TITLE AND SUBJECT. Again, the title "A
Psalm of David," is too general to give us any clue to
the occasion on which it was written. Its position, as following
the twenty-seventh, seems to have been designed, for it is a
most suitable pendant and sequel to it. It is another of those
"songs in the night" of which the pen of David was so
prolific. The thorn at the breast of the nightingale was said by
the old naturalists to make it sing: David's griefs made him
eloquent in holy psalmody. The main pleading of this Psalm is
that the suppliant may not be confounded with the workers of
iniquity for whom he expresses the utmost abhorrence; it may
suit any slandered saint, who being misunderstood by men, and
treated by them as an unworthy character, is anxious to stand
aright before the bar of God. The Lord Jesus may be seen here
pleading as the representative of his people.
DIVISION. The first and second verses
earnestly entreat audience of the Lord in a time of dire
emergency. From Ps 28:2-5, the portion of the wicked is
described and deprecated. In Ps 28:6-8, praise is given for the
Lord's mercy in hearing prayer, and the Psalm concludes with a
general petition for the whole host of militant believers.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord, my rock.
A cry is the natural expression of sorrow, and is a suitable
utterance when all other modes of appeal fail us; but the cry
must be alone directed to the Lord, for to cry to man is to
waste our entreaties upon the air. When we consider the
readiness of the Lord to hear, and his ability to aid, we shall
see good reason for directing all our appeals at once to the God
of our salvation, and shall use language of firm resolve like
that in the text, "I will cry." The immutable Jehovah
is our rock, the immovable foundation of all our hopes
and our refuge in time of trouble: we are fixed in our
determination to flee to him as our stronghold in every hour of
danger. It will be in vain to call to the rocks in the day of
judgment, but our rock attends to our cries. Be not silent to
me. Mere formalists may be content without answers to their
prayers, but genuine suppliants cannot; they are not satisfied
with the results of prayer itself in calming the mind and
subduing the will—they must go further and obtain actual
replies from heaven, or they cannot rest; and those replies they
long to receive at once, if possible; they dread even a little
of God's silence. God's voice is often so terrible that it
shakes the wilderness; but his silence is equally full of awe to
an eager suppliant. When God seems to close his ear, we must not
therefore close our mouths, but rather cry with more
earnestness; for when our note grows shrill with eagerness and
grief, he will not long deny us a hearing. What a dreadful case
should we be in if the Lord should become for ever silent to our
prayers! This thought suggested itself to David, and he turned
it into a plea, thus teaching us to argue and reason with God in
our prayers. Lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like
them that go down into the pit. Deprived of the God who
answers prayer, we should be in a more pitiable plight than the
dead in the grave, and should soon sink to the same level as the
lost in hell. We must have answers to prayer: ours is an
urgent case of dire necessity; surely the Lord will speak peace
to our agitated minds, for he never can find it in his heart to
permit his own elect to perish.
Verse 2. This is much to the same effect as the first
verse, only that it refers to future as well as present
pleadings. Hear me! Hear me! Hear the voice of my
supplications! This is the burden of both verses. We cannot
be put off with a refusal when we are in the spirit of prayer;
we labour, use importunity, and agonize in supplications until a
hearing is granted us. The word "supplications, "in
the plural, shows the number, continuance, and variety of a good
man's prayers, while the expression "hear the voice,
"seems to hint that there is an inner meaning, or heart
voice, about which spiritual men are far more concerned than for
their outward and audible utterances. A silent prayer may have a
louder voice than the cries of those priests who sought to
awaken Baal with their shouts. When I lift up my hands toward
thy holy oracle: which holy place was the type of our Lord
Jesus; and if we would gain acceptance, we must turn ourselves
evermore to the blood besprinkled mercy seat of his atonement.
Uplifted hands have ever been a form of devout posture, and are
intended to signify a reaching upward towards God, a readiness,
an eagerness to receive the blessing sought after. We stretch
out empty hands, for we are beggars; we lift them up, for we
seek heavenly supplies; we lift them towards the mercy seat of
Jesus, for there our expectation dwells. O that whenever we use
devout gestures, we may possess contrite hearts, and so speed
well with God.
Verse 3. Draw me not away with the wicked. They
shall be dragged off to hell like felons of old drawn on a
hurdle to Tyburn, like logs drawn to the fire, like fagots to
the oven. David fears lest he should be bound up in their
bundle, drawn to their doom; and the fear is an appropriate one
for every godly man. The best of the wicked are dangerous
company in time, and would make terrible companions for
eternity; we must avoid them in their pleasures, if we would not
be confounded with them in their miseries. And with the
workers of iniquity. These are overtly sinful, and their
judgment will be sure; Lord, do not make us to drink of their
cup. Activity is found with the wicked even if it be lacking to
the righteous. Oh! to be "workers" for the Lord. Which
speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their
hearts. They have learned the manners of the place to which
they are going: the doom of liars is their portion for ever, and
lying is their conversation on the road. Soft words, oily with
pretended love, are the deceitful meshes of the infernal net in
which Satan catches the precious life; many of his children are
learned in his abominable craft, and fish with their father's
nets, almost as cunningly as he himself could do it. It is a
sure sign of baseness when the tongue and the heart do not ring
to the same note. Deceitful men are more to be dreaded than wild
beasts: it were better to be shut up in a pit with serpents than
to be compelled to live with liars. He who cries
"peace" too loudly, means to sell it if he can get his
price. "Good wine need no bush:" if he were so very
peaceful he would not need to say so; he means mischief, make
sure of that.
Verse 4. When we view the wicked simply as such, and
not as our fellow men, our indignation against sin leads us
entirely to coincide with the acts of divine justice which
punish evil, and to wish that justice might use her power to
restrain by her terrors the cruel and unjust; but still the
desires of the present verse, as our version renders it, are not
readily made consistent with the spirit of the Christian
dispensation, which seeks rather the reformation than the
punishment of sinners. If we view the words before us as
prophetic, or as in the future tense, declaring a fact, we are
probably nearer to the true meaning than that given in our
version. Ungodly reader, what will be your lot when the Lord
deals with you according to your desert, and weighs out to you
his wrath, not only in proportion to what you have actually
done, but according to what you would have done if you could.
Our endeavours are taken as facts; God takes the will for
the deed, and punishes or rewards accordingly. Not in this life,
but certainly in the next, God will repay his enemies to their
faces, and give them the wages of their sins. Not according to
their fawning words, but after the measure of their mischievous
deeds, will the Lord mete out vengeance to them that know him
not.
Verse 5. Because they regard not the works of the
Lord, nor the operation of his hands. God works in
creation—nature teems with proofs of his wisdom and goodness,
yet purblind atheists refuse to see him: he works in providence,
ruling and overruling, and his hand is very manifest in human
history, yet the infidel will not discern him: he works in
grace—remarkable conversions are still met with on all hands,
yet the ungodly refuse to see the operations of the Lord. Where
angels wonder, carnal men despise. God condescends to teach, and
man refuses to learn. He shall destroy them: he will make
them "behold, and wonder, and perish." If they would
not see the hand of judgment upon others, they shall feel it
upon themselves. Both soul and body shall be overwhelmed with
utter destruction for ever and ever. And not build them up.
God's cure is positive and negative; his sword has two edges,
and cuts right and left. Their heritage of evil shall prevent
the ungodly receiving any good; the ephah shall be too full of
wrath to contain a grain of hope. They have become like old,
rotten, decayed houses of timber, useless to the owner, and
harbouring all manner of evil, and, therefore, the Great Builder
will demolish them utterly. Incorrigible offenders may expect
speedy destruction: they who will not mend, shall be thrown away
as worthless. Let us be very attentive to all the lessons of
God's word and work, lest being found disobedient to the divine
will, we be made to suffer the divine wrath.
Verse 6. Blessed be the Lord. Saints are full
of benedictions; they are a blessed people, and a blessing
people; but they give their best blessings, the fat of their
sacrifices, to their glorious Lord. Our Psalm was prayer up to
this point, and now it turns to praise. They who pray well, will
soon praise well: prayer and praise are the two lips of the
soul; two bells to ring out sweet and acceptable music in the
ears of God; two angels to climb Jacob's ladder: two altars
smoking with incense; two of Solomon's lilies dropping sweet
smelling myrrh; they are two young roes that are twins, feeding
upon the mountain of myrrh and the hill of frankincense. Because
he hath heard the voice of my supplications. Real praise is
established upon sufficient and constraining reasons; it is not
irrational emotion, but rises, like a pure spring, from the
deeps of experience. Answered prayers should be acknowledged. Do
we not often fail in this duty? Would it not greatly encourage
others, and strengthen ourselves, if we faithfully recorded
divine goodness, and made a point of extolling it with our
tongue? God's mercy is not such an inconsiderable thing that we
may safely venture to receive it without so much as thanks. We
should shun ingratitude, and live daily in the heavenly
atmosphere of thankful love.
Verse 7. Here is David's declaration and confession of
faith, coupled with a testimony from his experience. The Lord
is my strength. The Lord employs his power on our behalf,
and moreover, infuses strength into us in our weakness. The
psalmist, by an act of appropriating faith, takes the
omnipotence of Jehovah to be his own. Dependence upon the
invisible God gives great independence of spirit, inspiring us
with confidence more than human. And my shield. Thus
David found both sword and shield in his God. The Lord preserves
his people from unnumbered ills; and the Christian warrior,
sheltered behind his God, is far more safe than the hero when
covered with his shield of brass or triple steel. My heart
trusted in him, and I am helped. Heart work is sure work;
heart trust is never disappointed. Faith must come before help,
but help will never be long behindhand. Every day the believer
may say, "I am helped, "for the divine assistance is
vouchsafed us every moment, or we should go back unto perdition;
when more manifest help is needed, we have but to put faith into
exercise, and it will be given us. Therefore my heart greatly
rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. The heart is
mentioned twice to show the truth of his faith and his joy.
Observe the adverb "greatly, "we need not be
afraid of being too full of rejoicing at the remembrance of
grace received. We serve a great God, let us greatly rejoice in
him. A song is the soul's fittest method of giving vent to its
happiness, it were well if we were more like the singing lark,
and less like the croaking raven. When the heart is glowing, the
lips should not be silent. When God blesses us, we should bless
him with all our heart.
Verse 8. The Lord is their strength. The
heavenly experience of one believer is a pattern of the life of
all. To all the militant church, without exception, Jehovah is
the same as he was to his servant David, "the least of them
shall be as David." They need the same aid and they shall
have it, for they are loved with the same love, written in the
same book of life, and one with the same anointed Head. And
he is the saving strength of his anointed. Here behold king
David as the type of our Lord Jesus, our covenant Head, our
anointed Prince, through whom all blessings come to us. He has
achieved full salvation for us, and we desire saving strength
from him, and as we share in the unction which is so largely
shed upon him, we expect to partake of his salvation. Glory be
unto the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
magnified the power of his grace in his only begotten Son, whom
he has anointed to be a Prince and a Saviour unto his people.
Verse 9. This is a prayer for the church militant,
written in short words, but full of weighty meaning. We must
pray for the whole church, and not for ourselves alone. Save
thy people. Deliver them from their enemies, preserve them
from their sins, succour them under their troubles, rescue them
from their temptations, and ward off from them every ill. There
is a plea hidden in the expression, "thy people:"
for it may be safely concluded that God's interest in the
church, as his own portion, will lead him to guard it from
destruction. Bless thine inheritance. Grant positive
blessings, peace, plenty, prosperity, happiness; make all thy
dearly purchased and precious heritage to be comforted by thy
Spirit. Revive, refresh, enlarge, and sanctify thy church. Feed
them also. Be a shepherd to thy flock, let their bodily and
spiritual wants be plentifully supplied. By thy word, and
ordinances, direct, rule, sustain, and satisfy those who are the
sheep of thy hand. And lift them up for ever. Carry them
in thine arms on earth, and then lift them into thy bosom in
heaven. Elevate their minds and thoughts, spiritualise their
affections, make them heavenly, Christlike, and full of God. O
Lord, answer this our petition, for Jesus' sake.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Verse 1. Unto thee do I cry. It is of the
utmost importance that we should have a definite object
on which to fix our thoughts. Man, at the best of times, has but
little power for realising abstractions; but least of all in his
time of sorrow. Then he is helpless; then he needs every
possible aid; and if his mind wander in vacancy, it will soon
weary, and sink down exhausted. God has graciously taken care
that this need not be done. He has so manifested himself to man
in his word, that the afflicted one can fix his mind's eye on
him, as the definite object of his faith, and hope, and prayer.
"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and
shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
Jer 33:3. This was what the psalmist did; and the definiteness
of God, as the object of his trust in prayer, is very clearly
marked. And specially great is the privilege of the Christian
in this matter. He can fix his eye on Jesus; he, without any
very great stretch of the imagination, can picture that Holy One
looking down upon him; listening to him; feeling for him;
preparing to answer him. Dear reader, in the time of your
trouble, do not roam; do not send out your sighs into vacancy;
do not let your thoughts wander, as though they were looking for
some one on whom to fix; for some one to whom you could tell the
story of your heart's need and desolation. Fix your heart as the
psalmist did, and say, "Unto thee will I cry."
... Oh! happy is that man, who feels and knows that when trouble
comes, he cannot be bewildered and confused by the stroke, no
matter how heavy it may be. Sorrow stricken he will be, but he
has his resource, and he knows it, and will avail himself
of it. His is no vague theory of the general sympathy of God for
man; his is a knowledge of God, as a personal and feeling God;
he says with the psalmist, "Unto thee will I
cry." Philip Bennett Power.
Verse 1. My rock. One day a female friend
called on the Rev. William Evans, a pious minister in England,
and asked how he felt himself. "I am weakness itself,
"he replied; "but I am on the Rock. I do not
experience those transports which some have expressed in the
view of death; but my dependence is on the mercy of God in
Christ. Here my religion began, and here it must end."
Verse 1. My rock. The Rev, John Rees, of
Crownstreet, Soho, London, was visited on his deathbed by the
Rev. John Leifchild, who very seriously asked him to describe
the state of his mind. This appeal to the honour of his religion
roused him, and so freshened his dying lamp, that raising
himself up in his bed, he looked his friend in the face, and
with great deliberation, energy, and dignity, uttered the
following words:—"Christ in his person, Christ in the
love of his heart, and Christ in the power of his arm, is the
Rock on which I rest; and now (reclining his head gently on the
pillow), Death, strike!" K. Arvine.
Verse 1. Be not silent to me. Let us next
observe what the heart desires from God. It is that he
would speak. Be not silent to me. Under these
circumstances, when we make our prayer, we desire that God would
let us know that he hears us, and that he would appear for us,
and that he would say, he is our Father. And what do we desire
God to say? We want him to let us know that he hears us; we want
to hear him speak as distinctly to us, as we feel that we have
spoken to him. We want to know, not only by faith that we
have been heard, but by God's having spoken to us on the very
subject whereupon we have spoken to him. When we feel thus
assured that God has heard us, we can with the deepest
confidence leave the whole matter about which we have been
praying, in his hands. Perhaps an answer cannot come for a long
time; perhaps things, meanwhile, seem working in a contrary way;
it may be, that there is no direct appearance at all of God upon
the scene; still faith will hold up and be strong; and there
will be comfort in the heart, from the felt consciousness that
God has heard our cry about the matter, and that he has told us
so. We shall say to ourselves, "God knows all about it; God
has in point of fact told me so; therefore I am in peace."
And let it be enough for us that God tells us this, when he will
perhaps tell us no more; let us not want to try and induce him
to speak much, when it is his will to speak but little: the best
answer we can have at certain times is simply the statement that
"he hears; "by this answer to our prayer he at once
encourages and exercises our faith. "It is said, "saith
Rutherford, speaking of the Saviour's delay in responding to the
request of the Syrophenician woman, "he answered not
a word, "but it is not said, he heard not a word.
These two differ much. Christ often heareth when he doth not
answer—his not answering is an answer, and
speaks thus—"pray on, go on and cry, for the Lord holdeth
his door fast bolted, not to keep you out, but that you may
knock, and knock, and it shall be opened." Philip
Bennett Power.
Verse 1. Lest...I become like them that go down
into the pit. Thou seest, great God, my sad situation.
Nothing to me is great or desirable upon this earth but the
felicity of serving thee, and yet the misery of my destiny, and
the duties of my state, bring me into connection with men who
regard all godliness as a thing to be censured and derided. With
secret horror I daily hear them blaspheming the ineffable gifts
of thy grace, and ridiculing the faith and fervour of the godly
as mere imbecility of mind. Exposed to such impiety, all my
consolation, O my God, is to make my cries of distress ascend to
the foot of thy throne. Although for the present, these
sacrilegious blasphemies only awaken in my soul emotions of
horror and pity, yet I fear that at last they may enfeeble me
and seduce me into a crooked course of policy, unworthy of thy
glory, and of the gratitude which I owe to thee. I fear that
insensibly I may become such a coward as to blush at thy name,
such a sinner as to resist the impulses of thy grace, such a
traitor as to withhold my testimony against sin, such a self
deceiver as to disguise my criminal timidity by the name of
prudence. Already I feel that this poison is insinuating itself
into my heart, for while I would not have my conduct resemble
that of the wicked who surround me, yet I am too much biased by
the fear of giving them offence. I dare not imitate them, but I
am almost as much afraid of irritating them. I know that it is
impossible both to please a corrupt world and a holy God, and
yet I so far lose sight of this truth, that instead of
sustaining me in decision, it only serves to render my
vacillation the more inexcusable. What remains for me but to
implore thy help! Strengthen me, O Lord, against these
declensions so injurious to thy glory, so fatal to the fidelity
which is due to thee. Cause me to hear thy strengthening and
encouraging voice. If the voice of thy grace be not lifted up in
my spirit, reanimating my feeble faith, I feel that there is but
a step between me and despair. I am on the brink of the
precipice, I am ready to fall into a criminal complicity with
those who would fain drag me down with them into the pit. Jean
Baptiste Massillon, 1663-1742, freely translated by C.H.S.
Verse 2. I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.
Called (rybd), debhir, because there hence God spake and
gave answer. Toward this (a type of Christ, the Word essential),
David lifteth up his hands, that it might be as a ladder,
whereby his prayer might get up to heaven. John Trapp.
Verse 3. Draw me not away with the wicked...which
speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their
hearts. The godly man abhors dissimulation towards men; his
heart goes along with his tongue, he cannot flatter and hate,
commend and censure. "Let love be without
dissimulation." Ro 12:9. Dissembled love is worse than
hatred; counterfeiting of friendship is no better than a lie Ps
78:36, for there is a pretence of that which is not. Many are
like Joab: "He took Amasa by the beard to kiss him, and
smote him with his sword in the fifth rib, that he died."
There is a river in Spain, where the fish seem to be of a golden
colour, but take them out of the water, and they are like other
fish. All is not gold that glitters; there are some pretend much
kindness, but they are like great veins which have little blood;
if you lean upon them they are as a leg out of joint. For my
part, I much question his truth towards God, that will flatter
and lie to his friend. "He that hideth hatred with lying
lips, and he that uttereth a slander is a fool." Pr 10:18. Thomas
Watson.
Verse 3. Draw me not out with. An allusion, I
conceive, to a shepherd selecting out a certain portion of his
flock. "Reckon me not among." Professor Lee.
Verse 3. Draw me not away. (ynkvmt-la) from (Kvm);
that signifies, both to draw and apprehend, will be best
rendered here, seize not on me, as he that seizes
on any to carry or drag him to execution. Henry
Hammond.
Verse 4. Give them according to their deeds,
etc. Here, again, occurs the difficult question about praying
for vengeance, which, however, I shall despatch in a few words.
In the first place, then, it is unquestionable, that if the
flesh move us to seek revenge, the desire is wicked in the sight
of God. He not only forbids us to imprecate evil upon our
enemies in revenge for private injuries, but it cannot be
otherwise than that all those desires which spring from hatred
must be disordered. David's example, therefore, must not be
alleged by those who are driven by their own intemperate passion
to seek vengeance. The holy prophet is not inflamed here by his
own private sorrow to devote his enemies to destruction; but
laying aside the desire of the flesh, he give judgment
concerning the matter itself. Before a man can, therefore,
denounce vengeance against the wicked, he must first shake
himself free from all improper feelings in his own mind. In the
second place, prudence must be exercised, that the heinousness
of the evils which offend us drive us not to intemperate zeal,
which happened even to Christ's disciples, when they desired
that fire might be brought from heaven to consume those who
refused to entertain their Master. Lu 9:54. They pretended, it
is true, to act according to the example of Elias, but Christ
severely rebuked them, and told them that they knew not by what
spirit they were actuated. In particular, we must observe this
general rule, that we cordially desire and labour for the
welfare of the whole human race. Thus it will come to pass, that
we shall not only give way to the exercise of God's mercy, but
shall also wish the conversion of those who seem obstinately to
rush upon their own destruction. In short, David, being free
from every evil passion, and likewise endued with the spirit of
discretion and judgment, pleads here not so much his own cause
as the cause of God. And by this prayer, he further reminds both
himself and the faithful, that although the wicked may give
themselves loose reins in the commission of every species of
vice with impunity for a time, they must at length stand before
the judgment seat of God. John Calvin.
Verse 4. Give them according to their deeds, and
according to the wickedness of their endeavours. Yes, great
God, since thou hast from the beginning been only occupied in
saving men, thou wilt surely strike with an eternal malediction
these children of iniquity who appear to have been born only to
be lost themselves, and to destroy others. The very benevolence
towards mankind solicits thy thunders against these corrupters
of society. The more thou hast done for our race, the more
surely will the severity of thy justice reveal itself in
destroying the wretches whose only study is to counteract thy
goodness towards mankind. They labour incessantly to put men far
away from thee, O my God, and in return thou wilt put them far
away from thee for ever. They count it great gain to make their
fellows thine enemies, and they shall have the desperate
consolation of being such themselves to all eternity. What more
fitting punishment for the wretches who desire to make all
hearts rebel against thine adorable Majesty, than to lie through
the baseness of their nature, under the eternal and frightful
necessity of hating thee for ever. Jean Baptiste Massillon,
rendered very freely by C. H. S.
Verse 4. Give them according to their deeds.
The Egyptians killed the Hebrew male children, and God
smote the firstborn of Egypt. Sisera, who thought to
destroy Israel with his iron chariots, was himself killed with
an iron nail, stuck through his temples. Adonibezek, Jud
1:5-7. Gideon slew forty elders of Succoth, and his sons
were murdered by Abimelech. Abimelech slew seventy sons
of Gideon upon one stone, and his own head was broken by a piece
of millstone thrown by a woman. Samson fell by the
"lust of the eye, "and before death the Philistines
put out his eyes. Agag, 1Sa 20:33. Saul slew the
Gibeonites, and seven of his sons were hung up before the Lord.
2Sa 21:1-9. Ahab, after coveting Naboth's vineyard, 1Ki
21:19, fulfilled 2Ki 9:24-26. Jeroboam, the same hand
that was stretched forth against the altar was withered, 1Ki
13:1-6. Joab having killed Abner, Amasa, and Absalom, was
put to death by Solomon. Daniel's accusers thrown into
the lion's den meant for Daniel. Haman hung upon the
gallows designed for Mordecai. Judas purchased the field
of blood, and then went and hanged himself. So in the history of
later days, Bajazet was carried about by Tamerlane in an
iron cage, as he intended to have carried Tamerlane. Mazentius
built a bridge to entrap Constantine, and was overthrown himself
of that very spot. Alexander VI. was poisoned by the wine
he had prepared for another. Charles IX. made the streets
of Paris to stream with Protestant blood, and soon after blood
streamed from all parts of his body in a bloody sweat. Cardinal
Beaton condemned George Wishart to death, and presently died
a violent death himself. He was murdered in bed, and his body
was laid out in the same window from which he had looked upon
Wishart's execution. G. S. Bowes, in "Illustrative
Gatherings."
Verse 4. Render to them their desert. Meditate
on God's righteousness, that it is not only his will, but his
nature to punish sin; sin must damn thee without Christ, there
is not only a possibility or probability that sin may ruin, but
without an interest in Christ it must do so; whet much upon thy
heart that must; God cannot but hate sin, because he is
holy; and he cannot but punish sin, because he is righteous. God
must not forego his own nature to gratify our humours. Christopher
Fowler, in "Morning Exercises," 1676.
Verse 4. He prayeth against his enemies, not out of
any private revenge, but being led by the infallible spirit of
prophecy, looking through these men to the enemies of Christ,
and of his people in all ages. David Dickson.
Verses 4-5. In these verses, as indeed in most of the
imprecatory passages, the imperative and the future are used
promiscuously: Give them—render them—he shall destroy
them. If therefore, the verbs, in all such passages, were
uniformly rendered in the "future, "every objection
against the Scripture imprecations would vanish at once, and
they would appear clearly to be what they are, namely,
prophecies of the divine judgments, which have been since
executed against the Jews, and which will be executed against
all the enemies of Jehovah, and his Christ; whom neither the
"works" of creation, nor those of redemption, can lead
to repentance. George Horne.
Verses 4-5. See Psalms on "Ps 28:4"
for further information. In these verses, as indeed in most of
the imprecatory passages, the imperative and the future are used
promiscuously: Give them—render them—he shall destroy
them. If therefore, the verbs, in all such passages, were
uniformly rendered in the "future, "every objection
against the Scripture imprecations would vanish at once, and
they would appear clearly to be what they are, namely,
prophecies of the divine judgments, which have been since
executed against the Jews, and which will be executed against
all the enemies of Jehovah, and his Christ; whom neither the
"works" of creation, nor those of redemption, can lead
to repentance. George Horne.
Verse 6. He hath heard. Prayer is the best
remedy in a calamity. This is indeed a true catholicum, a
general remedy for every malady. Not like the empiric's catholicum,
which sometimes may work, but for the most part fails: but that
which upon assured evidence and constant experience hath its probatum
est; being that which the most wise, learned, honest, and
skilful Physician that ever was, or can be, hath
prescribed—even he that teacheth us how to bear what is to be
borne, or how to heal and help what hath been borne. William
Gouge.
Verse 7. The Lord is my strength. Oh, sweet
consolation! If a man have a burden upon him, yet if he have strength
added to him, if the burden be doubled, yet if his strength
be trebled, the burden will not be heavier, but lighter than it
was before to his natural strength; so if our afflictions be
heavy, and we cry out, Oh, we cannot bear them! yet if we cannot
bear them with our own strength, why may we not bear them with
the strength of Jesus Christ? Do we think that Christ could not
bear them? or if we dare not think but that Christ could bear
them, why may not we come to bear them? Some may question, can
we have the strength of Christ? Yes; that very strength is made
over to us by faith, for so the Scripture saith frequently, The
Lord is our strength; God is our strength; The Lord Jehovah is
our strength; Christ is our strength Ps 28:7 43:2 Ps 118:14
Isa 12:2 Hab 3:19 Col 1:11; and, therefore, is Christ's strength
ours, made over unto us, that we may be able to bear whatsoever
lies upon us. Isaac Ambrose.
Verse 7. The Lord is my strength inwardly, and
my shield outwardly. Faith finds both these in Jehovah, and
the one not without the other, for what is a shield without
strength, or strength without a shield? My heart trusted in
him, and I am helped: the idea of the former sentence is
here carried out, that outward help was granted to inward
confidence. W. Wilson, D.D.
Verse 7. My heart trusted in him, and I am helped.
Faith substantiates things not yet seen; it altereth the tense,
saith one, and putteth the future into the present tense as
here. John Trapp.
Verse 8. The Lord is their strength: not mine
only, but the strength of every believer. Note—the saints
rejoice in their friends' comforts as well as their own; for as
we have not the less benefit by the light of the sun, so neither
by the light of God's countenance, for others sharing therein;
for we are sure there is enough for all, and enough for each.
This is our communion with all saints, that God is their
strength and ours; Christ their Lord and ours. 1Co 1:2. He is
their strength, the strength of all Israel, because he is the
saving strength of his anointed, i.e., 1. Of David in the
type: God in strengthening him that was their king and fought
their battles, strengthened the whole kingdom. He calls himself
God's anointed, because it was the unction he had received that
exposed him to the envy of his enemies, and therefore entitled
him to the divine protection. 2. Of Christ, his Anointed, his
Messiah, in the antitype. God was his saving strength,
qualified him for his undertaking, and carried him through it. Matthew
Henry.
Verse 9. Lift them up. The word here used may
mean sustain them, or support them; but it more
properly means bear, and would be best expressed by a
reference to the fact, that the shepherd carries the feeble, the
young, and the sickly of his flock in his arms, or that he lifts
them up when unable themselves to rise. Albert Barnes.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. (first clause). A sinner's wise
resolution in the hour of despondency.
Verse 1. The saint's fear of becoming like the
ungodly.
Verse 1. God's silence—what terror may lie in it.
Verse 1. (last clause). How low a soul may sink
when God hides his face.
Verses 1-2. Prayer. 1. Its nature—a
"cry": (a) The utterance of life, (b) The
expression of pain, (c) The pleading of need, (d) The voice of
deep earnestness.
2. Its object—"O Lord, my rock." God as
our Foundation, Refuge, and immutable Friend.
3. Its aim—"Hear, ""Be not silent."
We expect an answer, a clear and manifest answer, a speedy
answer, a suitable answer, an effectual answer.
4. Its medium—"Towards thy holy oracle."
Our Lord Jesus, the true mercy seat, etc.
Verse 3. The characters to be avoided, the doom to be
dreaded, the grace to keep us from both.
Verse 4. Measure for measure, or punishment
proportioned to desert.
Verse 4. Endeavour the measure of sin rather than mere
result. Hence some are guilty of sins which they were unable to
commit.
Verse 5. Culpable negligence constantly persisted in,
losing much blessing, and involving terrible condemnation.
Verse 6. Answered prayers, a retrospect and song.
Verse 7. The heart's possessions, confidence,
experience, joy, and music.
Verse 7. Adoring God for his mercies. 1. What God is
to the believer.
2. What should be the disposition of our hearts towards him.
—C. Simeon.
Verse 8. All power given to believers because of their
union with Jesus.
Verse 9. "A prayer for the church militant."
See Exposition and Spurgeon's Sermons, No. 768.