TITLE. To the Chief Musician. Here
is noble work for him, for the cry of the last Psalm is about to
be heard, and the challenge of the foes of Israel taken up by
God himself. Here the virgin daughter of Zion despises her foe,
and laughs him to scorn. The destruction of Sennacherib's army
is a notable illustration of this sacred song. Al-taschith.
Here is another of the "destroy not" Psalms, and the
title may be intended as a check upon the natural fierceness of
the oppressed, or a taunt for the savage foe, who is here
bitterly bidden to destroy not, because the nation is well aware
that he cannot. Here, in holy faith, the sucking child plays at
the hole of the asp, and the weaned child puts his hand on the
cockatrice den. A Psalm or Song of Asaph. For
reading or singing. A hymn to God and a song for his saints.
Happy were the people who having found a Milton in David had an
almost equal songster in Asaph: happiest of all, because these
poets were not inspired by earth's Castalian fount, but drank of
"the fount of every blessing."
DIVISION. The people's song of
gratitude and adoration begins the hymn in Ps 75:1. In the next
four Ps 75:2-5, the Lord reveals himself as ruling the world in
righteousness. Then follows a warning voice from the church to
her enemies, Ps 75:6-8, and a closing song anticipatory of the
glory due to God and the utter defeat of the foe.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks.
Not to ourselves, for we were helpless, but to Elohim who heard
our cry, and replied to the taunt of our foes. Never let us
neglect thanksgiving, or we may fear that another time our
prayers will remain unanswered. As the smiling flowers
gratefully reflect in their lovely colours the various
constituents of the solar ray, so should gratitude spring up in
our hearts after the smiles of God's providence. Unto thee do we
give thanks. We should praise God again and again. Stinted
gratitude is ingratitude. For infinite goodness there should be
measureless thanks. Faith promises redoubled praise for greatly
needed and signal deliverances. For that thy name is near thy
wondrous works declare. God is at hand to answer and do
wonders—adore we then the present Deity. We sing not of a
hidden God, who sleeps and leaves the church to her fate, but of
one who ever in our darkest days is most near, a very present
help in trouble. "Near is his name." Baal is on a
journey, but Jehovah dwells in his church. Glory be unto the
Lord, whose perpetual deeds of grace and majesty are the sure
tokens of his being with us always, even unto the ends of the
world.
Verse 2. When I shall receive the congregation I
will judge uprightly. This is generally believed to be the
voice of God, who will, when he accepts his people, mount his
judgment seat and avenge their cause in righteousness. It is
rendered by some, "I will take a set time; "and by
others, "I will seize the moment."
"God never is before his time,
He is never too late."
He determines the period of interposition, and when that
arrives swift are his blows and sure are his deliverances. God
sends no delegated judge, but sits himself upon the throne. O
Lord, let thy set time come for grace. Tarry no longer, but for
the truth and the throne of Jesus be thou speedily at work. Let
the appointed assize come, O Jesus, and sit thou on thy throne
to judge the world in equity.
Verse 3. The earth and all the inhabitants thereof
are dissolved. When anarchy is abroad, and tyrants are in
power, everything is unloosed, dissolution threatens all things,
the solid mountains of government melt as wax; but even then the
Lord upholds and sustains the right. I bear up the pillars of
it. Hence, there is no real cause for fear. While the pillars
stand, and stand they must for God upholds them, the house will
brave out the storm. In the day of the Lord's appearing a
general melting will take place, but in that day our covenant
God will be the sure support of our confidence.
"How can I sink with such a prop
As my eternal God,
Who bears the earth's huge pillars up,
And spreads the heavens abroad."
Selah. Here may the music pause while the sublime vision
passes before our view; a world dissolved and an immutable God
uplifting all his people above the terrible commotion.
Verse 4. I said unto the fools, Deal not foolishly.
The Lord bids the boasters boast not, and commands the mad
oppressors to stay their folly. How calm is he, how quiet are
his words, yet how divine the rebuke. If the wicked were not
insane, they would even now hear in their consciences the still
small voice bidding them cease from evil, and forbear their
pride. And to the wicked, Lift not up the horn. He bids the
ungodly stay their haughtiness. The horn was the emblem of
boastful power; only the foolish, like wild and savage beasts,
will lift it high; but they assail heaven itself with it, as if
they would gore the Almighty himself. In dignified majesty he
rebukes the inane glories of the wicked, who beyond measure
exalt themselves in the day of their fancied power.
Verse 5. Lift not up your horn on high. For
their abounding pride there is a double rebuke. A word from God
soon abases the lofty. Would to God that all proud men would
obey the word here given them; for, if they do not, he will take
effectual means to secure obedience, and then woe will come upon
them, such as shall break their horns and roll their glory in
the mire for ever. Speak not with a stiff neck. Impudence before
God is madness. The outstretched neck of insolent pride is sure
to provoke his axe. Those who carry their heads high shall find
that they will be lifted yet higher, as Haman was upon the
gallows which he had prepared for the righteous man. Silence,
thou silly boaster! Silence! or God will answer thee. Who art
thou, thou worm, that thou shouldest arrogantly object against
thy Maker's laws and cavil at his truth? Be hushed, thou
vainglorious prater, or vengeance shall silence thee to thine
eternal confusion.
Verse 6. For promotion cometh neither from the
east, nor from the west, nor from the south. There is a God,
and a providence, and things happen not by chance. Though
deliverance be hopeless from all points of the compass, yet God
can work it for his people; and though judgment come neither
from the rising or the setting of the sun, nor from the
wilderness of mountains, yet come it will, for the Lord reigneth.
Men forget that all things are ordained in heaven; they see but
the human force, and the carnal passion, but the unseen Lord is
more real far than these. He is at work behind and within the
cloud. The foolish dream that he is not, but he is near even
now, and on the way to bring in his hand that cup of spiced wine
of vengeance, one draught of which shall stagger all his foes.
Verse 7. But God is the judge. Even now he is
actually judging. His seat is not vacant; his authority is not
abdicated; the Lord reigneth evermore. He putteth down one, and
setteth up another. Empires rise and fall at his bidding. A
dungeon here, and there a throne, his will assigns. Assyria
yields to Babylon, and Babylon to the Medes. Kings are but
puppets in his hand; they serve his purpose when they rise and
when they fall. A certain author has issued a work called
"Historic Ninepins, "(Timbs), a fit name of scorn for
all the great ones of the earth. God only is; all power belongs
to him; all else is shadow, coming and going, unsubstantial,
misty, dream like.
Verse 8. For in the hand of the Lord there is a
cup. The punishment of the wicked is prepared, God himself
holds it in readiness; he has collected and concocted woes most
dread, and in the chalice of his wrath he holds it. They scoffed
his feast of love; they shall be dragged to his table of
justice, and made to drink their due deserts. And the wine is
red. The retribution is terrible, it is blood for blood, foaming
vengeance for foaming malice. The very colour of divine wrath is
terrible; what must the taste be? It is full of mixture. Spices
of anger, justice, and incensed mercy are there. Their misdeeds,
their blasphemies, their persecutions have strengthened the
liquor as with potent drugs;
"Mingled, strong, and mantling high;
Behold the wrath divine."
Ten thousand woes are burning in the depths of that fiery
cup, which to the brim is filled with indignation. And he
poureth out of the same. The full cup must be quaffed, the
wicked cannot refuse the terrible draught, for God himself pours
it out for them and into them. Vain are their cries and
entreaties. They could once defy him, but that hour is over, and
the time to requite them if fully come. But the dregs thereof,
all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink
them. Even to the bitter end must wrath proceed. They must
drink on and on for ever, even to the bottom where lie the lees
of deep damnation; these they must suck up, and still must they
drain the cup. Oh the anguish and the heart break of the day of
wrath! Mark well, it is for all the wicked; all hell for all the
ungodly; the dregs for the dregs; bitters for the bitter; wrath
for the heirs of wrath. Righteousness is conspicuous, but over
all terror spreads a tenfold night, cheerless, without a star.
Oh happy they who drink the cup of godly sorrow, and the cup of
salvation: these, though now despised, will then be envied by
the very men who trod them under foot.
Verse 9. But I will declare for ever. Thus will
the saints occupy themselves with rehearsing Jehovah's praises,
while their foes are drunken with the wine of wrath. They shall
chant while the others roar in anguish, and justly so, for the
former Psalm informed us that such had been the case on
earth,—"thine enemies roar in the sanctuary, "—the
place where the chosen praised the Lord. I will sing praises to
the God of Jacob. The covenant God, who delivered Jacob from a
thousand afflictions, our soul shall magnify. He has kept his
covenant which he made with the patriarch, and has redeemed his
seed, therefore will we spread abroad his fame world without
end.
Verse 10. All the horns of the wicked also will I
cut off. Power and liberty being restored to Israel, she
begins again to execute justice, by abasing the godless who had
gloried in the reign of oppression. Their power and pomp are to
be smitten down. Men wore horns in those days as a part of their
state, and these, both literally and figuratively, were to be
lopped off; fir since God abhors the proud, his church will not
tolerate them any longer. But the horns of the righteous shall
be exalted. In a rightly ordered society, good men are counted
great men, virtue confers true rank, and grace is more esteemed
than gold. Being saved from unrighteous domination, the chief
among the chosen people here promises to rectify the errors
which had crept into the commonwealth, and after the example of
the Lord himself, to abase the haughty and elevate the humble.
This memorable ode may be sung in times of great depression,
when prayer has performed her errand at the mercyseat, and when
faith is watching for speedy deliverance. It is a song of the
second advent, CONCERNING THE NEARNESS OF THE JUDGE WITH THE CUP
OF WRATH.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. Al-taschith. Destroy not. This seems to
have been used by David as a maxim during the violent
persecutions of Saul, as if to remind himself to forebear
revenge, though it was often in his power to inflict it, upon
his unnatural enemy. F. G. Hubbard, in "The Psalms
Chronologically arranged, with Historical Introductions".
New York. 1856.
Whole Psalm. As these words are really a prayer, while
at the same time the Psalm is thrown into the form, not of
petitions, but of a thanksgiving, it ought to be considered as a
thank prayer, uttered beforehand, and containing petitions
within it. Berleb. Bible.
Verse 1. Thy name is near. The name of God
is said to be near, because it had come into public
notice, and was in every mind and every tongue—opposed to what
is unknown and obscure, which is said to be far
remote. Compare De 30:11. Hermann Venema.
Verse 1. The psalmist doubles this duty in the
practice of the saints; Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks,
we give thanks, we do it; as if none else did it but they,
or as if they had done noting else. Joseph Caryl, in "A
Sermon before the House of Commons, "entitled, "The
Saints' Thankful Acclamation."
Verse 3. I bear up the pillars of it. I prevent
it from falling to pieces, as a house, supported by columns too
weak to bear its weight, would do. Daniel Cresswell.
Verse 3. I bear up the pillars of it. Learn to
whom the glory of bearing up the world is due. God's providence
is the true Atlas which supports the world, and doth shoulder up
the world, whilst it treads on sin and sinners. Upon a serious
view taken of providence on this wise displayed, we may say as
they said of old, "The Lord, he is the God; the Lord he is
the God, "1Ki 18:39. Thomas Crane.
Verse 3. We can imagine a monarch, and especially an
eastern monarch, in the plenitude of his power, and the
arrogance of his pride, as he casts his haughty glance over the
ensign of his might, saying to himself, "I bear up the
pillars of the earth." But one could never imagine such a
thought arising in the heart, or proceeding from the lips of
David or Hezekiah. I know not who of the sons of Adam, frail and
feeble at their best estate, could have ever said, The earth
and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the
pillars of it. I know of none but him who said, "All
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth, "and who, as
he said these words, ascended up into heaven to exercise that
sovereignty, and repair that mighty ruin which had been wrought
on earth when Satan triumphed in Paradise. Barton Bouchier.
Verse 4. Fools. The ungodly are spiritual
fools. If one had a child very beautiful, yet if he were a fool,
the parent would have little joy in him. The Scripture hath
dressed the sinner in a fool's coat: and let me tell you, better
be a fool void of reason, than a fool void of grace: this is the
devil's fool. Pr 14:9. Is not he a fool who refuseth a rich
portion? God offers Christ and salvation, but the sinner
refuseth this portion: "Israel would none of me." Ps
81:11. Is not he a fool who prefers an annuity before an
inheritance? Is not he a fool who tends his mortal part, and
neglects his angelical part? As if one should paint the wall of
his house, and let the timber rot. Is not he a fool who will
feed the devil with his soul? As that emperor who fed his lion
with a pheasant. Is not he a fool who lays a snare for himself?
Pr 1:18. Who consults his own shame? Hab 2:10. Who loves death?
Pr 8:36. Thomas Watson.
Verse 5. Horn. The word horn was used in
the Hebrew metaphorically to express either honour, as Ps
112:9 132:18, etc.; or strength, Mic 4:13, "I will
make thine horn iron." De 33:17, etc. To humble and cast
down was often represented by the figure of breaking or cutting
off the horn, as here (Ps 75:10). La 2:3, "Cut off all the
horn of Israel." To exalt the horn of any one was to bestow
honour and dignity upon him; so also, to make it bud. Ps 132:17
89:18 Eze 29:21. Here, to lift up the horn betokens
presumption. It was also somewhat later a symbol for kingdom,
Zec 1:18, and Daniel. "Four Friends."
Verse 5. Speak not with a stiff neck. Mr. Bruce
has observed that the Abyssinian kings have a horn on
their diadem; and that the keeping it erect, or in a
projecting form, makes them appear as if they had a stiff
neck; and refers to this passage for the antiquity of the
usage, and the appearance also. Adam Clarke.
Verse 6. For promotion cometh neither from the
east, etc. The word promotion here is used in a very
expressive way; it means the desire of self advancement,
Myrh (harim), and would teach us that all our inward
schemes, and outward plans, cannot gain for us advancement,
unless based upon the fear and love of God; we look forward to
improve our circumstances, like to the ascending of a mountain,
and nerve ourselves to the effort of ascent, fondly thinking
that no eye watches our efforts; but as "shame is the
promotion of fools, "so disappointment is often the return
of rashness... From the east promotion doth not come; the
word east here is very expressive, auwmm (mimmotza),
the rising of the sun, the outgoing of light, the dawning of the
day, and the manifesting or revealing of God. We look around;
and in the early dawning of youth, with high hopes, mental
energies, and perhaps superior talents, anticipate victory over
our compeers, and a course of worldly success and prosperity;
but alas! how often are all these hopes blighted and a
succession of reverses humbles our spirits. Promotion cometh not
from the west. The original is bremmw (umimmagnarab)
and it means duskiness, darkness, and the setting sun,—hence
the west. When the clouds of years press upon us, and darkened
shadows overtake us in various ways, such as loss of dear and
early friends, the buoyancy of youth gone by, hopes softened
down to personal ease, and the power of the constitution
reduced; then God often wills that promotion shall not come. We
now approach to the last point from whence promotion cometh not,
that is from the south, rbrm (mid bar) a waste
place, the Arabian desert; hence the south. In dry and solitary
places like the sandy desert little advancement can be looked
for; like the human intellect, unless cultivated and improved by
care and education it is barren as the desert to all holy
feelings and improvement, the natural passions like sand
choke up every patch susceptible of cultivation, and close up
all the avenues to thought and devotion. A godless man is like
the Arabian desert, of no profit to himself or his neighbours;
like ever shifting sands being tossed to and fro by his own
wayward passions; heated with the suns of turbulence, self will,
and recklessness, he is a desert, a waste where God will not
vouchsafe the light of his countenance for promotion. Like the
disobedient Jews of old, Ps 78:49, we may speak of this man
saying, "How oft did he provoke him in the wilderness and
grieve him in the desert!" Let us then cultivate the higher
part of our being, and then we may produce fruit unto holiness;
let us not wreck so noble a ship as the soul by careless
steering and neglect, but trim its sails with early good
instruction, and then may we arrive at the haven where we would
be. Having now illustrated the three points mentioned in our
text, let us turn to the one (the north) where promotion
or advancement may be looked for. Coldness is emblematical of
purity, and coldness is an attribute of the north. The pure in
heart shall see God. God is the northern light that gleams over
the stillness of life's night. "He giveth snow like wool;
he scattereth the hoar frost like ashes; he casteth forth his
ice like morsels." Be it ours to be humbly dependent upon
God; for whatever station he may choose to keep us in, godliness
alone will prove our promotion and true riches. If our anxieties
are directed toward pleasing him, then shall we prosper, and he
will shew us "a pure river of water of life, clear as
crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God, and the
Lamb." (Re 22:1.) Condensed from a Sermon by Gregory
Bateman, preached March 16th, 1862, on his entering upon the
Vicarage of Ulrome.
Verse 6. For promotion cometh neither from the
east, nor from the west, nor from the south. Here are three
of the four winds specified, and it is said,
"promotion" comes from neither of them. But why is it
not also said that promotion comes not from the north?
that's the question. I answer;—it were answer enough to say,
that we ought not to put questions curiously about such things;
it should satisfy us that the Spirit of God is pleased to say it
is so, and no more. Yet some tell us, the reason why it is not
said promotion cometh not from the north, is because
indeed it cometh out of the north, which, say they, is intimated
in the Hebrew word for the north, which signifies hidden
or secret. Promotion comes not from the east, nor west,
nor south, but from the north. It comes from the north in
a figure or mystery, that is, it comes from some hidden
providence, or secret hand, which many take no more notice of
than we do of the furthest part of the north. God
promotes many in this world to power, and sends them great
prosperity, we see not how or which way: the causes and
contrivances of it are hidden close, and in the breast of God.
This also is a truth; in that sense we may say, "Fair
weather cometh from the north." Promotion is
visible, but the manner of it is a secret; we see not the causes
for which, nor the ways in which it cometh. It is enough to
touch these niceties, and to touch them can do no hurt, while
the matter arising from them hath the clear consent of, and is
harmonious with other plain places of Scripture. Joseph Caryl.
Verse 6. Promotion; or, lifting up. The
word is evidently an emphatic word in the Psalm; it is the same
which occurs in verses four and five, and again in verse seven
and verse ten. I have, therefore, given the same rendering of it
throughout. The rendering of the authorized version promotion,
besides losing sight of the manifestly designed repetition of
the same word, is peculiarly unfortunate in conveying a wrong
idea. Lifting up, in its Hebrew sense, does not mean promotion,
as we commonly understand it, but deliverance from trouble,
safety, victory. The image, in particular, of lifting up the
head or the horn (the last borrowed from wild beasts, such as
buffaloes, etc., in whom the horn is the symbol of strength),
denotes courage, strength, and victory over enemies. J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verse 6. Nor from the south. "From the
wilderness, "the great wilderness lying in that direction.
Three quarters are mentioned, the north only being omitted. This
may be accounted for, supposing the Psalm to refer to
Sennacherib, by the fact that the Assyrian army approached from
the north; and therefore it would be natural to look in all
directions but that for assistance to repel the invader. J.
J. Stewart Perowne.
Verses 6-7. "I thought to promote thee to great
honour, "said the king of Moab to Balaam; and yet that
promotion ended in a dishonoured and a bloody death. I have
often thought of many of the Lord's servants on earth, so
superciliously passed by and passed over in man's catalogue of
worthies, with what glad and grateful surprise they will at
length receive that promotion denied on earth, when their own
Master shall say to them, "Friend, come up higher;
"and then, as they sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, shall they have honour of them
that sit at meat with them. Barton Bouchier.
Verses 6-10. The rise and fall of nations and empires
are in this Psalm ascribed to God. He exalts one and puts down
another at his pleasure. In this he generally uses
instrumentality, but that instrumentality is always rendered
effectual by his own agency. When nations or individuals are
prosperous, and glorious, and powerful, they usually ascribe all
to themselves or to fortune. But it is God who has raised them
to eminence. When they boast he can humble them. In these verses
God is considered as the governor of the world, punishing the
wicked, and pouring out judgment on his enemies. The calamities
of war, pestilence, and famine, are all ministers of providence
to execute wrath. Alexander Carson.
Verse 7.
"Here he exalts neglected worms
To sceptres and a crown;
Anon the following page he turns,
And treads the monarch down." —Isaac Watts.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1. The unceasing thanksgiving of the church, her
grand cause for adoration: the nearness of her God, and the
evident proof thereof in the displays of his power.
Verse 1.
1. Do we give thanks?
2. We do give thanks.
3. What thanks do we give.?
4. When do we give thanks?
5. Let us give thanks again.
Good resolutions commendable, how they should be made,
strengthened, and performed.
Verse 3. The Lord the stay of his people under the
worst circumstances.
Verse 3. Teacheth us that no disorder or confusion
should hinder us from doing that which God requireth of us; nay,
rather, the more things are out of order the more readily should
we labour to redress them. Thomas Wilcocks.
Verse 4.
1. Who spoke to them? I.
2. Who were they? Fools, wicked.
3. What did you say?
4. What was the good of it? Or, Rebuke of sin, a duty.
Verse 4. The unhallowed trio:—wickedness, folly,
pride.
Verse 5. Arguments against pride in heart, appearance,
and speech.
Verses 6-7. The changes of providence not the tricks
of fortune.
Verse 7. God acts as a judge and not arbitrarily in
his providential arrangements.
Verse 8. In the hand of the Lord there is a cup,
etc.
1. As to matter of preparation, consider it so, and
thus it is in the hand of the Lord.
2. By way of qualification: it is he that tempers it;
it was full of mixture.
3. By way of distribution, as giving to every one his
share and portion in it. Thomas Horton.
Verse 8. The cup of wrath. Where it is, what it is,
how full it is, who brings it, who must drink it.
Verse 8. Full of mixture. Wrath of God,
remorse, memory of lost joy, fear of future, recriminations,
despair, shame, etc., all these are ingredients of the mingled
cup.
Verse 8. (last clause).
1. "The dregs" of the cup: the wrath of wrath, the
gall of bitterness.
2. The dregs of the people: "all wicked."
Verse 9. Our life work: to declare and to sing.