TITLE. To the Chief Musician for the sons
of Korah, Maschil. The title is similar to the forty-second, and
although this is no proof that it is by the same author it makes
it highly probable. No other writer should be sought for to father
any of the Psalms when David will suffice, and therefore we are
loathe to ascribe this sacred song to any but the great psalmist,
yet as we hardly know any period of his life which it would fairly
describe, we feel compelled to look elsewhere. Some Israelitish
patriot fallen on evil times, sings in mingled faith and sorrow,
his country's ancient glory and her present griefs, her traditions
of former favour and her experience of pressing ills. By
Christians it can best be understood if put into the mouth of the
church when persecution is peculiarly severe. The last verses
remind us of Milton's famous lines on the massacre of the
Protestants among the mountains of Piedmont. The song before us is
fitted for the voices of the saved by grace, the sons of Korah,
and is to them and to all others full of teaching, hence the title
Maschil.
DIVISION. From Ps 44:1-3, the Lord's
mighty works for Israel are rehearsed, and in remembrance of them
faith in the Lord is expressed Ps 44:4-8. Then the notes of
complaint are heard Ps 44:9-16, the fidelity of the people to
their God is aroused, Ps 44:17-22, and the Lord is entreated to
interpose, Ps 44:23-26.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. We have heard with our ears, O God. Thy
mighty acts have been the subjects of common conversation; not
alone in books have we read thy famous deeds, but in the ordinary
talk of the people we have heard of them. Among the godly
Israelites the biography of their nation was preserved by oral
tradition, with great diligence and accuracy. This mode of
preserving and transmitting history has its disadvantages, but it
certainly produces a more vivid impression on the mind than any
other; to hear with the ears affects us more sensitively than to
read with the eyes; we ought to note this, and seize every
possible opportunity of telling abroad the gospel of our Lord
Jesus viva voce, since this is the most telling mode of
communication. The expression, "heard with our ears,
"may denote the pleasure with which they listened, the
intensity of their interest, the personality of their hearing, and
the lively remembrance they had of the romantic and soul stirring
narrative. Too many have ears but hear not; happy are they who,
having ears, have learned to hear. Our fathers have told us.
They could not have had better informants. Schoolmasters are well
enough, but godly fathers are, both by the order of nature and
grace, the best instructors of their sons, nor can they delegate
the sacred duty. It is to be feared that many children of
professors could plead very little before God of what their
fathers have told them. When fathers are tongue tied religiously
with their offspring, need they wonder if their children's hearts
remain sin tied? Just as in all free nations men delight to gather
around the hearth, and tell the deeds of valour of their sires
"in the brave days of old, "so the people of God under
the old dispensation made their families cheerful around the
table, be rehearsing the wondrous doings of the Lord their God.
Religious conversation need not be dull, and indeed it could not
be if, as in this case, it dealt more with facts and less with
opinions. What work thou didst in their days, in the times of
old. They began with what their own eyes had witnessed, and
then passed on to what were the traditions of their youth. Note
that the main point of the history transmitted from father to son
was the work of God; this is the core of history, and therefore no
man can write history aright who is a stranger to the Lord's work.
It is delightful to see the footprints of the Lord on the sea of
changing events, to behold him riding on the whirlwind of war,
pestilence, and famine, and above all to see his unchanging care
for his chosen people. Those who are taught to see God in history
have learned a good lesson from their fathers, and no son of
believing parents should be left in ignorance of so holy an art. A
nation tutored as Israel was in a history so marvellous as their
own, always had an available argument in pleading with God for aid
in trouble, since he who never changes gives in every deed of
grace a pledge of mercy yet to come. The traditions of our past
experience are powerful pleas for present help.
Verse 2. How thou didst drive out the heathen with
thy hand. The destruction of the Canaanites from the promised
land is the work here brought to remembrance. A people numerous,
warlike, gigantic and courageous, firmly established and strongly
fortified, were driven out by a far feebler nation, because the
Lord was against them in the fight. It is clear from Scripture
that God sent a plague (so that the land ate up the inhabitants
thereof), and also a visitation of hornets against the Canaanites,
and by other means dispirited them, so that the easy victories of
Joshua were but the results of God's having worked beforehand
against the idolatrous nation. And plantedst them. The
tribes of Israel were planted in the places formerly occupied by
the heathen. Hivites and Jebusites were chased from their cities
to make room for Ephraim and Judah. The Great Wonder worker tore
up by the roots the oaks of Bashan, that he might plant instead
thereof his own chosen "vineyard of red wine." How
thou didst afflict the people. With judgments and plagues the
condemned nations were harassed, by fire and sword they were
hunted to the death, till they were all expelled, and the enemies
of Israel were banished far away. And cast them out. This
most probably refers to Israel and should be read, "caused
them to increase." He who troubled his enemies smiled on his
friends; he meted out vengeance to the ungodly nations, but he
reserved of his mercy for the chosen tribes. How fair is mercy
when she stands by the side of justice! Bright beams the star of
grace amid the night of wrath! It is a solemn thought that the
greatness of divine love has its counterpart in the greatness of
his indignation. The weight of mercy bestowed on Israel is
balanced by the tremendous vengeance which swept the thousands of
Amorites and Hittites down to hell with the edge of the sword.
Hell is as deep as heaven is high, and the flame of Tophet is as
everlasting as the blaze of the celestial glory. God's might, as
shown in deeds both of mercy and justice, should be called to mind
in troublous times as a stay to our fainting faith.
Verse 3. For they got not the land in possession by
their own sword. Behold how the Lord alone was exalted in
bringing his people to the land which floweth with milk and honey!
He, in his distinguishing grace, had put a difference between
Canaan and Israel, and therefore, by his own effectual power, he
wrought for his chosen and against their
adversaries. The tribes fought for their allotments, but their
success was wholly due to the Lord who wrought with them. The
warriors of Israel were not inactive, but their valour was
secondary to that mysterious, divine working by which Jericho's
walls fell down, and the hearts of the heathen failed them for
fear. The efforts of all the men at arms were employed, but as
these would have been futile without divine succour, all the
honour is ascribed unto the Lord. The passage may be viewed as a
beautiful parable of the work of salvation; men are not saved
without prayer, repentance, etc., but none of those save a man,
salvation is altogether of the Lord. Canaan was not conquered
without the armies of Israel, but equally true is it that is was
not conquered by them; the Lord was the conqueror, and the people
were but instruments in his hands. Neither did their own arm
save them. They could not ascribe their memorable victories to
themselves; he who made sun and moon stand still for them was
worthy of all their praise. A negative is put both upon their
weapons and themselves as if to show us how ready men are to
ascribe success to second causes. But thy right hand, and thine
arm, and the light of thy countenance. The divine hand
actively fought for them, the divine arm powerfully
sustained them with more than human energy, and the divine smile
inspired them with dauntless courage. Who could not win with such
triple help, though earth, death, and hell should rise in war
against him? What mattered the tallness of the sons of Anak, or
the terror of their chariots of iron, they were as nothing when
Jehovah arose for the avenging of Israel. Because thou hadst a
favour unto them. Here is the fountain from whence every
stream of mercy flows. The Lord's delight in his people, his
peculiar affection, his distinguishing regard—this is the
mainspring which moves every wheel of a gracious providence.
Israel was a chosen nation, hence their victories and the
scattering of their foes; believers are an elect people, hence
their spiritual blessings and conquests. There was nothing in the
people themselves to secure them success, the Lord's favour alone
did it, and it is ever so in our case, our hope of final glory
must not rest on anything in ourselves, but on the free and
sovereign favour of the Lord of Hosts.
Verse 4. Thou art my King, O God. Knowing right
well thy power and grace my heart is glad to own thee for her
sovereign prince. Who among the mighty are so illustrious as thou
art? To whom, then, should I yield my homage or turn for aid? God
of my fathers in the olden time, thou art my soul's monarch and
liege Lord. Command deliverances for Jacob. To whom should
a people look but to their king? he it is who, by virtue of his
office, fights their battles for them. In the case of our King,
how easy it is for him to scatter all our foes! O Lord, the King
of kings, with what ease canst thou rescue thy people; a word of
thine can do it, give but the command and thy persecuted people
shall be free. Jacob's long life was crowded with trials and
deliverances, and his descendants are here called by his name, as
if to typify the similarity of their experience to that of their
great forefather. He who would win the blessings of Israel must
share the sorrows of Jacob. This verse contains a personal
declaration and an intercessory prayer; those can pray best who
make most sure of their personal interest in God, and those who
have the fullest assurance that the Lord is their God should be
the foremost to plead for the rest of the tried family of the
faithful.
Verse 5. Through thee will we push down our enemies.
The fight was very close, bows were of no avail, and swords failed
to be of service, it came to daggers drawing, and hand to hand
wrestling, pushing and tugging. Jacob's God was renewing in the
seed of Jacob their father's wrestling. And how fared it with
faith then? Could she stand foot to foot with her foe and hold her
own? Yea, verily, she came forth victorious from the encounter,
for she is great at a close push, and overthrows all her
adversaries, the Lord being her helper.
Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
The Lord's name served instead of weapons, and enabled those who
used it to leap on their foes and crush them with jubilant valour.
In union and communion with God, saints work wonders; if God be
for us, who can be against us? Mark well that all the conquests of
these believers are said to be "through thee,
""through thy name:" never let us forget this, lest
going a warfare at our own charges, we fail most ignominiously.
Let us not, however, fall into the equally dangerous sin of
distrust, for the Lord can make the weakest of us equal to any
emergency. Though today we are timid and defenceless as sheep, he
can by his power make us strong as the firstling of his bullock,
and cause us to push as with the horns of unicorns, until those
who rose up against us shall be so crushed and battered as never
to rise again. Those who of themselves can scarcely keep their
feet, but like little babes totter and fall, are by divine
assistance made to overthrow their foes, and set their feet upon
their necks. Read Christian's fight with Apollyon, and see how
"The man so bravely played the man
He made the fiend to fly."
Verse 6. For I will not trust in my bow, neither
shall my sword save me. Thy people Israel, under thy guidance,
shouldered out the heathen, and gained their land, not by skill of
weapons or prowess of arms, but by thy power alone; therefore will
we renounce for ever all reliance upon outward confidences, of
which other men make such boast, and we will cast ourselves upon
the omnipotence of our God. Bows having been newly introduced by
king Saul, were regarded as very formidable weapons in the early
history of Israel, but they are here laid aside together with the
all conquering sword, in order that there may be room for faith in
the living God. This verse, in the first person singular, may
serve as the confession of faith of every believer renouncing his
own righteousness and strength, and looking alone to the Lord
Jesus. O for grace to stand to this self renunciation, for alas!
our proud nature is all too apt to fix its trust on the puffed up
and supposititious power of the creature. Arm of flesh, how dare I
trust thee? How dare I bring upon myself the curse of those who
rely upon man?
Verse 7. But thou hast saved us from our enemies.
In ages past all our rescues have been due to thee, O God. Never
hast thou failed us. Out of every danger thou has brought us. And
hast put them to shame that hated us. With the back of thy
saving hand thou hast given them a cuff which has made them hide
their faces; thou hast defeated them in such a manner as to make
them ashamed of themselves to be overthrown by such puny
adversaries as they thought the Israelites to be. The double
action of God in blessing his people and confounding his enemies
is evermore to be observed; Pharaoh is drowned, while Israel
passes through the sea; Amalek is smitten, while the tribes
rejoice; the heathen are chased from their abodes, while the sons
of Jacob rest beneath their vine and fig tree.
Verse 8. In God we boast all the day long. We
have abundant reason for doing so while we recount his mighty
acts. What blessed boasting is this! it is the only sort of
boasting that is bearable. All other manna bred worms and stank
except that which was laid up before the Lord, and all other
boasting is loathsome save this glorying in the Lord, which is
laudable and pleasing. And praise thy name for ever. Praise
should be perpetual. If there were no new acts of love, yet ought
the Lord to be praised for what he has done for his people. High
let the song be lifted up as we bring to remembrance the eternal
love which chose us, predestinated us to be sons, redeemed us with
a price, and then enriched us with all the fulness of God. Selah.
A pause comes in fitly here, when we are about to descend from the
highest to the lowest key. No longer are we to hear Miriam's
timbrel, but rather Rachel's weeping.
Verse 9. But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame.
Here the patriot bard begins to contrast the past glories of the
nation's history with its present sadness and distress; which he
does not ascribe to the death of some human champion, or to the
accidents of war, but solely and alone to the withdrawal of
Israel's God. It seemed to the mourner that Jehovah had grown
weary of his people and put them away in abhorrence, as men lay
aside leprous garments, loathing the sight of them. To show his
displeasure he had made his people to be ridiculed by the heathen,
whose easy victories over their largest armies covered Israel with
disgrace. Alas! for a church and people when the Lord in the
active energy of his Spirit withdraws from them, they want no
greater shame or sorrow. He will not cast away his people finally
and totally, but many a church has been left to defeat and
disgrace on account of sin, and therefore all churches should be
exceedingly watchful lest the like should happen to themselves.
Poverty and distress bring no shame on a people, but the Lord's
absence takes from a church everything which can exalt and
ennoble. And goest not forth with our armies. If the Lord
be not the leader, of what avail are strong battalions? Vain are
the combined efforts of the most zealous workers if God's arm be
not revealed. May none of us in our churches have to mourn over
the ministry, the Sabbath school, the missionary work, the
visiting, the street preaching, left to be carried out without the
divine aid. If our great ally will not go with us our defeat is
inevitable.
Verse 10. Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy.
The humiliating consciousness that the Lord has left them soon
makes men cowards. Flight closes the fight of those who have not
the Lord in the van. And they which hate us spoil for
themselves. After defeat and retreat, comes spoliation. The
poor, vanquished nation paid a terrible penalty for being
overcome; plunder and murder desolated the conquered land, and the
invaders loaded themselves with every precious thing which they
could carry away. In spiritual experience we know what it is to be
despoiled by our enemies; doubts and fears rob us of our comforts,
and terrible forebodings spoil us of our hopes; and all because
the Lord, for wise purposes, sees fit to leave us to ourselves.
Alas! for the deserted soul; no calamity can equal the sorrow of
being left of God, though it be but for a small moment.
Verse 11. Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for
meat. As sheep are slaughtered for food, so were the people
slain in flocks, with ease, and frequency. Not with dignity of
sacrifice, but with the cruelty of the shambles, were they put to
death. God appeared to give them up like sheep allotted to the
butcher, to abandon them as the hireling abandons the flock to
wolves. The complaint is bitterly eloquent. And hast scattered
us among the heathen. Many were carried into captivity, far
off from the public worship of the temple of God, to pine as
exiles among idolaters. All this is ascribed to the Lord, as being
allowed by him, and even appointed by his decree. It is well to
trace the hand of God in our sorrows, for it is surely there.
Verse 12. Thou sellest thy people for nought. As
men sell merchandise to any one who cares to have it, so the Lord
seemed to hand over his people to any nation who might choose to
make war upon them. Meanwhile no good result was perceptible from
all the miseries of Israel; so far as the psalmist could discover,
the Lord's name received no honour from the sorrows of his people;
they were given away to their foes as if they were so little
valued as not to be worth the ordinary price of slaves, and the
Lord did not care to gain by them so long as they did but suffer.
The woe expressed in this line is as vinegar mingled with gall:
the expression is worthy of the weeping prophet. And dost not
increase thy wealth by their price. If Jehovah had been
glorified by all this wretchedness it could have been borne
patiently, but it was the reverse; the Lord's name had, through
the nation's calamities, been despised by the insulting heathen,
who counted the overthrow of Israel to be the defeat of Jehovah
himself. It always lightens a believer's trouble when he can see
that God's great name will be honoured thereby, but it is a
grievous aggravation of misery when we appear to be tortured in
vain. For our comfort let us rest satisfied that in reality the
Lord is glorified, and when no revenue of glory is manifestly
rendered to him, he none the less accomplishes his own secret
purposes, of which the grand result will be revealed in due time.
We do not suffer for nought, nor are our griefs without result.
Verse 13. Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours.
Scorn is always an intensely bitter ingredient in the cup of the
oppressed. The taunts and jeers of the victors pain the vanquished
almost as much as their swords and spears. It was a mystery indeed
that God should suffer his royal nation, his peculiar people, to
be taunted by all who dwelt near them. A scorn and a derision
to them that are round about us. The down trodden people had
become a common jest; "as base as Israel" cried the
cruel tongue of the tyrant: so ordinary had the scorn become that
the neighbouring nations, though perhaps equally oppressed,
borrowed the language of the conquerors, and joined in the common
mockery. To be a derision to both strong and weak, superiors,
equals, and inferiors, is hard to bear. The tooth of scoffing
bites to the bone. The psalmist sets forth the brutality of the
enemy in many words, in order to move the pity of the Lord, to
whose just anger he traced all the sorrows of his people: he used
the very best of arguments, for the sufferings of his chosen touch
the heart of God far more readily than any other reasonings.
Blessed be his name, our great Advocate above knows how to avail
himself of this powerful plea, and if we are at this hour enduring
reproach for truth's sake, he will urge it before the eternal
throne; and shall not God avenge his own elect? A father will not
long endure to see his children despitefully entreated; he may put
up with it for a little, but his love will speedily arouse his
anger, and then it will fare ill with the persecutor and reviler.
Verse 14. Thou makest us a byword among the heathen,
a shaking of the head among the people. The lamentation is
here repeated. They had sunk so low that none did them reverence,
but universally and publicly they were treated as infamous and
despicable. Those who reviled others dragged in Israel's name by
the way as a garnish to their insults, and if perchance they saw
one of the seed of Jacob in the street they used lewd gestures to
annoy him. Those whose heads were emptiest wagged them at the
separated people. They were the common butts of every fool's
arrow. Such has been the lot of the righteous in ages past, such
is their portion in a measure now, such may be yet again their
heritage in the worst sense. The world knows not its nobility, it
has no eye for true excellence: it found a cross for the Master,
and cannot be expected to award crowns to his disciples.
Verse 15. My confusion is continually before me.
The poet makes himself the representative of his nation, and
declares his own constant distress of soul. He is a man of ill
blood who is unconcerned for the sorrows of the church of which he
is a member, or the nation of which he is a citizen; the better
the heart the greater its sympathy. And the shame of my face
hath covered me. One constant blush, like a crimson mantle,
covered him both before God and man; he felt before God that the
divine desertion was well deserved, and before man, that he and
his people were despicable indeed now that heavenly help was gone.
It is well for a nation when there still exist in it men who lay
to heart its sin and shame. God will have pity on his chastened
ones, and it is a pledge thereof when he sends us choice
ministers, men of tenderness, who make the people's case their
own.
Verse 16. For the voice of him that reproacheth and
blasphemeth. It seems that from mocking the people of God, the
adversaries advanced to reviling God himself, they proceeded from
persecution to the sin which is next of kin, namely blasphemy. By
reason of the enemy and avenger. The enemy boasted of avenging
the defeats of their forefathers; they took revenge for the
ancient victories of Israel, by insulting over the now fallen
people. Here was a sad plight for a nation to be placed in, but it
was by no means a hopeless case, for the Lord who brought all this
evil upon them could with equal ease release them from it. So long
as Israel looked alone to her God, and not to her own arm, no foe
could retain her beneath his foot; she must arise, for God
was on her side.
Verse 17. All this is come upon us; yet have we not
forgotten thee. Here the psalmist urges that Israel had not
turned away from her allegiance to Jehovah. When in the midst of
many griefs we can still cling to God in loving obedience, it must
be well with us. True fidelity can endure rough usage. Those who
follow God for what they get, will leave him when persecution is
stirred up, but not so the sincere believer; he will not forget
his God, even though the worst come to the worst. Neither have
we dealt falsely in thy covenant. No idol was set up, the
ordained worship was not relinquished, God was still nationally
acknowledged, and therefore the psalmist is more earnest that the
Lord should interpose. This and the succeeding verses are suitable
for the lips of martyrs, indeed the entire psalm might be called
the martyr's complaint. Not for sin but for righteousness did the
saints suffer, not for falsehood but for truth, not for forsaking
the Lord, but for following hard after him. Sufferings of such a
sort may be very terrible, but they are exceedingly honourable,
and the comforts of the Lord shall sustain those who are accounted
worthy to suffer for Christ's sake.
Verse 18. Our heart is not turned back, neither have
our steps declined from thy way. Heart and life were agreed,
and both were true to the Lord's way. Neither within nor without
had the godly sufferers offended; they were not absolutely
perfect, but they were sincerely free from all wilful
transgression. It was a healthy sign for the nation that her
prophet poet could testify to her uprightness before God, both in
heart and act; far oftener the case would have worn quite another
colour, for the tribes were all too apt to set up other gods and
forsake the rock of their salvation.
Verse 19. Though thou hast sore broken us in the
place of dragons. Though utterly crushed and rendered desolate
and driven as it were to associate with creatures such as jackals,
owls, serpents, which haunt deserted ruins, yet Israel remained
faithful. To be true to a smiting God, even when the blows lay our
joys in ruinous heaps, is to be such as the Lord delighteth in.
Better to be broken by God than from God. Better to be in the
place of dragons than of deceivers. And covered us with the
shadow of death. The language is very strong. The nation is
described as completely enveloped in the dense darkness of despair
and death, covered up as though confined in hopelessness. Yet the
claim is made that they still remained mindful of their God, and a
glorious plea it is. Better death than false of faith. Those who
are true to God shall never find him false to them.
Verse 20. An appeal is now made to the omniscience of
God; he is himself called in to bear witness that Israel had not
set up another God. If we have forgotten the name of our God.
This would be the first step in apostasy; men first forget the
true, and then adore the false. Or stretched out our hands to a
strange god. Stretching out the hands was the symbol of
adoration or of entreaty in prayer; this they had not offered to
any of the idols of the heathens.
Verse 21. Shall not God search this out? Could
such idolatry be concealed from him? Would he not with holy
indignation have detected unfaithfulness to itself, even had it
been hidden in the heart and unrevealed in the life? For he
knoweth the secrets of the heart. He is acquainted with the
inner workings of the mind, and therefore this could not have
escaped him. Not the heart only which is secret, but the secrets
of the heart, which are secrets of the most secret thing, are as
open to God as a book to a reader. The reasoning is that the Lord
himself knew the people to be sincerely his followers, and
therefore was not visiting them for sin; hence, then, affliction
evidently came from quite another cause.
Verse 22. Yea, i.e., assuredly, certainly, for
thy sake, not for our offences, but for obeying thee; the
trials of these suppliants came upon them because they were loyal
to their God. Are we killed all the day long. Persecution
never ceased to hound them to the death, they had no respite and
found no door of escape; and all in God's behalf, because they
would not forsake their covenant God and King. We are counted
as sheep for the slaughter; as if we were only meant to be
killed, and made on purpose to be victims; as if it were as easy
and as innocent a thing to slay us as to slaughter sheep. In this
and following verses we clearly hear the martyr's cry. From
Piedmont and Smithfield, from St. Bartholomew's massacre and the
dragoonades of Claverhouse, this appeal goes up to heaven, while
the souls under the altar continue their solemn cry for vengeance.
Not long shall the church plead in this fashion, her shame shall
be recompensed, her triumph shall dawn.
Verse 23. Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord. God
sleepeth not, but the psalmist puts it so, as if on no other
theory he could explain the divine inaction. He would fain see the
great Judge ending oppression and giving peace to the holy,
therefore does he cry "Awake; "he cannot understand why
the reign of tyranny and the oppression of virtue are permitted,
and therefore he enquires "Why sleepest thou?" Arise.
This is all thou needest to do, one move of thine will save us. Cast
us not off for ever. Long enough hast thou deserted us; the
terrible effects of thine absence are destroying us; end thou our
calamities, and let thine anger be appeased. In persecuting times
men are apt to cry, Where is the God of Israel? At the thought of
what the saints have endured from their haughty enemies, we join
our voices in the great martyr cry and sing with the bard of
Paradise:
"Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold;
Even those who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones,
Forget not: in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep."
Verse 24. Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and
forgettest our affliction and our oppression? Not petulantly,
but piteously and inquiringly, we may question the Lord when his
dealings are mysterious. We are permitted to order our case with
arguments, and plead the right before the face of the august
Majesty. Why, Lord, dost thou become oblivious of thy children's
woes? This question is far more easily asked than answered; it is
hard, indeed, in the midst of persecution to see the reason why we
are left to suffer so severely.
Verse 25. For our soul is bowed down to the dust.
Our heart is low as low can be, as low as the dust beneath the
soles of men's feet. When the heart sinks, the man is down indeed.
Heart sorrow is the very heart of sorrow. Our belly cleaveth
unto the earth. The man is prone upon the earth, and he is not
only down, but fastened down on the earth and glued to it. It is
misery, indeed, when the heart cannot escape from itself, is shut
up in its own dejection, and bound with the cords of despondency.
God's saints may be thus abject, they may be not only in the dust,
but on the dunghill with Job and Lazarus, but their day cometh,
and their tide will turn, and they shall have a brave summer after
their bitter winter.
Verse 26. Arise for our help. A short, but sweet
and comprehensive prayer, much to the point, clear, simple,
urgent, as all prayers should be. And redeem us for thy
mercies' sake. Here is the final plea. The favour is
redemption, the plea is mercy; and this, too, in the case of
faithful sufferers who had not forgotten their God. Mercy is
always a safe plea, and never will any man find a better.
"Were I a martyr at the stake.
I would plead my Saviour's name,
Intreat a pardon for his sake,
And urge no other claim."
Here ends this memorable Psalm, but in heaven its power ends
not, but brings down deliverance for the tried people of God.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. On a survey of this Psalm, it would seem
not to admit of a doubt that the speakers are of the race of
Israel; and yet expositors for the most part have found much
difficulty in so understanding it, in this—the natural
sense—so as even to be compelled to abandon it, owing to the
impossibility of fixing on any period in the history of that
people which would furnish an occasion for it, and verify its
language. Thus, it cannot be referred to the times of the
Babylonish captivity; for to this it is objected, and with reason;
first, that Ps 44:11 4:14 represent the speakers as
"scattered among the nations, "and "a byword among
the peoples, "whereas their exile was then confined to one
country; and, secondly, that in Ps 44:17-21 there is an assertion
of faithful adherence to the worship of the true God, which he is
called to witness as acquitting the sufferers of having brought
the evil on themselves, while that captivity was a punishment of
the nation for their apostasy, and especially for the grievous sin
of idolatry. And the same objections lie to interpreting it with
reference to the times of Antiochus Epiphanes and the Maccabees;
beside that, the history of the canon of Scripture is decisive
against assigning so late a date to any of the Psalms. Still less
can the times of David be looked to for the occasion, since,
though religion was then pure, there was, on the other hand, no
dispersion of the nation nor any calamity such as to warrant the
lamentation, "Thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame.
...Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat, "etc.
Whence it appeared that there was no alternative but to consider
the Psalm as exclusively the language of the Christian church,
and, in her primitive days, as the period at once of her greatest
purity and suffering. William de Burgh.
Whole Psalm. S. Ambrose observes, that in former Psalms
we have seen a prophecy of Christ's passion, resurrection, and
ascension and of the coming of the Holy Ghost, and that here we
are taught that we ourselves must be ready to struggle and suffer,
in order that these things may profit us. Human will must work
together with divine grace. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 1. We have heard with our ears, i.e., we
have both heard and heeded it with utmost attention and affection.
It is not a pleonasmus, but an emphasis that is here
used. John Trapp.
Verse 1. Our fathers have told us. Hear this,
saith Basil, ye fathers that neglect to teach your children such
things as may work his fear and love in them, and faith to rely
upon and seek to him in all times of danger. They made their
mouths, as it were, books, wherein the mighty deeds of the Lord
might be read to his praise, and to the drawing of their
children's hearts unto him. John Mayer.
Verse 1. What work thou didst. Why only work
in the singular, when such innumerable deliverances had been
wrought by him, from the passage of the Red Sea to the destruction
of the hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the
Assyrians? Because all these were but types of that one great
work, that one stretching forth of the Lord's hand, when Satan was
vanquished, death destroyed, and the kingdom of heaven opened to
all believers. Ambrose.
Verse 1. What work thou didst. While the songs of
other nations sing of the heroism of their ancestors, the songs of
Israel celebrate the works of God. Augustus F. Tholuck.
Verse 1. Three necessary requirements for learning well:
1. Intention and attention in him who hears, we have heard with
our ears. 2. Authority in him that teaches, our fathers
have told us. 3. Love between the teacher and the taught, "our
fathers." Hugo (Cardinal), quoted in Neale's Commentary.
Verses 1-2, 4-8. Children are their parent's heirs; it
were unnatural for a father before he dies to bury up his treasure
in the earth, where his children should not find or enjoy it; now
the mercies of God are not the least part of his treasure, nor the
least of his children's inheritance, being both helps to their
faith, matter for their praise, and spurs to their obedience. Our
fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, how thou
didst drive out the heathen, etc. Ps 44:1-2; from this they
ground their confidence; Ps 44:4: Thou art my King, O God:
command deliverances for Jacob; and excite their thankfulness,
Ps 44:8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name
for ever. Indeed, as children are their parent's heirs, so
they become in justice liable to pay their parents' debts; now the
great debt which the saint at death stands charged with, is that
which he owes to God for his mercies, and, therefore it is but
reason he should tie his posterity to the patent thereof. Thus
mayest thou be praising God in heaven and earth at the same time. William
Gurnall.
Verse 3. They got not the land in possession by their
own sword. The Lord's part in a work is best seen when man's
part, and all that he as an instrument hath done, or could have
done in it, is declared null; being considered as separate from
God who moved the instruments, and did work by them what he
pleased. David Dickson.
Verse 3. Because thou hadst a favour unto them.
Free grace was the fundamental cause of all their felicity. God
loved them because he loved them. De 7:7. He chose them of his
love, and then loved them for his choice. John Trapp.
Verse 3. God's love to Israel was free, unmerited, and
amazing, and he gave them a land for which they did not labour,
and cities which they built not, and vineyards and oliveyards
which they planted not. Jos 24:13. In some cases neither sword nor
bow were used, but hornets were the instruments of conquest. Jos
24:12. Since the fall of Adam all good things in the lot of any
mere man are undeserved kindnesses. William S. Plumer.
Verse 3. (last clause). The prophet does not
suppose any worthiness in the person of Abraham, nor imagine any
desert in his posterity, on account of which God dealt so
bountifully with them; but ascribes the whole through the good
pleasure of God...Nor does the psalmist here treat of the general
benevolence of God, which extends to the whole human race: but he
discourses of the difference which exists between the elect and
the rest of the world, and the cause of this difference is here
referred to the mere good pleasure of God. John Calvin.
Verse 5. Through thee will we push down our enemies:,
literally, "We will toss them in the air with our horn;
"a metaphor taken from an ox or bull tossing the dogs into
the air which attack him. Adam Clarke.
Verse 6. I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my
sword save me. By bow and sword, he meaneth all
manner of weapons and warlike instruments whatsoever; and by "saving,
"he meaneth delivering from dangers, speaking under the
person of one (because all the faithful are but one body), in the
name of all the rest. Thomas Wilcocks.
Verse 6. I will not trust in my bow, etc. I will
not trust in my own sword or bow, but in the sword
of the Divine Warrior, and in the bow of the Divine Archer,
whose arrows are sharp in the heart of his enemies as described in
the next Ps 45:3-5, which is connected by that imagery with this
Psalm, as well as by its inner meaning. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 6. The less confidence we have in ourselves or in
anything beside God, the more evidence have we of the sincerity of
our faith in God. David Dickson.
Verses 6-7. The two verses correspond exactly to Ps
44:3. As there, in reference to the past, the salvation was
ascribed wholly to God, so here in reference to the future. E.
W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 11. Like sheep appointed for meat. This
very strongly and strikingly intimates the extent of the
persecution and slaughter to which they were exposed; there being
no creature in the world of which such vast numbers are constantly
slaughtered as of sheep for the subsistence of man. The constancy
of such slaughter is also mentioned in Ps 44:22 as illustrating
the continual oppression to which the Hebrews were subject. Kitto's
Pictorial Bible.
Verse 11. Like sheep appointed for meat, and not
reserved for breeding or for wool. Arthur Jackson.
Verse 12. Thou sellest thy people for nought, and
dost not increase thy wealth by their price. The sense is:
Thou hast given thy people unto the power of their enemies without
trouble, without causing the victory even to be clearly bought, as
one who parts with a good for any price, which he despises and
hates, desiring merely to get rid of it. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 12. Thou sellest thy people for nought,
etc. Referring to the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, Eusebius says:
"Many were sold for a small price; there were many to be
sold, but few to buy."
Verse 12. And dost not increase thy wealth by their
price. Thou hast not advanced thy honour and service thereby;
for thy enemies do not serve thee more and better than thy people,
nor yet so much. Matthew Pool.
Verse 12. (last clause). Takest no money for
them; literally, enhances not the price of them, as a
seller usually does to the buyer. Daniel Creswell.
Verse 14. Thou makest us a byword; literally, for
a similitude, (lvm) stands here, as in the original passage De
28:37, in the common signification, similitude. The misery
of Israel is so great, that people would figuratively call a
miserable man a Jew, just as liars were called Cretans; wretched
slaves, Sardians. So far as the people from being now
"blessed of the Lord" in whom according to the promise,
all the heathen are to be blessed. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 15. My confusion in continually before me.
When the visible church is visited with sad calamities, the true
members thereof are partakers of the trouble, and sorrow, and
shame of that condition. David Dickson.
Verse 17. Eusebius, narrating the cruelties inflicted
upon the Christians by the Eastern tyrant, Maximinus, says:
"He prevailed against all sorts of people, the Christians
only excepted, who contemned death and despised his tyranny. The
men endured burning, beheading, crucifying, ravenous devouring of
beasts, drowning in the sea, maiming and broiling of the members,
goring and digging out of the eyes, mangling of the whole body;
moreover, famine and imprisonment: to be short, they suffered
every kind of torment for the service of God rather than they
would leave the worship of God, and embrace the adoration of
idols. Women also, not inferior to men through the power of the
word of God, put on a manly courage, whereof some suffered the
torments with men, some attained unto the like masteries of
virtue." From "The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius
Pamphilus."
Verse 17. Yet have we not forgotten thee, neither
have we dealt falsely in thy covenant. Although we cannot
excuse ourselves from many other sins for which thou hast justly
punished us, yet this we must say for ourselves, that through thy
grace we have kept ourselves from apostasy and idolatry,
notwithstanding all the examples and provocations, rewards
proposed and promised, or punishments threatened to induce us
thereunto; which we hope thou wilt graciously consider, and not
suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear. Matthew
Poole.
Verse 17. If any of you would abide by Jesus Christ in
this storm, try how ye have covenanted with him, and how ye have
closed the bargain with him, and upon what terms. But I trow there
are many of you in this age that are like young wanton folk, that
run fast together and marry, but never take any account of how
they will keep house, but presently go to poverty and beggary. I
trow it falls out so with many of you that are professors in this
generation. Ye take up your religion, and ye wot not how, and ye
cannot give an account how ye came by it. I will tell you, sirs;
ye will abide no longer by Christ than till a storm blow, and then
ye will quit him and deny his cause. Ye have need to take heed to
this, for it will ruin your souls in the end of the day. But I
shall tell you, sirs, the right way of covenanting with God. It is
when Christ and the believer meet. Our Lord gives him his laws,
statutes, and commands, and he charges him not to quit a hoof of
them. No; though he should be torn into a thousand pieces; and the
right covenanter says, Amen. Alexander Peden's Sermon,
1682.
Verses 17-19. Neither the persecuting hand of men, nor
the chastising hand of God, relaxed ancient singular saints.
Believers resemble the moon, which emerges from her eclipse
by keeping her motion, and ceases not to shine because the dogs
bark at her. Shall we cease to be professors because others will
not cease to be persecutors? William Secker.
Verses 17-19. The church having reported her great
troubles, speaks it as an argument of much sincerity towards God,
and strength of grace received from him: All this has come upon
us (that is, all these common calamities and afflictions), yet
have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy
covenant. Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps
declined from thy way; as if she had said, These afflictions
have been strong temptations upon us to cause us to decline from
thy ways, but through grace we have kept our ground and remained
constant in thy covenant, yea, though thou hast sore broken us
in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
As many, yea, most of the saints have improved under the cross, so
there have been some, who either through their present unbelief,
or forgetfulness of "the exhortation which" (as the
apostle saith, Heb 12:5); "speaketh unto them as unto
children, " have had their faintings or declinings under it. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 19. Thou hast sore broken us in the place of
dragons, etc. Where men, comparable to dragons for their
poison and cruelty, dwell, particularly in Rome, and the Roman
jurisdiction, both Pagan and Papal, the seat of Satan the great
red dragon, and of his wretched brood and offspring, the beast, to
whom he has given his power; where the saints and followers of
Christ have been sorely afflicted and persecuted, and yet have
held fast the name of Christ, and not denied his faith. See Re
2:13 12:3. The wilderness is the habitation of dragons; and this
is the name of the place where the church is said to be in the
times of the Papacy, and where she is fed and preserved for a
time, and times, and half time. Re 12:6,14. And covered us with
the shadow of death. As the former phrase denotes the cruelty
of the enemies of Christ's church and people, this their dismal
afflictions and forlorn state and condition; and may have some
respect to the darkness of Popery, when it was at the height, and
the church of Christ was covered with it, there being very little
appearances and breakings forth of gospel light anywhere. John
Gill.
Verse 19. Dragons. The word rendered dragons—(Mynt),
tannim—means either a great fish, a sea monster, a
serpent, a dragon, or a crocodile. It may also mean a jackal, a
fox, or a wolf. De Wette renders it here jackals. The idea
in the passage is essentially the same, whichever interpretation
of the word is adopted. The "place of dragons"
would denote the place where such monsters are found, or where
they had their abode; that is to say, in desolate places, wastes,
deserts, old ruins, depopulated towns. Albert Barnes.
Verse 20. Stretched out our hands to a strange god.
The stretching out the hand towards an object of devotion, or
an holy place, was an ancient usage among the Jews and heathens
both, and it continues in the East at this time, which
continuance I do not remember to have seen remarked. That this
attitude in prayer has continued among the Eastern people,
appears by the following passage from Pitts, in his account of the
religion and manners of the Mohammedans. Speaking of the Algerians
throwing wax candles and pots of oil overboard, as a present to
some marabbot (or Mohammedan saint), Pitt goes on, and says,
"When this is done, they all together hold up their hands,
begging the marabbot's blessing, and a prosperous voyage." In
the same page he tells us, "the marabbots have generally a
little neat room built over their graves, resembling in figure
their mosques or churches, which is very nicely cleaned, and well
looked after." And in the succeeding page he tells us,
"Many people there are who will scarce pass by any of them
without lifting up their hand, and saying some short
prayer." In like manner, he tells us, that at quitting the Beat,
or holy house at Mecca, to which they make devout pilgrimages, "they
hold up their hands towards the Beat, making earnest
petitions." Harmer's "Observations."
Verse 21. Shall not God search this out? etc. Are
there such variety of trials appointed to examine the sincerity of
men's graces? How great a vanity, then, is hypocrisy! and to how
little purpose do men endeavour to conceal and hide it! We say,
murder will out; and we may as confidently affirm, hypocrisy will
out. When Rebekah had laid the plot to disguise her son Jacob, and
by personating his brother to get the blessing, Jacob thus objects
against it: "My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall
seem to him as a deceiver, and I shall bring a curse upon me and
not a blessing." As if he should say, But what if my father
detect the cheat? How, then, shall I look him in the face? How
shall I escape a curse? After the same manner every upright soul
scares itself from the way of hypocrisy. If I dissemble, and
pretend to be what I am not, my Father will find me out. There is
no darkness nor shadow of death that can conceal the hypocrite;
but out it will come at last, let him use all the art he can to
hide it...If men's works be not good, it is impossible they should
be hid long. A gilded piece of brass may pass from hand to hand a
little while, but the touchstone will discover the base metal; and
if that does not, the fire will. John Flavel.
Verse 21. A godly man dares not sin secretly. He knows
that God sees in secret. As God cannot be deceived by our
subtlety, so he cannot be excluded by our secrecy. Thomas
Watson.
Verse 21. In time of persecution for religion, nothing
can counterbalance the terrors and allurements of the persecutors,
and make a man steadfast in the cause of God, save the fear of
God, and love to God settled in the heart; for the reason of the
saint's steadfastness in this Psalm, is because God would have
searched out their sin if they had done otherwise, for he
knoweth the secrets of the heart. David Dickson.
Verse 22. Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day
long, etc. Leonard Schoener left, amongst other papers, the
following admonition, to comfort all who were suffering for
Christ's name:
"We pray thee, O eternal God, to bow down thy gracious
ear. Lord of Sabaoth, thou Lord of hosts, hear our complaint, for
great affliction and persecution have prevailed. Pride has entered
thine inheritance, and many supposed to be Christians, have united
themselves therewith, and have thus brought in the abomination of
desolation. They waste and destroy the Christian sanctuary. They
have trodden the same under foot, and the abomination of
desolation is worshipped as God. They have troubled thy holy city,
thrown down thy holy altar, and slain her servants when they could
lay their hands upon them. And now that we as a little flock are
left, they have driven us into all thy lands with contempt and
reproach. We are scattered as sheep having no shepherd. We have
been compelled to forsake house and home. We are as night ravens
which abide in the rocks; our chambers are in holes and crags.
They watch for us as fowls that fly in the air. We wander in the
woods, they hunt us with dogs. They lead us away, seized and
bound, as lambs that open not their mouths. They cry out against
us as seditious persons and heretics. We are brought like sheep to
the slaughter. Many sit oppressed, and in bonds which even decay
their bodies. Some have sunk under their sufferings, and died
without fault. Here is the patience of the saints in the earth. We
must be tried by suffering here. The faithful have they hanged on
trees, strangled, hewn in pieces, secretly and openly drowned. Not
only men, but likewise women, and maidens have borne witness to
the truth, that Jesus Christ is the truth, the only way to eternal
life. The world still rages, and rests not; it raves as if mad.
They invent lies against us. They cease not their fires and
murders. They make the world too narrow for us. O Lord, how long
wilt thou be silent? How long wilt thou not judge the blood of thy
saints? Let it come up before thy throne. How precious in thine
eyes is the blood of thy holy ones! Therefore have we comfort in
all our need, a refuge in thee alone, and in none besides; but
neither comfort, nor rest, nor peace on this earth. But he who
hopeth in thee shall never be confounded. O Lord, there is no
sorrow so great that can separate us from thee; therefore, without
ceasing we call upon thee, through Christ thy Son our Lord, whom
thou of thy free grace hast given us for our comfort. He hath
prepared and made known to us the straight path, and the way to
eternal life. Everlasting glory and triumph, honour and praise, be
given unto thee, both now and to eternity, and let thy
righteousness remain for ever. Let all the people bless thy holy
name, through Christ the righteous Judge, who cometh to judge the
whole world. Amen." From "A Martyrology of the
Churches of Christ, commonly called Baptists. Edited by E. B.
Underhill," 1850.
Verse 22. For thy sake are we killed. It is mercy
to us, that when God might punish us for our sins, he doth make
our correction honourable, and our troubles to be for a good
cause. For thy sake, etc. David Dickson.
Verse 22. For thy sake. This passage is cited by
St. Paul, Ro 8:36, apparently from the LXX, in illustration of the
fact that the church of God has in all ages been a persecuted
church. But there is this remarkable difference between the tone
of the psalmist and the tone of the apostle: the former cannot
understand the chastening, and complains that God's heavy hand has
been laid without cause upon his people; the latter can rejoice in
persecutions also, and exclaim, "Nay, in all these things we
are more than conquerors, through him that loved us." J.
J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 22. Killed. The word here used is not from
(ljq), but from (grh), which means to strangle: this is the
rendering given in "Lange's Bibelwerk."
Verse 23. Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? and
Ps 121:4, "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither
slumber nor sleep." If God at no time sleep, why doth the
church call on him so often to awake? If he must be awakened from
sleep, why doth the psalmist say he never sleeps? Are not these
places contradictory?
ANSWER: It is one thing what the afflicted church cries in the
heat of her sufferings, another thing what the Spirit of truth
speaks for the comfort of the saints. It is ordinary for the best
of saints and martyrs, during the storm, to go to God as Peter did
to Christ at sea (sleeping in the stern of the ship), with such
importunity in prayer as if the Lord were no more sensible of
their agony than Jonah was of the mariners' misery, ready to
perish in the turbulent ocean, and he cried out, What meanest
thou, O sleeper? Arise! Saints are so familiar with God in prayer,
as if they were at his bedside. THE SOUL'S APPLICATION.—O thou
never slumbering Watchman of the house of Israel, carest not thou
that we perish? Awake, awake! put on strength, gird thyself, O
thou arm of God! I know thou art up, but what am I the better
except thou help me up? I know thou sleepest not as man doth, but
what advantage hath my soul by that, except thou show thyself,
that I may know thou art waking? Oh, it is I that am asleep! You
seem to sleep only to awaken me. O that I could watch with thee
one hour, as you bid me; I should soon perceive that thy vigilance
over me for ever. William Streat in "The Dividing of the
Hoof." 1654.
Verse 23. Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? etc.
The weakness of our faith is open to the temptation of supposing
that God regards not the situation of his people in the world; and
the Spirit, who knows our infirmities, provides a petition suited
to this trial, which expresses at the same time an expectation
that God will arise to claim his people as his own. W. Wilson.
Verse 25. For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our
belly cleaveth unto the earth. We are as to body and soul,
smitten and thrown down, glued as it were to the ground, so that
we cannot raise ourselves up. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 25. For our soul is bowed down to the dust,
etc. The speech is metaphorical, expressing the depth of their
misery, or the greatness of their sorrow and humiliation. 1. The
depth of their misery, with the allusion to the case of a man
overcome in battle, or mortally wounded, and tumbling in the dust,
or to a man dead and laid in the earth; as, "Thou hast
brought me into the dust of death." Ps 22:15. Sure we are,
the expression imports the extremity of distress and danger,
either as a man dead or near death. 2. The greatness of their
sorrow and humiliation; and so the allusion is taken from a man
prostrate and grovelling on the ground, which was their posture of
humbling themselves before the Lord, or when any great calamity
befell them. As when Herod Agrippa died, they put on sackcloth and
lay upon the earth weeping. Thomas Manton.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The encouraging traditions of church history.
The days of yore.
Verse 1. The parent's duty, and the children's
privilege.
Verse 1. Family conversation, the most profitable
subject for it.
Verse 1. The true glory of the good old times.
Verse 2. The contrast; or, the dealings of God with
saints and sinners.
Verse 3. Free grace exalted.
1. In putting a negative upon human power.
2. In manifestations of divine energy.
3. In its secret source, Because thou hadst a favour unto them.
Verse 3.
1. The creature laid low.
2. The Lord exalted.
3. Discriminating grace revealed.
Verse 3. (last clause). The eternal well spring
of all mercy.
Verse 4.
1. Divine royalty acknowledged.
2. Royal interposition entreated.
3. Divine covenant hinted at, Jacob; or, the loyal
subject seeking royal aid for the royal seed.
Verse 4. Personal allegiance and pleading intercession.
Verse 4. My King. This intends—
1. My Ruler.
2. My Honour.
3. My Leader.
4. My Defender.
Verse 4. The deliverances of Jacob, illustrated by his
eventful life.
Verse 5. Our enemies, in what ways we push them down, by
what strength, and in what spirit.
Verse 5. Our enemies, their activity, the closeness of
their approach, the certainty of their overthrow, the secret of
our strength.
Verse 6. Relinquishment of outward trusts. My bow
may miss its aim, may be broken, may be snatched away. My sword
may snap, or grow blunt, or slip from my hold. We may not trust in
our abilities, our experience, our shrewdness, our wealth, etc.
Verse 6. Self renunciation—the duty of saint and
sinner.
Verse 7. Accomplished salvation. How never achieved, But.
By whom wrought, thou. When performed, hast. For
whom, us. To what extent, from our enemies.
Verse 7. Salvation completed, hell confounded, Christ
exalted.
Verse 8. Praise, its continuance—how to make it
continual, how to manifest it perpetually, influence of its
continuance, and reasons to compel us to abide in it.
Verse 9. A lament for the declension of the church.
Verse 9. In what sense God casts off his people, and
why.
Verse 9. (last clause). The greatest of all
calamities for our churches.
Verse 12. The human and divine estimate of the results
of persecution.
Verse 12. In answer to this complaint.
1. God's people lose nothing eventually by their privations.
2. The wicked gain nothing by their triumphs.
3. God loses none of his glory in his dealings with either. —George
Rogers.
Verse 13. Trial of cruel mockings; our conduct under
them, comfort in them, and crown from them.
Verse 14. Unholy proverbs or godless bywords.
Verse 15. Confessions of a penitent.
Verse 17. The trial, truth, and triumph of the godly.
Verse 17. The faithful soul holding fast his integrity.
Verse 17. What it is to be false to our covenant with
God.
Verse 18. (first clause). When we may be sure
that our heart has not apostatised.
Verse 18.
1. The position of the heart in religion—it comes first.
2. The position of the outer moral life in religion—it
follows the heart.
3. Necessity of the agreement of the two.
4. The need that both should be faithful to God.
Verse 18. Connection between the heart and the life,
both in constancy and apostasy.
Verse 18. God's delight in the progress of the upright. Thomas
Brooks.
Upright hearts will hold on in the ways of God, and in the ways
of well doing, notwithstanding all afflictions, troubles, and
discouragements, they meet withal. Thomas Brooks.
Verse 18. Thy ways. The ways of God are
(1) righteous ways;
(2) blessed ways;
(3) soul refreshing ways;
(4) transcendent ways—ways that transcend all other ways;
(5) soul strengthening ways; and
(6) sometimes afflicted, perplexed, and persecuted
ways. —Thomas Brooks.
Verse 21. Can he not? Will he not?
Verse 21. A question and an assertion.
Verse 22.
1. Innocence in the midst of suffering, sheep.
2. Honour in the midst of shame, for thy sake. G. Rogers.
Verse 23. The cry of a church in sad circumstances. The
complaint of a deserted soul.
Verse 24. Reasons for the withdrawal of divine comfort.
Verse 25. The great need, the great prayer, the great
plea.
Verse 26. A fit prayer for souls under conviction, for
saints under trial or persecution, and for the church under
oppression or decay.