TITLE. To the Chief Musician, He who had
the leadership of the Temple service was charged with the use of
this song in public worship. What is everybody's business is
never done. It was well to have one person specially to attend
to the service of song in the house of the Lord. Of David the
servant of the Lord. This would seem to indicate that the Psalm
peculiarly befits one who esteems it an honour to be called
Jehovah's servant. It is THE SONG OF HAPPY SERVICE; such a one
as all may join in who bear the easy yoke of Jesus. The wicked
are contrasted with the righteous, and the great Lord of devout
men is heartily extolled; thus obedience to so good a Master is
indirectly insisted on, and rebellion against him is plainly
condemned.
DIVISION. From Ps 36:1-4 David
describes the rebellious: in Ps 36:5-9 he extols the various
attributes of the Lord; in Ps 36:10-11 he addresses the Lord in
prayer, and in the last verse his faith sees in vision the
overthrow of all the workers of iniquity.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. The transgression of the wicked. His
daring and wanton sin; his breaking the bounds of law and
justice. Saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God
before his eyes. Men's sins have a voice to godly ears. They
are the outer index of an inner evil. It is clear that men who
dare to sin constantly and presumptuously cannot respect the
great Judge of all. Despite the professions of unrighteous men,
when we see their unhallowed actions our heart is driven to the
conclusion that they have no religion whatever. Unholiness is
clear evidence of ungodliness. Wickedness is the fruit of an
atheistic root. This may be made clear to the candid head by
cogent reasoning, but it is clear already and intuitively to the
pious heart. If God be everywhere, and I fear him, how can I
dare to break his laws in his very presence? He must be a
desperate traitor who will rebel in the monarch's own halls.
Whatever theoretical opinions bad men may avow, they can only be
classed with atheists, since they are such practically. Those
eyes which have no fear of God before them now, shall have the
terrors of hell before them for ever.
Verse 2. For. Here is the argument to prove the
proposition laid down in the former verse. David here runs over
the process of reasoning by which he had become convinced that
wicked men have no proper idea of God or respect for him. God
fearing men see their sins and bewail them, where the reverse is
the case we may be sure there is no fear of God. He
flattereth himself in his own eyes. He counts himself a fine
fellow, worthy of great respect. He quiets his conscience, and
so deceives his own judgment as to reckon himself a pattern of
excellence; if not for morality, yet for having sense enough not
to be enslaved by rules which are bonds to others. He is the
free thinker, the man of strong mind, the hater of cant, the
philosopher; and the servants of God are, in his esteem, mean
spirited and narrow minded. Of all flatteries this is the most
absurd and dangerous. Even the silliest bird will not set traps
for itself; the most pettifogging attorney will not cheat
himself. To smooth over one's own conduct to one's conscience
(which is the meaning of the Hebrew) is to smooth one's own path
to hell. The descent to eternal ruin is easy enough, without
making a glissade of it, as self flatters do. Until his
iniquity be found to be hateful. At length he is found out
and detested, despite his self conceit. Rottenness smells sooner
or later too strong to be concealed. There is a time when the
leprosy cannot be hidden. At last the old house can no longer be
propped up, and falls about the tenant's ears: so there is a
limit to a man's self gratulation; he is found out amid general
scorn, and can no longer keep up the farce which he played so
well. If this happens not in this life, the hand of death will
let light in upon the coveted character, and expose the sinner
to shame and contempt. The self flattering process plainly
proves the atheism of sinners, since the bare reflection that
God sees them would render such self flatteries extremely
difficult, if not impossible. Belief in God, like light reveals,
and then our sin and evil are perceived; but wicked men are in
the dark, for they cannot see what is so clearly within them and
around them that it stares them in the face.
Verse 3. The words of his mouth are iniquity and
deceit. This pair of hell dogs generally hunt together, and
what one does not catch the other will; if iniquity cannot win
by oppression, deceit will gain by chicanery. When the heart is
so corrupt as to flatter itself, the tongue follows suit. The
open sepulchre of the throat reveals the foulness of the inner
nature. God fearing men make a conscience of their words, and if
they sin through infirmity they do not invent excuses, or go
about to boast of their wickedness: but because wicked men think
little of evil and artful speeches, we may be clear that God
rules not in their souls. The original by declaring that the
words of the wicked are falsehood and deceit is peculiarly
strong; as if they were not only false in quality, but actual
falseness itself. He hath left off to be wise, and to do
good. From the good way he has altogether gone aside. Men
who fear God proceed from strength to strength in the right
path, but godless men soon forsake what little good they once
knew. How could men apostatise if they had respect unto the
supreme Judge? Is it not because they grow more and more
forgetful of God, that in due season they relinquish even that
hypocritical reverence of him which in former days they
maintained in order to flatter their souls?
Verse 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed. His
place of rest becomes the place for plotting. His bed is a hot
bed for poisonous weeds. God fearing men meditate upon God and
his service; but when men turn all their thoughts and inventive
faculties towards evil, their godlessness is proved to a
demonstration. He hath the devil for his bed fellow who lies
abed and schemes how to sin. God is far from him. He setteth
himself in a way that is not good. When he gets up he
resolutely and persistently pursues the mischief which he
planned. The worst of ways he prefers for his walking, for he
has taught his heart to love filthiness, having accustomed
himself to revel in it in imagination. He abhorreth not evil.
So far from having a contempt and abhorrence for evil, he even
rejoices in it, and patronises it. He never hates a wrong thing
because it is wrong, but he meditates on it, defends it, and
practises it. What a portrait of a graceless man these few
verses afford us! His jauntiness of conscience, his
licentiousness of speech, his intentness upon wrong doing, his
deliberate and continued preference of iniquity, and withal his
atheistic heart, are all photographed to the life. Lord, save us
from being such.
Verses 5-9. From the baseness of the wicked the
psalmist turns his contemplation to the glory of God. Contrasts
are impressive.
Verse 5. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens.
Like the ethereal blue, it encompasses the whole earth, smiling
upon universal nature, acting as a canopy for all the creatures
of earth, surmounting the loftiest peaks of human provocations,
and rising high above the mists of mortal transgression. Clear
sky is evermore above, and mercy calmly smiles above the din and
smoke of this poor world. Darkness and clouds are but of earth's
lower atmospheres: the heavens are evermore serene, and bright
with innumerable stars. Divine mercy abides in its vastness of
expanse, and matchless patience, all unaltered by the rebellions
of man. When we can measure the heavens, then shall we bound the
mercy of the Lord. Towards his own servants especially, in the
salvation of the Lord Jesus, he has displayed grace higher than
the heaven of heavens, and wider than the universe. O that there
atheist could but see this, how earnestly would he long to
become a servant of Jehovah! Thy faithfulness reacheth unto
the clouds. Far, far above all comprehension is the truth
and faithfulness of God. He never fails, nor forgets, nor
falters, nor forfeits his word. Afflictions are like clouds, but
the divine truthfulness is all around them. While we are under
the cloud we are in the region of God's faithfulness; when we
mount above it we shall not need such an assurance. To every
word of threat, or promise, prophecy or covenant, the Lord has
exactly adhered, for he is not a man that he should lie, nor the
son of man that he should repent.
Verse 6. Thy righteousness is like the great
mountains. Firm and unmoved, lofty and sublime. As winds and
hurricanes shake not an Alp, so the righteousness of God is
never in any degree affected by circumstances; he is always
just. Who can bribe the Judge of all the earth, or who can, by
threatening, compel him to pervert judgment? Not even to save
his elect would the Lord suffer his righteousness to be set
aside. No awe inspired by mountain scenery can equal that which
fills the soul when it beholds the Son of God slain as a victim
to vindicate the justice of the Inflexible Lawgiver. Right
across the path of every unholy man who dreams of heaven stand
the towering Andes of divine righteousness, which no
unregenerate sinner can ever climb. Among great mountains lie
slumbering avalanches, and there the young lightnings try their
callow wings until the storm rushes down amain from the awful
peaks; so against the great day of the Lord's wrath the Lord has
laid up in the mountains of his righteousness dreadful
ammunition of war with which to overwhelm his adversaries. Thy
judgments are a great deep. God's dealings with men are not
to be fathomed by every boaster who demands to see a why for
every wherefore. The Lord is not to be questioned by us as to
why this and why that. He has reasons, but he does not choose to
submit them to our foolish consideration. Far and wide, terrible
and irresistible like the ocean are the providential
dispensations of God: at one time they appear as peaceful as the
unrippled sea of glass; at another tossed with tempest and
whirlwind, but evermore most glorious and full of mystery. Who
shall discover the springs of the sea? He who shall do this may
hope to comprehend the providence of the Eternal.
"Undiscovered sea!
Into thy dark, unknown, mysterious caves,
And secret haunts unfathomably deep,
Beneath all visible retired, none went
And came again to tell the wonders there."
Yet as the deep mirrors the sky, so the mercy of the Lord is
to be seen reflected in all the arrangements of his government
on earth, and over the profound depth the covenant rainbow casts
its arch of comfort, for the Lord is faithful in all that he
doeth. O Lord, thou preservest man and beast. All the
myriads of creatures, rational and irrational, are fed by
Jehovah's hand. The countless beasts, the innumerable birds, the
inconceivable abundance of fishes, the all but infinite armies
of insects, all owe their continuance of life to the unceasing
outgoings of the divine power. What a view of God this presents
to us! What a debased creature must he be who sees no trace of
such a God, and feels no awe of him!
Verse 7. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O
God. Here we enter into the Holy of Holies. Benevolence, and
mercy, and justice, are everywhere, but the excellence of that
mercy only those have known whose faith has lifted the veil and
passed into the brighter presence of the Lord; these behold the
excellency of the Lord's mercy. The word translated excellent
may be rendered "precious; "no gem or pearl can ever
equal in value a sense of the Lord's love. This is such a
brilliant as angels wear. King's regalia are a beggardly
collection of worthless pebbles when compared with the tender
mercies of Jehovah. David could not estimate it, and therefore,
after putting a note of admiration, he left our hearts and
imagination, and, better still, our experience, to fill up the
rest. He writes how excellent! because he cannot tell us
the half of it. Therefore the children of men put their trust
under the shadow of thy wings. The best of reasons for the
best of courses. The figure is very beautiful. The Lord
overshadows his people as a hen protects her brood, or as an
eagle covers its young; and we as the little ones run under the
blessed shelter and feel at rest. To cower down under the wings
of God is so sweet. Although the enemy be far too strong for us,
we have no fear, for we nestle under the Lord's wing. O that
more of Adam's race knew the excellency of the heavenly shelter!
It made Jesus weep to see how they refused it: our tears may
well lament the same evil.
Verse 8. They shall be abundantly satisfied with
the fatness of thy house. Those who learn to put their trust
in God shall be received into his house, and shall share in the
provision laid up therein. The dwelling place of the Lord is not
confined to any place, and hence reside where we may, we may
regard our dwelling, if we be believers, as one room in the
Lord's great house; and we shall, both in providence and grace,
find a soul contenting store supplied to us as the result of
living by faith in nearness to the Lord. If we regard the
assembly of the saints as being peculiarly the house of God,
believers shall, indeed, find in sacred worship the richest
spiritual food. Happy is the soul that can drink in the
sumptuous dainties of the gospel—nothing can so completely
fill the soul. And thou shalt make them drink of the river of
thy pleasures. As they have the fruits of Eden to feed on,
so shall they have the river of Paradise to drink from. God's
everlasting love bears to us a constant and ample comfort, of
which grace makes us to drink by faith, and then our pleasure is
of the richest kind. The Lord not only brings us to this river,
but makes us drink: herein we see the condescension of divine
love. Heaven will, in the fullest sense, fulfil these words; but
they who trust in the Lord enjoy the antepast even here. The
happiness given to the faithful is that of God himself; purified
spirits joy with the same joy as the Lord himself. "That my
joy may be in you, that your joy may be full."
Verse 9. For with thee is the fountain of life.
This verse is made of simple words, but like the first chapter
of John's Gospel, it is very deep. From the Lord, as from an
independent self sufficient spring, all creature life proceeds,
by him is sustained, through him alone can it be perfected. Life
is in the creature, but the fountain of it is only in the
Creator. Of spiritual life, this is true in the most emphatic
sense; "it is the Spirit that quickeneth, ""and
we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God." In
thy light shall we see light. Light is the glory of life.
Life in the dark is misery, and rather death than life. The Lord
alone can give natural, intellectual, and spiritual life; he
alone can make life bright and lustrous. In spiritual things the
knowledge of God sheds a light on all other subjects. We need no
candle to see the sun, we see it by its own radiance, and then
see everything else by the same lustre. We never see Jesus by
the light of self, but self in the light of Jesus. No inward
intelligence of ours leads us to receive the Spirit's light, but
the rather, it often helps to quench the sacred beam; purely and
only by his own illumination, the Holy Ghost lights up the dark
recesses of our heart's ungodliness. Vain are they who look to
learning and human wit, one ray from the throne of God is better
than the noonday splendour of created wisdom. Lord, give me the
sun, and let those who will delight in the wax candles of
superstition and the phosphorescence of corrupt philosophy.
Faith derives both light and life from God, and hence she
neither dies nor darkens.
Verse 10. O continue thy lovingkindness unto them
that know thee. We ask no more than a continuance of the
past mercy. Lord, extend this grace of thine to all the days of
all who have been taught to know thy faithful love, thy
tenderness, thine immutability and omnipotence. As they have
been taught of the Lord to know the Lord, so go on to instruct
them and perfect them. This prayer is the heart of the believer
asking precisely that which the heart of his God is prepared to
grant. It is well when the petition is but the reflection of the
promise. And thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
As thou hast never failed the righteous, so abide thou in the
same manner their defender and avenger. The worst thing to be
feared by the man of God is to be forsaken of heaven, hence this
prayer; but the fear is groundless, hence the peace which faith
brings to us. Learn from this verse, that although a continuance
of mercy is guaranteed in the covenant, we are yet to make it a
matter of prayer. For this good thing will the Lord be enquired
of.
Verse 11. Let not the foot of pride come against
me. The general prayer is here turned into a particular and
personal one for himself. Pride is the devil's sin. Good men may
well be afraid of proud men, for the serpent's seed will never
cease to bite the heel of the godly. Fain would proud scoffers
spurn the saints or trample them under foot: against their
malice prayer lifts up her voice. No foot shall come upon us, no
hand shall prevail against us, while Jehovah is on our side. Let
not the hand of the wicked remove me. Suffer me not to be
driven about as a fugitive, nor torn from my place like an
uprooted tree. Violence with both hand and foot, with means fair
and means foul, strove to overthrow the psalmist, but he resorts
to his great Patron, and sings a song of triumph in anticipation
of the defeat of his foes.
Verse 12. There are the workers of iniquity fallen.
Faith sees them scattered on the plain. There! before our very
eyes sin, death, and hell, lie prostrate. Behold the vanquished
foes! They are cast down. Providence and grace have
dashed them from their vantage ground. Jesus has already thrown
all the foes of his people upon their faces, and in due time all
sinners shall find it so. And shall not be able to rise.
The defeat of the ungodly and of the powers of evil is final,
total, irretrievable. Glory be to God, however high the powers
of darkness may carry it at this present, the time hastens on
when God shall defend the right, and give to evil such a fall as
shall for ever crush the hopes of hell; while those who trust in
the Lord shall eternally praise him and rejoice in his holy
name.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. To the Chief Musician, has given rise to many
conjectures. In the Septuagint the Hebrew word is translated,
eiz to telos, to the end; a meaning so utterly vague as to defy
all reasonable conjecture. ...The meaning of the term appears to
be this: the Psalms in which it occurs were given in charge by
their inspired authors to the Chief Musician overseeing some
specific band of music, whether harps, psalteries, or wind
instruments. John Jebb, A.M., in "A Literal Translation
of the Book of Psalms," 1846.
Title. The servant of the Lord. David only uses this
title here and in Psalm eighteen. In both he describes the
dealings of God both with the righteous and the wicked, and it
is most fit that at the very outset he should take his place
with the servants of the Lord. C. H. S.
Whole Psalm. First Part. A character of a
wicked man Ps 36:1. 1. He calls evil good Ps 36:2. 2. He
continues in it. 3. He is an hypocrite Ps 36:3. 4. He is
obstinate. 5. He is studious in wickedness Ps 36:4. Second
part. God's patience and mercy Ps 36:5-6. 1. To all, even
all creatures. 2. But particularly to his people, which he
admires. Upon which the faithful (1) trust, (2) are satisfied Ps
36:7-8. The Third part. He prays that this effect may
light, 1. On God's people Ps 36:10. 2. On himself Ps 36:11. 3.
His acclimation upon it Ps 36:12. William Nicholson (Bishop),
1662.
Verse 1. In this Psalm we have a description of sin,
especially as it appears in those who have openly broken God's
bands. The introduction is very striking; The transgression
of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of
God before his eyes. How could the transgression of the
wicked speak within the heart of him who in the
inscription of the Psalm declares himself to be the servant
of JEHOVAH? These words are generally understood as
signifying that the outward conduct of the sinner, as often as
he thought of it, naturally suggested this conclusion to his
mind, that he was destitute of all fear of God. But they may
perhaps admit of another meaning, equally agreeable to the
literal reading; wickedness, saith of the wicked, within my
heart, etc. According to this view, the psalmist meant that
notwithstanding the external pretences of the wicked, and all
their attempts to cover their iniquity, he was certain that they
had no real sense of the presence of God, that they secretly
renounced his authority. How was he assured of this? By a
comparison of their conduct with the dictates of the heart. He
could not indeed look into their hearts, but he could look into
his own, and there he found corruption so strong, that
were it not for the fear of God that was implanted within him,
he would be as bad as they. John Jamieson.
Verse 1. It is not the imperfection or shortcoming in
the fear of God, but the being destitute of it altogether, that
proveth a wicked man: There is no fear of God before his
eyes. David Dickson.
Verse 1. (last clause). Not having the fear
of God before his eyes, has become inwoven into proceedings
in criminal courts. When a man has no fear of God, he is
prepared for any crime. Total depravity is not too strong a term
to describe human wickedness. The sinner has no fear of God.
Where that is wanting, how can there be any piety? And if there
is no piety, there must be total want of right affections, and
that is the very essence of depravity. William S. Plumer.
Verse 1. Durst any mock God with flourishes and
formalities in religion, if they feared him? Durst any provoke
God to his face by real and open wickedness, if they feared him?
Durst any sin with the judgments of God fresh bleeding before
their eyes, if they feared the Lord and his wrath? Durst they
sin with heaps of precious mercy before their eyes, if they
feared the Lord and his goodness? Durst any flatter either
others or themselves with hopes of impunity in their sin, if
they feared the Lord and his truth? Durst any slight their own
promises, professions, protestations, oaths, or design the
entangling of others by them, rather than the binding of
themselves, did they fear the Lord and his faithfulness, even
the Lord who keepeth covenant and promise for ever? All these
and many more transgressions of the wicked (all these ways of
transgression are found among the wicked, it were well if none
of them were found among those who have a name of godliness; I
say, all these transgressions of the wicked) say, There is no
fear of God before their eyes. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 1. The wicked man has no regard to the
oracles of God: he had one in his own heart, which dictates
nothing but rebellion. Zachary Mudge.
Verse 2. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes.
The matter which this self flattery especially concerns is sin,
as appears from the following clause. He deceives himself as to
its nature and consequences, its evil and aggravations, and he
continues to do so until his iniquity be found to be hateful;
till it be fully discovered, and appear in its magnitude and
atrocious circumstances both to himself and others, by some
awful divine judgment, such as that mentioned in the last verse
of the Psalm: "There are the workers of iniquity fallen:
they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise." He
adduces this self deceit and continuance in it, as illustrating
the truth of that judgment he had formed of the state of such a
person: There is no fear of God before his eyes: for he
flattereth himself in his own eyes. And surely the proof is
incontrovertible. For a man under the bondage of sin would never
flatter himself in his own eyes, were it not that God is
not before them. The reason why he thinks so well of himself is,
that God is not in all his thoughts. He hath cast off all
fear about himself because he hath no fear of God. John
Jamieson.
Verse 2. He flattereth himself. 1. Some flatter
themselves with a secret hope, that there is no such thing as another
world. 2. Some flatter themselves that death is a
great way off, and that they shall hereafter have much
opportunity to seek salvation. 3. Some flatter themselves that
they lead moral and orderly lives, and therefore think
that they shall not be damned. 4. Some make the advantages
under which they live an occasion of self flattery. They flatter
themselves that they live in a place where the gospel is
powerfully preached, and among a religious people, where many
have been converted; and they think it will be much easier for
them to be saved on that account. 5. Some flatter themselves
with their own intentions. They intend to give themselves
liberty for a while longer, and then to reform. 6. There
are some who flatter themselves that they do, and have done,
a great deal for their salvation, and therefore hope they shall
obtain it; when indeed they neither do what they ought to do,
nor what they might do even in their present state of
unregeneracy; nor are they in any likely way to be converted. 7.
Some hope by their strivings to obtain salvation of themselves.
They have a secret imagination that they shall, by degrees, work
in themselves sorrow and repentance of sin, and love towards God
and Jesus Christ. Their striving is not so much an earnest
seeking to God, as a striving to do themselves that which is the
work of God. 8. Some sinners flatter themselves that they are already
converted. They sit down and rest in a false hope, persuading
themselves that all their sins are pardoned; that God loves
them; that they shall go to heaven when they die; and that they
need trouble themselves no more. "Because thou sayest, I am
rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and
knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and
blind, and naked." Re 3:17. Condensed from Jonathan
Edwards.
Verse 2. In his own eyes. He had not God before
his eyes in holy awe, therefore he puts himself there in unholy
admiration. He who makes little of God makes much of himself.
They who forget adoration fall into adulation. The eyes must see
something, and if they admire not God, they will flatter self. C.
H. S.
Verse 2. Until his iniquity be found to be hateful;
that is, until he finds by experience that it is a more dreadful
thing to sin against God, and break his holy commands, than he
imagined. Jonathan Edwards.
Verse 2. Hateful. Odious to himself, others,
and to God. Gilbert Genebrard, 1537-1597.
Verse 3. He hath left off. That little light he
once had, he hath lost, and cast off such good practices as once
in hypocrisy he performed; neither will he learn to do better. John
Trapp.
Verse 3. (last clause). Apostasy from God is
really an undoing of all the good which we have done. It is a
wicked repentance quite contrary to the grace of repentance; as
that is a repentance from dead works, so this is a repentance
from works of a better sort: He hath left off to be wise, and
to do good. It is a perversion to evil after a seeming
conversion from it. Timothy Cruso.
Verses 3-4.
Yet did he spare his sleep, and hear the clock
Number the midnight watches, on his bed
Devising mischief more; and early rose,
And made most hellish meals of good men's names.
From door to door you might have seen him speed,
Or placed amid a group of gaping fools.
Peace fled the neighbourhood in which he made
His haunts; and, like a moral pestilence,
Before his breath the healthy shoots and blooms
Of social joy and happiness decayed.
Fools only in his company were seen,
And those forsaken of God, and to themselves
Given up. The prudent shunned him and his house
As one who had a deadly moral plague.
—Robert Pollock, 1799-1827.
Verse 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed. As
the man that fears God communes with his heart upon his bed,
that he may not sin, no, not in his heart; so the man that fears
not God, devises how he may plot and perform sin willingly. David
Dickson.
Verse 4. Upon his bed. Most diligently does
Ayguan follow up the scriptural expressions concerning a bed,
and tell us that there are six different beds of
wickedness—that of luxury, that of avarice, of ambition, of
greediness, of torpor, and of cruelty, and he illustrates them
all by examples from Scripture. J. M. Neale.
Verse 4. He setteth himself in a way that is not
good. To wait to sin is to sin deliberately, yea, to wait to
sin resolvedly. That sin is exceedingly sinfully committed which
we set and prepare ourselves to commit. David, describing a
wicked man, saith, He setteth himself in a way that is not
good; that is, in an evil way: he doth not only fall into
sin (that may be the case of a good man), but he takes or
chooseth an evil way, and then sets or settles himself in it,
resolving not to leave it, no, nor to be beaten out of it. Sin
may be said to wait for a godly man, that is, Satan waits and
watches his season to tempt him unto sin; but a godly man doth
not wait nor watch to sin. It is bad enough to be overtaken with
sin, or with a fault (as the apostle speaks, Ga 6:1); but to be
taken with sin, and so to wait for a season to take our fill of
it, is as bad as bad can be. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 4. He setteth himself in a way that is not
good. Proud sinners have strongest conceit that they go
right, at least in the way of their choice. Satan blindeth them
so, that they mistake both the end and the way: in their count
they are running to heaven, when they are posting to hell: he
serveth them kindly with fresh post horses. Sometimes he mounts
them on drunkenness, and when they have run a stage on that
beastliness, he can mount them on lechery. Again, he can refresh
them with avarice; and if they be weary of that slow jade, he
setteth them on lofty ambition, and to make them more spirited
he can horse them on restless contention. Every one seeth not
Satan's enquiry: there is no complexion or disposition, but he
hath a fit horse for it, and that of itself. Every man's
predominant is a beast of Satan's saddling and providing to
carry men to hell. The way is one, the post master is one, he is
to be found at every stage, mounting his gallants, their horses
are all of one kind though not of one colour. Happy is the man
whom God dismounts in that evil way, and more happy is he who
taketh with that stay, and turneth his course to heaven. William
Struther.
Verse 4. He abhorreth not. i.e., is far enough
from rejecting any instrument, however sinful, for attaining his
purposes. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 5. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens.
David considering the thoughts and deeds of impious men, and the
mercy of God towards them, utters this exclamation. When men are
so impudently, who does not admire the divine longsuffering! Sebastian
Munster, 1489-1552.
Verses 5-7. This Psalm doth fitly set forth unto us
the estate and condition of these times, wherein wickedness
increaseth: and so in the former part of the Psalm is a
discovery of wickedness, verse 3. And what should we do when
there is such wickedness in the earth? In the fifth verse, Thy
mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth
unto the clouds. God is gathering up all goodness, mercy,
and peace from man to himself; and though there is cruelty,
mischief, and wickedness in the world, in the earth, yet there
is mercy, truth, and faithfulness in the clouds; and it's good
that wisdom, goodness, truth, and righteousness leave the world,
and cleave to God, that so we may follow it; and that what
goodness, mercy, truth, and faithfulness we formerly enjoyed in
man, we may enjoy it in God. And when wickedness increaseth,
righteousness increaseth likewise: Thy righteousness is like
the great mountains: when the world tears and breaks itself
in pieces, then is the righteousness of God a great mountain. Thy
judgments are a great deep; when the whole world is become
one sea of confusion, then are the judgments of the Lord a great
deep, where not only man, but beasts may rest safely. Thou
preservest man and beast. And though this time is a time of
growing and spreading wickedness in man, yet it is a time of
sweetest admiration and love in God; and when men that sin do
cry out, O woeful man! they that enjoy God, cry out, O happy
man! And though men that live in the earth cry out, O miserable!
what times are here? men that live in heaven cry out, How
excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! The Lord makes all
things naked and bare, that we only may have him to be our
safety. William Sedgwick (1600-1668). In "The
Excellency of the love of God, "a sermon in a volume,
entitled "Some Flashes of Lightnings of the Son of Man,
"1648.
Verses 5-9.
Thy mercie Lord doth to the HEAUENS extend,
Thy faithfulness doth to the CLOUDES assend;
Thy justice stedfast as a MOUNTAINE is,
Thy JUDGEMENTS deepe as is the great Abisse;
Thy noble mercies saue all liueinge thinges,
The sonnes of men creepe underneath thy winges:
With thy great plenty they are fedd at will,
And of thy pleasure's streame they drinke their fill;
For euen the well of life remaines with thee,
And in thy glorious light wee light shall see.
—Sir John Davies.
Verse 6. Thy righteousness is like the great
mountains. Literally mountains of God, which men have
not planted, and which men cannot move. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Verse 6. Thy judgments are a great deep. Men's
sins are a great deep, and Satan's ways are called a depth; but
God's judgments, his ways in the wheels, are the greatest deep
of all, they are unsearchable. William Greenhill.
Verse 7. How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O
God! etc. The expressions here which denote the abundance of
divine blessings upon the righteous man, seems to be taken from
the temple, from whence they were to issue. Under the covert of
the temple, the wings of the cherubim, they were to be
sheltered. The richness of the sacrifices, the streams of oil,
wine, odours, etc., and the light of the golden candlestick, are
all plainly referred to. Samuel Burder.
Verse 7. Therefore the children of men put their
trust under the shadow of thy wings. The word signifies to
fly, to betake one's self to a place of safety: as the chickens
in danger to be seized on, fly under the wings of the hen.
"Under whose wings thou art come to trust." Ru 2:12.
The helpless bird pursued by the kite, in danger to be devoured,
runs under the shadow of the dam. Thus it is with a sinner at
the first working of faith, he apprehends himself pursued by
wrath and judgment; he knows if they seize on him he must perish
without remedy. Oh, the sad condition of such a soul! Oh, but he
sees Christ spreading his wings ready to secure perishing
sinners; he hears him inviting in the gospel to come under his
shadow! Oh, how sweet is that voice to him (however, while
senseless he rejected it)! He hears, obeys, and runs to Christ
for shelter, and so he is safe. How excellent is thy
lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their
trust under the shadow of thy wings. David Clarkson.
Verse 7. Thy wings. A common figure in the
Psalms, taken more immediately, in my opinion, from the wings of
the cherubim overshadowing the mercyseat which covered the ark;
but more remotely from the birds, which defend their young from
the solar rays by overshadowing them with their wings. Francis
Hare (Bishop), 1740.
Verse 7.
In lonesome cell, guarded and strong I lie,
Bound by Christ's love, his truth to testify,
Though walls be thick the door no hand unclose,
God is my strength, my solace, and repose.
In a letter of Jeronius Segerson, written in the prison at
Antwerp to his wife, named Lysken, who likewise lay a prisoner
there, 1551.
Verse 9. For with thee is the fountain of life.
These are some of the most wonderful words in the Old Testament.
Their fulness of meaning no commentary can ever exhaust. They
are, in fact, the kernel and the anticipation of much of the
profoundest teaching of S. John. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 9. In thy light shall we see light. The
object and matter of our eternal happiness is called light.
It will not be a dazzling and confounding light as was the
brightness of Moses' face at his coming down from the mount; the
people could not behold him: it will not be an astonishing
light, as that in the mount at our Lord's transfiguration; the
disciples fell to the ground, their weak eyes could not behold
those glimpses of glory that shined through the vail of flesh.
But the light in our heaven of happiness will be a
strengthening and comforting light; it will strengthen and
confirm the eyes of our understanding to behold it. Then shall
we be enabled as the young eagles, to behold the Sun of
Righteousness in his brightness and glory. It was said by the
Lord to Moses, "None can see my face and live." Ex
33:20. That glorious sight which Daniel saw took strength from
him. Da 10:8. The object being without him, drew out all his
spirits to behold and admire it and so weakened him; but in
heaven our God, whom we shall see and know, will be within us to
strengthen us; then shall we live because we see his face. It
will be also a comforting light, like the light of the
morning to the wearied watchman, who longed after it in the
nighttime. William Colville.
Verse 9. In thy light shall we see light. It is
but a kind of dim twilight comparatively, which we enjoy here in
this world. While we are hid in this prison house we can see but
little; but our Father's house above is full of light; "Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, "etc. Mt
13:43. If the Day star be risen in your hearts, live in the
pleasant and cheerful expectation of perfect day. For we can
ascend but a little way into the mysteries of the kingdom, as
long as we are upon the footstool; and we shall know vastly and
inconceivably more in the first moment after we come to heaven,
than we are capable of attaining here throughout all our days. Timothy
Cruso.
Verse 9. In thy light shall we see light. The
light of nature is like a spark, the light of the gospel a lamp,
the light of grace a star, but the light of glory the sun
itself. The higher our ascent the greater our light; God
dwelleth "in the light which no man can approach
unto." 1Ti 6:16—no man, while he carries mortality and
sin about him; but when those two corrupt and incapable
qualities shall be put off, then shall we be brought to that
light. We are now glad of the sun and stars over our heads, to
give us light: what light and delight shall that be when these
are under our feet! That light must needs go as far beyond their
light as they now go beyond us. But alas! they are only able to
discourse of that light, that do enjoy it, to whom that eternal
day is risen; not we that live in the humble shade of mortality
and natural dimness. I leave it therefore to your meditations:
it is a glorious light which we do well often to consider,
considering to admire, admiring to love, loving to desire,
desiring to seek, and finding to enjoy for ever. Thomas
Adams.
Verse 9. In thy light shall we see light. There
is a great boast of light in the world, and there is some ground
for it in natural things; but, as of old the world by wisdom
knew not God, so of late. If ever we know God, it must be
through he medium of his word. This I take to be the meaning of
the passage. The term light in the last clause means the
true knowledge of God; and, in the first, the true medium of
attaining it, namely, divine revelation. The sum seems to amount
to this: the word of God is the grand medium by which we can
attain a true and saving knowledge of God. What the sun and
stars are to the regions of matter, that revelation is to the
mental region. Ge 1:13,17. ...There are many things of which you
may entertain no doubt, concerning which there may be no manner
of dispute; yet, make a point of seeing them in God's light.
Many content themselves with seeing them in the light in which
great and good men have placed them; but, though angels, they
are not the true light: they all view things partially. If what
they say be true, yet, if we receive it merely on their
representation, our faith will stand in the wisdom of men, and
not in the power of God. 1Co 2:5. That knowledge or faith which
has not God's word for its ground will not stand in the day of
trial. Andrew Fuller.
Verse 9. In this communion of God what can we want?
Why, God shall be all and in all unto us; he shall be beauty for
the eye, music for the ear, honey for the taste, the full
content and satisfaction of our desires, and that immediately
from himself. True it is God is all in all in this world,
"In him we live, and move, and have our being; " but
here he works by means of secondary causes; here he gives wine
to make the heart glad, and oil, etc.; but there all intervening
means between God and us is removed: with thee is the
fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light; not in
the light of the sun, or the light of a candle; there is no need
of them Re 22:5; but "in thy light, "the light
of God himself; yea, the whole life of glory, together with all
the concomitants of it, flows from him as the sole and original
fountain of it. Oh, how sweet must that happiness be that is so
derived! Edmund Pinchbeck, B.D., in "The Fountain of
Life:" a Funeral Sermon, 1652.
Verse 9. Whatsoever can be found in the creature, even
when God blesseth the use thereof to his own children, is but a
drop from the ocean, is but a little water out of the well, in
comparison of what a believer will see and feel to be in God
reconciled through Christ, for with thee is the fountain of
life. David Dickson.
Verse 10. Continue thy lovingkindness. When God
begins once to let out mercy to his servants, he stints not
presently, but proceeds. ...When Rachel had her first son, she
called his name Joseph, which signifieth adding, or increase;
for she said, "The Lord shall add to me another son."
Ge 30:24. Now God hath begun to show kindness, he shall not only
give me this, but he shall give me another son also. When the
Lord hath bestowed one mercy on you, you may name it Joseph,
increase, addition, for God will bestow another upon you.
Abraham had many mercies from God, one after another; and Moses,
a multitude of mercies; he converses with God face to face; he
hears God speak; he has God's presence to go along with him;
yea, he sees all God's goodness and glory to pass before him.
When mercies come forth, God will not presently shut the door of
mercy again. Continue thy lovingkindness. The Hebrew is,
draw forth, or draw out thy lovingkindness: a metaphor either
taken from vessels of wine, which being set abroach once, yield
not only one cup, but many cups; so when God setteth abroach the
wine of his mercy, he will not fill your cup once, but twice and
seven times: or, taken from a mother, who hath her breasts full
of milk, draws them out for her child, not once, but often; the
child shall have the breast many times in the day, and many
times in the night, so when God begins to show mercy to you, he
will draw out his breasts of consolation, and will bestow mercy
after mercy upon you; or, from a line which is extended, for so
God being in a way of mercy, will extend the line of mercy, and
measure out mercy after mercy for you. William Greenhill.
Verse 10. The true mark of a godly man standeth in the
conjunction of faith in God, with sincere study of obedience to
him, for, He is the man that knoweth God, and is upright
in heart. David Dickson.
Verse 11. Foot...Hand. Both foot and hand are
named because both used in waging war. Simeon de Muis.
Verse 12. There are the workers of iniquity fallen.
This is said as if the psalmist pointed, when he said it, to a
particular place with his finger; and the same mode of
expression occurs in Ps 14:5; or, it may be rendered, then
(i.e., when the just are satisfied with the plenteousness of
thy house, being rewarded for sincerely worshipping thee in it),
shall they fall, all that work wickedness; they shall be cast
down, and shall not be able to rise, as is the case with
persons who have been thrown with violence upon the hard ground.
Daniel Cresswell.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. What is the fear of God? How does it operate?
What is the effect of its absence? What should we learn from
seeing such evil results? Or the atheism underlying
transgression.
Verse 2. The arts, motives, assistances, results, and
punishments of self flattery, and the discovery which concludes
it.
Verse 2. Self flatteries. Jonathan Edwards' Sermon.
Verse 2. On the deceitfulness of the heart, with
regard to the commission of sin. Two Sermons, in Jamieson's
"Sermons on the Heart."
Verse 3. Bad words. Two out of many kinds.
Verse 3. (second clause). The relation between
true wisdom and practical goodness.
Verse 4. Diligence in doing evil, a mark of deep
depravity. W.S. Plumer.
Verse 4. The abuse of retirement to wicked purposes, a
sure characteristic of an habitual sinner. N. Marshall.
Verse 4. The sinner on his bed, in his conduct, in his
heart; and to this, in his death, and in his doom.
Verse 4. (second clause). Ways which are not
good.
Verse 4. (last clause). Neutrality condemned.
Verses 5-6. Four glorious similes of the mercy,
faithfulness, and providence of God. The preacher has here a
wealth of poetic imagery never surpassed.
Verse 6. God's word and works mysterious. C.
Simeon.
Verse 6. (second clause). God's judgments
are—
1. Often unfathomable—we cannot discover the foundation or
cause, and spring of them.
2. They are safe sailing. Ships never strike on rocks out in
the great deeps.
3. They conceal great treasure.
4. They work much good—the great deep, though ignorance
thinks it to be all waste, a salt and barren wilderness, is one
of the greatest blessings to this round world.
5. They become a highway of communion with God. The sea is
today the great highway of the world.
Verse 6. (last clause). Kindness of God to the
lower animals, as well as man.
Verse 7. The object, reasons, nature, and experience
of faith.
Verses 7-8. Admiration! Confidence! Expectation!
Realisation!
Verse 8. (first clause). The provisions of
the Lord's house. What they are, their excellence and
abundance, and for whom provided.
Verse 8. (second clause). The heavenly
Hiddekel—Its source, its flood, the happy drinkers, how
they came to drink.
Verse 9. (first clause). LIFE, natural, mental,
spiritual, proceeds from God, is sustained, restored, purified,
and perfected by him. In him it dwells with permanency, from him
it flows freely, with freshness, abundance, and purity; to him
it should be consecrated.
Verse 9. (second clause). LIGHT, what it is to
see it. Divine light, what it is; how it is the medium by
which we see other light. The experience here described, and the
duty here hinted at.
Verse 10.
1. The character of the righteous—he knows God, and
is upright in heart.
2. His privilege—lovingkindness and righteousness.
3. His prayer, continue, etc.
Verse 10. The need of daily supplies of grace.
Verse 12. A view of the overthrow of evil powers,
principles, and men.