TITLE. To the Chief Musician. Many songs
were dedicated to this leader of the chorus, but he was not
overloaded thereby. God's service is such delight that it cannot
weary us; and that choicest part of it, the singing of his
praises, is so pleasurable that we cannot have too much of it.
Doubtless, the chief musician, as he was commissioned with so many
sacred songs, felt that the more the merrier. A Psalm for the Sons
of Korah. We cannot agree with those who think that the sons of
Korah were the authors of these Psalms; they have all the
indications of David's authorship that one could expect to see.
Our ear has grown accustomed to the ring of David's compositions,
and we are morally certain that we hear it in this Psalm. Every
expert would detect here the autography of the Son of Jesse, or we
are greatly mistaken. The Sons of Korah sang these Psalms, but we
believe they did not write them. Fit singers were they whose
origin reminded them of sin, whose existence was a proof of
sovereign grace, and whose name has a close connection with the
name of Calvary.
SUBJECT. Whether the immediate subject of this Psalm be
the carrying up of the ark from the house of Obededom to Mount
Zion, or the celebration of some memorable victory, it would be
hard to decide. As even the doctors differ, who should dogmatise?
But it is very clear that both the present sovereignty of Jehovah,
and the final victories of our Lord, are here fitly hymned, while
his ascension, as the prophecy of them, is sweetly gloried in.
DIVISION. In so short a Psalm, there is
no need of any other division than that indicated by the musical
pause at the end of Ps 47:4.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. O clap your hands. The most natural and
most enthusiastic tokens of exultation are to be used in view of
the victories of the Lord, and his universal reign. Our joy in God
may be demonstrative, and yet he will not censure it. All ye
people. The joy is to extend to all nations; Israel may lead
the van, but all the Gentiles are to follow in the march of
triumph, for they have an equal share in that kingdom where there
is neither Greek nor Jew, but Christ is all and in all. Even now
if they did but know it, it is the best hope of all nations that
Jehovah ruleth over them. If they cannot all speak the same
tongue, the symbolic language of the hands they can all use. All
people will be ruled by the Lord in the latter days, and all will
exult in that rule; were they wise they would submit to it now,
and rejoice to do so; yea, they would clap their hands in rapture
at the thought. Shout, let your voices keep tune with your
hands. Unto God, let him have all the honours of the day,
and let them be loud, joyous, universal, and undivided. With
the voice of triumph, with happy sounds, consonant with such
splendid victories, so great a King, so excellent a rule, and such
happy subjects. Many are human languages, and yet the nations may
triumph as with one voice. Faith's view of God's government is
full of transport. The prospect of the universal reign of the
Prince of Peace is enough to make the tongue of the dumb sing;
what will the reality be? Well might the poet of the seasons bid
mountains and valleys raise their joyous hymn—
"For the GREAT SHEPHERD reigns,
And his unsuffering kingdom yet will come."
Verse 2. For the Lord, or JEHOVAH, the self
existent and only God; Most high, most great in power,
lofty in dominion, eminent in wisdom, elevated in glory. Is
terrible, none can resist his power or stand before his
vengeance; yet as these terrors are wielded on the behalf of his
subjects, they are fit reasons for rejoicing. Omnipotence, which
is terrible to crush, is almighty to protect. At a grand review of
the troops of a great prince, all his loyal subjects are filled
with triumph, because their liege lord is so able to defend his
own, and so much dreaded by his foes. He is a great King over
all the earth. Not over Judea only, but even to the utmost
isles his reign extends. Our God is no local deity, no petty ruler
of a tribe; in infinite majesty he rules the mightiest realm as
absolute arbiter of destiny, sole monarch of all lands, King of
kings, and Lord of lords. Not a hamlet or an islet is excluded
from his dominion. How glorious will that era be when this is seen
and known of all; when in the person of Jesus all flesh shall
behold the glory of the Lord!
Verse 3. He, with whom is infinite power, shall
subdue the people under us. The battle is not ours but the
Lord's. He will take his own time, but he will certainly achieve
victory for his church. Truth and righteousness shall through
grace climb to the ascendant. We wage no doubtful warfare. Hearts
the most rebellious, and wills the most stubborn, shall submit to
all conquering grace. All the Lord's people, whether Jews or
Gentiles, may clap their hands at this, for God's victory will be
theirs; but surely apostles, prophets, ministers, and those who
suffer and labour the most, may take the largest share in the joy.
Idolatry, infidelity, superstition, we shall yet tread upon, as
men tread down the stones of the street. And the nations under
our feet. The church of God shall be the greatest of
monarchies, her victory shall be signal and decisive. Christ shall
take to himself his great power and reign, and all the tribes of
men shall own at once his glory and the glory of his people in
him. How changed will be the position of affairs in coming ages!
The people of God have been under the feet of men in long and
cruel persecutions, and in daily contempt; but God will reverse
the position, and the best in character shall be first in honour.
Verse 4. While as yet we see not all things put under
him, we are glad to put ourselves and our fortunes at his
disposal. He shall choose our inheritance for us. We feel
his reign to be so gracious that we even now ask to be in the
fullest degree the subjects of it. We submit our will, our choice,
our desire, wholly to him. Our heritage here and hereafter we
leave to him, let him do with us as seemeth him good. The
excellency of Jacob whom he loved. He gave his ancient people
their portion, he will give us ours, and we ask nothing better;
this is the most spiritual and real manner of clapping our hands
because of his sovereignty, namely, to leave all our affairs in
his hands, for then our hands are empty of all care for self, and
free to be used in his honour. He was the boast and glory of
Israel, he is and shall be ours. He loved his people and became
their greatest glory; he loves us, and he shall be our exceeding
joy. As for the latter days, we ask nothing better than to stand
in our appointed lot, for if we have but a portion in our Lord
Jesus, it is enough for our largest desires. Our beauty, our
boast, our best treasure, lies in having such a God to trust in,
such a God to love us. Selah. Yes, pause, ye faithful
songsters. Here is abundant room for holy meditation—
"Muse awhile, obedient thought,
Lo, the theme's with rapture fraught;
See thy King, whose realm extends
Even to earth's remotest ends.
Gladly shall the nations own
Him their God and Lord alone;
Clap their hands with holy mirth,
Hail him MONARCH OF THE EARTH.
Come, my soul, before him bow,
Gladdest of his subjects thou;
Leave thy portion to his choice,
In his sovereign will rejoice,
This thy purest, deepest bliss,
He is thine and thou art his."
Verse 5. God is gone up with a shout. Faith hears
the people already shouting. The command of the first verse is
here regarded as a fact. The fight is over, the conqueror ascends
to his triumphant chariot, and rides up to the gates of the city
which is made resplendent with the joy of his return. The words
are fully applicable to the ascension of the Redeemer. We doubt
not that angels and glorified spirits welcomed him with
acclamations. He came not without song, shall we imagine that he
returned in silence? The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Jesus is Jehovah. The joyful strain of the trumpet betokens the
splendour of his triumph. It was meet to welcome one returning
from the wars with martial music. Fresh from Bozrah, with his
garments all red from the winepress, he ascended, leading
captivity captive, and well might the clarion ring out the tidings
of Immanuel's victorious return.
Verse 6. Sing praises. What jubilation is here,
when five times over the whole earth is called upon to sing to
God! He is worthy, he is Creator, he is goodness itself. Sing
praises, keep on with the glad work. Never let the music
pause. He never ceases to be good, let us never cease to be
grateful. Strange that we should need so much urging to attend to
so heavenly an exercise. Sing praises unto our King. Let
him have all our praise; no one ought to have even a particle of
it. Jesus shall have it all. Let his sovereignty be the fount of
gladness. It is a sublime attribute, but full of bliss to the
faithful. Let our homage be paid not in groans but songs. He asks
not slaves to grace his throne; he is no despot; singing is fit
homage for a monarch so blessed and gracious. Let all hearts that
own his sceptre sing and sing on for ever, for there is
everlasting reason for thanksgiving while we dwell under the
shadow of such a throne.
Verse 7. For God is the King of all the earth.
The Jews of our Saviour's time resented this truth, but had their
hearts been right they would have rejoiced in it. They would have
kept their God to themselves, and not even have allowed the
Gentile dogs to eat the crumbs from under his table. Alas! how
selfishness turns honey into wormwood. Jehovah is not the God of
the Jews only, all the nations of the earth are, through the
Messiah, yet to own him Lord. Meanwhile his providential throne
governs all events beneath the sky. Sing praises with
understanding. Sing a didactic Psalm. Sound doctrine praises
God. Even under the economy of types and ceremonies, it is clear
that the Lord had regard to the spirituality of worship, and would
be praised thoughtfully, intelligently, and with deep appreciation
of the reason for song. It is to be feared from the slovenly way
in which some make a noise in singing, that they fancy any sound
will do. On the other hand, from the great attention paid by some
to the mere music, we feel sadly sure that the sense has no effect
upon them. Is it not a sin to be tickling men's ears with sounds
when we profess to be adoring the Lord? What has a sensuous
delight in organs, anthems, etc., to do with devotion? Do not men
mistake physical effects for spiritual impulses? Do they not often
offer to God strains far more calculated for human amusement than
for divine acceptance? An understanding enlightened of the Holy
Spirit is then and then only fully capable of offering worthy
praise.
Verse 8. Now at this moment, over the most debased
idolaters, God holds a secret rule; here is work for faith. How we
ought to long for the day when this truth shall be changed in its
aspect, and the rule now unrecognised shall be delighted in! The
great truth that God reigneth in providence is the
guarantee that in a gracious gospel sense his promises shall be
fulfilled, and his kingdom shall come. He sitteth upon the
throne of his holiness. Unmoved he occupies an undisputed
throne, whose decrees, acts, and commands are holiness itself.
What other throne is like this? Never was it stained with
injustice, or defiled with sin. Neither is he who sits upon it
dismayed, or in a dilemma. He sits in serenity, for he knows his
own power, and sees that his purposes will not miscarry. Here is
reason enough for holy song.
Verse 9. The princes of the people are gathered
together. The prophetic eye of the psalmist sees the willing
subjects of the great King assembled to celebrate his glory. Not
only the poor and the men of low estate are there, but nobles bow
their willing necks to his sway. "All kings shall bow down
before him." No people shall be unrepresented; their great
men shall be good men, their royal ones regenerate ones. How
august will be the parliament where the Lord Jesus shall open the
court, and princes shall rise up to do him honour! Even the
people of the God of Abraham. That same God, who was known
only to here and there a patriarch like the father of the
faithful, shall be adored by a seed as many as the stars of
heaven. The covenant promise shall be fulfilled, "In thee and
in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
Shiloh shall come, and "to him shall the gathering of the
people be." Babel's dispersion shall be obliterated by the
gathering arm of the Great Shepherd King.
For the shields of the earth belong unto God. The insignia of
pomp, the emblems of rank, the weapons of war, all must pay loyal
homage to the King of all. Right honourables must honour Jesus,
and majesties must own him to be far more majestic. Those who are
earth's protectors, the shields of the commonwealth, derive their
might from him, and are his. All principalities and powers must be
subject unto Jehovah and his Christ, for He is greatly exalted.
In nature, in power, in character, in glory, there is none to
compare with him. Oh, glorious vision of a coming era! Make haste,
ye wheels of time! Meanwhile, ye saints, "Be ye steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as
ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord."
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. Some have applied this Psalm to Christ's
ascension; but it speaks of his Second Coming. The Mighty One is
seated peacefully on his throne. We are referred back to Ps
45:1-17. Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 1. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto
God with the voice of triumph. This should be done, 1.
Cheerfully, Clap your hands, for this is a sign of inward
joy, Na 3:19. 2. Universally: "O clap you hands, all ye
people." 3. Vocally: Shout unto God with the voice of
triumph. 4. Frequently: "Sing praises to God, sing
praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises", Ps
47:6; and again "sing praises", Ps 47:7. It
cannot be done too frequently. 5. Knowingly and discreetly:
"Sing ye praises with understanding; "know the
reason why ye are to praise him. Adam Clarke.
Verse 1. O clap your hands, etc. Such expressions
of pious and devout affection as to some may seem indecent and
imprudent, yet ought not to be hastily censured and condemned,
much less ridiculed; because if they come from an upright heart,
God will accept the strength of the affection, and excuse the
weakness of the expressions of it. Matthew Henry.
Verse 1. O clap your hands. The voice of
melody is not so much to be uttered with the tongue, as with
the hands; that it, it is our deeds not our words, by which God is
here to be praised. Even as it was in him whose pattern we are to
follow: "Jesus began both to do and to teach." J. M.
Neale.
Verse 1. All ye people. Peoples, in the plural.
Here it is used to call both Jews and Gentiles—all nations. William
S. Plumer.
Verse 1. Shout unto God. Jubilate Deo: in God,
and concerning God, and in honour of God. He does
not excite them to carnal joy. Martin Geier.
Verse 2. For the Lord most high is terrible; he is a
great king over all the earth. The church celebrates the
ascension of Christ, because then he was "highly exalted;
"then he became terrible to his enemies, all power in
heaven and earth being committed to him; and then he began to
display the excellent majesty of his universal kingdom, to which
he was then inaugurated, being crowned "King of kings, and
Lord of lords." George Horne.
Verse 2. The Lord most high is terrible. Christ
is terrible, that is, fearful, or meet to be feared, not of
his children only for their good, but of the wicked also for their
punishment; terrible to the devil, as being stronger than
he, casting out the prince of darkness by the finger of God. Lu
11:22 Joh 12:31. And therefore so soon as an unclean spirit saw
Jesus, he cried out, "What have we to do with thee, thou
Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us?" Mr 1:24; or
as other devils, Mt 8:29, "Art thou come hither to torment us
before the time?" for the devils in believing tremble. Terrible
to hypocrites, and other impious agents of the devil, as having
his fan in his hand to make clean his floor, and to gather his
wheat into his garner, but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire. Mt 3:12. Or Christ is excelsus in potentia,
terribilis in justitia; high in power, and fearful in justice;
high in exalting the good, and terrible in humbling the bad. John
Boys.
Verse 3. He shall subdue the people under us, and the
nations under our feet. The consequence of our Lord's
ascension was the going forth of the all subduing Word, under the
influence and direction of which, the convinced and converted
nations renounced their idols and their lusts, and bowed their
willing necks to the yoke of Jesus. This is that great conquest,
fore showed by the victories of Joshua, David, and all the
faithful heroes of old time, and foretold in language borrowed
from their history. George Horne.
Verse 3. He shall subdue the people under us,
etc., or he shall lead like sheep; or bring unto to
fold; as divers render the word, by comparing Isa 5:17 Mic
2:12. He seems to speak of such a subjugation of them, as was for
the good of the people subdued, because this is matter of
rejoicing to them, verse 1; which is true both of these people
whom David subdued, who thereby had opportunities, obligations,
and encouragements to own and worship the true God, which was the
only way to their true and lasting happiness; and especially of
those Gentiles who were subdued to Christ by the preaching of the
gospel. The Gentile converts were in some sort brought under the
Jews, because they were subjected to Christ and to his apostles,
and to the primitive church, which were Jews. Matthew Poole.
Verse 3. And the nations under our feet. By this
manner of speech is meant, that the Gentiles should be scholars,
and the Jews schoolmasters, as it were to them; for to
sit under the feet, or at the feet, is used in
Scripture for being a scholar, or learning, as Ac 22:3. Thomas
Wilcocks.
Verse 4. He shall choose. Futures are variously
rendered; and accordingly the vulgar Latin, Syriac, and Arabic,
render this word, He hath chosen. Matthew Poole.
Verse 4. He shall choose our inheritance for us.
It is reported of a woman who, being sick, was asked whether she
was willing to live or die; she answered, "Which God
pleases." But, said one, if God should refer it to you, which
would you choose? "Truly, "replied she, "I would
refer it to him again." Thus that man obtains his will of
God, whose will is subjected to God. We are not to be troubled
that we have no more from God, but we are to be troubled
that we do no more for God. Christians, if the Lord be well
pleased with your persons, should not you be well pleased with
your conditions? There is more reason that you should be pleased
with them, than that he should be pleased with you. Believers
should be like sheep, which change their pastures at the will of
the shepherd; or like vessels in a house, which stand to be filled
or emptied at the pleasure of their owner. He that sails upon the
sea of this world in his own bottom, will sink at last into a
bottomless ocean. Never were any their own carvers, but they were
sure to cut their own fingers. William Secker.
Verse 4. He shall choose our inheritance for us,
means that he who knows what is better for us than ourselves, hath
chosen, that is, hath appointed, and that of his own good will
and mercy towards us, our inheritance; not only things meet
for this life, as lands, and houses, and possessions, etc., but
even all other things concerning the hope of a better life, to
wit, a kingdom that cannot be shaken, an everlasting habitation,
and inheritance which is immortal and undefiled, and fadeth not
away, reserved for us in heaven. John Boys.
Verse 4. The excellency (or glory) of Jacob, whom he
loved; that is, even all those excellent things that he gave
and promised to Jacob, wherein he might glory and rejoice. The
faithful mean, that they had as great, both abundance and
assurance of God's grace and goodness, as ever Jacob had. Thomas
Wilcocks.
Verse 4. It may be thou art godly and poor. It is well;
but canst thou tell whether, if thou wert not poor, thou wouldst
be godly? Surely God knows us better than we ourselves do, and
therefore can best fit the estate to the person. Giles
Fletcher.
Verse 5. God is gone up with a shout, the Lord with
the sound of a trumpet. It is worthy (as Origen suggests) that
this mention of the shout, and the voice of the trumpet,
serves to connect together past and future events in the history
of the church and of the world, and carry our thoughts forward to
Christ's coming to judgment. Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 5. Thou hast great cause, O my soul, to praise
him, and to rejoice before him, especially if thou considerest
that Christ ascended not for himself, but also for thee: it is God
in our nature that is gone up to heaven: whatever God acted on the
person of Christ, that he did as in thy behalf, and he means to
act the very same on thee. Christ as a public person ascended up
to heaven; thy interest is in this very ascension of Jesus Christ;
and therefore dost thou consider thy Head as soaring up? O let
every member praise his name; let thy tongue (called thy glory),
glory in this, and trumpet out his praise, that in respect of thy
duty it may be verified: "Christ is gone up with a shout,
the Lord with a sound of a trumpet." Isaac Ambrose.
Verse 7. For God is the King of all the earth: as
if he had said, "our King, said I? it is too little; he is
King of all the earth." John Trapp.
Verse 7. Sing ye praises with understanding. How
may we make melody in our hearts to God in singing of Psalms? We
must sing with understanding. We must not be guided by the time,
but the words of the Psalm; we must mind the matter more
than the music, and consider what we sing, as well as how we sing;
the tune may affect the fancy, but it is the matter affects the
heart, and that God principally eyes. The psalmist advises us in
this particular, and so doth the apostle 1Co 14:15. Otherwise this
sweet duty would be more the work of a chorister than of a
Christian, and we should be more delighted in an anthem of the
musician's making, than in a Psalm of the Spirit's making. A.
Lapide observes that in the text, 1Co 14:15, the word understanding
is maschil, (lyksm), profound judgment: we must sing wisely,
if we will sing gratefully; we must relish what we sing. In a
word, we must sing as we must pray; now the most rude petitioner
will understand what he prays. 1Co 14:15. If we do not
understand what we sing, it argues carelessness of spirit, or
hardness of heart; and this makes the service impertinent. Upon
this the worthy Davenant cries out, "Adieu to the bellowing
of the Papists, who sing in an unknown tongue." God will not
understand us in that service which we understand not ourselves.
One of the first pieces of the creation was light, and this
must break out in every duty. John Wells(—1676), in
"Morning Exercises."
Verse 7. Sing ye praises with understanding, sing an
instructive song. Let sense and sound go
together. Let your hearts and heads go with your voices.
Understand what you sing, and feel what you understand.
Adam Clarke.
Verse 7. Sing ye praises with understanding;
because in the full light of the new dispensation, the darkness of
the patriarchal ages, the seeing as through a glass of the
Levitical law, are turned into the vision of full and very
reality. Hugo Victorinus.
Verse 7. Sing ye praises with understanding. Mark
this, thou who daily readest the Psalms, and yet does not
understand them. Simon de Muis.
Verse 7. With understanding. If they had sung with
understanding, they had not adored stones. When a man sensible
sang to a stone insensible, did he sing "with
understanding"? But now, brethren, we see not with our
eyes whom we adore, and yet correctly we adore. Much more is God
commended to us, that with our eyes see him not. Augustine.
Verse 9. The princes of the people are gathered
together. I note from hence, 1. That it is not impossible for
great men to be good men; for the heads of a country to be members
of Christ; and for princes as well as the people to serve the God
of Abraham. It is said by the prophet, "upon my peace came
great bitterness; ""a thousand fell on the left hand,
but ten thousand at the right hand" Ps 91:7: ten perish in
their prosperity, for one that falleth in adversity. Homo
victus in paradiso, victum in stercore: Adam in the garden of
pleasure was overcome by the subtil serpent, whereas Job on the
dunghill of misery was more than a conqueror. Woodmen say that
deer are more circumspect in fat pastures; so the godly fear most
in a rich estate: nihil timendum video (saith one), timeo
tamen. (Seneca.) It is a sweet prayer of our church in the
Litany, "Good Lord, deliver us in all time of our wealth,
"insinuating that our minds are not so wanton as in
abundance: yet, as you see, such is Christ's unspeakable goodness
towards all sort of men, in preventing them even with the riches
of his mercy, that not only the mean people, but also the mighty
princes among the heathen are joined unto the church of the God of
Abraham. John Boys.
Verse 9. Gathered together. Christ's gathering of
the saints together unto him will be at his second coming, his
coming to judgment, the general and final judgment. "Now we
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by our gathering together unto him." 2Th 2:1. James Scott
(—1773), in "A Collection of Sermons, "1774.
Verse 9. The people of the God of Abraham. First,
touching the God of Abraham, it is Christ, whose day
Abraham desired to see, and in seeing whereof he did so much
rejoice Joh 8:1-59; that is, not only the day of his birth, which
he saw, as we learn by the oath which he caused his servant to
take Ge 24:1-67 but also the day of his passion, which he saw long
ago, and rejoiced in seeing it, when he said to his son Isaac in
the mount, "The Lord will provide a sacrifice." Ge 22:8.
Secondly, The people of the God of Abraham, are his
children and posterity: not only that they are the seed of
Abraham, coming out of his loins, and are "the children of
the flesh" Ro 9:9; but "the children of the
promise; "for if they that come out of Abraham's loins
were only his children, then the Hagarins, the Turks, and
Ishmaelites should be the people of God; "But in Isaac
shall thy seed be called." They that lay hold of the
promise by faith, "They that are of the faith, are the
children of Abraham" Ga 3:7, that have the same spirit of
faith that Abraham had. As the apostle saith Ro 2:28, "He is
not a Jew that is one outwardly, but a Jew inwardly is the true
Jew." They that worship the Messias by believing in him with
the faith of Abraham, they are Abraham's children, and the
people of Abraham's God, which thing John Baptist affirms Mt
3:1-17, "God can of stones raise up children unto
Abraham." So the Gentiles, which worshipped stones, and
therefore were "like unto them" Ps 115:1-18, were
notwithstanding raised up to be children to Abraham. Lancelot
Andrewes.
Verse 9. The shields of the earth belong unto God.
There we have the rulers of the earth set forth by a double
relation; the one upward, they are scuta Deo, they
belong to God; the other downward, they are scuta terae,
"the shields of the earth; "and both these noting
two things, their dignity and their duty. They
belong to God, it is their honour that he hath sealed them: they
belong to God, it is their duty to be subject to him. They are shields
of the earth, it is their honour that they are above others:
they are the shields of the earth, it is their duty to
protect others. Edward Reynolds (Bishop).
Verse 9. The shields of the earth are God's, is
understood by many as spoken of princes. I admit that this
metaphor is of frequent occurrence in Scripture, nor does this
sense seem to be unsuitable to the scope of the passage...Yet the
sense will be more simple if we explain the words thus: That, as
it is God alone who defends and preserves the world, the high and
supreme majesty which is sufficient for so exalted and difficult a
work as the preservation of the world, is justly looked upon with
admiration. The sacred writer expressly uses the word shields
in the plural number, for, considering the various and almost
innumerable dangers which unceasingly threaten every part of the
world, the providence of God must necessarily interpose in many
ways, and make use, as it were, of many bucklers. John Calvin.
Verse 9. The shields of the earth. Magistrates
are said to bear the sword, not to be swords; and they are
said to be shields, not to bear shields; and all this to
show that protection and preservation are more essential and
intrinsical to their office than destruction and punishment are. Joseph
Caryl.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. Unusual and enthusiastic expressions of joy
when justifiable and even desirable.
Verses 1-4. Joy the true spirit of worship.
1. Joy in God's character.
2. In his reign.
3. In the triumphs of his gospel.
4. In his favour to his saints.
Verse 2. The terrors of the Lord viewed by faith as a
subject of joy.
Verse 2 (second clause). The universal reign of Christ
as it is and is to be.
Verse 3. The hope of victory to the church. What shall
be subdued? By whose instrumentality? Us. By whose power? He. When
shall it be accomplished? What is the token of it? The ascension,
Ps 47:5.
Verse 3.
1. The final triumph of the saints. All enemies subdued under
them in earth and hell, within and without—(a) gradually, (b)completely.
2. The power by which it is accomplished. He shall, etc.
(a) Not without means.
(b) Not by means only.
(c) But by appointed means made potent by divine energy. G. R.
Verse 4. This comprehends time and eternity. It is a
matter of fact, of holy acquiescence, of desire, of thankfulness.
Verse 4.
1. God is willing to choose our inheritance for us in time and
eternity.
2. His choice is better than ours—the excellency of Jacob.
3. He will leave us to the consequences of our own choice.
4. He will help us in obtaining that which he chooses for us. G.
R.
Verse 5. The ascension. Its publicity, solemnity,
triumph, joy. Who went up. Where he went up. To what he went up.
For what purpose. With what result.
Verse 6. The importance of holy song. The repetition
rebukes our slackness, and implies that earnestness, frequency,
delight, and universality should characterise the praises offered.
Verse 7 (last clause). The psalmody of the
instructed, and instruction by psalmody; praise should be both the
fruit and the vehicle of teaching.
Verse 8 (last clause). Divine sovereignty always
connected with holiness.
Verse 8.
1. God has a throne of holiness, for which he is to be feared
by all men.
2. A throne of grace, for which he is to be loved by his redeemed.
3. A throne of glory, for which he is to be praised by his whole
creation.
Verse 9.
1. A shield is a merciful weapon, none more so.
2. A shield is a venturous weapon, a kind of surety,
which bears the blows and receives the injuries which were
intended for another.
3. A shield is a strong weapon, to repel the darts of
wickedness and break them in pieces.
4. A shield is an honourable weapon, none more: taking away of
shields was a sign of victory; preserving them a sign of glory.
5. Remember, a shield must ever have an eye to guide it—you
the shields, the law the eye. Bishop Reynolds.
WORK UPON THE FORTY-SEVENTH PSALM
In the Works of JOHN BOYS, 1626, folio, pp.
931-937, there is an Exposition of this Psalm.