TITLE. This title is very similar to many
we have before studied. To the Chief Musician. It is
consigned to the care of the usual overseer of song. When a man
does his work well, there is no use in calling in others for
novelty's sake. A Psalm and song of David. The
Hebrew calls it a Shur and Mizmor, a combination of psalm
and song, which may be best described by the term, "A
Lyrical Poem." In this case the Psalm may be said or sung,
and be equally suitable. We have had two such Psalms before,
Psalms 30 and 48, and we have now the first of a little series
of four following each other. It was meant that Psalms of
pleading and longing should be followed by hymns of praise.
SUBJECT AND DIVISION. David sings of
the glory of God in his church, and in the fields of nature:
here is the song both of grace and providence. It may be that he
intended hereby to commemorate a remarkably plentiful harvest,
or to compose a harvest hymn for all ages. It appears to have
been written after a violent rebellion had been quelled, Ps
65:7, and foreign enemies had been subdued by signal victory, Ps
65:8. It is one of the most delightful hymns in any language. We
shall view in Ps 65:1-4 the way of approach to God, then from Ps
65:5-8 we shall see the Lord in answer to prayer performing
wonders for which he is praised, and then from Ps 65:9-13 we
shall sing the special harvest song.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion.
Though Babylon adores Antichrist, Zion remains faithful to her
King; to him, and to him only, she brings her perpetual oblation
of worship. Those who have seen in Zion the blood of sprinkling,
and know themselves to belong to the church of the firstborn,
can never think of her without presenting humble praise to
Zion's God; his mercies are too numerous and precious to be
forgotten. The praises of the saints wait for a signal from the
divine Lord, and when he shows his face they burst forth at
once. Like a company of musicians gathered to welcome and honour
a prince, who wait till he makes his appearance, so do we
reserve our best praises till the Lord reveals himself in the
assembly of his saints; and, indeed, till he shall descend from
heaven in the day of his appearing. Praise also waits like a
servant or courtier in the royal halls—gratitude is humble and
obedient. Praise attends the Lord's pleasure, and continues to
bless him, whether he shows tokens of present favour or no; she
is not soon wearied, but all through the night she sings on in
sure hope that the morning cometh. We shall continue to wait on,
tuning our harps, amid the tears of earth; but O what harmonies
will those be which we will pour forth, when the home bringing
is come, and the King shall appear in his glory. The passage may
be rendered "praise is silent for thee; "it is calm,
peaceful, and ready to adore thee in quietness. Or, it may mean,
our praise is but silence compared with thy deservings, O God.
Or, in solemn silence we worship thee, because our praise cannot
be uttered; accept, therefore, our silence as praise. Or, we are
so engrossed in thy praise, that to all other things we are
dumb; we have no tongue for anything but thee. Perhaps the poet
best expressed the thought of the psalmist when he said—
"A sacred reverence checks our songs,
And praise sits silent on our tongues."
Certainly, when the soul is most filled with adoring awe, she
is least content with her own expressions, and feels most deeply
how inadequate are all mortal songs to proclaim the divine
goodness. A church, bowed in silent adoration by a profound
sense of divine mercy, would certainly offer more real praise
than the sweetest voices aided by pipes and strings; yet, vocal
music is not to be neglected, for this sacred hymn was meant to
be sung. It is well before singing to have the soul placed in a
waiting attitude, and to be humbly conscious that our best
praise is but silence compared with Jehovah's glory. And unto
thee shall the vow be performed. Perhaps a special vow made
during a season of drought and political danger. Nations and
churches must be honest and prompt in redeeming their promises
to the Lord, who cannot be mocked with impunity. So, too, must
individuals. We are not to forget our vows, or to redeem them to
be seen of men—unto God alone must they be performed,
with a single eye to his acceptance. Believers are all under
covenant, which they made at conversion, and have renewed upon
being baptised, joining the church, and coming to the table, and
some of them are under special pledges which they entered into
under peculiar circumstances; these are to be piously and
punctually fulfilled. We ought to be very deliberate in
promising, and very punctilious in performing. A vow unkept will
burn the conscience like a hot iron. Vows of service, of
donation, of praise, or whatever the may be, are no trifles; and
in the day of grateful praise they should, without fail, be
fulfilled to the utmost of our power.
Verse 2. O thou that hearest prayer. This is
thy name, thy nature, thy glory. God not only has heard, but is
now hearing prayer, and always must hear prayer, since he is an
immutable being and never changes in his attributes. What a
delightful title for the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! Every right and sincere prayer is as surely heard as it
is offered. Here the psalmist brings in the personal pronoun thou,
and we beg the reader to notice how often "thou,
""thee, "and "thy, "occur in this hymn;
David evidently believed in a personal God, and did not adore a
mere idea or abstraction. Unto thee shall all flesh come. This
shall encourage men of all nations to become suppliants to the
one and only God, who proves his Deity by answering those who
seek his face. Flesh they are, and therefore weak; frail and
sinful, they need to pray; and thou art such a God as they need,
for thou art touched with compassion, and dost condescend to
hear the cries of poor flesh and blood. Many come to thee now in
humble faith, and are filled with good, but more shall be drawn
to thee by the attractiveness of thy love, and at length the
whole earth shall bow at thy feet. To come to God is the life of
true religion; we come weeping in conversion, hoping in
supplication, rejoicing in praise, and delighting in service.
False gods must in due time lose their deluded votaries, for man
when enlightened will not be longer be fooled; but each one who
tries the true God is encouraged by his own success to persuade
others also, and so the kingdom of God comes to men, and men
come to it.
Verse 3. Iniquities prevail against me. Others
accuse and slander me, and in addition to my own sins rise up
and would beset me to my confusion, were it not for the
remembrance of the atonement which covers every one of my
iniquities. Our sins would, but for grace, prevail against us in
the court of divine justice, in the court of conscience, and in
the battle of life. Unhappy is the man who despises these
enemies, and worse still is he who counts them his friends! He
is best instructed who knows their deadly power, and flees for
refuge to him who pardons iniquity. As for our transgressions,
thou shalt purge them away. Thou dost cover them all, for thou
hast provided a covering propitiation, a mercyseat which wholly
covers thy law. Note the word our, the faith of the one
penitent who speaks for himself in the first clause, here
embraces all the faithful in Zion; and he is so persuaded of the
largeness of forgiving love that he leads all the saints to sing
of the blessing. What a comfort that iniquities that prevail
against us, do not prevail against God. They would keep us away
from God, but he sweeps them away from before himself and us;
they are too strong for us, but not for our Redeemer, who is
mighty, yea, and almighty to save. It is worthy of note that as
the priest washed in the laver before he sacrificed, so David
leads us to obtain purification from sin before we enter upon
the service of song. When we have washed our robes and made them
white in his blood, then shall we acceptably sing, "Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain."
Verse 4. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and
causest to approach unto thee. After cleansing comes
benediction, and truly this is a very rich one. It comprehends
both election, effectual calling, access, acceptance, and
sonship. First, we are chosen of God, according to the good
pleasure of his will, and this alone is blessedness. Then, since
we cannot and will not come to God of ourselves, he works
graciously in us, and attracts us powerfully; he subdues our
unwillingness, and removes our inability by the almighty
workings of his transforming grace. This also is no slight
blessedness. Furthermore, we, by his divine drawings, are made
nigh by the blood of his Son, and brought near by his spirit,
into intimate fellowship; so that we have access with boldness,
and are no longer as those who are afar off by wicked works:
here also is unrivalled blessedness. To crown all, we do not
come nigh in peril of dire destruction, as Nadab and Abihu did,
but we approach as chosen and accepted ones, to become dwellers
in the divine household: this is heaped up blessedness, vast
beyond conception. But dwelling in the house we are treated as
sons, for the servant abideth not in the house for ever, but the
son abideth ever. Behold what manner of love and blessedness the
Father has bestowed upon us that we may dwell in his house, and
go no more out for ever. Happy men who dwell at home with God.
May both writer and reader be such men. That he may dwell in thy
courts. Acceptance leads to abiding: God does not make a
temporary choice, or give and take; his gifts and calling are
without repentance. He who is once admitted to God's courts
shall inhabit them for ever; he shall be
"No more a stranger or a guest,
But like a child at home."
Permanence gives preciousness. Terminating blessings are but
half blessings. To dwell in the courts of the Great King is to
be ennobled; to dwell there for ever is to be emparadised: yet
such is the portion of every man whom God has chosen and caused
to approach unto him, though once his iniquities prevailed
against him.
Verse 5. By terrible things in righteousness wilt
thou answer us, O God of our salvation. God's memorial is
that he hears prayer, and his glory is that he answers it in a
manner fitted to inspire awe in the hearts of his people. The
saints, in the commencement of the Psalm, offered praise in
reverential silence; and now, in the like awe stricken spirit,
they receive answers to their prayers. The direct allusion here
is, no doubt, to the Lord's overthrow of the enemies of his
people in ways calculated to strike terror into all beholders;
his judgments in their severe righteousness were calculated to
excite fear both among friends and foes. Who would not fear a
God whose blows are so crushing? We do not always know what we
are asking for when we pray; when the answer comes, the
veritable answer, it is possible that we may be terrified by it.
We seek sanctification, and trial will be the reply: we ask for
more faith, and more affliction is the result: we pray for the
spread of the gospel, and persecution scatters us. Nevertheless,
it is good to ask on, for nothing which the Lord grants in his
love can do us any harm. Terrible things will turn out to be
blessed things after all, where they come in answer to prayer.
See in this verse how righteousness and salvation are united,
the terrible things with the gracious answers. Where but in
Jesus could they be blended? The God who saves may answer our
prayers in a way which puts unbelief into a flutter; but when
faith spies the Saviour, she remembers that "things are not
what they seem, "and she is of good courage. He who is
terrible is also our refuge from terror when we see him in the
Well beloved.
Who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth. The
dwellers in the far off isles trust in God; those most remote
from Zion yet confide in the ever living Jehovah. Even those who
dwell in countries, frozen or torrid, where nature puts on her
varied terrors, and those who see dread wonders on the deep, yet
fly from the terrors of God and place their confidence in the
God of terrors. His arm is strong to smite, but also strong to
save. And of them that are afar off upon the sea. Both elements
have their elect band of believers. If the land gave Moses
elders, the sea gave Jesus apostles. Noah, when all was ocean,
was as calm with God as Abraham in his tent. All men are equally
dependent upon God: the seafaring man is usually most conscious
of this, but in reality he is not more so than the husbandman,
nor the husbandman than anyone else. There is no room for self
confidence on land or sea, since God is the only true confidence
of men on earth or ocean. Faith is a plant of universal growth,
it is a tree of life on shore and a plant of renown at sea; and,
blessed be God, those who exercise faith in him anywhere shall
find that he is swift and strong to answer their prayers. A
remembrance of this should quicken our devotions when we
approach unto the Lord our God.
Verse 6. Which by his strength setteth fast the
mountains. He, as it were, fixed them in their sockets, and
preserved them from falling by earthquake or storm. The firmest
owe their stability to him. Philosophers of the forget God
school are too much engrossed with their laws of upheaval to
think of the Upheaver. Their theories of volcanic action and
glacier action, etc., etc., are frequently used as bolts and
bars to shut the Lord out of his own world. Our poet is of
another mind, and sees God's hand settling Alps and Andes on
their bases, and therefore he sings in his praise. Let me for
ever be just such an unphilosophical simpleton as David was, for
he was nearer akin to Solomon than any of our modern theorists.
Being girded with power. The Lord is so himself, and he
therefore casts a girdle of strength around the hills, and there
they stand, braced, belted, and bulwarked with his might. The
poetry is such as would naturally suggest itself to one familiar
with mountain scenery; power everywhere meets you, sublimity,
massive grandeur, and stupendous force are all around you; and
God is there, the author and source of all. Let us learn that we
poor puny ones, if we wish for true establishment, must go to
the strong for strength. Without him, the everlasting hills
would crumble; how much more shall all our plans, projects, and
labours come to decay. Repose, O believer, where the mountains
find their bases—viz., in the undiminished might of the Lord
God.
Verse 7. Which stilleth the noise of the seas.
His soft breath smooths the sea into a glass, and the
mountainous waves into ripples. God does this. Calms are of the
God of peace; it needs not that we look for a hurricane when it
is said that he cometh. He walked of old in the garden in the
cool of the day; he is resting even now, for his great seventh
day is not yet over, and he is always "the Lord and giver
of peace." Let mariners magnify the God who rules the
waves. The noise of their waves. Each separate brawler amid the
riot of the storm is quieted by the divine voice. And the tumult
of the people. Nations are as difficult to rule as the sea
itself, they are as fitful, treacherous, restless, and furious;
they will not brook the bridle nor be restrained by laws. Canute
had not a more perilous seat by the rising billows than many a
king and emperor has had when the multitude have been set on
mischief, and have grown weary of their lords. God alone is King
of nations. The sea obeys him, and the yet more tumultuous
nations are kept in check by him. Human society owes its
preservation to the continued power of God: evil passions would
secure its instant dissolution; envy, ambition, and cruelty
would create anarchy tomorrow if God did not prevent; whereof we
have had clear proof in the various French revolutions. Glory be
unto God who maintains the fabric of social order, and checks
the wicked, who would fain overthrow all things. The child of
God is seasons of trouble should fly at once to him who stills
the seas: nothing is too hard for him.
Verse 8. They also that dwell in the uttermost
parts are afraid of thy tokens. Signs of God's presence are
not few, nor confined to any one region. Zembla sees them as
well as Zion, and Terra del Fuego as surely as the Terra Sacra.
These tokens are sometimes terrible phenomena in nature—such
as earthquakes, pestilence, tornado, or storm; and when these
are seen, even the most barbarous people tremble before God. At
other times they are dread works of providence—such as the
overthrow of Sodom, and the destruction of Pharaoh. The rumour
of these judgments travels to earth's utmost verge, and
impresses all people with a fear and trembling at such a just
and holy God. We bless God that we are not afraid but rejoice at
his tokens; with solemn awe we are glad when we behold his
mighty acts. We fear, but not with slavish fear. Thou makest the
outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. East and west
are made happy by God's favour to the dwellers therein. Our
rising hours are bright with hope, and our evening moments
mellow with thanksgiving. Whether the sun go forth or come in we
bless God and rejoice in the gates of the day. When the fair
morning blushes with the rosy dawn we rejoice; and when the calm
evening smiles restfully we rejoice still. We do not believe
that the dew weeps the death of the day; we only see jewels
bequeathed by the departing day for its successor to gather up
from the earth. Faith, when she sees God, rounds the day with
joy. She cannot fast, because the bridegroom is with her. Night
and day are alike to her, for the same God made them and blessed
them. She would have no rejoicing if God did not make her glad;
but, blessed be his name, he never ceases to make joy for those
who find their joy in him.
Verse 9. Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it.
God's visits leave a blessing behind; this is more than can be
said of every visitor. When the Lord goes on visitations of
mercy, he has abundance of necessary things for all his needy
creatures. He is represented here as going round the earth, as a
gardener surveys his garden, and as giving water to every plant
that requires it, and that not in small quantities, but until
the earth is drenched and soaked with a rich supply of
refreshment. O Lord, in this manner visit thy church, and my
poor, parched, and withering piety. Make thy grace to overflow
towards my graces; water me, for no plant of thy garden needs it
more.
"My stock lies dead and no increase
Doth my dull husbandry improve;
O let thy graces without cease
Drop from above."
Thou greatly enrichest it. Millions of money could not so
much enrich mankind as the showers do. The soil is made rich by
the rain, and then yields its riches to man; but God is the
first giver of all. How truly rich are those who are enriched
with grace; this is great riches. With the river of God, which
is full of water. The brooks of earth are soon dried up, and all
human resources, being finite, are liable to failure; but God's
provision for the supply of rain is inexhaustible; there is no
bottom or shore to his river. The deluge poured from the clouds
of yesterday may be succeeded by another tomorrow, and yet the
waters above the firmament shall not fail. How true this is in
the realm of grace; there the river of God is full of water,
and "of his fulness have we all received, and grace for
grace." The ancients in their fables spake of Pactolus,
which flowed over sands of gold; but this river of God, which
flows above and from which the rain is poured, is far more
enriching; for, after all, the wealth of men lies mainly in the
harvest of their fields, without which even gold would be of no
value whatever.
Thou preparest them corn. Corn is specially set apart to be
the food of man. In its various species it is a divine provision
for the nutriment of our race, and is truly called the staff of
life. We hear in commerce of "prepared corn flour,
"but God prepared it long before man touched it. As surely
as the manna was prepared of God for the tribes, so certainly is
corn made and sent by God for our daily use. What is the
difference whether we gather wheat ears or manna, and what
matters it if the first come upward to us, and the second
downward? God is as much present beneath as above; it is as
great a marvel that food should rise out of the dust, as that it
should fall from the skies. When thou hast so provided for it.
When all is prepared to produce corn, the Lord puts the
finishing stroke, and the grain is forthcoming; not even, when
all the material is prepared, will the wheat be perfected
without the continuous and perfecting operation of the Most
High. Blessed be the Great Householder; he does not suffer the
harvest to fail, he supplies the teeming myriads of earth with
bread enough from year to year. Even thus does he vouchsafe
heavenly food to his redeemed ones: "He hath given meat
unto them that fear him; he is ever mindful of his
covenant."
Verse 10. Thou waterest the ridges thereof
abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof. Ridge and
furrow are drenched. The ridges beaten down and settled, and the
furrows made to stand like gutters flooded to the full. Thou
makest it soft with showers. The drought turned the clods into
iron, but the plenteous showers dissolve and loosen the soil.
Thou blessest the springing thereof. Vegetation enlivened by the
moisture leaps into vigour, the seed germinates and sends forth
its green shoot, and the smell is that as of a field which the
Lord has blessed. All this may furnish us with a figure of the
operations of the Holy Spirit in beating down high thoughts,
filling our lowly desires, softening the soul, and causing every
holy thing to increase and spread.
Verse 11. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness.
The harvest is the plainest display of the divine bounty, and
the crown of the year. The Lord himself conducts the coronation,
and sets the golden coronal upon the brow of the year. Or we may
understand the expression to mean that God's love encircles the
year as with a crown; each month has its gems, each day its
pearl. Unceasing kindness girdles all time with a belt of love.
The providence of God in its visitations makes a complete
circuit, and surrounds the year. And thy paths drop fatness. The
footsteps of God, when he visits the land with rain, create
fertility. It was said of the Tartar hordes, that grass grew no
more where their horses' feet had trodden; so, on the contrary,
it may be said that the march of Jehovah, the Fertiliser, may be
traced by the abundance which he creates. For spiritual harvests
we must look to him, for he alone can give "times of
refreshing" and feasts of Pentecost.
Verse 12. They drop upon the pastures of the
wilderness. Not alone where man is found do the showers
descend, but away in the lone places, where only wild animals
have their haunt, there the bountiful Lord makes the refreshing
rain to drop. Ten thousand oases smile while the Lord of mercy
passes by. The birds of the air, the wild goats, and the fleet
stags rejoice as they drink from the pools, new filled from
heaven. The most lonely and solitary souls God will visit in
love. And the little hills rejoice on every side. On all hands
the eminences are girt with gladness. Soon they languish under
the effects of drought, but after a season of rain they laugh
again with verdure.
Verse 13. The pastures are clothed with flocks.
The clothing of man first clothes the fields. Pastures appear to
be quite covered with numerous flocks when the grass is
abundant. The valleys also are covered over with corn. The
arable as well as the pasture land is rendered fruitful. God's
clouds, like ravens, bring us both bread and flesh. Grazing
flocks and waving crops are equally the gifts of the Preserver
of men, and for both praise should be rendered. Sheep shearing
and harvest should both be holiness unto the Lord. They shout
for joy. The bounty of God makes the earth vocal with his
praise, and in opened ears it lifts up a joyous shout. The
cattle low out the divine praises, and the rustling ears of
grain sing a soft sweet melody unto the Lord.
"Ye forests bend, ye harvests wave to him;
Breathe your still song into the reaper's heart,
As home he goes beneath the joyous moon.
Bleat out afresh, ye hills; ye mossy rocks
Retain the sound; the broad responsive low
Ye valleys raise; for the GREAT SHEPHERD reigns,
And his unsuffering kingdom yet will come."
They also sing. The voice of nature is articulate to God; it
is not only a shout, but a song. Well ordered are the sounds of
animate creation as they combine with the equally well tuned
ripple of the waters, and sighings of the wind. Nature has no
discords. Her airs are melodious, her chorus is full of harmony.
All, all is for the Lord; the world is a hymn to the Eternal,
blessed is he who, hearing, joins in it, and makes one singer in
the mighty chorus.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
From Psalm 65 onwards we find ourselves in the midst of a
series of Psalms which, with a varying arrangement of the words,
are inscribed both kwmzm and wyv (65-68.) The two words signify
a Psalm song. This series, as is universally the case, is
arranged according to the community of prominent watch words. In
Ps 65:2 we read: To thee is the vow paid; and in Ps
66:13: I will pay thee my vows; in Ps 66:20: Blessed
be Elohim; and in Ps 67:8: Elohim shall bless us.
Besides Psalm 66 and 67 have this feature in common, that tugml,
which occurs fifty-five times in the Psalter, is accompanied by
the name of the poet in every instance, with the exception of
these two anonymous Psalms. The frequently occurring Sela
of both Psalms also indicates that they were intended to have a
musical accompaniment. Franz Delitzsch.
Title. A Psalm of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The
Psalm is assigned to them, not as being its authors, but because
it is supposed that it was often rehearsed by them at the
beginning of the return from captivity, to teach us that those
things ought especially to be sung concerning that happy
restoration which these prophets were wont to sing about. But
this inscription is not in the Hebrew text, nor in some
translations, but only in certain versions. Jeremiah was not
carried away to Babylon; see Jer 39:11, etc. Moreover, both he
and Ezekiel died before the return. Poole's Synopsis.
Whole Psalm. The author of the Psalm is mentioned, but
not the date of its composition; but from an examination of its
contents, it would seem to have been intended as a song for the
"day of atonement, " and for the "feast of
tabernacles, "which followed immediately after. Nu 29:7,12.
The sins of the year were then "covered over, "and a
thorough purification of the sanctuary was made by a special
service of expiation. The labours of the year were all by that
time concluded, and its fruits secured; and Israel could look on
the goodness of God towards them, through its entire extent; and
this Psalm was penned to serve as a fitting expression of their
feelings. It opens with a reference to the "silence"
that reigned in the sanctuary; to the profound, unbroken, solemn
stillness that reigned within it; while, in deep abasement, the
people without waited in hushed expectation the return of their
high priest from the immediate presence of God, Le 16:17. It
goes on to a statement of the blessedness of those who are
accepted of God, and admitted to fellowship with One so
unspeakably great; and concludes with a description of the
various processes by which the Almighty had fitted the earth to
yield a year's supplies for his people. Dalman Hapstone, in
"The Ancient Psalms in appropriate Meters... with
Notes." 1867.
Whole Psalm. We have here a psalm of thanksgiving to
be sung in the Temple during a public festivity, at which the
sacrifices were to be offered which had been vowed during a long
and protracted drought (Ps 65:1-2). To the thanksgiving,
however, for a gracious rain, and the hope of an abundant
harvest (Ps 65:9-14), is added gratitude for a signal
deliverance during a time of distress and commotion affecting
all the nations around (Ps 65:7-8). Thus the Psalm becomes a
song of praise to Jehovah as the God of history and the God of
nature, alike. From the "Psalms Chronologically
Arranged. By Four Friends." 1867.
Whole Psalm. This is a charming psalm. Coming after
the previous sad ones, it seems like the morning after the
darkness of night. There is a dewy freshness about it, and from
the ninth verse to the end there is a sweet succession of
landscape pictures that remind one of the loveliness of spring;
and truly it is a description, in natural figures, of that happy
state of men's minds which will be the result of the "Day
spring's visiting us from on high." Lu 1:7-8. O.
Prescott Hiller.
Verse 1. Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion.
The believer sometimes seems to want words to exalt God, and
stops, as it were, in the middle; his thoughts want words. Thus
praise waits, or is silent for God; it is silent to other
things, and it waits to be employed about him. The soul is often
put to a nonplus in crying up the grace of God, and wants words
to express its greatness; yea, to answer the elevation of the
thoughts; the heart indites a song of praise, but it cannot tune
it. The psalmist is stopped, as it were, through admiration
(which is silentium intellectus), for when the mind can
rise no higher, it falls admiringly; hence some say, God is most
exalted with fewest words. Alexander Carmichael.
Verse 1. Praise waiteth for thee, O God. Mercy
is not yet come, we expect it; whilst thou art preparing the
mercy, we are preparing the praise. Edward Leigh in
"Annotations on the Five Poetical Books of the Old
Testament, "1657.
Verse 1. Praise waiteth on thee. As a servant,
whose duty it is to do what thou commandest; or, for thee;
is ready to be offered in thy courts for special favours. I
think there is an allusion to the daily service in which God was
praised. Benjamin Boothroyd.
Verse 1. Praise waiteth for thee, O God. Te decet
hymnus, so the vulgar edition reads this place. To thee, O
Lord, belong our hymns, our psalms, our praises, our cheerful
acclamations, and conformable to that, we translate it, Praise
waiteth for thee, O God. But if we take it according to the
original, it must be tibi, silentium laus est, Thy
praise, O Lord, consists in silence. That man praises God best
that says least of him; of his mysterious essence, of his
unrevealed will and secret purposes. Abraham Wright.
Verse 1. "To thee is silence and praise."
Piscator.
Verse 1. The Hebrew may be rendered, Praise is
silent for thee. As if the holy man had said, "Lord, I
quietly wait for a time to praise thee; my soul is not in an
uproar because you stay. I am not murmuring, but rather
stringing my harp and tuning my instrument with much patience
and confidence, that I may be ready to strike up when the joyful
news of my deliverance come." William Gurnall.
Verse 1. To thee belongeth silence praise.
Praise without any tumult. (Alexander.) It has been said,
"The most intense feeling is the most calm, being condensed
by repression." And Hooker says of prayer, "The very
silence which our unworthiness putteth us unto doth itself make
request for us, and that in the confidence of his grace. Looking
inward, we are stricken dumb; looking upward, we speak and
prevail." Horsley renders it, "Upon thee is the repose
of prayer." Andrew A. Bonar.
Verse 1. Praise is silent for thee. The Chaldee
interpretation is, that our praise is not sufficiently worthy
that we should praise God. The very praises of angels are
esteemed as nothing before him. For so its rendering is: "Before
thee, O God, whose Majesty dwells in Zion, the praise of angels
is regarded as silence."... Jerome's version here is, "To
thee silence is praise, O God, in Zion." Atheneus says,
silence is a divine thing; and Thomas a Kempis calls silence the
nutriment of devotion. Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 1. To thee belong submission, praise, O God,
in Sion. (Version of the American Bible Union.) Thou hast a
claim for submission in times of sorrow, for praise in seasons
of joy. Thomas J. Conant, in "The Psalms... with
occasional notes." 1871.
Verse 1. Vow. A vow is a voluntary and
deliberate promise made unto God in an extraordinary case.
"It is a religious promise made unto God in a holy
manner:" so a modern writer defines it. (Szegedinus.) It is
a "holy and religious promise, advisedly and freely made
unto God, concerning something which to do or to omit appeareth
to be grateful and well pleasing unto him:" so Bucanus. I
forbear Aquinas's definition of a vow. If these which I have
given satisfy not, then view it in the words of Peter Martyr, a
man of repute, and well known to our own nation in the days of
Edward VI., of ever blessed memory: "It is a holy promise,
whereby we bind ourselves to offer somewhat unto God."
There is one more who defines it, and he is a man whose
judgment, learning, and holiness hath perfumed his name; it is
learned Perkins, in his "Cases of Conscience." "A
vow, " saith he, "is a promise made unto God of things
lawful and possible." Henry Hurst(—1690), in "The
Morning Exercises."
Verse 1. (last clause). The reference here is
to the vows or promises which the people had made in view of the
manifested judgments of God, and the proofs of his goodness.
Those vows they were now ready to carry out in expressions of
praise. Albert Barnes.
Verse 2. O thou that hearest prayer, etc. This
is one of his titles of honour, he is a God that hears prayer;
and it is as truly ascribed to him as mercy or justice. He hears
all prayer, therefore, unto thee shall all flesh come. He
never rejects any that deserves the name of prayer, how weak,
how unworthy soever the petitioner be. All flesh! And
will he (may faith say) reject mine only? Ro 10:12, "He is
rich unto all that call upon him; " Ps 86:5, "Thou art
plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee; "Heb 11:6,
"A rewarder of them that diligently seek him." This
must be believed as certainly as we believe that God is. As sure
as God is the true God, so sure is it that none who sought him
diligently departed from him without a reward. He rewards all
seekers, for indefinita in materia necessaria aequipollet
universali. And if all, why not me? You may as well doubt
that he is God, as doubt that he will not reward, not hear
prayer; so Jas 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask
of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not;
and it shall be given him." David Clarkson.
Verse 2. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee
shall all flesh come. What avails prayer, if it be not
heard? But God's people need not lay it aside on that score. Our
text bears two things with respect to that matter.
1. A comfortable title ascribed to God, with the unanimous
consent of all the sons of Zion, who are all praying persons: O
thou that hearest prayer. He speaks to God in Zion,
or Zion's God, that is in New Testament language, to God in
Christ. An absolute God thundereth on sinners from Sinai, there
can be no comfortable intercourse betwixt God and them, by the
law: but in Zion, from the mercyseat, in Christ, he is the
hearer of prayer; they give in their supplications, and he
graciously hears them. Such faith of it they have, that praise
waits there for the prayer hearing God.
2. The effect of the savour of this title of God, spread
abroad in the world: Unto thee shall all flesh come: not
only Jews, but Gentiles. The poor Gentiles who have long in vain
implored the aid of their idols, hearing and believing that God
is the hearer of prayer, will flock to him, and present their
petitions. They will throng in about his door, where by the
gospel they understand beggars are so well served. They will come
in even unto thee, Hebrew. They will come in even to thy
seat, thy throne of grace, even unto thyself through the
Mediator... That God is the hearer of prayer, and will hear the
prayers of his people, is evident from these considerations:
First. The supernatural instinct of praying that is found in
all that are born of God, Ga 4:6. It is as natural for them to
fall a praying when the grace of God has touched their hearts,
as for children when they are born into the world to cry, or to
desire the breasts. Zec 12:10, compared with Ac 9:11, where in
the account that is given of Paul, at his conversion, it is
particularly noticed, "Behold, he prayeth." Hence the
whole saving change on a soul comes under the character of this
instinct. Jer 3:4,19.
Secondly. The intercession of Christ, Ro 8:34. It is a great
part of the work of Christ's intercession to present the prayers
of his people before his Father, Re 8:4, to take their causes in
hand, contained in their supplications. 1Jo 2:1.
Thirdly. The promises of the covenant, whereby God's
faithfulness is impawned for the hearing of prayer, as Mt 7:7:
see also Isa 65:24.
Fourthly. The many encouragements given in the Word to the
people of God, to come with their cases unto the Lord by prayer.
He invites them to his throne of grace with their petitions for
supply of their needs. So 2:14. He sends afflictions to press
them to come. Ho 5:15. He gives them ground of hope of success,
Ps 50:15, whatever extremity their case is brought to. Isa
41:17. He shows them that however long he may delay their trial,
yet praying and not fainting shall be successful at length. Lu
18:8.
Fifthly. The gracious nature of God, with the endearing
relations he stands in to his people. Ex 22:27. He wants not
power and ability to fulfil the holy desires of his people; he
is gracious, and will withhold no good from them that they
really need. He has the bowels of a father to pity them, the
bowels of a mother to her sucking child. He has a most tender
sympathy with them in all their afflictions, the touches on them
are as on the apple of his eye; and he never refuses them a
request, but for their good. Ro 8:28.
Sixthly. The experiences which the saints of all ages have
had of the answer of prayer. The faith of it brings them to God
at conversion, as the text intimates: and they that believe
cannot be disappointed. Lastly. The present ease and relief that
prayer sometimes gives to the saints, while yet the full answer
of prayer is not come. Ps 138:3. Thomas Boston (1676-1732).
Verse 2. O thou that hearest prayer. Observe
1. That God is called the hearer of prayers, since he hears,
without distinction of persons, the prayers of every one poured
forth with piety, not only of the Jews, but also of the
Gentiles; as in Ac 10:34-35... It follows, therefore, as a
necessary consequence, that all flesh should come to him.
2. To come to God, is not indeed simply tantamount to
saying, to draw near to God, to adore, call upon, and
worship him, but to come to Zion for the purpose of
adoring God; for it was just now said, that God must be praised
in Zion, and to this the phrase, to come to God, must be
referred. On this account also la is not used, but de, whose
proper force is right up to God, or to the place of the
habitation of God to render adoration to God. Hermann Venema.
Verse 2. To thee shall all flesh come. To
Christ "all flesh comes, "that is (1.) every
sinner and carnal man. He himself says, Mt 9:13 "I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners." The Grecian priest in
olden times, when approaching to receive the sacrifice, used to
exclaim, Who comes there? and the reply was, Many and
good. But God received publicans and sinners, and invites
them to his banquet, and eateth with them; but for the purpose
of delivering them from sin. "All flesh shall see the
salvation of God." (2.) All flesh may be taken
for the whole flesh, the whole body; all the senses and members
of the body shall come to God that they may pay him tribute as
their King. Thomas Le Blanc.
Verse 2. All flesh. By flesh is meant
man in his weakness and need. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 3. Iniquities prevail against me. There
are two ways in which iniquities may prevail against the
Christian—the first is in the growing sense of his guilt, the
second is in the power of their acting. This prevalence cannot
be entire, for sin shall not have dominion over them; but it may
be occasional and partial. There are two ways, according to
Scripture, in which God purges our transgressions; and they
always go together. The one is by pardoning mercy. Thus David
prays: "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean."
Thus the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. The
other is by sanctifying grace: "I will sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean." And this is as much the
work of God as the former. He subdues our iniquities as well as
forgives them. William Jay.
Verse 3. Iniquities. Literally, Words of
iniquities, by some regarded as a pleonastic phrase for
iniquities themselves. More probably, however, the phrase means
the charge or accusation of iniquity. Joseph Addison
Alexander.
Verse 3. The deeds of iniquity are said To prevail
against us, in so far as they are too strong and powerful
for us to deny or refute, and to subject us to a demand of those
penalties which the sin merits; hence there remains no other
refuge than the clemency and grace of God, the Judge. See Ps
143:2 130:3-4. Hermann Venema.
Verse 3. As for our transgressions, thou shalt
purge them away. In the Hebrew it is, Thou shalt hide them.
It alludes to the mercy seat which was covered with the wings of
the Cherubim; so are the sins of the godly, when repented of,
covered with the wings of mercy and favour. Thomas Watson.
Verse 3. Thou shalt purge them away; or, Thou
coverest them. The pronoun is emphatic, as though to express
the conviction that God and God alone could do this. J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verse 3. The holy prophets, and penmen of Scripture,
have no grounds of hope for pardon of sin, save those which are
common to the meanest of God's people; for David, in his
confession, cometh in by himself alone, aggravating his own sins
most: Iniquities prevail against me, saith he. But in
hope of pardon, he joins with the rest of God's people, saying, As
for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. David
Dickson.
Verses 3-4. Now, soul, thou art molested with many
lusts that infect thee, and obstruct thy commerce with heaven;
yea, thou hast complained to thy God, what loss thou hast
suffered by them; is it now presumption to expect relief from
him, that he will rescue thee from them, that thou mayest serve
him without fear, who is thy liege Lord? You have the saints for
your precedents; who, when they have been in combat with their
corruptions, yea, been foiled by them, have even then exercised
their faith on God, and expected the ruin of those enemies,
which, for the present, have overrun them. Iniquities prevail
against me; he means his own sins; but see his faith; at the
same time that they prevailed over him, he beholds God
destroying them, as appears in the very next words, As for
our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. See here,
poor Christian, who thinkest that thou shalt never get above
deck, holy David has a faith, not only for himself, but also for
all believers, of whose number I suppose thee one. And mark the
ground he hath for this his confidence, taken from God's
choosing act: Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and
causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts.
As if he had said, Surely he will not let them be under the
power of sin, or in want of his gracious succour, whom he sets
so near himself. This is Christ's own argument against Satan, in
the behalf of his people. "The Lord said unto Satan, the
Lord rebuke thee." Zec 3:2. William Gurnall.
Verse 4. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest.
The benedictions of the Psalter advance in spirituality and
indicate a growth. The first blessed the godly reader of the
word. Ps 1:1. The second described the pardoned child. Ps 32:1.
The third pronounced a blessing upon faith. Ps 34:8 40:4. The
fourth commended the active and generous believer, abundant in
deeds of charity (Ps 41:1); and this last mounting to the
fountain head of all benediction, blesses the elect of God. C.
H. S.
Verse 4. The man whom thou choosest. Christ,
whom God chose, and of whom he said, "This is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased, " is, indeed, "over
all, God blessed for ever; "but in him his elect are
blessed too. For his sake, not for our own, are we chosen; in
him, not in ourselves, are we received by God, being accepted in
the Beloved; and, therefore, in him are we blessed: he is our
blessing. With that High Priest who has ascended into the holy
place and entered within the vail, we enter into the house of
God; we learn to dwell therein; we are filled with its spiritual
joys; we partake of its holy mysteries and sacraments of grace
and love. From "A Plain Commentary on the Book of
Psalms." 1859.
Verse 4. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of
thy house, even of thy holy temple. We shall be so filled,
that nothing can be said to be wanting, we shall have nothing to
look for outside. What can be wanting in the house of him who
made everything, who is the master of everything, who will be
all unto all, in whom is an inexhaustible treasure of good. Of
him is said in Psalm 103, "Who satisfieth thy mouth with
thy likeness." Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621).
Verse 4. Satisfied with the goodness of thy house.
There is an allusion here to the oblations which were devoted to
God, of which, also, sacred persons partook. Hermann Venema.
Verse 5. By terrible things in righteousness wilt
thou answer us. The reason why he answers thus is, because
what God doth for his people, take one thing with another, is
still in order to the crucifying of the flesh; and what more terrible
than such a death? We pray for pleasing things, as we
imagine, but as we are flesh as well as spirit; so the flesh
hath still a part in every prayer, and what we beg is partly
carnal, and upon the matter, in part, we beg we know not what.
Now, the answer as it comes from God, take all together, is
spiritual, which is a crucifying thing to sinful flesh; hence
comes all the terror... You pray for pardon; that is a pleasing
thing, yet rightly understand not pleasing to the flesh; it
mortifies corruption, breaks the heart, engages to a holy life:
every answer from our God to us, one way or the other, first or
last, shall tend that way. God useth so to give good things unto
his children, as withal to give himself, and show to them his
heavenly glory in what is done... Now God is terrible to
sinful flesh: so far as he appears, it dies. Jacob, therefore,
whilst he conquered God in prayer, himself was overcome,
signified by that touch upon his thigh put out of joint, where
the chiefest stress in wrestling lies. When we are weak, then
are we strong; because, as God appears, we die unto ourselves
and live in him. William Carter, in a Fast Sermon entitled,
"Light in Darkness." 1648.
Verse 5. God's judgments are these terribilia,
terrible, fearful things; and he is faithful in his covenant;
and by terrible judgments he will answer, that is, satisfy our
expectation: and that is a convenient sense of these words. But
the word which we translate righteousness here, is tzadok,
and tzadok is not faithfulness, but holiness; and these terrible
things are reverend things; and so Tremellius translates it,
and well. Per res reverendas, by reverend things, things
to which there belongs a reverence—thou shalt answer us.
And thus, the sense of this place will be, that the God of our
salvation (that is, God working in the Christian church) calls
us to holiness, to righteousness, by terrible things; not
terrible in the way and nature of revenge, but terrible, that
is, stupendous, reverend, mysterious; so that we should not make
religion too homely a thing, but come always to all acts and
exercises of religion with reverence, with fear, and trembling,
and make a difference between religious and civil actions. John
Donne.
Verse 5. God's deliverance of his church and people by
terrible things is in righteousness. The meaning of
the point is this: God in all the deliverances of his people by
terrible things, doth therein manifest his righteousness. He
doth therein nothing but what is according to righteousness and
justice. To clear this, consider that there is a double
righteousness, the righteousness of his word, which is the
righteousness of his faithfulness, and the righteousness of his
works, or his just acts of righteousness. And God doth manifest
both these in his deliverance of his people by terrible things. John
Bewick. 1644.
Verse 5. But what is the meaning when they say, wilt
thou answer us? Us, who are inhabitants of Zion, who are
constituted thy people, and truly worship Thee; us,
moreover, in contact with enemies, who stirred up strife against
us, and wished us ill; us, lastly, who aim at and seek
the stability of the Kingdom and Church, and every kind of
felicity and safety; with such things wilt thou answer us,
it says, that is, for our advantage and benefit, and according
to our vows, and therefore by pleading our cause, and deciding
in our favour, and satisfying our desires; and in this way
rendering us happy and establishing us, and subduing and
confounding our foes. Hermann Venema.
Verse 5. Who art the confidence of all the ends of
the earth. How could God be the confidence of all the ends
of the earth, if he does not reign and constantly work? The
stability of the mountains is ascribed not to certain physical
laws, but to the power of God. The noise of the seas is stilled
not by laws without a powerful agent, but by the immediate
influence of the Almighty Ruler. Human laws also may be the
means of restraining persecution, but they are only means; and
it is God who stilleth the tumult of the people. It is God who
maketh the outgoings of the morning and evening to sing. The
Scriptures, in viewing the works which God does through means,
never lose sight of God himself. God visits and waters the
earth: God prepares the corn. Without his own immediate power,
the laws of nature could not produce their effect. How consoling
and satisfactory is this view of Divine Providence, compared
with that of an infidel philosophy, that forbids us to go
further back than to the power of certain physical laws, which
it grants, indeed, were at first established by God, but which
can now perform their office without him. Alexander Carson.
(1776-1844.)
Verse 5. All the ends of the earth. God is in
himself potentially, The confidence of all the ends of the
earth. Hereafter he will be recognised by all to be so (Ps
23:27-28), of which the Queen of Sheba's coming to Solomon
"from the uttermost parts of the earth" is a type. Mt
12:42. A. R. Faussett.
Verse 5. And of them that are afar off upon the
sea. We must beseech God in the words of this Psalm, that
since He stands upon the shore, and beholds our perils, he would
make us, who are tossed on the turbulent sea, secure for his
name's sake, and enable us to hold between Scylla and Charybdis,
the middle course, and escaping the danger on either hand, with
a sound vessel and safe merchandise, reach the port. Lorinus
(from Augustine).
Verses 5-8. The divine watering of the earth is
obviously symbolical of the descent of the Holy Spirit after
Christ's ascension; and when on the great day of Pentecost the
devout Jews, "out of every nation under heaven, "heard
the apostle speaking in their several tongues the wonderful
works of God, it was a testimony that God was beginning
spiritually to make the outgoings of the morning and evening
to rejoice. To God, which stilleth the noise of the waves
and the tumult of the people, the apostles betook themselves
in prayer after their first conflict with Jewish authorities,
the first conflict of the infant Christian community with the
powers of this world: the language of the Psalm (Ps 65:5), O
God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of
the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea, is
reflected in the opening words of their prayer on that occasion
(Ac 4:24), "Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; "and if, when
they prayed, "the place was shaken where they were
assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy
Ghost, "it was no idle sign that by terrible things in
righteousness were they being answered by the God of their
salvation. These are, of course, mere illustrations of the inner
harmony of Scripture; but, as such, they may not be without
their value. Joseph Francis Thrupp.
Verse 6. Setteth fast the mountains. It is by
thy strength they have been raised, and by thy power they are
girded about and preserved. He represents the mountains as being
formed and pitched into their proper places by the mighty hand
of God; and shows that they are preserved from splitting,
falling down, or moulding away, as it were, by a girdle by which
they are surrounded. The image is very fine. They were hooped
about by the divine power. Adam Clarke.
Verse 8. Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and
evening to rejoice. That is, thou makest men to rejoice,
they are glad, they rejoice in, or at, the outgoings in the
morning. And at the evening men rejoice too, for then they go to
their rest, being wearied with the labour of the day. Or, we may
thus expound it: Thou makest men who live at the outgoings of
the morning, and at the outgoings of the evening, to rejoice. As
if it had been said, Thou makest the eastern people and the
western people, all people from east to west, rejoice. And that
which makes all people to rejoice, naturally, is the rising of
light with them in the east, and the coming of light towards
them in the west. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 8. Thou makest the outgoings of the morning
and evening to rejoice. How contrary soever light and
darkness are to each other, and how inviolable soever the
partition between them (Ge 1:4), both are equally welcome to the
world in their season; it is hard to say which is more welcome
to us, the light of the morning which befriends the business of
the day, or the shadows of the evening which befriend the repose
of the night. Doth the watchman wait for the morning? so doth
the hireling earnestly desire the shadow. Some understand it of
the morning and evening sacrifice, which good people greatly
rejoiced in, and in which God was constantly honoured. Thou
makest them to sing, so the word is; for every morning and every
evening songs of praise were sung by the Levites; it was that
which the duty of every day required. And we are to look upon
our daily worship alone, and with our families, to be both the
most needful of our daily business, and the most delightful of
our daily comforts; and if therein we keep up our communion with
God, the outgoings both of the morning and of the evening are
thereby made truly to rejoice. Matthew Henry.
Verse 8. Lyranus, Dionysius Carthusianus, Cajetanus,
Placidus Parmensis, (who treads in the footsteps of Cajetanus
though he does not mention him) take the first clause to refer
to the wonder of all mankind at the wonderful works of God on
the land and the sea; and explain the second respecting the
sacrifices which were wont to be offered in the morning and
evening; that God made these acceptable to himself and
delightful to those who offered them, especially after the
return from captivity. In the beginning of the Psalm sacrifices
are hinted at by praise and vows, as we have seen,
and in the history of Esdra it is recorded, that the morning
and evening sacrifice were offered unto the Lord by those
who had returned; and that those who approached, when they
entered, and others who had made their offerings, when they
departed, gave praises to God. Hence it is here said, that the
outgoings of the morning and of the evening, that is to say,
when they who praise God go forth from either sacrifice, God
will be well pleased, he will receive delight from that praise,
and it will be grateful to him. Lorinus.
Verse 8. Figuratively, the outgoings of the
morning, or dawn, is the light of grace in the beginning of
conversion; "the outgoing of the evening" is
the final light of grace in the hour of death. Thomas Le
Blanc.
Verse 9. Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it,
etc. How beautiful are the words of the inspired poet, read in
this month of harvest, nearly three thousand years after they
were written! For nearly three thousand years since the royal
poet looked over the plains of Judea covered with the bounty of
God, and broke forth into his magnificent hymn of praise, has
the earth rolled on in her course, and the hand of God has
blessed her, and all her children, with seed time and harvest,
with joy and abundance. The very steadfastness of the Almighty's
liberality, flowing like a mighty ocean through the infinite
vast of the universe, makes his creatures forget to wonder at
its wonderfulness, to feel true thankfulness at its immeasurable
goodness. The sun rises and sets so surely; the seasons run on
amid all their changes with such inimitable truth, that we take
as a matter of course that which is amazing beyond all stretch
of imagination, and good beyond the wildest expansion of the
noblest human heart. The poor man, with his half a dozen
children, toils, and often dies, under the vain labour of
winning bread for them. God feeds his family of countless
myriads swarming over the surface of all countless worlds, and
none know need but through the follies of themselves, or the
cruelty of their fellows. God pours his light from innumerable
suns on innumerable rejoicing planets; he waters them everywhere
in the fittest moment; he ripens the food of globes and of
nations, and gives them fair weather to garner it. And from age
to age, amid his endless creatures of endless forms and powers,
in the beauty and the sunshine, and the magnificence of nature,
he seems to sing throughout creation the glorious song of his
own divine joy, in the immortality of his youth, in the
omnipotence of his nature, in the eternity of his patience, and
the abounding boundlessness of his love. What a family hangs on
his sustaining arm! The life and soul of infinite ages, and of
uncounted worlds! Let a moment's failure of his power, of his
watchfulness, or of his will to do good, occur, and what a sweep
of death and annihilation through the universe! How stars would
reel, planets expire, and nations perish! But from age to age,
no such catastrophe occurs, even in the midst of national
crimes, and of atheism that denies the hand that made and feeds
it. Life springs with a power ever new; food springs up as
plentiful to sustain it, and sunshine and joy are poured over
all from the invisible throne of God, as the poetry of the
existence which he has given. If there come seasons of dearth,
or of failure, they come but as warnings to proud and tyrannic
man. The potato is smitten that a nation may not be oppressed
for ever; and the harvest is diminished that the laws of man's
unnatural avarice may be rent asunder. And then, again, the sun
shines, the rain falls, and the earth rejoices in a renewed
beauty, and in a redoubled plenty. William Howitt, in
"The Year Book of the Country." 1850.
Verse 9. Thou visitest the earth. God seems to
come with the coming in of each of the seasons. In some
respects, during winter, God seems like a man travelling into a
far country. Darkness, and barrenness, and coldness, suggest
absence on the part of God. The spring looks like his return.
The great change it involves cheerily whispers, "He is not
far from any one of us." In longer days, and a warmer
atmosphere, and a revived earth, God comes to us. These things
are not of necessity, but of providence. There are second
causes, but above all these is the First Cause, intelligent,
loving, and free, God rules in all, over all, and above all. He
is not displaced or supplanted by the forces and agencies which
he employs, he is not absorbed by care of other worlds, he is
not indifferent toward the earth. A personal superintendence and
providence are not beneath his dignity, or in anywise
distasteful to him. As Maker, and Life giver, and Father, Thou
visitest the earth, and waterest it. Samuel Martin, in
"Rain upon the Mown Grass, and other Sermons."
1871.
Verse 9. The psalmist is here foretelling the gracious
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the conversion of the nations
of the earth to Christ. Origen.
Verse 9. The chiefs of Hebrew theology attribute four
keys to God, which he never entrusted to any angel or seraph,
and as the first of these they place the key of rain. He
himself is said, in Job 28:26, to give a law to the rain, and in
chapter Job 26:8, to bind up the waters in the clouds. Thomas
Le Blanc.
Verse 9. With the river of God, which is full of
water. That is, the clouds figuratively described. Edward
Leigh (1602-3-1671).
Verse 9. The river of God, as opposed to
earthly streams. However these may fail, the divine resources
are exhaustless. Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse 9. The river of God. The Chaldee
paraphrase is, From the fountain of God which is in the
heavens, which is full of the rainstorms of blessing, thou wilt
prepare their cornfields. Lorinus.
Verse 9. Thou preparest their grain; for so dost
thou prepare the earth. (Version of American Bible Union.) So,
namely, with this design, and for this end. In the Hebrew,
"for so dost thou prepare her; "referring to "the
earth, "which in Hebrew is fem., while grain is masc.
The meaning can be expressed in English only by using the word
(earth) which the Hebrew pronoun represents. The English pronoun
(it) would necessarily refer to "grain, "and would
represent neither the meaning of the Hebrew nor its form. Thomas
J. Conant.
Verse 9. Thou preparest them corn, etc. Corn is
the special gift of God to man. There are several interesting
and instructive ideas connected with this view of it. All the
other plants we use as food are unfit for his purpose in their
natural condition, and require to have their nutritious
qualities developed, and their natures and forms to a certain
extent changed by a gradual process of cultivation. There is not
a single useful plant grown in our gardens and fields, but is
utterly worthless for food in its normal or wild state; and man
has been left to himself to find out, slowly and painfully, how
to convert these crudities of nature into nutritious vegetables.
But it is not so with corn. It has from the very beginning been
an abnormal production. God gave it to Adam, we have every
reason to believe, in the same perfect state of preparation for
food in which we find it at the present day, It was made
expressly for man, and given directly into his hands.
"Behold, "says the Creator, "I have given you
every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth;
"that is, all the cereal plants—such as corn, wheat,
barley, rice, maize, etc., whose peculiar characteristic it is
to produce seed... There is another proof that corn was created
expressly for man's use, in the fact that it has never been
found in a wild state. The primitive types from which all our
other esculent plants were derived are still to be found in a
state of nature in this or other countries. The wild beet and
cabbage still grow on our seashores; the crab apple and the
sloe, the savage parents of our luscious pippins and plums, are
still found among the trees of the wood; but where are the
original types of our corn plants? Where are the wild grasses,
which, according to some authors, the cumulative process of
agriculture carried on through successive ages, have developed
into corn, wheat, and barley? Much has been written, and many
experiments have been tried, to determine the natural origin of
these cereals, but every effort has hitherto proved in vain.
Reports have again and again been circulated that corn and wheat
have been found growing wild in some parts of Persia and the
steppes of Tartary, apparently far from the influence of
cultivation; but when tested by botanical data, these reports
have turned out, in every instance, to be unfounded. Corn has
never been known as anything else than a cultivated plant.
History and observation prove that it cannot grow spontaneously.
It is never, like other plants, self sown and self diffused.
Neglected of men, it speedily disappears and becomes extinct. It
does not return, as do all other cultivated varieties of plants,
to a natural condition, and so become worthless as food, but
utterly perishes, being constitutionally unfitted to maintain
the struggle for existence with the aboriginal vegetation of the
soil. All this proves that it must have been produced
miraculously; or, in other words, given by God to man directly,
in the same abnormal condition in which it now appears; for
nature never could have developed or preserved it. In the
mythologies of all the ancient nations it was confidently
affirmed to have had a supernatural origin. The Greeks and
Romans believed it to be the gift of the goddess Ceres, who
taught her son, Triptolemus, to cultivate and distribute it over
the earth; and from her, the whole class of plants received the
name of cereals, which they now bear. And we only express the
same truth when we say to him, whom these pagans ignorantly
worshipped, Thou preparest them corn, when thou hast provided
for it. Let me bring forth one more proof of special design,
enabling us to recognise the hand of God in this mercy. Corn is
universally diffused. It is almost the only species of plant
which is capable of growing everywhere, in almost every soil, in
almost any situation. In some form or other, adapted to the
various modifications of climate and physical conditions, which
occur in different countries, it is spread over an area of the
earth's surface as extensive as the occupancy of the human
race... Rice is grown in tropical countries where periodical
rains and inundations, followed by excessive heat, occur, and
furnishes the chief article of diet for the largest proportion
of the human race. Wheat will not thrive in hot climates, but
flourishes all over the temperate zone, at various ranges of
elevation, and is admirably adapted to the wants of highly
civilized communities. Maize spreads over an immense
geographical area in the new world, where it has been known from
time immemorial, and formed a principal element of that Indian
civilisation which surprised the Spaniards in Mexico and Peru.
Barley is cultivated in those parts of Europe and Asia where the
soil and climate are not adapted for wheat; while oats and rye
extend far into the bleak north, and disappear only from those
desolate Arctic regions where man cannot exist in his social
capacity. By these striking adaptations of different varieties
of grain, containing the same essential ingredients, to
different soils and climates, Providence has furnished the
indispensable food for the sustenance of the human race
throughout the whole habitable globe; and all nations, and
tribes, and tongues can rejoice together, as one great family,
with the joy of harvest. Hugh Macmillan, in "Bible
Teachings in Nature." 1868.
Verses 9-13. I do not know any picture of rural life
that in any measure comes up to the exquisite description here
brought before us, and which every one's heart at once
recognises as so true to nature in all its branches. In the
brief compass of five verses we have the whole scene vividly
sketched, from the first preparation of the earth or soil; the
provision of the corn seed for the sower; the rain in its
season, the former and the latter rain, watering the ridges,
settling the furrows, and causing the seed to swell and to
spring forth, and bud and blossom; then the crowning of the
whole year in the appointed weeks of harvest, and men's hearts
rejoicing before God according to the joy in harvest, the very
foot paths dropping with fatness, and the valleys shouting and
singing for joy. Our harvest homes are times of rejoicing too,
but I would that our tillers and reapers of the soil would as
piously refer all to God as the psalmist did. Thou waterest
the earth, Thou greatly enrichest it, Thou preparest the corn,
Thou waterest the ridges, Thou settlest the furrows, Thou makest
it soft with showers, Thou blessest the springing thereof, Thou
crownest the year with thy goodness. Not one word of man, of
man's skill, or of man's labour, not one thought of self. How
different from him whose grounds brought forth abundantly, and
whose only thought was, "I will say to my soul, Soul, thou
hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, drink,
and be merry." Barton Bouchier.
Verse 13. The phrase, the pastures are clothed with
flocks, cannot be regarded as the vulgar language of poetry.
It appears peculiarly beautiful and appropriate, when we
consider the numerous flocks which whitened the plains of Syria
and Canaan. In the eastern countries, sheep are much more
prolific than with us, and they derive their name from their
great fruitfulness; bringing forth, as they are said to do,
"thousands and ten thousands in their streets, " Ps
144:13. They, therefore, formed no mean part of the wealth of
the East. James Anderson, in editorial Note to Calvin in loc.
Verse 13. The hills, where not tilled, were bushy and
green, and sprinkled with numerous flocks; the valleys broad and
covered with a rich crop of wheat; the fields full of reapers
and gleaners in the midst of the harvest, with asses and camels
receiving their loads of sheaves, and feeding unmuzzled and
undisturbed upon the ripe grain. Edward Robinson.
Verse 13. It may seem strange, that he should first
tell us, that they shout for joy, and then add the
feebler expression, that they sing; interposing, too, the
insensitive particle, pa, aph, they shout for joy, YEA, they
also sing. The verb, however, admits of being taken in the
future tense, they shall sing; and this denotes a
continuation of joy, that they would rejoice, not only one year,
but through the endless succession of the seasons. I may add,
what is well known, that in Hebrew the order of expression is
frequently inverted in this way. John Calvin.
Verse 13. They also sing. They ardently sing:
such is the real meaning of pa; primarily "heat" or
"warmth, "thence "ardour, passion, anger,
"and thence again "the nostrils, "as the supposed
seat of this feeling. John Mason Good.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The fitness, place, use, and power of silence
in worship.
Verse 1. The limitations, advantages, and obligations
of vows.
Verse 2. (first clause). The hearing and
granting of prayer is the Lord's property, his usual practice,
his pleasure, his nature, and his glory. David Dickson.
Verse 3.
1. The humble confession. Sins prevail against us.
(a) When we are not alert, or go into temptation, and
even after most sacred engagements.
(b) How. Through our inbred corruption, natural
constitution, suddenness of temptation, neglect of means of
grace, and want of fellowship.
(c) In whom. In the best of men: David says, against
me. Let us take home the caution.
2. The reassuring confidence. Sin is forgiven.
(a) By God: Thou.
(b) By atonement: covering all.
(c) Effectually: purge away.
(d) Comprehensively: our transgressions.
Verse 3.
1. A cry of distress. Man soul besieged: Iniquities
prevail against me.
2. A shout of delight. Man soul relieved: Thou
shalt purge them away. E. G. Gange.
Verse 4. Nearness to God is the foundation of a
creature's happiness. This doctrine appears in full evidence,
while we consider the three chief ingredients of true felicity, viz.,
the contemplation of the noblest object, to satisfy all the
powers of the understanding; the love of the supreme good, to
answer the utmost propensities of the will, and the sweet and
everlasting sensation and assurance of the love of an Almighty
Friend, who will free us from all the evils which our nature can
fear, and confer upon us all the good which a wise and innocent
creature can desire. Thus all the capacities of man are employed
in their highest and sweetest exercises and enjoyments. Isaac
Watts.
Verse 4. Election, effectual calling, access,
adoption, final perseverance, satisfaction. This verse is a body
of divinity in miniature.
Verse 5. Treat the first clause experimentally, and
show how prayers for our own sanctification are answered by
trial; for God's glory, by our persecution; for our babes'
salvation, by their death; for the good of others, by their
sickness, etc.
Verse 7. The Lord, the giver, creator, and preserver
of peace.
Verse 8. Tokens of God's presence; those causing
terror, and those inspiring joy.
Verse 8. (last clause). The peculiar joys of
morning and evening.
Verse 9. The river of God. John Bunyan's
treatise on "The Water of Life" would be suggestive on
this topic.
Verse 9. Divine visits and their consequences.
Verses 9-13. A Harvest Sermon.
1. The general goodness of God, Visiting the earth in
rotation of seasons: "Seed time and harvest, "etc.
2. The greatness of his resources: The river of God,
which is full of water; not like Elijah's brook, which dried up.
3. The variety of his benefactions: Corn; Water;
Blessest the springing thereof, etc.
4. The perpetuity of his blessings; Crownest the year.
E. G. G.
Verse 13. The song of nature and the ear which hears
it.