TITLE. A Psalm of David, when he was
in the wilderness of Judah. This was probably written while
David was fleeing from Absalom; certainly at the time he wrote
it he was king (Ps 63:11), and hard pressed by those who sought
his life. David did not leave off singing because he was in the
wilderness, neither did he in slovenly idleness go on repeating
Psalms intended for other occasions; but he carefully made his
worship suitable to his circumstances, and presented to his God
a wilderness hymn when he was in the wilderness. There was no
desert in his heart, though there was a desert around him. We
too may expect to be cast into rough places ere we go hence. In
such seasons, may the Eternal Comforter abide with us, and cause
us to bless the Lord at all times, making even the solitary
place to become a temple for Jehovah. The distinguishing word of
this Psalm is EARLY. When the bed is the softest we are
most tempted to rise at lazy hours; but when comfort is gone,
and the couch is hard, if we rise the earlier to seek the Lord,
we have much for which to thank the wilderness.
DIVISION. In Ps 63:1-8 verses the
writer expresses his holy desires after God, and his confidence
in him, and then in Ps 63:9-11 remaining three verses he
prophesies the overthrow of all his enemies. This Psalm is
peculiarly suitable for the bed of sickness, or in any
constrained absence from public worship.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. O God, thou art my God; or, O God,
thou art my Mighty One. The last Psalm left the echo of power
ringing in the ear, and it is here remembered. Strong affiance
bids the fugitive poet confess his allegiance to the only living
God; and firm faith enables him to claim him as his own. He has
no doubts about his possession of his God; and why should other
believers have any? The straightforward, clear language of this
opening sentence would be far more becoming in Christians than
the timorous and doubtful expressions so usual among professors.
How sweet is such language! Is there any other word comparable
to it for delights? Meus Deus. Can angels say more? Early
will I seek thee. Possession breeds desire. Full assurance is no
hindrance to diligence, but is the mainspring of it. How can I
seek another man's God? but it is with ardent desire that I seek
after him whom I know to be my own. Observe the eagerness
implied in the time mentioned; he will not wait for noon or the
cool eventide; he is up at cockcrowing to meet his God.
Communion with God is so sweet that the chill of the morning is
forgotten, and the luxury of the couch is despised. The morning
is the time for dew and freshness, and the psalmist consecrates
it to prayer and devout fellowship. The best of men have been
betimes on their knees. The word early has not only the
sense of early in the morning, but that of eagerness,
immediateness. He who truly longs for God longs for him now.
Holy desires are among the most powerful influences that stir
our inner nature; hence the next sentence,
My soul thirsteth for thee. Thirst is an insatiable longing
after that which is one of the most essential supports of life;
there is no reasoning with it, no forgetting it, no despising
it, no overcoming it by stoical indifference. Thirst will be
heard; the whole man must yield to its power; even thus is it
with that divine desire which the grace of God creates in
regenerate men; only God himself can satisfy the craving of a
soul really aroused by the Holy Spirit. My flesh longeth for
thee; by the two words soul and flesh, he denotes
the whole of his being. The flesh, in the New Testament
sense of it, never longs after the Lord, but rather it lusteth
against the spirit; David only refers to that sympathy which is
sometimes created in our bodily frame by vehement emotions of
the soul. Our corporeal nature usually tugs in the other
direction, but the spirit when ardent can compel it to throw in
what power it has upon the other side. When the wilderness
caused David weariness, discomfort, and thirst, his flesh cried
out in unison with the desire of his soul. In a dry and thirsty
land, where no water is. A weary place and a weary heart make
the presence of God the more desirable: if there be nothing
below and nothing within to cheer, it is a thousand mercies that
we may look up and find all we need. How frequently have
believers traversed in their experience this dry and thirsty
land, where spiritual joys are things forgotten! and how
truly can they testify that the only true necessity of that
country is the near presence of their God! The absence of
outward comforts can be borne with serenity when we walk with
God; and the most lavish multiplication of them avails not when
he withdraws. Only after God, therefore, let us pant. Let all
desires be gathered into one. Seeking first the kingdom of
God—all else shall be added unto us.
Verse 2. To see thy power and thy glory, so as I
have seen thee in the sanctuary. He longed not so much to
see the sanctuary as to see his God; he looked through the veil
of ceremonies to the invisible One. Often had his heart been
gladdened by communion with God in the outward ordinances, and
for this great blessing he sighs again; as well he might, for it
is the weightiest of all earth's sorrows for a Christian man to
lose the conscious presence of his covenant God. He remembers
and mentions the two attributes which had most impressed
themselves upon his mind when he had been rapt in adoration in
the holy place; upon these his mind had dwelt in the preceding
Psalm, and the savour of that contemplation is evidently upon
his heart when in the wilderness: these he desires to behold
again in the place of his banishment. It is a precious thought
that the divine power and glory are not confined in their
manifestation to any places or localities; they are to be heard
above the roaring of the sea, seen amid the glare of the
tempest, felt in the forest and the prairie, and enjoyed
wherever there is a heart that longs and thirsts to behold them.
Our misery is that we thirst so little for these sublime things,
and so much for the mocking trifles of time and sense. We are in
very truth always in a weary land, for this is not our rest; and
it is marvellous that believers do not more continuously thirst
after their portion far beyond the river where they shall hunger
no more, neither thirst any more; but shall see the face of
their God, and his name shall be in their foreheads. David did
not thirst for water or any earthly thing, but only for
spiritual manifestations. The sight of God was enough for him,
but nothing short of that would content him. How great a friend
is he, the very sight of whom is consolation. Oh, my soul,
imitate the psalmist, and let all thy desires ascend towards the
highest good; longing here to see God, and having no higher joy
even for eternity.
Verse 3. Because thy lovingkindness is better than
life. A reason for that which went before, as well as for
that which follows. Life is dear, but God's love is dearer. To
dwell with God is better than life at its best; life at ease, in
a palace, in health, in honour, in wealth, in pleasure; yea, a
thousand lives are not equal to the eternal life which abides in
Jehovah's smile. In him we truly live, and move, and have our
being; the withdrawal of the light of his countenance is as the
shadow of death to us: hence we cannot but long after the Lord's
gracious appearing. Life is to many men a doubtful good:
lovingkindness is an unquestioned boon: life is but transient,
mercy is everlasting: life is shared in by the lowest animals,
but the lovingkindness of the Lord is the peculiar portion of
the chosen. My lips shall praise thee. Openly, so that thy glory
shall be made known, I will tell of thy goodness. Even when our
heart is rather desiring than enjoying we should still continue
to magnify the Most High, for his love is truly precious; even
if we do not personally, for the time being, happen to be
rejoicing in it. We ought not to make our praises of God to
depend upon our own personal reception of benefits; this would
be mere selfishness; even publicans and sinners have a good word
for those whose hands are enriching them with gifts; it is the
true believer only who will bless the Lord when he takes away
his gifts or hides his face.
Verse 4. Thus will I bless thee while I live.
As I now bless thee so will I ever do; or rather, so as
thou shalt reveal thy lovingkindness to me, I will in return
continue to extol thee. While we live we will love. If we see no
cause to rejoice in our estate, we shall always have reason for
rejoicing in the Lord. If none others bless God, yet his people
will; his very nature, as being the infinitely good God, is a
sufficient argument for our praising him as long as we exist. I
will lift up my hands in thy name. For worship the hands were
uplifted, as also in joy, in thanksgiving, in labour, in
confidence; in all these senses we would lift up our hands in
Jehovah's name alone. No hands need hang down when God draws
near in love. The name of Jesus has often made lame men leap as
a hart, and it has made sad men clap their hands for joy.
Verse 5. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow
and fatness. Though unable to feast on the sacrifice at
thine altar, my soul shall even here be filled with spiritual
joys, and shall possess a complete, a double contentment. There
is in the love of God a richness, a sumptuousness, a fulness of
soul filling joy, comparable to the richest food with which the
body can be nourished. The Hebrews were more fond of fat than we
are, and their highest idea of festive provision is embodied in
the two words, marrow and fatness: a soul hopeful in God
and full of his favour is thus represented as feeding upon the
best of the best, the dainties of a royal banquet. And my mouth
shall praise thee with joyful lips. More joy, more praise. When
the mouth is full of mercy, is should also be full of
thanksgiving. When God gives us the marrow of his love, we must
present to him the marrow of our hearts. Vocal praise should be
rendered to God as well as mental adoration; others see our
mercies, let them also hear our thanks.
Verse 6. When I remember thee upon my bed.
Lying awake, the good man betook himself to meditation, and then
began to sing. He had a feast in the night, and a song in the
night. He turned his bedchamber into an oratory, he consecrated
his pillow, his praise anticipated the place of which it is
written, "There is no night there." Perhaps the
wilderness helped to keep him awake, and if so, all the ages are
debtors to it for this delightful hymn. If day's cares tempt us
to forget God, it is well that night's quiet should lead us to
remember him. We see best in the dark if we there see God best.
And meditate on thee in the night watches. Keeping up sacred
worship in my heart as the priests and Levites celebrated it in
the sanctuary. Perhaps David had formerly united with those
"who by night stand in the house of the Lord, "and now
as he could not be with them in person, he remembers the hours
as they pass, and unites with the choristers in spirit, blessing
Jehovah as they did. It may be, moreover, that the king heard
the voices of the sentries as they relieved guard, and each time
he returned with renewed solemnity to his meditations upon his
God. Night is congenial, in its silence and darkness, to a soul
which would forget the world, and rise into a higher sphere.
Absorption in the most hallowed of all themes makes watches,
which else would be weary, glide away all too rapidly; it causes
the lonely and hard couch to yield the most delightful
repose—repose more restful than even sleep itself. We read of
beds of ivory, but beds of piety are better far. Some revel in
the night, but they are not a tithe so happy as those who
meditate in God.
Verse 7. Because thou hast been my help.
Meditation had refreshed his memory and recalled to him his past
deliverances. It were well if we oftener read our own diaries,
especially noting the hand of the Lord in helping us in
suffering, want, labour, or dilemma. This is the grand use of
memory, to furnish us with proofs of the Lord's faithfulness,
and lead us onward to a growing confidence in him. Therefore in
the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. The very shade of God is
sweet to a believer. Under the eagle wings of Jehovah we hide
from all fear, and we do this naturally and at once, because we
have aforetime tried and proved both his love and his power. We
are not only safe, but happy in God: we rejoice as well
as repose.
Verse 8. My soul followeth hard after thee, or
is glued to thee. We follow close at the Lord's heels, because
we are one with him. Who shall divide us from his love? If we
cannot walk with him with equal footsteps, we will at least
follow after with all the strength he lends us, earnestly
panting to reach him and abide in his fellowship. When
professors follow hard after the world, they will fall into the
ditch; but none are ever too eager after communion with the
Lord. Thy right hand upholdeth me. Else he would not have
followed the Lord with constancy, or even have longed after him.
The divine power, which has so often been dwelt upon in this and
the preceding Psalms, is here mentioned as the source of man's
attachment to God. How strong are we when the Lord works in us
by his own right hand, and how utterly helpless if he withhold
his aid!
Verse 9. As David earnestly sought for God, so there
were men of another order who as eagerly sought after his blood;
of these he speaks: But those that seek my soul, to destroy it.
At his life they aimed, at his honour, his best welfare; and
this they would not merely injure but utterly ruin. The devil is
a destroyer, and all his seed are greedy to do the same
mischief; and as he has ruined himself by his crafty devices, so
also shall they. Destroyers shall be destroyed. Those who hunt
souls shall be themselves the victims. Shall go into the lower
parts of the earth. Into the pits which they digged for others
they shall fall themselves. The slayers shall be slain, and the
grave shall cover them. The hell which they in their curse
invoked for others shall shut its mouth upon them. Every blow
aimed against the godly will recoil on the persecutor; he who
smites a believer drives a nail in his own coffin.
Verse 10. They shall fall by the sword. So
David's enemies did. They that take the sword shall perish with
the sword; bloody men shall feel their own life gushing forth
from them, when their evil day shall at last come, and they
shall be given up to feel in their own persons the horrors of
death. They shall be a portion for foxes. Too mean to be fit
food for the lions, the foxes shall sniff around their corpses,
and the jackals shall hold carnival over their carcases.
Unburied and unhonoured they shall be meat for the dogs of war.
Frequently have malicious men met with a fate so dire as to be
evidently the award of retributive justice. Although the great
assize is reserved for another world, yet even here, at the
common sessions of providence, justice often bares her avenging
sword in the eyes of all the people.
Verse 11. But the king shall rejoice in God.
Usurpers shall fade, but he shall flourish; and his prosperity
shall be publicly acknowledged as the gift of God. The Lord's
anointed shall not fail to offer his joyful thanksgiving: his
well established throne shall own the superior lordship of the
King of kings; his rejoicing shall be alone in God. When his
subjects sing, "Io triumphe, "he will bid them
chant, "Te Deum." Every one that sweareth by
him shall glory. His faithful followers shall have occasion for
triumph; they shall never need to blush for the oath of their
allegiance. Or, "swearing by him, "may signify
adherence to God, and worship paid to him. The heathen
swore by their gods, and the Israelite called Jehovah to witness
to his asseveration; those, therefore, who owned the Lord as
their God should have reason to glory when he proved himself the
defender of the king's righteous cause, and the destroyer of
traitors. But the mouth of them that speak lies shall be
stopped. And the sooner the better. If shame will not do it, nor
fear, nor reason, then let them be stopped with the sexton's
shovelful of earth; for a liar is a human devil, he is the curse
of men, and accursed of God, who has comprehensively said,
"all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone." See the difference between the
mouth that praises God, and the mouth that forges lies: the
first shall never be stopped, but shall sing on for ever; the
second shall be made speechless at the bar of God. O Lord, we
seek thee and thy truth; deliver us from all malice and slander,
and reveal to us thine own self, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. When he was in the wilderness of Judah.
Even in Canaan, though a fruitful land, and the people numerous,
yet there were wildernesses... It will be so in the world, in
the church, but not in heaven... All the straits and
difficulties of a wilderness must not put us out of tune for
sacred songs; but even then it is our duty and interest to keep
up a cheerful communion with God. There are Psalms proper for a
wilderness; and we have reason to thank God it is the wilderness
of Judah we are in, not the wilderness of Sin. Matthew Henry.
Title. The Wilderness of Judah is the whole
wilderness towards the east of the tribe of Judah, bounded on
the north by the tribe of Benjamin, stretching southward to the
south west end of the Dead Sea; westward, to the Dead Sea and
the Jordan; and eastward to the mountains of Judah. E. W.
Hengstenberg.
Title. The term wilderness rkdm, as
distinguished from hdre, (a steppe) was given to a
district which was not regularly cultivated and inhabited, but
used for pasturage (from rbd, to drive), being generally
without wood and defective in water, but not entirely destitute
of vegetation. J. P. Lange.
Title. Hagar saw God in the wilderness, and called a
well by the name derived from that vision, Beerlahairoi.
Ge 16:13-14. Moses saw God in the wilderness. Ex 3:1-4. Elijah
saw God in the wilderness. 1Ki 19:4-18. David saw God in the
wilderness. The Christian church will see God in the wilderness.
Re 12:6-14. Every devout soul which has loved to see God in his
house will be refreshed by visions of God in the wilderness of
solitude, sorrow, sickness, and death. Christopher
Wordsworth.
Whole Psalm. This is unquestionably one of the most
beautiful and touching Psalms in the whole Psalter. Donne says
of it: "As the whole Book of Psalms is, oleum offusun
(as the spouse speaks of the name of Christ), an ointment poured
out upon all sort of sores, a cerecloth that supplies all
bruises, a balm that searches all wounds; so are there some
certain Psalms that are imperial Psalms, that command over all
affections and spread themselves over all occasions—catholic,
universal Psalms, that apply themselves to all necessities. This
is one of these; for of those constitutions which are called
apostolical, one is that the church should meet every day to
sing this Psalm. And, accordingly, St. Chrysostom testifies,
`That it was decreed and ordained by the primitive Fathers, that
no day should pass without the public singing of this
Psalm.'" J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Whole Psalm. This Psalm is aptly described by Clauss
as "A precious confession of a soul thirsting after God and
his grace, and finding itself quickened through inward communion
with him, and which knows how to commit its outward lot also
into his hand." Its lesson is, that the consciousness of
communion with God in trouble is the sure pledge of deliverance.
This is the peculiar fountain of consolation which is opened up
to the sufferer in the Psalm. The Berleb Bible describes it as a
Psalm "which proceeds from a spirit really in earnest. It
was the favourite Psalm of M. Schade, the famous preacher in
Berlin, which he daily prayed with such earnestness and
appropriation to himself, that it was impossible to hear it
without emotion." E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 1. O God, thou art my God; early will I seek
thee (or, I will diligently seek thee, as merchants precious
stones that are of greatest value): my soul thirsteth for
thee. He doth not say my soul thirsteth for water, but my
soul thirsteth for thee; nor he doth say my soul
thirsteth for the blood of my enemies, but my soul thirsteth for
thee; nor he doth not say my soul thirsteth for
deliverance out of this dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
nor he doth not say my soul thirsteth for a crown, a kingdom,
but my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee.
These words are a notable metaphor, taken from women with child,
to note his earnest, ardent, and strong affections towards God. Thomas
Brooks.
Verse 1. O God. This is a serious word; pity it
should ever be used as a byword. Matthew Henry.
Verse 1. My God in Hebrew is the same word with
which the Lord cried out upon the cross to the Father about the
ninth hour: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" For in Hebrew, this Psalm begins Elohim, Eli.
Now, Elohim is plural, and Eli is singular,
to express the mystery of the Trinity, the mystery of the Unity,
the distinct subsistence of the (three) hypostases, and their
consubstantiality. Psalterium Quin. Fabri stapulensis,
1513.
Verse 1. (first clause). In David we have a
notable example of a sensitive, tender, self analysing soul,
living in sustained communion with God, while deeply sensible of
the claims of the civil and religious polity of Israel, and,
moreover, while externally devoted to a large round of exacting
public duties. And in this Psalm public misfortunes do but force
him back upon the central strength of the life of his spirit.
For the time his crown, his palace, his honours, the hearts of
his people, the love of his child, whom he loved, as we know,
with such passing tenderness, are forfeited. The psalmist is
alone with God. In his hour of desolation he looks up from the
desert to heaven. O God, he cried, thou art my God.
In the original language he does not repeat the word which is
translated God. In Elohim, the true idea of the
root is that of awe, while the adjectival form implies
permanency. In Eli, the second word employed, the
etymological idea is that of might, strength. We might
paraphrase, "O thou Ever awful One, my Strength, or my
Strong God art thou." But the second word, Eli, is
in itself nothing less than a separate revelation of an entire
aspect of the Being of God. It is, indeed, used as a proper and
distinct name of God. The pronomial suffixes for the second and
third persons are, as Gesenius has remarked, never once found
with this name El; whereas Eli, the first person,
occurs very frequently in the Psalter alone. We all of us
remember it in the words actually uttered by our Lord upon the
cross, and which he took from their Syriacised version of Psalm
22. The word unveils a truth unknown beyond the precincts of
revelation. It teaches us that the Almighty and Eternal gives
himself in the fulness of his Being to the soul that seeks him.
Heathenism, indeed, in its cultus of domestic and local deities,
of its penates, of its Oeoi epicwrioi, bore witness by
these superstitions to the deep yearning of the human heart for
the individualizing love of a higher power. To know the true God
was to know that such a craving was satisfied. My God.
The word represents not a human impression, or desire, or
conceit, but an aspect, a truth, a necessity of the divine
nature. Man can, indeed, give himself by halves; he can bestow a
little of his thought, of his heart, of his endeavour, upon his
brother man. In other words, man can be imperfect in his acts as
he is imperfect and finite in his nature. But when God, the
Perfect Being, loves the creature of his hand, he cannot thus
divide his love. He must perforce love with the whole
directness, and strength, and intensity of his Being; for he is
God, and therefore incapable of partial and imperfect action. He
must give himself to the single soul with as absolute a
completeness as if there were no other being besides it, and, on
his side, man knows that this gift of himself by God is thus
entire; and in no narrow spirit of ambitious egotism, but as
grasping and representing the literal fact, he cries, "My
God." Therefore does this word enter so largely into
the composition of Hebrew names. Men loved to dwell upon that
wondrous relation of the Creator to their personal life which is
so strikingly manifested. Therefore, when God had "so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life,
"we find St. Paul writing to the Galatians as if his own
single soul had been redeemed by the sacrifice of Calvary:
"He loved me, and gave himself for me." Henry Parry
Liddon, in "Some Words for God: being Sermons preached
before the University of Oxford, 1863-1865."
Verse 1. (first clause). There is a great deal
more in it than men of the world are aware of; to say, O God,
thou art my God, in this connection and conjunction: there
is more in it in regard of excellency, and there is more in it
in regard of difficulty likewise. It is not an unfruitful thing
to say it, and it is not am easy thing to say it neither. It
confers a great deal of benefit, and requires a great deal of
grace, which belongs unto it, in the truth and reality of it.
The benefit of it, first, is very great; yea, in effect all
things else. To say God is ours, is to say the whole world is
ours, and a great deal more; it is to give us title to
everything which may be requisite or convenient for us. Whatever
we can desire or stand in need of, it is all wrapped up in this,
Thou art my God. But then, again, it is a matter of
difficulty (as those things which are excellent are). It is a
thing which is not so easily said as the world imagines it and
thinks it to be. Indeed, it is easy to the mouth, but it is not
easy to the heart. It is easy to have a fancy to say it, but it
is not to have a faith to say it: this carries some kind of
hardship with it, and is not presently attained unto; but the
mind of man withdraws from it. There are two states and
conditions in which it is very difficult to say, O God, thou
art my God: the one is the state of nature and unregeneracy;
and the other is the state of desertion, and the hiding of God's
face from the soul. Thomas Horton (1673).
Verse 1. (second clause). The relations of God
to his people are not bare and empty titles, but they carry some
activity with them, both from him towards them, and from them
also answerably towards him. Those whom God is a God to, he
bestows special favours upon them; and those to whom God is a
God, they return special services to him. And so we shall find
it to be all along in Scripture, as this David in another place:
"Thou art my God, and I will praise thee; thou art my Lord,
I will exalt thee." Ps 118:28. And so here: Thou art my
God; early will I seek thee. While the servants of God have
claimed any interest in him, they have also exhibited duty to
him. The text is an expression not only of faith, but likewise
of obedience, and so to be looked upon by us. Thomas Horton.
Verse 1. Early; in the morning, before all
things, God is to be sought, otherwise he is sought in vain: as
the manna, unless collected at early dawn, dissolves. Simon
de Muis.
Verse 1. My soul thirsteth for thee. Oh that
Christ would come near, and stand still, and give me leave to
look upon him! for to look seemeth the poor man's privilege,
since he may, for nothing and without hire, behold the sun. I
should have a king's life, if I had no other thing to do than
for evermore to behold and eye my fair Lord Jesus: nay, suppose
I were holden out at heaven's fair entry, I should be happy for
evermore, to look through a hole in the door, and see my dearest
and fairest Lord's face. O great King! why standest thou aloof?
Why remainest thou beyond the mountains? O Well beloved, why
dost thou pain a poor soul with delays? A long time out of thy
glorious presence is two deaths and two hells to me. We must
meet. I must see him, I dow (Am not able to do without him.) not
want him. Hunger and longing for Christ hath brought on such a
necessity of enjoying Christ that I will not, I dow not want
him; for I cannot master nor command Christ's love. Samuel
Rutherford (1600-1661).
Verse 1. My flesh, that is, my bodily sensitive
appetite, which thirsts, ardently longs for consolation, which
it receives from the abounding of spiritual consolation to the
soul. This meaning greatly pleases me. God giveth the upper and
the nether springs. Rebekah, after drawing water in her pitcher,
for Eliezer, Abraham's servant, added, "I will draw
water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking, "Ge
24:19. Jacob dug a well near to Sychar, which was afterwards
called Samaria, and as the woman of Samaria said, "drank
thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle, "
Joh 4:12. When Moses with the rod smote the rock twice, "the
water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their
beasts also, "Nu 20:11. So God satisfies with this
consolation both our higher and lower nature. Thomas Le
Blanc.
Verse 1. My flesh longeth for thee. The verb
hmk is used only in this place, and therefore signification of
it is rather uncertain, but it will receive light from the
Arabic dialect. In Golius's Lexicon it signifies caligavit
oculus, alteratus colore, et mente debilitatus fuit. His eye
grew dim, his colour was changed, and his mind was weakened; and
therefore, as used by the psalmist, implies the utmost
intenseness of fervency of desire, as though it almost impaired
his sight, altered the very hue of his body, and even injured
his understanding; effects sometimes of eager and unsatisfied
desires. Samuel Chandler.
Verse 1. In a dry. Here we must read uyrak (Keeretz),
instead of nyrak (Beeretz), for it is, like this, and
not, in this (which has no force), even like this dry,
wearied, and waterless region; so am I for seeing thee in the
sanctuary, for beholding thy power and thy glory. Benjamin
Weiss, in a "New Translation of the Book of the Psalms,
with Critical Notes, "etc. 1858. Weiss appears to have
the authority of several MSS for this, but he seldom errs in the
direction of too little dogmatism. C. H. S.
Verses 1-2. O God, thou art my God. He embraces him at
first word, as we used to do friends at first meeting. Early
will I seek thee, says he: my soul thirsteth for thee, my
flesh (that is, myself) longeth for thee in a dry and
thirsty land, where no water is. Surely, David had some
extraordinary business now with God to be done for himself, as
it follows (Ps 63:2): To see thy power and thy glory, so as I
have seen thee in the sanctuary; where God had met him, and
manifested himself to him... The very sight of a friend
rejoiceth a man (Pr 27:17): "As iron sharpeneth iron, so
doth a man the face of his friend." It alone whets up joy
by a sympathy of spirits; and in answer hereunto it is
characteristically to God's people called the seeking of God's
face, that is, himself, for so his face is taken: "Thou
shalt have no other gods before my face; "that is, thou
shalt have myself, or none but myself. Personal communion with
God is the end of our graces; for as reason and the intercourse
of it makes men sociable one with another, so the divine nature
makes us sociable with God himself: and the life we live by is
but an engine, a glass to bring God down to us. Thomas
Goodwin.
Verses 1-2. O God, thou art my God. See Psalms on
"Ps 63:1" for further information.
Verse 2. To see thy power, etc.
1. It is, or should be, the desire of every Christian to see
and enjoy more and more of the glory of God.
2. That the accomplishment of this design is to be sought by
a devout and diligent attendance upon the worship of the
sanctuary. How is God's character in the sanctuary manifested to
believers?
(a) By the ministry of reconciliation—by the exhibition of
gospel truth.
(b) Believers grow in their knowledge of the divine character
in the sanctuary, by observing and feeling the application of
those great doctrines to the souls of men, by the power and
influence of the Holy Spirit.
3. The effects that result to the believer in his history and
experience, from an increasing knowledge of the power and glory
of God. The effects of this knowledge are great and manifold.
(a) The believer, by fresh displays of the divine glory, is
disenchanted from the fascination of the world.
(b) Another effect of an increasing acquaintance with God,
and of every view of the divine glory we obtain, is that the
mind is disentangled from the embarrassments into which it is
sometimes thrown by the aspect of providence.
(c) By seeing the divine power and glory in the sanctuary, we
shall have our strength renewed to go on our Christian course
afresh.
4. A view of the divine glory crucifies our lusts, and puts
the corruptions of our heart to death.
5. Fresh views of the divine power and glory nourish our
humility.
6. These views of the divine glory in the sanctuary arm us
for our conflict with the last enemy.
Concluding remarks:
1. That it is a characteristic of every good man, that he is
devoutly attached to the solemnities of public worship.
2. That his object in going to the sanctuary is definite and
distinct. John Angell James.
Verse 2. So as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
To converse with ordinances, and not to converse with God; to
have to do with ordinances, and not to have to do with God,
alas! they are but dry breasts, and a miscarrying womb that will
never bring forth the fruits of holiness. Ordinances without God
are but like bones that have no marrow in them; they are but
like shells without a kernel. Your hearing will be in vain; and
your praying will be in vain; there will be no spirit moving, no
voice answering, no heart warnings, no soul refreshing, no God
meetings. William Strong (1654), in the "Saints'
Communion."
Verse 2. God's glory is in the firmament, in all the
creatures, but more especially and fully in the church. Ps 29:9,
"In his temple doth every one speak of his glory;
"there it is most visible, affecting, and provoking of
every one to speak. In the world few take notice of it, but in
the temple every one sees it, and speaks of it. The world is God
opened, and so glorious; the church is Christ opened, and so
very glorious. This made David long to be in the sanctuary when
he was in the wilderness; and why so? To see thy power and
thy glory. Could not David see them in the heavens, in the
mountains, in the goodly cedars, and other works of God? Yes,
but not as in the sanctuary; and therefore he saith, To see
thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the
sanctuary; there I have seen thee otherwise than ever
elsewhere; there he saw the king upon his throne and in his
glory. William Greenhill.
Verse 3. Thy lovingkindness is better than life;
or, better than lives, as the Hebrew hath it (chaiim).
Divine favour is better than life; it is better than life with
all its revenues, with all its appurtenances, as honours,
riches, pleasures, applause, etc.; yea, it is better than many
lives put together. Now you know at what a high rate men value
their lives; they will bleed, sweat, vomit, purge, part with an
estate, yea, with a limb, yea, limbs, to preserve their lives.
As he cried out, "Give me any deformity, any torment, any
misery, so you spare my life." Now, though life be so dear
and precious to a man, yet a deserted soul prizes the returnings
of divine favour upon him above life, yea, above many lives.
Many men have been weary of their lives, as is evident in
Scripture and history; but no man was ever yet found that was
weary of the love and favour of God. No man sets so high a price
upon the sun as he that hath long lain in a dark dungeon, etc. Thomas
Brooks.
Verse 3. Thy lovingkindness is better than life.
The love of life is a very frequent and pernicious snare, which
a sense of God's love must deliver us from being entangled by.
What so desirable as life, if a man have no place in the heart
of God? This is the greatest temporal blessing, and nothing can
outdo it, but the favour of the God of our life; and this excels
indeed. What comparison is there between the breath in our
nostrils, and the favour of an eternal God? any more than there
is between an everlasting light and a poor vanishing vapour.
Compare Isa 60:19, with Jas 4:14. Who would not, therefore, hate
his own life, which hangs in doubt continually before him, and
of which he can have no assurance, when he knows that the living
God is his certain portion? Who would not freely yield up and
part with ten thousand such lives, one after another (if he had
so many), rather than the wrath of God should be kindled but a
little. Timothy Cruso (1657-1697).
Verse 3. (first clause). God's mercy is
better than lives. What lives? Those which for themselves
men have chosen. One hath chosen for himself a life of business,
another a country life, another a life of usury, another a
military life; one this, another that. Divers are the lives, but
better is thy life than our lives. Better
is that which thou givest to men amended, than that which
perverse men choose? One life thou givest, which should be
preferred to all our lives, whatsoever in the world we might
have chosen. Augustine.
Verse 3. Life is an impure good. It is a
good which is implicated and involved with abundance of evils.
There are many crosses, and troubles, and calamities, which the
life of man is subject unto; which, though it have some comfort
in it, yet that comfort is much troubled and mixed yea, but now
the favour of God it is good, and nothing but good. As it is
said of his blessing, it adds no sorrow with it, nor has it any
inconvenience in it, nor has it any evil attendant upon it. Thomas
Horton.
Verse 3. My lips shall praise thee. Is it
possible that any man should love another and not commend him,
nor speak of him? If thou hast but a hawk or a hound that thou
lovest, thou wilt commend it; and can it stand with love to
Christ, yet seldom or never to speak of him nor of his love,
never to commend him unto others, that they may fall in love
with him also? You shall see the Spouse (Canticles 5:9, 16) when
she was asked, what her beloved was above others? she
sets him out in every part of him, and concludes with this: "he
is altogether lovely:" because thy lovingkindness (saith
David) is better than life, my lips shall praise thee, and I
will bless thee while I live. Can it stand with this life of
love, to be always speaking about worldly affairs, or news at
the best; both weekday and Sabbath day, in bed and at board, in
good company and in bad, at home and abroad? I tell you, it will
be one main reason why you desire to live, that you may make the
Lord Jesus known to your children, friends, acquittance, that so
in the ages to come his name might ring, and his memorial might
be of sweet odour, from generation to generation. Ps 71:18. If
before thy conversion, especially, thou hast poisoned others by
thy vain and corrupt speeches, after thy conversion thou wilt
seek to season the hearts of others by a gracious, sweet, and
wise communication of savoury and blessed speeches; what the
Lord hath taught thee thou wilt talk of it unto others, for the
sake of him whom thou lovest. Thomas Sheppard (1605-1649), in
"The Sound Believer."
Verses 3-6. David exalts lovingkindness as a
queen above all other, even the most precious, blessings
bestowed upon him, because thy lovingkindness is better than
(above) life. Around her throne he places seven members of
his body and faculties of his mind, as the seven chief angels...
who stand before the Lord, that they may praise and admire her;
these are his lips, his tongue, his hands, his will, his mouth,
his memory, and his intellect. For first, he extols the
lovingkindness of God with his lips (Ps 63:3): My lips shall
praise thee. Secondly, with his tongue (Ps 63:4): Thus
will I bless thee while I live. Thirdly, with his hands: I
will lift up my hands in thy name. Fourthly, with his will
(Ps 63:5): MY soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and
fatness. Fifthly, with his mouth: And my mouth shall
praise thee with joyful lips. Sixthly, with his memory (Ps
63:6): When I remember thee upon my bed. Seventhly, and
lastly, with his intellect: And meditate on thee in the night
watches. Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 6. When I remember thee upon my bed, (and)
meditate on thee in the night watches. Thus the English
version connects this verse with Ps 63:5. But the division of
the strophes renders the following translation preferable,
which, moreover, obviates the need of supplying "and:"
Whenever I remember thee upon my bed, I meditate on thee in
the night watches. The remembrance of thee on my bed so
engrosses me, that I cannot draw my mind off the thought, so as
to fall into the obliviousness of sleep; I often meditate on
thee through the whole night watches. So Ps 119:55,148 1:2. The
Hebrew is beds; probably alluding to the fact that in his
unsettled life in exile, he seldom slept for many nights in the
same bed, but through fear of adversaries slept in different
places. There were three night watches: the first (La
2:19); the middle (Jud 7:19); the third, or morning
watch (Ex 19:24 1Sa 2:11). In the New Testament, the Roman
usage of four prevails. A. R. Faussett.
Verse 6. Remember—and meditate. The meditation
of anything hath more sweetness in it than bare remembrance. The
memory is the chest to lay up a truth, but meditation is the
palate to feed upon it. The memory is like the ark in which the
manna was laid up; meditation is like Israel's eating of the
manna. When David began to meditate upon God, it was sweet
to him as marrow. There is as much difference between a truth
remembered and a truth meditated, as between a cordial in the
glass and a cordial drunk down. John Wells (1668), in
"Sabbath Holiness."
Verse 6. Upon my bed. The bed may be
looked upon as a place for the remembrance of God in it,
according to a threefold notion.
1. As a place of choice. In the bed, of choice, rather
than anywhere else, where I am left to my liberty. David when he
had a mind to remember God, he would make choice of his bed for
it, as most suitable and agreeable to it. In case of excessive
weariness contracted to the body from some occasion (this is
often put accidentally in Scripture), "To commune with our
hearts upon our bed, "etc., the occasion of it here; it may
fall out that the bed may be the fittest place for such a duty
as this. Ps 4:4.
2. As it is a place of necessity. In my bed at least,
when I cannot anywhere else, as having restraints upon me.
David, when (as now it was with him) he was detained from the
public ordinances, whether by sickness, or any other impediment
which he could not withstand, yet he would not now wholly forget
God; he would remember him even in his bed. This is another
notion in which we may take it.
3. As a place of indifference; that is, there as well
as anywhere besides. I will not only remember thee when I am up,
when I shall make it my business to remember thee, but even in
my bed too. I will take an occasion and opportunity to remember
thee there. By commending myself to thee, when I lie down to
rest, and acknowledging and owning of thee when I first awake. Thomas
Horton.
Verse 6. There were night watches kept in the
tabernacle, for praising God (Ps 134:1), which it is probable
David, when he had liberty, joined with the Levites in: but now
he could not keep place with them, he kept time with them, and
wished himself among them. Matthew Henry.
Verse 8. My soul followeth hard after thee.
This is the language of a good man in his worst frames; for when
he has lost his nearness to God, he will be uneasy till he has
again obtained it, and will follow after it with all his might.
It is also his language in his best frames; for when he knows
and enjoys most of God, he wants to know and enjoy more. But it
may especially be considered as the language of an afflicted and
seeking soul, not sinking under its burden, but earnestly
breathing after deliverance, and supported by the prospect of
obtaining it. Hence it follows, Thy right hand upholdeth
me...
I shall consider what is implied in the soul's following hard
after God, and then enquire the reason of it.
1. Following hard after God supposes,
(a) A previous acquaintance with him. An unknown good, be it
ever so desirable in itself, cannot be the object of desire.
Hence, when God shines into the heart, it is to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ, as the foundation of all gracious exercises, and
especially as the source of all fervent desires after him.
(b) Following hard after God is expressive of ardent and
intense desires. It does not consist in cold and languid wishes,
but insatiable longings after communion with God and conformity
to his will.
(c) It implies laborious exertion. My soul followeth, it
followeth hard after thee. Not earth nor heaven merely is
the object of pursuit, but God himself. And the desires of a
truly renewed soul are not sluggish and ineffectual; they lead
him to the use of all appointed means, and to the exertion of
his utmost endeavours till the object be attained.
(d) Perseverance in seeking. To follow implies this,
and to follow hard implies it more strongly. It is as if
the psalmist had said, "Does God retire? I will pursue.
Does he withhold the blessing? I will wrestle with him till I
obtain it. He long waited to be gracious, and I will now wait
till he is so."
2. We are to enquire the reason why David thus followed hard
after God.
(a) Guilt and distress followed hard after him.
(b) His enemies also followed hard after him. Satan did so,
and once and again caused him to stumble and fall.
(c) He had followed hard after other things to no purpose.
(d) We may add the powerful attractions of divine grace. Condensed
from Benjamin Beddome's Sermon, "The Christian's Pursuit,
" in "Short Discourses," 1809.
Verse 8. My soul followeth hard after thee.
kyrha hqbd The primary sense of qbd is agglutinavit, to
glue together; from thence it signifies figuratively to associate,
to adhere to, to be united with; and particularly to be firmly
united with strong affection. "Therefore shall a man leave
his father and mother, wyvak qbdw, and cleave to his wife;
"properly, be closely united and compacted with his wife,
with the most permanent affection. Ge 2:24. The psalmist,
therefore, means that his soul adhered to God with the warmest
affection, and longed to offer up his sacrifice of praise in his
sanctuary. Samuel Chandler.
Verse 8. My soul followeth hard after thee.
tqkd, adhaesit, adherescit anima mea post te: My soul
cleaves after thee, as do things which hang by another; the root
is of so great frequency in Scripture, as of enquiry amongst
critics; it imports here the posture of David's spirit, and
speaketh it close to God; and so depending upon him, as nothing
could loosen it from him: Satan's subtlety, Saul's cruelty, his
own personal loss and indemnity, are not all of them of any
force or dexterity, to cut asunder or untie the Gordian knot of
this unity. The cleaving of David's spirit was a gluing of the
Lord's spirit: a marriage of the Lord's making is altogether
incapable of the devil's breaking. It is no wonder David's words
report him so much devoted to God, seeing with the same breath
they speak him supported by God; Thy right hand upholdeth me,
saith he. Alexander Pringle, in "A Stay in Trouble; or
the Saint's Rest in the Evil Day," 1657.
Verse 8. My soul followeth hard after thee. The
original is kyrxa yvkg My soul cleaves after thee. As if
he had said, Go, lead on, my God! Behold, I follow as near, as
close, as I can; e vestigio; I would not leave any
distance, but pursue thy footsteps, step by step, leaning upon
thine everlasting arms, that are underneath me, and following
thy manuduction. John Gibbon, in "The Morning
Exercises," 1661.
Verse 8. The soul's following, and following hard
after God—what means this? Surely it intends much more than a
languid, inert inclination; or "the desire of the slothful
which killeth him, because his hands refuse to labour." It
evinces an intenseness of concern that quickens and rouses the
man into life and earnestness; that draws his very soul along
with it; that reconciles him to every needful exertion and
sacrifice, however trying; and urges him to persevere, whatever
difficulties or discouragements he meets with in his course. And
sometimes the distance is long, and the progress up hill, and
the road rough, and the weather unfriendly, and enemies would
thrust us back; and sometimes we lose sight of him, and ask
those we meet: "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" and
when we spy him again, he seems to advance as we advance, and
when we gain upon him and get nearer, he seems to look back and
frown, and tell us to retire. The exercises and feelings of
Christians in the divine life will enable them to explain these
allusions. Who among them all has not, like the Jews, been
sometimes "discouraged because of the way?" Who has
not resembled Barak's adherents—"Faith, yet
pursuing?" Who has not frequently said, My soul
followeth hard after thee? William Jay.
Verses 9-10. If the psalmist's divine longing was
unquenched, so also was his faith; and in the latter part of the
psalm he foretells with full assurance the final overthrow of
his enemies. Nor did his denunciations fail to meet with a
certain accuracy of fulfilment even in the battle by which his
own deliverance was effected. The armies encountered in the wood
of Ephraim, across the Jordan; there was "a greater
slaughter that day of twenty thousand men; ""and the
wood devoured more people that day than the sword
devoured." That David's words concerning the lower parts
of the earth, and the sword, and the foxes,
had not been idly spoken: the pitfalls of the forest, and the
swords of the royal pursuers, and the wild beasts that had there
made their lairs, all effectually did their work; and the fate
of the rebel army was shared by their leader, who, caught in the
thick boughs of the oak, pierced through the heart by Joab, and
cut down by his attendants, received no further funeral honours
than to be cast "into a great pit in the wood, "and
have "a very great heap of stones" laid upon him to
cover him. Joseph Francis Thrupp, in "An Introduction to
the Study and Use of the Psalms," 1860.
Verse 10. They shall fall. The word is
ordinarily applied to water. 2Sa 14:14 La 3:49. But here,
by the immediate mention of the sword, it is restrained
to the effusion of blood, and being in the third person
plural, in the active sense, it is after the Hebrew idiom to be
interpreted in the passive sense, they shall pour out by the
hand of the sword, i.e., they shall be poured out by the sword,
the hand of the sword being no more than the edge
of the sword. Henry Hammond.
Verse 10. They shall be a portion for foxes.
Beasts were given to men for their food, but here men are given
to beasts for a prey. A lamentable spectacle to see the vilest
of all creatures ravenously feast themselves with the flesh of
the noblest, and irrespectively hale and tear in pieces the
caskets which whilome enclosed the richest jewel in the world.
Is it not against the law of nature that men should become
beasts' meat; yea, the meat of such beasts as are carrion, and
not man's meat? Questionless it is, yet nature giveth her
consent to this kind of punishment of unnatural crimes. For it
is consonant to reason, that the law of nature should be broken
in their punishment who brake it in their sin; that they who
devoured men like beasts should be devoured of beasts like men,
that they who with their hands offered unnatural violence to
their sovereign should suffer the like by the claws and teeth of
wild beasts, their slaves; that they who bear a fox in their
breast in their life, should be entombed in the belly of a fox
at their death. St. Austin, expounding this whole prophecy of
Christ, yieldeth a special reason of this judgment of God by
which the Jews were condemned to foxes. The Jews, saith he,
therefore killed Christ that they might not lose their country;
but, indeed, they therefore lost their country because they
killed Christ; because they refused the Lamb, and chose Herod
the fox before him, therefore by the just retribution of the
Almighty, they were allotted to the foxes for their portion.
Notwithstanding this allusion of St. Austin to foxes in special,
Jansenius and other expositors extend this grant in my text to
all wild beasts and fowls, which are, as it were, impatient with
the fox, and have full power and liberty given them to seize
upon the corpses of traitors to God and their country; but foxes
bear the name because they abound in those parts where was such
store of them, that Samson in a short time, with a wet finger,
caught three hundred. Daniel Featley, D.D., in "Clavis
Mystica," 1636.
Verse 10. They shall be a portion for foxes. If
the body of a human being were to be left on the ground, the jackals
would certainly leave but little traces of it; and in the olden
times of warfare, they must have held high revelry in the battle
fields after the armies had retired. It is to this propensity of
the jackal that David refers—himself a man of war, who
had fought on many a battle field, and must have seen the
carcases of the slain mangled by those nocturnal prowlers. J.
G. Wood.
Verse 10. What a doom is that which David pronounces
upon those who seek the soul of the righteous to destroy it: They
shall be a portion for foxes; by which jackals are
meant, as I suppose. These sinister, guilty, woebegone brutes,
when pressed with hunger, gather in gangs among the graves, and
yell in rage, and fight like fiends over their midnight orgies;
but on the battle field is their great carnival. Oh! let me
never even dream that any one dear to me has fallen by the
sword, and lies there to be torn, and gnawed at, and dragged
about by these hideous howlers. W. M. Thomson, D.D., in
"The Land and the Book," 1861.
Verse 11. Every one that sweareth by him, i.e.,
to David, that comes into his interest, and takes an oath of
allegiance to him, shall glory in his success. Or, that
swears by him, i.e., by the blessed name of God, and not by
any idol. De 6:15. And then it means all good people that make a
sincere and open profession of God's name: they shall glory in
God; they shall glory in David's advancement: "They that
fear thee will be glad when they see me." They that
heartily espouse the cause of Christ, shall glory in its victory
at last. "If we suffer with him, we shall reign with
him." Matthew Henry.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. (first clause). While the Atheist
says, "No God, "and the heathen worship "gods
many, "the true believer says, "O God, thou art my
God." He is so,
1. By choice.
2. By covenant.
3. By confession.
Verse 1. (second clause). Seeking God early.
1. Early in respect of life.
2. Early in respect of diligence.
3. Early in respect of (fervour.)
4. Early in respect of times or continuance.
Alexander Shanks.
Verse 1. (second clause). Earnest seeking.
That which is longed for will be eagerly sought.
1. The soul is resolute. I will seek.
2. The soul is reasonable. I will seek.
3. The soul is ready. Early will I.
4. The soul is persevering.
Let this be the resolution of both saved and unsaved. G.
J. K.
Verse 3.
1. Love's resolution. My lips shall praise thee.
(a) To praise. This is congenial to the renewed
nature. It delights not in grumbling, reproaching, or scolding.
Praise expresses appreciation, gratitude, happiness, affection.
(b) To praise God.
(c) To praise God practically. My lips. By speaking
well to him; by speaking well of him; of his
wisdom, justice, love, grace, etc.
(d) To praise God continually. As long as I live, etc.
2. Love's reason. Because thy lovingkindness. Love
must praise God because—
(a) It owes its existence to him. "We love him because
he first loved us."
(b) Because it is fostered by him. "The love of God is
shed abroad, "etc.
(c) Because the expressions of his love demand praise.
"Kindness" to needy, helpless, lost. Lovingkindness,
not wounding our natures. Better than life; either the
principle, pleasures, or pursuits of life. G. J. K.
Verse 3. Thy lovingkindness is better than life.
1. Love enjoyed with life.
2. Love compared with life.
3. Love preferred to life. G. J. K.
Verses 5-6.
1. The empty vessel filled. How? By meditation. With
what? God's goodness as marrow and fatness. To what extent?
Satisfaction.
2. The full vessel running over. My mouth shall praise
thee with joyful lips. The soul overflows with
praise—joyful praise. G. J. K.
Verses 5-6. Describe the nature of, and show the
intimate connection between 1. the believer's employments and 2.
his enjoyments. J. S. Bruce.
Verse 7. A well founded resolve.
1. Upon what based.
2. How expressed. J. S. B.
Verse 8.
1. The soul's pursuit after God. It follows, (a) In
desire. (b) In action. (c) Earnestly. (d) Quickly. (e) Closely.
2. The soul's support. Thy right hand upholdeth me,
the arm of strength. In doing and bearing. G. J. K.
Verse 8. "A mighty hunter before the Lord."
1. The object of pursuit: Thee.
2. The manner of pursuit: Hard after.
3. The dangers encountered. J. S. B.
Verse 8. (second clause). God's right hand
upholds his people three ways.
1. As to sin; lest they should fall by it.
2. As to suffering; lest they should sink under it.
3. As to duty; lest they should decline from it. W.
Jay.
Verses 9-10.
1. The enemies of the Christian. Evil spirits, evil men, evil
habits, etc., etc.
2. Their intent. To destroy the soul.
3. Their fall. Certain, shameful, destructive.
4. Their future. Hell is reserved for them G. J. K.
Verse 11. Three topics.
1. Royal rejoicing.
2. Lawful swearing.
3. Evil speaking.
WORKS UPON THE SIXTY-THIRD PSALM
CHANDLER'S "Life of David"
contains an Exposition of this Psalm. Vol. 1, pp. 130-4.
"An Exposition of the 63 Psalm, "in
eight Sermons, in "Choice and Practical Expositions on
four Select Psalms... By THOMAS HORTON, D.D., 1675."
(Folio.)
Twelve Sermons (on Ps 63:1-8) in
"Sermons on various Practical Subjects. By ALEXANDER
SHANKS (1731-1799), late Minister of the Associate Congregation
of Jedburgh, Edinburgh, 1081."