TITLE AND SUBJECT. A Psalm of Asaph. A
Psalm of complaint such as Jeremiah might have written amid the
ruins of the beloved city. It evidently treats of times of
invasion, oppression, and national overthrow. Asaph was a
patriotic poet, and was never more at home than when he
rehearsed the history of his nation. Would to God that we had
national poets whose song should be of the Lord.
DIVISION. From Ps 79:1-4 the
complaint is poured out, from Ps 79:5-12 prayer is presented,
and, in the closing verse, praise is promised.
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. O God, the heathen are come into thine
inheritance. It is the cry of amazement at sacrilegious
intrusion; as if the poet were struck with horror. The stranger
pollutes thine hallowed courts with his tread. All Canaan is thy
land, but thy foes have ravaged it. "Thy holy temple
have they defiled." Into the inmost sanctuary they have
profanely forced their way, and there behaved themselves
arrogantly. Thus, the holy land, the holy house, and the holy
city, were all polluted by the uncircumcised. It is an awful
thing when wicked men are found in the church and numbered with
her ministry. Then are the tares sown with the wheat, and the
poisoned gourds cast into the pot. "They have laid
Jerusalem on heaps." After devouring and defiling, they
have come to destroying, and have done their work with a cruel
completeness. Jerusalem, the beloved city, the joy of the
nation, the abode of her God, was totally wrecked. Alas! alas!
for Israel! It is sad to see the foe in our own house, but worse
to meet him in the house of God; they strike hardest who smite
at our religion. The psalmist piles up the agony; he was a
suppliant, and he knew how to bring out the strong points of his
case. We ought to order our case before the Lord with as much
care as if our success depended on our pleading. Men in earthly
courts use all their powers to obtain their ends, and so also
should we state our case with earnestness, and bring forth our
strong arguments.
Verse 2. "The dead bodies of thy servants have
they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of
thy saints unto the beasts of the earth." The enemy
cared not to bury the dead, and there was not a sufficient
number of Israel left alive to perform the funeral rites;
therefore, the precious relics of the departed were left to be
devoured of vultures and torn by wolves. Beasts on which man
could not feed fed on him. The flesh of creation's Lord became
meat for carrion crows and hungry dogs. Dire are the calamities
of war, yet have they happened to God's saints and servants.
This might well move the heart of the poet, and he did well to
appeal to the heart of God by reciting the grievous evil. Such
might have been the lamentation of an early Christian as he
thought of the amphitheatre and all its deeds of blood. Note in
the two verses how the plea is made to turn upon God's property
in the temple and the people:—we read "thine inheritance,
""thy temple, ""thy servants, "and
"thy saints." Surely the Lord will defend his own, and
will not suffer rampant adversaries to despoil them.
Verse 3. "Their blood have they shed like
water round about Jerusalem." The invaders slew men as
if their blood was of no more value than so much water; they
poured it forth as lavishly as when the floods deluge the
plains. The city of holy peace became a field of blood. "And
there was none to bury them." The few who survived were
afraid to engage in the task. This was a serious trial and
grievous horror to the Jews, who evinced much care concerning
their burials. Has it come to this, that there are none to bury
the dead of thy family, O Lord? Can none be found to grant a
shovelful of earth with which to cover up the poor bodies of thy
murdered saints? What woe is here! How glad should we be that we
live in so quiet an age, when the blast of the trumpet is no
more heard in our streets.
Verse 4. "We are become a reproach to our
neighbours." Those who have escaped the common foe make
a mockery of us, they fling our disasters into our face, and ask
us, "Where is your God?" Pity should be shown to the
afflicted, but in too many cases it is not so, for a hard logic
argues that those who suffer more than ordinary calamities must
have been extraordinary sinners. Neighbours especially are often
the reverse of neighbourly; the nearer they dwell the less they
sympathize. It is most pitiable it should be so. "A
scorn and a derision to them that are round about us."
To find mirth in others' miseries, and to exult over the ills of
others, is worthy only of the devil and of those whose father he
is. Thus the case is stated before the Lord, and it is a very
deplorable one. Asaph was an excellent advocate, for he gave a
telling description of calamities which were under his own eyes,
and in which he sympathized, but we have a mightier Intercessor
above, who never ceases to urge our suit before the eternal
throne.
Verse 5. "How long, Lord?" Will there
be no end to these chastisements? They are most sharp and
overwhelming; wilt thou much longer continue them? "Wilt
thou be angry for ever?" Is thy mercy gone so that thou
wilt for ever smite? "Shall thy jealousy burn like
fire?" There was great cause for the Lord to be
jealous, since idols had been set up, and Israel had gone aside
from his worship, but the psalmist begs the Lord not to consume
his people utterly as with fire, but to abate their woes.
Verse 6. "Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen
that have not known thee." If thou must smite look
further afield; spare thy children and strike thy foes. There
are lands where thou art in no measure acknowledged; be pleased
to visit these first with thy judgments, and let thine erring
Israel have a respite. "And upon the kingdoms that have
not called upon thy name." Hear us the prayerful, and
avenge thyself upon the prayerless. Sometimes providence appears
to deal much more severely with the righteous than with the
wicked, and this verse is a bold appeal founded upon such an
appearance. It in effect says—Lord, if thou must empty out the
vials of thy wrath, begin with those who have no measure of
regard for thee, but are openly up in arms against thee; and be
pleased to spare thy people, who are thine notwithstanding all
their sins.
Verse 7. "For they have devoured Jacob."
The oppressor would quite eat up the saints if he could. If
these lions do not swallow us, it is because the Lord has sent
his angel and shut the lions' mouths. "And laid waste
his dwelling place," or his pasture. The invader left
no food for man or beast, but devoured all as the locust. The
tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.
Verse 8. "O remember not against us former
iniquities." Sins accumulate against nations.
Generations lay up stores of transgressions to be visited upon
their successors; hence this urgent prayer. In Josiah's days the
most earnest repentance was not able to avert the doom which
former long years of idolatry had sealed against Judah. Every
man has reason to ask for an act of oblivion for his past sins,
and every nation should make this a continual prayer. "Let
thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very
low." Hasten to our rescue, for our nation is hurrying
down to destruction; our numbers are diminished and our
condition is deplorable. Observe how penitent sorrow seizes upon
the sweeter attributes, and draws her picas from the
"tender mercies" of God; see, too, how she pleads her
own distress, and not her goodness, as a motive for the display
of mercy. Let souls who are brought very low find an argument in
their abject condition. What can so powerfully appeal to pity as
dire affliction? The quaint prayer-book version is touchingly
expressive: "O remember not our old sins, but have mercy
upon us, and that soon; for we are come to great misery."
This supplication befits a sinner's life. We have known seasons
when this would have been as good a prayer for our burdened
heart as any that human mind could compose.
Verse 9. "Help us, O God of our salvation, for
the glory of thy name." This is masterly pleading. No
argument has such force as this. God's glory was tarnished in
the eyes of the heathen by the defeat of his people, and the
profanation of his temple; therefore, his distressed servants
implore his aid, that his great name may no more be the scorn of
blaspheming enemies. "And deliver us, and purge away our
sins, for thy name's sake." Sin,—the root of the
evil—is seen and confessed; pardon of sin is sought as well as
removal of chastisement, and both are asked not as matters of
right, but as gifts of grace. God's name is a second time
brought into the pleading. Believers will find it their wisdom
to use very frequently this noble plea: it is the great gun of
the battle, the mightiest weapon in the armoury of prayer.
Verse 10. "Wherefore should the heathen say,
Where is their God?" Why should those impious mouths be
filled with food so sweet to them, but so bitter to us? When the
afflictions of God's people become the derision of sinners, and
cause them to ridicule religion, we have good ground for
expostulation with the Lord. "Let him be known among the
heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy
servants which is shed." Justice is desired that God
may be vindicated and feared. It is but meet that those who
taunted the people of God because they smarted under the Lord's
rod, should be made themselves also to smart by the same hand.
If any complain of the spirit of this imprecation, we think they
do so needlessly; for it is the common feeling of every patriot
to desire to see his country's wrongs redressed, and of every
Christian to wish a noble vengeance for the church by the
overthrow of error. The destruction of Antichrist is the
recompense of the blood of the martyrs, and by no means is it to
be deprecated; far rather is it one of the most glorious hopes
of the latter days.
Verse 11. "Let the sighing of the prisoner
come before thee." When thy people cannot sing, and
dare not shout aloud, then let their silent sigh ascend into
thine ear, and secure for them deliverance. These words are
suitable for the afflicted in a great variety of conditions; men
of experience will know how to adapt them to their own position
and to use them in reference to others. "According to
the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are
appointed to die." Faith grows while it prays; the
appeal to the Lord's tender mercy is here supplemented by
another addressed to the divine power, and the petitioner rises
from a request for those who are brought low, to a prayer for
those who are on the verge of death, set apart as victims for
the slaughter. How consoling is it to desponding believers to
reflect that God can preserve even those who bear the sentence
of death in themselves. Men and devils may consign us to
perdition, while sickness drags us to the grave, and sorrow
sinks us in the dust; but, there is One who can keep our soul
alive, ay, and bring it up again from the depths of despair. A
lamb shall live between the lion's jaws if the Lord wills it.
Even in the charnel, life shall vanquish death if God be near.
Verse 12. "And render unto our neighbours
sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have
reproached thee, O Lord." They denied thine existence,
mocked thy power, insulted thy worship, and destroyed thy house;
up, therefore, O Lord, and make them feel to the full that thou
art not to be mocked with impunity. Pour into their laps good
store of shame because they dared insult the God of Israel.
Recompense them fully, till they have received the perfect
number of punishments. It will be so. The wish of the text will
become matter of fact. The Lord will avenge his own elect though
he bear long with them.
Verse 13. "So we thy people and sheep of thy
pasture will give thee thanks far ever; we will shew forth thy
praise to all generations." The gratitude of the church
is lasting as well as deep. On her tablets are memorials of
great deliverances, and, as long as she shall exist, her sons
will rehearse them with delight. We have a history which will
survive all other records, and it is bright in every line with
the glory of the Lord. From the direst calamities God's glory
springs, and the dark days of his people become the prelude to
unusual displays of the Lord's love and power.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
Whole Psalm. This Psalm is, in every respect, the
pendant of Psalm 74. The points of contact are not merely
matters of style (Ps 79:5, "how long for ever?" with
Ps 74:1,10 79:10, edwy, with Ps 74:5 79:2, the giving over to
the wild beasts, with Ps 74:19,14 79:13, the conception of
Israel as of a flock, in which respect Psalm 79 is judiciously
appended to Ps 78:70-72, with Ps 74:1 and also with Ps 74:19.)
But the mutual relationships lie still deeper. Both Psalms have
the same Asaphic stamp, both stand in the same relation to
Jeremiah, and both send forth their complaints out of the same
circumstances of the time, concerning a destruction of the
Temple and of Jerusalem, such as only the age of the Seleucidae
(1 Maccabees 1:31 3:45 2 Maccabees 8:3), together with the
Chaldean period can exhibit, and in conjunction with a defiling
of the Temple and a massacre of the servants of God, of the Chasîdîm
(1 Maccabees 7:13 14:6), such as the age of the Seleucidae
exclusively can exhibit. The work of the destruction of the
Temple which was in progress in Ps 74:1-23, appears in Ps
79:1-13 as completed, and here, as in the former Psalm, one
receives the impression of the outrages, not of some war, but of
some persecution: it is straightway the religion of Israel for
the sake of which the sanctuaries are destroyed and the faithful
are massacred.—Franz Delitzsch.
Verse 1. Thy holy temple have they defiled.
This was not only the highest degree of the enemy's inhumanity
and barbarity, ...but also a calamity to the people of God never
to be sufficiently deplored. For by the overthrow of the temple
the true worship of God, which had been instituted at that
temple alone, appeared to be extinguished, and the knowledge of
God to vanish from among mankind. No pious heart could ponder
this without the greatest grief. Mollerus.
Verse 1. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps.
They have made Jerusalem to be nothing but graves. Such
multitudes were cruelly slain and murdered, that Jerusalem was,
as it were, but one grave.—Joseph Caryl.
Verses 1-4. In the time of the Maccabees, Demetrius,
the son of Seleuces, sent Bacchides to Jerusalem; who slew the
scribes, who came to require justice, and the Assideans, the
first of the children of Israel who sought peace of them.
Bacchides "took of them threescore men, and slew them in
one day, according to the words which he wrote, the flesh of thy
saints have they cast out, and their blood have they shed round
about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them." And in
that last and most fearful destruction, when the eagles of Rome
were gathered round the doomed city, and the temple of which God
had said, "Let us depart hence; "when one stone was
not to be left upon another, when the fire was to consume the
sanctuary, and the foundations of Sion were to be ploughed up;
when Jerusalem was to be filled with slain, and the sons of
Judah were to be crucified round her walls in such thick
multitudes that no more room was left for death; when insult,
and shame, and scorn was the lot of the child of Israel, as he
wandered an outcast, a fugitive in all lands; when all these
bitter and deadly things came upon Jerusalem, it was as a
punishment for many and long repeated crimes; it was the
accomplishment of a warning which had been often sent in vain.
Yea, fiercely did thy foes assault thee, O Jerusalem, but thy
sins more fiercely still!—"Plain Commentary."
Verses 1, 4, 5. Entering the inhabited part of the old
city, and winding through some crooked, filthy lanes, I suddenly
found myself on turning a sharp corner, in a spot of singular
interest; the "Jews' place of Wailing." It is a small
paved quadrangle; on one side are the backs of low modern
houses, without door or window; on the other is the lofty wall
of the Haram, of recent date above, but having below five
courses of bevelled stones in a perfect state of preservation.
Here the Jews are permitted to approach the sacred enclosure,
and wail over the fallen temple, whose very dust is dear to
them, and in whose stones they still take pleasure. Ps 102:14.
It was Friday, and a crowd of miserable devotees had
assembled—men and women of all ages and all nations dressed in
the quaint costumes of every country of Europe and Asia. Old men
were there,—pale, haggard, careworn men tottering on pilgrim
staves; and little girls with white faces, and lustrous black
eyes, gazing wistfully now at their parents, now at the old
wall. Some were on their knees, chanting mournfully from a book
of Hebrew prayers, swaying their bodies to and fro; some were
prostrate on the ground, pressing forehead and lips to the
earth; some were close to the wall, burying their faces in the
rents and crannies of the old stones; some were kissing them,
some had their arms spread out as if they would clasp them to
their bosoms, some were bathing them with tears, and all the
while sobbing as if their hearts would burst. It was a sad and
touching spectacle. Eighteen centuries of exile and woe have not
dulled their hearts' affections, or deadened their feelings of
devotion. Here we see them assembled from the ends of the earth,
poor, despised, down trodden outcasts,—amid the desolations of
their fatherland, beside the dishonoured ruins of their ancient
sanctuary,—chanting now in accents of deep pathos, and now of
wild woe, the prophetic words of their own psalmist,—O God
the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple
have they defiled...We are become a reproach to our neighbours,
a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. How long,
Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever?—J. L. Porter, in "The
Giant Cities of Bashan." 1865.
Verse 2. "The dead bodies of thy servants,
"etc. It is a true saying of S. Augustine, The care of
our funeral, the manner of our burial, the exequial pomp, all
these magis sunt vivorum solatia quam subsidia mortuorum,
are rather comforts for the living than any way helps for the
dead. To be interred profiteth not the party deceased; his body
feels it not, his soul regards it not; and we know that many
holy martyrs have been excluded from burial, who in a Christian
scorn thereof bespoke their persecutors in words of those which
were slain at Pharsalia: "You effect nothing by this anger;
what matters it whether disease dissolve the body, or the
funeral pile!" But yet there is an honesty (i.e. a
right, a proper respect) which belongeth to the dead body of
man. Jehu commanded Jezebel to be buried; David thanked the
people of Jabesh Gilead for burying of Saul. Peter, who
commanded Ananias and Sapphira, those false abdicators of their
patrimony, to die, commanded to have them buried being dead. It
is an axiom of charity, Mortuo non prohibeas gratiam,
withhold not kindness from the dead. It shows our love and
regard for men in our own flesh to see them buried; it manifests
our faith and hope of the resurrection; and therefore when that
body which is to rise again, and to be made glorious and
immortal in heaven, shall be cast to the fowls of the air or
beasts of the field, it argues in God great indignation against
sin (Jer 22:19, of Jehoiakim, "He shall be buried as an ass
is buried, and cast forth without the gates of Jerusalem");
in man inhuman and barbarous cruelty.—John Dunster, in
"Prodromus." 1613.
Verses 2, 3. (The following extract is from the
writings of a godly monk who applies the language of the Psalm
to the persecutions of his time. He wrote at Rome during the
period of the Reformation, and was evidently a favourer of the
gospel.) At this day what river is there, what brook, in this
our afflicted Europe, (if it is still ours) that we have not
seen flowing with the blood of Christians? And that too shed by
the swords and spears of Christians? Wherefore there is made a
great wailing in Israel; and the princes and elders mourn; the
young men and virgins are become weak, and the beauty of the
women is changed. Why? The holy place itself is desolate as a
wilderness. Hast thou ever seen so dire a spectacle? They have
piled up in heaps the dead bodies of thy servants to be devoured
by birds: the unburied remains of thy saints, I say, they have
given to the beasts of the earth. What greater cruelty could
ever be committed? So great was the effusion of human blood at
that time, that the rivulets, yea, rather, the rivers round the
entire circuit of the city, flowed with it. And thus truly is
the form of our most beautiful city laid waste, and its
loveliness; and so reduced is it, that not even the men who
carry forth dead bodies for burial can be obtained, though
pressed with the offer of large rewards; so full of fear and
horror were their minds: and this was all the more bitter,
because "We are become a reproach to those round about
us," and are spoken of in derision by the infidels
abroad and by enemies at home. Who is so bold as to endure this
and live? How long therefore shall this most bitter disquietude
last?—Giambattista Folengo. 1490-1559.
Verse 2. "Dead bodies of thy servants have
they given to be meat unto the fowls." With what
unconcern are we accustomed to view, on all sides of us,
multitudes, "dead in trespasses and sins, "torn in
pieces, and devoured by wild passions, filthy lusts, and
infernal spirits, those dogs and vultures of the moral world!
Yet, to a discerning eye, and a thinking mind, the latter is by
far the more melancholy sight of the two.—George Horne.
Verse 2. "Thy servants." "Thy
saints." No temporal wrath, no calamities whatsoever
can separate the Lord's children from God's love and estimation
of them, nor untie the relation between God and them: for here,
albeit their carcases fall, and be devoured by the fowls of
heaven and beasts of the earth, yet remain they the Lord's
servants and saints under these sufferings.—David Dickson.
Verse 4. "We are become a reproach."
If God's professing people degenerate from what themselves and
their fathers were, they must expect to be told of it; and it is
well if a just reproach will help to bring us to a true
repentance. But it has been the lot of the gospel Israel to be
made unjustly a reproach and derision; the apostles themselves
were "counted as the off scouring of all things."—Matthew
Henry.
Verse 4. "A scorn and derision to them that
are round about us." This was more grievous to them
than stripes or wounds, saith Chrysostom, because these being
inflicted upon the body are divided after a sort betwixt soul
and body, but scorns and reproaches do wound the soul only. Habet
quendam aculeum contumelia, they leave a sting behind them,
as Cicero observeth.—John Trapp.
Verse 4. It is the height of reproach a father casts
upon his child when he commands his slave to beat him. Of all
outward judgments this is the sorest, to have strangers rule
over us, as being made up of shame and cruelty. If once the
heathen come into God's inheritance, no wonder the church
complains that she is "become a reproach to her
neighbours, a shame and derision to all round about
her."—Abraham Wright.
Verse 5. "How long, Lord? Wilt thou be angry
for ever?" The voice of complaint says not, How long,
Lord, shall this wickedness of our enemy endure? How long shall
we see this desolation? But, How long, O Lord? Wilt thou be
angry for ever? We are admonished, therefore, in this
passage, that we should recognize the anger of God against us in
all our afflictions, lest as the nations are accustomed, we only
accuse the malice of our enemies, and never think of our sins
and the divine punishment. It cannot be that he who acknowledges
the anger of God that is upon him, should not at the same time
acknowledge his fault also, unless he wishes to attribute the
iniquity to God of being angry and inflicting stripes upon the
undeserving.—Musculus.
Verse 5. The word "jealousy"
signifies not mere revenge but revenge mingled with love, for
unless he loved, says Jerome, he would not be jealous, and after
the manner of a husband avenge the sin of his wife.—Lorinus.
Verse 6. Neglect of prayer by unbelievers is
threatened with punishment. The prophet's imprecation is the
same in effect with a threatening, see Jer 10:25, and same
imprecation, Ps 79:6. The prophets would not have used such an
imprecation against those that call not upon God, but that their
neglect of calling on his name makes them liable to his wrath
and fury; and no neglect makes men liable to the wrath of God
but the neglect of duty. Prayer, then, is a duty even to the
heathen, the neglect of which provokes him to pour out his fury
on them.—David Clarkson.
Verse 7. "They have devoured Jacob."
Like wolves who cruelly tear and devour a flock of sheep. For
the word which follows signifies not only a habitation in
general, but also a sheepcote.—Mollerus.
Verse 8. "O remember not against us former
iniquities." The prophet numbers himself with the
people not only in their affliction, but also in their distress,
and liability to the anger of God because of the crimes
committed. He was not a partner in those enormous sins by which
they had provoked the jealousy of God, and yet he exempts not
himself from the people at large. Thus, in the following verse,
he says, "And purge away our sins." He says
not, Remember not the iniquity of this people; nor, And purge
away their sins: But, Remember not our iniquities: and
Purge away our sins. In this way the prophets, though
holy men, were wont to make themselves sharers of the people's
sins, not by sinning, but by weeping and praying and imploring
the mercy of God. See Isaiah 59:12. "Our transgressions
are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against
us." . . . Daniel 9:5. "We have sinned, and
have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have
rebelled," etc. 1. Let us also follow this example,
that so far we may have fellowship with the whole Church, that
we may be partners of those who truly love and worship God. 2.
Then, that abstaining from false worship, we may not sin
wickedly with the wicked. 3. That whenever we ought to weep or
pray, we may mourn and confess not only our own, but also the
shortcomings of the whole church corporate, as if they were
common to ourselves, even if we have no part in them, and may
implore for them the mercy of God.—Musculus.
Verse 8. "O remember not against us former
iniquities." The Jews have a saying, that there is no
punishment happens to Israel, but there is an ounce in it for
the sin of the calf; their meaning is, that this is always
remembered and visited, according to Exodus 32:34; the phrase
may take in all the sins of former persons, their ancestors, and
of former times, from age to age, they had continued in, which
had brought ruin upon them; and all their own sins of nature and
of youth, all past ones to the present time.—John Gill.
Verse 8. "O remember not against us former
iniquities." Old debts vex most; the delay of payment
increases them by interest upon interest; and the return of them
being unexpected, a person is least provided for them. We count
old sores, breaking forth, incurable. Augustus wondered at a
person sleeping quietly that was very much in debt, and sent for
his pillow, saying, "surely there is some strange virtue in
it, that makes him rest so secure." My brethren, if one
debt unto God's law be more than the whole creation can satisfy,
what do any of us mean to rest secure with so vast a burden upon
our consciences and accounts? Ah! take heed thou beest not
surprised and arrested with old debts. O God, thou
rememberest former iniquities against us. God will call
over, and charge thy sins upon thee, when all the sweet is
gone.—Elias Pledger (—1681), in "Morning
Exercises."
Verse 8. "O remember not against us former
iniquities." The only right way to remedy a miserable
condition, is to sue for the remission of sins, and for the
renewed evidence of reconciliation: for before the church here
do ask any thing for their outward delivery, they pray, "O
remember not against us former iniquities."—David
Dickson.
Verse 8. "Speedily." Lest they come
too late, for we are at our last gasp.—John Trapp.
Verse 8. "Prevent." God's mercy must
anticipate, "come to meet," man's necessity.—J.
J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 8. "We are brought very low."
Literally, "We are greatly thinned." Few of us
remain.—Adam Clarke.
Verse 8. "We are brought very low."
We are very greatly exhausted (emptied out): that is, we are
utterly destitute of all things, both fortune, and strength of
mind and body, just like a well or a vessel completely
emptied.—Martin Geier.
Verse 8. "Very low." Past the hopes
of all human help, and therefore the glory of our deliverance
will be wholly thine.—Matthew Pool.
Verse 8. "Help us, O God of our salvation, for
the glory of thy name and deliver us." "Help
us" under our troubles, that we may bear them well;
"help us" out of our troubles, that the spirit may not
fail. "Deliver us" from sin, and from sinking.—Matthew
Henry.
Verse 9. "God of our salvation." If
human reason were to judge of the many and great blows wherewith
God so often smote and wasted his people, it would call God not
the Saviour of the people, but the destroyer and oppressor. But
the faith of the Prophet judges far otherwise of God, and sees
even in an angry and pursuing God, the salvation of his people.
The gods of the nations, though they do not afflict even in
temporal things, are gods not of the salvation of their
worshippers but of their perdition. But our God, even when he is
most severely angry, and smites, is not the God of destruction,
but of salvation.—Musculus.
Verse 9. "For thy name's sake." Twice
the appeal is made "for thy name's sake;" that
revelation of God which he had made of himself to Moses when he
passed by and proclaimed the name of Jehovah, Ex. 24:6, 7.
Compare Ps. 20:1, 23:3; 29:2.—J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 9. "For thy name's sake." The
good which God doth unto his church, be it temporal or
spiritual, is for his own sake. What I do (saith God), I do for
mine holy name's sake; there is nothing to move me but mine own
name; that is holy, great, and glorious, and I will for my
name's sake do much for my church and people. That they were
preserved in Babylon, was for his holy name's sake; that they
were brought out of Babylon, was for his holy name's sake; that
they were replanted in Canaan, was for his holy name's sake;
that they had a temple, sacrifices, priests, prophets,
ordinances again, was for his name's sake; when they were near
to destruction often, in former days, God wrought for his name's
sake, Ezek. 20; so Isaiah 48:8, 9. It is not for the enemies'
sake that God doth preserve or deliver his people; nor for their
sakes, their prayers, tears, faith, obedience, holiness, that he
doth great things for them, bestows great mercies upon them; but
it is for his own name's sake. For man's sake God cursed the
earth, Gen. 8:21; but it is for his name's sake that he blesseth
it. The choicest mercies God's people have, are for his name's
sake; they have pardon of sin for his name's sake, Ps. 25:11, 1
John 2:12; purging of sin for his name's sake; Ps. 79:9; leading
in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake, Ps. 23:2;
quickening of their dead and dull hearts for his name's sake,
Ps. 143:11. Though his people offend him, yet he forsakes them
not, for his great name's sake.—William Greenhill.
Verse 9. If God could not he more glorified in our
peace and reconciliation, than in our death and damnation, it
were a wicked thing to desire it. But God hath cleared this up
to us, that he is no loser by acts of mercy. In this lies the
greatest revenue of his crown, or else he would not love
"mercy rather than sacrifice." God is free to choose
what suits his own heart best, and most conduceth to the
exalting of his great name: and he delights more in the mercy
shown to one than in the blood of all the damned, that are made
a sacrifice to his justice. And, indeed, he had a higher end in
their damnation than their suffering; and that was the enhancing
of the glory of his mercy, in his saved ones. This is the
beautiful piece God takes delight in, and the other but the
shadow of it. Then thou art in a fit disposition to pray for
peace, and mayest go with encouragement when thy heart is deeply
affected with the honour that will accrue to God by it. It is an
argument God will not deny. "This," said Abigail to
David, "shall be no grief to thee nor offence of heart unto
my Lord," 1 Sam. 25; she meant, he should never have cause
to repent that he was kept from Shedding blood. Thus mayest thou
plead with God, and say, O Lord, when I shall with saints and
angels be praising thy pardoning grace in heaven, it will not
grieve thee that thy mercy kept thee from shedding my blood,
damning my soul in hell.—William Gurnall.
Verse 9. When the Lord's people are brought very low,
let them not look for a lifting up or relief except from God
only; therefore say they here, "Help us, O Lord."
Such as have laid hold on God for salvation promised in the
covenant, may also look for particular deliveries out of
particular troubles, as appendices of the main benefit of
salvation; therefore, "Help us, O God of our
salvation," say they. When men do ask anything, the
granting whereof may glorify God, they may confidently expect to
have it; and in special when God may be so glorified, and his
people may also be preserved and comforted: "Help us
(say they) for the glory of thy name: and deliver us."
As the conscience of sin useth to step in oftener between us and
mercy, so must we call oftener for remission of sin; for earnest
affection can double and treble the same petition without
babbling; "Deliver us, and purge away our sins."
It is the glory of the Lord to forget sin, and when remission of
sins is prayed for according to God's promise, the Lord's glory
is engaged for the helping of faith to obtain it: "Purge
away our sins, for thy name's sake."—David Dickson.
Verse 11. "Let the sighing of the prisoner
come before thee." The propriety of styling the sons of
Adam "prisoners," can scarcely fail to be
discerned when we remember the restraint which the immortal
spirit endures whilst it inhabits its present earthly house, or
recollect the hardships to which many of our race are subjected,
or, once more, the degrading slavery to which they reduce
themselves by serving their own lusts and refusing to stand fast
in the liberty wherewith Christ would make them free. Now, in
whichever of these senses men are prisoners, it is clear that
they have occasion and that they are wont to sigh, and that it
is the part of the pious and faithful believer in God to bear
this in mind, and, inasmuch as he has put on bowels of
compassion, to say, as well for others as for himself, "Let
the sighing of the prisoner came before thee." Three
things, then, are suggested by the first clause of the passage
before us. The first is, that all who live in this world are
prisoners . . .. We would go on to remark, secondly, that these
various prisoners have their respective sorrowful sighings.
Thirdly, then, let it be observed, will the believer, conscious
of these several sighings of the crowd of prisoners whom he sees
all around him, pray to the Almighty that they may come before
his everlasting presence.—W. C. Le Breton. (1849.)
Verse 11. "The sighing." The nature
of a sigh will suggest to us some important particulars
connected with the state of bondage spoken of in the text. A
sigh is an unexpressed declaration. Although we do not
speak, still we can tell a long tale of sorrow with a sigh. How
often the mourner who will not tell a human being of his grief,
will vent it when he is alone, with a long-drawn, an uneven
sigh! Now, I direct your attention to this, because it is a
perfect picture of the spiritual condition in which some men
are. They are not loud in their complaints; they are not
standing in the corners of the streets proclaiming their
exceeding sinfulness; they are not continually making their
neighbours and their friends hear them preach about their
vileness—a vileness which, if any one else attributed to them,
would stir up all their wrath. Theirs is not the character of
men in strife; but of men bearing a heavy burden, which presses
from them an evidence of what they endure. And if any of you,
brethren, thus walk in sighs and sorrow before God, he takes
these sighs as applications to him for relief. Your misery, if
entirely pent in, would be obstinate impenitency, but if vented,
even in a sigh, is a declaration of your need. Let me encourage
you, brethren, not to spare these evidences of your state. There
are times when you feel so dead that you cannot enter into long
confessions; when the spirit is so weary that you feel that you
cannot speak. Much might at such a season be spoken by a sign.
"Destroy it not," we say, "for a blessing is in
it:" pour it forth, find it will reach the throne. And here
it will prove to be not only an unexpressed declaration of
your state, but also an unexpressed wish for deliverance
therefrom. When the captive gazes through the bars of iron which
night and day stand like mute sentinels before the narrow window
of his cell, and when his eyes fall upon the green fields and
groves beyond, he sighs, and turns away from the scene with a
wish. He spake not a word, yet he wished. That sigh was a wish
that he could be set free. And such sighs as these are heard by
God. Your longings, your sorrows, when they are not fulfilled,
your sad thoughts,—"Oh! when shall I be delivered from
the burden of my sin, and from the coldness of my
heart!"—all these wishes were your sighs, and they have
been heard on high.—Philip Bennett Power.
Verse 11. "The prisoner." An eastern
prison is still a place of great misery, chiefly from the
limited supply of water to the prisoners.—Daniel Cresswell.
Verse 11. "Come before thee."
Though not a human votes he hears,
And not a human form appears
His solitude to share,
He is not all alone—the eye
Of him who hears the prisoner's sigh
Is even on him there.
—J. L. Chester.
Verse 11. "Preserve thou those that are appointed
to die." Ought not pious people more closely to imitate
their heavenly Father in caring for those who have been
condemned to die? An eminent Christian lady keeps a record of
all who have been sentenced to death, so far as she hears of
them, and prays for them every day till their end come. Is not
such conduct in sympathy with the heart of God!—William S.
Plummer.
Verse 12. "Render unto our neighbours
sevenfold into their bosom," etc. This may seem to be
contrary to common justice; because that the punishment should
not exceed the fault. But here you are to know, that this hath
not respect unto what the enemies of God's church have acted,
but what they have deserved. And therefore when the prophet here
says, "Render unto our neighbours sevenfold,"
it is not sevenfold beyond their deserts; for one scorn that a
wicked man poureth upon a child of God (and so upon God), cannot
be recompensed with ten thousand reproaches poured upon wicked
men. The least reproach poured upon God is an infinite wrong.
And the reproach of his people is so much his, as he reckons it
as his own; and will therefore render to their enemies their
reproach "sevenfold" (and that's but equal) "into
their bosom."—Abraham Wright.
Verse 12. "Unto our neighbours."
Because their scorn was more intolerable, and also more
inexcusable than the oppression of distant enemies.—J. J.
Stewart Perowne.
Verse 12. "Into their bosom." An
expression which originally seems to have had reference to the
practice of carrying and holding things in the lap, or the front
fold of the flowing oriental dress, has in usage the accessory
sense of retribution or retaliation.—Joseph Addison
Alexander.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 4. Saints the subject of derision to sinners.
When justly so. When unjustly. What do they see to excite
ridicule; what shall we do under the trial; how will it end?
Verse 5.
1. The cause of anger: jealousy.
2. The moderation of it. If it continued for ever, the people
would perish, the promises be unfulfilled, the covenant fail,
and the Lord's honour be impeached.
3. The staying of it. By prayer; by pleading his name, his
glory, and the blood of Jesus.
Verse 8. A sinner's confession, petition, and plea.
Verse 9. I. A threefold prayer. II. An encouraging
title: "God of our salvation." III. A victorious plea.
Verse 10.
I. The Prayer. "Help us," etc.
1. Purge away sin.
2. Deliver us from our troubles.
3. Help us to serve thee in future.
II. The Plea.
1. For thy name's sake.
2. The glory of thy name.
3. The glory of thy name as our
salvation. The order in both cases is inverted.—G. R.
Verse 10. The revenge for the martyrs, which it is
lawful and incumbent upon us to desire.
Verse 11.
I. The prisoner.
1. Under forced bondage to sin.
2. Under the bondage of conviction.
3. In the dungeon of despair.
II. The prisoner's application for relief.
III. The source from which he looked for help.—P. B. Power.
Verse 11.
I. The degree of protection solicited: "According to the
greatness of thy power."
II. The protection itself: "Preserve thou."
III. The objects of it: "Those that are appointed to
die."—W. C. Le Breton.
Verse 11.
I. Mournful condition. A prisoner, sighing, appointed to die.
II. Hopeful facts: a God, a God hearing sighs, a God of great
power.
III. Suitable prayers: "come before thee":
"preserve."
Verse 11. "Appointed to die," used as
a description of deep spiritual distress. Fears of the divine
decree, of having apostatised, of having sinned away the day of
grace, of the sin which is unto death, etc. How these cases can
be effectually met.
Verse 13. The obligations of the Protestant church
based on her martyrs' blood, her great deliverances, her
nearness to God. She ought to secure gospel teaching to coming
generations.
Verse 13.
I. Relation claimed: "We thy people, the sheep of,"
etc.
II. Obligation admitted: "So we," etc., when thou hast
interposed for our deliverance, we will praise thee.
III. Resolution formed. 1. To give
thanks for ever. 2. To transmit his
praise to generations following.—G. R
WORK UPON THE SEVENTY-NINTH PSALM
"Prodromus, or the Literal Destruction
of Jerusalem as it is described in the 79th
Psalm...1613" (By JOHN DUNSTER.)