomas
Boston.
Verse 9. Gather not my soul with sinners. Bind
me not up in the same bundle with them, like the tares for the
fire. Mt 13:30. The contrast to this is seen in the following Ps
27:10, "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the
Lord will take me up; " literally, will gather me to
his fold. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 9. Gather not my soul with sinners. The
Lord hath a harvest and a gleaning time also, set for cutting
down and binding together, in the fellowship of judgments, God's
enemies, who have followed the same course of sinning: for here
we are given to understand that God will "gather their
souls, "and so will let none escape. David Dickson.
Verse 9. Gather not my soul with sinners. After
all, it may be objected that this concern seems to be common
with saints and sinners. Even a wicked Balaam said, "Let
me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like
his." Nu 23:10. Take a few differences between them in
this matter. 1. It is separation from Christ that makes the
saints to have a horror at being gathered with sinners
hereafter. Separation from Christ is the main ground of the
believer's horror: but if other things were to be right with the
sinner in the other world, he would be easy under separation
from Christ. 2. The believer has a horror at being gathered with
sinners on account of their filthiness; but the thing that makes
the sinner concerned is the prospect of punishment. No doubt, a
principle of self preservation must make punishment frightful to
all; but abstracted from that, the saints have a concern not to
be gathered with sinners in the other world, upon account of
their unholiness and filthiness. "He who is filthy, let him
be filthy still, "is enough to make a saint abhor the lot
of sinners in the life to come. 3. The concern of the saints has
a mighty influence upon them, to make them study holiness here;
but sinners live unholy for all their concern. "And every
man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure." 1Jo 3:3. What hope? The hope of seeing Christ as he
is, and of being perfectly like him, of being separated from
sinners. 4. Lastly, the concern of the saints is such, that they
do with purpose of heart come out from among sinners more and
more in this world; but sinners are not concerned to be
separated from sinners here. Balaam wished to die the death of
the righteous; but he had no concern to live the life of the
righteous, and to be separated from sinners here. James Scot,
1773.
Verses 9-12. David prays that God would not
"gather his soul with sinners, whose right hand is full of
bribes; "such as, for advantage, would be bribed to sin, to
which wicked gang he opposeth himself, Ps 26:11; "But as
for me, I will walk in mine integrity; "where he tells
us what kept him from being corrupted and enticed, as they were;
from God—it was his integrity. A soul walking in its
integrity will take bribes neither from men, nor sin itself: and
therefore he saith Ps 26:12, "His foot stood in an even
place; "or, as some read it, "My foot standeth in
righteousness." William Gurnall.
Verse 10. Their right hand is full of bribes.
If the great men in Turkey should use their religion of Mahomet
to sell, as our patrons commonly sell benefices here (the office
of preaching, the office of salvation), it should be taken as an
intolerable thing; the Turk would not suffer it in his
commonwealth. Patrons be charged to see the office done, and not
to seek a lucre and a gain by their patronage. There was a
patron in England that had a benefice fallen into his hand, and
a good brother of mine came unto him, and brought him up thirty
apples in a dish, and gave them to his man to carry them to his
master. It is like he gave one to his man for his labour, to
make up the gain, and so there was thirty-one. This man cometh
to his master, and presented him with the dish of apples,
saying, "Sir, such a man hath sent you a dish of fruit, and
desireth you to be good unto him for such a benefice."
"Tush, tush, "said he, "this is no apple matter,
I will none of his apples, I have as good as these (or any he
hath) in mine own orchard." The man came to the priest
again, and told him what his master said. "Then, "said
the priest, "desire him yet to prove one of them for my
sake, he shall find them much better than they look for."
He cut one of them, and found ten pieces of gold in it.
"Marry, "said he, "this is a good apple."
The priest standing not far off, hearing what the gentleman
said, cried out and answered, "they are all one apples, I
warrant you, sir; they grew all on one tree, and have all one
taste." "Well, he is a good fellow, let him have it,
"said the patron, etc. Get you a graft of this same tree,
and I warrant you it shall stand you in better stead than all
St. Paul's learning. Hugh Latimer.
Verse 10. Bribes. They that see furthest into
the law, and most clearly discern the cause of justice, if they
suffer the dust of bribes to be thrown into their sight, their
eyes will water and twinkle, and fall at last to blind
connivance. It is a wretched thing when justice is made a
hackney that may be backed for money, and put on with golden
spurs, even to the desired journey's end of injury and iniquity.
Far be from our souls this wickedness, that the ear which should
be open to complaints should be stopped with the earwax of
partiality. Alas! poor truth, that she must now be put to
charges of a golden ear pick, or she cannot be heard! Thomas
Adams.
Verse 10.
What makes all doctrines plain and clear?
About two hundred pounds a year,
And that which was proved true before
Proved false again? Two hundred more.
—Samuel Butler (1600-1680), in Hudibras. Part 3. Canto
1.
Verses 12 (first clause). The upright man's foot,
is said to stand in an even place; he walks not haltingly
and uncomely, as those who go in unequal ways, which are
hobbling, and up and down, or those whose feet and legs are not
even (as Solomon saith), "The legs of the lame are not
equal, "and so cannot stand in an even place,
because one is long and the other short; the sincere man's feet
are even, and the legs of a length, as I may say; his
care alike conscientious to the whole will of God. The
hypocrite, like the badger, hath one foot shorter than another;
or, like a foundered horse, he doth not stand, as we say, right
of all four; one foot at least you shall perceive he favours,
loath to put it down. William Gurnall.
Verse 12. On an even place. As a man whose feet
are firmly fixed upon even ground is apprehensive of no fall, so
the pious worshippers of Jehovah feel no dread lest their
adversaries should finally triumph over them. William Walford.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. Two inseparable companions—faith and holiness.
2. The blessedness of the man who possesses them. He
needs not fear the judgment, nor the danger of the way.
3. The only means of procuring them.
Verse 1. (last sentence). The upholding power
of trust in God.
Verse 2. Divine examinations. Their variety,
severity, searching nature, accuracy, certainty: when to be
desired, and when to be dreaded.
Verse 3. Delight for the eyes and safety for the feet;
or the good man's sweet contemplation and holy practice; or the
heavenly compound of godliness—motive, and motion, enjoying
and acting, love and truth, free grace and good works.
Verse 3. Thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes.
It might be well to follow David and to keep the lovingkindness
of God before our eyes. This should be done in four
ways:—1. As a subject of contemplation.
2. As the source of encouragement.
3. As an incitement to praise.
4. As an example for imitation.
—William Jay.
Verse 4. Vain persons. Who they are. Why they
are to be avoided. What will become of them. Dissemblers.
Describe this numerous family. Show what their objects are. The
mischief done to believers by their craftiness. The need of
shunning them, and their fearful end.
Verse 5. Bad company. Cases of its evil
results, excuses for it answered, warnings given, motives urged
for relinquishing.
Verse 6. The necessity of personal holiness in order
to acceptable worship.
Verse 7. 1. The believer's calling—a publisher.
2. The author selected, and the quality of his works. "Thy
wondrous works."
3. The mode of advertising—"voice of
thanksgiving", "tell", etc.
Verse 8. God's house. Why we love it. What we love in
it. How we show our love. How our love will be rewarded.
Verse 9. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 524.
"The Saints' Horror at the Sinners' Hell."
Verse 11. The best men needing redemption and mercy;
or the outward walk before men, and the secret walk with God.
Verse 12. Secure standing, honoured position, grateful
praise.
Verse 12 (last clause). Congregational
Psalmody, and our personal share in it.