TITLE. To the Chief Musician. Who
he was matters not, and who we may be is also of small
consequence, so long as the Lord is glorified. On Neginoth,
or upon stringed instruments. This is the fifth Psalm so
entitled, and no doubt like the others was meant to be sung with
the accompaniment of "harpers harping with their
harps." No author's name is given, but he would be a bold
man who should attempt to prove that David did not write it. We
will be hard pushed before we will look for any other author
upon whom to father these anonymous odes which lie side by side
with those ascribed to David, and wear a family likeness to
them. A Psalm or Song. Solemnity and vivacity are
here united. A Psalm is a song, but all songs are not Psalms:
this is both one and the other.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and
cause his face to shine upon us. This is a fit
refrain to the benediction of the High Priest in the name of the
Lord, as recorded in Nu 6:24-25. "The Lord bless thee, and
keep thee: the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be
gracious unto thee." It begins at the beginning with a cry
for mercy. Forgiveness of sin is always the first link in
the chain of mercies experienced by us. Mercy is a foundation
attribute in our salvation. The best saints and the worst
sinners may unite in this petition. It is addressed to the God
of mercy, by those who feel their need of mercy, and it implies
the death of all legal hopes or claims of merit. Next, the
church begs for a blessing; bless us—a very
comprehensive and far reaching prayer. When we bless God we do
but little, for our blessings are but words, but when God
blesses he enriches us indeed, for his blessings are gifts and
deeds. But his blessing alone is not all his people crave, they
desire a personal consciousness of his favour, and pray for a
smile from his face. These three petitions include all that we
need here or hereafter. This verse may be regarded as the prayer
of Israel, and spiritually of the Christian church. The largest
charity is shown in this Psalm, but it begins at home. The whole
church, each church, and each little company, may rightly pray, bless
us. It would, however, be very wrong to let our charity end
where it begins, as some do; our love must make long marches,
and our prayers must have a wide sweep, we must embrace the
whole world in our intercessions. Selah. Lift up the heart, lift
up the voice. A higher key, a sweeter note is called for.
Verse 2. That thy way may be known upon earth.
As showers which first fall upon the hills afterwards run down
in streams into the valleys, so the blessing of the Most High
comes upon the world through the church. We are blessed for the
sake of others as well as ourselves. God deals in a way of mercy
with his saints, and then they make that way known far and wide,
and the Lord's name is made famous in the earth. Ignorance of
God is the great enemy of mankind, and the testimonies of the
saints, experimental and grateful, overcome this deadly foe. God
has set a way and method of dealing out mercy to men, and it is
the duty and privilege of a revived church to make that way
to be everywhere known. Thy saving health among all nations, or,
thy salvation. One likes the old words, "saving
health, "yet as they are not the words of the Spirit but
only of our translators, they must be given up: the word is salvation,
and nothing else. This all nations need, but many of them do not
know it, desire it, or seek it; our prayer and labour should be,
that the knowledge of salvation may become as universal as the
light of the sun. Despite the gloomy notions of some, we cling
to the belief that the kingdom of Christ will embrace the whole
habitable globe, and that all flesh shall see the salvation of
God: for this glorious consummation we agonize in prayer.
Verse 3. Let the people praise thee, O God.
Cause them to own thy goodness and thank thee with all their
hearts; let nations do this, and do it continually, being
instructed in thy gracious way. Let all the people praise thee.
May every man bring his music, every citizen his canticle, every
peasant his praise, every prince his psalm. All are under
obligations to thee, to thank thee will benefit all, and praise
from all will greatly glorify thee; therefore, O Lord, give all
men the grace to adore thy grace, the goodness to see thy
goodness. What is here expressed as a prayer in our translation,
may be read as a prophecy, if we follow the original Hebrew.
Verse 4. O let the nations be glad and sing for
joy, or, they shall joy and triumph. When men know God's way
and see his salvation, it brings to their hearts much happiness.
Nothing creates gladness so speedily, surely, and abidingly as
the salvation of God. Nations never will be glad till they
follow the leadership of the great Shepherd; they may shift
their modes of government from monarchies to republics, and from
republics to communes, but they will retain their wretchedness
till they bow before the Lord of all. What a sweet word is that to
sing for joy! Some sing for form, others for show, some as a
duty, others as an amusement, but to sing from the heart,
because overflowing joy must find a vent, this is to sing
indeed. Whole nations will do this when Jesus reigns over them
in the power of his grace. We have heard hundreds and even
thousands sing in chorus, but what will it be to hear whole
nations lifting up their voices, as the noise of many waters and
like great thunders. When shall the age of song begin? When
shall groans and murmurs be exchanged for holy hymns and joyful
melodies?
For thou shalt judge the people righteously. Wrong on the
part of governors is a fruitful source of national woe, but
where the Lord rules, rectitude is supreme. He doeth ill to
none. His laws are righteousness itself. He rights all wrongs
and releases all who are oppressed. Justice on the throne is a
fit cause for national exultation. And govern the nations upon
earth. He will lead them as a shepherd his flock, and through
his grace they shall willingly follow, then will there be peace,
plenty, and prosperity. It is a great condescension on God's
part to become the Shepherd of nations, and to govern them for
their good: it is a fearful crime when a people, who know the
salvation of God, apostatize and say to the Lord, "Depart
from us." There is some cause for trembling lest our nation
should fall into this condemnation; may God forbid. Selah.
Before repeating the chorus, the note is again elevated, that
full force may be given to the burst of song and the
accompaniment of harps.
"Strings and voices, hands and hearts,
In the concert bear your parts;
All that breathe, your Lord adore,
Praise him, Praise him, evermore!"
Verse 5. These words are no vain repetition, but are a
chorus worthy to be sung again and again. The great theme of the
psalm is the participation of the Gentiles in the worship of
Jehovah; the psalmist is full of it, he hardly knows how to
contain or express his joy.
Verse 6. Then shall the earth yield her increase.
Sin first laid a curse on the soil, and grace alone can remove
it. Under tyrannical governments lands become unproductive; even
the land which flowed with milk and honey is almost a wilderness
under Turkish rule; but, when the principles of true religion
shall have elevated mankind, and the dominion of Jesus shall be
universally acknowledged, the science of tillage shall be
perfected, men shall be encouraged to labour, industry shall
banish penury, and the soil shall be restored to more than its
highest condition of fertility. We read that the Lord turneth
"a fruitful land into barrenness, "for the wickedness
of them that dwell therein, and observation confirms the truth
of the divine threatening; but even under the law it was
promised, "The Lord shall make thee plenteous in every work
of thine hand, in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of
thy land for good." There is certainly an intimate relation
between moral and physical evil, and between spiritual and
physical good. Alexander notes that the Hebrew is in the past
tense, and he concludes that it is ungrammatical to render it in
the future; but to us it seems that the prophet bard, hearing
the nations praise the Lord, speaks of the bounteous harvest as
already given in consequence. On the supposition that all the
people praise Jehovah, the earth has yielded her increase. The
future in the English appears to be the clearest rendering of
the Hebrew. And God, even our own God, shall bless us. He will
make earth's increase to be a real blessing. Men shall see in
his gifts the hand of that same God whom Israel of old adored,
and Israel, especially, shall rejoice in the blessing, and exult
in her own God. We never love God aright till we know him to be
ours, and the more we love him the more we long to be fully
assured that he is ours. What dearer name can we give to him
than "mine own God." The spouse in the song has no
sweeter canticle than "my beloved is mine and I am
his." Every believing Jew must feel a holy joy at the
thought that the nations shall be blessed by Abraham's God; but
every Gentile believer also rejoices that the whole world shall
yet worship the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, who is our Father and our God.
Verse 7. God shall bless us. The prayer of the
first verse is the song of the last. We have the same phrase
twice, and truly the Lord's blessing is manifold; he blesses and
blesses and blesses again. How many are his beatitudes! How
choice his benedictions! They are the peculiar heritage of his
chosen. He is the Saviour of all men, but specially of them that
believe. In this verse we find a song for all future time. God
shall bless us is our assured confidence; he may smite us, or
strip us, or even slay us, but he must bless us. He cannot turn
away from doing good to his elect. And all the ends of the earth
shall fear him. The far off shall fear. The ends of the earth
shall end their idolatry, and adore their God. All tribes,
without exception, shall feel a sacred awe of the God of Israel.
Ignorance shall be removed, insolence subdued, injustice
banished, idolatry abhorred, and the Lord's love, light, life,
and liberty, shall be over all, the Lord himself being King of
kings and Lord of lords. Amen, and Amen.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. How admirably balanced are the parts of
this missionary song! The people of God long to see all the
nations participating in their privileges, "visited with
God's salvation, and gladdened with the gladness of his
nation" (Ps 106:5). They long to hear all the nationalities
giving thanks to the Lord, and hallowing his name; to see the
face of the whole earth, which sin has darkened so long, smiling
with the brightness of a second Eden. This is not a vapid
sentiment. The desire is so expressed as to connect with it the
thought of duty and responsibility. For how do they expect that
the happy times are to be reached? They trust, in the first
instance, to the general diffusion of the knowledge of God's
way, the spreading abroad of the truth regarding the way of
salvation. With a view to that, they cry for a time of
quickening from the presence of the Lord, and take encouragement
in this prayer from the terms of the divinely appointed
benediction. As if they had said, "Hast thou not commanded
the sons of Aaron to put thy name upon us, and to say: The Lord
bless thee and keep thee; the Lord cause his face to shine on
thee and be gracious to thee? Remember that sure word of thine.
God be gracious unto us and bless us, and cause his face to
shine upon us. Let us be thus blessed, and we shall in our turn
become a blessing. All the families of the earth shall, through
us, become acquainted with thy salvation." Such is the
church's expectation. And who shall say it is unreasonable? If
the little company of a hundred and twenty disciples who met in
the upper chamber at Jerusalem, all of them persons of humble
station, and inconspicuous talents, were endued with such power
by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that within three hundred
years the paganism of the empire was overthrown, one need not
fear to affirm that, in order to the evangelisation of the
world, nothing more is required than that the churches of
Christendom be baptised with a fresh effusion of the same Spirit
of power. William Binnie.
Whole Psalm. There are seven stanzas; twice three two
line stanzas, having one of three lines in the middle, which
forms the clasp or spangle of the septiad, a circumstance which
is strikingly appropriate to the fact that the psalm is called
"the Old Testament Paternoster" in some of the old
expositors. Franz Delitzsch.
Verse 1. God be merciful unto us, and bless us,
etc. God forgives, then he gives; till he be merciful to pardon
our sins through Christ, he cannot bless or look kindly on us
sinners. All our enjoyments are but blessings in bullion, till
gospel grace and pardoning mercy stamp and make them current.
God cannot so much as bear any good will to us, till Christ
makes peace for us; "On earth peace, good will toward
men." Lu 2:14. And what joy can a sinner take, though it
were to hear of a kingdom fallen to him, if he may not have it
with God's good will. William Gurnall.
Verse 1. God be merciful unto us. Hugo
attributes these words to penitents; Bless us, to those
setting out in the Christian life; Cause his face to shine
upon us, to those who have attained, or the sanctified. The
first seek for pardon, the second for justifying peace, the
third for edification and the grace of contemplation. Lorinus.
Verses 1-2. Connect the last clause of Ps 67:1 with
the first of Ps 67:2, and observe that God made his face to
shine upon Moses, and made known to him his way. "He made
known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel,
"as if the common people could only see the deeds of the
Lord, but his way, his plans, his secrets were revealed only to
him upon whom the light of God's face had shone. C. H. S.
Verse 2. That thy way may be known, etc. The
psalmist here supposes that there are certain rules or
principles, in accordance with which God bestows blessings on
mankind; and he prays that those rules and principles may be
everywhere made known upon the earth. Albert Barnes.
Verse 2. That thy way may be known, etc. By
nature we know little of God, and nothing of Christ, or the way
of salvation by him. The eye of the creature, therefore, must be
opened to see the way of life before he can by faith get into
it. God doth not use to waft souls to heaven like passengers in
a ship, who are shut under the hatches, and see nothing all the
way they are sailing to their port; if so, that prayer might
have been spared which the psalmist, inspired of God, breathes
forth in the behalf of the blind Gentiles: That thy way may
be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations. As
faith is not a naked assent, with affiance and innitency (Act of
leaning on) on Christ; so neither is it a blind assent, without
some knowledge. If, therefore, you continue still in thy brutish
ignorance, and knowest not so much as who Christ is, and what he
hath done for the salvation of poor sinners, and what thou must
do to get interest in him, thou art far enough from believing.
If the day be not broke in thy soul, much less is the Sun of
Righteousness arisen by faith in thy soul. William Gurnall.
Verse 2. That thy way may be known. The sinful
Jew, obstinate in his unbelief, shall see and hate. He shall
see, and be enraged at the salvation of the Gentiles; but let us
see and know, that is, love. For to know is often
put for to love, as in the passages—"My sheep hear
my voice, and I know them: I know mine, and am known of mine;
"that is, I love my own sheep, and they love me... There is
here a sudden transition from the third person to the second,
that in speaking of God he might not say, "His way,
"or "his salvation, "but Thy way,
and Thy salvation setting forth the vehemence of an
ardent suppliant, and the grace of God as he reveals himself to
that suppliant while still pouring forth his prayers. Gerhohus
(1093-1169).
Verse 2. That thy way may be known, etc. As
light, so the participation of God's light is communicative: we
must not pray for ourselves alone, but for all others, that
God's way may be known upon earth, and his saving health among
all nations. Thy way; that is, thy will, thy word, thy
works. God's will must be known on earth, that it may be done on
earth, as it is in heaven. Except we know our Master's will, how
shall we do it? Ergo, first pray with David here: Let
the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the
people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth; and
then, Let all the people praise thee. God's will is
revealed in his word, and his word is his way wherein we must
walk, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. Or, Thy
way; that is, thy works, as David elsewhere (Ps 25:10):
"All thy ways of the Lord are mercy and truth." Or, as
others (Augustine; Jerome; Hilary) most fitly: Thy way,
that is, thy Christ; "Thy saving health, "that
is, thy Jesus: for "I am the way, "saith our
Saviour (Joh 14:6): "No man cometh unto the Father, but by
me; " wherefore, "Let thy Son be known upon earth;
thy Jesus among all nations." John Boys.
Verse 3. Let the people praise thee. Mark the
sweet order of the blessed Spirit: first, mercy; than,
knowledge; last of all, praising of God. We cannot see his
countenance except he be merciful to us; and we cannot praise
him except his way be known upon earth. His mercy breeds
knowledge; his knowledge, praise. John Boys.
Verse 3. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all
the people praise thee. What then? "Then shall the
earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless
us." We have comforts increased, the more we praise God
for what we have already received. The more vapours go up, the
more showers come down; as the rivers receive, so they pour out,
and all run into the sea again. There is a constant circular
course and recourse from the sea, unto the sea; so there is
between God and us; the more we praise him, the more our
blessings come down; and the more his blessings come down, the
more we praise him again; so that we do not so much bless God as
bless ourselves. When the springs lie low, we pour a little
water into the pump, not to enrich the fountain, but to bring up
more for ourselves. Thomas Manton.
Verse 3. This verse is exceedingly emphatic.
1. First, by an apostrophe to God, in the pronoun, Thee. As
if he said: Let the people praise thee, not strange gods;
for thou art the only true God.
2. Secondly, inasmuch as it is not said, Let us praise
thee, O God; but let the people praise thee, and let all
the people. For here is expressed the longing of the pious
heart, and its fond desire that God should be praised and
magnified throughout all lands and by all people of the round
earth.
3. Thirdly, by the iteration, in which the same particle is
repeated in this and the fifth verse no less than four times, as
if the duty could not be sufficiently inculcated. It is not
enough to have said it once; it is delightful to repeat it
again. Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563).
Verse 4. For thou shalt judge the people
righteously, etc. The Psalmist may here seem to contradict
himself; for if mercy make men rejoice, then judgment occasions
men to tremble. Answer is made, that all such as have known the
ways of the Lord, and rejoice in the strength of his salvation,
all such as have the pardon of their sins assured and sealed,
fear not that dreadful assize, because they know the judge is
their advocate. Or, (as Jerome,)let all nations rejoice, because
God doth judge righteously, being the God of the Gentiles as
well as of the Jews. Ac 10:34. Or, let all nations rejoice,
because God doth govern all nations; that whereas theretofore
they wandered in the fond imaginations of their own hearts, in
wry ways, in byways; now they are directed by the Spirit of
truth to walk in God's highway, which leads unto the celestial
Jerusalem; now they shall know Christ, the way, the truth, and
the life. For judging is often used for ruling. 1Sa 7:15 2Co
1:10. So David doth here expound himself: thou shalt judge.
that is, thou shalt govern the nations. John Boys.
Verse 4. Govern. Lead and guide them as the
shepherd his flock. Benjamin Boothroyd.
Verse 4. And lead(margin) the nations.
God now overrules the nations in their ways, but surely
they are led by another guide. There is a bridle in their
jaws causing them to err. They are held and shaken in the sieve
of vanity, until he come to whom the government pertains. Arthur
Pridham.
Verses 5-6. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all
the people praise thee! What then? Then shall the
earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall bless
us. Our unthankfulness is the cause of the earth's
unfruitfulness. While man is blessing God for his
mercies, He is blessing man with his mercies. William
Secker, in "The Nonsuch Professor," 1660.
Verse 6. Then shall the earth yield her increase.
An increase of wealth is but the natural result of increased
piety and intelligence. There are certain qualities essential to
temporal prosperity. These are industry, economy, moderation;
and such are the qualities begotten of godliness. . . . Nor is
it an unreasonable expectation that our globe should, under the
reign of righteousness, yield all those temporal advantages of
which it is capable. Science, favoured by piety, may greatly add
to the earth's fruitfulness; and mechanical genius may still
farther abbreviate human toil, and increase human comforts. The
great inventions and discoveries of science, by which toil is
lessened and comfort enhanced, are all the product of Christian
minds... Can we, then, doubt that in the era to which we look
forward, labour shall cease to be a burden? Can we believe that
the life of the labouring classes is to continue to be all but a
ceaseless round of toil and vexation—every hand stretched out
to procure something that is needed, or to ward off something
that is feared? Scripture predicts the mitigation of the curse;
and, in the discoveries of science, and the inventions of
mechanics, we see the means by which the prediction is to be
accomplished. This consummation may still be in the distant
future; but if we do not grudge the oak years for its growth,
the glory to be revealed is surely worthy of a process as
gradual. William Reid, in "Things to Come Practically
Considered," 1871.
Verse 6. God, even our own God, shall bless us.
What a rapturous expression is that: God, even our own God,
shall bless us! and that, "Thy God, thy glory!"
Upon interest in God follows their interest in his glory and
blessedness; which is so much the dearer and more valuable, as
it is theirs; their glory from their God. They shall be blessed
by God, their own God; "drink waters out of their own
well." How endearing a thing is propriety! Another man's
son is ingenuous, comely, personable; this may be a matter of
envy; but mine own is so, this is a joy. I read in the life of a
devout nobleman of France, (Monsieur de Renti) that receiving a
letter from a friend in which were inserted these words: "Deus
meus et omnia, "my God and my all, he thus returns back
to him: "I know not what your intent was to put into your
letter these words, `Dues meus et omnia, My God and my
all:' only you invite me thereby to return the same to you, and
to all creatures. `My God and my all: my God and my all; my God
and my all.' If, perhaps, you take this for your motto, and use
it to express how full your heart is of it, think you it
possible I should be silent upon such an invitation, and not
express my sense thereof? Likewise be it known unto you,
therefore, that he is `my God and my all; 'and, if you doubt of
it, I shall speak of it a hundred times over. I shall add no
more, for anything else is superfluous to him that is truly
penetrated with `my God and my all; 'I leave you, therefore, in
this happy state of jubilation, and conjure you to beg for me,
of God, the solid sense of these words." And do we think,
"my God and my all." or, "my God and my glory,
"will have lost its emphasis in heaven? or that it will be
less significant among awakened souls? These things concur,
then, concerning the object; it is more excellent, even divine,
entire, permanent, and theirs: how can it but satisfy? John
Howe, in "The Blessedness of the Righteous."
Verse 6. Our own God. How inexpressible was the
inward pleasure wherewith we may suppose those words to have
been uttered. How delightful an appropriation! as if it were
intended to be said, the blessing itself were less significant,
it could not have that savour with it, if it were not from our
own God. Not only, therefore, allow but urge your spirits thus
to look towards God, that you may both delight in him as being
in himself the most excellent one, and also as being yours; for
know, you are not permitted only, but obliged to eye, accept,
and rejoice in him as such. John Howe.
Verses 6-7. The promise refers directly to the visible
fertility of the renewed earth at the time of Israel's recovery,
but it includes a fuller reference to higher things; for the
true increase yielded by any of God's works is the revenue of
praise which redounds to his holy name. Such, then, is the
promise I have to bring before you. In its widest sense, the
lower creation is now made subject to vanity, because of man's
sin; but in the kingdom of Christ this curse will be removed,
and all God's works will yield their full increase—a tribute
of unmingled honour and praise to his name. Let us consider (1.)
The preparation for this increase. (2.) The increase itself.
(3.) The blessing of God, which will crown it.
I. THE PREPARATIONS FOR THIS INCREASE. What are the means?
What is the way of its accomplishment? Whence does it proceed?
Our Psalm is full of instruction. Consider—
1. Its fountain: the free mercy of God. The Psalm
begins, God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his
face to shine upon us. Whatever the details and steps of the
work of redemption, all must be traced up to this original
fountain, the sovereign grace and mercy of our God... The
eternal, free, unchangeable, inexhaustible mercy of our God
revealed through his dear Son Jesus Christ; this is the fountain
head of the blessed increase here foretold...
2. The order in which this increase is granted may
next be considered. Salvation is given to the Jew first, and
then also to the Greek. The prayer of this Psalm is, Cause
his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon earth,
thy saving health among all nations. It is the divine plan
first to choose his people and bless them, and then to make them
a blessing, as we see in Abraham, the father of the faithful. It
is through his church that God blesses the world... The same
principle is true in every revival of pure religion... But all
this order of divine mercy has yet to be more fully seen in what
is before us; in the restoration of Israel, and in its effect
upon the world at large...
3. The immediate precursor of this increase is the return
of our Lord from heaven, the coming of Christ to judge the
earth and reign over all nations. The Psalm calls all nations to
rejoice in this: O let the nations be glad and sing for joy:
for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the
nations upon earth. ... The world craves, and will crave
more and more for righteous government. The Lord has promised to
supply this natural want of the human heart, though he take
vengeance on his hardened enemies. Even in the coming of the
Lord to judgment, goodness will so finally triumph that the
nations are to be glad and sing for joy... It is the Lord
judging the people and governing the nations, and all the people
praising him, that prepares directly and immediately for the
promised blessedness. Then shall the earth yield her
increase.
II. THE INCREASE ITSELF. This increase has many aspects. Let
us view them in a climax of benefits.
1. Natural fertility. The first sentence of curse and
barrenness, of thorns and thistles, was pronounced on Adam's
fall, and renewed on Cain's murder. It seems to have been
specially removed after the deluge... Even now, two thirds of
our world are ocean, incapable of increase; half of the rest,
and perhaps more, is almost desert, and of the remainder the
largest part is very imperfectly tilled. There is room, even in
the latter, for a vast increase, when the whole earth might
become like the garden of the Lord.
2. The redemption of art. Its activity, its talent,
and discoveries are now great and wonderful; but it is mainly
turned to human self sufficiency and vanity, and bears little
fruit to God's glory and the highest benefit of man. But in the
period predicted in this Psalm, every creature, when redeemed to
man's use, shall be also reclaimed to God's glory...
3. The redemption of science....
4. Society will yield its increase to God.... Men now
live as without God in the world, full though it be of proofs of
his wisdom and love... What a change when every social circle
shall be a fellowship of saints, and all bent to one great
purpose, the divine glory and the blessedness of each other.
5. The soul shall yield its increase. The earth is
only the figure of the human heart, a soil ever fertile for good
or evil. Thus the apostle, in his Epistle to the Hebrews,
regards it: "For the earth which drinketh in the rain that
cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by
whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God; but that which
beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing;
whose end is to be burned. But, beloved, we are persuaded better
things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we
thus speak." Then the thorns and briers of a crooked and
perverse generation will cease... The fruits of righteousness
will abound from the human race to the glory of God. Much
praise, much zeal, much reverence, much humility, will
distinguish his servants. Faith, hope, and love will all be in
the fullest exercise. Christ will be all and in all, and every
power will be consecrated to him. This is the best increase the
earth yields to God.
6. The large number of God's true servants, thus
yielding themselves to him, is another part of this
blessedness...
7. The perpetuity of this increase has to be added to
this glory. This is according to the promise made to the
Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Condensed from Edward Bickersteth's
Sermon in the "Bloomsbury Lent Lectures," 1848.
Verses 6-7. Double blessings from God—temporal and
spiritual, blessings peculiar to the Jews, and blessings suited
to Christians. O Lord, I refuse not the temporal blessings it
pleases thee to send me; I will receive them with humble
gratitude as the gift of thy goodness: but I entreat from thee
especially for spiritual blessings; and that thou wouldest treat
me rather as a Christian than as a Jew. Pasquier Quesnel
(1634-1719), in "Les Psaumes de David avec des Reflexions
Morales."
Verse 7. Note, how joy in God, and fear of God, are
combined. By joy the sadness and anxiety of diffidence are
excluded, but by fear contempt and false security are banished.
So Psalm 2, "Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with
trembling." Wolfgang Musculus.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. Here is mercy in God the Father.
2. Here is blessing as the fruit of that mercy in God the
Son.
3. Here is the experience of that blessing in the comfort of
the Holy Ghost.
Verse 1. The need of seeking a blessing for ourselves.
Verses 1-2. The prosperity of the church at home, the
hope for missions abroad.
Verse 2.
1. The way of God towards the earth.
(a) A way of mercy.
(b) Of blessing.
(c) Of comfort.
2. The knowledge of that way.
(a) By outward means.
(b) By inward teaching.
3. The effect of that knowledge. Salvation among all nations.
Verse 2. What is the true health of men?
Verse 3. Viewed,
1. As the desire of every renewed heart.
2. As a prayer.
3. As a prophecy.
Verse 4.
1. The reign of God in the world: it is not left to itself.
2. The joy of the world on that account: Let the
nations, etc.
3. The reason of that joy: He will judge righteously.
(a) As faithful to his law.
(b) Faithful to his promises of mercy.
Verses 5-7.
1. The prayer (Ps 67:5).
2. The promise (Ps 67:6).
(a) Of temporal good.
(b) Of spiritual good.
3. The prediction (Ps 67:7).
Verses 6-7. See "Spurgeon's Sermons, "No.
819: "The Minstrelsy of Hope."
Verse 7.
1. God to man: shall bless us.
2. Man to God: shall fear him.
WORK UPON THE SIXTY-SEVENTH PSALM
In "The Works of JOHN BOYS,
"1626, folio, pp. 42-45, there is an Exposition of this
Psalm.