TITLE. To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of
David. This title has frequently occurred before, and serves to
remind us of the value of the Psalm, seeing that it was
committed to no mean songster; and also to inform us as to the
author who has made his own experience the basis of a prophetic
song, in which a far greater than David is set forth. How wide a
range of experience David had! What power it gave him to edify
future ages! And how full a type of our Lord did he become! What
was bitterness to him has proved to be a fountain of unfailing
sweetness to many generations of the faithful.
Jesus Christ betrayed by Judas Iscariot is evidently the
great theme of this Psalm, but we think not exclusively. He is
the antitype of David, and all his people are in their measure
like him; hence words suitable to the Great Representative are
most applicable to those who are in him. Such as receive a vile
return for long kindness to others, may read this song with much
comfort, for they will see that it is alas! too common for the
best of men, to be rewarded for their holy charity with cruelty
and scorn; and when they have been humbled by falling into sin,
advantage has been taken of their low estate, their good deeds
have been forgotten and the vilest spite has been vented upon
them.
DIVISION. The psalmist in Ps 41:1-3,
describes the mercies which are promised to such as consider the
poor, and this he uses as a preface to his own personal plea for
succour: from Ps 41:4-9 he states his own case, proceeds to
prayer in Ps 41:10, and closes with thanksgiving, Ps 41:11-13.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor.
This is the third Psalm opening with a benediction, and there is
a growth in it beyond the first two. To search the word of God
comes first, pardoned sin is second, and now the forgiven sinner
brings forth fruit unto God available for the good of others.
The word used is as emphatic as in the former cases, and so is
the blessing which follows it. The poor intended, are such as
are poor in substance, weak in bodily strength, despised in
repute, and desponding in spirit. These are mostly avoided and
frequently scorned. The worldly proverb bequeaths the hindmost
to one who has no mercy. The sick and the sorry are poor
company, and the world deserts them as the Amalekite left his
dying servant. Such as have been made partakers of divine grace
receive a tenderer nature, and are not hardened against their
own flesh and blood; they undertake the cause of the
downtrodden, and turn their minds seriously to the promotion of
their welfare. They do not toss them a penny and go on their
way, but enquire into their sorrows, sift out their cause, study
the best ways for their relief, and practically come to their
rescue: such as these have the mark of the divine favour plainly
upon them, and are as surely the sheep of the Lord's pasture as
if they wore a brand upon their foreheads. They are not said to
have considered the poor years ago, but they still do so. Stale
benevolence, when boasted of, argues present churlishness. First
and foremost, yea, far above all others put together in tender
compassion for the needy is our Lord Jesus, who so remembered
our low estate, that though he was rich, for our sakes he became
poor. All his attributes were charged with the task of our
uplifting. He weighed our case and came in the fulness of wisdom
to execute the wonderful work of mercy by which we are redeemed
from our destructions. Wretchedness excited his pity, misery
moved his mercy, and thrice blessed is he both by his God and
his saints for his attentive care and wise action towards us. He
still considereth us; his mercy is always in the present tense,
and so let our praises be.
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The
compassionate lover of the poor thought of others, and therefore
God will think of him. God measures to us with our own bushel.
Days of trouble come even to the most generous, and they have
made the wisest provision for rainy days who have lent shelter
to others when times were better with them. The promise is not
that the generous saint shall have no trouble, but that he shall
be preserved in it, and in due time brought out of it. How true
was this of our Lord! never trouble deeper nor triumph brighter
than his, and glory be to his name, he secures the ultimate
victory of all his blood bought ones. Would that they all were
more like him in putting on bowels of compassion to the poor.
Much blessedness they miss who stint their alms. The joy of
doing good, the sweet reaction of another's happiness, the
approving smile of heaven upon the heart, if not upon the
estate; all these the niggardly soul knows nothing of.
Selfishness bears in itself a curse, it is a cancer in the
heart; while liberality is happiness, and maketh fat the bones.
In dark days we cannot rest upon the supposed merit of alms
giving, but still the music of memory brings with it no mean
solace when it tells of widows and orphans whom we have
succoured, and prisoners and sick folk to whom we have
ministered.
Verse 2. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him
alive. His noblest life shall be immortal, and even his
mortal life shall be sacredly guarded by the power of Jehovah.
Jesus lived on till his hour came, nor could the devices of
crafty Herod take away his life till the destined hour had
struck; and even then no man took his life from him, but he laid
it down of himself, to take it again. Here is the portion of all
those who are made like their Lord, they bless and they shall be
blessed, they preserve and shall be preserved, they watch over
the lives of others and they themselves shall be precious in the
sight of the Lord. The miser like the hog is of no use till he
is dead—then let him die; the righteous like the ox is of
service during life—then let him live. And he shall be
blessed upon the earth. Prosperity shall attend him. His
cruse of oil shall not be dried up because he fed the poor
prophet. He shall cut from his roll of cloth and find it longer
at both ends.
"There was a man, and some did count him mad,
The more he gave away the more he had."
If temporal gains be not given him, spirituals shall be
doubled to him. His little shall be blessed, bread and water
shall be a feast to him. The liberal are and must be blessed
even here; they have a present as well as a future portion. Our
Lord's real blessedness of heart in the joy that was set before
him is a subject worthy of earnest thought, especially as it is
the picture of the blessing which all liberal saints may look
for. And thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his
enemies. He helped the distressed, and now he shall find a
champion in his God. What would not the good man's enemies do to
him if they had him at their disposal? Better be in a pit with
vipers than to be at the mercy of persecutors. This sentence
sets before us a sweet negative, and yet it were not easy to
have seen how it could be true of our Lord Jesus, did we not
know that although he was exempted from much of blessing, being
made a curse for us, yet even he was not altogether nor for ever
left of God, but in due time was exalted above all his enemies.
Verse 3. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed
of languishing. The everlasting arms shall stay up his soul
as friendly hands and downy pillows stay up the body of the
sick. How tender and sympathising is this image; how near it
brings our God to our infirmities and sicknesses! Whoever heard
this of the old heathen Jove, or of the gods of India or China?
This is language peculiar to the God of Israel; he it is who
deigns to become nurse and attendant upon good men. If he smites
with one hand he sustains with the other. Oh, it is blessed
fainting when one falls upon the Lord's own bosom, and is borne
up thereby! Grace is the best of restoratives; divine love is
the noblest stimulant for a languishing patient; it makes the
soul strong as a giant, even when the aching bones are breaking
through the skin. No physician like the Lord, no tonic like his
promise, no wine like his love. Thou wilt make all his bed in
his sickness. What, doth the Lord turn bed maker to his sick
children? Herein is love indeed. Who would not consider the poor
if such be the promised reward? A bed soon grows hard when the
body is weary with tossing to and fro upon it, but grace gives
patience, and God's smile gives peace, and the bed is made soft
because the man's heart is content; the pillows are downy
because the head is peaceful. Note that the Lord will make all
his bed, from head to foot. What considerate and indefatigable
kindness! Our dear and ever blessed Lord Jesus, though in all
respects an inheritor of this promise, for our sakes
condescended to forego the blessing, and died on a cross and not
upon a bed; yet, even there, he was after awhile upheld and
cheered by the Lord his God, so that he died in triumph.
We must not imagine that the benediction pronounced in these
three verses belongs to all who casually give money to the poor,
or leave it in their wills, or contribute to societies. Such do
well, or act from mere custom, as the case may be, but they are
not here alluded to. The blessing is for those whose habit it is
to love their neighbour as themselves, and who for Christ's sake
feed the hungry and clothe the naked. To imagine a man to be a
saint who does not consider the poor as he has ability, is to
conceive the fruitless fig tree to be acceptable; there will be
sharp dealing with many professors on this point in the day when
the King cometh in his glory.
Verses 4-9. Here we have a controversy between the
pleader and his God. He has been a tender friend to the poor,
and yet in the hour of his need the promised assistance was not
forthcoming. In our Lord's case there was a dark and dreary
night in which such arguments were well befitting himself and
his condition.
Verse 4. I said—said it in earnest prayer—Lord,
be merciful unto me. Prove now thy gracious dealings with my
soul in adversity, since thou didst aforetime give me grace to
act liberally in my prosperity. No appeal is made to justice;
the petitioner but hints at the promised reward, but goes
straightforward to lay his plea at the feet of mercy. How low
was our Redeemer brought when such petitions could come from his
reverend mouth, when his lips like lilies dropped such sweet
smelling but bitter myrrh! Heal my soul. My time of
languishing is come, now do as thou hast said, and strengthen
me, especially in my soul. We ought to be far more earnest for
the soul's healing than for the body's ease. We hear much of the
cure of souls, but we often forget to care about it. For I
have sinned against thee. Here was the root of sorrow. Sin
and suffering are inevitable companions. Observe that by the
psalmist sin was felt to be mainly evil because directed against
God. This is of the essence of true repentance. The immaculate
Saviour could never have used such language as this unless there
be here a reference to the sin which he took upon himself by
imputation; and for our part we tremble to apply words so
manifestly indicating personal rather than imputed sin. Applying
the petition to David and other sinful believers, how strangely
evangelical is the argument: heal me, not for I am innocent, but
I have sinned. How contrary is this to all self righteous
pleading! How consonant with grace! How inconsistent with merit!
Even the fact that the confessing penitent had remembered the
poor, is but obliquely urged, but a direct appeal is made to
mercy on the ground of great sin. O trembling reader, here is a
divinely revealed precedent for thee, be not slow to follow it.
Verse 5. Mine enemies speak evil of me. It was
their nature to do and speak evil; it was not possible that the
child of God could escape them. The viper fastened on Paul's
hand: the better the man the more likely, and the more venomous
the slander. Evil tongues are busy tongues, and never deal in
truth. Jesus was traduced to the utmost, although no offence was
in him. When shall he die, and his name perish? They
could not be content till he was away. The world is not wide
enough for evil men to live in while the righteous remain, yea,
the bodily presence of the saints may be gone, but their memory
is an offence to their foes. It was never merry England, say
they, since men took to Psalm singing. In the Master's case,
they cried, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, it is
not fit that he should live." If persecutors could have
their way, the church should have but one neck, and that should
be on the block. Thieves would fain blow out all candles. The
lights of the world are not the delights of the world. Poor
blind bats, they fly at the lamp, and try to dash it down; but
the Lord liveth, and preserveth both the saints and their names.
Verse 6. And if he come to see me, he speaketh
vanity. His visits of sympathy are visitations of mockery.
When the fox calls on the sick lamb his words are soft, but he
licks his lips in hope of the carcass. It is wretched work to
have spies haunting one's bedchamber, calling in pretence of
kindness, but with malice in their hearts. Hypocritical talk is
always fulsome and sickening to honest men, but especially to
the suffering saint. Our divine Lord had much of this from the
false hearts that watched his words. His heart gathereth
iniquity to itself. Like will to like. The bird makes its
nest of feathers. Out of the sweetest flowers chemists can
distil poison, and from the purest words and deeds malice can
gather groundwork for calumnious report. It is perfectly
marvellous how spite spins webs out of no materials whatever. It
is no small trial to have base persons around you lying in wait
for every word which they may pervert into evil. The Master whom
we serve was constantly subject to this affliction. When he
goeth abroad, he telleth it. He makes his lies, and then
vends them in open market. He is no sooner out of the house than
he outs with his lie, and this against a sick man whom he called
to see as a friend—a sick man to whose incoherent and random
speeches pity should be showed. Ah, black hearted wretch! A
devil's cub indeed. How far abroad men will go to publish their
slanders! They would fain placard the sky with their falsehoods.
A little fault is made much of; a slip of the tongue is a libel,
a mistake a crime, and if a word can bear two meanings the worse
is always fathered upon it. Tell it in Gath, publish it in
Askelon, that the daughters of the uncircumcised may triumph. It
is base to strike a man when he is down, yet such is the
meanness of mankind towards a Christian hero should he for
awhile chance to be under a cloud.
Verse 7. All that hate me whisper together against
me. The spy meets his comrades in conclave and sets them all
a whispering. Why could they not speak out? Were they afraid of
the sick warrior? Or were their designs so treacherous that they
must needs be hatched in secrecy? Mark the unanimity of the
wicked—all. How heartily the dogs unite to hunt the
stag! Would God we were half as united in holy labour as
persecutors in their malicious projects, and were half as wise
as they are crafty, for their whispering was craft as well as
cowardice, the conspiracy must not be known till all is ready. Against
me do they devise my hurt. They lay their heads together,
and scheme and plot. So did Ahithophel and the rest of Absalom's
counsellors, so also did the chief priests and Pharisees. Evil
men are good at devising; they are given to meditation, they are
deep thinkers, but the mark they aim at is evermore the hurt of
the faithful. Snakes in the grass are never there for a good
end.
Verse 8. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast
unto him. They whisper that some curse has fallen upon him,
and is riveted to him. They insinuate that a foul secret stains
his character, the ghost whereof haunts his house, and never can
be laid. An air of mystery is cast around this doubly dark
saying, as if to show how indistinct are the mutterings of
malice. Even thus was our Lord accounted "smitten of God
and afflicted." His enemies conceived that God had forsaken
him, and delivered him for ever into their hands. And now
that he lieth he shall rise up no more. His sickness they
hoped was mortal, and this was fine news for them. No more would
the good man's holiness chide their sin, they would now be free
from the check of his godliness. Like the friars around
Wycliffe's bed, their prophesyings were more jubilant than
accurate, but they were a sore scourge to the sick man. When the
Lord smites his people with his rod of affliction for a small
moment, their enemies expect to see them capitally executed, and
prepare their jubilates to celebrate their funerals, but
they are in too great a hurry, and have to alter their ditties
and sing to another tune. Our Redeemer eminently foretokened
this, for out of his lying in the grave he has gloriously risen.
Vain the watch, the stone, the seal! Rising he pours confusion
on his enemies.
Verse 9. Yea. Here is the climax of the
sufferer's woe, and he places before it the emphatic
affirmation, as if he thought that such villainy would scarcely
be believed. Mine own familiar friend. "The man of
my peace, "so runs the original, with whom I had no
differences, with whom I was in league, who had aforetime
ministered to my peace and comfort. This was Ahithophel to
David, and Iscariot with our Lord. Judas was an apostle,
admitted to the privacy of the Great Teacher, hearing his secret
thoughts, and, as it were, allowed to read his very heart. "Et
tu Brute?" said the expiring Caesar. The kiss of the
traitor wounded our Lord's heart as much as the nail wounded his
hand. In whom I trusted. Judas was the treasurer of the
apostolic college. Where we place great confidence an unkind act
is the more severely felt. Which did eat of my bread. Not
only as a guest but as a dependant, a pensioner at my board.
Judas dipped in the same dish with his Lord, and hence the more
accursed was his treachery in his selling his Master for a
slave's price. Hath lifted up his heel against me. Not
merely turned his back on me, but left me with a heavy kick such
as a vicious horse might give. Hard is it to be spurned in our
need by those who formerly fed at our table. It is noteworthy
that the Redeemer applied only the last words of this verse to
Judas, perhaps because, knowing his duplicity, he had never made
a familiar friend of him in the fullest sense, and had not
placed implicit trust in him. Infernal malice so planned it that
every circumstance in Jesus' death should add wormwood to it;
and the betrayal was one of the bitterest drops of gall. We are
indeed, wretched when our quondam friend becomes our
relentless foe, when confidence is betrayed, when all the rites
of hospitality are perverted, and ingratitude is the only return
for kindness; yet in so deplorable a case we may cast ourselves
upon the faithfulness of God, who, having, delivered our
Covenant Head, is in verity engaged to be the very present help
of all for whom that covenant was made.
Verse 10. But thou, O Lord, be merciful unto me.
How the hunted and affrighted soul turns to her God! How she
seems to take breath with a "but, thou!" How she
clings to the hope of mercy from God when every chance of pity
from man is gone! And raise me up. Recover me from my
sickness, give me to regain my position. Jesus was raised up
from the grave; his descent was ended by an ascent. That I
may requite them. This as it reads is a truly Old Testament
sentence, and quite aside from the spirit of Christianity, yet
we must remember that David was a person in magisterial office,
and might without any personal revenge, desire to punish those
who had insulted his authority and libelled his public
character. Our great Apostle and High Priest had no personal
animosities, but even he by his resurrection has requited the
powers of evil, and avenged on death and hell all their base
attacks upon his cause and person. Still the strained
application of every sentence of this Psalm to Christ is not to
our liking, and we prefer to call attention to the better spirit
of the gospel beyond that of the old dispensation.
Verse 11. We are all cheered by tokens for good, and
the psalmist felt it to be an auspicious omen, that after all
his deep depression he was not utterly given over to his foe. By
this I know that thou favourest me. Thou hast a special
regard to me, I have the secret assurance of this in my heart,
and, therefore, thine outward dealings do not dismay me, for I
know that thou lovest me in them all. Because mine enemy doth
not triumph over me. What if the believer has no triumph
over his foes, he must be glad that they do not triumph over
him. If we have not all we would we should praise God for all we
have. Much there is in us over which the ungodly might exult,
and if God's mercy keeps the dog's mouths closed when they might
be opened, we must give him our heartiest gratitude. What a
wonder it is that when the devil enters the lists with a poor,
erring, bedridden, deserted, slandered saint, and has a thousand
evil tongues to aid him, yet he cannot win the day, but in the
end slinks off without renown.
"The feeblest saint shall win the day
Though death and hell obstruct the way, "
Verse 12. And as for me, despite them all and
in the sight of them all, thou upholdest me in mine integrity;
thy power enables me to rise above the reach of slander by
living in purity and righteousness. Our innocence and
consistency are the result of the divine upholding. We are like
those glasses without feet, which can only be upright while they
are held in the hand; we fall, and spill, and spoil all, if left
to ourselves. The Lord should be praised every day if we are
preserved from gross sin. When others sin they show us what we
should do but for grace. "He today and I tomorrow,
"was the exclamation of a holy man, whenever he saw another
falling into sin. Our integrity is comparative as well as
dependent, we must therefore be humbled while we are grateful.
If we are clear of the faults alleged against us by our
calumniators, we have nevertheless quite enough of actual
blameworthiness to render it shameful for us to boast. And
settest me before thy face for ever. He rejoiced that he
lived under the divine surveillance; tended, cared for, and
smiled upon by his Lord; and yet more, that it would be so world
without end. To stand before an earthly monarch is considered to
be a singular honour, but what must it be to be a perpetual
courtier in the palace of the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible?
Verse 13. The Psalm ends with a doxology. Blessed
be the Lord, i.e., let him be glorified. The blessing at the
beginning from the mouth of God is returned from the mouth of
his servant. We cannot add to the Lord's blessedness, but we can
pour out our grateful wishes, and these he accepts, as we
receive little presents of flowers from children who love us.
Jehovah is the personal name of our God. God of Israel is
his covenant title, and shows his special relation to his elect
people. From everlasting and to everlasting. The
strongest way of expressing endless duration. We die, but
the glory of God goes on and on without pause. Amen and amen.
So let it surely, firmly, and eternally be. Thus the people
joined in the Psalm by a double shout of holy affirmation; let
us unite in it with all out hearts. This last verse may serve
for the prayer of the universal church in all ages, but none can
sing it so sweetly as those who have experienced as David did
the faithfulness of God in times of extremity.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. The Syriac says, "It was a Psalm of
David, when he appointed overseers to take care of the
poor." Adam Clarke.
Whole Psalm. A prophecy of Christ and the traitor
Judas. Eusebius of Caesarea, quoted by J. M. Neale.
Verse 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor.
Interpreters are generally of opinion that the exercise of
kindness and compassion, manifested in taking care of the
miserable, and helping them, is here commended. Those, however,
who maintain that the psalmist here commends the considerate
candour of those who judge wisely and charitably of men in
adversity, form a better judgment of his meaning. Indeed, the
participle, (lksm), maskil, cannot be explained in any
other way. At the same time it ought to be observed on what
account it is that David declares those to be blessed who form a
wise and prudent judgment concerning the afflictions by which
God chastises his servants...Doubtless it happened to him as it
did to the holy patriarch Job, whom his friends reckoned to be
one of most wicked of men, when they saw God treating him with
great severity. And certainly it is an error which is by far too
common among men, to look upon those who are oppressed with
afflictions as condemned and reprobate...For the most part,
indeed, we often speak rashly and indiscriminately concerning
others, and, so to speak, plunge even into the lowest abyss
those who labour under affliction. To restrain such a rash and
unbridled spirit, David says, that they are blessed who do not
suffer themselves, by speaking at random, to judge harshly of
their neighbours; but discerning aright the afflictions by which
they are visited, mitigate, by the wisdom of the spirit, the
severe and unjust judgments to which we naturally are so prone. John
Calvin.
Verse 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor.
As Christ considered us in our state of poverty, so ought we
most attentively to consider him in his; to consider what he
suffered in his own person; to discern him suffering in his poor
afflicted members; and to extend to them the mercy which he
extended to us. He, who was "blessed" of Jehovah, and
"delivered in the evil day" by a glorious
resurrection, will "bless" and "deliver" in
like manner, such as for his sake, love and relieve their
brethren. George Horne.
Verse 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor.
Not the poor of the world in common, nor poor saints in
particular, but some single poor man; for the word is in the
singular number, and designs our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the
last verse of the preceding Psalm, is said to be poor and
needy. John Gill.
Verse 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor.
I call your attention to the way in which the Bible enjoins us
to take up the care of the poor. It does not say in the text
before us, Commiserate the poor; for, if it said no more than
this, it would leave their necessities to be provided for by the
random ebullitions of an impetuous and unreflecting sympathy. It
provided them with a better security than the mere feeling of
compassion—a feeling which, however useful to the purpose of
excitement, must be controlled and regulated. Feeling is but a
faint and fluctuating security. Fancy may mislead it. The sober
realities of life may disgust it. Disappointment may extinguish
it. Ingratitude may embitter it. Deceit, with its counterfeit
representations, may allure it to the wrong object. At all
events, Time is the little circle in which it in general
expatiates. It needs the impression of sensible objects to
sustain it; nor can it enter with zeal or with vivacity into the
wants of the abstract and invisible soul. The Bible, then,
instead of leaving the relief of the poor to the mere instinct
of sympathy, makes it a subject for consideration—"Blessed
is he that considereth the poor, "a grave and
prosaic exercise, I do allow, and which makes no figure in those
high wrought descriptions, where the exquisite tale of
benevolence is made up of all the sensibilities of tenderness on
the one hand, and of all the ecstasies of gratitude on the
other. The Bible rescues the cause from the mischief to which a
heedless or unthinking sensibility would expose it. It brings it
under the cognisance of a higher faculty—a faculty of sturdier
operation than to be weary in well doing, and of sturdier
endurance than to give it up in disgust. It calls you to consider
the poor. It makes the virtue of relieving them a matter of
computation, as well as of sentiment, and in so doing puts you
beyond the reach of the various delusions, by which you are at
one time led to prefer the indulgence of pity to the substantial
interest of its object; at another, are led to retire chagrined
and disappointed from the scene of duty, because you have not
met with the gratitude or the honesty that you laid your account
with; at another, are led to expend all your anxieties upon the
accommodation of time, and to overlook eternity. It is the
office of consideration to save you from all these
fallacies. Under its tutorage attention to the wants of the poor
ripens into principle...
It must be obvious to all of you, that it is not enough that
you give money, and add your name to the contributions of
charity. You must give it with judgment. You must give your time
and your attention. You must descend to the trouble of
examination. You must rise from the repose of contemplation, and
make yourself acquainted with the object of your benevolent
exercises...To give money is not to do all the work and labour
of benevolence. You must go to the poor man's sick bed. You must
lend your hand to the work of assistance. This is true and
unsophisticated goodness. It may be recorded in no earthly
documents; but, if done under the influence of Christian
principle, in a word, if done unto Jesus, it is written in the
book of heaven, and will give a new lustre to that crown to
which his disciples look forward in time, and will wear through
eternity. From a Sermon preached before the Society for
Relief of the Destitute Sick, in St. Andrew's Church, Edinburgh,
by Thomas Chalmers, D.D. and L.L.D. (1780-1847.)
Verse 1. Blessed is he that considereth the poor.
A Piedmontese nobleman into whose company I fell, at Turin, told
me the following story: "I was weary of life, and after a
day such as few have known, and none would wish to remember, was
hurrying along the street to the river, when I felt a sudden
check, I turned and beheld a little boy, who had caught the
skirt of my cloak in his anxiety to solicit my notice. His look
and manner were irresistible. No less so was the lesson he had
learnt—`There are six of us, and we are dying for want of
food.' `Why should I not, 'said I, to myself, `relieve this
wretched family? I have the means, and it will not delay me many
minutes. But what if it does?' The scene of misery he conducted
me to I cannot describe. I threw them my purse, and their burst
of gratitude overcame me. It filled my eyes, it went as a
cordial to my heart. `I will call again tomorrow, 'I cried.
`Fool that I was to think of leaving a world where such pleasure
was to be had, and so cheaply!'" Samuel Rogers
(1763-1855) in "Italy."
Verse 1. He that considereth the poor:
An ardent spirit dwells with Christian love,
The eagle's vigour in the pitying dove.
It is not enough that we with sorrow sigh,
That we the wants of pleading man supply,
That we in sympathy with sufferers feel,
Nor hear a grief without a wish to heal:
Not these suffice—to sickness, pain, and woe,
The Christian spirit loves with aid to go:
Will not be sought, waits not for want to plead,
But seeks the duty—nay, prevents the need;
Her utmost aid to every ill applies,
And plants relief for coming miseries.
—George Crabbe, 1754-1832.
Verse 1. How foolish are they that fear to lose their
wealth by giving it, and fear not to lose themselves by keeping
it! He that lays up his gold may be a good jailer, but he
that lays it out is a good steward. Merchants traffic
thither with a commodity where it is precious in regard of
scarcity. We do not buy wines in England to carry them to
France, spices in France to carry them to the Indies; so for
labour and work, repentance and mortification, there is none of
them in heaven, there is peace and glory, and the favour of God
indeed. A merchant without his commodity hath but a sorry
welcome. God will ask men that arrive at heaven's gates, ubi
opera? Re 22:12. His reward shall be according to our works.
Thou hast riches here, and here be objects that need thy
riches—the poor; in heaven there are riches enough but no
poor, therefore, by faith in Christ make over to them thy moneys
in this world, that by bill of exchange thou mayest receive it
in the world to come; that only you carry with you which you
send before you. Do good while it is in your power; relieve the
oppressed, succour the fatherless, while your estates are your
own; when you are dead your riches belong to others. One light
carried before a man is more serviceable than twenty carried
after him. In your compassion to the distressed, or for pious
uses, let your hands be your executors, and your eyes your
overseers. Francis Raworth, Teacher to the Church at
Shore-ditch, in a Funeral Sermon, 1656.
Verses 1, 3. It is a blessed thing to receive when a
man hath need; but it is a more blessed thing to give than to
receive. Blessed (saith the prophet David) is he that
considereth the poor. What? to say, alas, poor man! the
world is hard with him, I would there were a course taken to do
him good? No, no; but to so consider him as to give; to give
till the poor man be satisfied, to draw out one's sheaf, aye,
one's very soul to the hungry. But what if troubles should come?
were it not better to keep money by one? Money will not deliver
one. It may be an occasion to endanger one, to bring one into,
rather than help one out of trouble; but if a man be a merciful
man, God will deliver him, either by himself, or by some
other man or matter. Aye, but what if sickness come? Why,
the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing;
and, which is a great ease and kindness; God, as it were,
himself will make all his bed in his sickness. Here poor
people have the advantage: such must not say, Alas, I am a poor
woman, what work of mercy can I do? for they are they who best
can make the beds of sick folk, which we see is a great act of
mercy, in that it is said, that the Lord himself will make
their bed in their sickness. And there are none so poor, but
they may make the beds of the sick. Richard Capel.
Verses 1, 5. He that considereth. Mine enemies.
Strigelius has observed, there is a perpetual antithesis in this
Psalm between the few who have a due regard to the poor in
spirit, and the many who afflict or desert them. W. Wilson,
D.D.
Verse 2. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him
alive. It is worthy of remark, that benevolent persons,
who "consider the poor, "and especially the sick
poor; who search cellars, garrets, back lanes, and such
abodes of misery, to find them out (even in the places where
contagion keeps its seat), very seldom fall a prey to their own
benevolence. The Lord, in an especial manner, keeps them alive,
and preserves them; while many, who endeavour to keep far from
the contagion, are assailed by it, and fall victims to it. God
loves the merciful man. Adam Clarke.
Verse 2. He shall be blessed upon the earth.
None of the godly man's afflictions shall hinder or take away
his begun blessedness, even in this world. David Dickson.
Verse 3. Thou wilt make all his bed in his
sickness. Into what minuteness of exquisite and touching
tenderness does the Lord condescend to enter! One feels almost
as we may suppose Peter felt when the Saviour came to him and
would have washed his feet, "Lord! thou shalt never wash my
feet; "thou shalt never make my bed. And yet, "If I
wash thee not, thou hast no part with me; "if the Lord make
not our bed in our sickness, there is no peace nor comfort
there. We have had David calling on God to bow down his ear,
like a loving mother listening to catch the feeblest whisper of
her child; and the image is full of the sweetest sympathy and
condescension; but here the Lord, the great God of heaven, he
that said when on earth, "I am among you as one that
serveth, "does indeed take upon him the form, and is found
in fashion as a servant, fulfilling all the loving and tender
offices of an assiduous nurse. Barton Bouchier.
Verse 3. Thou wilt make all his bed in his
sickness. The meaning rather is, "it is no longer a
sick bed, for thou hast healed him of his disease." J.
J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 3. When a good man is ill at ease, God promises
to make all his bed in his sickness. Pillow, bolster, head,
feet, sides, all his bed. Surely that God who made him knows so
well his measure and temper as to make his bed to please him.
Herein his art is excellent, not fitting the bed to the person,
but the person to the bed; infusing patience into him. But, oh!
how shall God make my bed, who have no bed of mine own to make.
Thou fool, he can make thy not having a bed to be a bed unto
thee. When Jacob slept on the ground, who would not have had his
hard lodging, therewithal to have his heavenly dream? Thomas
Fuller.
Verse 3. Sure that bed must need be soft which God
will make. T. Watson.
Verse 3. We must not forget that Oriental beds needed
not to be made in the same sense as our own. They were never
more than mattresses or quilts thickly padded, and were turned
when they became uncomfortable, and that is just the word here
used. C. H. S.
Verse 3. When I visited one day, as he was dying, my
beloved friend Benjamin Parsons, I said, "How are you
today, Sir?" He said, "My head is resting very sweetly
on three pillows—infinite power, infinite love, and infinite
wisdom." Preaching in the Canterbury Hall, in Brighton, I
mentioned this some time since; and many months after I was
requested to call upon a poor but holy young woman, apparently
dying. She said, "I felt I must see you before I
died." I heard you tell the story of Benjamin Parsons and
his three pillows; and when I went through a surgical operation,
and it was very cruel, I was leaning my head on pillows, and as
they were taking them away I said, "May I keep them?"
The surgeon said, "No, my dear, we must take them
away." "But, "said I, "you cannot take away
Benjamin Parsons three pillows. I can lay my head on infinite
power, infinite love, and infinite wisdom." Paxton Hood,
in "Dark Sayings on a Harp, "1865.
Verses 3-4. What saith David from the very bottom of
his heart, in his sickness? Not, take away this death only. No;
but David being sick, first comforts himself with this promise, The
Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt
make all his bed in his sickness; and then adds, I said,
Lord, be merciful unto me, and heal my soul; that is,
destroy my lusts, which are the diseases of my soul, Lord; and
heal my soul, and renew life and communion with thee, which is
the health and strength of my soul. Do not take this sickness
and death only away; but this sin away, that hath dishonoured
thee, hath separated between me and thee: Heal my soul, for I
have sinned against thee. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 4. I said, Lord, be merciful. Mercy, not
justice! The extreme of mercy for the extreme of misery.
Righteousness as filthy rags; a flesh in which dwelleth no good
thing, on the one side; on the other, it is "neither herb
nor mollifying plaster that restored" to health; "but
thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things." Wisdom 16:12. Thomas
Aquinas, quoted by J. M. Neale.
Verse 4. God is the strength of a Christian's heart,
by healing and restoring him when the infused habits of grace
fail, and sin grows strong and vigorous. A Christian never fails
in the exercise of grace, but sin gives him a wound; and
therefore David prayed, Lord, heal my soul, for I have
sinned. And what David prayed for, God promises to his
people: "I will heal their backsliding." Ho 14:4. The
weakness and decay of grace, brings a Christian presently to the
falling sickness; and so it did in David and Ephraim; aye, but
God will be a physician to the soul in this case, and will heal
their diseases; and so he did David's falling sickness, for
which he returned the tribute of praise. Ps 103:3. Samuel
Blackerby.
Verse 4. (last clause). Saul and Judas each
said, "I have sinned; "but David says," I have
sinned against thee." William S. Plumer.
Verses 1, 5. He that considereth. Mine enemies.
Strigelius has observed, there is a perpetual antithesis in this
Psalm between the few who have a due regard to the poor in
spirit, and the many who afflict or desert them. W. Wilson,
D.D.
Verse 5. Mine enemies speak evil of me. To speak
is here used in the sense of to imprecate. John Calvin.
Verse 5. His name. It is the name, the
character, and privileges of a true servant of God, that calls
out the hatred of ungodly men, and they would gladly extirpate
him from their sight. W. Wilson, D.D.
Verse 6. If he come to see me, he speaketh vanity:
many fair words, but none of them true. David Dickson.
Verse 6. I remember a pretty apologue that Bromiard
tells:—A fowler, in a sharp, frosty morning, having taken many
little birds for which he had long watched, began to take up his
nets, and nipping the birds on the head laid them down. A young
thrush, espying the tears trickling down his cheek by reason of
the extreme cold, said to her mother, that certainly the man was
very merciful and compassionate, who wept so bitterly over the
calamity of the poor birds. But her mother told her more wisely,
that she might better judge of the man's disposition by his hand
than by his eye; and if the hands do strike treacherously, he
can never be admitted to friendship, who speaks fairly and weeps
pitifully. Jeremy Taylor.
Verse 6. His heart gathereth iniquity to itself.
1. By adding sin to sin, in that he covers over his malice
with such horrid hypocrisy.
2. By inventing or contriving all the several ways he can to
ensnare me, or do me some mischief, thereby seeking to satisfy
and please his corrupt lusts and affections;
3. (Which I like best), by observing all he can in me, and
drawing what he can from me, and so laying all up together in
his mind, as the ground of his unjust surmises and censures
concerning me. Arthur Jackson.
Verse 8. An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast
unto him. An evil deed of Belial cleaveth fast to him.
Grammarians maintain that the word Belial is compounded
of (ylb), beli, and (ley), yaal, which signify "not
to rise" the expression, "thing of Belial"
(for so it is literally in the Hebrew), I understand in this
place as meaning an extraordinary and hateful crime which as we
commonly say can never be expiated, and from which there is no
possibility of escape; unless perhaps some would rather refer it
to the affliction itself under which he laboured, as if his
enemies had said that he was seized by some incurable malady. John
Calvin.
Verse 8. An evil disease, etc. What is here
meant by (leylb-rkd) is matter of some difficulty. The ancient
interpreters generally render it a perverse or mischievous,
or wicked word; the Chaldee, a perverse word; the
Syriac, a word of iniquity; the LXX logon paranomon;
the Latin, iniquum verbum, a wicked word; the
Arabic, words contrary to the law. And so in all
probability it is set to signify a great slander, or calumny—that
as "men of Belial" are slanderous persons, so
the speech of Belial shall signify a slanderous
speech. And this is said to "cleave" to him on
whom it is fastened, it being the nature of calumnies, when
strongly affixed on any, to cleave fast, and leave some evil
mark behind them. Henry Hammond.
Verse 9. Yea, mine own familiar friend, etc.
The sufferings of the church, like those of her Redeemer,
generally begin at home: her open enemies can do her no harm,
until her pretended friends have delivered her into their hands;
and, unnatural as it may seem, they who have waxed fat upon her
bounty, are sometimes the first to lift the heel against
her. George Horne.
Verse 9. Mine own familiar friend. He who, on
visiting me, continually saluted me with the kiss of love and
veneration, and the usual address: peace be to thee. Hermann
Venema.
Verse 9. Which did eat of my beard. If the same
sentiment prevailed among the Hebrews, which prevails at the
present day among the Bedouin Arabs, of sacred regard to the
person and property of one with whom they have eaten bread and
salt, the language is very forcible. Hath lifted up his heel:
a metaphor drawn from the horse, which attacks with its heel.
This language may well have been used by our Saviour, in Joh
13:18, in the way of rhetorical illustration or emphasis. George
R. Noyes, D.D.
Verse 9. Hath lifted up his heel against me. In
this phrase he seems to allude to a beast's kicking at his
master by whom he is fed, or the custom of men's spurning at or
trampling upon those that are cast down on the ground, in a way
of despite and contempt. Arthur Jackson.
Verse 9. Hath lifted up his heel against me;
i.e., hath spurned me, hath kicked at me, as a vicious beast of
burden does; hath insulted me in my misery. Daniel Cresswell.
Verse 10. That I may requite them. Either (1),
kindness for injuries (as in Ps 35:13): it is the mark of a good
and brave man to do good to all in his power, to hurt no one,
even though provoked by wrong: or, (2), punishment for wrong
doing—that I may punish them; for am I not their
magistrate, and the executioner of God's justice! Martin
Geier.
Verse 10. That I may requite them. David was
not as one of the common people, but a king appointed by God and
invested with authority, and it is not from an impulse of the
flesh, but in virtue of the nature of his office, that he is led
to denounce against his enemies the punishment which they had
merited. John Calvin.
Verse 11. By this I know that thou favourest me,
because mine enemy doth not triumph over me: not because I
have no enemies, or because I have no trouble which would
overcome me. Therefore when he wrote down many troubles,
he blotted it (as it were) with his pen again, as a merchant
razes his book when the debt is discharged; and instead of many
troubles, he putteth in, the Lord delivereth. Because
he forgiveth all sins, he is said to deliver from all troubles,
to show that we have need of no Saviour, no helper, no
comforter, but him. Henry Smith.
Verse 11. By this I know that thou favourest me.
In this text we see two things. 1. How David assures himself of
God's love towards him. 2. How thankful he is to God for
assuring him of his love. The first he doth by two arguments;
one is taken from his enemies, they were prevented of their
expectation—"Therefore thou lovest me." The other is
taken from his own estate, which was not one whit hurt, or
impaired, but bettered by them...Here the prophet speaketh of
his knowledge, and telleth us that though he knew not all
things, yet he knew that God loved him, and so long as he
knoweth that, he careth not greatly for other matters, how the
world goeth with him, etc. And, to say the truth, he need not,
for he that is sure of that, is sure of all. God loveth all his
creatures as a good God, and hateth nothing that he made, but he
loveth his elect children with a more especial love than the
rest, as a Father in Christ Jesus, and he that is sure that God
doth so favour him, is sure, I say, of all. For to him whom God
loveth, he will deny no good thing, no, not his own Son; and if
he gave us his Son, because he loved us, how shall he not with
him give us all things else?
When the child is persuaded that his father loveth him, he is
bold to ask this and that of his father: so may we be bold to
ask anything of God our heavenly Father that is good for us,
when we be sure that he loveth us. As Mary and Martha put Christ
in mind but of two things; the first was, that Christ loved
their brother Lazarus; the second was, that Lazarus was sick;
"He whom thou lovest is sick:" it was no need to tell
him what he should do, for they knew he would do what might be
done for him, because he loved him. So we may say to the Lord,
when we are sure that he loveth us: Lord, he whom thou lovest
wanteth this or that for his body or his soul. We need not then
appoint him what to do, or when, or how; for look what he seeth
most convenient for us, and for his own glory, he will surely do
it. Therefore whatsoever David knoweth, he will be sure to know
this; and whatsoever he is ignorant of, yet of this he will not
be ignorant; to teach is that whatsoever we seek to make sure,
this must first be made sure, or else nothing is sure. Peter
bids us make our election sure; Job, when he saith, "I am
sure that my Redeemer liveth, "teacheth us to make our
redemption sure. And here David teacheth us to make God's
favour sure: now if we make that sure, then our election is
sure, our redemption is sure, our vocation is sure, and our
salvation is sure. William Barton, 1602.
Verse 11. Because mine enemy doth not triumph over
me. When God doth deliver us from the hands of our enemies,
or any trouble else, we may persuade ourselves thereby, he hath
a favour unto us, as David did. But then it may be demanded, If
God doth love his church, why doth he suffer his church to be
troubled and molested with enemies? The reason is this, because
by this means his love may be made more manifest in saving and
delivering them. For as a sure friend is not known but in time
of need, so God's goodness and love is never so well perceived
as it is in helping of us when we cannot help ourselves. As
Adam's fall did serve to manifest God's justice and mercy, the
one in punishing, the other is pardoning of sin, which otherwise
we had never known: so the troubles of the church serve to
manifest, first, our deserts by reason of our sins; secondly,
our weakness and inability to help ourselves; and, thirdly, the
lovingkindness of the Lord our God, in saving and defending,
that so we might be truly thankful, and return all the praise
and glory to God, and none to ourselves. So that the church of
God may have enemies, and yet be still the beloved of God, as
Lazarus was beloved of Christ, although he was sick; for whom
the Lord loveth he correcteth, and therefore he correcteth them
because he loveth them. William Burton.
Verse 11. God preserves his own, and bringeth their
foes to nought: after Passion week comes Easter. J. P.
Lange's Commentary.
Verse 12. Integrity. This same integrity is
like Noah's ark, wherein he was preserved, when others perished,
being without it. It is like the red thread, which the spies of
Joshua gave to Rahab, it was a charter whereby she claimed her
life when the rest were destroyed, which had not the like. So is
this integrity of small reckoning, I confess, with the men of
this world, which think that there is no other heaven but earth;
but as Rahab's thread was better to her than all her goods and
substance when the sword came, so this is better to God's
children than all the world when death comes. If they have this
within they care not, nay, they need not care what can come
without. If Satan's buffeting come, this is a helmet of proof;
if Satan's darts fly out, this is a shield to quench them; if
floods of crosses come to carry us away, this is a boat to bear
us up; if all the world cast mire and filth in our faces, we are
never a whit the more deformed, but still beautiful for all
that, for "the king's daughter, "(saith Solomon, Ps
45:13), that is, the church of Christ, "is all glorious
within." William Burton.
Verse 12. Settest me before thy face for ever; or
hast confirmed or established me in thy presence; i.e,
either under thine eye and special care, or to minister to thee,
not only in thy temple, but as a king over thy people, or in
that land where thou art peculiarly present. Matthew Poole.
Verse 13. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from
everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen. We are here
taught, 1. To give glory to God, as the Lord God of Israel,
a God in covenant with his people; that has done great and kind
things for them, and has more and better in reserve. 2. To give
him glory as an eternal God, that has both his being and his
blessedness from everlasting and to everlasting. 3. To do
this with great affection and fervour of spirit, intimated in a
double seal set to it, Amen, and Amen. We say Amen to it,
and let all others say Amen too. Matthew Henry.
Verse 13. Amen and Amen. As the Psalms were not
written by one man, so neither do they form one book. The
Psalter is, in fact, a Pentateuch, and the lines of demarcation,
which divide the five books one from another, are clear and
distinct enough. At the end of the 41st Psalm, of the 72nd, of
the 89th, and of the 106th, we meet with the solemn, Amen,
single or redoubled, following on a doxology, which indicates
that one book ends and that another is about to begin. A closer
study of the Psalms shows that each book possesses
characteristics of its own. Jehovah ("the Lord") for
example, is prominent as the divine name in the first book,
Elohim ("God") in the second. E. H. Plumptre, M.A.,
in "Biblical Studies, "1870.
Verse 13. There is also another observable difference
between the two books. In the first, all those Psalms which have
any inscription at all are expressly assigned to David as their
author, whereas in the second we find a whole series attributed
to some of the Levitical singers. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 13. How ancient the division is cannot now be
clearly ascertained. Jerome, in his epistle to Marcella, and
Epiphanius speak of the Psalms as having been divided by the
Hebrews into five books, but when this division was made they do
not inform us. The forms of ascription of praise, added at the
end of each of the five books, are in the Septuagint version,
from which we may conclude that this distribution had been made
before that version was executed. It was probably made by Ezra,
after the return of the Jews from Babylon to their own country,
and the establishment of the worship of God in the new temple,
and it was perhaps made in imitation of a similar distribution
of the books of Moses. In making this division of the Hebrew
Psalter, regard appears to have been paid to the subject matter
of the Psalms. John Calvin.
Verse 13. These forty-one Psalms, it has been
observed, forming the first book, relate chiefly to the ministry
of Christ upon earth, preparing those who were looking for the
consolation of Israel, for his appearing amongst them.
Accordingly, the second book, commencing with Psalm 42, may
refer chiefly to the infant church of Christ. W. Wilson, D.D.
Verse 13. May not the growth of the Book of Psalms be
illustrated by the case of our Modern Hymn Books which in the
course of years require first one appendix and then another, so
as to incorporate the growing psalmody of the church? In this
case the purely Davidic Psalms of the first division formed the
nucleus to which other sacred songs were speedily added. C.
H. S.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. (first clause). The incidental
blessings resulting from considering the pious poor.
1. We learn gratitude.
2. We see patience.
3. We often remark the triumphs of great grace.
4. We obtain light on Christian experience.
5. We have their prayers.
6. We feel the pleasure of beneficence.
7. We enter into communion with the lowly Saviour.
Verse 1. The support of the Small pox Hospitals
recommended. Bishop Squire, 1760. Scores of sermons of
this kind have been preached from this text.
Verse 2. Blessed upon the earth. What blessings
of an earthly character godly character secures, and in general
what it is to be blessed with regard to this life.
Verse 2. (second clause). What it is to be
delivered in trouble. From impatience, from despair, from
sinful expedients, from violent attacks, from losing fellowship
with God.
Verse 3. Strength in weakness. Inward strength,
divinely given, continuously sustained, enduring to the end,
triumphant in death, glorifying to God, proving the reality of
grace, winning others to the faith.
Verse 3. (last clause). The heavenly bed
making.
Verse 4. (first clause). A saying worth
repeating: I said. It expresses penitence, humility,
earnestness, faith, importunity, fear of God, etc.
Verse 4. Heal my soul.
1. The hereditary disease, breaking out in many
disorders—open sin, unbelief, decline of grace, etc.
2. Spiritual health struggling with it; shown in spiritual
pain, desire, prayer, effort.
3. The well proved Physician. Has healed, and will, by his
word, his blood, his Spirit, &c.
Verse 4. I have sinned against thee. This
confession is personal, plain, without pretence of excuse,
comprehensive and intelligent, for it reveals the very heart of
sin—"against thee."
Verse 5. What we may expect. What our enemies desire.
What we may therefore prize, i.e., the power of Christian
life and name. What we should do—tell the Lord all in prayer.
What good will then come of the evil.
Verse 6. (first clause). The folly and sin of
frivolous visits.
Verse 6. (second and third clauses). Like to
like, or the way in which character draws its like to itself.
The same subject might be treated under the title of The
Chiffonnier, or the rag collector. What he gathers; where he
puts it—in his heart; what he does with it; what he
gets for it; and what will become of him.
Verses 7-12. On a sick bed a man discovers not only
his enemies and his friends, but himself and his God, more
intimately.
Verse 9. The treachery of Judas.
Verse 11. Deliverance from temptation a token of
divine favour.
Verse 12. This text reveals the insignia of those whom
grace has distinguished.
1. Their integrity is manifest.
2. Their character is divinely sustained.
3. They dwell in the favour of God.
4. Their position is stable and continues.
5. Their eternal future is secure.
Verse 13.
1. The object of praise—Jehovah, the covenant God.
2. The nature of the praise—without beginning or end.
3. Our participation in the praise—"Amen and
Amen."
The ancient rabbins saw in the Five Books of the Psalter the
image of the Five Books of the Law. This way of looking on the
Psalms as a second Pentateuch, the echo of the first, passed
over into the Christian church, and found favour with some early
fathers. It has commended itself to the acceptance of good
recent expositors, like Dr. Delitzsch, who calls the Psalter
"the congregation's five fold word to the Lord, even as the
Thora (the Law) is the Lord's five fold word to the
Congregation." This mat be mere fancy, but its existence
from ancient times shows that the five fold division attracted
early notice. William Binnie, D.D.
God presented Israel with the Law, a Pentateuch, and grateful
Israel responded with a Psalter, a Pentateuch of praise. F.L.K.
WORKS UPON THE FORTY-FIRST PSALM
"David's Evidence; or, the Assurance of
God's Love: declared in seven Sermons upon the three last verses
of the Forty-first Psalme. By WILLIAM BURTON. Minister of the
Word at Reading in Berkshire ...1602." 4to.
The ancient Rabbins saw in the Five Books of the Psalter the
image of the Five Books of the Law. This way of looking at the
Psalms as a second Pentateuch, the echo of the first, passed
over into the Christian church, and found favour with some early
fathers. It has commended itself to the acceptance of good
recent expositors, like Dr. Delitzsch, who calls the Psalter
"the congregation's five fold word to the Lord, even as the
Thora (the Law) is the Lord's five fold word to the
Congregation." This mat be mere fancy, but its existence
from ancient times shows that the five fold division attracted
early notice. William Binnie, D.D.
God presented Israel with the Law, a
Pentateuch, and grateful Israel responded with s Psalter, a
Pentateuch of praise, in acknowledgment of the divine gift. J.
L. K.