TITLE AND SUBJECT. To the Chief Musician
upon Gittith. A Psalm for the sons of Korah. This Psalm well
deserved to be committed to the noblest of the sons of song. No
music could be too sweet for its theme, or too exquisite in
sound to match the beauty of its language. Sweeter than the joy
of the wine press, (for that is said to be the meaning of the
word rendered upon Gittith), is the joy of the holy assemblies
of the Lord's house; not even the favoured children of grace,
who are like the sons of Korah, can have a richer subject for
song than Zion's sacred festivals.
It
matters little when this Psalm was written, or by whom; for our
part it exhales to us a Davidic perfume, it smells of the
mountain heather and the lone places of the wilderness, where
King David must have often lodged during his many wars. This
sacred ode is one of the choicest of the collection; it has a
mild radiance about it, entitling it to be called The Pearl
of Psalms. If the twenty-third be the most popular, the
one-hundred- and-third the most joyful, the
one-hundred-and-nineteenth the most deeply experimental, the
fifty-first the most plaintive, this is one of the most sweet of
the Psalms of peace.
Pilgrimages
to the tabernacle were a great feature of Jewish life. In our
own country, pilgrimages to the shrine of Thomas of Canterbury,
and our Ladye of Walsingham, were so general as to affect the
entire population, cause the formation of roads, the erection
and maintenance of hostelries, and the creation of a special
literature; this may help us to understand the influence of
pilgrimage upon the ancient Israelites. Families journeyed
together, making bands which grew at each halting place; they
camped in sunny glades, sang in unison along the roads, toiled
together over the hill and through the slough, and as they went
along, stored up happy memories which would never be forgotten.
One who was debarred the holy company of the pilgrims, and the
devout worship of the congregation, would find in this Psalm fit
expression for his mournful spirit.
DIVISION.
We will make our pauses where the poet or the musician placed
them, namely, of the Selahs.
EXPOSITION
"How amiable," or, How lovely! He
does not tell us how lovely they were, because he could not. His
expressions show us that his feelings were inexpressible. Lovely
to the memory, to the mind, to the heart, to the eye, to the
whole soul, are the assemblies of the saints. Earth contains no
sight so refreshing to us as the gathering of believers for
worship. Those are sorry saints who see nothing amiable in the
services of the Lord's house. "Are thy
tabernacles." The tabernacle had been pitched in
several places, and, moreover, was divided into several courts
and portions; hence, probably, the plural number is here used.
It was all and altogether lovely to David. Outer court, or inner
court, he loved every portion of it. Every cord and curtain was
dear to him. Even when at a distance, he rejoiced to remember
the sacred tent where Jehovah revealed himself, and he cried out
with exultation while he pictured in fond imagination its sacred
services, and solemn rites, as he had seen them in bygone times.
Because they are thy tabernacles, "O Lord of
hosts," therefore are they so dear to thy people. Thy
pavilion is the centre of the camp, around which all thy
creatures gather, and towards which their eyes are turned, as
armies look to the tent of the king. Thou rulest all the
companies of creatures with such goodness, that all their hosts
rejoice in thy dwelling-place, and the bands of thy saints
especially hail thee with Joyful loyalty as Jehovah of hosts.
Verse 2. My soul longeth, it pines, and faints
to meet with the saints in the Lord's house. The desire was deep
and insatiable—the very soul of the man was yearning for his
God. Yea, even fainteth; as though it could not long hold out,
but was exhausted with delay. He had a holy lovesickness upon
him, and was wasted with an inward consumption because he was
debarred the worship of the Lord in the appointed place. For the
courts of the Lord. To stand once again in those areas which
were dedicated to holy adoration was the soul longing of the
psalmist. True subjects love the courts of their king. My heart
and my flesh crieth out for the living God. It was God himself
that he pined for, the only living and true God. His whole
nature entered into his longing. Even the clay cold flesh grew
warm through the intense action of his fervent spirit. Seldom,
indeed, does the flesh incline in the right direction, but in
the matter of Sabbath services our weary body sometimes comes to
the assistance of our longing heart, for it desires the physical
rest as much as the soul desires the spiritual repose. The
psalmist declared that he could not remain silent in his
desires, but began to cry out for God and his house; he wept, he
sighed, he pleaded for the privilege. Some need to be whipped to
church, while here is David crying for it. He needed no clatter
of bells from the belfry to ring him in, he carried his bell in
his own bosom: holy appetite is a better call to worship than a
full chime.
Verse 3. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house.
He envied the sparrows which lived around the house of God, and
picked up the stray crumbs in the courts thereof; he only wished
that he, too, could frequent the solemn assemblies and bear away
a little of the heavenly food. And the swallow a nest for
herself, where she may lay her young. He envied also the
swallows whose nests were built under the eaves of the priest's
houses, who there found a place for their young, as well as for
themselves. We rejoice not only in our personal religious
opportunities, but in the great blessing of taking our children
with us to the sanctuary. The church of God is a house for us
and a nest for our little ones. Even thine altars, O Lord of
hosts. To the very altars these free birds drew near, none could
restrain them nor would have wished to do so, and David wished
to come and go as freely as they did. Mark how he repeats the
blessed name of Jehovah of Hosts; he found in it a sweetness
which helped him to bear his inward hunger. Probably David
himself was with the host, and, therefore, he dwelt with
emphasis upon the title which taught him that the Lord was in
the tented field as well as within the holy curtains. My King
and my God. Here he utters his loyalty from afar. If he may not
tread the courts, yet he loves the King. If an exile, he is not
a rebel. When we cannot occupy a seat in God's house, he shall
have a seat in our memories and a throne in our hearts. The
double "my" is very precious; he lays hold upon his
God with both his hands, as one resolved not to let him go till
the favour requested be at length accorded.
Verse 4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house.
Those he esteems to be highly favoured who are constantly
engaged in divine worship—the canons residentiary, yea, the
pew openers, the menials who sweep and dust. To come and go is
refreshing, but to abide in the place of prayer must be heaven
below. To be the guests of God, enjoying the hospitalities of
heaven, set apart for holy work, screened from a noisy world,
and familiar with sacred things—why this is surely the
choicest heritage a son of man can possess. They will be still
praising thee. So near to God, their very life must be
adoration. Surely their hearts and tongues never cease from
magnifying the Lord. We fear David here drew rather a picture of
what should be than of what is; for those occupied daily with
the offices needful for public worship are not always among the
most devout; on the contrary, "the nearer the church the
further from God." Yet in a spiritual sense this is most
true, for those children of God who in spirit abide even in his
house, are also ever full of the praises of God. Communion is
the mother of adoration. They fail to praise the Lord who wander
far from him, but those who dwell in him are always magnifying
him.
"Selah."
In such an occupation as this we might be content to remain for
ever. It is worth while to pause and meditate upon the prospect
of dwelling with God and praising him throughout eternity.
Verse 5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in
thee. Having spoken of the blessedness of those who reside
in the house of God, he now speaks of those who are favoured to
visit it at appointed seasons, going upon pilgrimage with their
devout brethren: he is not, however, indiscriminate in his
eulogy, but speaks only of those who heartily attend to the
sacred festivals. The blessedness of sacred worship belongs not
to half hearted, listless worshippers, but to those who throw
all their energies into it. Neither prayer, nor praise, nor the
hearing of the word will be pleasant or profitable to persons
who have left their hearts behind them. A company of pilgrims
who had left their hearts at home would be no better than a
caravan of carcasses, quite unfit to blend with living saints in
adoring the living God. In whose heart are the ways of them, or
far better, in whose heart are thy ways. Those who love the ways
of God are blessed. When we have God's ways in our hearts, and
our heart in his ways, we are what and where we should be, and
hence we shall enjoy the divine approval.
Verse 6. Who passing through the valley of Baca
make it a well. Traversing joyfully the road to the great
assembly, the happy pilgrims found refreshment even in the
dreariest part of the road. As around a well men meet and
converse cheerfully, being refreshed after their journey, so
even in the vale of tears, or any other dreary glen, the
pilgrims to the skies find sweet solace in brotherly communion
and in anticipation of the general assembly above, with its joys
unspeakable. Probably there is here a local allusion, which will
never now be deciphered, but the general meaning is clear
enough. There are joys of pilgrimage which make men forget the
discomforts of the road. "The rain also filleth the
pools." God gives to his people the supplies they need
while traversing the roads which he points out for them. Where
there were no natural supplies from below, the pilgrims found an
abundant compensation in waters from above, and so also shall
all the sacremental host of God's elect. Ways, which otherwise
would have been deserted from want of accommodation, were made
into highways abundantly furnished for the travellers' wants,
because the great annual pilgrimages led in that direction; even
so, Christian converse and the joy of united worship makes many
duties easy and delightful which else had been difficult and
painful.
Verse 7. They go from strength to strength. So
far from being wearied they gather strength as they proceed.
Each individual becomes happier, each company becomes more
numerous, each holy song more sweet and full. We grow as we
advance if heaven be our goal. If we spend our strength in God's
ways we shall find it increase. Every one of them in Zion
appeareth before God. This was the end of the pilgrim's march,
the centre where all met, the delight of all hearts. Not merely
to be in the assembly, but to appear before God was the object
of each devout Israelite. Would to God it were the sincere
desire of all who in these days mingle in our religious
gatherings. Unless we realise the presence of God we have done
nothing; the mere gathering together is nothing worth.
Verse 8. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer.
Give me to go up to thy house, or if I may not do so, yet let my
cry be heard. Thou listenest to the united supplications of thy
saints, but do not shut out my solitary petition, unworthy
though I be. Give ear, O God of Jacob. Though Jehovah of hosts,
thou art also the covenant God of solitary pleaders like Jacob;
regard thou, then, my plaintive supplication. I wrestle here
alone with thee, while the company of thy people have gone on
before me to happier scenes, and I beseech thee bless me; for I
am resolved to hold thee till thou speak the word of grace into
my soul. The repetition of the request for an answer to his
prayer denotes his eagerness for a blessing. What a mercy it is
that if we cannot gather with the saints, we can still speak to
their Master. Selah. A pause was needed after a cry so vehement,
a prayer so earnest.
Verse 9. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon
the face of thine anointed. Here we have the nation's prayer
for David; and the believer's prayer for the Son of David. Let
but the Lord look upon our Lord Jesus, and we shall be shielded
from all harm; let him behold the face of his Anointed, and we
shall be able to behold his face with joy. We also are anointed
by the Lord's grace, and our desire is that he will look upon us
with an eye of love in Christ Jesus. Our best prayers when we
are in the best place are for our glorious King, and for the
enjoyment of his Father's smile.
Verse 10. For a day in thy courts is better than a
thousand. Of course the psalmist means a thousand days spent
elsewhere. Under the most favourable circumstances in which
earth's pleasures can be enjoyed, they are not comparable by so
much as one in a thousand to the delights of the service of God.
To feel his love, to rejoice in the person of the anointed
Saviour, to survey the promises and feel the power of the Holy
Ghost in applying precious truth to the soul, is a joy which
worldlings cannot understand, but which true believers are
ravished with. Even a glimpse at the love of God is better than
ages spent in the pleasures of sense. I had rather be a
doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents
of wickedness. The lowest station in connection with the
Lord's house is better than the highest position among the
godless. Only to wait at his threshold and peep within, so as to
see Jesus, is bliss. To bear burdens and open doors for the Lord
is more honour than to reign among the wicked. Every man has his
choice, and this is ours. God's worst is better than the devil's
best. God's doorstep is a happier rest than downy couches within
the pavilions of royal sinners, though we might lie there for a
lifetime of luxury. Note how he calls the tabernacle the house
of my God; there's where the sweetness lies: if Jehovah
be our God, his house, his altars, his doorstep, all become
precious to us. We know by experience that where Jesus is
within, the outside of the house is better than the noblest
chambers where the Son of God is not to be found.
Verse 11. For the Lord God is a sun and shield.
Pilgrims need both as the weather may be, for the cold would
smite them were it not for the sun, and foes are apt to waylay
the sacred caravan, and would haply destroy it if it were
without a shield. Heavenly pilgrims are not left uncomforted or
unprotected. The pilgrim nation found both sun and shield in
that fiery cloudy pillar which was the symbol of Jehovah's
presence, and the Christian still finds both light and shelter
in the Lord his God. A sun for happy days and a shield for
dangerous ones. A sun above, a shield around. A light to show
the way and a shield to ward off its perils. Blessed are they
who journey with such a convoy; the sunny and shady side of life
are alike happy to them. The Lord will give grace and glory.
Both in due time, both as needed, both to the full, both with
absolute certainty. The Lord has both grace and glory in
infinite abundance; Jesus is the fulness of both, and, as his
chosen people, we shall receive both as a free gift from the God
of our salvation. What more can the Lord give, or we receive, or
desire. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly. Grace makes us walk uprightly and this secures every
covenant blessing to us. What a wide promise! Some apparent good
may be withheld, but no real good, no, not one. "All things
are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." God
has all good, there is no good apart from him, and there is no
good which he either needs to keep back or will on any account
refuse us, if we are but ready to receive it. We must be upright
and neither lean to this or that form of evil: and this
uprightness must be practical,—we must walk in truth
and holiness, then shall we be heirs of all things, and as we
come of age all things shall be in our actual possession; and
meanwhile, according to our capacity for receiving shall be the
measure of the divine bestowal. This is true, not of a favoured
few, but of all the saints for evermore.
Verse 12. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that
trusteth in thee. Here is the key of the Psalm. The worship
is that of faith, and the blessedness is peculiar to believers.
No formal worshipper can enter into this secret. A man must know
the Lord by the life of real faith, or he can have no true
rejoicing in the Lord's worship, his house, his Son, or his
ways. Dear reader, how fares it with thy soul?
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. Here note, that the sons, that is, the
posterity of wicked and rebellious Korah, have an honourable
place in God's sacred and solemn service: for to them sundry of
David's psalms are commended. . . . Here see the verifying of
God's word, for the comfort of all godly children, that the son
shall not bear the iniquity of the father, Eze 18:14,17,20, if
he see his father's sins and turn from them. Thomas Pierson
(1570-1633), in "David's Heart's Desire."
Whole Psalm.
O Lord of hosts, how lovely in mine eyes
The tents where thou dost dwell!
For thine abode my spirit faints and sighs;
The courts I love so well.
My longing soul is weary
Within thy house to be;
This world is waste and dreary,
A desert land to me.
The sparrow, Lord, hath found a sheltered home,
The swallow hath her nest;
She layeth there her young, and though she roam,
Returneth there to rest.
I, to thine altar flying,
Would there for ever be;
My heart and flesh are crying,
O living God, for thee!
How blest are they who in thy house abide!
Thee evermore they praise.
How strong the man whom thou alone dost guide,
Whose heart doth keep thy ways.
A pilgrim and a stranger,
He leaneth on thine arm;
And thou, in time of danger,
Dost shield him from alarm.
From strength to strength through Baca's vale of woe,
They pass along in prayer,
And gushing streams of living water flow,
Dug by their faithful care;
Thy rain is sent from heaven
To fertilise the land,
And wayside grace is given
Till they in Zion stand.
Lord God of hosts, attend unto my prayer!
O Jacob's God, give ear!
Behold, O God, our shield, we through thy care,
Within thy courts appear!
Look thou upon the glory
Of thine Anointed's face;
In him we stand before thee,
To witness of thy grace!
One day with thee excelleth over and over
A thousand days apart;
In thine abode, within thy temple door,
Would stand my watchful heart.
Men tell me of the treasure
Hid in their tents of sin;
I look not there for pleasure,
Nor choose to enter in.
Own then the Lord to be thy Sun, thy Shield—
No good will he withhold;
He giveth grace, and soon shall be revealed
His glory, yet untold.
His mighty name confessing,
Walk thou at peace and free;O Lord, how rich the blessing
Of him who trusts in thee!
—German Choral Music.
Verse 1. How amiable are thy tabernacles. What
was there in them that appeared so amiable? Perchance, the
edifice was famed for the skill and cost bestowed on it? But the
temple of extraordinary beauty was not yet constructed. The
tabernacle was lowly, more suited to pilgrims than to a great
people, and little becoming the king himself. Therefore to the
pious there is no need of vast or sumptuous temples to the end
that they should love the house of God. Musculus.
Verse 1. How amiable are thy tabernacles. What
made the tabernacle of Moses lovely was not the outside, which
was very mean, as the Church of God outwardly is, through
persecution, affliction, and poverty; but what was within,
having many golden vessels in it, and those typical of things
much more precious; moreover, here the priests were to be seen
in their robes, doing their duty and service, and, at certain
times, the high priest in his rich apparel; here were seen the
sacrifices slain and offered, by which the people were taught
the nature of sin, the strictness of justice, and the necessity
and efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ: here the Levites were
heard singing their songs, and blowing their trumpets: but much
more amiable are the Church of God and its ordinances in Gospel
times, where Christ, the Great High Priest, is seen in the
glories of his person, and the fulness of his grace; where
Zion's priests, or the ministers of the gospel, stand clothed,
being full fraught with salvation, and the tidings of it; where
Christ is evidently set forth, as crucified and slain, in the
ministry of the word, and the administration of ordinances; here
the gospel trumpet is blown, and its joyful sound echoed forth,
and songs of love and grace are sung by all believers; besides,
what makes these tabernacles still more lovely are, the presence
of God here, so that they are no other than the house of God,
the gate of heaven; the provisions that are here made, and the
company that is here enjoyed. John Gill.
Verse 1. Amiable. The adjective is rendered by
the English versions amiable, in the sense of the French amiable,
lovely. But the usage of the Hebrew word requires it to be
understood as meaning dear, beloved, which is exactly the
idea here required by the context. The plural, dwellings,
has reference to the subdivisions and appurtenances of the
sanctuary, and is applied to the tabernacle in Ps 48:3. Compare
Ps 68:35. The divine titles are as usual significant. While one
suggests the covenant relation between God and the petitioner,
the other makes his sovereignty the ground for a prayer for his
protection.. Joseph Addison Alexander.
Verse 1. Tabernacles. By the name of tabernacles
we are put in mind of the church's peregrination and wandering
from one place unto another, until she come unto her own true
country. For as tabernacle and tents of war be removed hither
and thither, so the Church of God in this life hath no sure and
quiet abode, but often is compelled to change her seat. This
pilgrimage, whereby indeed every man, as Augustine doth say, is
a pilgrim in this world, doth admonish us of sin, which is the
cause of this peregrination. For, because of sin, we are cast
with our first parents out of Paradise into the land wherein we
sojourn. So that we are removed from Jerusalem, that is, from
the sight and fruition of peace, into Babylon, that is, into
confusion and exile, wherein we wander far and wide. Nicholas
Heminge (Hemminguis) (1513-1600), in "The Faith of the
Church Militant."
Verses 1-2. When we cannot express the greatness of a
thing in direct terms, we are fain to fly to wonder, and so doth
David here, because he cannot express sufficiently how amiable
the Tabernacles of the Lord are, he therefore falls to
wondering, and helps himself with a question; How amiable are
thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts? But is not David's wondering
itself wonderful, that the tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts
should be so wonderfully amiable? Is it not a wonder they should
be amiable at all? For are not his tabernacles tents of war? and
is there anything in war that can be amiable? If he had said:
How terrible are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts; his
wonder had been with some congruity; for the Lord of Hosts is
terrible in all his works; but to say, How amiable are
thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts, seems to imply a
contradiction; for though they may be amiable, as they are
tabernacles, yet they must needs be terrible, as they are
Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts; and when this terribleness
hath made an abatement in their amiableness, what place will be
left for wonder, to give cause to say, How amiable are thy
Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts? But if he had said, How terrible
are thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts; though it might have been
wonderful in the degree, yet it could not be wonderful in the
kind: for what wonder is it, if the Tabernacles of the Lord of
Hosts be terrible? But when he saith, How amiable are thy
Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts; this is not only wonderful in the
degree, but in the kind much more. For what can be more
wonderful, than that being Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts,
they should be amiable, and so amiable as to be wondered at? But
is it not, that God is in himself so amiable, that all things of
His, even his terrors themselves, are amiable; his tabernacles
and his tents, his sword and his spear, his darts and his
arrows, all amiable; terrible no doubt to his enemies, but
amiable, wonderfully amiable to all that love and fear him, and
great reason they should be so, seeing they are all in their
defence, and for their safeguard; though they be Tabernacles of
the Lord of Hosts to the wicked, yet they are Courts of the
Prince of Peace to the godly, and this makes my soul to long
for the courts of the Lord. For I desire indeed to be a
courtier, yet not as I am now: God knows I am very unfit for it,
but because God's Courts are such, they make any one fit, that
but comes into them; they receive not men fit, but make them
fit, and he that was before but a shrub in Baca, as soon as he
comes into the Courts of the Lord is presently made a cedar in
Lebanon. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 2. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth,
etc. Every amiableness is not so great to make a longing, nor
every longing so great to make a fainting; nor every fainting so
great to make the soul to faint; Oh, then, consider how great
this amiableness is, which makes my soul not only to long, but
to faint with longing! And blame me not for fainting, as though
it were my own fault for not restraining my longing; for seeing
his Tabernacles are of infinite amiableness, they must need work
in me an infinite delighting, and that delighting an infinite
longing; and what restraint can there be of that which is
infinite? No, alas, my fainting is but answerable to my longing,
and my longing but answerable to the amiableness. If I had the
offer made me, which was made to Christ, to enjoy all the
kingdoms of the earth, but with condition to want the Courts of
the Lord; this want would bring to my soul a greater grief than
that enjoying would give it contentment: for seeing his
Tabernacles are so amiable, where He is Lord of Hosts, how
amiable must they needs be, where he is Prince of Peace? and
Prince of Peace he is in his Courts, though in his camp he be
Lord of Hosts. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 2. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth.
The word hlk (fainteth) signifies to be consumed with longing,
as the Latins say, deperire aliquem amore (he is dying of
love), that is, he so vehemently loves, and is enflamed with so
great a desire to obtain the loved object, that he wastes and
pines away unless his wish is gratified. Therefore, an ardent
longing is meant, which so torments and burns the mind, that
flesh and marrow waste away, so long as it is not permitted to
enjoy the thing desired. Mollerus.
Verse 2. soul...heart...flesh. Marking the
whole man, with every faculty and affection. The verbs are also
very expressive. The first longeth, means literally,
"hath grown pale, "as with the intensity of the
feeling; the second, fainteth, is more exactly "faileth,
"or "is consumed." Job 19:27. J. J. Stewart
Perowne.
Verse 2. Crieth. The word that is here rendered
crieth, is from (Heb.), that signifies to shout, shrill,
or cry out, as soldiers do at the beginning of a battle, when
they cry out, Fall on, fall on, fall on, or when they cry out
after a victory, Victory, victory, victory! The Hebrew word
notes a strong cry, or to cry as a child cries when it is sadly
hungry, for now very whit of the child cries, hands cry, and
face cries, and feet cry. Thomas Brooks.
Verse 2. Living God. Ps 42:2, My soul
thirsteth for God, for the living God, is the only other
place in the Psalms where God is so named. This particular form
of expression, El Chay, occurs but twice beside in the
Bible, Jos 3:10 Ho 1:10. J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse 3. The sparrow hath found an house, etc.
The tender care of God, over the least of his creatures, is here
most touchingly alluded to. The Psalmist, while an exile, envies
them their privileges. He longs to be nestling, as it were, in
the dwelling place of God. The believer finds a perfect home and
rest in God's altars; or, rather, in the great truths which they
represent. Still, his confidence in God is sweetened and
strengthened by the knowledge of his minute, universal,
providential care. It becomes his admiring delight. "God
fails not, "as one has beautifully said, "to find a
house for the most worthless, and a nest for the most restless
of birds." What confidence this should give us! How we
should rest! What repose the soul finds that casts itself on the
watchful, tender care of him who provides so fully for the need
of all his creatures! We know what the expression of
"nest" conveys, just as well as that of "a
house." Is it not a place of security, a shelter from
storm, a covert to hide oneself in, from every evil, a
protection from all that can harm, "a place to rest in, to
nestle in, to joy in?" But there is one thing in these
highly privileged birds which strike us forcibly in our
meditations—they knew not him from whom all this kindness
flowed—they knew neither his heart nor his hand. They enjoyed
the rich provisions of his tender care; he thought of everything
for their need, but there was no fellowship between them and the
Great Giver. From this, O my soul, thou mayest learn a useful
lesson. Never rest satisfied with merely frequenting such
places, or with having certain privileges there; but rise, in
spirit, and seek and find and enjoy direct communion with the
living God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. The heart of David
turns to God himself. My heart and my flesh crieth out for
the living God. Things New and Old.
Verse 3. The swallow a nest, etc. The
confidence which these birds place in the human race is not a
little extraordinary. They not only put themselves, but their
offspring in the power of men. I have seen their nests in
situations where they were within the reach of one's hand, and
where they might have been destroyed in an instant. I have
observed them under a doorway, the eaves of a low cottage,
against the wall of a tool shed, on the knocker of a door, and
the rafter of a much frequented hay loft. Edward Jesse, in
"Gleanings in Natural History." 1856.
Verse 3. Even thine altars. There were two
altars; the "brazen altar, "and the "golden
altar; "to those, no doubt, the psalmist refers. Both were
of shittim wood, which sets forth the holy humanity—the
perfect manhood, of the Lord Jesus. Incarnation lies at the
foundation of all his work for us, and all our blessing in him.
The one altar was overlaid with brass, the other with pure gold.
The overlaying shadows forth his Godhead, but in distinct
aspects. We have the same Jesus in both, but shadowed forth in
different circumstances. In the one, humiliation and suffering;
in the other, exaltation and glory. Things New and Old.
Verse 3. Thine altars. There is in the original
a pathetical, a vehement, a broken expressing, expressed, O
thine altars. It is true (says David) thou art here in the
wilderness, and I may see thee here, and serve thee here, but O
thine altars, O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God. John Donne.
Verse 3. Thine altars is a poetical way of
saying, Thy house. It is manifestly a special term,
instead of a general. Yet it has been seriously argued, that no
birds could or would ever be suffered to build their nests on
the altar. Surely this sort of expression, which is hardly a
figure, is common enough. A parte apotiori fit denominato.
We say, "There goes a sail." What should we think of a
man who should argue that a sail cannot go? The altars mean the
temple. There was
"no jutty frieze,
Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but these birds
Had made their pendant bed; "
not to mention that trees grew within the sacred enclosure,
where birds might have built their nests. J. J. Stewart
Perowne.
Verse 3. A custom, existing among several nations of
antiquity, is deemed capable of illustrating the present
passage. For birds, whose nests chanced to be built on the
temples, or within the limits of them, were not allowed to be
driven away, much less to be killed, but found there a secure
and undisturbed abode. William Keating Clay.
Verse 4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house;
etc. Alas, how happens this? There were tabernacles
before, as belonging to a Lord; and courts as belonging
to a king, and altars as belonging to a God; and now to
be but a house as belonging to a private man; and so all
this great rising to end in a fall? No, my soul, it is no fall,
it is an aggregation rather of all the other; for where his tabernacles
did but serve to shew his power, his courts but to shew
his majesty; his altars but to shew his deity, his house
serves to shew them all; for in his house there will
still be praising him, and his praise and glory is the sum of
all. Or is it that to dwell in God's house is a kind of
appropriating him to ourselves, seeing his tabernacles and his
courts lie open to strangers, his house open to none but his
servants; and seeing in the nearness to God, and conversing with
him, consists all true blessedness; therefore Blessed are
they that dwell in his house, but how dwell in it? Not to
look in sometimes as we pass by, or to stay in it a time, as we
do at an inn, but to be constant abiders in it day and night, as
to which we have devoted ourselves and bowed our service. Sir
Richard Baker.
Verse 4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house.
What was this house more to David than another house, save that
here he reckoned upon enjoying the Divine Presence? So that here
was a heart so naturalized to this presence as to affect an
abode in it, and that he might lead his life with God, and dwell
with him all his days; he could not be content with giving a
visit now and then. And why should this temper of spirit in the
clearer light of the gospel be looked upon as an unattainable
thing! A lazy despondency, and the mean conceit that it is
modest not to aim so high, starve religion, and stifles all
truly noble and generous desires. Let this then be the thing
designed with you, and constantly pursue and drive the design,
that you may get into the disposition of spirit toward God. John
Howe.
Verse 4. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house,
etc. Blessed indeed, we too may exclaim, and blessed shall they
be for ever. They are dwellers, not visitors, in
God's house. I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
This is true, blessedly true, of all who trust in Jesus now. But
though God's children are all priests by birth, as were the sons
of Aaron, they are not all, alas! priests by consecration. (See
Exodus 29.) Comparatively few know their priestly place at the
golden altar. Many of them are doubting as to whether their
sins, root and branch, were all consumed outside the camp; and,
consequently, such are afraid to come within the court, and as
for being assured of their full justification and sanctification
in the risen One, they gravely doubt and fear that such
blessedness can ever be their happy lot. Hence that state of
soul which answers to priestly consecration at the laver, and
happy worship at the golden altar, is unknown and unenjoyed.
They are not priests by consecration.
Our
text is plain. They will still be praising thee. Doubts,
fears, unsettled questions, all are gone. Such cannot exist in
the holy place. All, of course, who are in Christ, must be in
God's account where he is; but all who believe in Christ, do not
know and believe that they are in him, as being one
with him now. When the state of our souls answers to what is
symbolized by the holy place, we can only praise: They that
dwell in thy house will be still praising thee. Then we are
happily near to God, and have communion with him, in the
glorified Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost. Things
New and Old.
Verse 4. They will be still praising thee. How
appears it to be true, that they who dwell in God's house will
always be praising him, seeing it is but seldom seen that
servants be so forward to praise their masters? O my soul! it is
not so much the good dispositions of the servants, as the
infinite worthiness of the Master that makes them to praise him,
for when they see the admirable economy of his government, when
they see how sweetly he disposeth all things in weight and
measure, when they find him to use them more like children than
servants, what heart can be so ungrateful as not to praise him?
And seeing by dwelling in God's house, they see these things
continually, therefore they that dwell in his house will always
be praising him. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 4. They will be still praising thee. As
having hearts full of heaven, and consciences full of comfort.
There cannot but be music in the temple of the Holy Ghost. John
Trapp.
Verse 4. Still praising. It is not enough to
praise him, it must be a praising him still, before it
will make a blessedness; and though to praise God be an easy
matter, yet to praise him still, will be found a busy
work, indeed to flesh and blood a miserable work, for if I be
still praising him, what time shall I have for any pleasures? O
my soul, if thou make it not thy pleasure, thy chief, thy only
pleasure to be praising him, thou art not like in haste to come
to blessedness. And marvel not that David speaks thus under the
law, when St. Paul under the Gospel saith as much: Whether ye
eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, let all be done to the glory
and praise of God. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 5. In whose heart are thy ways. That is,
who love the ways that lead to thy house. Earnest Hawkins.
Verse 5. In whose heart are the ways of them.
Literally, The steeps are on their hearts. The steep
ascents on which the tabernacle stood. Horsley renders, They
are bent on climbing the steep ascents. Perhaps the (Heb.)
were more properly the raised causeways or stairs leading
up to Mount Zion, or all through the mountain country on the
road to Jerusalem. John Fry.
Verse 5. In whose heart are the ways. The
natural heart is a pathless wilderness, full of cliffs and
precipices. When the heart is renewed by grace, a road is
made, a highway is prepared for our God. See Isa 40:3-4. Frederick
Fysh.
Verse 6. Who passing through the valley of Baca
make it a well, etc. I consider the valley here mentioned to
be the same as the valley of Bochim, mentioned in Jud
2:1,5, which received its name from the weeping of the
Jews, when they were rebuked by an angel for their disobedience
to the commands of God. This valley is called m'kkh, Habbcaim,
in 2Sa 5:24, the h of hkk to weep being changed into a.
Josephus mentions, that the circumstance there related occurred
en toiv alsesi toiv kaloumenoiv Klauqmwsi. Antiquities Jud. lib
7 c 4. my'kkh, Habb'caim, is rendered in that verse by
the LXX Klauqmwn, weepings;and in Jud 2:1 kykkh, Habbocim,
is also rendered by the LXX. Klauqmwn, weepings. The
valley mentioned in Ps 84:6 is called by the LXX. Klauqmwn. I am
inclined therefore to think, that in this place, joining to'kkh
the m of the following word, and supplying y before it, we ought
to read nymy'kkh instead of ny`m'kkh... All the ancient
versionists seem to have thought, that the valley in this verse
received its name from hkk, bacah, to weep. I translate
the verse, Passing through the valley of Bochim, they will
make it a fountain even of blessings; it shall be covered with
the former rain. The Psalm has been supposed to have been
written by Jehoshaphat. Probably he passed through Bochim, which
seems to have been an arid valley, when he marched against the
Moabites and Ammonites; see 2 Chronicles 20. After the victory
the army of Jehoshaphat assembled in a valley, where they
blessed the Lord; and from this circumstance it received the
name of Berachah: see 2Ch 20:26. Perhaps the word tvkrk
in this verse has an allusion to that circumstance; and perhaps
the valley of Berachah was, before that glorious occasion,
called the valley of Bochim. Richard Dixon.
Verse 6. Passing through the valley of weeping make
him, that is, Jehovah, a fountain. That is, they
trust, and from him look for help, who having plain paths in
their mind must pass through many difficulties. Similar help is
sought by those, who, suffering from a scanty supply of water,
press on through a dry valley, and yet do not despair or grow
weary, but have God for their fountain, from which they drink
and are refreshed. Venema.
Verse 6. The valley of Baca. Valley of tear
shrubs. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse 6. Baca, signifieth a mulberry tree,
which loves to grow in dry places that be sandy and barren, 2Sa
5:23-24, or 1Ch 14:14-15. Now they whose hearts be set upon
God's house and holy worship, when they go thitherward through a
sandy, dry, barren valley, do make it a well,—that is, repute
and count it as a well, the word rhrtysy signifieth to put or
set, as Ge 3:15; Ps 21:6,12 83:11,13. For thus will they say
with themselves, thinking upon the comfort of God's favour to
whom they go, that it shall be to them as the rain of blessings,
a plentiful and liberal rain upon the ground. Thomas Pierson.
Verse 6. Make it a well. That which seemed an
impediment turns to a furtherance; at least, no misery can be so
great, no estate so barren, but a godly heart can make it a
well, out of which to draw forth water of comfort; either water
to cleanse, and make it a way to repentance; or water to cool,
and make it a way to patience; or water to moisten, and make it
a way of growing in grace; and if the well happen to be dry, and
afford no water from below, yet the rain shall fill their
pools, and supply them with water from above. If natural
forces be not sufficient, there shall be supernatural graces
added to assist them, that though troubles of the world seem
rubs in the way to blessedness, yet in truth they are none, they
hinder not arriving at the mark we aim at, they hinder us not
from being made members of Sion, they hinder us not from
approaching the presence of God. No, my soul, they are rather
helps, for by this means we go from strength to strength,
from strength of patience, to strength of hope; from strength of
hope, to strength of faith, to strength of vision; and then will
be accomplished that which David speaks here; Blessed is the
man whose strength is in God, and in whose heart his ways are.
Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 6. The rain. Little as there may be of
water, that little suffices on their way. It is a well to
them. They find only "pools (which) the early
rain has (barely) covered"—but are content
with the supply by the way. It is as good and sufficient to them
as if showers of the heavy autumnal rains had filled the well.
Pilgrims forget the scanty supply at an inn, when they have
abundance in view at the end. Israelites going up to the
Passover made light of deficient water, for their hearts were
set on reaching Jerusalem. Andrew A. Bonar.
Verses 6-7. The most gloomy present becomes bright to
them: passing through even a terrible wilderness, they turn it
into a place of springs, their joyous hope and the infinite
beauty of the goal, which is worth any amount of toil and
trouble, afford them enlivening comfort, refreshing,
strengthening in the midst of the arid steppe.
Not
only does their faith bring forth water out of the sand and
rocks of the desert, but God also on his part lovingly
anticipates their love, and rewardingly anticipates their
faithfulness: a gentle rain, like that which refreshes the sown
fields in the autumn, descends from above and enwraps the valley
of Baca in a fulness of blessing... the arid steppe becomes
resplendent with a flowery festive garment (Isa 35:1-19), not to
outward appearance, but to them spiritually, in a manner none
the less true and real. And whereas under ordinary
circumstances, the strength of the traveller diminishes in
proportion as he has traversed more and more of his toilsome
road, with them it is the very reverse; they go from strength
to strength.—Franz Delitzsch.
Verse 7. They go from strength to strength.
Junius reads it, and so it is in the Hebrew, "They go from
company to company." As they went up to Jerusalem they went
in troops and companies. Possibly we translate it strength
because much of our safety consisteth in good society. George
Swinnock.
Verse 7. Every one of them in Zion appeareth before
God. That is, every one of them answering to the character
described. Others as well as they would appear in Zion before
God; but not to enjoy his presence, and receive tokens of his
favour. Blessedness was not to be enjoyed, but it could only be
enjoyed by those who had been previously fitted for it by
character and attainment. As certainly as these had been
acquired, so certainly would the blessedness be enjoyed by each
and by all of them. Every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. No one has perished by the way—none been
devoured by wild beasts—none cut off by the wandering
banditti—none become faint hearted and turned back. The whole
bands are assembled—young and old, weak and strong; all answer
to their names, and testify to the goodness of the Lord in
bearing them up, and bringing through—in affording them rest,
and yielding them pleasure. So shall it ever be with true
spiritual pilgrims. The grace of God will always prove
sufficient to preserve them, safe and blameless, to his heavenly
kingdom and glory—troubles shall not overwhelm
them—temptations not wholly overcome them—spiritual enemies
shall not destroy them. They are kept by the power of God,
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. Their names are written in the Lamb's book of life, and
the Lamb himself shall see to it that each of them is found in
the day of account. Then shall he be able to say, Those whom
thou hast given me I have kept, and none of them is lost.
"They are all here before God." William Makelvie.
1863.
Verse 8. There are two distinct thoughts of great
practical value to the Christian, in this short prayer. There is
the sense of divine majesty, and the consciousness of divine
relationship. As Lord of hosts, he is almighty in
power; as the God of Jacob, he is infinite in mercy and
goodness to his people. Things New and Old.
Verse 9. While many, alas, are satisfied with mere
formalities in religion, or with the dry discussion of
doctrines, high or low, as they may be called, see thou and be
occupied with Christ himself. It is the knowledge of his person
that gives strength and joy to the soul. At all times, under all
circumstances, we can say, Look upon the face of thine
Anointed. We cannot always say, Look on us; but we
may always say, Look on Him. In deepest sorrow through
conscious failure, or in trials and difficulties through
faithfulness to his name, we can ever plead with God what Christ
is. God is ever well pleased with him—ever occupied with him
as risen from the dead and exalted to his own right hand in
heaven; and he would have us also to be occupied with him as the
heart's exclusive object. True faith can only rest on God's
estimate of Christ, not on inward thoughts and feelings.
That which may be called the faith of the formalist, rests on
the ability of his own mind to judge of these matters. He trusts
in himself. This is the essential difference between faith in
appearance and faith in reality. Things New and Old.
Verse 9. Look upon the face of thine anointed.
For I shall never come to look upon thy face, if thou vouchsafe
not first to look upon mine: if thou afford me not as well the
benefit of thine eyes, to look upon me, as the favour of thine
ears, to hear me, I shall be left only to a bare expectation,
but never come to the happiness of fruition; but when thou
vouchsafest to look upon my face, that look of thine hath an
influence of all true blessedness, and makes me find what a
happiness it is to have the God of Jacob for my shield. Sir
Richard Baker.
Verse 10. A day. The least good look that a man
hath from God, and the least good word that a man hears from
God, and the least love letter and love token that a man
receives from God is exceedingly precious to that man that hath
God for his portion. One day in thy courts is better than a
thousand elsewhere. He doth not say, One year in thy courts
is better than a thousand elsewhere, but One day in thy
courts is better than a thousand elsewhere; nor doth he say, One
quarter of a year in thy courts is better than a thousand
elsewhere, but One day in thy courts is better than a
thousand elsewhere; nor doth he say, One month is better
than a thousand elsewhere, but One day in thy courts is
better than a thousand elsewhere, to shew that the very
least of God is exceeding precious to a gracious soul that hath
God for his portion. Thomas Brooks.
Verse 10. Another sign of God's children is, to
delight to be much in God's presence. Children are to be in the
presence of their father; where the King is, there is the court;
where the presence of God is, there is heaven. God is in a
special manner present in his ordinances, they are the Ark of
his presence. Now, if we are his children, we love to be much in
holy duties. In the use of ordinances we draw near to God, we
come into our Father's presence; in prayer we have secret
conference with God; the soul while it is praying, is as it were
parleying with God. In the word we hear God speaking from heaven
to us; and how doth every child of God delight to hear his
Father's voice! In the sacrament God kisseth his children with
the kisses of his lips; he gives them a smile of his face, and a
privy seal of his love: oh, it is good to draw near to God. It
is sweet being in his presence: every true child of God saith,
"A day in thy courts is better than a thousand!" Thomas
Watson.
Verse 10. I had rather be a doorkeeper, etc.
Some read it, "I would rather be fixed to a post in the
house of my God, than live at liberty in the tents of the
wicked; "alluding to the law concerning servants, who if
they would not go out free, were to have their ear bored to the
door post, Ex 21:5-6. David loved his Master, and loved his work
so well, that he desired to be tied to this service for ever, to
be more free to it, but never to go out free from it, preferring
bonds to duty far before the greatest liberty to sin. Such a
superlative delight have holy hearts in holy duties; no
satisfaction in their account is comparable to that in communion
with God. Matthew Henry.
Verse 10. I had rather be a doorkeeper. In the
sense that Christ is a Door, David may well be content to be a
Door Keeper, and though in God's house there be many mansions,
yet seeing all of them are glorious, even the door keeper's
place is not without its glory. But if you think the office to
be mean, consider then whose officer he is, for even a door
keeper is an officer in God's house, and God never displaceth
his officers unless it be to advance them to a higher; whereas,
in the courts of princes, the greatest officers are oftentimes
displaced, turned off often with disgrace. Sir Richard Baker.
Verse 10. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house
of my God, etc. Happy are those persons, whom God will use
as besoms to sweep out the dust from his temple; or who shall
tug at an oar in the boat where Christ and his church are
embarked. William Secker, in "The Nonsuch
Professor."
Verse 10. Doorkeeper. This is a Korhite psalm,
and the descendants of Korah were, in fact, porters, and
"keepers of the gates of the tabernacle, and keepers of the
entry, "as well as being permitted to swell the chorus of
the inspired singers of Israel. Bossuet, quoted by Neale and
Littledale.
Verse 10. Instead of, I had rather be a doorkeeper,
the margin has, according to the Hebrew, "I would choose
rather to sit at the threshold." Ainsworth's translation
is: "I have chosen to sit at the threshold, in the house of
my God; "and Dr. Boothroyd's is: "Abide, or sit, at
the threshold." See 2Ki 12:9 22:4 25:18 1Ch 9:19 2Ch 23:4;
Es 2:21 6:2. In all these passages the marginal reading is threshold.
I think the word door keeper does not convey the proper
meaning of the words, "to sit at the threshold; "
because the preference of the Psalmist was evidently given to a
very humble position; whereas that of a door keeper, in
Eastern estimation, is truly respectable and confidential. The
marginal reading, however, "to sit at the threshold,
"at once strikes on an Eastern mind as a situation of deep
humility. See the poor heathen devotee; he goes and sits near
the threshold of his temple. Look at the beggar; he sits, or
prostrates himself, at the threshold of the door or gate, till
he shall have gained his suit. Joseph Roberts.
Verse 10. House. Tents. Observe the force of
the contrasted expressions. The house is the Lord's; the tents
are of the wicked. The pleasures of sin are for a season only;
the world passeth away, and the lusts thereof. Arthur Pridham.
Verse 10. The tents. It is not any tents, or
tents of any ordinary kind, that are understood, but rich,
powerful, glorious, and splendid tents. Venema.
Verse 11. The Lord God is a sun, conveys a
striking and impressive truth, when we think of the sun only in
his obvious character as a source of light and heat. But what
new energy is given to this magnificent emblem, when we learn
from astronomy that he is a grand center of attraction, and when
we, in addition, take in that sublime generalization that the
sun is the ultimate source of every form of power existing in
the world! The wind wafts the commerce of every nation over the
mighty deep; but the heat of the sun has rarefied that air, and
set that wind in motion. The descending stream yields a power
which grinds your grain, turns your spindles, works your looms,
drives your forges; but it is because the sun gathered up the
vapour from the ocean, which fell upon the hills, and is finding
its way back to the source whence it came. The expansive energy
of steam propels your engine; but the force with which it
operates is locked up in the coal (the remains of extinct
forests stored among your hills), or is derived from the wood
that abounds in your forests, which now crown and beautify their
summits. Both these primeval and these existing forests drew
their substance from the sun: it is the chemical force resident
in his rays which disengaged their carbon from the atmosphere,
and laid it up as a source of power for future use. The animal
exerts a force by muscular contraction; he draws it from the
vegetable on which he feeds; the vegetable derives it from the
sun, whose rays determine its growth. Every time you lift your
arm, every time you take a step, you are drawing on the power
the sun has given you. When you step into the railway carriage,
it is the sun power that hurries you along. When gentle breezes
fan your languid cheek, and when the restless tornado levels
cities in its fury, they are the servants of the sun. What an
emblem of Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being! Professor
Green.
Verse 11. The sun, which among all inanimate
creatures is the most excellent, notes all manner of excellency,
provision, and prosperity; and the shield, which among
all artificial creatures is the chiefest, notes all manner of
protection whatsoever. Under the name of grace, all
spiritual good is wrapped up; and under the name of glory,
all eternal good is wrapped up; and under the last clause, No
good thing will he withhold, is wrapped up all temporal
good: all put together speaks out God to be an all sufficient
portion. Thomas Brooks.
Verse 11. The Lord God is a shield. He is a
shield to our persons: "Touch not, "said he,
"mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." "The
Lord, "said Moses in his name, "the Lord shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in. He shall give his
angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways, lest at
any time thou shalt dash thy foot against a stone. Hast thou
considered my servant Job? said God to Satan:—Yes, replied
Satan, I have; thou hast set a hedge about him." Yes,
brethren: the Lord God is a shield. He is a shield to our
graces. The dislike and malice of Satan is principally
levelled at us when we become subjects of divine influence.
"Simon, Simon, "said our Saviour, "Satan hath
desired to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat, but,
"he adds, "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
not." There was a shield to the good man's faith, or he and
it too had been gone. You may remember the name of Little Faith
in Bunyan's Pilgrim. It appears that Hopeful was greatly
surprised that the robbers had not taken his jewels from him;
but he was given to understand that they were not in his
own keeping. Yes, Christian, HE shall be thy "shield"
to cover thy hope when it appears to thee to be giving up the
ghost... Yes, and He will be a shield to thy property.
"Hast thou not set a hedge about all that he
hath?" Though Job was tried a little while, his property
was only put out to interest; by and by it came back cent per
cent; and he gained, besides, a vast increase of knowledge and
of grace. Matthew Wilks. 1746-1829.
Verse 11. Turn your thoughts to the combination; the
Lord God is a sun and shield. As a sun he shows me more and
more of my sinfulness; but then as a shield, he gives me power
to oppose it and assurance that I shall conquer. As a sun, he
discloses so much of the enormity of guilt, that I am forced to
exclaim, "Mine iniquities are like a sore burden, too heavy
for me to bear; "but then as a shield, he shows me that he
has laid the load on a Surety, who bore it into a land of
forgetfulness. As a sun, he makes me daily more and more
sensible of the utter impossibility of my working out a
righteousness of my own; but then, as a shield, he fastens
constantly my thoughts on that righteousness of his Son, which
is meritoriously conveyed to all who believe on his name. As a
sun, in short, he brings fact to my knowledge, (inasmuch as he
brings myself and mine enemies to my knowledge,)which would make
the matter of deliverance seem out of reach and hopeless, if he
were not at the same time a shield; but seeing that he is both a
shield as well as a sun, the disclosures which he makes as a sun
only prepare me for the blessings which he imparts as a shield.
Who then shall wonder, that after announcing the character of
God, the psalmist should break into expressions of confidence
and assurance? It may be, that as the corruption of nature is
brought continually before me, deeper and wider and darker,
Satan will ply me with the suggestion; "The guiltiness is
too inveterate to be eradicated, and too enormous to be
pardoned; "and if God were a sun, and nothing more, it
might be hard to put away the suggestion as a device of the
father of lies. I might then fear. I might fear God's holiness,
thinking I should never be fitted for communion with Deity; I
might fear God's justice, thinking I should never find acquittal
at the last dread assize. But can I fear either, when besides a
sun, God is also a shield? Can I fear God's justice, when as a
shield he places sufferings to my account, which satisfy the
law, even to the last penalty? Can I fear his holiness, when he
gives me interest in an obedience which fulfils every precept?
Does not the one character, that of a shield, help me to scatter
those solicitudes, which may well be excited through the
operation of the other character, that of a sun? And am I not
warranted—nay, am I not living far below my privilege—if I
fail in deriving from the combination of character a boldness
and a confidence, not to be overborne by those suspicions, which
have Satan for their author? As a sun, God shows me myself; as a
shield, God shows me himself. The sun discloses mine own
nothingness; the shield, Divine sufficiency. The one enables me
to discern that I deserve nothing but wrath and can earn nothing
but shame; the other, that I have a title to immortality, and
may lay claim to an enduring inheritance in heaven. I learn, in
short, from God as a Sun, that if I have "wages,
"I must have eternal death; but from God as a Shield,
that if I will receive the "free gift, "I may have
"eternal life." Whom then shall I fear?
Myself—confessedly my worst enemy? "The Sun" makes a
man start from himself; the "Shield" assures him that
he shall be protected against himself and builded up "for a
habitation of God through the Spirit." Shall I shrink from
Satan and the hosts of principalities and powers? The
"Sun" shows them awful in their might and vehement in
their malice; but the "Shield" exhibits them spoiled
and led captive, when Christ died and rose again. Shall I dread
death? Indeed the "Sun" makes death terrible, forcing
me to read God's curse in the motionless limbs and mouldering
features; but then the "Shield" displays the open
sepulchre, the quickened dust, the marvels of a resurrection,
the mountain and the ocean and the valley yielding up the
sleeping generations. Is death to be dreaded? Take the catalogue
of things, which, inasmuch as we are fallen creatures, God, as
our "Sun, "instructs us to fear; and we shall find,
that insomuch as we are redeemed creatures, God as our
"Shield" enables us to triumph over all our fears. Who
therefore shall hesitate to agree, that there results from this
combination of character exactly that system of counterpoise,
which we affirm to be discoverable in grace as well as in
providence? Who can fail, if indeed he have been disciplined by
that twofold tuition, which informs man first that he has
destroyed himself and then that God hath "laid help on One
that is mighty, "the former lesson humiliating, the latter
encouraging, the one making way for the other, so that the
scholar is emptied of every false confidence that he may be
fitted to entertain the true—oh! who, we say, can fail to
gather from the combination of Divine character the inference
drawn by the Psalmist? to exclaim (that is), after recording
that "the Lord God is a Sun and a Shield"—He will
give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them
that walk uprightly? Henry Melvill.
Verse 11. The words of the text are as a voice from
heaven, inviting me up thither, and answering all the doubts and
fears of such as believe and follow the joyful sound. Am I in darkness,
and fear I shall never find the way? Open thine eye, O my soul!
look up to the Father of lights: the Lord is a sun, whose
steady beams shall direct thy steps. Is there an inward veil to
be removed from my mind, as well as obscurity from my path? He
is sufficient for both. God who commanded the light to shine out
of darkness, can shine into the heart, to give the light of the
knowledge of his glory, and lead on to it. (Co 4:6.) He can make
the day dawn, and the day star to arise in our hearts; (2Pe
1:19), and by both, guide our feet into the way of peace.
(Lu 1:79.) Doth the same light that discovers my way, discover
what opposition I am like to meet with? what enemies and dangers
I am to go through? Hear, O my soul, the Lord is a shield.
Light and strength are conjoined; none can miscarry under his
conduct, nor have any reason to be discouraged. With this he
comforteth Abraham. Ge 15:1, Fear not: I am thy shield.
Do I groan under a sense of my unmeetness for the heavenly
kingdom? Let this support my soul, the Lord will give grace.
Am I altogether unworthy of so high a happiness? It springs from
his own most free, unbounded love; the Lord will give glory.
Am I urged with a thousand wants that need supply, what more can
be added? No good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly. Nothing that is evil can be desired; and nothing
that is good shall be denied. Here, O my soul, is a fountain
opened; here thy eager thirst may be fully satisfied; thy
largest desires filled up; and thy mind be ever at rest. Daniel
Wilcox.
Verse 11. Why need a saint fear darkness, when he has
such a sun to guide him? Or dread dangers, when he has such a
shield to guard him? William Secker.
Verse 11. The Lord will give glory. "Man,
"says a wise author, "is the glory of this lower
world; the soul is the glory of man; grace is the glory of the
soul; and heaven is the glory of grace." Heaven, or glory,
is grace matured and brought to infinite perfection; there we
shall see his face, and have his name written in our foreheads;
and we shall reign with him for ever and ever. Matthew Wilks.
Verse 11. No good thing will he withhold. etc.
But how is this true, when God oftentimes withholds riches and
honours, and health of body from men, though they walk never so
uprightly; we may therefore know that honours and riches and
bodily strength, are none of God's good things; they are of the
number of things indifferent which God bestows promiscuously
upon the just and unjust, as the rain to fall and the sun to
shine. The good things of God are chiefly peace of conscience
and the joy in the Holy Ghost in this life; fruition of God's
presence, and vision of his blessed face in the next, and these
good things God never bestows upon the wicked, never withholds
from the godly, and they are all cast up in one sum where it is
said, Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt: Blessed
are the pure in heart (and such are only they that walk
uprightly) for they shall see God. But is walking uprightly
such a matter with God, that it should be so rewarded? Is it not
more pleasing to God to see us go stooping than walking
uprightly, seeing stooping is the gait of humility, than which
there is nothing to God more pleasing? It is no doubt a hard
matter to stoop and go upright both at once, yet both must be
done, and both indeed are done, are done at once by every one
that is godly; but when I say they are done both at once, I mean
not of the body, I know two such postures in the body both at
once are impossible; but the soul can do it, the soul can stoop
and go upright both at once; for then doth the soul walk upright
before God, when it stoops in humility before God and men. Sir
Richard Baker.
Verse 11. This is an immense fountain; the Lord fill
all the buckets of our hearts at the spring, and give us
capacious souls, as he hath a liberal hand. Thomas Adams.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 1.
1. Why called Tabernacles? To include
(a) the holiest of all;
(b)
The holy place;
(c)
The court and precincts of the Tabernacle. Amiable is predicated
of these. The courts amiable—the holy place more amiable—the
holiest of all most amiable.
2. Why called the Tabernacles of the Lord of Hosts? To denote
(a)
Its connection with the boundless universe.
(b)
Its distinction from it. Present everywhere where God is
peculiarly present here.
3. Why called amiable?
(a)
Because of the character in which God dwells here. Is
condescension amiable? Is love? Is mercy? Is grace? These are
displayed here.
(b)
Because of the purpose for which he resides here. To save
sinners: to comfort saints.
Verses 1-3. The Titles for God in these three verses
are worth dwelling upon. Jehovah of Hosts; the living God; my
King and my God. G. R.
Verse 3.
1. The Eloquence of Grief. David in his banishment envies the
sparrows and the swallows that had built their nests by the
house of God, more than Absalom who had usurped his palace and
his throne.
2. The Ingenuity of Prayer. Why should sparrows and swallows
be nearer to thy altars than I am, O Lord of hosts, my King and
my God! "Fear not, ye are of more value than many
sparrows." G. R.
Verse 4.
1. The Privilege suggested—dwelling in the house of God.
Some birds fly over the house of God—some occasionally alight
upon it—others build their nests and train up their young
there. This was the privilege which the Psalmist desired.
2. The Fact asserted. Blessed are they that dwell,
etc., who make it the spiritual home of themselves and their
children.
3. The Reason given. They will be still, etc.
(a) They will have much for which to praise God;
(b) They will see much to praise in God. G. R.
Verse 5. Man is blessed,
1. When his strength is in God. Strength to believe, strength
to obey, strength to suffer.
2. When God's ways are in him. In whose heart, etc.
When the doctrines, precepts, and promises of God are deeply
engraved upon the heart. G. R.
Verse 5. The preciousness of intensity and enthusiasm
in religious belief, worship, and life.
Verses 5-7. The blessed people are described,
1. By their earnest desire and resolution to take this
journey, though they dwelt far off from the tabernacle, Ps 84:5.
2. By their painful passage, yet some refreshments by the
way, Ps 84:6.
3. By their constant progress, till they came to the place
they aimed at, Ps 84:7. T. Manton.
Verse 6. As the valley of weeping symbolizes
dejection, so a "well" symbolizes ever flowing
salvation and comfort (compare Joh 4:14 Isa 12:3).
Verse 6.
1. The valley of Baca. Of this valley we may observe,
(a) It is much frequented.
(b) Unpleasant to flesh and blood.
(c) Very healthful.
(d) Very safe.
(e) Very profitable.
2. The toilsome effort: make it a well.
(a) Comfort may be obtained in the deepest trouble.
(b) Comfort must be obtained by exertion.
(c) Comfort obtained by one is of use to others, as a well may
be.
3. The heavenly supply. The rain also filleth the pools.
All is from God; effort is of no avail without him.
Verse 7.
1. Trusting God in trouble brings present comfort—Who
passing, etc.
2. Present comfort ensures still larger supplies—The
rain also, etc. G. R.
Verse 8. There is,
1. Progression. They go;
(a) The people of God cannot remain stationary;
(b) They must not recede;
(c) They should always be advancing.
2. Invigoration. From strength to strength.
(a) From one ordinance to another;
(b) from one duty to another;
(c) from one grace to another;
(d) from one degree of grace to another. Add faith to faith,
virtue to virtue, knowledge to knowledge, etc.
3. Completion. Every one of them, etc. G. R.
Verse 8.
1. Prayer is not confined to the Sanctuary. David, inhis
banishment, says, Hear my prayer.
2. Help is not confined to the Sanctuary. The Lord ofhosts is
"here, "as well as in his tabernacle. SeePs 84:1.
3. Grace is not confined to the Sanctuary. Here, too,in the
wilderness is the covenanting God, the God ofJacob. G. R.
Verse 8. Pleas for answers to prayer in the titles
here used.
1. He is JEHOVAH, the living, all wise, all powerful,
faithful, gracious, and immutable God.
2. He is God of hosts, having abundant agencies under his
control; he can send angels, restrain devils, actuate good men,
overrule bad men, and govern all other agents.
3. He is the God of Jacob, of chosen Jacob, as seen in
Jacob's dream; God of Jacob in his banishment, in his wrestling
(and so a God overcome by prayer), God pardoning Jacob's sins,
God preserving Jacob and his seed after him.
Verse 9. Observe,
1. The Faith. Our shield is thine anointed—Thine Anointed
is our Shield. This is not David, because he says our
Shield, but David's greater Son. A gleam of Gospel light through
the thick clouds.
2. The Prayer. Behold, O God, etc. Look, etc.
Look upon him as our Representative, and look upon us in him.
3. The Plea.
(a) He has engaged to be our defence from thine anger;
(b) he has been anointed to this office by thee. G. R.
Verse 9.
1. What God is to us.
2. What we would have him look at.
3. Where we would be: hidden behind the shield—seen in the
person of Christ.
Verse 10. Here is,
1. A comparison of Places. A day in thy courts, etc.
How much more a day in heaven! What, then, must an eternity in
heaven be!
2. A comparison of Persons. I would rather be a doorkeeper,
etc. Better be the least in the Church than the greatest in the
world. If "better reign in hell than serve in heaven"
was Satan's first thought after he fell, it was the first
thought only. G.R.
Verse 10.
1. Days in God's courts. Days of hearing, of repenting, of
believing, of adoration, of communion, of revival, etc.
2. Their preciousness. Better than a thousand days of
victory, of pleasure, of money making, of harvest, of
discussion, of travelling amid beauties of nature.
3. Reasons for this preciousness. They are more pleasurable,
more profitable now, and more preparatory for the future and for
heaven. The employment, the society, the enjoyment, the result,
etc., are all better.
Verse 11.
1. What God is to his people. A sun and shield.
(a) The source of all good;
(b) a defence from all evil.
2. What he gives.
(a) Grace here;
(b) glory hereafter.
3. What he withholds. All that is not good. If he withholds
health or wealth, or his own smiles from us, it is because they
are not good for us at that particular time. G. R.
Verse 12.
1. The one thing that makes man blessed. Trust in God.
Blessed, etc.
(a) For all things;
(b) at all times;
(c) in all circumstances.
2. The Blessing contained in that one thing. God himself
becomes ours;
(a) his mercy for our pardon;
(b) his power for our protection;
(c) his wisdom for our guidance;
(d) his faithfulness for our preservation;
(e) his all sufficiency for our supply.
3. The certainty of the blessing.
(a) From David's own experience;
(b) from the solemn appeal to God respecting it. O Lord God
of hosts, etc. G. R.
Verse 12. The blessedness of the life of faith over
that of carnal enjoyment, religious feeling, self confidence,
living upon marks and evidences, trusting in man, etc.
WORKS UPON THE EIGHTY-FOURTH PSALM
The Faith of the Church Militant, made moste
effectualie described in this exposition of the 84. Psalme, by
that reverend Pastor, and publike Professor of God's word, in
the famous universitie of Haffine in Denmarke, NICHOLAS
HEMMINGIVS. A treatise written as to the instruction of the
ignorant in the groundes of religion, so to the confutation of
the Jews, the Turkes, Atheists, Papists, Heretiks, and all other
adversaries of the trueth whatsoever. Translated out of Latin
into English, &c. by THOMAS ROGERS. At London, printed by H.
Middleton for Andrew Maunsel. Anno. 1581.
David's Heart's Desire; or An Exposition of
Psalm 84.; in Excellent Encouragments against Afflictions... by
Thomas Pierson, M.A. (Reprinted in Nichol's Series of Puritan
Commentaries.)
An Exposition upon some select Psalms of
David... By ROBERT ROLLOCK. 1600. 16mo.
Meditations and Disquisitions upon seven
Consolatorie Psalmes of David... By Sir RICHARD BAKER, Knight.
1640. (pg 119-142.)
Meditations on the Eighty-fourth Psalm, in
"Things New and Old. A Monthly Magazine." Vol. IX.
1866.