TITLE. To the Chief Musician, a Psalm for
the sons of Korah. This is precisely the same as on former
occasions, and no remark is needed.
DIVISION. The poet musician sings, to
the accompaniment of his harp, the despicable character of those
who trust in their wealth, and so he consoles the oppressed
believer. The first four verses are a preface; from Ps 49:5-12
all fear of great oppressors is removed by the remembrance of
their end and their folly; Ps 49:13 contains an expression of
wonder at the perpetuity of folly; Ps 49:14-15 contrast the
ungodly and the righteous in their future; and from Ps 49:16-20
the lesson from the whole is given in an admonitory form. Note
the chorus in Ps 49:2,20, and also the two Selahs.
EXPOSITION
Verses 1-4. In these four verses the poet prophet
calls universal humanity to listen to his didactic hymn.
Verse 1. Hear this, all ye people. All men are
concerned in the subject, it is of them, and therefore to
them that the psalmist would speak. It is not a topic which men
delight to consider, and therefore he who would instruct them
must press them to give ear. Where, as in this case, the theme
claims to be wisdom and understanding, attention is very
properly demanded; and when the style combines the
sententiousness of the proverb with the sweetness of poesy,
interest is readily excited. Give ear, all ye inhabitants of
the world. "He that hath ears to hear let him
hear." Men dwelling in all climes are equally concerned in
the subject, for the laws of providence are the same in all
lands. It is wise for each one to feel I am a man, and therefore
everything which concerns mortals has a personal interest to me.
We must all appear before the judgment seat, and therefore we
all should give earnest heed to holy admonition which may help
us to prepare for that dread event. He who refuses to receive
instruction by the ear, will not be able to escape receiving
destruction by it when the Judge shall say, "Depart, ye
cursed."
Verse 2. Both low and high, rich and poor,
together. Sons of great men, and children of mean men, men
of large estate, and ye who pine in poverty, ye are all bidden
to hear the inspired minstrel as he touches his harp to a
mournful but instructive lay. The low will be encouraged, the
high will be warned, the rich will be sobered, the poor
consoled, there will be a useful lesson for each if they are
willing to learn it. Our preaching ought to have a voice for all
classes, and all should have an ear for it. To suit our word to
the rich alone is wicked sycophancy, and to aim only at pleasing
the poor is to act the part of a demagogue. Truth may be so
spoken as to command the ear of all, and wise men seek to learn
that acceptable style. Rich and poor must soon meet together in
the grave, they may well be content to meet together now. In the
congregation of the dead all differences of rank will be
obliterated, they ought not now to be obstructions to united
instructions.
Verse 3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom.
Inspired and therefore lifted beyond himself, the prophet is not
praising his own attainments, but extolling the divine Spirit
which spoke in him. He knew that the Spirit of truth and wisdom
spoke through him. He who is not sure that his matter is good
has no right to ask a hearing. And the meditation of my heart
shall be of understanding. The same Spirit who made the
ancient seers eloquent, also made them thoughtful. The help of
the Holy Ghost was never meant to supersede the use of our own
mental powers. The Holy Spirit does not make us speak as
Balaam's ass, which merely uttered sounds, but never meditated;
but he first leads us to consider and reflect, and then he gives
us the tongue of fire to speak with power.
Verse 4. I will incline mine ear to a parable.
He who would have others hear, begins by hearing himself. As the
minstrel leans his ear to his harp, so must the preacher give
his whole soul to his ministry. The truth came to the psalmist
as a parable, and he endeavoured to unriddle it for popular use;
he would not leave the truth in obscurity, but he listened to
its voice till he so well understood it as to be able to
interpret and translate it into the common language of the
multitude. Still of necessity it would remain a problem, and a
dark saying to the unenlightened many, but this would not be the
songster's fault, for, saith he, I will open my dark saying
upon the harp. The writer was no mystic, delighting in deep
and cloudy things, yet he was not afraid of the most profound
topics; he tried to open the treasures of darkness, and to
uplift pearls from the deep. To win attention he cast his
proverbial philosophy into the form of song, and tuned his harp
to the solemn tone of his subject. Let us gather round the
minstrel of the King of kings, and hear the Psalm which first
was led by the chief musician, as the chorus of the sons of
Korah lifted up their voices in the temple.
Verse 5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of
evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
The man of God looks calmly forward to dark times when those
evils which have dogged his heels shall gain a temporary
advantage over him. Iniquitous men, here called in the abstract iniquity,
lie in wait for the righteous, as serpents that aim at the heels
of travellers: the iniquity of our heels is that evil which aims
to trip us up or impede us. It was an old prophecy that the
serpent should wound the heel of the woman's seed, and the enemy
of our souls is diligent to fulfil that premonition. In some
dreary part of our road it may be that evil will wax stronger
and bolder, and gaining upon us will openly assail us; those who
followed at our heels like a pack of wolves, may perhaps
overtake us, and compass us about. What then? Shall we yield to
cowardice? Shall we be a prey to their teeth? God forbid. Nay,
we will not even fear, for what are these foes? What indeed, but
mortal men who shall perish and pass away? There can be no real
ground of alarm to the faithful. Their enemies are too
insignificant to be worthy of one thrill of fear. Doth not the
Lord say to us, "I, even I, am he that comforteth thee; who
art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die,
and of the son of man which shall be made as grass?"
Scholars have given other renderings of this verse, but we
prefer to keep to the authorised version when we can, and in
this case we find in it precisely the same meaning which those
would give to it who translate my heels, by the words "my
supplanters."
Verse 6. What if the good man's foes be among the
great ones of the earth! yet he need not fear them. They that
trust in their wealth. Poor fools, to be content with such a
rotten confidence. When we set our rock in contrast with theirs,
it would be folly to be afraid of them. Even though they are
loud in their brags, we can afford to smile. What if they glory and
boast themselves in the multitude of their riches? yet while
we glory in our God we are not dismayed by their proud
threatenings. Great strength, position, and estate, make wicked
men very lofty in their own esteem, and tyrannical towards
others; but the heir of heaven is not overawed by their dignity,
nor cowed by their haughtiness. He sees the small value of
riches, and the helplessness of their owners in the hour of
death, and therefore he is not so mean as to be afraid of an
ephemera, a moth, a bubble.
Verse 7. None of them can by any means redeem his
brother. With all their riches, the whole of them put
together could not rescue a comrade from the chill grasp of
death. They boast of what they will do with us, let them see to
themselves. Let them weigh their gold in the scales of death,
and see how much they can buy therewith from the worm and the
grave. The poor are their equals in this respect; let them love
their friend ever so dearly, they cannot give to God a ransom
for him. A king's ransom would be of no avail, a Monte Rosa
of rubies, an America of silver, a world of gold, a sun of
diamonds, would all be utterly contemned. O ye boasters, think
not to terrify us with your worthless wealth, go ye and
intimidate death before ye threaten men in whom is immortality
and life.
Verse 8. For the redemption of their soul is
precious, and it ceaseth for ever. Too great is the price,
the purchase is hopeless. For ever must the attempt to redeem a
soul with money remain a failure. Death comes and wealth cannot
bribe him; hell follows and no golden key can unlock its
dungeon. Vain, then, are your threatenings, ye possessors of the
yellow clay; your childish toys are despised by men who estimate
the value of possessions by the shekel of the sanctuary.
Verse 9. No price could secure for any man that he
should still live for ever, and not see corruption. Mad are
men now after gold, what would they be if it could buy the
elixir of immortality? Gold is lavished out of the bag to cheat
the worm of the poor body by embalming it, or enshrining it in a
coffin of lead, but it is a miserable business, a very burlesque
and comedy. As for the soul, it is too subtle a thing to be
detained when it hears the divine command to soar through tracks
unknown. Never, therefore, will we fear those base nibblers at
our heels, whose boasted treasure proves to be so powerless to
save.
Verse 10. For he seeth that wise men die. Every
one sees this. The proud persecuting rich man cannot help seeing
it. He cannot shut his eyes to the fact that wiser men than he
are dying, and that he also, with all his craft, must die. Likewise
the fool and the brutish person perish. Folly has no
immunity from death. Off goes the jester's cap, as well as the
student's gown. Jollity cannot laugh off the dying hour; death
who visits the university, does not spare the tavern.
Thoughtlessness and brutishness meet their end as surely as much
care and wasting study. In fact, while the truly wise, so far as
this world is concerned, die, the fool has a worse lot,
for he perishes, is blotted out of remembrance, bewailed
by none, remembered no more. And leave their wealth to
others. Not a farthing can they carry with them. Whether
heirs male of their own body, lawfully begotten, inherit their
estates, or they remain unclaimed, it matters not, their
hoardings are no longer theirs; friends may quarrel over their
property, or strangers divide it as spoil, they cannot
interfere. Ye boasters, hold ye your own, before ye dream of
despoiling the sons of the living God. Keep shoes to your own
feet in death's dark pilgrimage, ere ye seek to bite our heels.
Verse 11. Their inward thought is, their houses
shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all
generations. He is very foolish who is more a fool in his
inmost thought than he dare to be in his speech. Such rotten
fruit, rotten at the core, are worldlings. Down deep in their
hearts, though they dare not say so, they fancy that earthly
goods are real and enduring. Foolish dreamers! The frequent
dilapidation of their castles and manor houses should teach them
better, but still they cherish the delusion. They cannot tell
the mirage from the true streams of water; they fancy rainbows
to be stable, and clouds to be the everlasting hills. They
call their lands after their own names. Common enough is
this practice. His grounds are made to bear the groundling's
name, he might as well write it on the water. Men have even
called countries by their own names, but what are they the
better for the idle compliment, even if men perpetuate their
nomenclature?
Verse 12. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth
not. He is but a lodger for the hour, and does not stay a
night: even when he dwells in marble halls his notice to quit is
written out. Eminence is evermore in imminence of peril. The
hero of the hour lasts but for an hour. Sceptres fall from the
paralysed hands which once grasped them, and coronets slip away
from skulls when the life is departed. He is like the beasts
that perish. He is not like the sheep which are preserved of
the Great Shepherd, but like the hunted beast which is doomed to
die. He lives a brutish life and dies a brutish death. Wallowing
in riches, surfeited with pleasure, he is fatted for the
slaughter, and dies like the ox in the shambles. Alas! that so
noble a creature should use his life so unworthily, and end it
so disgracefully. So far as this world is concerned, wherein
does the death of many men differ from the death of a dog? They
go down—
"To the vile dust from whence they sprung,
Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung."
What room is there, then, for fear to the godly when such
natural brute beasts assail them? Should they not in patience
possess their souls? We make a break here, because this stanza
appears to be the refrain of the song, and as such is repeated
in Ps 49:20.
Verse 13. Their vain confidences are not casual
aberrations from the path of wisdom, but their way, their
usual and regular course; their whole life is regulated by such
principles. Their life path is essential folly. They are
fools ingrain. From first to last brutishness is their
characteristic, grovelling stupidity the leading trait of their
conduct. Yet their posterity approve their sayings. Those
who follow them in descent follow them in folly, quote their
worldly maxims, and accept their mad career as the most prudent
mode of life. Why do they not see by their father's failure
their father's folly? No, the race transmits its weakness. Grace
is not hereditary, but sordid worldliness goes from generation
to generation. The race of fools never dies out. No need of
missionaries to teach men to be earthworms, they crawl naturally
to the dust. Selah. Well may the minstrel pause, and bid
us muse upon the deep seated madness of the sons of Adam. Take
occasion, reader, to reflect upon thine own.
Verse 14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave.
As dumb driven cattle, they are hurried to their doom, and are
penned in within the gates of destruction. As sheep that go
whither they are driven, and follow their leader without
thought, so these men who have chosen to make this world their
all, are urged on by their passions, till they find themselves
at their journey's end, that end the depths of Hades. Or if we
keep to our own translation, we have the idea of their dying
peaceably, and being buried in quiet, only that they may wake up
to be ashamed at the last great day. Death shall feed on
them. Death like a grim shepherd leads them on, and conducts
them to the place of their eternal pasturage, where all is
barrenness and misery. The righteous are led by the Good
Shepherd, but the ungodly have death for their shepherd, and he
drives them onward to hell. As the power of death rules them in
this world, for they have not passed from death unto life, so
the terrors of death shall devour them in the world to come. As
grim giants, in old stories, are said to feed on men whom they
entice to their caves, so death, the monster, feeds on the flesh
and blood of the mighty. The upright shall have dominion over
them in the morning. The poor saints were once the tail, but
at the day break they shall be the head. Sinners rule till night
fall; their honours wither in the evening, and in the morning
they find their position utterly reversed. The sweetest
reflection to the upright is that "the morning" here
intended begins an endless, changeless, day. What a vexation of
spirit to the proud worldling, when the Judge of all the earth
holds his morning session, to see the man whom he despised,
exalted high in heaven, while he himself is cast away! And
their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
Whatever of glory the ungodly had shall disappear in the tomb.
Form and comeliness shall vanish from them, the worm shall make
sad havoc of all their beauty. Even their last dwelling place,
the grave, shall not be able to protect the relics committed to
it; their bodies shall dissolve, no trace shall remain of all
their strong limbs and lofty heads, no vestige of remaining
beauty shall be discoverable. The beauty of the righteous is not
yet revealed, it waits its manifestations; but all the beauty
the wicked will ever have is in full bloom in this life; it will
wither, fade, decay, rot, and utterly pass away. Who, then,
would envy or fear the proud sinner?
Verse 15. But God will redeem my soul from the
power of the grave. Forth from that temporary resting place
we shall come in due time, quickened by divine energy. Like our
risen Head we cannot be holden by the bands of the grave;
redemption has emancipated us from the slavery of death. No
redemption could man find in riches, but God has found it in the
blood of his dear Son. Our Elder Brother has given to God a
ransom, and we are the redeemed of the Lord: because of this
redemption by price we shall assuredly be redeemed by power out
of the hand of the last enemy. For he shall receive me.
He shall take me out of the tomb, take me up to heaven. If it is
not said of me as of Enoch, "He was not, for God took him,
"yet shall I reach the same glorious state. My spirit God
will receive, and my body shall sleep in Jesus till, being
raised in his image, it shall also be received into glory. How
infinitely superior is such a hope to anything which our
oppressors can boast! Here is something which will bear
meditation, and therefore again let us pause, at the bidding of
the musician, who inserts a Selah.
Verse 16. In these last verses the psalmist becomes a
preacher, and gives admonitory lessons which he has himself
gathered from experience. Be not thou afraid when one is made
rich. Let it not give thee any concern to see the godless
prosper. Raise no questions as to divine justice; suffer no
foreboding to cloud thy mind. Temporal prosperity is too small a
matter to be worth fretting about; let the dogs have their
bones, and the swine their draff. When the glory of his house
is increased. Though the sinner and his family are in great
esteem, and stand exceedingly high, never mind; all things will
be righted in due time. Only those whose judgment is worthless
will esteem men the more because their lands are broader; those
who are highly estimated for such unreasonable reasons will find
their level ere long, when truth and righteousness come to the
fore.
Verse 17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing
away. He has but a leasehold of his acres, and death ends
his tenure. Through the river of death man must pass naked. Not
a rag of all his raiment, not a coin of all his treasure, not a
joy of all his honour, can the dying worldling carry with him.
Why then fret ourselves about so fleeting a prosperity? His
glory shall not descend after him. As he goes down, down,
down for ever, none of his honours or possessions will follow
him. Patents of nobility are invalid in the sepulchre. His
worship, his honour, his lordship, and his grace, will alike
find their titles ridiculous in the tomb. Hell knows no
aristocracy. Your dainty and delicate sinners shall find that
eternal burnings have no respect for their affectations and
refinements.
Verse 18. Though while he lived he blessed his
soul. He pronounced himself happy. He had his good things in
this life. His chief end and aim were to bless himself. He was
charmed with the adulation of flatterers. Men will praise
thee, when thou doest well to thyself. The generality of men
worship success, however it may be gained. The colour of the
winning horse is no matter; it is the winner, and that is
enough. "Take care of Number One, "is the world's
proverbial philosophy, and he who gives good heed to it is
"a clever fellow, ""a fine man of business,
""a shrewd common sense tradesman, ""a man
with his head put on the right way." Get money, and you
will be "respectable, ""a substantial man,
"and your house will be "an eminent firm in the city,
"or "one of the best county families." To do good
wins fame in heaven, but to do good to yourself is the
prudent thing among men of the world. Yet not a whisper of
worldly congratulation can follow the departing millionaire;
they say he died worth a mint of money, but what charm has that
fact to the dull cold ear of death? The banker rots as fast as
the shoeblack, and the peer becomes as putrid as the pauper.
Alas! poor wealth, thou art but the rainbow colouring of the
bubble, the tint which yellows the morning mist, but adds not
substance to it.
Verse 19. He shall go to the generation of his
fathers. Where the former generations lie, the present shall
also slumber. The sires beckon to their sons to come to the same
land of forgetfulness. Mortal fathers beget not immortal
children. As our ancestors have departed, so also must we. They
shall never see light. To this upper region the dead
worldling shall never return again to possess his estates, and
enjoy his dignities. Among the dead he must lie in the thick
darkness, where no joy or hope can come to him. Of all his
treasures there remains not enough to furnish him one poor
candle; the blaze of his glory is out for ever, and not a spark
remains to cheer him. How then can we look with fear or envy
upon a wretch doomed to such unhappiness?
Verse 20. The song ends with the refrain, Man that
is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that
perish. Understanding differences men from animals, but if
they will not follow the highest wisdom, and like beasts find
their all in this life, then their end shall be as mean and
dishonourable as that of beasts slain in the chase, or killed in
the shambles. From the loftiest elevation of worldly honour to
the uttermost depths of death is but a step. Saddest of all is
the reflection, that though men are like beasts in all the
degradation of perishing, yet not in the rest which animal
perishing secures, for, alas! it is written, "These shall
go away into everlasting punishment." So ends the
minstrel's lay. Comforting as the theme is to the righteous, it
is full of warning to the worldly. Hear ye it, O ye rich and
poor. Give ear to it, ye nations of the earth.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. Strange it is that two Psalms so near
together, as this and the forty-fifth should, and should alone
imitate, or be the forerunners of, two works of David's son;
this—Ecclesiastes, the former—the Canticles. J. M. Neale.
Verse 2. In this Psalm David, as it were, summons and
divides mankind. In the first verse he summons: "Hear
this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the
world." In the second verse he divides: Both low and
high, rich and poor, together. The word in the Hebrew for high
is (vya ynb), bene ish, sons of Ish, and the word for low
is (Mda ynb) bene Adam, sons of Adam. If we should
translate the text directly, according to the letter, the words
must run, sons of men and sons of men; for, sons of Adam
and sons of Ish are both translated sons of men.
Yet when they are set together in a way of opposition, the one
signifieth low and the other high; and so our
translators render it according to the sense, not sons of men
and sons of men, but low and high. Junius
translates to this sense, though in more words, as well they who
are born of mean men, as they who are born of the honourable. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 4. I will incline mine ear to a parable,
i.e, I will diligently attend, that I may not sing anything
ungracefully; a metaphor taken from musicians who bring their
ear close to the harp, that they may ascertain the harmony of
the sound. Victorinus Bythner.
Verse 5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of
evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
Those that are full of years are approaching the nearer to their
happiness. They have finished their voyage, and now are in sight
of the haven. Nature's provision is spent, her stock is
exhausted, and now the good man doth not so much descend as fall
into the grave, and from thence he rises to heaven and eternal
bliss. And shall he be disturbed at this? shall he be afraid to
be made happy? If I mistake not, this is the meaning of the
psalmist's words. They are generally interpreted concerning his
ways in general, but they seem to me to refer particularly
to the calamity which his old age was incident to: for the
days of evil are old age, and are so called by the wise man
Ec 12:1; and as the heel is the extreme part of the body,
so it is here applied to the last part of man's life, his
declining age; and iniquity (as the word is sometimes
used among the Hebrews) signifies here penal evil, and denotes
the infirmities and decays of the concluding part of a man's
life. So that the true meaning of the psalmist's words is
this—I will not now in my last days be dejected with fear and
trouble of mind, for I am coming towards my happiness, my
declining years shall deliver me up to death, and that shall
consign me to everlasting life. This certainly is matter of joy
rather than of fear. For this reason I account my last days to
be the most eligible part of my whole life. John Edwards, D.D.
(1637-1716), in "The Theologia Reformata."
Verse 5. Wherefore should I fear in the days of
evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
That is, when my sins or failings in what I have done, come to
my remembrance, or are chastened upon me. Every man's heels hath
some iniquity: as we shall have some dirt cleaving to our heels
while we walk in a dirty world, so there is some dirt, some
defilement, upon all our actions, which we may call, the
iniquity of our heel. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 5. When the iniquity of my heels shall
compass me about? With Bishop Lowth, the celebrated
Michaelis, Bishop Hare, and a host of other critics, I decidedly
incline to the idea, that (ybqe), rendered "my
heels" is to be regarded as the present participle of
the verb (bqe), to supplant, to act deceitfully, to deceive,
to hold one by the heel, etc., etc. If this be correct, then
the proper translation will be:—
Wherefore should I fear in the days of adversity,
The iniquity of my supplanters who surround me?
The Syriac and Arabic read, as does also Dr. Kennicott:
Why should I fear in the evil day,
When the iniquity of my enemies compasses me about? John
Morison.
Verses 5-9.
Why should I fear the evil hour,
When ruthless foes in ambush lie,
Who revel in their pride of power,
And on their hoarded wealth rely?
A brother's ransom who can pay,
Or alter God's eternal doom?
What hand can wrest from death his prey,
Its banquet from the rotten tomb?
From "The Psalter, or Psalms of David, in English verse.
By a member of the University of Cambridge." (Benjamin
Hall Kennedy, D.D.) 1860.
Verse 6. They that trust in their wealth, and boast
themselves in the multitude of their riches. Here we have the
rich man trusting and boasting; surely this is a very confident
trusting which issues itself into boasting! That man is ascended
to the highest step of faith in God, who makes his boast of God;
such faith have they in fine gold who boast in it. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 6. They that trust in their wealth. "THE
COVETOUS MAN'S SOLILOQUY." Believe me, the times are hard
and dangerous; charity is grown cold, and friends uncomfortable;
an empty purse is full of sorrow, and hollow bags make a heavy
heart. Poverty is a civil pestilence, which frights away both
friends and kindred, and leaves us to a "Lord, have mercy
upon us." It is a sickness very catching and infectious,
and more commonly abhorred than cured. The best antidote against
it is Angelica and providence, and the best cordial is aurum
potabile. Gold taking fasting is an approved sovereign.
Debts are ill humours, and turn at last to dangerous
obstructions. Lending is mere consumption of the radical humour,
which, if consumed, brings a patient to nothing. Let others
trust to courtiers' promises, to friends' performances, to
princes' favours; give me a toy called gold, give me a thing
called money. O blessed Mammon, how extremely sweet is thy all
commanding presence to my thriving soul! In banishment thou art
my dear companion; in captivity thou art my precious ransom; in
trouble and vexation thou art my dainty rest; in sickness thou
art my health; in grief my only joy; in all extremity my only
trust. Virtue must veil to thee; nay, grace itself, not relished
with thy sweetness, would even displease the righteous palates
of the sons of men. Come, then, my soul, advise, contrive,
project; go, compass sea and land; leave no exploit untried, no
path untrod, no time unspent; afford thine eyes no sleep, thy
head no rest; neglect thy ravenous belly, unclothe thy back;
deceive, betray, swear, and forswear, to compass such a friend.
If thou be base in birth, it will make thee honourable; if weak
in power, it will make thee formidable. Are thy friends few? It
will make them numerous. Is thy cause bad? It will gain thee
advocates. True, wisdom is an excellent help, in case it bend
this way; and learning is a genteel ornament, if not too
chargeable; yet, by your leave, they are but estates for the
term of life: but everlasting gold, if well advantaged, will not
only bless thy days, but thy surviving children from generation
to generation. Come, come, let others fill their brains with
dear bought wit, turn their pence into expensive charity, and
store their bosoms with unprofitable piety; let them lose all to
save their imaginary consciences, and beggar themselves at home
to be thought honest abroad: fill thou thy bags and barns, and
lay up for many years, and take thy rest. Francis Quarles, in
"The Covetous Man's Care."
Verse 6. The form of money agreeth well with the
condition of it; for it is stamped round, because it is so apt
to run from a man. Fire, thieves, waters, and infinite causes
there are of consuming riches, and impoverishing their
possessors, though they have even millions and mountains of
gold; but suppose that contrary to their nature they stay by a
man, yet cannot he stay by them, but must leave them in
spite of his teeth, as the psalmist saith Ps 49:17, "The
rich man shall take away nothing when he dieth, neither shall
his pomp follow after him." Thus death makes a violent
divorce between the rich man and his goods, when it is said unto
him, "Thou fool, this night shall they take away thy
soul." The rich man sleeps (saith Job very elegantly), and
when he openeth his eyes there is nothing. It fares with a rich
man at his death, as it doth with a sleeping man when he wakes
out of his dream. A man that dreams of the finding or fruition
of some rich bounty is wonderful glad, yet when he awaketh he
findeth nothing, but seeth it was only a dream, and he is sorry;
so the rich man seemed in the time of his life, to have
somewhat, but in the days of his death all vanisheth like the
idea of a dream, and it vexes him. J. D., in "The
Threefold Resolution," 1608.
Verse 6. Who knocks more boldly at heaven gate to be
let in than they whom Christ will reject as workers of iniquity?
Oh, what delusion is this! Caligula never made himself more
ridiculous than when he would be honoured as a God, while he
lived more like a devil. Before you would have others take you
for Christians, for God's sake prove yourselves men and not
beasts, as you do by your brutish lives. Talk not of your hopes
of salvation so long as the marks of damnation are seen upon
your flagitious lives. If the way to heaven were thus easy, I
promise you the saints in all ages have been much overseen, to
take so great pains in mortifying their lusts, in denying to
satisfy their sensual appetite. To what purpose did they make so
much waste of their sweat in their zealous serving God? and of
their tears that they could serve him no better, if they might
have gone to heaven as these men hope to do? That friar was far
more sound in his judgment in this point, who, preaching at Rome
one Lent, when some cardinals and many other great ones were
present, began his sermon thus abruptly and ironically, Saint
Peter was a fool, Saint Paul was a fool, and all the primitive
Christians were fools; for they thought the way to heaven was by
prayers and tears, watchings and fastings, severities of
mortification, and denying the pomp and glory of this world;
whereas you here in Rome spend your time in balls and masks,
live in pomp and pride, lust and luxury, and yet count
yourselves good Christians, and hope to be saved; but at last
you will prove the fools, and they will be found to have been
the wise men. William Gurnall's Funeral Sermon for Lady Mary
Vere, 1671.
Verses 6-10. David speaks of some that trust in
their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their
riches. Rich men can do great things, but here is a thing
that they cannot do: None of them can by any means redeem his
brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. From what cannot
a rich man redeem his brother? It is true of spiritual
redemption; yea, that is furthest out of the rich man's reach,
money will not do it: "We are not redeemed with corrupt
things, such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of
the Son of God." 1Pe 1:18-19. But the psalmist speaks of a
lower redemption, to which all the riches of man cannot reach: None
of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
ransom for him: for the redemption of their soul (that is,
of their person from the grave), is precious, and it ceaseth
for ever. And that he speaks of their redemption from the
grave, is more clearly expressed in Ps 49:9: That he should
still live for ever, and not see corruption. Jesus Christ
did not redeem us that we should live for ever, and not see
corruption. It was the privilege of Jesus Christ the Redeemer
not to see corruption; but Jesus Christ hath not redeemed us
that we should not see corruption. He hath redeemed us that we
should live for ever in heaven, but he hath not redeemed us from
corruption, that we should live for ever on earth, or not see
corruption in the grave; for, as it is said in Ps 49:10 of the
Psalm, we see that wise men die, likewise the fool and the
brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others; as
if he had said, Neither the one nor the other sort of men could
make this use or improvement of their wealth, to deliver
themselves from going to the grave, for if they could they would
have laid all out on that purchase; but they could not do it,
therefore, they leave their wealth to others. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 7. None of them can by any means redeem his
brother, etc. Some animals devoted to God could be redeemed
at a price, but no price could be assigned to the ransom of a
soul. That such a ransom was to be provided, the faith of the
church had always anticipated: "He shall redeem Israel from
all his iniquities." Ps 130:8. W. Wilson, D.D.
Verse 8. For the redemption of their soul is
precious, and it ceaseth for ever. In this judgment tears
will not prevail, prayers will not be heard, promises will not
be admitted, repentance will be too late, and as for riches,
honourable titles, sceptres, and diadems, these will profit much
less, and the inquisition shall be so curious and diligent, that
not one light thought, not one idle word (not repented of in thy
life past) shall be forgotten, for truth itself hath said, not
in jest, but in earnest, of every idle word which men have
spoken, they shall give an account in the day of judgment. Oh,
how many which now sin with great delight, yea, even with
greediness (as if we served a god of wood or of stone which
seeth nothing nor can do nothing) will be then astonished,
ashamed, and silent. Then shall the days of thy mirth be ended,
and thou shalt be overwhelmed with everlasting darkness, and
instead of thy pleasures thou shalt have everlasting torments. Thomas
Tymme.
Verse 8. For it cost more to redeem their souls: so
that he must let that alone forever. Prayer book Version.
Verse 8. It ceaseth for ever. That is, wealth
for ever comes short of the power necessary to accomplish this.
It has always been insufficient; it always will be. There
is no hope that it ever will be sufficient, that by any
increase in the amount, or by any change in the conditions of
the bargain, property or riches can avail for this. The whole
matter is perfectly hopeless as to the power of wealth is
saving one human being from the grave. It must always fail
in saving a man from death. The word rendered ceaseth—(ldx),
khadal, means to leave off, to desist, to fail. Ge
11:8 Ex 9:34 Isa 2:22. Albert Barnes.
Verse 11. Their inward thought is, that their
houses shall continue for ever. This is the interpretation
of our actions, when we do not make God our portion, but trust
in the abundance of our riches; this is our inward thought,
the saying of our heart, Ye are my god. We do in effect say,
Thou art my confidence, my hope, and my joy, and will stand by
me when all things cease and fail, and wilt not suffer me to
want, or to be wrong, as long as you last: these are the secret
speeches of our hearts. Christians! many may (orator like),
declaim against the vanity of the creature, and speak as basely
of money as others do, and say, We know it is but a little
refined earth; but their hearts close with it, they are loathe
to part with it for God's sake, or upon God's declared will. As
he that speaketh good words of God, is not said to trust in God;
so speaking bad words of worldly riches doth not exempt us from
trusting them. There is a difference between declaiming as an
orator, and acting like a Christian. Thomas Manton.
Verse 11. Their inward thought. If good
thoughts be thy deep thoughts, if, as we say, the best be
at the bottom, thy thoughts are then right, and thou art
righteous; for as the deep thoughts of worldlings are worldly
thoughts, and the deep thoughts of wicked men are wicked
thoughts, so the deep thoughts of good men are good thoughts. It
is a notable observation of the Holy Ghost's concerning worldly
men, that their inward thought is that their houses shall
continue for ever, etc. Why? is there any thought that is
not an inward thought? No, but the meaning is, though
they have some floating thoughts of their mortality, and the
vanity and transitoriness of all worldly things, swimming, as it
were, on the top; yet they do not suffer such thoughts to
sink into their hearts, or to go to the bottom; but the
thoughts that lodge there are such as his, who is said by our
Saviour to have thought within himself, "Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry." Lu 12:19. Note the phrase, "he thought
within himself." There are other kinds of thoughts that
sometimes knock at the door of the worldling's heart, nay,
sometimes look in at his windows, as Paul's sermon began to
press in upon Felix his heart, and to set him trembling; but
there are other thoughts within, which if they cannot
keep good thoughts quite out, they will keep them off from
making any due or deep impression upon the heart. Now, these
thoughts that nestle themselves as it were at the very heart
roots, to keep others out from reaching thither, these deep
thoughts are they which the Scriptures call the inward
thoughts, according to that of the psalmist Ps 64:6,
"The inward thought of every one of them and the heart, is
deep." Faithful Teat in "Right Thoughts the
Righteous man's Evidence," 1666.
Verse 11. They call their lands after their own
names. God makes fools of them, for how few have you that go
beyond the third generation? How few houses have you that the
child or the grandchild can say, "This was my grandfather's
and my great grandfather's"? How few houses have you that
those that are now in them can say, "My ancestor dwelt
here, and these were his lands"? Go over a whole country,
few can say so. Men when they build, together with building in
the earth they build castles in the air; they have conceits. Now
I build for my child, and for my child's child. God crosses
them. Either they have no posterity, or by a thousand things
that fall out in the world, it falls out otherwise. The time is
short, and the fashion of this world passeth away; that is, the
buildings pass away, the owning passeth away, all things here
pass away; and, therefore, buy as if you possessed not, buy, so
as we neglect not the best possession in heaven, and so possess
these things, as being not possessed and commanded of them. Richard
Sibbes.
Verse 11. Mr. A was a wealthy farmer in Massachusetts,
about sixty years of age, and it had been his ruling, and almost
only passion in life to acquire property. His neighbour B owned
a small farm, which came too near the centre of A's extended
domain, was quite a blot in his prospect, destroyed the
regularity of his lands, and on the whole it was really
necessary, in his opinion, that he should add it to his other
property. B became embarrassed, and was sued; judgments were
obtained, and executions issued. A now thought he should obtain
the land, but one execution after another was arranged, and
finally the debt was paid off without selling the land. When A
heard of the payment of the last execution, which put an end to
his hopes of obtaining the land, he exclaimed, "Well, B is
an old man, and cannot live long, and when he dies I can buy the
lot." B was fifty-eight, A was sixty! Reader, do you ever
expect to die? K. Arvine's Cyclopaedia of Moral and Religious
Anecdotes.
Verse 11. I have purchased, saith one, such lands, and
I have got so good a title to them, that certainly they will
remain mine and my heirs for ever; never considering how all
things here below are subject to ebbings and flowings, to turns
and vicissitudes every day. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 11. The fleeting nature of all earthly
possessions is well illustrated in the life of William Beckford,
and the unenduring character of gorgeous fabrics in the ruin of
his famous Babel, Fonthill Abbey. Byron sang of Beckford's
palace in Spain, in language most applicable to Fonthill:
"There, too, thou Vathek! England's wealthiest son—
Once formed thy Paradise, as not aware
When wanton wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,
Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.
Here didst thou dwell; here schemes of pleasure plan,
Beneath yon mountain's ever beauteous brow.
But now, as if a thing unblessed by man,
Thy fairy dwelling is as lone as thou!
Here giant weeds a passage scarce allow,
To halls deserted, portals gaping wide;
Fresh lessons to the thinking bosom, how
Vain are the pleasures on earth supplied,
Swept into wrecks anon by Time's ungentle tide!" C. H.
S.
Verses 11-12. "They call their GROUNDS after
their names. But the GROUNDLING, in the midst of
splendour, endureth not." In Ps 49:11, we have (twmra),
"grounds." In Ps 49:12, it is (Mra), "groundling,
"with a designed iteration and play upon the word; for
want of an attention to which the passage has not been fully
understood. John Mason Good.
Verse 12. Man being in honour abideth not. The
Rabbins read it thus: "Adam being in honour, lodged not
one night." The Hebrew word for abide signifies
"to stay or lodge all night." Adam, then, it seems,
did not take up one night's lodging in Paradise. Thomas
Watson's Body of Divinity.
Verse 13. This their way is their folly: yet their
posterity approve their sayings. Master Baxter speaks very
well of this in his "Saints Everlasting Rest, "which
is a very choice book. The gentry teach their children to follow
pleasure, and the commonalty their children to follow profit,
and young ones are ready to follow old ones. This their way
is their folly. The very heathens condemn this, and yet
Christians mind it not. Crates the philosopher said, that if
possible he might, he would willingly mount to the highest place
of the city, and there cry aloud in this manner, "What mean
you, my masters, and whither run you headlong? carking and
caring all that ever you can, to gather goods and make riches as
you do, whiles in the meantime you make little or no reckoning
at all of your children, unto whom you are to leave all your
riches? Do not most care more for the wealth of their children's
outward man, than for the health of their inward man?" J.
Votier's Survey of Effectual Calling, 1652.
Verse 13. This their way is their folly. The
folly of man seldom appears more than in being very busy about
nothing, in making a great cry where there is little wool; like
that empty fellow that showed himself to Alexander—having
spent much time, and taken much pains at it beforehand—and
boasted that he could throw a pea through a little hole,
expecting a great reward; but the king gave him only a bushel of
peas, for a recompense suitable to his diligent negligence, or
his busy idleness. Things that are vain and empty are unworthy
of our care and industry. The man that by hard labour and hazard
of his life did climb up to the top of the steeple to set an egg
on end, was deservedly the object of pity and laughter. We shall
think him little better than mad that should make as great a
fire for the roasting of an egg as for the roasting of an ox. George
Swinnock.
Verse 13. Their folly: yet their posterity approve.
Dr. Leifchild, in his "Remarkable Facts, "records
the following incident, of a person of property, who had been
accustomed regularly to attend his ministry, but who had always
manifested a covetous disposition: "I was sent for to offer
to him the consolation of religion as he lay upon his dying bed.
What was my surprise, after having conversed and prayed with
him, to find that he was unwilling to take my hand, muttering
that he knew that he had not done what was right in reference to
the support and furtherance of religion, but intended to amend
in that respect. He then requested me to say what I thought
would become of him. How could I reply, but by exhorting him to
repent, and relinquishing all further thoughts of a worldly
nature, to betake himself to the sacrifice and mediation of the
Son of God for pardon, safety, and salvation in that world which
he was to all appearance soon about to enter. He gazed at me
with a look of disappointment. Upon a hint being given me to
inquire into his thought at that moment, I questioned him very
pointedly, and to my astonishment and horror, he reluctantly
disclosed to me the fact that while thus seemingly about to
breathe his last, his hands were under the bed clothes grasping
the keys of his cabinet and treasures, lest they should be taken
from him! Soon after he departed this life, and there was, alas!
reason to fear that, together with his property, he had
transmitted somewhat of his fatal passion to those who survived
him. It was distressing to me to reflect that a hearer of mine
should quit this world with his fingers stiffened in death
around the keys of his treasures. How strong, how terrible, was
the ruling passion in the death of this man!"
Verse 14. Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion
over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the
grave from their dwelling, or as we put in the margin, The
grave being an habitation to every one of them, shall consume
their beauty. Some may object, Is not this true of godly men
too? are not they thus handled by death and the grave? doth not
death feed on them? and doth not the grave consume their beauty?
I answer, Though it doth, yet it hath not to feed upon, nor
consume them, as it feeds upon and consumes wicked men. For the
psalmist speaks here of death as it were triumphing over the
wicked, whereas the godly triumph over death. For, first, he
saith, The wicked are laid in the grave like sheep: they
lived like wolves or lions, but they are laid in
the grave like sheep. If it be asked, Why like sheep?
I answer, not for the innocency of their lives, but for their
impotency in death; as if it had been said, when once death took
them in hand to lay them in the grave, they could make no more
resistance than a sheep can against a lion or a wolf. And when
death hath thus laid them in the grave, then secondly, saith the
psalmist, Death shall feed on them, as a lion doth upon a
sheep, or any wild beast upon his prey, which is a further
degree of death's triumph over the wicked. And, thirdly, Their
beauty shall consume in the grave, that is, all their bodily
and natural beauty (and this is all the beauty which they have)
shall consume in the grave, whereas the godly have a beauty (and
they count it their only beauty) which the grave cannot consume,
and that is the beauty of their graces, the beauty of holiness,
the spiritual beauty of the inner man, yea, and the spiritual
beauty of their outward holy actings shall not consume in the
grave; for, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord
from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from
their labours; and their works do follow them." Re 19:13. Joseph
Caryl.
Verse 14. Death shall feed on them: rather, Death
shall be their shepherd. (Sept.) At the end of the
foregoing Psalm, the psalmist had said in the name of his
people, that, "God is our God, for ever and ever; he will
lead us as a shepherd over death, "and here he takes up the
same pastoral figure, and contrasts with their case the case of
the proud and prosperous worldly men, who trust in their earthly
riches and power. They will not be led in safety,
under the pastoral care of God, over death. No; death
itself will be their Shepherd, and the grave will be
their sheepfold; where they will be laid together like sheep in
a pen. As Augustine says, "Death is the shepherd of the
infidel. Life (i.e., Christ) is the Shepherd of the
faithful." "In inferno sunt oves quibus pastor Mors
est; in caelo sunt oves quibus pastor Vita est." And so
Keble
Even as a flock arrayed are they
For the dark grave; Death guides their way,
Death is their Shepherd now.
—Christopher Wordsworth.
Verse 14. In the morning, that is, saith Dathe,
in the time of judgment. He thinks there is here an
allusion to the usual time of holding courts of justice, which
was in the morning. See Ps 73:14 101:8 Jer 21:12. Editorial
note to Calvin in loc.
Verse 14. Their beauty shall consume in the grave,
And now if we do but consider a little of the tombs and
sepulchres of princes and noblemen, whose glory and majesty we
have seen when they lived here on earth, and do behold the
horrible forms and shapes which they now have, shall we not cry
out as men amazed, Is this that glory? Is this that highness and
excellency? Whither now are the degrees of their waiting
servants gone? Where are their ornaments and jewels? Where is
their pomp, their delicacy and niceness? All these things are
vanished away like the smoke, and there is now nothing left but
dust, horror, and stink. The soul being dissolved, there lieth
upon the ground not a human body, but a dead carcase without
life, without sense, without strength, and so fearful to look
upon, that the sight thereof may hardly be endures. To be sure,
it is a little better (as touching the substance) than the body
of a horse, or a dog, which lieth dead in the fields, and all
that pass by stop their noses and make haste away, that they be
not annoyed with the sight and stink thereof. Such is man's body
now become; yea, and though it were the body of a monarch,
emperor, or a king. Where is that majesty, that excellency, that
authority which he had aforetime when all men trembled to behold
it, and might not come in presence thereof without all reverence
and obeisance? what are all those things become? were they a
dream or shadow? After those things the funeral is prepared, the
which is all that men can carry with them, of all their riches
and kingdom, and this also they should not have, if in their
lifetime they did not appoint it for their dignity and honour.
For the prophet David saith truly Ps 49:16, "Be not thou
afraid though one be made rich, or, if the glory of his
house be increased; for when he dieth he shall carry nothing
away with him, neither shall his pomp follow him." Thomas
Tymme.
Verse 14. When we look to a charnel-house, and take a
view of the grave, what amazing and dismal scenes present
themselves! How many great and important images appear!
Distracting horrors strike our imagination, and hideous sounds
of diseases, destruction, and death, with all their woeful and
black train, terrify us. Ah! the melancholy confused heap of the
ruins of mankind, what a terrible carnage is made of the human
race! and what a solemn and awful theatre of mortality, covered
with the disordered remains of out fellow creatures, presents
itself to our minds! There lie the bones of a proud monarch, who
fancied himself a little god, mingled with the ashes of his
poorest subjects! Death seized him in the height of his vanity,
he was just returning from a conquest, and his haughty mind was
swelled with his power and greatness, when one of these fatal
arrows pierced his heart, and at once finished all his perishing
thoughts and contrivances, then the dream of glory vanished, and
all his empire was confined to the grave. Look how pale that
victorious general appears, how dead, and cold, and lifeless
these arms that were once accustomed to war; see if you can
discern any difference betwixt his dust and that of the most
despicable slave. Yonder, a numerous army, once fierce and
resolute, whose conquests were rapid as lightning, and made all
the nations to shake for fear of them, are now so weak that they
lie a prey, exposed to the meanest animals, the loathsome worms,
who crawl in triumph over them, and insult their decayed ruins.
There is a body that was so much doted on, and solicitously
cared for, and the beauty and shape whereof were so foolishly
admired, now noisome and rotten, nothing but vermin are now fond
of it, so affecting a change hath death made upon it. Look, next
to this, upon the inglorious ashes of a rich, covetous wretch,
whose soul was glued to this world, and hugged itself in its
treasures; with what mighty throes and convulsions did death
tear him from this earth! How did his hands cling to his gold!
with what vehement desires did he fasten on his silver, all of
them weak and fruitless! Look now if riches saved him in that
day, if you can perceive any of his useless treasures lying
beside him in the grave, or if the glory of his house have
descended after him! Yonder, an ambitious statesman, his rotten
bones are scarce to be discerned: how did he applaud his artful
schemes! how securely did he think them laid, and flattered
himself with the hopes of an established greatness! but death
stepped in, blew them all up at once; this grave is the whole
result of his counsels. And lo, there, what horrid and
suffocating stink ascends from these many hellish sacrifices of
lust and impurity, who wasted their strength in debauch, and
carried down with them nothing but the shame of beastly
pleasures to the grave. But there is no end to the corpses, nor
can we survey this terrible field of death's conquests. William
Dunlop.
Verse 15. (last clause). For he shall take
me. This short half verse is, as Bottcher remarks, the more
weighty, from its very shortness. The same expression occurs
again, Ps 73:24, "Thou shalt take me, "the original of
both being Ge 5:24, where it is used of the translation of
Enoch, "He was not, for God took him." J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verse 17. For when he dieth he shall carry nothing
away. The form of money agrees well with the condition of
it; it is stamped round, because it is so apt to run away. Could
we be rich so long as we live, yet that were uncertain enough
for life itself is but a dream, a shadow, but a dream of a
shadow. (Augustine.) Rich men are but like hailstones; they make
a noise in the world, as the other rattle on the tiles of a
house; down they fall, lie still, and melt away. So that if
riches could stay by a man, yet he cannot stay by them. Spite of
his teeth, he shall carry away nothing when he dies. Life
and goods are both is a vessel, both cast away at once; yea, of
the two, life hath the more likelihood of continuance. Let it
fly never so fast away, riches have eagles' wings, and will
outfly it. There be thieves in the highways, that will take our
moneys and spare our lives. In our penal laws, there be not so
many ways to forfeit our lives as our goods. Rich Job lived to
see himself poor to a proverb. How many in this city reputed
rich, yet have broken for thousands! There are innumerable ways
to be poor; a fire, a thief, a false servant, suretyship,
trusting of bad customers, an unfaithful factor, a pirate, an
unskilful pilot, hath brought rich men to poverty. One gale of
wind is able to make merchants rich or beggars. Man's life is
like the banks of a river, his temporal estate is the stream:
time will moulder away the banks, but the stream stays not for
that, it glides away continually. Life is the tree, riches are
the fruit, or rather the leaves; the leaves will fall, the fruit
is plucked, and yet the tree stands. Some write of the pine
tree, that if the bark be pulled off, it lasts long; being on it
rots. If the worldling's bark were stripped off, he might
perhaps live the longer, there is great hope he would live the
better. Thomas Adams.
Verse 17. He shall carry nothing away. It is
with us in this world, as it was in the Jewish fields and
vineyards: pluck and eat they might what they would while
they were there; but they might not pocket or put up ought to
carry with them. De 23:24. Thomas Gataker.
Verse 17. He shall carry nothing away. "He
hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again:
God shall cast them out of his belly." Job 20:15.
Verse 17. Descend. Death takes the sinner by
the throat, and "hauls him down stairs to the grave."
The indulgence in any sinful propensity has this downward,
deathly tendency. Every lust, whether for riches or honours, for
gambling, wine or women, leads the deluded wretched votary step
by step to the chambers of death. There is no hope in the dread
prospect; trouble and anguish possess the spirit. Hast thou
escaped, O my soul, from the net of the infernal fowler? Never
forget that it is as a brand snatched from the burning.
Oh, to grace how great a debtor! George Offor's note in
"The Works of John Bunyan."
Verse 17. You will carry none of your riches, fool, to
the waters of Acheron. You will be ferried over quite naked in
the infernal boat. —Propertius.
Verse 18. How foolish is it to account thyself a
better man than another, only because thy dunghill is a little
bigger than his! These things are not at all to be reckoned into
the value and worth of a man; they are all without thee, and
concern thee no more than fine clothes do the health or strength
of the body. It is wealth, indeed, that makes all the noise and
bustle in the world, and challengeth all the respect and honour
to itself; and the ignorant vulgar, whose eyes are dazzled with
pomp and bravery, pay it with a stupid and astonished reverence.
Yet know, that it is but thy silks and velvet, thy lands, or thy
retinue and servants, they venerate, not thee: and if thou
thinkest otherwise, thou art as justly ridiculous as that ass in
the apologue, that grew very gravely proud, and took state, when
the people fell prostrate before him, adoring, not him, but to
the idol he carried. Ezekiel Hopkins.
Verse 20. Like the beasts that perish. My
lords, it is no wonder at all, if men that affect beastly
pleasures, and dote upon perishing honours, become like the
beasts that perish. It is no miracle if he that lives like a
beast dies like a beast. Take a man that hath lived like the
fool in the gospel, and tell me, what hath this man done for his
immortal soul more than a beast doth for its perishing soul?
Soul, soul, cease from care, eat, drink, and take thine ease;
this is the constant ditty of most men in honour: they have
studied clothes and victuals, titles and offices, ways of gain
and pleasure. Am I not yet at highest? They have, it may be,
studied the black art of flattery and treachery; they understand
the humour of the times, the compliances and dependences of this
and other statesman, the projects of divers princes abroad, and
the main design here at home. Is this all? Why, then be it known
unto you, that the men of this strain have made no better
provision for their precious souls, than if they had the soul,
the vanishing soul of a beast within them; and certainly, if we
were to judge of the substance of men's souls by their unworthy
and sensual conversation, we might easily fall into that heresy,
that dangerous dream of some who conceive that their souls are
mortal. Francis Cheynell, in a Sermon entitled, "The Man
of Honour, "... preached before the Lords of Parliament,
1645.
Verse 20. Like the beasts that perish. Sin is
both formaliter and effective vile. As it is so in
itself, so it has made man vile. No creature so debased as man,
being in this respect become viler than any creature. There is
no such depravation in the nature of any creature, except in the
diabolical nature. No creature ever razed God's image out of its
nature, but only man. There is no aversions to the will of God,
no inclination to what offends him, in any creature on earth but
man. Man, then, who was once the glory of the creation, is
become the vilest of all creatures, for that is vilest which is
most contrary to the infinite glory, but so is our nature,
"Man being in honour, abideth not, "is now like the
beast that perish; nay, worse than they, if the greatest
evil can make him worse. Man was made a little lower than the
angels, crowned with glory, advanced to be lord and governor of
all the works of his hands; and all creatures in this world were
put under his feet. Ps 8:5-6. But by this natural corruption he
that was but a little lower than the angels is now something
below the beasts. He was to have dominion, but is made baser
than those over whom he rules. They were put under his feet, but
now he is as low as they. This is the sad issue of natural
corruption. David Clarkson.
Verse 20. Like the beasts. Man is so much a
beast, that he cannot know himself to be one till God teach him.
And we never learn to be men till we have learned that we were
beasts...It is not said he is like this or that beast, but he
is like the beasts that perish. Take any beast, or all
beasts, the worst of beasts, he is the picture of them all, and
he daily exemplifies the vilest of their qualities in his own. Joseph
Caryl.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 2.
1. The common needs of rich and poor men.
2. The common privileges of rich and poor saints.
3. Their common service.
4. Their common heaven.
Verse 3. The deep things of God are intended,
1. To exercise our minds to understand them.
2. To try our faith by believing them—"incline"
implies a submissive mind.
3. To excite our joy as we grasp them—"upon the
harp."
4. To employ our faculties in explaining them to others.
Verse 5.
1. The effects of our sin remain—(a) In ourselves, (b) In
others.
2. In a time of conviction they compass us about:
better to do so in this life, than to haunt us as ghosts for
ever.
3. When they are pardoned we have nothing to fear. G.R.
Verse 7.
1. Implied. The soul needs redeeming.
2. Denied. Wealth, power, learning, none can redeem.
3. Supplied—a ransom by Jesus.
4. Applied—by the Spirit to our actual deliverance.
Verse 12. (last clause). Wherein the ungodly
are like beasts, and wherein different.
Verse 12. Here is a twofold thwarting or crossing of
the purposes of the ungodly worldling.
1. The first is, he shall not be that which he ever wished
to be: he shall not continue in honour.
2. The other is this, he shall be that which he never
desired to be: he shall be like the beasts that die. He
shall miss of that which he sought for, and he shall have that
which he looked not for. —S. Hieron.
Verse 13.
1. In secular things men imitate the wisdom of others.
2. In spiritual things they imitate their folly. G. R.
Verse 14.
1. In proportion to the prosperity of the ungodly here, will
be their misery hereafter: as sheep from the fat pasture led to
the slaughterhouse.
2. In proportion to the luxury here, will be their corruption
hereafter—Death shall feed on them: they have become
well fed for death to feed on them.
3. In proportion to their dignity here, will be their
degradation hereafter—The upright shall have, etc. Oh,
what a contrast between the rich man and Lazarus then!
4. In proportion to their beauty here, will be their
deformity hereafter. "Art thou become like one of us?"
G. R.
Verse 14. Sheep, how far they image the wicked.
Verse 14. In the morning. See the various
Biblical prophecies of what will happen "in the
morning."
Verse 15.
1. Return to the dust I shall.
2. Redeem from the dust he will.
3. Receive into heaven he will.
4. Rejoice for ever I shall.
Verse 17. The loaded and unloaded sinner.
Verse 20.
1. Men of spiritual understanding without worldly honour are
higher than the angels of God in heaven.
2. Men in worldly honour without the true wisdom are worse
than the beasts that perish. G. R.